Need Help With 4 Year Old

[taweavmo3]

Ugh, I am at a loss here! My four year old wakes up in a screaming, raging fit until he eats. He has done this on and off since he was about a year old. When we took out milk, it seemed to improve but not entirely. He has always seemed sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations, and it just seems to be getting worse.

After he wakes up, he literally screams at everyone, telling us to not talk to him b/c it's making his ears hurt... and he complains about the light. Once I get him to eat something, and drink some orange juice, he calms down after about 30 minutes. This goes on throughout the day before mealtime. He'll be a absolute angel after he eats, then before lunchtime he'll have another rage episode where he screams, hits, etc until after he eats.

I am exhausted! More mentally than anything, the screaming first thing in the morning are really wearing me down. At first I thought it was a food sensitivity, but since he gets better after eating, I'm thinking it's low blood sugar. Are some kids just way more sensitive to low blood sugar than others?

When he was 9 months old, he almost died due to dehydration from rotovirus. His body became very acidotic, and I've always wondered if that had any effects on his system. It was shortly after that when his screaming fits in the morning and blood sugar issues began. It may not be related at all, and I'm probably just grasping at straws...but it's always been in the back of my mind.

Any ideas? He's gluten/casein free and mostly soy free. We had him checked for diabetes last year, but he was fine. I'm clueless, and worn down, lol. Thanks!

[dandelionmom]

Have you tried giving him a hearty high protein snack just before bed? I would think that would help.

My daughter had really rough mornings before diagnosis and we suspected hypoglycemia. All that disappeared shortly after going gluten free though.

Is there a chance he needs an earlier bed time?

[RiceGuy]

I don't know if blood sugar could have that effect, so I hope others can help you with that.

However, my first impression is a candida overgrowth. I can tell you, it DOES effect a person's mood, personality, temperament, etc. Blood sugar fluctuations do effect candida, as does acidity, and so many other things. Even the sensitivity to light and noise.

If you want to test whether it is candida, you could try some caprylic acid capsules, or one of the other candida killers. Barring any allergic reaction, these shouldn't have any negative effects even if candida is not an issue. But, if there is a candida overgrowth, you'll need to avoid sugars, vinegars (including ketchup), yeasts (including yeast risen breads), and most fruits. The time it takes for recovery depends on the person, the strictness to which the diet is maintained, severity of infection, and probably other factors.

I hope your child feels better very soon!

[Juliebove]

My husband gets insanely annoying if he doesn't eat. I noticed this many years ago and it never got any better. The problem is he tends not to eat for long periods of time.

One thing I've done with him is to put snacks by his chair. He will eat if the food is right there and he doesn't get up and get it.

I spoke to a woman who said her coworker was the same way. He works two jobs and will go all day without eating. Then he gets surly.

I had reactive hypoglycemia for year before I finally was diagnosed with diabetes. I don't recall getting goofy or angry but I did pass out. What helped me was to have little bits of food throughout the day.

I almost always carried some trail mix with me that I made up mysef. It would have nuts, seeds, coconut, dried fruit, maybe some chocolate or carob chips. I would eat about a Tablespoon of that between meals.

For car trips I would take a piece of fruit leather or in more recent days, those little fruit snacks for kids. Just a couple of those between meals was all I needed to get my blood sugar back up.

Before we knew of my daughter's food allergies, she had problems such as not being able to pay attention, not doing well in school and chronic ear and sinus infections. But she did an odd thing. She seemed to think food would make things better. She would be eating a meal, throw down her fork in anger and demand a snack. I thought it was the weirdest thing. Somehow she knew that some sort of different food would make it better, but neither of us knew what. It was as if she were telling me the meal wasn't right.

Since we have changed the diet, she needs less snacks. She does go to dance class often right after school and on those days she needs a substantial snack because dinner might not be for hours. But so long as I space out her meals about 4 to 5 hours apart, she is fine.

Keep in mind that little kids can't eat as much food as we can at meal time. So they do need snacks between meals.

[taweavmo3]

Thanks so much! It very well could be that I'm not feeding him often enough....with four kids, I get so wrapped up in doing things that I forget to give him a snack. Before I know it, it's been three hours since a meal, and he's already in a mood, yelling at anything that moves.

I ran out of probiotics for the kids a few weeks ago, maybe those were helping more than I realized. Hmmm, will have to get some more of those too. I gave him a snack before bed tonight, and I'm setting out some orange juice and pb on toast to eat before he comes out of his room to face the world. As for now, I'll enjoy my quiet house while the kiddos are asleep, and pray for a better day tomorrow, lol. Thanks again.

[ang1e0251]

I tend to be hypoglycemic but that's improved since going gluten-free. I still need to eat something about every 2 hours. When my sugar crashes, I really get moody; grouchy and angry and can't think straight. I can relate to him. I don't wake up that way though. The high protein snack is the best for me but the juice? No, for me that would be too much sugar and out of balance. Don't get me wrong, I eat a lot of sugar probably more than I should. But if my blood sugar is low, it's a no-no. Cheese or meat is the best thing for me then. Nuts are good also.

I'm curious, are you feeding him alternate flours that are gluten-free? I'm finding that I need to limit those. I get heartburn and they don't seem to digest as well as other foods. I do well with corn tortillas but gluten-free crackers, and other treats are better in small amounts for me. I stopped making the bread. It just wasn't making me feel good. I don't really know how to descibe it to you. I don't get like a reaction but feel better without them. Do you think they could be messing with his blood sugar?

[MarsupialMama]

Two things that are not really connected, but just some thoughts.

May be good to do a parasite cleanse. I had parasites for years and I acted this same way. When they were hungry, I would be an absolute grouch. Also suffered malnutrition from them, which contributes to funky attitudes. Felt shaky if I didn't eat RIGHT AWAY. This problem (as well as parasite cleansing) seem to go away when I cut out bread and oatmeal (possible gluten issue?)

Sounds like a possible blood sugar issue although I'm no expert. Not to scare you, but you might want to get your child's medical records and find out what they gave him at the hospital for dehydration. My daughter almost died from dehydration too (from vomiting from stomach virus), but when we went to the hospital they gave her a "glucose bolus" instead of just a saline solution in her I.V. It sent her into a shock which took her 3 days to recover from and get her blood sugar to decent levels (sent it up to 400. Normal blood sugar is around 100, varying by 10's). I have wondered if it will have affects on her later on (predispose to diabetes, or blood sugar issues), but so far she seems to be fine. Just a thought since you mentioned his hospital issues. They also told us that she had "acidosis" which later I found out is caused from DEHYDRATION (not because of some metabolic disorder they were testing for...and never found!) Dehydration causes acidosis (body being too acidic). Why don't doctors know basic biology??

I know this just gives you food for worry, but maybe there is a link which may help one day.

Make sure to keep him well hydrated (with water!) and off refined sugar - both will contribute to stabilizing b.s. in the long run.

Good luck!