No More Melatonin

Still, I feel that I am dreaming. Yes, it's definitely like a dream. Every night, Tanishk sleeps very easily without Melatonin. No screams, no shouting, no crying, and no fight. When Tanishk was younger, all nights were nightmares. We used to spend hours to get him to sleep and there no night when he slept without screams and shouting.

I remember when Tanishk was an infant he had a colic problem and every night he used to cry. I used to sit with him in my lap almost every night. When he became a toddler, he was constipated. It was very difficult to get him to sleep day or night. Every time it was a one hour job.

He became so active that he started to avoid sleeping. Every time he wanted to either watch TV or videos, listen to music etc. Even we switched off the lights, he didn't want to lie down on the bed. It was very difficult for us to get him to sleep. He slept little and we were worried about his health as he was active all the time.

We talked to other parents and the doctors. Everyone suggested that we should give him Melatonin so that he can sleep easily. We started to give him Melatonin and it was very effective. He used to sleep within few minutes after taking Melatonin. It was so much effective that a very little piece of tablet also worked. I used to give him very little. We were happy that he was sleeping nicely. But still we were not happy that he needs medicine for sleeping, he should take his sleep natural way.

I tried to get him to sleep without Melatonin several times. He used to lie down, but continuously he was restless. And his behaviors (continuously touching his nose, toes, lip picking, scratch over the body, grinding his teeth, changing his sides, asking for water) & vocal stimming was not letting him sleep. Every time I was exhausted & frustrated after his sleep. So we kept giving him Melatonin.

I researched about Melatonin and it's effects - I got few articles. Melatonin Side Effects and Melatonin Side Effects on Autistic kid. After that I wanted to stop giving Melatonin totally.

One month back our friend Neena came to our house and we discussed a lot of things with her. We discussed Tanishk's behaviors and she told us about how to deal with sensory issues. She suggested us OT for him and also suggested few tips at home. We told her that Tanishk doesn't sleep without Melatonin. She was shocked to hear that and said "Are you serious? He has definitely sensory issues." She suggested that we should let him carry some weighty things so that he gets tired and feels sleepy. She also suggested that we should massage his head, hands & feet with almond oil while he is trying to sleep. This will help him sleep easily.

Surprisingly, it helped a lot. Really, it was amazing. Now Tanishk sleeps with in half an hour. He still resists, still restless, still vocal stimming. But he calms down after massage and gets to sleep. No shouting, no screaming, no tantrums. I am so much relieved now. No more Melatonin. Thanks Neena!!

Major Behavioral Changes

When Tanishk's behaviors were so bad in his last vacations, we were not able to control his behavior through ABA therapy and motivational system, and most of the time we spent in screams, shouting and crying. I was so frustrated all the time and wanted to have a quick solution, as it was creating a hindrance in his learning too. He was not able to focus or concentrate on any thing. I decided to find out other ways to help him to calm down & be more focused and attentive. I read about Sensory Integration Therapy, Massage Therapy, Bio-medical Intervention and Dietary Intervention. And also I tried to find out more activities to keep him engaged every time.

Already, I was following the GFCF diet. We were wondering where we are going wrong. I was reading a book on Digestive Enzymes - Enzymes for Autism and other Neurological Conditions written by Karen Defelice. This book says that if we give proper digestive enzymes to our autistic kids, their gut can heal sooner and it is also possible that we don't need to give any specific diet to our kids, just digestive enzymes will also be sufficient for gut health. So, I started to give digestive enzymes regularly to Tanishk. I started to give Papaya & Pineapple more as these two fruits have digestive enzymes.

Tanishk was so much hyperactive those days and very much uncontrollable. My husband was suspicious about thyroid medication and also digestive enzymes. Then I & my husband decided that we should stop all the medications and supplements, and then we should introduce them one by one. That worked amazingly. His behaviors were lessened.

We started only thyroid medication and B12 shots. Then we started Oxytocin nasal spray prescribed by doctor and also gave calcium-magnesium supplement. The day when we gave Tanishk his liquid calcium-magnesium supplement, his behavior was tremendously changed. That day was totally amazing day. I was doing his therapy and I had to take the data on his behavior. He was so much focused and attentive. He did everything very nicely and he was complying all the instructions. He did puzzle so nicely and without any behavior. I was shocked to see that he even didn't need any prompt for his tasks. :) 

I read a book Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder: A Mother's Story of Research & Recovery written by Karyn Seroussi. This book tells us about the dietary intervention / elimination diet. This book gives much stress on the GFCF diet and says every one will get benefit by it, even if they don't have behavioral problems. After reading this book, I started to believe strongly in dietary intervention. Now, my theory is that instead of taking so much supplement tablets or gels, we should eat the proper food which contains all needed nutrients. We should try to get most of the nutrition through diet. I started to include more vegetables and fruits in diet, started to cook food that needs very less cooking.

Recently we saw few major changes in Tanishk. He was calmed down. Now he has less behavioral issues. He has become more attentive. Yes, still he has behaviors but less frequent. He still repeats the things & talks, but also listens to us. He reads the books, plays with toys appropriately. He solves the puzzles more focused. His handwriting and coloring are also improved a lot. He has become more cautious about his behavior, people around him and their reactions. He corrects his behavior when I give him a quiet look.

He plays hide & seek with his father. He likes squeezing against us. He understands most of the things what are they. But he doesn't understand reasoning. Why he should wait? Why he should not run or jump anywhere? Why should he be quiet sometimes or loud sometimes?

He understands word quiet & loud. We got to know that when we went to the library & read a book about quiet & loud. When he was reading, he was changing his tone appropriately for quiet & loud things. He was awesome. But, when someone is sleeping and we tell him that he should be quiet or whisper, but he doesn't understand.