Stimmy Day

Summer is always a challenge.

No schedule, some schedule, no schedule, strict schedule, no schedule. It can be very difficult when you thrive on routine.

Today has been a day that I just need my own space and need to be left alone in my swing.

The soothing action of swinging helps me center myself. That and the wonderful essential oils!

Mom had already put the Balance on me. After I got upset with my brother and came back in the house, I asked for my swing. (Mom pulled it out of the attic too... that is huge! She hates the attic.)

Swing helped me calm down. After a couple minutes I asked her to bring me a pillow and put some Lavender on it.  I loved it. I rocked back and forth for about thirty minutes and calmed down.

My stimmy kind of day results in me being VERY emotional, easily upset, deep pressure seeking, and proprioceptive seeking.

This can result in me being very rough with my playmates. Mom does not let me blame my stimmy behavior for breaking the rules though. I understand. She wants me to overcome the sensory issues as much as possible and instead of making excuses on why I behave a certain way, it is better to adapt and attempt to eliminate the unwanted behavior.

It is hard. But when I am able to take a moment and chill out. It is all good.

By the way... we get our essential oils from here... doTERRA. We do not receive any retribution for sharing this link. Just being a supporter to a friend.

Sleep update, another diagnosis, and hope

The last few months have been remarkable.

In the end of January I was put on prescription medicine to help me sleep. I have had issues with sleeping pretty much all of my life. Mom would use lavender epsom salt, lavender soap, lavender laundry softener, lavender everything just to try to get me to relax enough to sleep. And up until about a year ago, the lavender would work in calming me and relaxing me in the evenings.

There were other things tried to and a bedtime schedule has always been a must.

As I said in the end of January I was given prescription medicine. It worked. I would sleep. Apparently, from nine years of not sleeping well, the ability to sleep all night made me very well rested and all of my active behaviors became aggravated. Aggravated as in I became less focused, hyper, and messier. This resulted in another medication a few weeks later.

While the Sensory Processing Disorder is quite evident, I gained another diagnosis.

It appears that while normally when a child is given a sleep medicine, the hyper-ness and unfocus will go away along with the headaches. Obviously I am not normal. Ha!

The other medicine helped a lot during school hours with a lot of my existing and newer problems. I was able to hold it together at school. Once I got home though I was very easy to get upset and moody.

So... for the summer, I am off of the daytime med completely and only take the sleep med when needed.

Meanwhile, mom has found some essential oils and they are helping. In the past when mom used Lavender everything, she tried essential oils from a couple brands and they would work for a little while and then stop working. We have finally found a Lavender that works and has been working continuously for a few months now. The brand is doTERRA. Mom has been AMAZED at the quality of the oils.

In addition to the Lavender at night, I am also using Balance during the day. And for the most part we see a big difference. The best part about the oils is that they are all natural, which means they are a lot safer for my heart than the prescriptions. Although, we do still have to watch how I react.