What physical medical ailments can cause or exasperate low frustration level, explosive...

[4Marmalade]

Without going into too much detail is there anything physically that could be going on with my oldest ds (8.5 years old) that could be causing or exasperating his symptoms?  He is inflexible, easily frustrated and has an explosive personality.  He is extremely active (just very strong and needs to participate in active activities).  I heard once that thyroid issues can cause lowered frustration levels.  Long story short we have had some intervention through our local children's health centre and been told he might have some sensory issues, some anxiety issues, might be "emotionally young", etc...  Nothing really concrete and the help we were offered is very similar to stuff we are doing already.  We have kind of reached the end of the line in terms of the help they can give.  We had been waiting for an appointment with a pediatrician and finally got the call today for an appointment in June.  I am thinking they will say the same thing but because they are a doctors office they might help us rule out any physical reasons for the issues we are having with ds.  Ds does sleep quite well - no tossing/turning and sleeps approx. 10 hours/night.

We did cut out dairy for about 4 months but there was no real change in ds's behaviour.  I've read about gluten-free diets being helpful but haven't taken that step yet.

I will probably cross post in Childhood Years too. 

[SpottedFoxx]

Your son sounds a like like mine.  Full on meltdowns, violent at times.  His teacher mentioned that she felt the behaviors were a bit inconsistent and wondered if it wasn't food related.  We figured if it was dairy or gluten, he'd be off the charts all the time as that's the majority of his diet. 

We removed food dies and almost like magic the behavior disappeared.  Now don't get me wrong, my son has melt downs but they are very typical 5.5 year old melt downs.  Not "wait, I only sneezed, why are you flipping out" meltdowns.  The FDA is doing a lot more research into how food dyes effect kids.

If you were to offer my son anything colorful to eat, he'd ask you if it contains "ickies" (his word for dyes) and if you ask him why he can't have ickes, he'll tell you (with a very mean face) "they make me angry!"

[RiverTam]

Diabetes

Children with diabetes have emotional swings and swings in aggression related to their blood sugars.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/emotional-issues-for-diabetic-children.html

[4Marmalade]

Thank you both.  We already watch for food dyes but I know how sneaky they are so will be more vigilant.  He has no other symptoms of diabetes but will mention it to the pediatrican.  I am hoping we can just do some standard bloodwork to see if anything is out of whack or look for any deficiencies.  Someone in another thread mentioned low magnesium levels may cause aggression.  Thanks again.

[Roar]

Good idea to get stuff checked at the pediatrician. Might be good to check lead level, iron level, food allergies.

Some people naturally have much lower tolerance for frustration. Is this a new behavior?

[A&A]

Up his sleep to 10.5 or 11 hours per night and see if that makes a difference--it really can in some kids. 

[HollyBearsMom]

Originally Posted by A&A 

Up his sleep to 10.5 or 11 hours per night and see if that makes a difference--it really can in some kids. 

Slightly off topic but any ideas on *how* to do this?  My son is 9 and has a regular bedtime but he never gets 10-11 hours of sleep.  Putting him to bed earlier doesn't seem to work as he is not sleepy. Having him stay up later backfired because he wakes up between 6 and 6:30 am no matter what time he goes to bed.

He is physically active-at least one hour of extracurricular sports, outdoor play, etc a day in addition to daily PE and 2 recesses at school. He is a great eater with a varied diet.  We limit/avoid many food triggers-artificial dyes, flavors, etc. 

I know he would benefit from more sleep because on the rare occasions he sleeps in (maybe once or twice a month) he has a better day overall.  His SID symptoms are diminished, his mood swings are less volatile, he is just......happier.

Would love any and all tips. thanks

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

I know he would benefit from more sleep because on the rare occasions he sleeps in (maybe once or twice a month) he has a better day overall.  His SID symptoms are diminished, his mood swings are less volatile, he is just......happier.

Would love any and all tips. thanks

Melatonin. I give my ds 1mg regular melatonin and 1mg time-released melatonin to make sure he gets the full 10 hours he needs. The time-released melatonin made made a difference in his behavior at school so I'm assuming that before, he was lacking in "quality" sleep.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by 4Marmalade 

Without going into too much detail is there anything physically that could be going on with my oldest ds (8.5 years old) that could be causing or exasperating his symptoms?  He is inflexible, easily frustrated and has an explosive personality. 

ADHD is a possibility. You could ask the Dr.'s office if they have parent and teacher surveys for this so you can have those ready for the appointment. Also, just because he is not tossing and turning doesn't necessarily mean he is getting enough quality sleep. We had first used melatonin because it could take hours to get ds to sleep. Later we tried time released melatonin because another medication (which we stopped) caused insomnia and there was a visible improvement in his behavior.

http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_signs_symptoms.htm

[HollyBearsMom]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II 

Melatonin. I give my ds 1mg regular melatonin and 1mg time-released melatonin to make sure he gets the full 10 hours he needs. The time-released melatonin made made a difference in his behavior at school so I'm assuming that before, he was lacking in "quality" sleep.

Hmmm-  never thought of meds/supplements.  How does the dosing compare by age/weight? My son is nine, about 4 1/2 ft tall and 87 lbs. Also- how long before bed time to you give it?

[buttercup]

Melatonin also has some anti-inflammatory effects.  My kids do well with melatonin.

Another thought is to look at mineral deficiencies, such as zinc, calcium and magnesium.  And also look at his gut function - aside from possible food allergies or intolerances, you want to look at probiotics.  If the gut does not have a balanced gut flora, this can cause behavioral issues in people.  The good bacterias play a vital role in helping the body break down food for absorption.  That means if he does have an unbalanced gut flora then there is a good possibility that he is not able to complete break down the food and absorb necessary vitamins and minerals...leading to vitamin or mineral deficiency...leading to health and neurological issues, ie explosive meltdowns, sensory levels, low frustration levels.

Just some thoughts.  I hope you find the answer.

Jenni

[4Marmalade]

I will look into the Melatonin.  Like HollyBearsMom, my ds is very active and does not seem too tired in the evenings.  We tuck him into bed around 8pm but he lies in bed reading until close to 9pm.  He wakes around 6:30pm.  

We did go to a naturopath and did treat ds's gut at the same time we eliminated dairy from his diet.  We seemed to get that back on track but there was no great difference in behaviour.  I am hoping the pediatrician will be able to test for any deficiencies.

We have also already completed some standard questionnaires with the school and ds's teacher.  These have already been sent to the pediatrician.  I don't think there were any huge red flags there (that I could see) but ds's behaviour at school and at home has always been quite different.

[kavamamakava]

My son calmed way down when I did a gluten free diet. I also like the suggestions of mineral supplements like magnesium.  We are already vegetarians and eat minimal processed food, no HFCS, no artificial flavors or colors, no msg, etc.  But gluten seemed to disturb him physically and really lowered his tolerance for frustration which seemed to also heighten his sensory perception leading easily to sensory overload. 

We did it for a year and he learned to identify when his body was feeling off and we then added it back in. Now he can tell me when he's itchy or feeling antsy or if things are really bothering him a lot. It wasn't a magical solution and I don't think he's allergic to gluten, but I think he has a difficult time digesting it properly and maybe gives him some mild cramping and gas. I made a lot of corn tortilla type foods and also rice noodle soups.  We didn't do a lot of substitution for products except for bread for sandwiches. I made wheat gluten free bread twice a week so we had loaves for school lunches.  

Not saying this is what's going on with your son, but you could also try an elimination diet. Many food intolerances will not show up as allergies but they still affect a body. http://www.feingold.org/

This is not diet related, but this book really helped me understand my son and work with him. http://www.ccps.info/books/index.html and I found a lot of good reading at this website http://www.thinkkids.org/