ADHD Food Allergies or Sleep Problems
OK, I am a mother of an 11 year old that has ADHD. I have been reading over your website for days now in hopes to get a better understanding of what ADHD is. Now I am at a point where I think that he may need to be checked for food allergies. I also would like to add that he has not slept through the night since he was about a year old. Could his not sleeping have some thing to do with his diagnosis? If it is a possibility that his not sleeping is having an affect on his behavior, how would I go about getting some kind of testing or treatment for this issue. I know this is alot to take in, but I truly want to help my child to become a great adult, and I would like for him to learn how to handle things on his on without depending on medication. Thank you for all of your help and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
CS
Your have two great observations here... First that there could be possible food allergies involved, and second that there could be a sleep problem involved.
ADHD is a genetic neurologically-based medical condition.
Now, with that out of the way, it is well known that there are several other medical conditions or emotional situations that can cause the same symptoms of ADHD, such as difficulty concentrating, poor attention span, impulsivity, and so on. Allergies certainly can do this in children. So can sleep deprivation.
So it would be important that you and your pediatrician sit down and have a conversation about ruling out these other problems as potential "root" causes of your son's behaviors.
One easy thing to do now is to start our Eating Program
http://newideas.net/adhd/adhd-diet
and see if over the next 3 to 4 weeks you see significant improvements. If so, then food allergies may play a part in the situation. You son may still have ADHD and also have food allergies, or sleep problems, in which case dealing with the allergies and sleep problems will certainly help his performance at school and at home.
Please stay in touch and let me know what you decide to do, and how it turns out.
Thanks
Doug Cowan Psy.D.
