Hypoglycemia in children can occur for many reasons. If you have a toddler or very young child, they could be suffering from a form of reactive hypoglycemia called Ketotic hypoglycemia. In older children, sometimes the problem is that they use blood sugar too quickly. There are other causes for hypoglycemia in children, but intelligence should be taken into account.
I don’t usually tell people that Leo is academically gifted, for risk of sounding boorish. My close friends and family know, but it isn’t the kind of thing I’ll bring up in general conversation, let alone post in a blog. However, it looks like Leo’s giftedness may be the reason he’s reactive hypoglycemic.
Our Bipolar Child
For years we thought Leo (now ten years old) had cyclothymia (a mild form of bipolar disorder). He would have mood swings and highs reminiscent of my mother’s menopause: doors would slam, dishes would break, and then an hour later, Leo would (puzzlingly) make tea for me, give me a hug, and apologize in the sweetest way you could imagine for being a “toad.” At the time, I didn’t notice that his mood improved after a snack.
Sometimes he would come home from school and go to bed for a two hour nap. We knew better than to disturb him–it was either let him sleep or put up with a miserable, grumpy Leo.
Leo’s schoolwork was haphazard–sometimes brilliant, other times nothing but scrawl and misspellings. His teachers were as puzzled as I was. Another thing that didn’t make sense: Leo would crave sweets and carbs so much that he would often raid the kitchen late at night for cookies, chips, and crackers (we no longer keep those items in the house!)
An Unquiet Mind
An Unquiet Mind
While Leo seemed to fit the definition of bipolar, his puzzling seizures (two Grand mals) didn’t quite fit the profile. Neither did his spells of feeling nauseous and looking pasty-faced before he passed out.
After he was diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia (for more on that see my post How to Get Diagnosed), the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. However, we wanted to know the cause. Wouldn’t any parent?
I may have found my answer in a book by James Webb, called Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children
About six percent of highly-gifted children, says Webb, suffer from reactive hypoglycemia. The children who fall into this category are usually slender and exhibit intense behavior. Leo is definitely intense, and very slim. Why is reactive hypoglycemia seen in these children? As the brain runs on glucose alone, it’s thought that highly gifted, energetic children simply use up available brain fuel quickly.
Reactive hypoglycemia in children isn’t uncommon. If your child is a good student but exhibits puzzling mood swings, especially in the late morning or late afternoon, reactive hypoglycemia could be the cause.
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Dear Stephanie,
My pediatrician just diagnosed my 7 year old daughter with Reactive Hypoglycemia based on a 2 hour glucose tolerance test. Her fasting blood sugar was 75. After a 1/2 hour of drinking the glucosimine her blood sugar level was 82 but after an hour her blood sugar was 62. She has been suffering bouts of fatigue and irritablility and her teacher has claimed that she has focusing issues in school. My pediatrician suggested cutting out all sugar from her diet but I think I should consult a pediatric endocrinologist before drastically changing her diet. What else should I be doing for her?
Dana,
Sounds like my son!! My son’s pediatrician also said to cut out sugar, but also simple carbs like potatoes and white bread. All the tips and tricks I’ve learned about diet are here and what not to eat is here. Any dietary changes are healthy ones…swapping white bread for whole grains etc.
It made the world of difference in my son…let me know how it goes with your daughter!
Best,
Stephanie
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?
Steph – thanks so much for sending me to this post. I do agree that my 5 year old daughter may be one of the 6% of HG children that has hypoglycemia. Her behavior is like night and day after going to long without eating something substantial (protein and complex carb rich foods).
Often I tell people who have been privy to her alter ego, she’s like Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. While I can laugh about it now, it’s really not funny to see that Ms. Hyde come out.
But, definitely, keeping her well fed is key to regulating her “intense” emotional reactions to situations.
KC, I recognize the Jekyll and Hyde analogy all too well. We too laughed about the “Jekyll” aspect–I guess it’s a coping mechanism for having a a ten year old that still has tantrums like a toddler (in the past now thankfully)! I hope you found some useful info here. Best, Steph
I am starting to think this is my daughter’s problem. She, too, is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She is very smart, but also very stubborn. Tall and thin – a lean green bean of a girl. Because she reads above 6th grade level and speaks very clearly and is taller than most 4th graders, folks think she is older than her 7 years. She is sweet then starts to get crabby then gets depressed and suicidal and left too long curls up in a ball in her closet and is inconsolable. If I get to her quick enough with food or juice, she pops out of it. But left too long, she refuses to eat, and we spiral into a nightmare. My doctor said there were no tests we could do. But reading this, I can see I need to go to someone else. Thank you.
Yes, please do go see someone else. Look for a pediatric endocrinologist near you: they will definitely listen!
Best of luck,
Stephanie
Your description fits my son exactly. My doctor stumbled on his low blood sugar (70 1 hour after a substantial meal) when checking his iron level and diagnosed hypoglycemia. His father (we are no longer married) will not believe that our son has this problem and continues to feed him cereal with milk as breakfast and plenty of juice and sugar based foods. My son returns feeling horrible, acting worse and craving sugar and simple carbs. Thank you for your post. It reinforces my observations and will help me stand strong against the accusations that I am crazy and making up illnesses. Any other help you can suggest would be wonderful. Thank you.
Melissa,
How old is your son? I’ve found that my 10-year-old enjoys being “different” and educating people about his diet (including other relatives that he goes to stay with). I started by teaching him how to read food labels. When he complained about feeling sick, or if he was grumpy, we would sit down and discuss what he ate that day. It was usually sneaking a Pop Tart in the school cafeteria or getting cookies from a friend. It took three or four major crashes for him to realize that he feels like garbage if he eats sugar, so he is getting better about it. He’ll refuse to eat sugary cereal–and when he goes to his Dad’s house I send him with his own cereal (fruit juice sweetened corn flakes) and snack bars (Luna bars and Barbara’s Bakery no-sugar-added fig bars).
That’s what worked for me–I hope that helps a little. I guess it depends on how old your son is.
You could also take your son to a pediatric endocrinologist for a firm diagnosis that might help to convince your ex that it’s a “real” disease.
Good luck!
Stephanie
I have a quick question. I have been watching my 8 year old daughter for the past few days. She has been a very difficult child almost since the day she was born, and only getting worse. I keep thinking she will grow out of it, but she is not!! In closely watching her I picked up on something. First, she is always hungry. At first my husband and I just thought she was just trying to get out of going to bed, but really, she is hungry most of the day. I am also noticing that if she has gone a few hours without food she throws the worst fits I have ever seen, then she eats something and she is a child I don’t recognize. Also, my daughter has horrible stomach aches in the morning, headaches frequently, and from as early as I can remember she has had sleeping issues, either night terrors, sleep walking, or just not sleeping at all. Do all of these things come with Reactive Hypoglycemia?? I am just trying to make sense of her. I really want this to be the answer so I can help her instead of yelling at her all the time.
Thanks,
Jodi Paul
Jodi,
The night terrors, stomach aches, constant hunger, mood swings–you could be describing my son (who has reactive hypoglycemia). So yes, absolutely those could be symptoms.
Stephanie
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My daughter was diagnosed with hypoglocemia late last summer at 2.5 yrs old. She was rushed to the ER after passing out at the breakfast table just after waking up. She ate just before bed as usual, but for some reason, her levels dropped significantly over night. Her level was at 38 when we arrived and she spent 3 days in the hospital. We received insturctions from the Dr. to just “make sure she gets plenty of sugar”… which we later found to be wrong. I have been trying every since to find a “diet” that will help keep her levels stable. Now, we have the issue of her going through a picky toddler stage. She has days where she will eat us out of house and home and days where she doesn’t want to eat anything at all. How can I make food more appealing so that she eats a good balance daily? I don’t want food to be a battle, but I know if she doesn’t eat, her levels will drop and I can’t stand to see my baby sick. Any help will be appreciated! TIA!
Grr… doctors giving out faulty advice really get me! I’m glad you figured out that he was wrong!
As for the diet, that can be tricky, as you’ve discovered!
You might start by checking out the “Diet” section of this site. Go to this page:
http://www.reactivehypoglycemia.info/articles/
Then scroll down, you’ll see a heading that says “Diet”.
As for making the food interesting, you might be interested in another website I’ve been working on:
http://www.LeosLunchbox.com
Leo’s Lunchbox (Leo is my son), is all about healthy food that Reactive Hypoglycemic kids can eat. All the meals there are easy to prepare, and they are fun to look at as well. Let me know what you think!
Last, if you want more in-depth information, check out the new edition of my Reactive Hypoglycemia book:
Amazon.com: The Reactive Hypoglycemia Cookbook 2nd Edition
That includes medical information, a supplements guide, and around 200 recipes that reactive hypoglycemics can eat.
Good luck, let me know if there’s anything else I can do!!
I am thankful to have stumbled onto this site! My son is 3 yrs. old & gifted, and is having some sort of sugar problems. I have hypoglycemia myself, but am now wondering if it is more! He is highly gifted, and since he started eating solids we have noticed frequent attacks of ‘hypoglycemia’. Even though I test him 1 hr after he eats & it is only 87- he starts becoming nonresponsive….sometimes eyes rolling…unreasonable, crying and screaming. It’s so hard, I have to actually pin him down so he doesnt hurt himself. I am quite confused as 87 is not extremely “low”, but once he gets close to 90 he acts like this. 3 times I’ve been very concerned of seizures. We have just begun a diet change since he seems to have aggressive reactions to food dyes & allergy meds. We are “knee deep” in trying to figure out his problem. I have an appointment with his pedi in 3 weeks… I will try your diet changes to see if I can “stabilize” his symptoms. I made the mistake last week of giving in to 1 cupcake- just 1- took me 2 days to stabilize him! ugh. It’s such a roller coaster! Definetely worse mid afternoon & mid morning. I will be spending the next few days reading every word on your site bc these children mirror exactly my 3 yr. old.
I feel for all of you. This sounds just like me when I was a kid (except that my IQ is only 137). My mom got called to school all the time because I was a “daydreamer”. Sometimes, I would excel, and sometimes I could barely fit two sentences together.
I because severely depressed as a teenager. My doctor now believes that I was a severely reactive hypo even then and was reacting to our evening bowl of ice cream or potato chips, then crying myself to sleep.
I would tear the house apart looking for candy (which my mother hid from me) and would end up eating sugar from the bag.
30-some years later, and my pancreas has basically died. I am now a Type II diabetic who doesn’t even have enough insulin left to work with oral meds. I am starting insulin shots next month.
Do whatever you have to do to control this in your children. Feed them every few hours and get them used to eating veggies,
low-fat meats and fish, fruit and whole grains. Make sure they are hydrated at all times, as dehydration can cause glucose levels to fall, too.
I pray God’s blessings over all of you.
Terry
Hi
I am an adult with reactive hypoglcemia, fat helps hunger and helps to stabise blood sugar, essential fatty acids especially – have a look at ketogenic food plans, they seem to help big time….. no sugar, no fruit juice etc..
also small protein with every meal, especially at 3 – the crash time!
I am so ecstatic I stumbled upon this site! Everything I have read is exactly like what we are going through with our 5 yr old son. Daycare says he’s like Dr. Jekyle & Mr. Hyde also. His mood swings are like flipping a light switch on and off. He went in to one of his crazy fits last night and I took his blood sugar & it was 58!! Immediately I got him protein.
He is very tall (over 4 ft) for a 5 yr old, just started Kindergarten, and lean. School is having trouble with his behavior, he does things on his time, not when he’s supposed to do them. They are at least willing to help us help him.
He eats all the time and is always thirsty for water. We really think he’s Reactive Hypoglycemic and have found a pediatric endocrinologist to go to. Hopefully we can get some answers & help him feel better. Thanks for this blog. I feel a sigh of relief already!
Sarah,
I’m so glad you may have found an answer. I hope your son is doing better,
Stephanie
My boyfriend has recently been diagnosed with HR with the GTT. I post this here because he is a highly gifted man who has remained slim his whole life. Up until now, we have not read much about slim (he’s maybe 130 lbs at 5’9″) reactive hypoglycemics. Do you have any more information about this?
I have to say, this site is amazing. I love reading your articles and it is really helping me to understand my boyfriend’s issues a lot more. I grew up in a household that always tried to control glucose levels due to my dad’s hypoglycemia, so I was more understanding than most of the people he met… but I love learning more. Definitely considering your cookbook as my boyfriend already avoids red meat. It’s not much of a stretch to avoid meat completely if it makes him feel better.
Our family is in a severe crisis with our now 11 year old son. We fill that he is definately high functioning, though we have never had his IQ tested. He’s been very slim, since he was about 4. He doesn’t have much appetite. Always picks junk food, if he has a choice, doesn’t like to drink milk, unless it’s chocolate, loves to drink coke and eat cake. His “meltdown’s” as we call them are escalating towards violence. But – they only happen in our presence – never at school – so we believe he has some control over them. He hates us, hates life – we are scared.
I completely understand. I think that if you improved his diet you will find that he’s a totally different child.
I feel a sigh of relief just reading this posts. We have a 6 year old boy and (until now) I had not thought of the “Dr. Jekyle & Mr. Hyde” mood, but he is so there.
His teacher says he is so smart (he is GT) but not on paper. He is stuborn and his worst times are mid morning and afternoon. He likes lunch at the school cafetira but only eats the bread and chips. He is very active and when he feels tired he fights it by being even more active. He seems as if he is not paying attention but can answer any question put to him. He is tall for a 6yr old and very slime. He could wear size 4t . For some reason hypoglycemia came to minde 2 days ago and I will check him out, but my question is that I heard some where that hypoglycemia can have an effect on thier body tempeture, is this right?
My son awaked with a very low temp of 95.5 or 96 and I think this might be happening through out the day.
I do know that low blood sugar will cause your son to feel freezing cold (his hands and feet will feel icy cold), but I don’t know if will affect a thermometer. My best advice is to test his blood sugar and go from there…
Good luck!
Thank you. for your help. We have seen change and we will keep up with this to figure it all out.
Hi Stephanie!
I just purchased your book. I found this site while searching for information about what might be going on with my 4 year old son. He’s always been a moody kid, but nothing alarming until now. A deep thinker. When he was 2, he would say “I’m sad” and kind of sulk, then a while later he would say “OK, I’m happy now”. He also had a few extreme tantrums starting at about 12 months that I chalked up to being “overly tired”.
At 3, his IQ was tested over the “genius” threshold. His older brother has autism, and since he was a little quirky – we tested him carefully. He has no signs of autism. And at 4, he reads at a 3rd grade level and can do his brother’s 1st grade math assignments.
Over the last few weeks – he has been having these crying/angry episodes lasting 30 minutes all the way to 3 hours. They are usually followed or proceeded by periods of “high” – almost overly sweet, loving and not hyper, but definitely high energy.
These crying/angry/sad episodes are very out of character for him – he is normally a sweet kid. Some of the things he says during these “sad” episodes have been very disturbing – almost delusional at times (nonsense), and very dark – like wanting to die, hating me, wanting to kill me, etc. He’s 4!! And, he has on a few occasions – passed out cold right in the middle of it (gone to sleep). So, we are very scared. I have been in tears over it most days.
I honestly haven’t known whether to take him to the doctor or the psychiatrist! Bi-polar runs in my husband’s family – so that is what we are worried about.
After finding your site, over the weekend i cleaned out the cabinets and we have been carb and sugar free for a few days. There is a DEFINITE improvement. No highs at ALL- but still a few lows – although nothing like it was. No dark words, not as much anger – just mopey/moody. Overall, he has stabilized greatly.
We saw the regular doctor today, and he wants to keep the diet strict for another week and report back. From there, he will give a referral to the endocrinologist if he remains stable. He also wants to have a psychiatrist look at him. He is bothered by the things Garrett has said like “I want to die” and “I want to kill you” – and he mentioned that even with bi-polar disease, a low carb, no sugar diet can improve the condition. So, just because he is responding to the diet – it does not rule it out.
I am hoping that it is NOT bi-polar. I got the book you mentioned and saw the 6% of gifted children are found to have reactive hypoglycemia. 6% didn’t sound like very good odds! But, he DOES fit the profile.
Anyway, thank you so much for this site – and your book. Can’t wait to get it so I can have more recipe ideas. It’s HARD to be creative!! I’m not used to it yet. We were definitely a carb-loving family.
Hugs,
Sara
Thanks so much, it is so validating to read about people who are dealing with the same thing in their children. My daughter will be four in a few weeks. She is extremely Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. That is what we have always called it. She has all the symptoms, and I started noticing them immediately when she weaned (or should I say when she started on sugar and refined foods). She drives everyone she knows crazy with her hunger, she is alllways hungry, I counted 14 small meals today, about every hour. She is very slim though. She has already learned to read, but on the other hand when she is “down” she gets so befuddled and says the craziest things. I thought I might be reactive hypoglycemic, but as I read about it, I was stunned to see that my daughter has worse symptoms than I do. I have another child, a son, with less pronounced, but similar symptoms. What an “aha” moment all this is for me.
I am SO glad this helped! Getting relief for my son was an overwhelming feeling. Good luck!
Hi, I am a woman with aspergers syndrome. I read that the traits of Aspergers syndrome were pretty much the same as a gifted person. Anyway, I suspect I might have hypoglycemia. I get migraine headaches when I have gone too long without eating. I had a meltdown when I had gotten hungry and couldn’t get access to some food. My mother in-law saw me have the meltdown and said ”Your eyes went dark.” I learned that it is important not only to get in protein to produce insulin, but it is important to get in protease enzymes to properly digest and assimilate the protein consumed. For those that have problems with sugar, like me, it is also possible to be deficient in amylase enzymes, which digest sugar. Another contributing factor in hypoglycemia is food intolerances. If the lining of the stomach is damaged from foods that are not being digested from a lack of enzymes, the nutrients involved in preventing hypoglycemia do not get where they need to go, like chromium and magnesium.
Hi there,
What if a child has the mood swings and seems to have behavior issues when they don’t eat enough, but they are NOT asking for food? Our 4 year old has started to have extreme emotional outbursts, aggression, etc. but he isn’t always asking for food. He does prefer bread and cheese, but we feed him oatmeal, green smoothies, organic dairy, eggs, etc. It’s hard to get things in him, though, so maybe he’s just not getting enough. I haven’t tried testing his blood sugar levels or anything like that yet.
Thanks!
Sorry for the very later response…I’ve been away from the site for personal reasons.
On to your question though…the problem is with low blood sugar is that a RH often feels nausea. I NEVER feel hungry. My stomach never, ever rumbles. I have no idea that I need to eat until I start feeling moody or lethargic. When my blood sugar is low, it’s a struggle to eat anything.
Hope that helps!
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Dear Stephanie,
Thank you so much for voicing out the troubles of kids with hypoglycemia. I have long suspected that my son Akseli (now almost 3 years old) has problems with blood sugar as I do, too. This is why I am searching the web today, to find out about how hypoglycemia affects a little kids life.
My son is tall and very lean. He is having problems at day care. The teachers there complain, that he has uncontrollable fits of anger, is very moody… and very commonly they also say, that he “is like an angel” or “like a different person” after lunch and a nap. Of course, I have been very worried about my little boy and want him to behave nicely like he usually does. After some experiences with a hungry little Akseli at home, and given my own experiences of how low blood sugar can make you feel, I am now sure something is wrong with his blood sugar.
I am going to get to the bottom of this with his doctor and we are going to get some help to the little guy along with a good food plan.
Thank you again, Stephanie! It is important to know from other mothers, that you yourself are probably not imagining things.
Anja,
That sounds like my son!
I wish you luck with figuring all this out.
Stephanie
Hello! I have stumbled upon your site for the past couple years of doing research and think it’s time to stay. My daughter, now 10, started suffering from the Dr Jekell and Mr Hyde syndrome around 4yrs old. She had always been the sweetest soul but her mood swings were very bizarre. We thought she may have some mental issue at first. About a yr later and with increased “episodes” we began noticing other symptoms accomanied these “episodes”. Mostly she would get grey in the face, glassy eyed, she would be spacey, get very weak, etc. Shortly after that, we noticed that curisously, food solved her issue. She recieved a ketotic diagnosis at age 6 but we were told if she didn’t grow out of it by 9, the testing for other ailments needed to begin. Well, 9 came and went last yr and she is worse now than ever. We started endocrinologist visits, blood draws, she wore an ipro for a wk and most of her tests came back normal. She did have 3 or 4 low bs’s in the 40-50′s and a couple around 180 but the doc said he would consider all that normal (hmmmmm?). Any ways, after a second opinion, she got the diagnosis of severe rh.
I am so worn out by this condition as a mom. Her mood swings, anxiety, and “episodes” are so exhausting and take a toll on my husband and I. Doctors seem as puzzled as I am as to what to do for her and have little advice on how to help her. I am hoping to raid your site and hopefully be able to get some diet tips. She has to eat 12 times a day or she slips into an “episode”. She is so tiny (15%) yet eats close to 3000 calories a day. What makes this whole thing so trying is that if her diet deviates even an ounce, an “episode” is imminent but the problem is once she crosses that threshold, the last thing she thinks to do is feed herself and then the real fun begins. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Does this sound like anyone elses child? I hate to think there are other children like this out there but I really hate feeling alone in this!
My daughter had been doing amazing on the reactive hypoglycemia diet-no more personality changes, stomach pain, headaches, or bed-wetting, she was like a whole new person, no more Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for a month and a half. After 5 years, we finally could “enjoy” our daughter! Then we took her to a pediatric endocrinologist who had us take her off the diet to test her blood sugar. After a week her symptoms returned, but her blood sugar levels were normal according to the doctor. She told us there is nothing wrong with her, and not to come back, because there is nothing they can do for us. My daughter’s blood sugar would go down, then up, then down again within a matter of a half hour while she was having an episode, but still within normal range. Now I am frustrated, because now I have no “justification” for feeding her at school or other people’s houses. People seem to need a reason to not give her sweets. The whole time she was eating healthier, she never complained about not eating sweets or dessert because she felt so much better. She didn’t hurt anymore. I am feeding her the way you recommend again, hoping I can help her feel better, but how do I educate others, without coming off as crazy, or just “making it up?” The only other pediatric endocrinologist is part of the same practice, and I’m afraid he will say the same thing, rather than discount the other doctor’s diagnosis.
On a different note, I have your cookbook, and nowhere can I find baking temperatures, am I missing something? Thanks for all your support and information, I appreciate it so much!
Thanks for visiting and I’m glad your daughter was doing better.
The ONLY medical test that will definitively show whether your daughter has RH is the mixed meal test. Not all endocrinologists offer this option. Get a blood glucose meter, and test your daughter’s blood sugar levels an hour after eating something sugary and then again when she has an episode. In general, dips of about 30 mg/dL can cause symptoms — even if the blood sugar range is “normal.” That said…if the change in diet changed the behavior, then you have your answer. If it were me, personally, I’d tell everyone she has reactive hypoglycemia. Perhaps even expand on that by telling people something more specific like “she can’t metabolize sugar properly.” That sounds more official — throw in a little medical jargon and people are more apt to listen to you. No one at school ever asked me for a doctor’s note — just be firm.
Earlier editions of the book has some baking temps/times missing (sorry about that!) — they got left out on transcription. I caught this after the first editions, and new books have the info. Send me your email and I’ll be happy to send you a copy of the e-book, which has updated information.
Best of luck,
Stephanie
My email is leighcva@live.com-thanks!
On the way!
Sara- and anyone else who has posted a out extreme mood swings and tantrums, etc… Please research phenols and feingold…. My child is four and has extreme chemical sensitivities. Removing things like preservatives, food colors or dyes, and avoiding anything that has “flavors” added has helped son markedly. Your description of your little one was all too familiar. I do believe he has the symptoms of hypoglycemia discussed here as well. Additionally, we had him tested for food allergies, which he has many. Best of luck to all.
Breigh,
Thanks for this info. When we switched out diets, we (inadvertently) cut out preservatives, food colors and dyes as well (or the vast majority of these, as processed food is the #1 culprit!).
Best,
Stephanie
We believe that my son (13) has ADHD. He has all the syptoms including inattention, much anger, and uncontrollable rage. He doesn’t have any of the symptoms you list here (not sure about food allergies) but he will sometimes be distracted by the x-box and forget to eat. One time when he went into a rage my husband insisted he needed drugs. I knew he needed food at that point so I quickly made him something. He raged the entire time but when he sat down and had just one bite of food he became gentle as a lamb as if nothing had happened. Also, he is often pale and purple under his eyes. I learned through oriental diagnosis that this area is related to the adrenal glands. From what you know do you think it’s possible he has RH either insead of ADHD or along with it?
Suzan,
I’m not a doctor, but your son’s symptoms sound very similar to my son’s. Your son may not have ADHD at all. Seeing as you are familiar with oriental diagnosis, have you considered taking your son to a naturopath? It does sound like RH. You could also do ambulatory testing (with a portable blood sugar monitor) when your son is at his worst, to see if his sugar is low.
Best of luck,
Stephanie