wendi_inbloom

I am having my Dr friend call in a blood test to the hospital. He has a list of things he wants to check for. I am also considering an MRI. My son has a grant through our hospital that would take care of any bill through that hospital. It pays for his OT. I am just going to make sure about the MRI first.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THESE RESPONSES:) I guess my question about the DAN Dr would be... how do they determine if a child has deficiencies or intolerances? Can they do testing, or is it trial and error? I am not asking to sound skeptical! Just wondering what to expect. It was really hard for me to decide to go with the abilify. Scout had been prescribed a similar drug by our pediatrician more than a year earlier and I decided to try the allergy testing, OT, behavioral therapy, and got a second opinion from Riley Children's Hosp. Through the guidance of our wonderful OT, we had tried natural approaches with no benefit. Once the school situation became a state of emergency (was told he could no longer attend the public preschool, this after multiple IEPs were not carried through at all, I had to file Due Process)... my OT and I agreed to try the meds. I have a very close friend who is an MD, there were a couple of natural recommendations I was considering and he felt could be no less risky than trying abilify. I don't mean to sound like I would not be willing to try something new... I will try anything to help him. I am just frustrated because I feel like with the human body, if something is going wrong... why can't I know exactly what? KWIM? Like with the abilify, I do feel that the fact there was such a huge improvement right away is evidence it is working directly on the problem. But if his problem is a chemical imbalance, isn't there a test to show me that? Isn't there a blood test to show blood levels and if there is a problem there?

Hi, Pamela... thanks so much for the advice! I will definitely check that book out. I did have Scout tested for food allergies about a year ago, including corn. He had a mild allergy to milk, the Dr. said it was very mild and he didn't think it would be causing him any problems... but I removed it from his diet for a while and didn't see a change. I am considering taking him to another allergiest... the guy we saw was very old school and told me that he did not believe that allergies would cause behavioral problems. He did not test him for food dyes, which was one of the things I really wanted to check into.

Thank you so much, Cheri! I would appreciate any comments:)

Thank you so much, Cheri:) How old is your son now? I hope that the dx led to relief for him and your family. Would you mind if I asked... at 4, did your son have tics? I guess I am not sure why the child psychiatrist has said that. I don't know why I didn't ask that when she said it, but you know how it is when you are wrangling your child and trying to have a discussion about him, with little time.

My 4 year old son, Scout, has many behavioral/emotional difficulties that have been excessive and extremely worrisome from the beginning. I don't really know where I am headed with this... just venting, I suppose... and hoping for some good advice:) Currently, he sees an OT once a week for Sensory Processing Disorder-sensory seeking, a behavioral therapist once a week, a child psychiatrist once a month, and is taking 5 mg of Abilify. The Abilify decision was a very, very difficult one for me but I felt that the destruction the behavior was doing to his self-esteem (on top of everything else) was worth it to me to try... and I have been VERY happy with the results. Preschool has been sooo hard. I am a single parent, and so I unfortunately require Scout to be in preschool/childcare... however, I work part-time at one job, and have a part-time business that I am able to do mostly at home. Scout is in preschool from 9-3 and I work during those hours. I started him in a morning preschool program 2 months before his 3rd birthday and 2 years later, he is in his 5th preschool. 3 preschools tried, but gave up on him... one babysitter kept him for several month but finally decided he was "too physically and emotionally exhausting." He is now in the preschool at our home public school, where he will attend Kindergarten next year. Dealing with the school and the IEP process was a nightmare, I am extremely dissappointed with our school districts special education program. HORRIBLE. After a ridiculous process that I won't even go into... Scout now has a full-time aid, all day, only for Scout. He attends preschool in the morning, then the developmental preschool in the afternoon. He supposedly gets OT consultation... which (in my school dist) means nothing. Scout's symptoms are: aggression/extreme impulsiveness... this has been a HUGE problem from the moment he could crawl. This is the reason for the full time aid (the safety of the other children). The abilify has helped this tremendously! His impulsiveness was so extreme I felt like I couldnt take my eyes off of him. I feel there is something in him driving him. In fact, you could see him clench his fist, grit his teeth... and I swear that you can sometime FEEL the tension in him. Even with the therapies and medication, the aggression is still a daily event... just not a constant struggle. But even at this time, when I am breathing a huge sigh of relief that he is doing sooo much better, I still have to pick him up for suspensions periodically and just got a 4 page letter from his teacher this week addressing her concerns. negative attitude... Scout has a strange problem with never wanting to admit his likes, enjoys, is looking forward to something. It almost seems like he fears any type of attention, even if it is good. I have not had a birthday party for him the last 2 years, he says he doesn;t want one and will tell everyone to leave (and he would, he does this often if anyone visits us), took ornaments off the tree at christmas time and refused to every say even to ME what he wanted for xmas, etc. Little things too, for instance... tomorrow the kids are supposed to wear pajamas to school for fun and so Scout says he doesn't want to go and says he doesn't have any pajamas. I wonder if this might be anxiety that comes out as anger. I have panic attacks and have had since I was a child. He also has a very hard time communicating about anything about himself, even with me. Social awkwardness... when attention is on him, he will either act very wild, or silly. Short attention span... I hate this for him, he can't seem to even focus on something that he is enjoying. The last 2 times he has seen the child psychiatrist she has said to me... "I really feel like I am looking at a Tourettes child, and I think we are just seeing it very early." I don't really see this... only because (from what I understand) Tourettes is characterized by tics. When he is in her office, the social awkwardness kicks in and he does start in with what I'm sure she is reading as vocal ticks. He will just make very silly noises, and repeat silly words. But I don't really think this is a tic.. I think it is just acting awkward. He does not have any physical tics. He does do, in my option, a little bit of stimulation type of stuff... shirt sucking, nail chewing... and he will (when in public or in wild mode) smack himself in the forehead. I don't know if this behavior is sensory seeking, anxiety, or what? I have tried to tell myself that getting a diagnoses is not the important part, but treating the symptoms is. BUT... for some reason, I want solid answers. I take him to the behavioral therapy, he does play therapy alone with her and I don't get much feedback. Meeting with the psychiatrist is short, and it seems to just be a med check. I took him to Riley children's hosp for an evaluation almost a year ago and they too were reluctant to say much due to his age. Is there a magical age when I will start getting answers? Am I not dealing with the right people? Is there a neurological examination that can tell me anything? It took me a while, but I am certain that there is SOMETHING wrong with my child, it's not just behavioral. Help:(