It is said that there is more than one way to solve a problem, for us, this was true with autism.The following story is our shift from prescription medication, to alternative vitamin therapy. The results were amazing!
When the child that I had mentioned in my last post began to show signs of autism, I both recognized it and had great compassion as I had fought to find answers for the youngest of my three sons years before. When my son was 18 mos. old, we bought a house and moved to a new part of town. Up until that point, my son was the most easy going of my three children. I thought that I was becoming an accomplished parent as my other children were bright and athletic. I had many great years working with children in my daycare and at church.
In the business of moving, changing schools, updating shots and dental work, getting settled and meeting new neighbors, my youngest son began to change. At first we thought that he was just unsettled with his new surroundings. My older boys were having their own adjustments as well, but as they grew more settled, my youngest grew worse. My calm happy child was now fearful, picky, and would throw tantrums over nothing.We could not reason with him. My friends told me that he was in the “terrible two” stage but I had taken care of so many two year old children by that time, I knew better.
One Sunday, we went to pick up my son from his class, which had a new couple as teachers. The wife took me aside and told me that I should take my son to a specialist because he had signs of autism. I politely told her that I didn’t think so and kept as straight a face as possible. I was furious!! How dare she put a label like that on my child! Denial was one of my biggest roadblocks. In my mind, I thought of complaining to the pastor, finding a way to prove her wrong or just never going back. This was nearly 20 years ago, there was little information or support at that time.
On my son’s next check-up at our pediatrician’s office, I was given the news that I had dreaded. The doctor began to talk with me while my son was all over the room. I would tell him to sit down and he would. As soon as I would turn to listen to the doctor, he would spring up again. Finally the doctor told me, you can quit telling him to sit down now, he can’t. My son, who was now 4yrs. old, not only couldn’t sit down if others were talking, he could not bounce a ball, could not balance on a bike, could not color, could not sit to be read to, could not play back and forth outdoor games like catch or frisbee, could not swallow cold cereal with milk on it, and was full of the strangest fears.
My heart sank as the doctor wrote out a prescription, I walked out of his office determined to find some answers. I got on my knees and cried out to God because I didn’t want my son to have a lifetime of medication . The first thing that came to me was that if I was dealing with something like diabetes, I would have no problem giving medication, which broke the stigma that I was dealing with. I decided that I would give the medication a try while still looking for answers.
I just so happened to have a friend who was opening a health food and vitamin store. She allowed me to pour through her books. I searched out information from Europe, where more nutrition was used rather than medication for many things. In the meantime, my son began to balance on a bike for the first time. After three weeks on medication, he had a short window of time where his handwriting appeared, he could reason when he did not get his way, his fears lessoned and he could eat cereal with milk.
The medication was working, but it had some unacceptable side effects. His appetite dwindled to almost nothing, he lost too much weight, and had deep dark circles under his eyes. When his medication entered his system, he would cry and his heart would race. When the medication was wearing off, he was very agitated. Having seen the positive effects of the medication, I now knew what results to look for from alternative treatments.
I began to decrease my son’s medication while introducing vitamins and herbs instead. The vitamins and herbs had the same positive effects as far as battling the symptoms, but they did not cause the side effects, such as loss of appetite and increased heart rate. For us, this was the way to go. I have since shared this method with others and with wonderful results. The list will be at the end of the story with the proper disclaimer of course.
Returning to the story of the boy in my daycare, the father came in one day and asked me how my day had been. When I described his son’s behavior and shared with him that vitamins may help, he took the list and went shopping that day. Sure enough within two weeks, the boy was far more reasonable, could look at his hands when doing something, began to have normal speech, and enjoyed playing with toys rather than just holding one or throwing one. The mother let me know that her son was fine and he really did not need this but she went along with it since it would not hurt him. I am sure you all can guess what came next.
The 60 day vitamin supply began to run out, no refills came and in about two weeks the old behavior returned. The mother came to pick up her son and could not get him to put on his coat. He would not listen, he hit her, and he took his arms out of his coat as soon as she put them in. It took two of us to get his coat on and he screamed all the way to the car as if he had been wounded, yet neither of us raised our voices or punished him in any way. On the way home she called me and asked for the vitamin list. Now, after two years on vitamins, one would never guess that the old behavior ever existed.
I am not a doctor, I am a determined mom. I can not make any medical claims here. If you consider trying the list I am giving here, I recommend consulting your doctor. Do not take your child off of medication without your doctor’s permission. Some school age children are taken off their medication by their doctor for the summer, this could be a good time to see if this vitamin therapy would work for you. If your child is on additional medication for other conditions, take your list to your doctor. In some cases, though very rare, vitamins may not blend well with a particular medicine.
- All natural multi vitamin with selenium - One good brand is Thompson’s check your brand carefully synthetic vitamins can make your child hyper as an allergic reaction selenium is said to attach itself to heavy metals and pull them from the body
- Evening primrose oil - can be bought in gel caps has almost no taste and can be put in applesauce, is said to coat raw nerve endings
- Choline inositol - B vitamin that is said to increase oxygen to the brain
- Huperzine-A - An herb that is said to increase dopamine and improve short term memory the reason for ritalin is to increase dopamine
The amounts are determined by body weight. Most of these will have instructions to take morning and evening. If you can not figure the amount for the weight of your child, ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
This is what worked for us, you may have found even more answers, if so I would love to hear them. The more we share, the more we learn, the stronger together we become.
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