BEWARE, it's colored!

This past week was Halloween and I cringe every year. Now, don't get me wrong...I love dressing up and hanging with friends. But I hate all of the colored candy/food. It is in everything. Things that don't need it at all (like rice crispy treats). The reason that I cringe is because my kids aren't allowed ANY food colored items. I know, it seems harsh. But let me back up a bit.

It is 2002 and my oldest son started having MAJOR behavioral problems. Now, here was a kid who the year prior was making straight A's, in gifted/talented classes, and loved going to school. Suddenly, he could barely make it through the school day without melting down, knocking his work off of his desk, or being absolutely uncontrollable. He was suspended numerous times. To the point that, the school refused to take him back unless we medicated him.

We took him to one pediatrician, and she prescribed Adderal. Then, we added in a behaviorist, a psychologist, and a counselor. The medication started increasing too: adderal, risperdal, trileptal, clonidin, ritalin, back to adderal, adavan. It was a nightmare.

We tried sports as an outlet, but he was tiny for his age and didn't enjoy soccer or basketball. Someone suggested gymnastics. We tried it. He loved it! But we still had an issue with medications and school. He was expelled from the first school and so we drove him to a school for gifted/talented. He was still having trouble. We even had him hospitalized because the medications were making him so unbalanced. We were desperate and didn't know how else to help him.

Just when I felt like neither he nor I could take anymore, we met a family at gymnastics that had severe food allergies. They were seeing a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and were having positive results for their children. We went to see Sylvie, the DOM, and spent hours with her on our first visit. We left feeling hopeful.

That hopeful feeling was soon dashed because trying to get our pediatrician and psychologist to work with her was impossible.

So, we changed to a different pediatrician and stopped going to the psychologist. The new pediatrician did full blood work. (No one had done that before). There was something really wrong with Damian's liver function. The levels were so high that he was closer to being put on the liver transplant list than he was to having normal ALT levels. Our new pediatrician, Dr.G, said that we would never no if his liver functions were already to high and if that was causing some of his behavioral problems or if it was caused by the medication.

Sylvie and Dr. G worked great together. Dr. G handled all of Damian's physical care and lab work. Sylvie would mix up herbs and slowly started replacing all of the western medication with it. With both of their help and support and along with the new school, we kept a strict food diary. Anything he ate was written down and then we would record his behavior a few hours later. After a couple of months, we all sat down and went over the journals. There was a definite pattern. He would eat breakfast at school and melt down before lunch. He would have the school lunch and a snack and would melt down before or shortly after school ended. Through all of us working as a team, we narrowed the food allergies to sulphites and food coloring. We pulled both of these out of his diet and continued to work with the behaviorist to correct some of the old habits. It took us a year and a half to get Damian completely off of both western medication and the herbs.

Fast forward to today. Damian is now 16 years old and a level 10 gymnast. He is a senior, an A student, and is taking honors classes. We know the signs to look for if he accidentally eats/drinks something that is colored. (For Damian, he has a chemical reaction. His eyes can dilate, skin becomes blotchy, and he is extremely angry or weepy sad.) He will tell us that he doesn't feel like himself and will go take quiet time to himself.

Recently, I also starting noticing that when my 7 year old daughter was coming home from school, she would cry, knock her homework off the table, and cry/whine some more. A quick talk to the teacher, we learned that they were eating colored snacks as a class in the afternoon. We now send in her own snacks and made a box of replacement foods (natural jelly beans, naturally colored m&m, fruit juice popsicles, etc.) for her to keep in class. If there is a class party, I send in snacks for my kids.

But, when I went and volunteered at the Halloween parties at school this year. I stood there filled with horror and sadness. Even though my kids had their own treats, all of the treats brought in by other families were colored (even the carrots and celery). All I could think was 'how many kids may be suffering like my son and daughter'? How many are having trouble with behavior or focus because of the food that they are eating? How many parents feel that they have no other choice but to medicate their kids?

Maybe, there is something cheaper and simpler than medication. Maybe, more people need to hear our story so that they know that there is an alternative. Maybe, it is just simply not eating food coloring!

Heartbreak & Food

Over my life, I have experienced many different types of heartbreak. You know the ones: loss of a friendship, loss of a pet, loss of grandparents, miscarriage, divorce, even losing the big game. The list goes on and on. With all heartbreaks, you feel helpless and sometimes hopeless.
One of my worst heartbreaks was in 2002. It was supposed to be one of my happiest times. I turned 30, married Tom, and was expecting my first daughter (child #3). But it wasn't all a bed of roses. My oldest son, Lord Humble, was struggling. At first we said it was because there was so much change going on in his young life: moved to a new state, new school, step-dad, and there was going to be a new sibling.
But, we started seeing odd behavior at school. He would get frustrated and shredd his work, flip his desk over, break his pencils, and remember none of it later. He was suspended several times. The school refused to take him back unless we had him put on ADHD medication. So, to the doctor we went and came home with one medicine. But quickly, one turned into 3 and we were continously increasing the dosage. Things escalated. He was expelled from school. I was crushed. My nerdy gifted child was struggling and I didn't know what to do.
We petitioned the court and had to have him committed to a hospital for evaluation for 48 hours. Again I was crushed. Tom had to carry me away from the door to the car! I still remember him screaming and crying. I could hear him call, "MOM! MOM!! I WILL BE A BETTER BOY! I'M A GOOD BOY!! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!! MOM!"
I didn't know what else to do! Every bone in my body ached and I felt completely numb. I started having contractions and had to be monitored. Red was scared and worried. It was taxing.
After his release, he was on 3 different medications. Those didn't work and were changed quickly. They ran a battery of tests: bipolar--NO, temporal lobe seizures--NO, ADD/ADHD--NO. So, we were back to square one.
We brought in a behavorialist and 2 different counselors that visited us at home and at the new school. We tried different sports to give him a physical outlet.
Finally, we tried gymnastics. He fell in love with the sport and I met a mom who intoduced me to Sylvie (our DOM).
With the help of Sylvie and our new pediatrician, it took us several months to figure out what was causing such behavioral problems.
It was a severe food allergy!
We learned that Lord Humble is severely allergic to food coloring and sulfites. Both of which he was eating in his school lunch, packaged foods, and of course fast food. We also learned that he has liver damage. We will never know if it was caused by all of the different medications or if his ALT levels were high before the meds.
It has been a long hard road for our entire family. Lord Humble has been off all meds (both western and eastern herbs) for over 4 years. We maintain a very strict diet for him at home and he is thriving! Although I homeschool him, he is taking all honors classes and is already a full grade level ahead. He is also dreaming of being an Olympic gymnast and wants to help kids like him oneday.
I am proud of him and our family. We pushed through the storm and came out of it better informed.
There are times when I wish that it wouldn't have happened to my children, to my family. But, because of Lord Humble's allergies, we have been able to help other children who are having similar behavorial issues.
For more stories of heartbreak, please visit Absolutely Bananas.