That kind of Mom

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I have become “that” kind of Mom

sigh….

I swore I never would,

but I did it.

You know the kind of mom I am talking about. The type that has to pack separate snacks for their kid when they go to a party because there might be corn syrup in the food, or food dyes, or milk or…..etc…..

Yes, yes

that is ME!

My oldest daughter has ADHD and we have been treating it for several years with medication that seem to help. In the last year we have added a couple more medications because her symptoms have become increasingly hard to manage. I have wavered a lot on my level of comfort with her medications. On one hand they do help, a lot, they make her behavior manageable and her social skills better, on the other hand she is taking some powerful psychotropic medications and I wondered if we were just covering up the problems instead of teaching her to cope.

At the first of the year I visited a “witch doctor” (really she is a Nurse Practitioner who does Biofeedback) and she healed my chronic fatigue (thyroid). I decided to take my oldest daughter and see what she had to say. We found out that she is very sensitive to cow milk, corn syrup (and any other highly processed sweetener, like cane sugar and fructose) , peanuts and artificial sweeteners.

Pretty much anything that is found in a package.

Which isn’t much of a problem, I am a “from scratch” kind of gal…but…I do use a lot of milk and sugar in my cooking.

It has been a bit of an adjustment, but not too painful. She uses Goat milk or almond milk and honey for sweetener (going to get some agave nectar soon). In my cooking I too have switched to honey and Goat milk (I need to find someone who has a goat…). We also have started to wean her off the medication, and have added some supplements. There has also been a lot of prayer.

So what have we found a week later? I am cautiously optimistic. We won’t see the full effect yet, she is still on her medications, but some very promising things have happened. On Friday evening we went to an event, an open house for the newest LDS Temple, she was great (her medication had worn off by this point, usually I would have given her a booster pill, but I didn’t) until I let her have a cookie at the end, about 15 minuets later she was bouncing off the walls! I thought it was an interesting occurrence and took note of it. On Sunday we were at my parents house and she sat quietly and visited, a little angel, typically she would have been causing all sorts of trouble with her cousins and would have been banned to the corner. Our evenings have been calmer and she is more obedient.

I am excited that this just might work.

So, I guess I am “that” kind of mom!

13 thoughts on “That kind of Mom”

  1. My son, too, has ADHD. He was taking Ritalin and Seroquel. What we found was that his Ritalin dose was so high, that it was actually CAUSING some of the bad behavior. The Seroquel we used to help calm him, was treating the side effects of the Ritalin instead of really helping.

    We ultimately decided to do a very low dose of Adderall and LOTS of behavior management all day long. Things have become incredibly better for him and for us. He is a different kid now, and we are a different family.

    I'm not saying that this would necessarily help for your daughter, but it's another option for you to consider.

    I know my son reacts poorly to sugar, too.

  2. Interesting…….I have a woman I call for herbal healing for different things that come up. She does alternatives to antibiotics and natural healing. I love it. Hope you notice the help you want and need, no one wants to be on medication if they don't have to.

  4. The changes have been noticeable, and our home life has been easier.

    It has been a challenge for her not to have milk, but it is something she is really trying to do.

  5. I also notice a HUGE difference in my kids when we avoid processed stuff. I often fall into laziness and give them cereal for breakfast and other junk, and then wish I never had. We used to have all kinds of candy in the house and the difference when we got rid of it was remarkable! Also, can she drink rice milk or soy milk?

  6. Sometimes you have to do whatever the Spirit guides you to do-no matter what "other" people say. Good for you! My poor teenagers are always annoyed because I don't buy a lot of processed foods anymore. But they are old enough to go buy it themselves…..{sigh}

  7. My husband and his kids have adhd. It's not the funnest thing in the world to deal with, that's for sure.

  8. I am happy you have found answers…I know a goat lady who lives by me and sells her goat milk really cheap! Jesica bought it for Sav and you could get it on Mondays when you come swimming…have your mom pick it up for you if you can't find a goat closer to home!!!

  9. It's always a good mom who does what is best for her children. Good luck with the interesting diet, I hope it continues to work well with you.

  10. Have you heard of Wildtree before? It could be THE answer to your problems with your daughter. Wildtree is ALL NATURAL and made in a peanut free facility.

    It's all we eat.

    You should check it out http://www.amanda.mywildtree.com

    When you click on a product you can click on product profile card and it tells you all of the ingredients and nutritional information.

    Hope this helps 🙂

  12. Thanks, but no thanks Amanda…

    I don't pay people to do for me what I can do for myself

    and

    when I am feeding a family of 7 that food is way more expensive than what I can do on my own.

  13. I became one of those moms back in October. We're on the Feingold Diet. It's helping but I still had to give my daughter 10mg Adderall to get her through the school year. I guess I'll have to consider meds again when Fall comes.

    How did you find out about the milk allergy? I had my daughter tested and she came back negative but I've always suspected it might be contributing to the lack of focus and concentration.

    I understand about the cookie. My twins have been on Feingold most of their little lives and one cookie sends one of them into orbit for a good 24+ hours. It's scary what chemicals can do.

    Please update on how things go with your daughter. I'd love to see a fantastic success!