Guest guest Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 Our son Alex was cute, loving, obviously bright, and very funny, especially at home where he felt safe. He was also extremely moody, overly sensitive, a picky eater, given to tantrums, and hard to understand. Thank goodness his mother was a health food nut already, and recognized hypoglycemia. This kid would get so down he would no longer recognize he was hungry. Occasionally we'd have to force a teaspoon of honey into a screaming child. A minute later we'd have a reasonable little boy! Many ADD and bipolar people have blood sugar management issues. School was tough. Alex was frequently bullied, and had a hard time with much of the work, even though his intelligence was never in doubt. In grade three a school nurse detected some sensory integration issues. A year-long program of eye exercises finally allowed him to learn to read. He had no ability to track till then. He tried home schooling in grade 9, not a success, but in that year he shot up and bulked out, so at least the bullying mostly stopped. He still had no friends. Since he was not hyper, and we live in a small town, ADHD was never considered. Besides, it was less fashionable in the eighties. Enter the algae. In the fall of his final year, Alex started eating a gram of AFA daily. And became a different person. Gone were the tantrums and the emotional ups and downs. Especially the downs! The change was gradual. We realized something had dramatically shifted the night of the history essay, some time in November. As usual, Alex had left it till the last moment. Usually this would have meant moaning and gnashing of teeth, stomping around in panic, and generally freaking out until all his energy would have been gone and it was too late to do any work. This time, he came home, had some extra algae, and calmly went to work. He emerged for dinner, had some more algae, and continued with total focus till 1AM, when the assignment was done. The grade was 100%. He also made friends for the first time that year, 1997/98 We still had no idea about ADD. A while later I attended a seminar by ADHD expert dr John Taylor, who described ADD minus the typical H. To my utter amazement I heard him describe my son as if he knew him. Alex later did receive a "diagnosis". What a joke. A half hour talk, fill in a questionnaire, here is your label, would you like some ritalin. Thanks, but no thanks. I recognize many of the typical ADD traits in myself and my husband. Whenever I have forgotten my beloved greens, I find myself spinning around in circles not accomplishing anything, craving carboohydrates and having trouble finding my words. After a life time of feeling tired and anemic, I now have energy all day, (almost) every day! Ien in the Kootenays***************************************************"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."~George Bernard Shawhttp://businesshelpingpeople.comsee my face, learn about creating your life!************************************************** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 Ien, Thank you so much! Especially for that bit about craving carbohydrates. I crave carbs and Matan could eat potatoes all day, every day if he was allowed to. I did think that maybe there was a problem there but I never realized it could have anything to do with his ADD/ADHD. Matan is 9 and although his reading skills have improved, he hates it and he is still counting on his fingers for simple additions and subtractions. In any case I believe I have my work cut out for me and that often makes me feel overwhelmed and then I crash and do nothing. I pray that doesn't happen this time. Claire , " Ieneke van Houten " <ien@w...> wrote: > Our son Alex was cute, loving, obviously > bright, and very funny, especially at home > where he felt safe. > > He was also extremely moody, overly > sensitive, a picky eater, given to tantrums, > and hard to understand. > > Thank goodness his mother was a health food > nut already, and recognized hypoglycemia. > > This kid would get so down he would no longer > recognize he was hungry. > Occasionally we'd have to force a teaspoon of > honey into a screaming child. A minute later > we'd have a reasonable little boy! > > Many ADD and bipolar people have blood sugar > management issues. > > School was tough. > > Alex was frequently bullied, and had a hard time with > much of the work, even though his intelligence > was never in doubt. > > In grade three a school nurse detected some > sensory integration issues. > A year-long program of eye exercises finally > allowed him to learn to read. > He had no ability to track till then. > > He tried home schooling in grade 9, not a success, > but in that year he shot up and bulked out, > so at least the bullying mostly stopped. > > He still had no friends. > > Since he was not hyper, and we live in a small > town, ADHD was never considered. > Besides, it was less fashionable in the eighties. > > Enter the algae. > > In the fall of his final year, Alex started eating > a gram of AFA daily. > And became a different person. > > Gone were the tantrums and the emotional > ups and downs. Especially the downs! > > The change was gradual. > We realized something had dramatically shifted > the night of the history essay, some time in > November. > > As usual, Alex had left it till the last moment. > > Usually this would have meant moaning > and gnashing of teeth, stomping around in > panic, and generally freaking out until all > his energy would have been gone and it was > too late to do any work. > > This time, he came home, had some extra > algae, and calmly went to work. He > emerged for dinner, had some more algae, > and continued with total focus till 1AM, > when the assignment was done. > The grade was 100%. > > He also made friends for the first time that > year, 1997/98 > > We still had no idea about ADD. > > A while later I attended a seminar by ADHD > expert dr John Taylor, who described ADD > minus the typical H. > > To my utter amazement I heard him describe > my son as if he knew him. > > Alex later did receive a " diagnosis " . > What a joke. > A half hour talk, fill in a questionnaire, here is > your label, would you like some ritalin. > > Thanks, but no thanks. > > I recognize many of the typical ADD traits > in myself and my husband. > > Whenever I have forgotten my beloved greens, > I find myself spinning around in circles not > accomplishing anything, craving carboohydrates > and having trouble finding my words. > After a life time of feeling tired and anemic, I > now have energy all day, (almost) every day! > > Ien in the Kootenays > *************************************************** > " Life is not about finding yourself. > Life is about creating yourself. " > ~George Bernard Shaw > http://businesshelpingpeople.com > see my face, learn about creating your life! ************************************************** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.