Have any of you dealt with a child who acts out due to red dye? I've been reading lots of medical stuff online about it, but would like to hear some first hand experiences. My oldest son has Down Syndrome and has always been the sweetest little boy. Well, over the past 9 months to a year he has become very angry, aggressive and somewhat violent. He gets angry and yells any time I tell him to do something. He has started hitting, pushing & throwing things at his brother and sister. We've talked to doctors, therapists and his teacher about it and no one really knows whats going on. His teacher said he is getting worse at school too. The reason I'm thinking it might be red dye is because he used to have an allergy for it which caused him to vomit any time he ate or drank anything red. Well about a year ago the allergy went away (or so we thought). He stopped throwing up when we let him try something so now we've been letting him have all the stuff he missed out on for so long. Could this really be affecting his behavior now? Has anyone dealt with or heard of this? Or am I just chasing a conspiracy theory? Any help or advice would be great!! Thanks so much!
Hi, YES. My daughter was having huge behavioral problems - too much to write about. We took her off of all food dyes, and yes we saw a NEW child! It's hard to stay on top of this though. We also removed high fructose corn syruup from her diet.
J.
Yes! It may just be the red dye! My oldest son had the same problem from about age 5 until we figured it out and did a diet modification! He is now 32 and STILL watches his intake of red dyed foods. We took him off of EVERYTHING that had red dye in it, and yes, it was an expense, but it was worth it! He started showing improvement within a week after the diet modification, which, to us, just confirmed that it was the red dye! Talk with your pediatrician and ask for a referral to a nutritionist, I know there are a few in Tulsa. You may also want to watch chocolates with your son, too.
My girls have allergies that we discovered through a blood test. Red dye is one of them and many other strange things in preservatives, etc. One of my girls is allergic to dairy and she is more hyper when she has it. In fact she craves it, which I have learned the body craves what it is allergic to. Nothing they are allergic to make them "sick". I can see headaches, stomach-aches, gas, excema, and hyperactivity. My nephew who is autistic is allergic to gluten and casin and when he has it he is more wound up, less able to control his tendincies. I do believe the foods we are allergic to have an impact on our system and in different ways. It also seems those of us with other issues to begin with seem to have a harder time of dealing with it. I have read about it and know it is talked about in the medical field. I think you have to weigh the pros and cons, is it easier to let him eat, drink what he wants or deal with his behavior? It changes depending on what the day will be like. Maybe you could find more information on the internet about food allergies and behavior. You could always look under autism because it is a large issue for many of those affected.
Good luck!
I have a friend who experienced this with a non-Downs kid but I don't know anything personally. You'll have to do Internet research on credible websites because I'd guess most local docs won't know about it. good luck!
I don't know the answer, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if red dye caused it. I would personally eliminate anything with artificial colors or flavors from his (and the whole family's) diet, even if it turns out that is not the cause. They are bad for you for other reasons anyway. Also I've heard some kids have wheat and gluten allergies that affect behavior, so it could be that too.
