The Transforming Power of Essential Oils
In the last year, I have gone from a huge essential oil skeptic, to a desperate-to-try-anything-user, to an avid user, to an excited promoter and educator of essential oils. If that isn't a transformation in and of itself, allow me to share about the transformation essential oils have made in our son who struggles with Autism, Bi-polar, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and ADHD.
Back in March 2014, our son was really struggling with his Bi-polar. He was rapidly cycling, we had him at the highest level of Risperdal (1.5 mg daily), his mood stabilizer, for him to function without falling asleep multiple times a day, yet we were contemplating hospitalizing him. Desperate to keep him out of the hospital, the reminder of two very traumatic previous hospitalizations at the forefront of our minds, we decided to make one last valliant effort to get him stable. After talking with a chiropractor in Canada who has successfully used essential oils with kids with Autism and Bi-polar to get oil recommendations, we purchased an essential oil kit from a certified pure essential oil company and began using Frankincense and a Grounding Blend on our son daily applying it to the bottoms of his feet at bedtime. Within four days, we not only were seeing a big difference in our son's mood and behavior, but he was noticing the difference as well reporting to me that he felt more focused, calmer inside, and better able to control his behaviors. The following day, during a parent teacher conference, his teacher, who did not know we were using essential oils, told us that our son had been a different child all week in that he was more focused, not just completing his work (a task already difficult for him to do) but doing it without heavy prompting, and was using his calm down spot a lot less.
Due to the success with just those two oils, we ended up adding a Calming Blend for anxiety, sleep, and melt-downs; Cedarwood to calm and help with focus; and Vetiver and Focus Blend to help with ADHD symptoms. I made a roll-on bottle with Grounding Blend, Frankincense, Cedarwood, and Vetiver in it that I had my son apply to the bottoms of his feet in the morning and evening (spending extra time massaging it into the bottoms of his big toes, the brain center). He would apply the Focus Blend, which comes as a roller bottle, to the bottoms of his feet or back of his neck in the morning.
As a result, we saw a huge decrease in melt-downs, and what few melt-downs he had were less in severity, and if I got the Calming Blend soon enough, I could pull him out of a melt-down in 30 seconds-1 minute flat by either letting him smell the aroma or, if it was safe for me to get close to him, apply to the back of his neck. We successfully took him off of melatonin and Benadryl he was taking for sleep at night, and his psychiatrist began slowly weaning his risperdal dose. Our son became more successful in school, had the best summer yet (he doesn't do well without the steady consistency of school), and had the best ever transition into the new school year this Fall. Right before using the essential oils, we were just getting him to verbalize how he was feeling about 50% of the time to help us know how to help him. With the oils on board, he started verbalizing how he was feeling, what he needed to help him feel better, and using his coping skills independently and without prompts. The amount of progress he has made since March is astounding!
In December, after reading a few of the latest research results about Autism and a correlation with unexplained inflammation in the brain, I decided to try putting our son on all-natural Basic Vitality Supplements, a pack of 3 different supplements filled with all-natural, bioready nutrients that are anti-inflammatory and highly restorative at the cellular level. Within a week, we noticed that our son was extremely happy and upbeat, more talkative, pleasant, compliant, and not having any significant melt-downs. In addition, he was no longer requiring the 12+ hours of sleep he always needs (when he doesn't get it, he became a violent, angry monster). The longer he is on these supplements, the more improvements we see. We look at him now and are rendered speechless because we are seeing a whole new person - the son we never knew existed. He has even become thoughtful -- doing things for others, asking them how they are feeling or doing, and caring about other people's needs and perspectives when he has only ever been completely absorbed in his own Autistic world.
He just saw his psychiatrist who noticed the difference in him before I even had a chance to tell her what had been going on. She decided to cut his current dose of Risperdal (0.5mg daily) in half so that he's taking 0.25 mg daily for 1 month, then she told me to stop the Risperdal completely. She's already talking about the next drug she wants to wean him off of (a drug for focusing and impulse control) next. Never in a million years did we ever think we would be in this situation. We have been told by many doctors that our son will never be able to be off of a mood stabilizer. Yet here we are, at the end, with a brand new happy and high-functioning son! We are praising the Lord for the transformation we have seen in our son (and our family) because of the essential oils. God's creation is amazing!
