I got a picture of Nora right as she woke up and before the reaction really set in. If you look at her face, you can see how unhappy she is, how red her cheeks are and the white stress marks around her face.
And what she looks like when her cheeks are clear:
Here she was just starting to enter the preliminary rage reaction. She couldn't make up her mind as to what she wanted, but wanted something. She started digging at her skin, so I helped her put some ointment on, which normally she likes but during a rage reaction NOTHING is going to be right. She catapulted into full on hysteria. Trying some passive restriction, holding her comfortably in my arms belly to belly but with my arms placed so she couldn't scratch an gouge was a little helpful. This also had the benefit that I came through this episode without a black eye, bloody nose, bite marks, or scratch marks as has been common in the past. Unfortunatly this did not calm her down much.
After about 30 minutes she had calmed down considerably to the point where I could capture this video clip. Please remember this is after at least 30 minutes of passive restraint when she was getting a hold of herself. Our longest stint has been close to 4 hours.
Notice her attempts to "hide" both behind her arm and behind the bed. I can remember an almost anamalistic feeling of the need to flee during my allergy attacks. I always wanted to get away, especially to a place where I could get my back to the corner and preferably under something as well. Something about the enclosed space helps to allow that non rational part of your brain to cope with the adrenaline pumping through your veins.
It took another 15 minutes after this clip was taken to get her calmed down. Now she is back to her sweet and loving normal disposition.
I know critics will say that she is just a spirited individual with poor discipline who is throwing a "terrible two" tantrum. I do no believe this is the case in the slightest. When she throws a tantrum it is easy to send her to time out, distract her or even ignore her and she will calm down in less than 5 minutes at the worst. With these rage episodes, ignoring her only increases the rage and she is often destructive to possessions as well as to us and herself!
Is there any possibility that Nora has Leaky Gut Syndrome in addition to the allergies you are aware of? If she does, undigested proteins from foods like dairy and wheat (casein & gluten) escape into the bloodstream and cause an autoimmune response that can mimic a food allergy response. I know I feel immense rage when I eat dairy and/or gluten. I believe Leaky Gut Syndrome to be the reason. This is just a thought.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've met someone who's child had rage reactions to one of the dyes. My guess is that this is way more common than the medical community is currently prepared to acknowledge.
Best of luck to you, Nora and your family.
E
Hi E!
ReplyDeleteI don't think she has Leaky Gut Syndrome, though that should be something that is checked out whenever anyone is experiencing unusual reactions to food such as emotional swings and rage.
We have made good progress with Nora by keeping artificial dyes and preservatives out of her diet. We haven't had an allergic reaction in months now. She is very lucky not be as allergic as I was as a child.
I agree with you- Cerebral allergies are much more common than is widely accepted. I think a lot of kids get falsely labeld as ADHD and other such disorders because food dyes and preservatives are so widely used in the common diet.