Fear Attacks

[nandee]

My daughter Corrina, age 4 is Autistic. She is non-verbal, at her own timing can be very loving, she give her first hug at 3yrs. Last Nov and Dec she was having long periods of time that she would be terrorifed always looking up as if there where some type of monsters there. She is having these attacks again, at home and at school. She is trembling she is so afraid. She is having these all times of day and night. Anyone else having this problem? Is anyone from the south MS. area? NancyE

[Mary Kaye]

I recently saw a special on panic attacks and remember them saying some were due to an imbalance of some kind in the brain. I believe they said this could be fixed through supplementation of some kind. Sorry I'm not more help. Maybe you could do a search on "panic attacks" and find something useful?

[Dad]

Another possiblity is that your daughter is suffering with exterme sensory integration problems. Often this is diet related, tied into the peptieds of casein and gluten. Dermorphin is a powerful substance sometimes detected in the urine of autistic children. Dermorphin is well documented to have hallucinogenic properties, and if your child has this in her system, she may be reacting to the sensory distortion that would accompiany it. You can have this screened if you can find a local lab which knows how to test for peptides and dermorphin (urine samples break down too quickly to be of much use with the mail away labs).

Good luck to you and please let us know what you find out.

[nandee]

Dad,
thank you for your response. I will be taking Corrina back to the base hopfully next week. I will ask them about doing this test. I know that they can test for Mercury, so they should beable to do this testing. It is so hard to see her in such fear and nothing you do helps. NancyE

[Valeri Dugan]

My daughter Jenna (2/98) use to have these "episodes" where she would scream and scratch her face and pull out her hair. She was obviously freaked out by something only she knew was there. This would go on for up to 3 hours when she would finally pass out from being so tired. When she woke up it would often start again. It was really scary.

Looking back, it was right after she had her shots that these episodes started. Then, when she started having dairy they got really bad. She went off dairy little by little starting last October. The episodes tappered off in length and frequency, finally ending in February. The closest thing I can compare it to in a night terror, except she was awake. Has your daughter had any shots recently? When did this behavior start?

Valeri

[Tashia]

When your daughter has these "attacks" go around the house and turn off everything you can find that is making noise (air conditioners, florescent lights, fish tank motors, television, radio, washer/dryer, etc.) Then, listen carefully, to see if there is anything outside or otherwise making a noise that you might not have noticed. It may be very high pitched or very low pitched. Does her behavior improve any when it is perfectly quiet? When she has these attacks, listen to see if you can identify any particular sounds in your environment that might be tormenting her.

My own children suffered from hyperacusis and a squeaky wheel on a buggy in the supermarket could turn my son from a quiet angel into a screaming tantruming crying fighting maniac. The hum of florescent lights or the pump on the aquarium were so distracting he couldn't concentrate on even the simplest tasks. Things like fire engine sirens, popping balloons, clapping, etc. were absolutely intolerable. Things that you and I would not even notice as background noise were intolerable to them, but there is help.

I suggest you eliminate the possibility with a visit to a knowledgable audiologist FAMILIAR WITH diagnosing hyperacusis (hyper acute hearing) and auditory integration therapy. (Not just any audiologist can do so.) It made the difference of night and day for both of my older children.