Sounds innocent enough doesn't it? Well, it's not, it kind of really sucks. It's kind of really scary. Especially when you are nine years old.
T has always been different than my other kids. He is the funny, loud, and talkative kid, where my other kids are quieter and don't talk nearly as much. He has also always had the biggest imagination of any kid I've known. He has issues with textures, eating and has always been sensitive to the dark. Fall of last year this happened, read here.
Back then we had no idea what was going on with him, after we got the news of healthy eyes it was onto scarier reasons of what was happening with him. At first we would just talk to him distract him because we didn't know what was happening with him. All we knew is our little boy was scared and we couldn't help him.
Months passed and FINALLY a diagnose, he has what is called Alice In Wonderland Syndrome. Just as we were figuring all this out the episodes stopped, just like that they stopped. He never talked about it, he was sleeping through the night, falling asleep easily again.
Fast forward to the present. He started having pretty intense episodes, the latest one so intense he puked, missing the toilet even though he was right over it. We realized we had never told him what or why this was happening to him. We sat him down, him still crying because everything around him looked tiny. He described his foot as a baby foot. We told him he has AIWS and explained what it was and that he's going to be okay. I think that us understanding it fully will help him cope with it better. I have been researching and researching it. It's all so interesting, the brain is a complicated thing.
Here is a simple explanation.... and Here is where it can sound really scary.
The second link makes me want to run him to the nearest hospital and demand an MRI. But that's the crazy mommy bear inside of me that I bury deep. Instead, I researched more. I've read lots of articles written by adults with AIWS and I'm learning more and more. For example, stress, change, weather, and even certain chemicals in foods can trigger an episode.
We thought his first episode was fall of 2013, turns out he's been having them for years but he thought it was because he was tired so he'd go to sleep to make it stop. I suppose he also couldn't communicate what was happening when he was younger. It was difficult when he finally could communicate, he had to draw us a picture for us to fully understand it.
For T, I think it's change that brings these episodes on. Right now, Dub is visiting grandparents and his big sister is getting ready to move away to attend college. I assume this is hard for him, even if he isn't aware of it. He does talk about Dub a lot, asks every day if he's coming home. Just last night he said he misses Dub more than any of us. He is also refusing to cut his hair until Dub gets home. He really hasn't talked about the girl moving out but it is talked about a lot in front of him. I imagine it's affecting him in some way.
We are being proactive when it comes to his sleep, using oils and melatonin in spray form to help him sleep. Also with the help of white noise we have had success, three nights in a row of wonderful, glorious sleep. It's not a fix that is going to keep the episodes from happening for good but for now it's working. I'm also remembering to talk to him about all the changes that are happening with our family. Next up is getting back to the healthy eating that went out the window when we moved to Montana. I am hoping that all this will help keep the episodes at bay and if they do flare up we can help him cope better now that we understand more about what is happening and why.
T has always been different than my other kids. He is the funny, loud, and talkative kid, where my other kids are quieter and don't talk nearly as much. He has also always had the biggest imagination of any kid I've known. He has issues with textures, eating and has always been sensitive to the dark. Fall of last year this happened, read here.
Back then we had no idea what was going on with him, after we got the news of healthy eyes it was onto scarier reasons of what was happening with him. At first we would just talk to him distract him because we didn't know what was happening with him. All we knew is our little boy was scared and we couldn't help him.
Months passed and FINALLY a diagnose, he has what is called Alice In Wonderland Syndrome. Just as we were figuring all this out the episodes stopped, just like that they stopped. He never talked about it, he was sleeping through the night, falling asleep easily again.
Fast forward to the present. He started having pretty intense episodes, the latest one so intense he puked, missing the toilet even though he was right over it. We realized we had never told him what or why this was happening to him. We sat him down, him still crying because everything around him looked tiny. He described his foot as a baby foot. We told him he has AIWS and explained what it was and that he's going to be okay. I think that us understanding it fully will help him cope with it better. I have been researching and researching it. It's all so interesting, the brain is a complicated thing.
Here is a simple explanation.... and Here is where it can sound really scary.
The second link makes me want to run him to the nearest hospital and demand an MRI. But that's the crazy mommy bear inside of me that I bury deep. Instead, I researched more. I've read lots of articles written by adults with AIWS and I'm learning more and more. For example, stress, change, weather, and even certain chemicals in foods can trigger an episode.
We thought his first episode was fall of 2013, turns out he's been having them for years but he thought it was because he was tired so he'd go to sleep to make it stop. I suppose he also couldn't communicate what was happening when he was younger. It was difficult when he finally could communicate, he had to draw us a picture for us to fully understand it.
For T, I think it's change that brings these episodes on. Right now, Dub is visiting grandparents and his big sister is getting ready to move away to attend college. I assume this is hard for him, even if he isn't aware of it. He does talk about Dub a lot, asks every day if he's coming home. Just last night he said he misses Dub more than any of us. He is also refusing to cut his hair until Dub gets home. He really hasn't talked about the girl moving out but it is talked about a lot in front of him. I imagine it's affecting him in some way.
We are being proactive when it comes to his sleep, using oils and melatonin in spray form to help him sleep. Also with the help of white noise we have had success, three nights in a row of wonderful, glorious sleep. It's not a fix that is going to keep the episodes from happening for good but for now it's working. I'm also remembering to talk to him about all the changes that are happening with our family. Next up is getting back to the healthy eating that went out the window when we moved to Montana. I am hoping that all this will help keep the episodes at bay and if they do flare up we can help him cope better now that we understand more about what is happening and why.
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