On this day after the election that didn't go as I had hoped and as Thanksgiving is approaching, I reflected a bit on what I have been thankful for this year. One thing that comes to mind is I am incredibly thankful for dinosaurs. Dinosaurs? Yes, I know that sounds weird, but let me explain.
I've written before that our daughter has generalized anxiety, which has symptoms such as chronic irritability, fatigue, restlessness, anger, and hypervigilance. And our son has sensory processing disorder, which in our son's case, means the sensory input from the environment and from his body are poorly detected. Both of these conditions, anxiety and SPD, are neurological. Their bodies were made this way. But what does that mean for helping them?
For this post, I'll start with our daughter and anxiety. When we first started down the path of addressing our daughter's chronic anger, irritability and meltdowns, we pursued traditional psychological therapy. It was definitely helpful. We learned how to better parent her, we learned how to establish more boundaries and rewards in our house to help her, and we learned how to give her more coping skills. She made dramatic improvements forward. But she still had that edge that made us walk on egg shells. She still sought attention the moment she felt insecure. She still craved sugar regularly to cope with stress. We were managing things, but we always knew we were just 10 seconds away from anxiety-induced chaos.
Before school started, I decided to add magnesium/zinc to the vitamins she takes each morning (she also takes a multi-vitamin, Juice Plus, omega 3, and a probiotic). Most kids in western cultures can benefit from magnesium and omega 3 supplementation. They are critical for brain development and most kids don't get nearly enough in their daily diets, and they are known to have a calming effect. I wasn't sure I would observe a behavioral change, but I figured in the long term it would be beneficial. But I also added something I found on Amazon, called Relaxsaurus. Yep, that's right. It's a dinosaur vitamin for relaxing. I thought it couldn't hurt, but to be honest, I didn't research it a great deal. Nor did I have high hopes for a pill that came in the form of a dinosaur. But it didn't look like there was anything harmful in it, so I decided to give it a try.
So the new school year kicks off, and low and behold, she appears to be mostly anxiety-free. No meltdowns. She spoke pleasantly to her family after school. She happily went to her after-school activities. She didn't freak out about grades or tests. She was sleeping well at night. She didn't ask me for a treat 10 times a day. All in all she was doing great. I thought wow, she just loves the structure of 1st grade and maybe that magnesium is helping some, too.
Fast forward two months, and we ran out of Relaxsaurus. I really didn't care. I didn't think it was doing anything any way. Boy was I wrong. Within 48 hours, her sleep deteriorated. She was angry. She was very controlling, and she had 3 major meltdowns in one weekend. I was stunned. What happened? Well, it turns out it was that little dinosaur pill I didn't think was doing anything. So I decided to do some research on it's primary ingredient - L-theanine. And I bought a whole lot of that little dinosaur pill...pronto.
L-theanine is an amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and muscle tissue. Many physiological processes relating to bodybuilding from energy, recovery, muscle hypertrophy, fat loss, and strength gains are linked to amino acids. Amino acids are also needed to make neurotransmitters, which are chemicals in the brain that either excite or inhibit neurons. Amino acids can cross the blood-brain barrier to stimulate the synthesis of most neurotransmitters, which affects brain chemistry and impacts mood. And there are several neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid, serotonin and norepinephrine that are all thought to be involved in the development of anxiety disorders. So it makes sense that increasing a key amino acid could help resolve the brain's activity that is causing the anxiety behaviors. And it turns out L-theanine calms neurotransmitters that can cause anxiety. That's amazing.
Okay, I know that was a lot of science, so I'll wait while you take a moment to digest and maybe have another cup of coffee...
I truly can't believe this has existed all of this time, and we never knew it. Well, it made me think more about the root causes of her anxiety. I found this very helpful blog that helps connect symptoms with the biological issue - http://blog.radiantlifecatalog.com/the-unspoken-solution-for-anxiety-individual-amino-acids. My daughter clearly exhibits the symptoms of low GABA or low serotonin, too. So I purchased another dinosaur called Focussaurus. Focussaurus contains L-glutamine and GABA (as well as other vitamins needed to synthesize these amino acids). L-glutamine (combined with GABA) can actually cross the blood brain barrier and stimulate GABA production. GABA allows your brain to turn "off." It allows your brain to not constantly think and become overwhelmed and anxious.
Low and behold. She got even better. She willingly picks up her toys now without a threat. She talks nicely to her brother even when he is not talking nicely to her. She is able to let little things go even if she perceives they aren't exactly fair. She says please and thank you without being prompted! She asks if she can help with things. It's amazing. I kind of want to run and shout, "See, I'm not a bad parent. Her neurotransmitters just needed a little help."
I must say discovering the impact amino acids can have on anxiety has relieved my anxiety, too. Not because I'm taking them. But I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief. Even though her behavior had been much improved this school year, I thought it was because we were perfectly balancing life for her. So I feared will she regress if the balance suddenly isn't perfect any more. Now I know this improvement isn't just about life balance, it's about brain balance. And I feel like that's something we can control and I don't have to worry if today is the day we fall out of balance again. That's an amazing feeling. I feel like I can enjoy her instead of feeling on guard. And that just makes everyone even more relaxed and happier!
Now, of course, L-theanine and L-glutamine don't fix every brain or every case of anxiety. As you can see from the product reviews, some people love it and others see no change at all. I am not an expert on this, and I would advise you discuss this with your doctor or your pediatrician. But it has really opened a whole new world to me for helping our daughter deal with anxiety without pursuing medications. If you or a loved one is struggling with chronic irritability, anger, sleeplessness, sugar cravings, etc., investigating amino acids or the lack thereof is definitely something to look into.
I'm including a couple of other sites I found to be helpful as well:
http://www.drdavidgersten.com/AMINO-ACID-Rx.html
http://www.dietcure.com/aminoacids.html
One other caveat. If you have a child who takes SSRIs, do not give them these supplements. It could cause them to produce too much serotonin, causing not only behavioral issues but serotonin toxicity which can be very dangerous.
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