What could cause a child to suddenly have symptoms of ADHD?

[AnonymousAuroch]

My 7yo has always been a calm kid. Unusually "with it" for his age, not hyperactive, not forgetful. In the last month or so (basically since half term ended), he has had trouble falling and staying asleep, cannot hold a conversation without doing acrobatics, is forgetting things, making lots and lots of noise, can't focus, and is generally just different, like another child.

Nothing at home has changed. I know he loved being home during lockdown and wasn't thrilled to be back at school, but when he first went back in September all was fine. I don't think he's being bullied in school, his friendships seem fine as far as I can tell. I really don't know what's going on but I'm getting concerned. I thought he just needed more sleep but we moved his bedtime up to 7:30pm and it hasn't seemed to help. He normally sleeps until about 8am, but often wakes a lot during the night.

I'm not sure what to do. Is there a vitamin deficiency that could be linked to this? Something else? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Has he had a sore throat or other strep infection? I’ve read similar stories where it turned out to be a condition triggered by that, called PANDAs I think.

Yes, he had a fever around half term (he tested negative for covid) and was under the weather for quite a while. I'll look into that, thank you.

I was about to mention PANDAS , its worth a look, quite rare so you might have a job persuading the GP to take it seriously, good luck.

Try him on a short course of ibruprofen. If he responds well then it could well be inflammation caused by PANDAS/PANS

Crohns, Ulcerative colitis, coeliac -
all inhibit proper nutritional absorption. We took our child to psychologist because of extreme sudden behaviour change and they recommended we get him seen by dr first and it ended up being 2 of the above conditions.

Also came to mention PANDAS.

@willloman

Crohns, Ulcerative colitis, coeliac - all inhibit proper nutritional absorption. We took our child to psychologist because of extreme sudden behaviour change and they recommended we get him seen by dr first and it ended up being 2 of the above conditions.

Thank you, I think it's time to call his GP. He has had some bouts of diarrhea as well.

@Wbeezer

I was about to mention PANDAS , its worth a look, quite rare so you might have a job persuading the GP to take it seriously, good luck.

I'll try this, thank you.

@HumphreyCobblers

Try him on a short course of ibruprofen. If he responds well then it could well be inflammation caused by PANDAS/PANS

Whoops, meant to quote this one!

W hat is he like at school, has his teacher noticed a difference with him?

@CloudyGladys

W hat is he like at school, has his teacher noticed a difference with him?

She's definitely complaining. At first we just thought he was really tired after half term, especially after not being well.

I'm reading though that lack of sleep could cause similar symptoms (which might be more likely since PANDAS also requires OCD and/or tic symptoms, which he doesn't have). I don't know what could be keeping him awake though!

@AnonymousAuroch when you hear hoofbeats think horses not zebras, so before going into a controversial syndrome, look first at the usual suspects:

1. how is his diet and a deficiency in omega 3 (easily assessed with a blood test called omega 3) could explain his behaviour change
2. how is his screen usage? not only how much, but which kind (hand held, play station, ...) , and when during the day

Vitamin B12 deficiency. My daughter was like this & it got worse. Has he had gas & air, certain antibiotics or anything else, even Covid that could affect his B12 levels. I

It's a complicated vitamin to process & not all of us can process it properly & we need regular injections. This link has all the information that you need & links to the support group that helped me fight for testing & eventually treatment for out daughter. She was a different kid after B12 injections. Your GP should help with blood tests, but unfortunately some need educating to better understand stand blood results, especially for kids. So I recommend joining the group in the link ...

www.b12deficiency.info/children-and-b12/

[quote LeGrandBleu]@AnonymousAuroch when you hear hoofbeats think horses not zebras, so before going into a controversial syndrome, look first at the usual suspects:

1. how is his diet and a deficiency in omega 3 (easily assessed with a blood test called omega 3) could explain his behaviour change
2. how is his screen usage? not only how much, but which kind (hand held, play station, ...) , and when during the day[/quote] Thank you. I've put him on a multivitamin with omega 3 today (we already had them, just hadn't used them in quite a while). His diet and screen time usage haven't changed (his diet is pretty good and he probably does have too much screen time).

He isn't getting as much exercise since he's been back at school. It's difficult to increase that this time of year with the rain and early nights, but I'll have a think about what we can do.

[quote SingingInTheShithouse]Vitamin B12 deficiency. My daughter was like this & it got worse. Has he had gas & air, certain antibiotics or anything else, even Covid that could affect his B12 levels. I

It's a complicated vitamin to process & not all of us can process it properly & we need regular injections. This link has all the information that you need & links to the support group that helped me fight for testing & eventually treatment for out daughter. She was a different kid after B12 injections. Your GP should help with blood tests, but unfortunately some need educating to better understand stand blood results, especially for kids. So I recommend joining the group in the link ...

www.b12deficiency.info/children-and-b12/[/quote]
Thank you, I'll look into this.