I dont know if we can take anymore…

by

At times it feels like I am being punished by the big man in the sky.

Not content with sending epilepsy and ddh into my family it seems I have a new ailment to contend with. One that again doesn’t seem to have any cure.

Twin Boy has been cursed with the dreaded ants in your pants disease, he is at the worst end of the spectrum where they attack his rear end with warning and pretty much relentlessly.

The effect it is having on us is immense; we can’t go out for dinner as a family any more as his constant wiggling and yelps of pain mean we are often pointed at and cause other diners distraction.

Recently his condition got so bad he actually fell off his chair, in the library, and landed with a crash in a heap on the floor. We are no longer welcome in the book land anymore.

Other mothers eye me with suspicion as I walk along with my bending, fidgeting, hands in his pants son. I know they fear it is contagious but I want to shriek at them ‘its not, its not”. His twin manages to walk like a “normal” person, she doesn’t break into random star jumps at inopportune moments nor does she suddenly lurch forward into crowds as if a giant ant has suddenly bitten off part of her rump.

I feel so alone, living with this cruel disorder.

Does anyone else suffer with this disease too?

Any cure?

37 thoughts on “I dont know if we can take anymore…”

  1. My son is ADHD, ODD & Poss Aspergers Syndrome and he is very “ants in your pants”. We too couldn’t go out anywhere without people pointing or whispering when he would throw tantrums. Or he’d run up to people and growl at them or scream in their faces.

    He is now medicated and although this has slightly made our life easier during the day, when he comes down from the meds he seems worse than before.

    I am at the point now where I’m literally teetering on the edge and heading towards a breakdown (I feel). It’s a struggle it really is and I feel for you 🙁

    I’m always around on Twitter if you need to vent. I don’t judge xx

  3. Foot on floor at all times, especially when eating. That is the rule, so that should there ever come a need to jump, wriggle, get up from the table, drop food on the floor, pick up food from the floor, get more water, check out the garden, write a note, brush your hair, find an extra bracelet, seek a lost Moshling, read a book…… and so on, it is easily achievable with just one push-off. In the meantime it is quite useful to stop you actually falling off the chair, because you know, those chairs can be quite slippy when you’re attempting a tapdance whilst eating macaroni!
    Still, it does mean you can eat more biscuits and not get fat!

  4. er yep, i too have a 4 yr old and a 3 yr old, but both without any kind of syndrome, and they are just like that, my hubby just says they are off in little boy land again, a place i fear i can only imagine…. wish i could go there just for a little while…. who knows what goes on in their beautiful little heads …….mostly highly amusing to watch………..for us and innocent bystanders/victims. and life would be much duller without it……..

  5. Jane, my heart goes out to you. It definitely seems like you’ve had more than your fair share of problems. I thought I would share my story with you to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
    To start with my two children had chest problems (bronchiolitis and severe asthma in my daughter and severe asthma in my son). They were constantly in and out of hospital with breathing problems, and having oxygen, inhalers and steroids to stabilise their conditions.
    My son then had problems learning to speak and some people cruelly tried to imply that he was a bit backward. Eventually he started to develop ear infections every few weeks and I had to stay up at night nursing him as he was screaming in pain even after he’d had calpol. We found out that he had a bad case of glue ear, which was effecting his hearing so he had to have gromits fitted.
    He was a bright child and soon caught up with his speech but we felt that there was something else not quite right. It was picked up in a school health check when it was indicated that he may have dyspraxia. Eventually, after jumping through a lot of hoops with the health service and education system, dyspraxia was diagnosed.
    It is a complex condition affecting motor skills, co-ordination, balance, social skills, organisation etc etc. Sufferers also have compulsions. My son, for example, used to constantly ask to go to the toilet and this really tried the patience of his school teacher especially when she found him chasing pigeons in the yard (another compulsion). It used to break my heart when I found out from a friend (who was also a classroom assistant) that he used to spend playtimes sat on a bench alone as he didn’t know how to relate to the other kids. The Health Authorities also let slip that the Headteacher had described him as a ‘strange little boy’.
    Eventually we found coping strategies for this problems at primary school but his first few months at secondary school were a nightmare. It cost us a fortune as he kept losing his PE kit, and he struggled to find his way round such a large building. Organising himself was a major hurdle as they had a two week rolling timetable and he would inevitably pack the wrong books for the wrong week. The low point was when he came home in floods of tears and was inconsolable. It transpired that he had put somebody else’s uniform on after PE, and to him it was a really big deal. Although it was about two sizes too small, he hadn’t even noticed till he was on his way home. Needless to say I had to invest a lot of time and effort in helping him to organise himself etc. and getting the help that he needed from the Health and Education Authorities.
    He is now 17, and really confident and popular, with friends all over the city. I was really proud of him when he went to a college in a completely different area. He has to take a train to get there and didn’t know a soul when he started in September, but by Christmas he was being invited to lots of parties. Dyspraxia can cause learning difficulties but thankfully the only academic problem it caused for him was poor handwriting. He is actually really bright and got 9 A*s and 3 As in his GCSE’s.
    I hope my story helps you. Keep your chin up and keep thinking that although things are hard now, it won’t always be that way. Children can be very resilient and develop many coping strategies for dealing with problems. Good luck and best wishes.

    • such lovely comments on this post which makes me feel a little bad as it was primarily written tongue in cheek. Twin Boy, bless him, is afflicted with wriggle bottom, ants in pants, cant sit still, will get into trouble in an empty room syndrome, but he is a lovely healthy little lad who was destined to drive me potty in life.

      BB albeit epileptic with dodgy hips is a delightful 20 month old girl who delight any one who encounters her.

      Twin girl is merely 6 going on 16.

      We dont really have any issues in comparison to others in the world!

      thanks everyone x x x

  7. Don’t feel bad. My 5yo can be a wriggly worm too. But doesn’t have anything wrong with her (unlike my son). Except I’ve found a direct link with sugar, the more she has, the more she wriggles and the less she can concentrate. I watch her diet a lot more closely now. Poor soul, she lusts after all sweet things too!

    My son who has ADHD has no reaction to sugar whatsoever, but say you gave him a cup of tea he would be so high you’d think he’d taken illegal drugs and it would go on like that for up to 8 hours. ARGH!!!

    Nothing wrong with being antsy – except your parents end up being driven half way around the bend!! 😉

  9. I’m sorry to have to tell you that the affliction has no cure. I know because I too suffer from ants-in-pants or ‘itchareingussetus’ to give it is scientific name. Lately ill health has obliged me to lead a more sedentary life and my husband has to suppress his visible relief that, temporarily, I am not always wielding pickaxes, sprinting across parks and hooking my ankle behind my ear at Sunday lunch (I still almost can, you know. Mustn’t get out of practice). When he’s older you can harness the excess energy and put it to good use, although I wouldn’t recommend pickaxes until he’s over 40. You’re wee wobbling girl is adorable, by the way. Made me most inconveniently broody!

  11. Gosh I think this must be the condition that Bubsy is afflicted with. He hardly ever stays still, including at dinner time when half the time he refuses to sit at the table but wanders round eating, going back to the table only to get a new mouth full. I don’t try and tackle this any more as at least he’s eating. If I tried to get him to sit still he’d just scream.

  12. There is no cure, alas. You could do what my brother did to my 8 year old nephew and film him falling off his chair and save it to send to You’ve been framed! You may as well make some cash from it!

  14. Don’t fear it does get slightly better !! My boy is 6 and three quarters ( this is very important at this age), he is slightly growing out of his need to move and can now manage at least 6 minutes. although we are now moving into the bums and willie stage following straight on from pushing trumps out in public (which he finds hysterical) and of course is boosted by his five year old sisters need to congratulate him on his achievement, I now find myself dreading what happens at 7 x x chin up feel free to have my share of gin 😉

  16. Are yours at school/ There’s even a bloomin phonics song about it which my daughter likes to regale me with daily. Ants ants ants on my arm, they’re causing me alarm! Repeat til beaten into submission.

  18. I have an older ADHD and sensory processing disorder child who is 7 and a 2 year old with DDH and one in the middle. It’s very hard. 7 ys old not on medication but we use behavioural methods which work most of the time. It’s all the appointments between the two of them that are the worst. Found your blog on a spica cast site and loving it! No one really talks about how ddh affects siblings too so that is really refreshing. Thanks.

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