Can food allergies cause rage and make you a killer?

[MaryK]

I've often thought my 7 yr old might grow up to be a school gunman. He is filled with anger and rage, but only when he eats foods that he is allergic to. When he stays on his diet, then he is the sweetest, most lovable little guy you would ever want to have. I'm still worried about his future. I can only hope that we will be able to get him better by healing his body and his mind. He has Asperger's syndrome. We are doing everything we can for him, including behavioral therapy, diet, detox, and supplements. I found a very interesting DVD, called "Behavior and Nutrition." It talks about how certain foods can cause behaviors, including rage, and also certain medications that are meant to calm a child can sometimes create a child killer. Here is the link:

https://host328.ipowerweb.com/~littlean/osCommerce/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=99&products_id=874&osCsid=3b875aa530939da97d387bb987aaa91f
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Mary (37) GFCF/dye free
DH-Paul (44)
Peter 2-28-00 Asperger's Syndrome GFCF/dye free
Adam 3-29-06 GFCF/dye free/sugar free
miscarried twins 3-26-05
Jonah 4-18-06 (4 weeks early) BF

[mrsppmrxky]

One day I am going to have to remember what this female dr's name is. She is older and practices in TX.

I saw her on a morning talk show a couple of years ago and way back when Phil Donahue had a show, she was on then also.

She was trying to teach that allergies can cause rage.

Back 25-30 yrs ago, she showed a little boy that went crazy with rage when he was around perfumes........he was going to be on the show, but was in the elavator with someone that had on HAIRSPRAY and he went into a rage and could not come out. (They had film to show his 'normal' behaviour and then after he was exposed.)

A few years ago, she had a 12 yr old that was on film and he was BIG as an adult almost. He was fine and respectful, but after he bit a tomatoe, he started cussing, kicking, throwing things and spitting. It took 4 of them to barely manage him.

If you could do a google search, you might be able to find out about her. I used to have it in my favorites a few hard drives ago. LOL

She is very respected with her research. (or, maybe AL knows what I am talking about. LOL)
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[gfrach]

Oh yes!! I do think food allergies and sensitivities can trigger such things.

High fructose corn syrup makes me into a really cranky witch (and triggers my IBS!). There are lots of other things that can do it. We follow the Feingold program in addition to being GF and I know lots of people there whose kids (and themselves) have various triggers that cause rage and such. www.feingold.org if you want more info.

IIRC, there are some jails and prisons that are realizing that changing the diet of the inmates makes things more peaceful.

It's pretty scary the crap that is put into foods these days and how it can affect us all.

Rach

[gfrach]

Mrs P do you mean Doris Rapp? She's not in TX, but she does talk a lot about how behavior is affected by both food and environmental stuff.

http://www.drrapp.com/index.htm

Rach

[mrsppmrxky]

Thanks Rach! Yes, that's the lady that I saw on TV. I could have sworn she said she was in TX........ I guess that will teach me about swearing. LOL


Thanks for the link. I may have to read some of her stuff and see if it might help MRP.
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[Eeyorific]

I'm afraid I'm catching this thread when I am way past exhausted, and not to mention my bed time (have to get kids up at 5am to take daddy to work,... ds has OT tomorrow.) So, I have no choice but to keep it short tonight, please forgive typos!

I can't even put into words just how much this is true with us!!! Corn drives my ds crazy!!!!!!! Other foods such as tomatos affect him too, but not nearly as bad as corn. This is a different kid when consuming corn!

Mary, is your son CF too? or just GF? My ds (4 yo Celiac, and Asperger) has been both GF/CF long before we learned of his Aspergers, I cringe at the thought of how worse off he would have been w/out the diet.

btw.. I too read the book, and have found it not only very correct in many ways, but rather intesting as well!

Off to bed now. G'night!
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Kristie M.

"The truth of God's love is not that he allows bad things to happen....
it's his promise that he will be there with us when they do!"

[MaryK]

Yes, my DS is GFCF and dye free. We also keep him away from aspartame and MSG. Mostly only organic foods, and things with very few ingredients on the label!! We also avoid chocolate, and a few things on the blood type diet, such as tomatoes and bananas, etc.... Unfortunately, he has been getting food at school from the other kids. The school knows about his allergies, but DS is determined to eat the "yummy" candy the other kids have, so he'll sneak some every once in awhile. I'm not sure how to address that problem, other than homeschooling, and I don't think that would work for Peter. He won't listen to me for more than 30 seconds. He wouldn't learn anything!! I also hate teaching, so there is another reason. Hopefully next year he will have a teacher that is a little more sympathetic to his diet. His teacher this year hasn't been too impressed with the idea that food causes behavior. I offered to show her a video of him when he is raging, but she didn't want to spoil her sweet image of him (he actually behaves very well in school.) It's very hard for him. She has a great big jar of candy sitting on her desk at all times, and they have several snacks throughout the day, including projects that involve food, and a weekly food center, where they make something and then eat it. He has his own snack bag that he can pull from, but it's very hard for him to be "different" from the other kids. He is very self-concious about things. He won't even eat his lunch because some of the kids say things to him (not about his special food....just general comments).........anyway....more later.....got to get these guys to bed.
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Mary (37) GFCF/dye free
DH-Paul (44)
Peter 2-28-00 Asperger's Syndrome GFCF/dye free
Adam 3-29-06 GFCF/dye free/sugar free
miscarried twins 3-26-05
Jonah 4-18-06 (4 weeks early) BF

[mrsppmrxky]

Does your son react soon after eating these things or is it delayed?

My son would become a handful when he was little. If he had whole milk or refined sugar, he would get drunk and the life of the party without any feelings of limits. He would have died laughing if I had not watched him carefully during those times.

We were still in the DOD school system at that time. We had good responses to my son's food limitations for grades K and 1. The 2nd grade teacher told me that it was not fare for him to have special snacks stored in the classroom for when the others had their parties. (cheese crackers and a natural fruit juice.)

I looked at my son and said, 'fine honey, I don't want you to sit and have to watch everyone else eat, so you have my permission to eat the cake and icing, candy and or ice cream as well as drink the regular soda or koolaid."

After the 1st party, I received a note from the teacher requesting that I send in my son some snacks and juice for her to have on hand."

SO, if it isn't immediate reaction, you might want to give him his 'forbidden food and drink' before school and let the teacher deal with what you get a whole lot of at home.

When she makes a concerned comment, you could just say, you know I decided to give your diet controls a try before school.......


Okay, that may seem underhanded, but some people have to be 'sighted' to your way of seeing things your way. No confrontation, just experience that is shared.
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[MaryK]

I wish I could do that to the teacher Unfortunately, the behavioral therapy we did for 2 years works really well for him at school. He tries so hard to keep it together at school all day, then just lets loose when he gets home. He's not willing to let the other kids see him act up. I guess that is a good thing in a way. He's more likely to have some friends, and he's able to learn while he is there. He does act up a little when he's having an off day, but in more subtle ways. I'm sure the teacher just thinks he needs more discipline at home. She has no children of her own. Most of his behavior, even the raging, just looks to most people like he's a spoiled rotten little brat.

The other reason I can't do that, is that I have to put up with the raging for at least a week after he eats something. Not an easy thing to do with a 4yr old and a 12 month old in the house. He screams, stomps his feet, threatens to burn the house down and kill everyone, he hits his brother, pushes him down the stairs, ........I come very close to sending him to an institution when we have to go through all of that!!

On our vacation last year, he was doing extremely well. We had been doing some detox for him, and stopped about 3 days before we left to get him calm for the trip (detox can also cause behaviors). His behavior was soooo good, I thought I had the wrong child. He was a perfect angel. About 3 days into the trip, we went to In-N-Out Burgers for lunch. I ordered him a plain burger, and after he had eaten most of it, I noticed they had gotten some cheese on it from the grill. About 3 hours later he was red in the face -screaming/raging -uncontrollable. I got some supplements into him and he calmed down a little, but that was the best example of the food/behavior relationship I've seen.
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Mary (37) GFCF/dye free
DH-Paul (44)
Peter 2-28-00 Asperger's Syndrome GFCF/dye free
Adam 3-29-06 GFCF/dye free/sugar free
miscarried twins 3-26-05
Jonah 4-18-06 (4 weeks early) BF

[mrsppmrxky]

If the rages last that long, then I don't blame you for not letting the teacher see what you are talking about.

Has the dr. said that when he gets older, he will handle it differently?

My son would get drunk when little. After puberty, if he would get off of his diet, he would tend to be more depressed.

Could you get the dr. to back you up and then do the form with the school that disallows them to give him anything other than what you provide him to consume?

My son was 3 when we found out his problem. I always made a 'big deal' out of his special products. The 2 girls would get a box of ice cream treats to share, but he had his 'own'.

The family had a cookie jar to share from, but he had his own cookie jar. (It didn't matter that it was smaller than the other......he had his own.)

I also would talk to him about how if he ate other than what we knew was okay, that he would feel bad and get the headaches (he literally would have a hangover head ache and then nightmares that night.)

I realise with the special needs, this might not be possibly, but maybe if you keep repeating that to him some of it will sink in.

I always made a big deal about 'all of the other mothers bought cookies, but he was so special to me that I would make something just for him' (I made cookies 'just for the girls' too so that they didn't feel neglected. I would let them taste his, not like they were forbidden, but it just worked PTL! THey never appeared to be jealous, they seemed to always look out for him. (He was the middle kid)

Start now teaching him that he doesn't want to be 'just like everyone else' he needs to be his own person. I never wanted my kids to feel the pressure from their peers to do what everyone else was doing. They each all seemed to march to the beat of their own drum.


Hang in there! Consistency is hard, but it does help. Raising kids is hard work, but the pay off in those frequent or infrequent hugs and kisses is worth it! (My last one leaves home in 2 months)
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[MaryK]

I think when he gets older he will probably just learn to deal with things a little better. Maybe he'll learn that it's not appropriate to scream at everything. That's what I've heard, anyway.

The school knows about his diet, and they don't give him anything, but he will "sneak" things from the other kids.

When he was 5 yrs old, he was fine with the diet. Then we took him off the diet to see how he would do. Once he got a taste of those foods again, he was determined to keep eating them. He was VERY angry that we took them away, and no matter what I say or do, he is convinced that I'm just a horrible person who won't let him have what he wants. He always says "It's not the food that makes me angry, it's the diet!!" or "It's YOU that makes me angry."

It's very hard to reason with him. His mind just works differently than most. I do try to tell him every chance I get that "Oh, remember last year when I brought your special cake to class, the other kids told me it was the best they had ever had!!" .......little things like that seem to sink in a little, but not enough.
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Mary (37) GFCF/dye free
DH-Paul (44)
Peter 2-28-00 Asperger's Syndrome GFCF/dye free
Adam 3-29-06 GFCF/dye free/sugar free
miscarried twins 3-26-05
Jonah 4-18-06 (4 weeks early) BF

[forinajoy]

Ina, who has autism has bad temper tantrums when she has any milk...she hasn't had any in years, sooo...I don't know if that is still true...I am not about to try to find out...she would have horrible temper issues for 4 days after ANY milk at all.......she is very careful with her diet...she doesn't like to feel like that.....there is also a Dr in Texas, named Dr. Mary Ann Block, who has been on TV talk shows and she talks about the same subjects. Her website is www.blockcenter.com Dr. Block is a DAN Dr. and Ina has seen her and she is good, however I don't agree with everything she recommends...she did the urine peptide test and Ina had positive results to both casein and gluten, which led me to have her tested for celiac disease...I was going to take her off gluten based on the positive urine peptide test, but before I did that I wanted to know if she also had CD...which she did/does....One of the things that I have learned with Ina is that she needs a calm environment....and when she gets nervous, she needs someone to talk calmly and quietly, I always tell caregivers that "A soft answer turns away wrath"...However, there is a little girl at church who also has autism, who won't even hear you if you try to talk calmly to her... they are all so different... life with these kids is a journey.....we learn more and more all the time
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Connie, mom to Ina, 14 y/o with CD

[ostrich]

I'm not sure if this helps, but when I was little grape juice used to make me hyper. I'm talking screaming, bouncing of the walls, "better get the dart gun" hyper. Even today if I drink grape juice I get a bit of a buzz. So your kids may or may not outgrow it.

Supersize Me also talks about one school that transitioned their lunches to only healthy, whole foods (baked chicken, peas and carrots, etc). They said the number of vandalisms and fights dropped dramatically, and the students' ability to concentrate rose.
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Ostrich :>--O==={

Time falls away, but these small hours
These little wonders still remain

[MaryK]

I watched that movie!! I'm working with our school to try to get the snacks out of the classroom. I'm hoping to also work on the school lunch program, but that will be a challenge, I'm sure. The Principal seems open to some of my ideas. Actually getting them to change policy is a whole other story!!
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Mary (37) GFCF/dye free
DH-Paul (44)
Peter 2-28-00 Asperger's Syndrome GFCF/dye free
Adam 3-29-06 GFCF/dye free/sugar free
miscarried twins 3-26-05
Jonah 4-18-06 (4 weeks early) BF

[ostrich]

Remember, most schools get a ton of cash by those companies to serve their products. Unless you can come up with the same amount of cash on your own, it'll be hard to change the boards' minds.

As for removing snacks, I'd stay you have the same chance as a snowball in hell. Just think of how many activities center around food.
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Ostrich :>--O==={

Time falls away, but these small hours
These little wonders still remain