We have officially had our first major "infraction reaction." Wow. Wow. Wow. (Did I say Wow?) I am still trying to pinpoint the cause, but there is no doubt about the effect! It has been so rough that my husband even suggested last night that maybe "this plan" was causing our son to regress! Deep down we both know that it is not the healthy stuff that is causing him to regress, but the past few days have been AWFUL for my son! All I know is that it started on Saturday. We DID eat at a potluck fish fry, but I saw the ingredients in the batter, and he mostly ate what I brought that I knew was safe. The few options that COULD have caused it are: a roll (I totally forgot and let him have it!), the oil for frying the fish (I didn't see what kind it was), or a bear-meat sausage ball (he was dying to try bear and it looked safe). One of those three completely sent him over the edge. Saturday night he was pretty wired and had a hard time settling down for bed, but that is not ALL that uncommon, so we didn't worry about it too much. We even had a few tears but chalked it up to being tired from a busy day.
Then. came. Sunday.
Sitting through services with him was pure torture for him and for us. He was totally wired and COULD NOT STOP TALKING. Even when we would shush him or punish him, his chattering was nonstop. If he wasn't chattering, he was humming. Or tapping. Or clicking. Or something. It drove us batty. We would ask him to stop and he would say, "I can't. I'm trying!" In addition to this, every little thing set him off in tears. We would ask why he was crying and he would just cry harder and say, "I don't know!"
Then came Sunday afternoon. I was exhausted and not feeling well, so I was desperate for a short nap. Daddy and Daughter both fell asleep quickly, but my son was like a bouncy ball in an enclosed room. Constant motion, constant noise, and constant frustration. I even tried to hold him on my lap and cuddle with him (his favorite, even at almost-six), and it was like trying to cuddle with jello. He was everywhere.
Sunday evening worship and a baby shower were no different. I was so stressed from it that an older lady came over to ask if I had a migraine. I just pointed at my son, and she sympathetically nodded and said, "Oh, I had one of those, too." It was horrible. I felt awful for fussing at him ALL DAY, and his tears had me in tears. I finally parked him in front of Daddy at the baby shower (Daddy was talking to a friend) and said, "I'm not strong enough to keep wrestling him. I give up."
We finally got him to bed on Sunday night, and I followed immediately. I was completely and totally exhausted...mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Monday was only slightly better, and 3 days later we are still dealing with the after-effects. The kids have been out of school almost all week for snow, so I am curious to see how things go today when they go back to school. I am looking to see if there are things I might have overlooked in our elimination that could be triggering this. #1 seems to be "annatto" coloring found in cheeses and such. Cinnamon is another possible trigger, and we eat LOTS of cinnamon. That may have to be the next step, although we will all cry if cheese is off the menu, as it is my kids' primary source of calcium. I am aware of all the fat in it, but sometimes that is the only protein or calcium my daughter can stomach in the mornings. This is a day-by-day learning process, and my brain hurts! :)
I have been doing Feingold pretty faithfully, but I have purchased a few "unapproved" items based on reading labels and unavailability of some of the brands they list, but I am thinking I may have to buckle down even more. Ugh.
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