Our test results & ADHD meds

Wow I see its been a bit since I've posted. Ah, the life of working in catering in the summertime; 6 days a week almost all of August. Tammi working 6 days a week makes for a grumpy unwilling participant in life in general.

So we met with our ND and the results confirmed Leaky Gut Syndrome and an overgrowth in yeast among other things I can't even begin to grasp. Lots of imbalance. We decided, among the specific vitamins that he was lacking and extra special probiotic along with a yeast aid. Now the next step for him would be a heavier duty anti-fungal for the yeast. This will help the yeast faster than the yeast aid she put him on. A few weeks as opposed to a few months. I'm way beyond waiting to see an improvement.

But I have to say once we found his vitamins from the other ND had rice protein (a big no-no for little one) and it really didn't have enough iron for his skin, he's been tons better. So much so I can say best I've seen his skin in probably years. Almost perfect at times! And if we have a special occasion day with food, I can see the difference within a few days. Much better than the 3 weeks it took to recover last time. I really like the trend we are seeing.

So I started reading up on Leaky Gut. Man! does it have a whole lot of symptoms like what we are dealing with and the ones that stands out - attention deficit problems and kidney/liver problems, skin and eczema, allergies - all issues for little one. A small miracle is noticed - I'm with him as he requested a story book before bed one night; he's not really interested in the book, more in talking to me and has this wonderfully profound comment about liking to discover how things work, all the added curiosity. Can he really not have all these issues, just leaky gut? Intestinal permeability would be the technical term but it turns out many western medicine docs don't usually diagnose it. Too bad because I could have gotten his anti-fungal paid for by insurance.

On to the meds we decided to try. It was getting down to under 2 weeks until school and we figured he'd need the help. We decided on Adderall. The last of the stimulant choices that aren't based on what we already tried. BAD! BAD! Within 3 days his skin was itchy, scaly, and irritated beyond what the vitamins would help. So he's off again. The non-stimulants don't present much choice either, Strattera can exhibit signs of depression, something not good in our family history, or Tenex has side effects of skin rashes or issues, not good for him. So school starts in 2 days and he'll not have medication to help. Perhaps the yeast will die down fast enough to help him further...

ADHD, medication, and naturopathy

I read a new book, well skimmed through it called Kids Without Ridilin. They authors talked about natural ways to help kids with ADHD without using the traditional medication that western medicine seems to jump towards. The authors also have some studies to assist the reasoning and lots of families talking about their experience.

So I'm stuck in the middle. We know he needs help. The doctor said, well its sounds like ADHD and he definitely falls within those ranges and if we try a series of medication and it works, we'll know. How can trying medication really be the best way. IF it helps then its fixed. The middle part seems to be that we have an appointment on Monday with his new naturopath and she says all these food allergies, his bedwetting, and ADHD are all rolled into one. And that we are already on the right path to making it all better.

But what, what's the piece we'v been missing. I'm anxious to find out. The book listed a few things but couldn't give us anything to really try because it said each child it so different.

I'm hoping my Monday it will be 3 full weeks since we sent in his samples and hopefully the results from the tests will be back. I think its great to have a ND says she's there to help me straddle both worlds because right now I'm feeling that where I'm at. How do I give him the best benefit of both worlds?

I'll keep you all posted. I'm off to make wheat-free tortillas. I've been putting of baking and cooking some of his specialty items in hopes the test results would come back and all my horrors could go away. Too big a hope I know but you've always gotta have hope!