A Peaceful Place

I am truly thankful to God for creating a more peaceful home for the Fitzgerald family. It's not a perfect place my any means, but it is much more relaxed and enjoyable now that we are on track with the Feingold diet. I finally eliminating a huge trigger...high fructose corn syrup. While not specifically eliminated on the initial stage of Feingold, it is one of the things they suggest eliminating if you are seeing inconsistent results with just eliminating the artificial additives and naturally occurring salicylates. I suspected this and it was confirmed after a trip to TGIFridays when Elijah had a hamburger. The next morning, he was a little off and weepy. I called Fridays just to see if what I suspected was true. They did have corn syrup solids in their hamburger buns. Since then, I've eliminated HFCS, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, corn sugar and dextrose. The results have been consistent. More compliance, less irritability, and overall, just a happier kid. It is interesting that I started this because of hyperactivity issues and the biggest difference I've seen is being less irritable and more agreeable. Overall, I feel better that our whole family is eating more natural foods and we feel better as a result. BTW- this was strawberries week. It seems to be going well. Adding in apples didn't go so well, so I am glad that he seems to tolerate the salicylates in strawberries. He is so excited to try strawberry jam this afternoon!
There are two things that I am so grateful for. One, is that I can truly say I am enjoying being Elijah's mom. I know that sounds strange, but sometimes I didn't enjoy being his mom. I, of course, always loved him, but no one likes to argue and feel like they are walking on eggshells all the time with their child. I look forward to him getting off the bus and am truly excited about summer. We had a fun Spring Break together and he and his brother are getting along much better.  (Well as brothers should get along. They wouldn't be siblings without a good fight now and then!) One other great thing about being on this plan is that since it eliminates the behaviors that were the result of chemical reactions to foods, I can now more clearly see the heart issues and behaviors that he struggles with and can address those head on. I guess you can look at it as a filter to the heart. I still feel like I am in the beginning stages of this. Don't worry, the journey is not over yet!

P.S. Parents magazine just ran an article about ADHD and that the FDA says that studies have proven that eliminateing food dyes and preservatives was not effective in treating ADHD. A few pages later, they had a pages of fun birthday cake ideas with a pageful of artifically dyed candies and icings. Wonder who Parents magazine and the FDA are are in cahoots with? Even China's health director has just started an initiative to elimiate food dyes in their country because of it's effects on children. Maybe this is a different blog for a different day, but it is one my mind today. :(. Needles to say, I was pretty disappointed. Am I sounding like a hippie, yet?

Stage Two Results

If you have been following my blog, you know that so far we have been on Stage One of the Feingold diet...eliminating a lot of artificial additives including artificial dyes, artificial sweeteners, artificial preservatives, artificial flavorings. In addition, in Stage One, we have also eliminated naturally occurring salicylates as these can be problematic for some people. I have from the beginning thought this could be a problem for Elijah, but was hoping that it wasn't. We eliminated from apples, grapes, berries, and tomatoes and any products containing these in any form. It has been very limiting especially in treats that are all natural yet used these juices for color or flavor. After several peaceful weeks in our home, I began reintroducing some of these naturally occurring salicylates. I began with half of an apple last Thursday and I have never seen a kid so excited to eat an apple before! Day 1 was fine. Day two, I gave him another half of an apple. Day 3, I added his gummy vitamins (which contains fruit juice) and that pushed him over the edge. Each day, I have given him a small amount whether it was from an organic sucker made from fruit juice or a few slices of apple, but only one "treat" a day if you will. Unfortunately, the results have shown that he does seem to react to the salicylates. I've seen more overreacting and crying over the past few days than I have in the past few weeks. Interestingly, he has had some infractions where he ate food dyes and did not seem to have an adverse reaction to those. Salicylates can have a cumulative effect meaning that just eating one item may not be a problem, but having too much in his system can be problematic. It is also known that some fruits and vegetables can be well tolerated while others cannot. Therefore, we are slowing down on the salicylates and will move toward trying to see which foods cause the most problems. Honey and corn based products (corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) are also on the watch list for now. I am truly amazed at how what we eat can affect our bodies so much, especially in people who are extra sensitive like my darling son.

It May Sound Crazy, But It's True!

So after weeks and weeks of being on this program, we are finally seeing consistent improvement and are ready to move on to the next stage of gradually adding in foods with naturally occuring salicylates...things likes apples, oranges, strawberries, and grapes. It has been a long process and frustrating one as I felt I was seeing inconsistent results up until a huge revelation last week. Now, a good researcher will only have one variable at a time. While I knew this, there were a few other things I tried along with the food plan thinking that it couldn't hurt. One of those was suggested on the Feingold forums...giving epsom salt baths can be calming and soothing for children. Without going into a whole chemistry lesson, I did some reading and it sounded like a good idea. I like to soak in epsom salt when I have muscle aches so I started putting a cup of epsom salt (magneisum sulfate) into Elijah's bath, too. He seemed to love it, but the night after his first bath, he woke up with nightmares, which is very unsual for him. I took a mental note and thought maybe it was just a fluke. Later that week, he had a bathroom accident which he hadn't had in years. Again, I thought maybe it was just coincidence or due to "detox" from the diet.  I would see a good pattern of behavior and then it seemed like something would change out of the blue without having any "infractions" on the diet. It is important to realize that in the winter the boys maybe get two baths a week because they are not as dirty. Finally, last week, he was doing really well for several days and then it seemed like someone flipped a switch and he was back to undesirable behaviors. My husband jokingly asked me, "What did you feed that kid?" My answer was, "Nothing different!" The day was not unsual. He seemed to be feeling fine. He had plenty of rest. Plenty of time to play with dad. Then, I was in bed thinking (dangerous I know). The only thing that was a little different was that I remembered that I gave him an epsom salt bath the night before. I pulled out the food/ behavior diary I have been keeping. In the diary, I also noted each time I gave him an epsom salt bath and it was so clear that the days after an epsom salt bath, his behavior was in some cases even worse than before! "Holy Cow," I exclaimed! I posted something on the Feingold forums to see if anyone else had found epsom salt baths having an opposite effect and found that this is not uncommon. It has been suggested that children who are extremely low in magnesium can react poorly to having such intense exposure to magnesium (remember that epsom salt is magnesium sulfate). Often, the salt will remain on the skin after the bath and continue to be asborbed by the skin.  In doing some research, I then learned many children with ADD/ ADHD are low in magnesium. Most natural supplements for hyperactivity (such as "Natural Calm") are strickly magnesium supplements! I think it is very possible that what was suggested on the forums is exactly what was happening. So, I stopped the epsom salt baths immediately and since then, we have had two consistently great weeks. I am also trying to up his magnesium by giving him "brownies" with hidden spinach, pumpkin seed granola bars and whole grains. I am going to discuss  magnesium supplements with our pediatrician, but for now, we are doing well and I don't want to add another variable....I learned that lesson the hard way!