Published on 12, July, 2020
My little boy is 6. He doesn’t have diagnosis confirmed but I have no doubt that he will get this once his appointment comes through.
He has always been anxious, particularly about school but over the last few months this has developed into him vomiting when he is bed because he is anxious about school, and more recently about the ‘what if I don’t fall asleep’. He has just been allocated 1:1 support at school but this hasn’t really elevated his anxiety. I have visited the GP who offered me anti sickness tablets for him - even when crushed up and put in drinks he can taste them and refuses to drink it.
I have just sat with him as he has sobbed and been sick and and I am now trying to settle him to sleep.
it is heartbreaking to see him like this but I just don’t know what to do to help him to over come this. His eating is limited and he can’t afford to be being sick every night. I feel like I am up against a brick wall as I don’t know where to go for help. Can anyone please offer any advice or suggestions?
I can't offer much advice but I can fully sympathise with you, my lb is 5 and is often sick through anxiety and sensory over stimulation, I do what ever I can to limit the senses, either with his ear defenders, chew toy as this helps him calm down otherwise he eats his clothes. Although the vomiting has lessened, he now cries of pain of feeling sick, it's his way to let us know he needs to get out of the situation.
would it help having a soft start to his school day? maybe some therapeutic learning rather than straight into the classroom?
I really hope you get some support going through this, sending love and strength!
Hi. Welcome to the forum. I am a 52 year old Autistic woman. I had problems like your son, when I was a child. And have had problems with anxiety and sleep.
I guess my advice would be all about managing the triggers to his anxiety and also being aware of making sure his vomiting does not cause weight loss without needing to weigh him.
I use the spoon framework/theory to manage the triggers for my anxiety. I find that if I can treat the triggers to my anxiety, I can cope with it better. This involves mainly adaptions to my life and limiting the things that I find difficult.
For me, this involves:
- Limiting social interactions - these drain me
- Wearing clothes that I find comfortable - my daughter also cuts out all her labels in her clothes.
- Focus on what is important to me and also make sure I spend time with my special interest - this boosts my energy.
- Listening to music to balance my mood
- Avoiding places full of people - I shop via click and collect.
I think it's about working out what gives your son more and less energy. It also depends how you feel about asking for melatonin to help with sleep. I know that when I don't sleep well, that everything is much worse.
Take care of yourself and I hope your assessment helps with adaptions to help your son.
I might suggest a mushroom gummy for kids, which is a natural nootropic supplement. Some companies have ones for daytime with Lions Mane and nighttime with Reishi, with little else added. The nice thing about these is they can't hurt to try, it's a bit like having a mushroom salad (unless they're allergic to mushrooms, which is incredibly rare)
A quick search will bring up a good amount of options, I'd make sure the dose is for children under 12 and double check the ingredients as you'll know if he has any allergies. This page has some interesting facts on Lions Mane https://drinkvyu.com/blogs/learn/is-lions-mane-safe-for-kids?srsltid=AfmBOorVAShbLK_Pu_i6kUxdN4t-7HAY2z3lJNxFBiaLIbmKrJd27YLM But I'm not sure their particular supplement is for kids.
This one has interesting facts on Reishi https://hifasdaterra.com/en/medicinal-mushrooms/reishi-ganoderma-lucidum/ and they have a combined Lions Mane/Reishi formula for kids.
But you could search and try different ones. Various Nootropic suppliments may come up. The important thing is to always check the ingredients.
Anxiety can be biological with Autism/ADHD. I've personally found a suppliment with 'functional' mushrooms has been somewhat life saving.
It's hard to know what might be driving your little boy's anxiety, but young kids can have separation anxiety, and be scared of being left somewhere and never getting back home again, or it could be because they're placed in an unfamiliar environment all on their own, and they don't know what to do, and that's a scary feeling. Maybe if you could arrange something to be at school for a day with him, and make it a positive experience, maybe that would help. But if that doesn't, then maybe a childhood psychologist would be helpful.