For the last 2 weeks my husband and I have had very little sleep. The days have almost been as hard as the nights. Eden has been constantly waking, screaming in her sleep, inexplicably distraught. This impacts her days and she has walked around a little shadow of herself with dark circles under her eyes, irritable, highly sensitive, with little appetite and so so tired. You question your qualities/abilities as a parent as you start to struggle to cope. With Eden’s background, you also start to question ‘what’s changed?’

Well, a few things have in truth. She’s a brand new owner of a little sister and still not over the moon about it (especially having to share her daddy).  We challenged eggs a couple of months ago and thought we’d had a positive result, in that they didn’t go straight through her. She is very constipated, which I think may be down to letting her eat too much fruit (this does block her up) and failing to get her to eat enough vegetables. She also had a terrible reaction to soy a few weeks ago, which she did take almost a week to recover from and it was awful.

As usual we have used the essential oils to manage her symptoms. I made up a rollerball with doTERRA’s blends digestzen and on guard, plus bergamot to help rebalance the gut flora. I have also used the doTERRA blend serenity at night and we are trying a homeopathic recipe for the constipation. Of course they help manage the symptoms, but they aren’t removing the root of the problem, which I hadn’t identified… Until this morning.

I had a lightbulb moment. When we had Eden’s hair tested last year she demonstrated an intolerance to sulphites, which kind of made sense because I had seen her react to naturally occurring sulphites, but we don’t eat the processed and refined foods that sulphites are generally added to, like sugar, dessicated coconut and canned foods.

However, the earth has sulfur in it naturally, and therefore, so do many food products that come from the earth. For example, grapes, oranges and eggs that come from chickens. Some otherwise healthy vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, garlic, onions, chives and leeks contain sulphites naturally. Rapeseed, which is used in canola oil, is another culprit. Strawberries, blackberries, plums, coconut and other fruits also contain varying amounts of natural sulfites. Eden has reacted to all of these things in the past.  Another thing she consistently eats is peanut butter; every day. I had cut these things out after the hair test and her sleep improved massively, but as her grandma was still giving her the odd bit of peanut butter and because it is so difficult to get her to eat anything I had gradually let the naturally occurring sulphites back in and peanut butter particularly she has been having daily. Is this at the root of all our troubles?

The worst thing about when Eden is reacting is that she is horrible. She shouts, she hits and she says hurtful things. Some people might say that this is a normal part of being 3 years old, but having seen the difference in Eden when she isn’t reacting I disagree.

I guess the other thing is that because reactions, especially intolerances aren’t talked about or understood as much as allergies or something like coeliacs disease, it sometimes isn’t taken seriously. If I hear the words, a little bit won’t hurt one more time…

Either way, I think I am onto something. From today I will cut the sulphites back out and see if we start to get some sleep. I will keep you posted.  If this story resonates with you, please stop by my facebook page, Mummy Munchies, for recipes and link shares for advice.

To any other mums (and dads!) that are struggling right now, in whatever way, Kia Kaha ❤

Much love x x

For information, Eden shows reaction to foods in her behaviour, sleep, tummy troubles and thrush, congestion and on her skin. Reactions can be very individual. Reactions to sulphites can be extremely varied, but can worsen asthma and adhd, cause night terrors, insomnia, sleep walking and other sleep disturbance as well as other symptoms. Fedup.com.au is a great resource for information if you suspect food intolerance/allergies. However, always seek assistance from a doctor if you are worried and before you consider an elimination diet.