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Category Archive: Anxiety

Apr 12 2013

The forecast

Categories:

Anxiety, Elliott

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April 12, 2013


I pleased to share  with you all that today’s forecast shows Elliott more relaxed and back in school this morning. 

While it’s still raining, the thunderstorms have passed and Elliott’s anxiety is a little better today. 

He went to school without any problems and I expect that he will have a great day. 

It’s amazing to me how something like a thunderstorm can cause so much chaos in one little boys life.  We will have to continue working on dealing with this issue and make sure that this doesn’t begin to control his life. 

I’m really proud of Elliott for getting right back into the swing of things.

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Mar 28 2013

#Autism, #Anxiety and #Depression

Categories:

Anxiety, Elliott, My thoughts

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March 28, 2013


Well it appears that Elliott is more affected by the death of Lizze’s Aunt than we thought. Whether is the loss itself or the impact he sees that it’s having on his family, I’m not sure.  Perhaps a little of both.

He started freaking out earlier today and when I got him to calm down, he explained through the tears in his eyes, that he doesn’t want to go to school on Thursday.

I asked him why.

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He told that his best friend hasn’t been at school because he’s been sick.  He doesn’t want to go because he doesn’t know if he’s coming back.

Remember what I said about generalization?

I was afraid this was going to happen and I was trying to avoid this.

When I explained to Elliott and Emmett that Aunt Paula was really sick and sometimes people who are really sick,  well….they don’t always get better. Sometimes they die and go to heaven.

I made it very clear that just because someone gets sick does not mean they are going to die.

One of the things I made sure to do was keep it simple, straight forward and as age appropriate as possible.  Now considering that I’m far from perfect and having never had this talk before, I thought I did pretty well.

Despite my efforts to avoid the boys generalizing the situation and associating someone being sick with death, clearly I came up a day late and a dollar short.

Elliott is worried about Lizze and worried about his friend.  His anxiety level is really high and I’ll give you an example of what I mean.

I asked the boys on the way home from Dr. Patti’s tonight (yes, we had Dr. Patti again), what they wanted to do this summer.  Emmett said that he wanted to build a sand castle.  Next thing I know, Elliott says, “I want to not have to go back to the doctor and have them feed me almonds to see if I’m still allergic.“ 

The fact that he’s focusing on that tells me just how stressed out he is. That isn’t even something that going to happen this summer.

Depending on how he’s doing in the morning, we may just keep him home and help him to relax.  Spring break starts on Friday anyway.

I’m just worried about him and I figured that maybe some guy time might help to reassure him. I just feel like he’s going through so much and if we take some extra time to help him feel more secure, than so be it. 


This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-)

Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me. ;-)

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Mar 24 2013

Grief

Categories:

Anxiety

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March 24, 2013


As I write this my beloved Auntie Paula is dying of lung cancer. Stupid, freaking, destructive cancer. I hate it. I hate that I’m not with her more. It’s not my place to be with her. My uncle is there. My cousins, her daughters, are there. And her grand-daughters are there. My Grammy Lou Who (I only call her that here on the blog, I don‘t know why.) is there with my partner in crime, my Auntie Sharon. My Auntie Paula doesn‘t need me there. Yet, I feel as if I should be there.

I feel like I’m moving through molasses. Every breath is too thick and it hurts. My brain feels fuzzy and hazy, like I’m drunk and stoned. Only I’m stone cold sober. Moving just feels… awkward. I can’t really explain it but my body doesn‘t feel like it’s entirely mine. Everything hurts – every joint, every muscle, every everything – which isn‘t new or unusual yet it is. This isn‘t my usual pain. This isn‘t my usual achy don‘t touch me, my skin feels like it’s on fire pain. Although my skin does feel like it’s on fire. It just doesn‘t feel…right.

I’m hungry one minute. I feel like I’m starving and I haven’t eaten in days (I have I assure you). Then 10 minutes later the mere idea of food turns my stomach and I can’t stand to look at it.

What the hell is happening to me?

Does any of this make sense?

If you have any thoughts or ideas or well wishes or whatever please leave them as a comment on my post on my blog so that I can enjoy them.

Thank you for your love and support!

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Mar 13 2013

Hello My Name is Anxiety

Categories:

Anxiety

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March 13, 2013


This past week or so, Elliott has been more anxious than usual and that’s impacting him on multiple levels.    For starters, I was approached be the principal at Elliott’s school the other day because she’s worried about Elliott. 

We have a very close relationship with our kids school and so we talk all the time. 

Apparently, Elliott’s been refusing to eat while at school and that’s concerning to all involved. She wanted to let us know so that if there was anything they could do to help support Elliott, they wanted to help.

I was of course concerned to hear that but at the same time, not surprised. Elliott really been struggling lately. 

He’s an emotional roller coaster and wound way too tight.  I know a good portion of this is a result of being around Gavin last week.

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Gavin did really well last week,  but the boys are dealing with PTSD from everything Gavin has done to them in the past.  He could never have another another outburst and the boys would still have this type of visceral reaction.

As time goes by, Elliott will work out of this but he’s been hit with a trifecta of sorts.  First we have Gavin in the hospital last week, which had everyone worried and concerned. Then Gavin was home for the rest of the week. Elliott was also sick and off school last week as well and then of course we have my arch nemesis, Daylight savings time.

That’s a lot for anyone to handle, let alone an extremely sensitive little boy with Aspergers, that’s already prone to high levels of anxiety.

Emmett’s having a bit of a rough time as well and putting the two boys together exacerbates things and it like the perfect storm.

Thankfully, Gavin’s doing okay and seems to be relatively stable at the moment. That’s a load off everyone’s mind.  Hopefully, we can sorta pick up and move forward.

The weathers turned crappy again but Spring is right around the corner and that means  I certainly weather and frequent trips to the playground.  :-)


This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-)

Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me. ;-)

For more ways to help the Lost and Tired family, please visit Help the Lost and Tired Family.



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Mar 07 2013

Reframing: Creative solutions to #Autism related challenges

Categories:

Anxiety, Elliott

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March 7, 2013


I mentioned last night that Elliott has to go to the doctors because he’s getting sicker and with him having asthma, we have to be very careful.

We also have to be careful how we present to him that he’s going to the doctors as he has significant anxiety issues and doctors are at the very top of that list.

This morning when  I broke the news to him that he was going to see the doctor today, panic immediately set in. 
In an attempt to reframe this situation and help him feel better about going, I changed my approach. I had already assured him that there would be no shots or bloodwork. They just need to make sure that he’s not developing bronchitis or pneumonia. 

When telling the truth didn’t make him feel better or calm his anxiety, I tried a different approach.  I reframe the reason for the appointment and he has relaxed.

I told him that because he’s sick and needs to be home from school for so long, we need a note from his doctor so that we don’t get in trouble for not sending him to school.  Before we can get the note, the doctor needs to check him out real quick, just to make sure he’s really sick. 

All of a sudden,  Elliott was like “oh……okay”.

That was it.

Hopefully this will hold true as we actually leave and get closer to the physical building. 

In all my years of special needs parenting, I’ve found that the creative solutions seems to work the best. 

Hope this helps.  :-)


This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-)

Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me. ;-)

For more ways to help the Lost and Tired family, please visit Help the Lost and Tired Family.



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Dec 25 2012

Everyone likes Chutes and Ladders right? Wrong!!!!

Categories:

Anxiety, Aspergers, Elliott, My thoughts

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December 25, 2012


Christmas day was going so well. Gavin was playing in his room because he wanted to be alone. Elliott and Emmett were playing together with Play Doh. 

All was well…..

Then of course,  Daddy in his infinite wisdom brought out the game Chutes and Ladders.    I thought, who doesn’t like Chutes and Ladders?

Well,  I’ll tell you who doesn’t like Chutes and Ladders.  It’s the kid that hits the chute and basically has to start all over again. In this case,  Elliott. 

Elliott was doing really well and seemed to catch every ladder all the way to the top.  Then, he hit the big chute on square 87 and slid all the way back down. Elliott didn’t like that very much.  He broke down in tears and ran off sobbing to the couch. 

Lizze talked to him and Emmett and I finished the game.

When Elliott got upset and left, Emmett looked at me and said “Daddy, it’s okay to lose sometimes, right?” I said absolutely Emmett. 

Little did I know that Emmett would be tested as I hit square 28 and sailed away to an early victory.  Emmett just kept right on going.  He didn’t get upset and really enjoyed finishing the game. 

Emmett wants to play again after lunch and Elliott has sworn never to play Chutes and Ladders again.

I just love the holidays…….

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Dec 16 2012

#Autism, #Anxiety and Medication: Update 12/16/2012

Categories:

Anxiety, Autism, Elliott, Medication

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December 16, 2012


I wanted to update you on how Elliott‘s doing now that he’s off the anti-anxiety medications.

It’s been about a week since Elliott had his last dose of Tenex. He had not been on it for too long, but long enough to know that it wasn’t the right medication for him. It’s really hard to tell if he’s doing better or not but stopping was the right thing to do.

Currently, Elliott is very moody and still anxious but he’s got a great deal on his plate. I don’t know how well any 6 year old would deal with it all. I will say that he does seem to be a bit less stressed at times.

For right now, Elliott‘s life is medication free and we are working on other ways to help him manage everything. We’re doing a lot of art type things like drawing and crafts. He really seems to respond to that.

Right now, that’s where we stand. We’re taking it one day at a time……….

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