Natural Remedies? Can someone help?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-13-2006
Natural Remedies? Can someone help?
3
Tue, 08-21-2007 - 1:48pm

Hi All-

Back after a long summer vacation. Mom to DS Connor 3, DX PDD-NOS and possible OCD. DS is in a full time PDD public preschool program, and began in May of this year. I feel that since starting his behaviors have gotten worse. He's impulsive, defiant, and aggressive. It's August now, and he's been off for a month, so he's really showing signs of regression too. Yesterday the Neurologist got to see first hand how difficult he really is. It's so hard for me to see this cute little boy practically off the wall. He just can't control himself, and he doesn't 'get' that his behaviors are inappropriate.

After months of discussions, research, and questions, we have decided to give Clonidine a shot. The Nuero thinks it can really make a difference in Connor's life. However, I've been doing a lot of reading on this board, and see lots of mention of 'natural remedies' and special supplements and diets people are trying. I also see mention of certain foods that some say attributes to their childs behaviors. How do I learn about these diets, and foods that can aggravate our childs issues? What's the problem with Dairy products? I read about alot of people avoiding them. Connor does not do well with Milk and or Milk products at all, causes really bad diarrhea... Other problem for us is Connor has a VERY limited diet. Lives on Chx nuggets, pizza, grilled cheese, and peanut butter/fluff. Won't eat veggies, meat, poultry, fish, etc....

DH and I are just at our wits end. We want to help Connor in any way(s) that we possibly can. We're concerned about school starting up again in Sept. He was already having aggression problems and impulsivness issues that he was spending MORE time in "time out" then he was being a kid... same thing at home.

Any advice,suggestions, input, etc would be appreciated!

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-29-2004
Tue, 08-21-2007 - 3:08pm

Hi,
I did not do gfcf (gluten free and casien free) for the same reason (eating limited food). But one other mom convinced me that the child will eat variety if you actually went on GFCF diet. So bravely I jumped into it and he is willing to try new ones now. We are still not 100% casien free, but getting there (experimenting with hemp milk now). We are still not soy free. But I think it has made a huge difference in terms of melt downs. So please do try.

Also the supplements have made big difference. I am giving him (B6 (25mg) + Magnesium), Cod liver oil (1tsp), Multi vit. and DMG (125 mg) with extra folic acid. But you have to start one at a time and in low dose too. After some time (its been more than a year now), I am cutting back to see if all these are still necessary for him. A good probiotic is necessary for their gut to heal. I am looking into culturelle.

Lastly, we are doing OT therapy and Michelle Garcia's ST and this has been a huge help.

No one cure for this issue. My son still has a lot of anxiety, which is my current research topic (LOL!!!!)

Good luck, it is a long road
Anandhi

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Tue, 08-21-2007 - 3:25pm

I am sorry Connor is having such a hard time. Part of it may be, as you say, the summer and having less structure.

As for the dietary changes, although it was a major factor for our son, I would be the first to say it is not a "cure-all" it is more like one of the many tools that can sometimes help our kids. I know that medications are important for controlling some children's anxiety and other behaviors. All the therapies are important too. It seems we all unfortunately have to try different things to see what works for our childen. Sorry to say, lots of trial and error.

If your son has diarrhea after having dairy products/milk, then I would say you might consider weaning him off it gradually and finding a replacement. My theory, at least for my son, is that all his food intolerances made him feel bad, which made his behavior worse. If I had diarrhea all the time I'd be cranky too!

Maybe try just that first and see if it helps. Start with baby steps, maybe mixing a little soy milk or rice milk (whatever you think he will like better, rice milk is sweeter and is white, looks more like cow's milk) with his regular milk and gradually phasing out the cows' milk over time. Just make sure he is getting enough calcium. You can get milk substitutes (soy, rice milk etc.) that are enriched to match the nutritional requirements of cow's milk, many at your regular grocery.

There are other things you can try, but I think it is best to go slowly, one thing at a time. Especially with school starting.

As for "natural remedies," it is kind of the same thing as with the diets, I feel it is more of an extra help, but not a magic bullet. If your son has OCD tendendies, maybe increasing his omegas might help. You can do that with foods and also with supplements. Somewhere recently on this board there was a thread about omegas. If you can't find it, I can try to bump it up for you.

Maybe just start with eliminating the dairy, possibly adding more omegas. Keep talking with your neurologist too about the medication options. I don't have experience with clonidine, but others here might.

Let me know if you want more specific information on dietary things. I am happy to help there, at least to share our experience.

Katherine

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2003
Tue, 08-21-2007 - 8:34pm


We've been gfcf for about 3 months now. Once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. A website that explains the approach of "treating" with diet and supplements is generationrescue.org. Another website that gives helpful information on the gfcf diet is tacanow.org.

Good luck!