When Shawn was a baby he would cry for no apparent reason and was afraid of loud noises. As he grew, whenever I tried to vacuum, mow the lawn or anything else involving noise he would run into his room screaming. If I tried to find out what was wrong he would say "Why should I tell you? You don't care anyway!". His favorite answers were: Nobody cares about me, Nobody likes me, Nobody loves me, I can't do anything right, I am stupid.
When Shawn was 6yrs old he started to talk about wanting to die and he was drawing morbid pictures (he is a great artist) all the time. If I couldn't find him all I would have to do was check in his closet or under the bed and he would be there huddled into a ball.
When he was 7yrs old he started kicking, hitting and punching his older sister. When he got violent she had to lock herself in another room to keep him away from her. He was also talking about killing himself so I took him to a counselor. The counselor felt Shawn had Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Ok, that explained the violence and screaming but what about the suicidal feelings?
I decided to have him evaluated by a psychiatrist. His mood swings were like someone was flicking a switch in his brain. He would be playing and happy and then he would become extremely violent. The psyciatrist diagnosed him with Bipolar (Manic/Depression) and started him on Depakote, Lithium, and other medications. I wasn't thrilled with the diagnosis but now we knew what was causing the problems. Right? Wrong!!!
At one time Shawn was taking 22 pills a day and still not getting any better! He finally refused to take his medication and refused to go to school and wasn't going to bed until 2 or 3am.
Ok, so now he wasn't taking his medications, wasn't going to school, was still violent and suicidal and not sleeping. I took him to a psychologist to see if he could convince Shawn to get back on his medication and back in school. The psychologist noticed Shawn's red ears and cheeks and suggested a book by Dr. Doris Rapp called "Is This Your Child?". The book is about food allergies and the types of reactions they can cause. I have to say that this book has changed our lives!!!!
I noticed one night that Shawn had several glasses of milk and several pieces of cheese. Most food allergies can be blamed on foods your child either loves and eats all the time or foods your child avoids. Within a short time he was extremely violent, nobody and nothing was safe! I took him off all dairy products for a couple days and then had him try dairy again. Once again he became extremely violent.
I decided to have him tested by an allergist. His tests did show allergies to some things but not any food. When they did the milk test it came back negative but within 15 minutes of leaving the office Shawn was yelling and screaming at me, throwing things, hitting things and was basically OUT OF CONTROL! I have since found out that allergy tests are not conclusive for this type of reaction.
I have used the elimination diet to find out what causes Shawn's outburst and it has made a world of difference. Life now is full of trial and error. We do not use any processed food in our house. No more macaroni and cheese, no more hamburger helper. Nothing but meat, unprocessed vegetables and fresh fruit. Shawn cannot have any dairy, wheat, soy, processed sugar, food coloring, additives, etc. The list goes on and on. We have found that Shawn can have Almond milk and rice butter to replace some of the dairy that he can't have.
The good news is that Shawn is now 9yrs old, he is not taking any medications, he is back in school, has more energy, looks better, feels better, is happier and is doing great!! We no longer live in a war zone (most of the time)! He still has set backs occassionally when he eats something he knows he isn't supposed to (like candy). But overall Shawn has made remarkable progress.