Food Issues | ADHD Information

My daughter,10, is ADHD primarily inattentive . She has also had signs of depression for about two years . Put on Prozac two months ago for the depression and we have seen great changes in her mood she is much less irritable. The reason the Dr's and we waited so long to start her on the depression meds was because she had plenty of "reasons" to be depressed. The ADHD and probably some learning disabilities thrown in delayed her speech development significantly- thus impacted her ability to form friendships. Fortunately she has went her whole school years to the same Christian school so while the girls there are not "mean" to her she is not included outside of school in any activities ie sleepovers,etc and she is acutely aware that this is going on and deeply saddened by it. I mention that the girls are not mean to her at her school and know that it could be much worse . She was on a 3rd grade softball team last summer and when she tried to join converstions the girls called her "stupid" "dork" etc because she could not get the words out clearly or fast enough and yet she has alot to say. Anyways back to my main question she has always been a picky eater and her Dad and I both were so we never made ti an issue. Refusing to eat her vegetables is one thing but now she has taken to eating sweets compulsively. We find wrappers and leftovers hidden in her room which she knows we will find but thinks the consequences (losing money off her allowance)are worth it. She has taken to getting up at night and finding high calorie foods and devouring things. She never eats breakfast. Probably rarely eats the school lunches does eat our meat and potatoes dinners  and then gorges on whatever she can find after school and through the night. Luckily we are not a "junk " family so she never has much to chose from . Any insight from anyone how this can be tackled or what might be going on ? A start of an eating disorder. ? My first post so please excuse the rambling on I've  done.With delayed speech development, has she ever been accessed by a NeuroPsych for high functioning autism? The picky eating could also be a symptom. My son, who is on the spectrum, has these food issues and, if you solve the problem, let me know. This particular problem is still an issue with him. He won't touch certain foods and does hoard food. I would have her checked out for HFA just to be safe, especially if she also has social issues. If Aspergers, these kids, often diagnosed as ADHD first, often are seen as "geeks" and can be amazingly bright, but clueless socially.  Speech delays and food problems are common in all forms of autism. Some ADHD meds can cause eating issues, usually the child not eating at all due to the med killing his/her appetite. When my son went to Catholic school for two years, he also wasn't made fun of, but never got asked to parties, etc. He played alone at recess, but he didn't really mind. He is more of a loner. He tends to talk AT people rather than interactive conversation. Although he no longer has speech problems, he still doesn't know how to communicate well. He is PDD-NOS, first dxd. as ADHD/ODD. OlderMom38781.4497453704However, sensory issues in ASD tend to be more severe and speech problems are NOT characteritic of ADHD. I'd still test him just to be sure. No point in guessing.

It's not uncommon for children with ADHD to have sensory issues. Not to say that yours does but have you noticed which foods she's avoiding - texture wise? My son has auditory sensitivities so he avoids hard and crunchy foods. Also, children with food sensitivities will be drawn to those very foods they're sensitive towards. Because it poses as 'toxins' in their bodies, they often tend to avoid foods that they're not sensitive towards. I'm not sure why that is - I think it has something to do with the way the body metabolises these foods. My son was dx with ADHD as well and before I realized about his food issues, he was a very picky eater. Now that I've elliminated many of the foods he's sensitive towards, his eating habits have MUCH improved. I'd never would of guessed that he'd eat some of the foods he's eating now (ie: carrot milk, pumpkin seed butter, tuna snacks..)

Was your daughter born with any difficulties at birth?

Does she see a psychologist? Having someone to talk to every few weeks has helped our son at 10. He was depressed, but he did not have food issues.Let us know how she is doing!