Every since me was born he has been a very hyper child. He hardly sleeps and has always been like this. He is very alert but has the attention span of a 5 year old. Because of this it is affecting him education and is 2 years behind and it is getting worse.
I first put it down as a side-effect of the asthma medication but surely this can't be the answer as he is the only child in his class that is like this out of the 3 asthmatic children in his class. He is constuntly being told off for not doing his work and it' snot that he can't do it because he can. When they do an activity that requires them to move about and be physical active he can do the work and always with out fail does the best piece of work ever. At the moment in his class they are looking at Eypitions which is one topic he adores and the creative work he is doing so well at but when it comes down to write and sitting at a desk he can't do it.
So I am wondering if the class teacher is right and he needs assessing for attention issues or if I am right and it is just a side effect which we can't avoid due to the medication he requires to control his asthma. I would love to wean him off his inhalers and just see what happens to the hyperactive but daren't as, as soon as we start messing with his medication under the supervision of his GP his asthma goes pants. At the moment it is controlled 100% know I am self-medicating him with anti-histomense as the pollen was triggering his asthma. Got a meeting with the class teacher tonight and then on Tuesday both me and my son have a doctors appointment to talk about my asthma and then talk about my son as at the moment I am self-medicating him which I hate doing, he has got problems with his ears as he suffers with glue ear which is getting worse and for the past 2 weeks know he has been on treatment for a veroca which doesn't seem to be getting better
Thank you for reading this and for repling any reacurrance is greatly appreciated. I just feel so alone at the moment with having to deal with my son as not even his father can cope at the moment with only 4-5 hours sleep a night because of our son waking and not being able to get back to sleep because he is awake and just wants to play and run around
As you have seen from my other post, I seem to get hyper after taking the steroids. The steroids, from what I have read, contain cortisone which is artificial cortisol that the body creates when we are stressed or involved in physical activity - so it kind of makes sense that taking the steroids does make us hyper. I wonder if it happens more with people whose own production of cortisol is a bit flaky as opposed to others who cortisol production has shut down completely?
Have you read the latest research about Vitamin D supplements with regard to childhoold asthma? In the last month there have been some interesting trial results from both Japan and one of the leading lung hospitals in the United States. Apparently Vitamin D is needed by the adrenal glands to make cortisol and if we have no Vitamin D then cortisol production is not possible. Vitamin D is actually a hormone apparently, and not a vitamin, and some Doctors are theorising that asthma rates have soared since we all began covering ourselves in sunblock which cuts out 99% of Vitamin D creation.
If you google a Dr. John Cannell and his VitaminDCouncil I think the latest newsletter in the newsletter archive mentions this - I am not sure whether links are allowed here or not so have not posted the link - or you can simply Google 'asthma and Vitamin D' in the News section of Google.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for your reply. I does help. My son only wears sunblock in the months when it is really hot. Some parents at his school have already started sending their kids to school with sin block which I think is stupid. I only use factor 25 as well which is lower than the one I ma meant to use on him as he burns horrible as he is a red head. Don't know why but this seems to make a difference in how quick they catch the sun. I prefer to make him wear thin cotton long-sleeved tops and thin cotton trousers to avoid using sun-block so that he is getting all the vitamin D that the sun producers in his body natural. He also has all his vitamin and loads of other stuff tested once a year and the tests this year came back his vitamin D levels where 100% fine which is always a good sign.These get tested because I couldn't give my son the vitamins when he was younger as they trigged his asthma. Always a nightmare and I always found it best to avoid everythign and anythig where possible that was trigger
Hi sorry to hear your having a nightmare at the mo. My Son has severe asthma, mild autism and ADHD. We took my Son to the Tinsley House Clinic which specialises in alternative treatment for all on autistic spectrum. It's not cheap and best started before the child is 9 as the brain holds on to the information and you don't have to keep going for treatment. We have blips where his autism seems to come back, we just start the exercises again for a week (at home and free!) and it all settles down again. Matty's asthma is triggered by emotions and we have noticed his asthma has got worse because his understanding situations has gone back to the autistic state. We have started his exercises again and hope his asthma settles too. Just google Tinsley House Clinic, see what you think.Got to go and pick Matty up from school.
Take care
Kate x
I know nothing about autism and have no doubt that anyone who has a child with autism has probably become a walking book on the condition.
But I did come across this article on Vitamin D and autism which might be of interest. Be warned, it is long and complex.
Rattles thank you for your reply. It backs up what lados class teacher said tonight about asthma and autism/ADHD possibly being linked. Well she said that today she tried an experiement and it worked a treat. She got him to work in a smaller, quieter group today and they had the most productive day so far out of him. She should me his normal amount of work they can get out of him and it is literaly only 2 or 3 sentences but today they managed to get 8 sentences from him in their creative writting session. In the creative writting session they are re-writting little red riding hood but they have to make it as if it is a real story. Well my little champ decided the other day that everything was going to change in his story and it was not going ot be little red riding hood which is OK as it follows the rules of the story. The other day when they started doing thier draft of ideas he decided the wolf was not a wolf anymore it was going to Iron Maidens maskot Eddie, the grandma was not grandma anymore she was going to become a guitarest from Metallica called Hepfield, the wood cutter was not a wood cutter he was going to be a wrestle shawm micheals and little red riding hood was going to be Iron miadens vocalist Bruce Dickinson. (Yes he listens to metal music and loves it. Covers his ears and screams when pop or any other form of music is on until it gets turns off and metal is put on.) And the title was going ot be changed to the head-bangers journey. And today they had to describe the main character and draw it. His teacher has said that when they can give him free rome of what he writes about then they will do this as he seems do a lot more work which I agrred with. She did say though that his fitness seems to be improved which is great as he is able to join in longer dueing PE but when it comes down to dance he wont dance unless he has his dad's Ipod on and that they need to stop him doin gthis and stop him screaming when the dance music is turned and dueing music lessons. I point blank told his teacher good luck as I have been trying ot stop him doing this since he was baby with no joy. But she has siad that out of all the boys in his class even with his issues he is the best behavioured boy and even though the past 2 weeks runin gknow he has been second choice for golden time, (half an hour free choice session when years 3,4,5 and 6 can mix together for an activity as a reward for good behaviour) he doesn't stand out as a bad child and that once we have all the management stratigies in place for the dyslexia then the attention might improve. I am going ot meant to the doctor though about his attention, hyperactiveness and his sleep issues as something is not normal. No way should a child be living off 4/5 hours sleep a night and not be exhursted by the end of the week.
Hi, Matty's teacher thinks he is fab and really well behaved.He has a few ticks like constant humming or tongue clicking. Because his asthma is bad so is his autism and he has gone really quiet.Matty sometimes misunderstands what other kids say, gets upset and has severe asthma attacks.
Matty loves rock music so do I and my other Son, we listen to the rock charts. Matty has to listen to 5 minutes of classical music before bed, it's part of his Tinsley House routine and it's fab, he relaxes and has slept in until 8.30am this morning (a miracle if you knew him).It's a real challenge having autism with asthma, we are hoping a few more days of his routine and we can go back to normal again, but will see.Matty is really good at school but it all kicks off on the way home, someone said it's because he behaved well all day at school, it's like a coil spring effect. On the way home he just lets go.
He may have to go back on oral steroids, asthma is awful at mo. Luckily after being nebulised last night, we all slept well and no night attacks, so far so good.Matty's behaviour is affecting the whole family at the moment, my Hubby finds it's really hard to deal with. I send Matty upstairs for half an hour time out, it's not a punishment, he needs the space, can't handle lots of people.He always comes down calmer and happier.
Take care
Kate x
link to breathing and hyper bahaviour / insomnia / asthma.
I read a very useful article/ ebook by a pediatrician just today relating to many of your experiences with your son and his breathing.
The Author, Dr Mary Fay, says that breathing issues caused her sons insomnia and behavioural issues and that she found that her textbooks did not help her in her situation (she had to unlearn some of what she previously held has true but found to be poorly constructed and biased in favour of ""popular""or current medical beliefs incorrectly blaming the parents for their childs’ issues with sleeping and behaviour (surprisingly without the requisite medical trial proofs to back the theory) .
She noticed that her child had a constant runny nose and dismissed it. Her son got huge relief from some allergy injection and his behaviour improved beyond all recognition in a short space of time. She described his symptoms as being caused by his blocked nose thus developing sleep difficulties.
Separately, i am a firm believer that there is a huge link between the symptoms your child is exhibiting (including disrupted sleep, asthma) and others with ADHD and concentration issues and their normal breathing habit. We should ALL breathe in and out through our noses all the time. It is wrong to suggest that mouth breathing is ok because many people do it and are unaware of the consequences. It has long-term negative effects on our lung health as well as our overall health (higher heart rate, excessive/constant cold/flus, increased sensitivity to triggers) , our gum health, bad breath (dry mouth), tooth health (changes mouth ph and dries out protective saliva), teeth and jaw formation (crooked or overcrowded teeth and narrow facial structure). All these can be directly related to nasal versus mouth breathing.
I grew up as a lifelong asthmatic with a massive improvement once I learned to reverse my previous bad habit of mouth breathing. Having explored this further, I believe that every child (and adult) should be encouraged to breathe through their nose. Its difficult to teach small children (younger than 5) but worth encouraging them using a soother (soothers help prevent mouth breathing developing as the normal habit and thus prevent teeth alignment issues - i grew up believing that soothers caused tooth deformation- i don’t not think that is true anymore- if your tongue is in the roof of your mouth (where it is designed to be)it counteracts the pressure of the facial muscles to ensure correct mouth structure development). I am the parent of three boys and I actively encourage them to breathe through their nose which they do. I believe that this has helped them to not develop asthma as well as benefitting them overall health-wise. It was not difficult to get them to do it though it times there were a lot of reminders required. Kids often copy their parents breathing technique resulting in false convictions on the hereditary element of bad breathing and its effect on narrow facial structures/ bad teeth etc).
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