Lactose

I am quietly crossing my fingers that we have found a solution to Ruby's unending tummy pains. This is something that has been going on for years and years and years.... and of course, being Ruby, there is never a simple answer. At first I thought it was anxiety and yes that is definitely a part of it. But it was just getting ridiculous and so disturbing to daily life. Every single day would bring more tummy pain. We saw doctors, had blood tests, went to the psychologist etc etc. Then a few weeks ago I took Ruby to a Naturopath.

This woman was great, and really "got" Ruby straight away. And a couple of interesting things came up straight away. Firstly- Ruby's history of kidney/bladder problems and her high state of anxiety about most things. In Chinese medicine, the kidneys are seen as the seat of courage and calmness. So weak kidneys = anxious people. Tick! Secondly, iridology showed signs of digestive upset (duh) and stress lines (again, duh). The naturopath gave us some herbs and tonics to strengthen Ruby's kidneys and calm her gut and also advised that we cut back dramatically on milk. The tummy issues began disappearing about 3 days later. And it became apparent that they did indeed return after drinking milk. So about 2 weeks ago I decided to switch to lactose free milk and see how that went. Instant success. And a week later, when I ran out of the lactose free and she had to have regular milk, the pain returned. Bingo.

And with all this has been a subtle improvement in her behaviour. At heart, she is a 'spirited' child and is very, very wilful and defiant. But I think that not having chronic tummy pain has improved her behaviour in that she doesn't seem to have such a short fuse anymore. She's also sleeping better.

So I'll keep crossing my fingers and see what happens. Until the next drama!