Emotional Support Sisters

It all started on a Sunday morning a few weeks ago. I had an early morning with the baby, then my toddler woke up just in time for the baby to go back to sleep. She was grumpy, I was grumpy and I was flying solo because my husband had a bunch of morning meetings. I could just tell it was going to be a rough day. I decided we would go for a drive at the baby’s next nap to give myself a break and to see if my toddler would sleep a little more. 

I had a lot of time to be in my head during the drive, and of course my toddler was not sleeping. I was incredibly frustrated and just felt beaten down. So much had happened in the last 5 months and I hadn’t had the time to process everything.

Suddenly I started to cry. The crying turned into silent sobbing and the silent sobbing turned into loud uncontrollable sobbing and hyperventilating. It was then that I decided I needed to call someone. I called my husband and told him “I need help, NOW.” I went and got him from his meeting and he drove us all home. I barely spoke a word on the drive and my daughter’s screaming (she was done being in the car) would trigger me evenmore. And usually I can take a lot of screaming, because she screams… a lot. I was so shut down I couldn’t even tell my husband what had happened. When we got home, I took a nap , but not before sobbing into my pillow a little bit more. When he and the girls left for church I texted him that I would try to write out what has going on since I wasn’t able to verbalize it yet.

As I got up to take a shower after my nap I was trying to gather my thoughts and feelings and figure out how to write it all down. All this thinking sent me into another panic attack. Thankfully my sweet dog Nora was there to save the day. She just let me pet her and hug her while I cried and hyperventilated. (She has become less of an emotional distress animal as she’s gotten older). After all of this we decided that something needed to change. Meds, therapy, respite care… something. One of the things we decided to do first was find a therapist. I wanted to try someone who knows autism and what it’s like to be the caregiver of an autistic child. I found a therapist that fit the bill and made an appointment. My husband and I went together and it was an interesting visit – she validated my feelings, but mostly talked a lot about this thing called “nutrient therapy” and how it has helped her son and other of her clients. It wasn’t what I was expecting to get out of this appointment, but something that gave me hope. We looked into it and found that the two biggest things in this diet change are to cut out gluten and dairy (GFCF). We decided to give it a try in hopes that it will help my daughter be a happier and overall healthier child. 

If you are interested in this autism specific diet, check out the Autism Nutrition Research Center’s Website: https://autismnrc.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA6Ou5BhCrARIsAPoTxrCkSORHkHDZMQKMytJOLSxZKCez9QkxbQLeSAiPTVJGRznSEt0z-WcaAhJlEALw_wcB