Chinese Medicine

For a year or so, Jonathan and I have been contemplating putting Jenna on something for her rages. She often gets completely out of control and is very overstimulated. She also never, ever stops moving or talking. However, she seems to hold it together at school ...but the second she walks in the door, she starts screaming about something. The only thing that helps her is to get sent to her room, barricade the door, and then after about 20 minutes of kicking, screaming, body slams, and she often cries herself to sleep, and when she wakes up, she is much better. I think part of this goes along with ocd in that she gets "stuck" and cannot get out of it, but I don't know if that is it, either. We have had tons of people tell us she is classic ADHD, but what has held us back is that if kids are on ritalin, etc. typically it only lasts for the school day and she is able to hold it together there behavior wise and academic wise, so we didn't see any great benefit. Anyway, after lots of thinking (years of thinking) we decided to take her for acupuncture. Well, that was an interesting experience because as soon as the dr started putting needles in her, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "get these things out of me" and when he didn't, she proceeded to pull them out herself (it does not hurt -- or so they tell me). At that point, I said to the dr, did I mention she has absolutely no pain tolerance?!! I took her back one more time and though she left them in a little longer, they are supposed to be in for about 15-20 minutes and she left them in for about 2 minutes, thus I felt it not to be a good use of money. He said her problems were her kidneys and spleen. He did not look at her tongue and feel her pulse which I was expecting him to do, but said he could tell that from the fact she searches the house for sugar (from the jar) and eats it by the spoonfulls if she can. She also licks salt right from the shaker. He said her body was telling him what was wrong ... who knows. However, he did give us some herbs for her to take in tincture form and this is my observation of them so far, and I am going to continue to post because I want to keep an accurate account. From day one, she falls asleep much easier and wakes easy and happy. She has only had one rage this week and that was at church on Wednesday night when it got late, and though she did cry some at other times, I was actually able to talk to her and she listened and stopped quickly. It was like a normal cry, and not a rage and her brain did not seem to be stuck. Her personality did not change. She was still very energetic, just not out of control. The part I loved is that every time she screams, she says, I hate myself, no one likes me, I'm so bad, etc. I asked her last night how she felt about herself and she said she felt really good about herself.

Lindsey also saw a chinese doctor, but a different one. This is because I know nothing of chinese medicine and didn't have a good referral from anyone. Jenna's doctor was an american doctor trained in TCM (traditional chinese medicine) and Lindsey's was an actual chinese man also trained in TCM. He is a 3rd generation doctor. Lindsey's experience was different. The reason she went is because she has been constipated since she was little and when I find her underwear still, let's just say it is not a pleasant site. She is also incredibly moody and physical at lashing out to others. She can be very sweet and when she is happy, she is an absolute joy. She is also very funny and makes us laugh all of the time. She just has a fun, cute personality. However, it is like walking on eggshells around her all the time because she can switch just like that. She also has alot of anxiety and has had times that I thought were a start of ocd for her. She also has a lot of sensory issues and flaps her hands alot or wrings her hands over and over when she is agitated. Lindsey LOVES the doctor. She enjoys acupuncture and was a perfect patient. She has gone two times and she actually gets her needles in her stomach, hands, legs and feet. He looked at her tongue and felt her pulse and said she has bad blood (?) and a poorly functioning liver. He has his own herbal pharmacy so where Jenna's drops came already prepared, I had to go back two days later to pick up Lindsey's capsules. He specifically made them for her. The purpose is supposed to be to improve digestion, help her liver to detox, help her constipation and increase blood flow to her brain so that it can regulate and keep healthy seratonin levels for better moods/less anxiety. Lindsey has been taking her herbs since Saturday morning, so two days. Her report so far is that she has had a bowel movement every day and she says it is much easier to go. She says she feels more calm, I don't know if I see it, but this morning she could not find her shoes and Erin found them for her. Normally, Erin would have to put them down and run because that would be something Lindsey would lash out at her for. However, she looked at her and said a simple thank you. I could not believe my ears. That, for her, is some progress.

I have lots of friends and some family whose children are taking medication for many different reasons and please know that I have tons of respect and admiration for what each of you is doing with your children. In our case, I did not see where traditional medicine was going to help my girls, so I opted for an alternative, and it may do the world of good or it may flop in my face -- but either way I am fascinated with all of this. Both drs said it takes about 3 weeks to see results, but so far, it looks at least somewhat promising.