Sleep disruption in kids mimics ADHD

[VikingGnome]

Just read an interesting news article in our state "Medical News" paper. We have a new doctor that is board certified in both pediatrics and child-adolescent-adult psychiatry. He brings a unique perspective to many common problems seen by both pediatricians and child psychiatrists.

One of the striking things he said in interview for the paper is that he sees a lot of kids that have been "diagnosed" as ADHD who are NOT. These kids are really suffering from disrupted sleep. Unlike adults that get EDS from disrupted sleep, kids display hyperactivity. Instead of addressing sleep problems, they are given prescription medications (stimulants). Disrupted sleep in kids can be caused by undiagnosed asthma or allergies causing coughing and wheezing at night, enlarged tonsils/adenoids, sinus problems, loud snoring. The hyperactivity goes away once the reason for sleep disruption has been addressed. Rarely the child may have sleep apnea but most of the time it's a medical problem that needs to be treated.

A disturbing thing he said was that during his psychiatry residency, he was appalled at the unscientific and inappropriate treatments (drugs included) for children. He said, "children are not miniature adults to be used as guinea pigs." Too many doctors are prescribing psych meds to kids/adolescents that have NOT been approved for use under the age of 18. Growing brains can be damaged when given any drug that suppresses brain hormones (like SSRI's SNRI's, antidopamine). The child's brain may never be able produce the proper amounts of these important brain hormones once exposed to disrupting drugs.

The person that asked about getting enlarged adenoids removed, absolutely yes. The improvement in breathing will have positive effects the remainder of his life and could spare him from being misdiagnosed as ADHD.

[DreamStalker]

I'll admit up front that I'm definitely no expert on ADHD but I think too many kids today are being misdiagnosed and over and unnecessarily medicated.

I recently came across a guy by the name of Dr. Joel Wallach. He suggests a controversial view that nearly all disease conditions are caused by malnutrition and can be cured with proper diet and vitamin and mineral supplementation. However, he also thinks that sleep apnea is normal --- which I don't quite buy his perspective on that issue. He also markets supplement products which he says he does not profit from but I have not yet done the research to find out if he does indeed have a conflict of interest.

I do somewhat agree with what he says regarding nutrition. It ties in well to my own understanding of disease and aging as an evolutionary and epi-genetic expression of our DNA.

Anyway, he thinks that the cause of all ADHD is primarily a combination of gluten intolerance and over-consumption of sugar which results in nutritional deficiencies and roller-coaster blood sugar spikes respectively. He claims to have cured many kids with ADHD in just a matter of days by simply putting them on a gluten-free diet, eliminating all processed sugar, and supplementing with lithium, chromium, and vanadium.

[BlackSpinner]

J

A disturbing thing he said was that during his psychiatry residency, he was appalled at the unscientific and inappropriate treatments (drugs included) for children. He said, "children are not miniature adults to be used as guinea pigs." Too many doctors are prescribing psych meds to kids/adolescents that have NOT been approved for use under the age of 18. Growing brains can be damaged when given any drug that suppresses brain hormones (like SSRI's SNRI's, antidopamine). The child's brain may never be able produce the proper amounts of these important brain hormones once exposed to disrupting drugs.

My ex was in child protection and she was furious when one of the best clinics she could send children with emotional problems and mental illness to suddenly got a big grant from a drug company and every kid was suddenly being treated with drugs from the moment they got there. Before there was all kinds of evaluations and therapies available, suddenly it was only drug treatment.

[SleepingUgly]

These kids are really suffering from disrupted sleep. Unlike adults that get EDS from disrupted sleep, kids display hyperactivity. Instead of addressing sleep problems, they are given prescription medications (stimulants). Disrupted sleep in kids can be caused by undiagnosed asthma or allergies causing coughing and wheezing at night, enlarged tonsils/adenoids, sinus problems, loud snoring. The hyperactivity goes away once the reason for sleep disruption has been addressed. Rarely the child may have sleep apnea but most of the time it's a medical problem that needs to be treated.

There is some evidence that sleep disorders can present as mild ADHD in children, although not likely more severe ADHD.

Growing brains can be damaged when given any drug that suppresses brain hormones (like SSRI's SNRI's, antidopamine). The child's brain may never be able produce the proper amounts of these important brain hormones once exposed to disrupting drugs.

I'm assuming that's a paraphrase of something he said. If not, he needs to go back to medical school, where they can flunk him properly.

The person that asked about getting enlarged adenoids removed, absolutely yes. The improvement in breathing will have positive effects the remainder of his life and could spare him from being misdiagnosed as ADHD.

Or his parents could have his tonsils and adenoids removed and he can still have ADHD, as in my son's case.

Anyway, he thinks that the cause of all ADHD is primarily a combination of gluten intolerance

Gluten can't catch a break these days.

He claims to have cured many kids with ADHD in just a matter of days by simply putting them on a gluten-free diet, eliminating all processed sugar, and supplementing with lithium, chromium, and vanadium.

Lithium??

Well, where is this guy? I'd like to send him my son for 3 days for a gluten-free, sugar-free diet chock full of mood stabilizing metals.

[Needsdecaf]

Yeah, I'm growing tired of the gluten free bandwagon. I have two relatives who suffer from Celiac's and the results are not pretty. Those are the people who need to avoid gluten. Not the people who feel a tiny bit bloated when they eat way too much processed flour products. To me, the "gluten free" crap is a rebound of the Atkins diet. People are sheep and need to get their head out of their a**.

Regarding sleep and kids.....my son was having major behavioral problems a few years ago. I noticed he was snoring and possibly even gasping. I took him to the ENT, and he gave him a perscription to shrink his nasal passages and tonsils / adenoids. A few months later, his night time breathing was back to normal. About a month later, his behavior was markedly improved.

Definitely a big believer. And why not? Think of what it does to adults, and think about how much a kid needs to grow...

[SleepingUgly]

There is NO parent who won't attest to the fact that disordered/insufficient sleep = hot mess of a kid. But that is not the same as ADHD. Believe me, I have been up and down this road, looking for every possible cause of ADHD-like symptoms (other than the extremely alternative, non-empirically supported crap). Like I said, we even had his tonsils and adenoids removed and *gasp* put him on CPAP. None of it did a thing for him. The kid has ADHD. He's also bright, creative, sweet, beautiful (and so on). I was very reluctant to put him on anything and tried everything first. His life was going downhill fast with significant social and academic impairments at the ripe old age of 5. I am so grateful to whoever figured out that stimulants helps ADHD because they turned his life around.

To anyone who reads this thread, I want to go on record saying that I believe that responsible parents leave no stone unturned. If your kid has symptoms of ADHD and has been diagnosed with ADHD by an appropriately trained professional, have a sleep study (although good luck getting even the big wigs in the field to agree on the results of it). Rule out everything that can cause those symptoms (see neurologists, endocrinologists, etc.). But don't waste too much of your kid's potential listening to the armchair psychologists/psychiatrists who think ADHD is over-diagnosed and mistreated with medication (gasp!) when it could be treated with the absence of Red Dye #5 and no gluten. Your kid is entitled to a reasonable standard of care, and that ain't it.

[VikingGnome]

I agree about the gluten-free fad. It's been blamed for almost every ailment. I have a friend with a 11-year-old that was having severe social problems and inability to concentrate at school. She did internet research on her own (you know, everything on the internet is TRUE. LOL). She decided Daniel had a form of Autism and ADHD. She treats him with lots of vitamins and a gluten-free diet. She took him out of school and is home-schooling him. She will not give him anything that has artificial coloring or flavoring.

Finally she got approval from insurance to have Daniel evaluated by a professional. Guess what! Daniel is not Autistic and does not have ADHD. The testing psychologist said Daniel lacked proper boundaries and was not getting the kind of parental guidance he needed. My friend didn't like that one bit. So, she no longer claims Daniel is autistic or has ADHD but continues the gluten-free, dye-free diet and home-schooling.

Some parents are looking for an "easy answer" to parenting. Easier to claim disease than face the truth about their parenting skills.

[DreamStalker]

Well by all means eat all the gluten you want while it's still a free country. Have at it.

Don't you worry none about me, I ain't going to take it away from y'all. Y'all can even have my share.




Oh and I agree.

Parenting skills probably has a lot to do with it.

[BlackSpinner]

Celiacs is 4 times more prevalent now then it was in the 70's based on blood tests done with the same cohort.
It doesn't always present as bowel issues. And like diabetes it can appear later in life.
Then there are gluten allergies - not the same as Celiacs. Then there are gluten sensitivities and gluten intolerance. All of these issues present differently and one can lead to the other. In some instances wheat/gluten acts on the brain like an addictive substance.

Then there is the fact that the wheat you are eating today is quite a lot different then the wheat your grandparents were eating with a different genetic structure (22 instead of 16 chromosomes ) and was never been tested on humans. How do you like being guinea pigs?

[DreamStalker]

Celiacs is 4 times more prevalent now then it was in the 70's based on blood tests done with the same cohort.
It doesn't always present as bowel issues. And like diabetes it can appear later in life.
Then there are gluten allergies - not the same as Celiacs. Then there are gluten sensitivities and gluten intolerance. All of these issues present differently and one can lead to the other. In some instances wheat/gluten acts on the brain like an addictive substance.

Then there is the fact that the wheat you are eating today is quite a lot different then the wheat your grandparents were eating with a different genetic structure (22 instead of 16 chromosomes ) and was never been tested on humans. How do you like being guinea pigs?

Spinner, they don't want to hear it.

You're wasting your keyboard.

Let them eat wheat or cake or whatever frankenfood.

[49er]

To be honest, I thought that maybe there was too much hype about gluten and started t not worry about a gluten free diet as I had been doing with the occasional cheating that didn't seem to be hurting me.

When my sinuses became completely clogged, I knew that at least for me, sticking to a gluten free diet was best.

49er

[SleepingUgly]

Parenting skills probably has a lot to do with it.

Spoken like a true non-parent.

[BlackSpinner]

Parenting skills probably has a lot to do with it.

Spoken like a true non-parent.

Yes because you can have all the parenting skills in the world and still have problems. My mother spent an incredible amount of time keeping my middle sister from killing herself by accident. She was an excellent parent, as all 3 of us turned out well.

[SleepingUgly]

Before I was a parent, when I'd see kids misbehaving in public, I'd think, "If the parents would parent the way I know they should, their kids wouldn't act like this." Ha! Poor parenting is not the cause of every childhood problem (despite the fact that people love to blame parents, especially mothers). Now I see how grandiose it is to think that you could ever have 100% control over kid (as if good parenting alone can override neurotransmitters and genetics to defeat all evil, bringing ever-lasting peace world-wide).

The way I see it, a good parent does the best they can to parent as well as they can, while simultaneously saving $ for their kids' inevitable therapy.

[lisacaice]

I have three boys and all of them had symptoms of ADHD when they were little. Everyone of their teachers wanted them to get tested for ADHD and get on meds. My kids all have asthma as it's prevalent in our entire family and I always knew that it was their asthma that was causing their symptoms and not ADHD.

A lot of children with asthma are hyper and they are so because they are working hard during the day to stimulate their lungs. It's very obvious thats the case once they settle down, because the asthma starts up and as soon as they get active, it stops. I spent years trying to convince my doctors that my kids didn't have ADHD and that was what they always wanted to call it. My kids were already on all kinds of meds for their asthma which are stimulants as well and all their doctors wanted to do was give them Ritalin-I never let them.

Instead, I had them tested for allergies (all three boys were positive for environmental allergies and two had food allergies (Corn, and nuts) ) so I put them all on allergy medication, took them for allergen immunotherapy,and removed the food from their diets; within two years of their treatment their asthma was under control and their ADHD symptoms had disappeared.

My two older boys are now also starting to show signs of OSA and are in the process of being tested.

I'm not saying that ADHD isn't real, I'm saying that the symptoms could be a number of things and I agree with Sleeping Ugly that you should leave no stone unturned with the health of your children.