Back on GFCF!

Back in June, we took Demi off the GFCF diet. We didn't see a significant difference at first.
However, over the course of the summer, it seemed that her number of tantrums increased.

While on the diet, I had moments of pleasant surprise when I witnessed her doing something more easily than before or doing something new that she couldn't do before. Her tantrum moments decreased to maybe once every two months or so - not that often. (By "tantrum," I mean that she gets fixated on something - something she wants or something that doesn't go as planned - and gets very upset when she doesn't get it or it doesn't happen as she wants. No explanation makes any difference. Redirection doesn't work. She just won't listen to anything.)

By August (after two months off the diet), the tantrums were maybe once a month. Since we hadn't seen them in a while, it was quite stressful. I didn't do a very good job of keeping track, so I didn't have exact numbers. Since supplements had not been 100% regular over the summer, I decided to get them back on a regular schedule and see if that resolved things. It did not. The end of August came and went, and September passed by.

Finally, last Sunday (9/27/09), after another tantrum (because we didn't have eggs to make pancakes), we decided to put her back on the diet. DH had not been terribly supportive of the diet, thinking it didn't help, but even he agreed to put her back on the diet. If the tantrums decrease (I'm trying to keep better track!), I think he'll agree that the diet makes a difference.

In addition to the increased tantrums, I had more moments of unpleasant surprise, when things were harder for her or she suddenly couldn't do something that she had done before. Concepts at school which she had mastered were suddenly lost. Teachers commented that she was inconsistent.

It's been almost two weeks now. Too early to really tell, but we haven't had any tantrums yet - just whiny on occasion. Just yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised that she did her math homework mostly correctly and mostly independently. While she was doing that at the start of school (early August), she has been struggling lately.

I hope I start to see more moments of pleasant surprise again. I don't expect any huge sudden changes, but I realize how those "small," "insignificant" changes really do add up over time. They become big when you start to see them evaporate!