I read these posts and my heart just breaks.  I see so many of you struggling to keep it together...upset, mad, angry, bitter...at the end of your rope...and I was there once too.  Don't worry...I still on occasion have those days. I don't know what took me so long to join, but the day I did last November, was a day where is was broken.  I wanted to be heard and validated.  I had had it up to my eyeballs with all the crap that goes along with ODD.  And if I'm truly honest, I felt guilty after reading some of the posts on here, that all I had to deal with was ODD.  I don't have a child with ADHD, mood disorders, bipolar, and the list goes on.  But, what we all have in common is that we are broken and we want some kind of solution...and no matter the solution...no matter how big or small, we will take it because it's got to be better than what is it right now.

Just one week after joining this support group and finding so much comfort from strangers, I found a natural supplement called GABA that has changed our lives.  I know you're thinking..."a natural supplement...are you serious?"  Yes, I'm serious.  I thought the same thing too...there's no way it will help...BUT, I WAS DESPERATE!  If someone told me to put alumimum foil around my pinky finger and sing The Hokey Pokey 4 times and it will help your daughter, I would have done it!  I was tired, broken, angry, bitter, sad, mad, jealous of other people and how "perfect" their child was...I WAS DESPERATE!  Did I mention I was desperate?

So, after researching GABA and reading every review I could find, I gave it a try.  It is cheap...$12 for 90 capsules...and it is NATURAL.  Our bodies actually produce GABA naturally.  It helps slow down our neurotransmitters from firing so rapidly.  I wanted so badly for her to be medicated so I could get some relief...how selfish of me??  I can honestly say, at this point, I'm thankful our behavioral therapist said no when I asked about a mood stabilizer.  Deep down I didn't want her medicated with pharmaceutical chemicals...but I was desperate.  That's why I started my own research and why we gave GABA a try.

The first day, she had 1 500mg capsule.  And we saw a change.  She was calmer...not as easily bumped, and seemed happier.  The 2nd day, she was out of school for Thanksgiving break...so she took 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.  We were heading out to do some family stuff and she asked if I thought she needed another one.  I told her it was up to her...and did she feel like she needed a 3rd.  Lots of change happened that day...sister came in from college and grandmother came over.  She chose to take the 3rd...so she was at 1500mg for the day.  It made her ancy and she seemed more irritable.  So, the 3rd day, we went back to 1 500mg capsule a day and ya'll.....she's finding her voice...without it being so hateful.  She's able to take responsibility for her thoughts and feelings without blaming others....she's happier, calmer...WE are happier...WE are calmer.  We are able to have teachable moments because her fight or flight is not controlling her any longer.  I AM ABLE TO use and implement all the tools behavioral therapy has taught me.  Because she is on GABA, we, as a family are not the same family we were just a month and a half ago.  

Ya'll, I said all that to say this. Try GABA....I've mentioned it several times on many posts here and have been so hopeful, someone would have come back on here and told me how life changing it had been for them.  I so wish I had known about it years ago, as we have been fighting this battle for about the last 5 years.  No, things are not perfect and we still have days where I just wish ODD would go away.  But, we are doing so much better than we were...my sweet girls is happier than I've ever seen her...and finally, she is able to implement the tools she has been taught as well...and is able to recognize her feelings enough to communicate them where she can be heard and I can finally RESPOND approperately, instead of REACTING (to the crazy) like a crazy mom who is constantly at her whits end!  How desperate are you?