sudden worsening of sensory 'defensiveness' - any ideas?

[sphil]

DS2 has always put his hands over his ears at times - in response to some noises, children and animals he's wary of, if he's asking for something and expecting the answer 'no' and even sometimes as a sign of 'too much' enjoyment (puts his hands over ears while smiling or laughing). Over the last two weeks this has got much worse - he's got his hands (or arms, if his hands aren't free) clamped over his ears for much of the time we're out. He's also become far less happy to have his hand held - keeps giving it to me then pulling it away. He's been fine about hand holding for over a year until now.

Does anyone have any experience of this kind of thing - sudden worsening of sensory overload (if that's what it is)? And if so, any ideas how I can help him?

I was wondering about air quality/pollen count. This behaviour does seem to have coincided with the warmer weather - he's not overly itchy or wheezing, but does sneeze and pick his nose a lot! He was really apathetic and withdrawn when we were out today - then perked up as soon as it started raining!I wondered if all his tubes are involved - which might account for the ear issue, tho not the hand holding.

[macwoozy]

I doubt this will be any help at all, but I also have a fight to get my ds to hold my hand, which is a big problem because I can't trust him not to run out into the road. He's very sensitive to smells and has told me that he doesn't like holding my hand because it smells too much!

And I do wash!!

[allytjd]

DS2 has always hated holding hands, it is only now that he is seven that he will sometimes hold hands (tho' he keeps it limp!) for a short while. Interestingly he is also the only one of my three to have hayfever, and used to get very agitated about sore nose and eyes, thankfully this is diminishing with age. He also hates the heat but we live in Scotland so this is not often a problem!

Have you tried a dose of Piriton to see if that helps?

They are funny about smells, hating some and liking others. I apologised after breaking wind the other day and DS2 said " I don't mind Mummy, I rather like the smell of farts!".

sorry if I have lowered the tone.

[coppertop]

Ds1 has been like this recently too and I think you might have discovered the reason why! He has asthma, and there's a lot of hay fever in the family too.

He's been a lot more sensitive to things just lately and a lot more prone to sudden outbreaks of tears for no apparent reason.

I don't have any useful answers but will watch this thread for ideas.

Allytjd - I've just sprayed a mouthful of tea over my keyboard!

[drowninginlaundry]

DS1 has periods when he is sooo 'sensory', and seeks his usual fixes (teeth grinding, rocking over chair arm rests, head banging into sofas... ) but he has low registration so he gets a bit loopy after periods of inactivity or lack of stimulation.

Some foods can be culprits as well but I think you might be spot on with your hayfever theory!

[sphil]

I just checked the weather page - pollen count high in the SW today and humidity 93%!
This is all very reassuring - though I don't mean to suggest I'm pleased that some of your DCs are suffering in the same way .

The trouble with Piriton is that it gives him terrible poos! I try to avoid medicines where ever possible with him, as although they take away the original symptom they seem to cause a whole lot more. So annoying! I'm due to talk to the nutritionist tomorrow and will ask his advice - and pass it on.

The hand holding is an odd one - he was fine a couple of weeks ago (apart from the odd time) so why suddenly now?

Drowning - funnily enough DS2 is also very sensory seeking atm. Asking for hugs all the time - wants me to dig my chin into his body - loads of rocking over the arm of the sofa. I wonder if this is connected to the defensiveness in other areas - as if everything has been knocked out of sync?

Allytjd at your DS. DS2 doesn't appear to notice smells at all! (Good job, in this house...)

[KarenThirl]

DS (9) has fluctuating sensory sensitivity too. There's always a reason, although it might not always be obvious. We've just had a very strange weekend behaviourally and after years of experience I can now see that there are several possible triggers. He had a minor viral infection middle of last week, it's the hayfever season starting, he had a small fall-out with a friend at school on Friday, he's starting swimming with school on Tuesday, he found it hard to focus on his homework on Saturday. There are a couple of others too - his response could be due to some, all or none of these factors but his behaviour is definitely a consequence of something being not right.

Piriton didn't do much for ds's hayfever until we added several other treatments. So if you want to avoid the horrible poos you could try some alternative. Ds has Nazalese powder spray (non pharmaceutical, from chemists), eye drops (he'll accept them now but it wasn't funny in the early days), local honey and sunglasses. The most effective measure we've used has been Vaseline applied around the eyes and nostrils, which acts as a physical block to pollen before it can become irritant. But none of these individually eliminated the symptoms totally and it's the combination that works for ds.

[Saker]

Sphil

You could try an anti-histamine - Loratidine for example - the brand name is Clarityn.

[KarenThirl]

I should add that it's best to avoid antihistamines in tablet form. Most of them contain artificial colourings - one even has Sunset Yellow FGS, and that can obviously exacerbate behaviour difficulties. Most of the syrups contain sodium benzoate but it's hard to avoid, you have to weigh up the pros and cons with children's meds.

[sphil]

Thanks Saker and Karen. It's such a balancing act with medication - he's so sensitive to so many things! Those are all good ideas though - will investigate further.

It's funny how many of our DCs are going through a strange time atm though. This allergy thing is soooo interesting (and frustrating). I'm positive if we could get more of a handle on it, it would make such a difference to DS2. His nutritionist has done wonders already - no major asthma attacks for a year and his eczema has almost completely gone - but I still think there's a lot going on inside we haven't worked out yet.

He just lay on the sofa this morning - ate three bits of toast - huge black circles under eyes. Have sent him to school with long note in home/school book - feel a bit mean, just in case he is brewing something.

[sphil]

bites not bits! Bits would have been good!

[Saker]

Ds1 is on Clarityn syrup at the moment, so I just checked the ingredients -
propylene glycol, glycerin, sucrose, citric acid, sodium benzoate, peach flavouring.

Just thought it might be useful to know before buying.

[sphil]

Thanks Saker - that's very helpful.
He came out of school totally different this afternoon and has been his usual smiley, bouncy, hungry self! Had an excellent session with his tutor too. It's so hard to know what's going on with him sometimes.

We are doing a lot of biomed stuff with him atm and I sometimes wonder whether these 'off' periods (which are almost always followed by times when he progresses rapidly) are a result of this.