Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?

For a few years now, I have been watching my son for signs of AD/HD. At the beginning of first grade I asked his teacher if she was seeing signs of it and she said no. He behaves very well at school, rarely getting in any trouble at all. But at home is a whole different story! He has to be moving. He would walk around as he practiced his spelling words. He would wiggle so much while reading, he would literally end up hanging off of the couch upside down. When he was diagnosed with dyslexia, the psychiatrist indicated that she did not observe and impulsive behaviors. I asked his teacher this year and she first said she didn't see any signs of it.

So I have been going through the million question game. Is he trying so hard to make his teacher happy that he is using all of his energy to behave at school and just totally lets loose at home? Am I not providing enough discipline? Am I reading too much into his behavior (after all he is a boy)? Am I not giving him enough attention?

After consulting several people I had almost decided do a short trial (maybe a week) of ADHD medication, but this just was not sitting well with my mommy instincts. I don't hold any judgment about this type of medicine. I am a firm believing in using whatever you need. However, for some reason I just didn't feel like this is what was right for my son.

So I TiVo the talk shows that I like and watch them when I can. As I was getting caught up, I kept seeing Jenny McCarthy promoting her new book. She kept talking about putting her son on a special diet. My mommy instinct bells were going crazy! So I did some research and found great things being said about the Feingold Diet. Basically it is removing artificial flavors and colors, aspirin like chemicals, and salicylates.

So I ordered it and the information came in the mail yesterday! I am excited and nervous all at the same time. My son and I will be doing this together. I don't find the diet limiting in many ways, but I am not looking forward to loosing my caffeine!

Stay tuned and I will let you know how it goes for us.


2 comments:

Snicker said...

You will do fine on the Feingold diet. Be sure to make use of the message board. There is lots of support there and the membership packet is full of help.

Mary Lynne said...

Thank you for your encouragement! I have been lurking on the message board and already finding wonderful information. I am sure I will have plenty of questions once we get started.