Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional I think I cured DS's AD/HD

I know. It's hard to believe. It must not really have been true AD/HD although he clearly fit the criteria for the hyperactive-impulsive type. He was diagnosed with chronic motor tics and AD/HD this year at 6 yo. Words can't describe the level of hyperactivity we are talking about. We put him on an extremely low dose of hypertension medication (since stims are contraindicated for tics) and that stopped his tics and calmed his aggression and impulses. We put him on fish oil which improved his mood and calmed a lot of his hyperactivity as well.

Then, we did an WISC and I learned about working memory. (His is average, but the psych felt that it was holding him back intellectually and academically.) The relationship between working memory and AD/HD is a popular field of study right now. I worked with him at home and was unconvinced that working memory was the root of his problem.

Based on what I learned HERE, I bought The Mislabeled Child by the Eides. I concluded that, although he met the criteria for AD/HD, he didn't have what they called "a primary attention problem." This is where the gifted thing comes in. I noticed that he had far fewer issues when he's intellectually challenged. Since so many dysfunctions result in AD/HD symptoms, I honestly don't even know what AD/HD is anymore! Anyway, I haven't finished all of the chapters yet, but I decided that he actually met all of the criteria for Sensory Processing Disorder and SPD is a MUCH more accurate description of what's going on with him as opposed to AD/HD. Sadly, as I'm sure everyone knows, SPD isn't in the DSM IV which means that there is no insurance coverage for treatment (which usually comes in the form of OT). Anyway, the Eides state that some psychs believe SPD is on the autism spectrum. That one knocked me out for a couple of days. I alternated between panic and joy for finding a new treatment direction. But, I had to admit that SPD rang true. So, operating on the premise that autism treatments will help SPD symptoms and convinced that SPD symptoms were the root of his AD/HD behaviors, I looked up treatments for autism.

What I learned was that many kids who are dx autism spectrum (40-something %) benefit from probiotics/acidopholus. Since my doctor had recommended one for me months ago to counteract antibiotics that I was taking, I was suddenly able to digest milk and all this other stuff. So, I figured that, since the probiotics didn't hurt me, I'd give them a shot with DS since most of the autism sites suggest it. Oh my goodness, the next day, I saw a difference. It has been about ten days now and he's behaving like a completely normal child. We just sat down for lessons for about an hour and he really enjoyed it, didn't bounce around, fidget, slap his head, tic, nothing. I am stunned.

Obviously, I have a lot of learning to do since I've just stumbled across all of this. I think I'm going to try a leaky gut diet (specific carb diet, body ecology or haas) for the whole family and see what happens next. I can't wait to take him off medication! I actually believe that's in our near future. I don't know if I can answer any questions for anyone, though. I honestly don't know the first thing about autism and I have lost confidence in my understanding of AD/HD and tics, as well.

I know I probably sound like a troll now, but I just wanted to share what's going on. Happy days!

I don't think it is "trollish" to have found something that works for your child and sharing it. Every child is different and like you mentioned ADD/ADHD and autism have a very large "range". I'm glad you found something that works for your child.

I don't think Autism is a single disease. I think of Autism as a set of symptoms which may arise from different causes. I think it could be several starting points which have a common endpoint in the brain. It depends on how you define autism on whether or not a person where dietary changes improves the condition. If you define it as a set of symptoms, not matter the cause, then it's ASD.

I find this fascinating and I'm happy that you're finding something that works!

This reminds me of the PANDAS where excess of antibodies to strep causes neurological pathology.

That's awesome giftedticcyhyper! I pm'd you.

Funny you should mention PANDAS, Dazed, because I was just about to chime in... yes this is very interesting.

For the past few months I struggled to find a probiotic that my son would take. He refused acidopholus, probiotic yogurt, and Kefir, and I finally found a pill-form probiotic that tastes just like his vitamins, so he's been taking it for a few weeks.

I thought I was just giving this to him to counteract the antibiotics he's been on for months.

BUT-- it so happens that for the past few weeks I have noticed his behavior gradually improving for the first time in months... as if a black cloud has lifted off our house.

So thanks for posting this, giftedtichyper, something more to consider! I never would have given the probiotics that much credit.

This is all very, very interesting.

Bronxmom - At one point during the pro-biotics initiation was your DS's tonsils/adenoids removed?

Here's the chronology:

On strong antibiotics since early December for chronic strep
Tonsils and adenoids removed 5 weeks ago.
Three weeks ago, forced to switch to a lighter antibiotic.
Two weeks ago, finally found a probiotic he would take every day.

One week ago: a black cloud lifted off our house.

Of course, I have no idea at this point what the cause/effect really is...I am just learning to be attuned to what works.

He also takes ibuprofin every day, because apparently, his brain is inflamed.

Sorry to hijack your post, gth! But this body-behavior stuff is very interesting, especially since doctors seem incapable of seeing it!

giftedtichyper, I just sent you a pm

Do you mind passing along the probiotic you are giving him? I was going to look into one for my DS. My sister's son has ADHD, and he is also on a probiotic. The Omega3 fish oil is already helping my DS, I think (2 wks now). Thanks

I don't mind but I'm not a doctor, just so everyone knows and I'm still a complete novice at this. I got pointed toward this particular brand by the lady at Whole Foods in the vitamin section. It has to be refrigerated. It's a loose powder and I mix it with water and basically tell him to act like a man. Awful, I know. It tastes sort of like weak milk, actually. We are experimenting with different juices to mix it with, now.

Ethical Nutrients

This is the fish oil that DS loves. He takes a ridiculous amount of it because the recommended dosage was like a drop in the bucket. Fish oil helps with inflammation.

Nordic Naturals

Wow, good job! I love hearing other people take diet as a serious cause of health issues.

I have heard really great things about body ecology. Here is a link to someone who used it for her autistic son: http://www.healthiertalk.com/caregivers-guide-autism-0259
She has a blog somewhere that talks about it but, I couldn't find the link.

A great probiotic for kids on the autism spectrum is D-Lactate Free Probiotics from Custom Probiotics. It is dairy free, hypoallergenic and does not contain any artificial colors, flavors, sugar, gluten, soy or FOS. Dairy and gluten are huge problems for many, many kids on the spectrum (including ADHD/SPD as well).

That's wonderful. I am actually a huge advocate of probiotics. I take them every day.

my son has SPD and I have read everything I can find on it and have met with several psychs and doctors and almost everything I have read/heard states that a child with autism almost always has SPD, but it does not work the other way around - you can have SPD and not be on the autistic spectrum. My little guy has had SO many assessments and does not have the required checklist items/requirments for autism or aspergers and we have had 3 doctors all agree on the findings. There are several articles out there that seem to automatically lump SPD into the autistic catagory because as one of our doctors states - it is convenient to do so....SPD is where ADHD was 15 years ago...no one quite knows what to do with it or where it fits in so they lump it in with something. We have had so many doctors and professionals state that he is no way near the spectrum and his family doctor lately has been leaning towards that we just have a very highly gifted child that has some serious OE's.....so before automatically jumping to the conclusion of autism with SPD, make sure to do some more digging and talking with professionals because there are a huge amount of doctors/people who do not think that all SPD children are on the autistic spectrum :-)

Belle, I get what you're saying and it's true, SPD doesn't have the most important autism hallmarks. There is strong verbal comprehension in these kids, they have social affiliation, eye contact, spontaneous displays of empathy. My son is so emotional and sensitive. He is acutely aware of what others are feeling and is sensitive to facial expressions. It's not autism, right? Interestingly, the Eides who wrote that book I'm reading even stated that there was a link between SPD and highly or profoundly gifted kids. They also said that 2E kids (gifted with issues) are more likely to be mis-labeled autistic than other kids. I don't really know what to make of that just yet because I'm still actually digesting everything that's happening.

I also remembered what was drilled into us in every science class, "A correlation does not equal a causation." so the fact that SPD occurs without autism does not escape me. I have been to every doctor in town. Excellent doctors, as a matter of fact. DS has seen three psychologists, two physicians, three OTs and a psychiatrist. Others have said that he seemed on the spectrum (teachers, assorted nosy types) and I kept asking the docs about the possibility. Every single one laughed off the suggestion that he might be on the spectrum and I still don't think he has high-functioning autism, asperger's or whatever. I now view my focus on how he didn't have autism as something that was holding me back from considering different treatments. The probiotics helped. You can call his disorder a pizza for all I care. It's getting better. LOL.

Love the comment - "You can call his disorder a pizza for all I care. It's getting better. LOL." In our every day life and with families I just call him my Tornado child because that is how he conducts his day :-) We love the throw it at the wall and see what sticks method and what works, we keep and what doesn't we throw away :-)

Along the same lines but a little off-topic, what do you think about giving a child soy milk? My son (7) has been drinking soy milk since he was one, after several ear infections. My mom finally said, "you know, it could be dairy, two of your sisters couldn't tolerate cow's milk". So we switched to soy milk (well, formula first then soy milk). And, lo, and behold, the ear infections and sinus infections cleared up.

Since then, however, I've had two people tell me interesting thigs about soy milk. The first is that it inhibits intellectual growth in boys. The second is that since soy milk has a lot of estrogen, it can cause problems in boys by messing with their hormones. We do let him have dairy in pizza and ice cream because he loves them. When we had allergy testing, he tested very low for a reaction to casein, the protein in dairy.

Thoughts, comments, questions? Is the soy milk contributing to some of the behavior prolems we're seeing? He usually has 2 cups a day, sometimes 3.

I've read similar things about soy milk. I don't know if it's true or not. WOuld he drink rice milk? Now that he is older and the anatomy of his ear canal has changed, he might be fine w/ dairy. It won't hurt to take him off soy for a month or two and see what changes occur.

I'm doing coconut milk right now. Soy is a huge allergen and there's some problem with it in the U.S., like ours is unfermented or something so the protein is useless to us. I don't know. What I do know is that I can't have dairy and I also am sensitive to soy milk and that particular combination of allergies is very common. Rice milk is great for the stomach and delicious but not especially nutritious. My mom just told me about coconut milk (which is also antibiotic and antifungal) and I bought some just this Tuesday. The kids drank it like it was going out of style, fell asleep and woke up in the morning with rosy cheeks. So, I'm going back to the whole foods (only place that stocks it here) today to buy two gallons. It's called "So Delicious". I tried their ice cream but it was too coconut-ey but the kids loved their yogurt.

Cow's milk is mucus forming so if you're going to do that, there will be mucus issues in all of their forms. However, I have just learned something very interesting about cow's milk. It's not necessarily the casein that's the problem. When they take the fat out of milk, they add back in a bunch of vitamins and other stuff. The vitamins can be sourced from chemicals that cause reactions. So, if you choose to serve cow's milk, make it whole milk, not skim. Kids with neuro issues need all the fat they can get, anyway, over three years old or not.

That's exactly right.

Tell me more about the coconut milk - is the protein comparable to cow milk? We can't do soy here either (allergy) or almond milk (allergy) and rice milk doesn't have the protein (unfortunately milk is a primary source of protein for my most picky eater). I have longed to try a dairy-free, or less-dairy, diet for a couple of my kids, but it would be hard to do it if there's still cow milk in the frig. I don't get to whole foods very often but I'm interested in experimenting.

The container reads: 65% medium chain fatty acids. It also contains 5 grams saturated fat per cup (250 ml) and no other kind of fat. I did read that it contains lauric acid which is an antifungal/antibacterial. That's kind of all that I know. I wish I knew what the RDA was. How much before I start to see negative effects? We're all stick thin here, though, which is common when you're hyperactive. LOL. Personally, I view it as a fat source more than protein. The protein is only 1 gram per cup.

My next move is to learn to make yogurt. It's supposed to have even more probiotics if it's made homemade a la SCD diet. I don't think I can do the actual diet at this point, but I am going to try the yogurt. So, that would be a healthy source of protein for you if you wanted to do that. I don't know. My mom just sent me THe China Syndrome. Haven't even opened it yet but she now believes that cow's milk in its entirety is the root of all evil.

Have you checked into raw dairy? That could be an option if you really need protein. http://www.realmilk.com/why.html There's also goat's milk. The casein is supposed to be different and it's safe for a lot of people.

Thank you. I won't hold you accountable:)

My DS is allergic to wheat and diary, but tolerates goats milk very well. I tried rice and soy as well, but they don't have enough protein for my also picky eater. He has a mild allergy to soy as well; so I give it to him in moderation. He does eat soy yogurt; but not every day. I will have to look into the estrogen levels in soy. That's interesting. Thanks ya'll.:)

Update. We can't seem to make the GF diet work so we just cut out as much as possible. The fish oil tablets did not work. What we have found to make a HUGE difference is swinging. I can't explain the mellow calm that comes over both my kids after swinging. We have also started eating fish every other day. Now DS is back to full-on neuron firing and I am back to mental exhaustion. So I am either trying to keep him from climbing the walls or mental exhaustion. *sigh* At least he is doing a tons better. Thanks for all the helpful tips here. We love the coconut milk smoothies!

Yay for you! I'm glad something has worked! Swings help us out tremendously. Oddly enough, it only works when DS does it himself. If we try to swing him, it backfires and makes him more unbalanced. It's very weird, but whatever works!