I have a clinical/chronic Vit. D deficiency, it can cause a lot of problems (e.g. back issues) often attributed to other sources. It takes a long time to titrate the levels -- 8-12 weeks. If her mood swings are so bad that they are literally affecting her ability to function as you describe, I would strongly urge you to be working with a medical professional. If Vit. D deficiency is her issue, she can be tested and treated properly. If not, you can discuss other options with experts in that field.
Personally I think you have more than a "hope it helps" situation on your hand. If your daughter came home from a friend's house with the black bruising and pain typical of a broken bone, you likely wouldn't hesitate to have her seen by an orthopedist or ER doc. Have the same respect for her brain. She'll be healthier for it.
Thanks Carol. I'm sorry, I realized I left out the fact that she has autism (I forget to do that at times because I hate to preface things with 'this is my daughter, she has autism' - leftover habit from 'focus on the person, not the disability'). She's considered severely impaired - she is 11 yrs old, non-verbal, limited comprehension. Two years ago, in January she started having significant OCD-ish behaviors. We were in the middle of moving and her behaviors were attributed to that. Because of how significantly she's impaired, doctors are hesitant to diagnose her with other things because of how autism interferes in her life. (For example, she eats glass, dirt, sand, string, foam, insulation, etc but cannot get a pica diagnosis as this behavior is attributed to autism). I was able to get an anxiety diagnosis (and medication two years ago). Things eased up in March/April but that was attributed to the medication.
Last year, the behaviors returned late December and we suspected seizures. She had three EEG's (all normal), MRI (normal), 3 check-ups with an optometrist (normal), numerous appointments with our pediatrician, endocrinologist, neurologist and psychiatrist (they upped her meds but reduced them when it made things worse). They conducted lots of labwork. At that point, I brought up SAD because the time frame was similar to the previous year. It also went away in March/April. Our pediatrician said he wanted to see if it continued to happen for another year or two.
This year, they again tried to up her medication in October (to prepare for her winter-time blah's) and she developed serotonin syndrome and some really bad behaviors (and blood in her urine). They had to dramatically reduce her medication. Our insurance has changed and our new provider does not cover autism so none of her psych and neuro visits are covered (we pay full price). Because of the serotonin syndrome (which involved multiple doctor visits and the hospital), our pediatrician is not comfortable prescribing any medication (and I don't blame him). However, I can't afford the psych visits because to adjust her meds would require several visits(130-220 apiece).
My husband recently lost his second job but we still make too much for outside assistance. We've tried various vitamin/supplement therapies with her before with our pediatrician's full consent and knowledge. He's aware that I plan on trying Vit D with her this winter.
Not only do I not really know what else to do, neither do they. We can try various meds but it was almost fatal for her previously and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that even if we could afford it. At this point, we're going to do what we did last year, which was to keep her home (or check her out of school) when she simply couldn't function and comfort her at home as best we could.
I realize it may sound as if I'm just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. And I realize that for someone who is diagnosed with low Vit D (such as yourself), I probably seem a bit too casual with treatment.
So far, it's the best fit, although you're right in that I could go ahead and get her VitD levels checked.
Any parent or pet owner knows that their baby/pet makes different noises/cries based on situations. My daughter doesn't speak, but I know her. She has differing behaviors throughout the year, but the majority are based on OCD needs (chairs placed a certain way, re-tracing steps, etc). Significant changes in routine bring about mild self-injury, lots of sleeping after the stress (such as after school if it's a change at school) and changes in patterns of eating. This is different and it's the third year that it's happened around this time frame. We've been through every test every doctor suggested and every treatment they wanted to try (other than admission into the psych ward at Children's Hospital and that was only for restraint/behavior control - not because they thought it would help - it would have been for our benefit, not hers). I plan to try any option open to me that won't harm her.
Sorry for the book!
