Help understanding new-ish behavior

[Guest guest]

Hi

My son Nate is 11. I'm terrible at remembering specifics but about a

year ago he seemed different- wasn't settling down to sleep, wasn't

as happy, seemed to be regressing in his self-care skills. In August

I shared a room with him on a family vacation and noticed he didn't

seem to sleep much or well at all. So I started him on melatonin-

very low dose- and it was a miracle! He fell asleep, he seemed

happier, more responsive- even his augmentative communication

therapist (who he see 2x/year) noticed a huge difference.

But lately Nate has seemed tense again. And over the past week it

has gotten much worse. He has had days when he can't stop

chattering -repeating phrases over and over- his body is tense, he

won't let me take his hand- he was up til 1am last night and didn't

sleep at all three nights ago. He spent almost 24 hours non-stop

talking til his voice was hoarse.

I know his routine has been off due to the holidays- but I don't

think that's the reason. He did have a stomach bug Christmas day (me

too!) but we both recovered from that. I wonder if maybe he's sick

but there aren't any other symptoms.

Other things- he's hitting puberty. He's getting a new tooth. He

can go for a long time (in a day) without urinating. His bms aren't

really regular but he's not constipated. I gave him a probiotic for

the first time a few days ago which was probably too high a dose b/c

he had diharrea.

I'm raising him alone and although people are supportive, I don't

know where to go for answers. Or no one really has any answers.

I've googled everything I can think of.

I'd really appreciate any ideas...

Thanks!

Meg