Has your family struggled with this?......

Jayden and I at Sea World this past weekend.
4 Days off Meds and was totally different
little boy

So for the past few months we have started to notice some pretty big changes in Jayden. Things like mood swings, insomnia, bouts of anxiety and depression, irratic behavior, anger and SEVERE migraines (were talking breaking down in tears his head hurt so bad). At first we chucked it up to A LOT of changes in our household and I mean A LOT. Eric returned to work after having been home for almost 4 months not to mention a COMPLETELY different schedule in which he's now working nights and sleeping during the day. I returned to work for a brief stint (more on that later) after working from home for the past 3 years; essentially all of his school years. Plus the stress of 3rd grade and his first official year of grades and the STAAR Test so we figured it was a shift in life. Jayden has ALWAYS been an old soul; very mature for his age, has conversations you wouldn't expect from a 9 year old.

The longer things continued to go on the more concerned I got. My baby boy just wasn't acting like himself. Saying things so out of character (and unsettling) and as a woman who has battled anxiety and depression for the majority of her life the last thing I wanted was my baby boy going through that at 9. So I went mama bear and did what I do best and started to dig.

Backstory
Jayden has suffered from severe allergies and asthma for pretty much his whole life. Before he was officially diagnosed by the time he was 2 he had pneumonia twice and bronchitis 6 times. It wasn't uncommon for us to end up in the ER on steroids and breathing treatments. Around 2 we had him allergy tested both blood and skin testing. He was diagnosed with allergens to dogs, cats, 3 types of molds, lots of trees, Peanuts, and many more. Our BIGGEST STRUGGLE is the fall seasons. From Sept to about January in our home it's a constant cycle of allergy induced asthma attacks, wheezing, coughing and congestion. We're talking every other week; some worse than others. Multiple steroids and constant breathing treatments. Not the life you wish for your child (though I know things could be much worse.)

The Symptoms
- Worsening eczema (we are talking spots not having cleared up in over a year despite a heavy steroid ointment).
- Night Terrors
- Insomnia
- Severe Anxiety
- Depression like symptoms
- In ability to focus
- Loss of Appetite
- Tremendous Appetite
- Always being SICK (like a nagging cough that will never go away we are talking MONTHS).
- Aggressive behavior
- Seemingly unhappy
- Easily Upset
- Unorganized (not like him he's my type A red personality just like his momma)
- pure exhaustion
- falling asleep immediately following school for hours or anywhere for that matter
- severe migraines (were talking multiple a week).

Taken as a separate entity and on an individual basis you could say these were all characteristics of a growing 9 year old little boy but you throw them all together for an extended period of time and then exacerbate them and you have some major red flags.

TREATMENT
After seeing many allergists, pediatricians and pulmonologists everyone pretty much concluded that he needed to be on 2 preventative steroid inhalers daily (Syimbicort/Qvar), a RX antihistamine daily(levizoterozine), a second RX antihistamine as a migraine preventative (proactin), albuterol breathing treatments as needed, a nose spray daily(dymista), plus prednisone EVERY TIME we've had a bad attack of uncontrollable wheezing. These have been pretty consistent since he was 2 with minor tweaks here and there. That's SEVEN YEARS of consistent steroids. Not to mention the immunallergy he's endured the past 8 months. (Basically he's getting 2 shots X 2 times a week of the things he is allergic to in hopes his body builds up to an immunity to them and he no longer struggles. The verdict is till out on this as we haven't concluded one whole round yet). Now I am not an idiot. I understand the repercussions that could come of this (withdrawals, worsening symptoms, etc) which is why I am monitoring him EXTREMELY closely as well as notified his school what we were doing and in constant communication with his teacher and doctors on how he is doing.

Taking things into my own hands.
I am a firm believer in modern medicine. I truly believe that it is for the greater good and Jayden wouldn't be where he is today and that my middle son Kayleb would not be here had it not been for modern medicine. BUT I also believe in the power of research. So that's exactly what I started doing. I started digging and what I was uncovering, and finding was solidifying my hunch. That the prolonged side effects of some of these medicines were the cause of the change in my first born. The side effects that he is experiencing were literally in parentheses (ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN) on EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of the medicines he is taking. That's when the red flags started going off and I felt something needed to be done. I also firmly believe that what we fuel our body with has the ability to help or hurt us and I will be the FIRST to admit that while I am a health and fitness coach I ALWAYS have room to grow especially when it comes to my kids and their nutrition. So again to the research I went. Y'all know how much I preach clean eating and we do our best to stay within our 80/20. But with the amount of health concerns, ailments, injuries, that I have seen within my family I decided it's time to take it a step further.

My solution
Much to the dismay of several of his Drs. I pulled Jayden from all of his meds on 10/2 and have started tracking the changes/behavior that I've seen. I've also decided as a family that for 30 Days we are going to follow the Whole 30 program so that I can see which foods help and hurt my boys. My plan is to journal this journey in hopes to help inspire others as well as see first hand for ourselves the differences it makes. Here's what I've seen so far.

10/3 - Allergy shot day. Also the last day he took his levoziterizine. He showed extreme exhaustion (in fact said to me multiple times “mom I'm sooo tired I just want to sleep) coming from the kid who NEVER NAPS. He fell asleep on way home allergist and then again after we saw the chiropractor.

10/4 - No meds PERIOD, early morning wake up was ROUGH walked in I could tell TV had been on (sign of his insomnia) didn't want to get up said he just wanted to sleep. Complained his throat was hurting, sneezing quite a bit, came home from school energy level was up, seemed more alert, said he had a great day, no complaining of being tired. Went to bed at 745 and was out by 8.

10/5 - (2 days off meds) wake up was much easier, didn't appear as tired, said he only woke up twice and was back asleep within 10 min. He was in a great mood. After school was by far the MOST energy and happiness I've seen. Laughing, acting silly (something I haven't seen in a LONG TIME), playing happily with his brothers, running around and just joyful. Minimal sneezing, quite bit of wheezing and complaining his throat hurts but was able to manage it. Was going to do a breathing treatment as I could tell he was wheezing more than normal but he forgot and it calmed down and he went to bed with ease.

10/6 - (3 days off of meds) No big issues today, woke up early and very energetic, complained a little bit of throats hurting but nothing major. Energy level was amazing after school, completely different kiddo.

10/7 - (4 days off meds) Spent most of the day in the car (slept for about ½ of the drive to San Antonio). Was sneezing a little but nothing out of the ordinary. Arrived in San Antonio very energetic and no concerns.

10/8 - (5 days off meds) Spent Saturday at Sea World. Laughed, rode rides, saw animals. Sneezing and coughing some but nothing crazy. Saturday night however was a struggle and did do one breathing treatment of albuterol at around 12:45 am.

10/9- (6 days off meds) - woke up lethargic, not much appetite for normal things he likes (cinnamon rolls) but did eat eggs, French toast and ham for breakfast. Complained of headache on way home and slept literally the entire way home. Did give him some ibu.

10/10 - (7 days off meds!) no school woke up on his own at 6:45. Was awake laughing and joking with brothers, played at the park for several hours, had lunch and scarfed down the entire thing. I did make him lay down and rest in the afternoon as a way of recharging his batteries after a long weekend.


10/11 - (8 days off meds) - woke up at 6:00am with no complaints. Has a slight cough (that sounded kind of deep) but not over the top like this weekend. Says he woke up once around 10ish but went right back to sleep. Will give Claritin and Benadryl as a preventative for his immunoallergy therapt today. Afternoon: Immuno shots went fine; minimal to no sypmptons with this round ( no sneezing, coughing or complaining of soreness) typically I see a pretty strong sneezing episode immediatley following his shots but not today. Attitude was in high spirits but also very feisty with me; not sure if that's him going through withdrawls or just being your typical 9 year old boy. 

So for now I will continue to log the changes I am seeing until Monday when we officially start the Whole 30 as a family. I will journal/blog about our journey and how each family member handles the progress in hopes that maybe our family's journey can some how help yours. Plus tips, tricks and meal plans for how to be successful on the Whole 30 as a family.