July 2, 2025 • 10 mins
Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform and check out the video version on our YouTube channel!
CONNECT WITH ME!
If you want to schedule an ADHD/Autism appointment for your child, you may contact Glow Pediatrics:
- Phone: 405-871-5807
- Fax: 949-695-2681
- info@glowpediatrics.com
🌐 Website: www.glowpediatrics.com
📱 Instagram: @drhokeheeko / @glowpediatrics
📧 dreko@glowpediatrics.com
👍 Facebook: Dr.HokeheEko / glowpediatrics
💼 LinkedIn: hokeheeffiongmd
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Is your child on medication?
And yet you find yourselfasking this question.
My child is on medication, butit doesn't seem to be enough.
When the medication wears off,my child is back to where they
were.
My child still has behaviorsthat are concerning to me.
You've come to the right place,because today we're going to be
diving into this tough butimportant truth right that for
(00:24):
many children with ADHD andautism, medications are simply
not enough.
So today we're going to talkabout why parents, why families
are stuck, why children arestuck, what might be missing and
how we approach healing fromthe inside out.
So welcome to GLOW with ADHD andAutism.
I'm Dr Hokey Echo.
I'm your brain or happy brainpediatrician, so thank you for
(00:47):
being here.
What are the limits ofmedications?
And that's a good question.
But let's be honest yes,medications do help decrease
symptoms, right Stimulants forADHD can help improve focus, can
help minimize hyperactivity,but you know what?
There's a time limit on it.
Most medications last six hoursto 12 hours and sometimes a
(01:10):
child needs a second dose of themedication to keep their focus
and hyperactivity at a minimumso that they can get through
school work and homework.
Ssris might decrease anxietyfor our children, but, as with
medications, these medicationsare not addressing why our
children are having difficultywith focusing.
(01:32):
It doesn't necessarily addresswhy our children are having
anxiety.
In other videos linked here, wehave talked about how anxiety
is a very common comorbid anddepression is a very common
comorbid disorder that we see inour children with ADHD or
autism.
It's always important toaddress that, for sure.
(01:54):
But let me tell you a fewthings.
I hear from families.
Right, I hear my child is onmeds, but they're still not
sleeping.
They are awake all night orthey only sleep for a few hours
at a time, in spite of the sleepmedication.
I hear that the meltdownshaven't stopped.
I hear that she can focus now,but now she's anxious.
So what happened and what do weneed to change?
I hear that they're on themedications and now they are
(02:17):
afraid of the dark or they'rehallucinating.
Every medication has sideeffects and, yes, they help.
But I want to address thisimportant question how can we go
beyond the medication?
How can we address root causesof what we see in our children?
Because, let's face it,medication doesn't address root
(02:40):
causes.
It's more like a band-aid ithelps the child get through the
day, but it wears off and thenwe're back to where we started
at night.
So what can we do?
It's important for us, asparents, to look at what's
really going on underneath,inside of your child's body.
What is going on, and the thingto note is that both ADHD and
(03:02):
autism, there isn't one cause,right?
There's multiple factors thatcome together that creates this
set of symptoms that we havedecided to call autism and to
call ADHD, right?
But so much research, nih-basedresearch, research that has
gone on over the years has foundthat our children with ADHD and
(03:22):
autism have major nutritionaldeficiencies in important
elements like magnesium, iron,zinc, omega-3s All of these
things are such importantbuilding blocks to the function
of your child's brain, and alsothe gut as well, right?
Did you know that the gut andthe brain are directly connected
?
The gut is often referred to asthe second brain when you talk
(03:45):
about sleep.
A lot of us parents know thatthe gut and the brain are
directly connected.
The gut is often referred to asthe second brain when you talk
about sleep.
A lot of us parents know thatmelatonin is produced in the
brain and controls the sleepcycle.
Did you know melatonin is alsoproduced in the gut, right?
So think about this.
If, instead of us looking athow can we help the gut and the
brain be healthier, we're givingmelatonin, and I'm not saying
(04:06):
that's a bad thing, but alsowhat's even better is addressing
why the production of melatoninhas decreased and what can we
do about that.
Yes, and that's where youaddress inflammation, because so
much research has shown thatinflammation is a driving cause
or factor of the major symptomswe see in our children, with
both ADHD and autism.
(04:28):
So things like not sleepingwell, waking up at night, being
picky eaters, constipation, allloose stools when they shouldn't
be having loose stools If yourchild is, is not an infant and
they are having loose stoolsfrequently that needs to be
addressed.
That isn't normal.
Your child shouldn't be havingloose stools still, or baby-like
stools.
(04:48):
That's a sign of a gutdysbiosis or that there's
imbalance going on in yourchild's gut and that needs to be
addressed right.
Environmental triggers orsensors, or your child having
lots of eczema or rashes thatyou can't control, no matter how
much eczema cream you put on it.
All of that indicates there'san issue in your child's gut
(05:09):
that needs to be addressed, andif you don't address it well,
the symptoms just get worse.
I've seen children who areextremely constipated be really
aggressive.
I'm not saying constipationalways causes aggression, but
when you address constipation byaddressing the gut itself not
just cleaning out the gut buthealing the leaky gut that has
(05:29):
occurred as a result of theconstipation then you see that
the children are less aggressive.
I have seen that myself.
General pediatrician had autismand ADHD and she was very
aggressive, not sleeping at all,constipated, going to the
bathroom once a week, picky,eater.
She never let me touch her.
(05:50):
So guess what I thought aboutthe inflammatory effects of
gluten and dairy and I told theparents this is all I know right
now.
This is what helps my child.
Try it and see if it helps.
They tried it.
Guess what?
In four months she was sleepingbetter, eating better, less
constipated.
Aggression was decreasing bymonth six oh, I forgot to
(06:13):
mention she was also nonverbal.
By month six she said her first, which was more.
She also let me examine her forthe first time ever and she'd
been my patient for years.
She did not like anyone thatshe didn't know coming close to
her.
She let me examine her and shewas no longer on the verge of
being kicked out of school justbecause we made nutritional
changes.
So that's the power ofdecreasing inflammation in your
(06:36):
child's brain.
It takes time, it takesconsistency, but it can be done.
You can see improvement in yourchildren.
That family can go out.
They couldn't go out beforebecause of the behavior.
Now they can go out with theirchild.
The child is happy and goingback to school.
The child sleeps well at nightand is no longer in pain.
So that was possible.
When you look underneath andlook at the root causes of the
(06:59):
behaviors that you see.
That's what we do differentlyhere at Glow Pediatrics.
So I got retrained as anintegrative pediatrician and
that's why I started GlowPediatrics.
We address imbalances, take athorough history of what's going
on with your child.
We look at specific testing tosee what food sensitivities your
child has.
We make a tailored,personalized plan, even down to
(07:21):
the grocery store list with thelinks where to buy the items so
that it can get shipped to yourhouse Like, if that's not
personalized, I think whatever'sin.
But that's how much detail weput into our plans.
We encourage our parents to dothe plans for the whole family
because it does work.
We have seen it over and overagain.
It does work.
We have seen it over and overagain.
(07:42):
It does work.
We prioritize addressing sleep,nutrition, addressing picky
eating, addressing aggressivebehavior, because all of these
things can be addressed.
We teach parents.
That's the biggest part of whatwe do.
We teach parents, we empoweryou, because you are the biggest
part of your child's care team,an empowered, knowledgeable
(08:02):
parent.
Your child's growth Empowermentis unlimitless because you know
how to help your child thrive,and it's not just you, it's your
entire family, and you yourself, parent, will see a difference
in your health as well.
Makes me so happy to be able toshare this with you.
Ongoing care looks like coaching.
(08:24):
We have coaching for ourparents where they can come and
ask questions, where they canfind community, because this is
not a journey you go on byyourself.
Parenting is a journey you wantto go along with community, a
safe place where you can askquestions and be yourself, share
your frustrations, thedisappointments, joys and
(08:45):
happiness, and all of it.
Right, we're here for all of it, because that's what it means
to treat the whole child and thewhole family.
But if you're watching this andyou're thinking we've tried
things but something is missing,don't hesitate to reach out to
us.
We're here to help.
We offer telemedicine inseveral states across the
country.
(09:05):
We offer parent medpersonalized nutrition and we
can see anyone in any state forthat, because that's coaching.
Reach out to us and let us knowwe are here to help.
We're here to work alongsideyou and your family.
You can sign up for a consult ongopediatricscom.
Follow us on.
Subscribe to this channel.
(09:25):
Please share it with the familythat needs to hear this Maybe a
friend, a family member who'sstruggling and feels like
something else is going on.
Please share this episode withthem.
We have lots of content on ourIG page, which is our Glow
Pediatrics as well, but pleasefollow us here and share with
other parents that need to know.
Remember, parents, you are thebest parent for your child.
(09:47):
Your child is valuable.
Your child is more than adiagnosis and our goal as
parents is to determine what ourchild's strengths are and to
boost those.
Know that there is hope,parents.
Your child is not stuck.
Your family is not stuck.
There is hope.
Reach out to us.
We're happy to be of service toyou.
Have a wonderful day.
Is your child on medication?
And yet you find yourselfasking this question.
My child is on medication, butit doesn't seem to be enough.
When the medication wears off,my child is back to where they
were.
My child still has behaviorsthat are concerning to me.
You've come to the right place,because today we're going to be
diving into this tough butimportant truth right that for
(00:24):
many children with ADHD andautism, medications are simply
not enough.
So today we're going to talkabout why parents, why families
are stuck, why children arestuck, what might be missing and
how we approach healing fromthe inside out.
So welcome to GLOW with ADHD andAutism.
I'm Dr Hokey Echo.
I'm your brain or happy brainpediatrician, so thank you for
(00:47):
being here.
What are the limits ofmedications?
And that's a good question.
But let's be honest yes,medications do help decrease
symptoms, right Stimulants forADHD can help improve focus, can
help minimize hyperactivity,but you know what?
There's a time limit on it.
Most medications last six hoursto 12 hours and sometimes a
(01:10):
child needs a second dose of themedication to keep their focus
and hyperactivity at a minimumso that they can get through
school work and homework.
Ssris might decrease anxietyfor our children, but, as with
medications, these medicationsare not addressing why our
children are having difficultywith focusing.
(01:32):
It doesn't necessarily addresswhy our children are having
anxiety.
In other videos linked here, wehave talked about how anxiety
is a very common comorbid anddepression is a very common
comorbid disorder that we see inour children with ADHD or
autism.
It's always important toaddress that, for sure.
(01:54):
But let me tell you a fewthings.
I hear from families.
Right, I hear my child is onmeds, but they're still not
sleeping.
They are awake all night orthey only sleep for a few hours
at a time, in spite of the sleepmedication.
I hear that the meltdownshaven't stopped.
I hear that she can focus now,but now she's anxious.
So what happened and what do weneed to change?
I hear that they're on themedications and now they are
(02:17):
afraid of the dark or they'rehallucinating.
Every medication has sideeffects and, yes, they help.
But I want to address thisimportant question how can we go
beyond the medication?
How can we address root causesof what we see in our children?
Because, let's face it,medication doesn't address root
(02:40):
causes.
It's more like a band-aid ithelps the child get through the
day, but it wears off and thenwe're back to where we started
at night.
So what can we do?
It's important for us, asparents, to look at what's
really going on underneath,inside of your child's body.
What is going on, and the thingto note is that both ADHD and
(03:02):
autism, there isn't one cause,right?
There's multiple factors thatcome together that creates this
set of symptoms that we havedecided to call autism and to
call ADHD, right?
But so much research, nih-basedresearch, research that has
gone on over the years has foundthat our children with ADHD and
(03:22):
autism have major nutritionaldeficiencies in important
elements like magnesium, iron,zinc, omega-3s All of these
things are such importantbuilding blocks to the function
of your child's brain, and alsothe gut as well, right?
Did you know that the gut andthe brain are directly connected
?
The gut is often referred to asthe second brain when you talk
(03:45):
about sleep.
A lot of us parents know thatthe gut and the brain are
directly connected.
The gut is often referred to asthe second brain when you talk
about sleep.
A lot of us parents know thatmelatonin is produced in the
brain and controls the sleepcycle.
Did you know melatonin is alsoproduced in the gut, right?
So think about this.
If, instead of us looking athow can we help the gut and the
brain be healthier, we're givingmelatonin, and I'm not saying
(04:06):
that's a bad thing, but alsowhat's even better is addressing
why the production of melatoninhas decreased and what can we
do about that.
Yes, and that's where youaddress inflammation, because so
much research has shown thatinflammation is a driving cause
or factor of the major symptomswe see in our children, with
both ADHD and autism.
(04:28):
So things like not sleepingwell, waking up at night, being
picky eaters, constipation, allloose stools when they shouldn't
be having loose stools If yourchild is, is not an infant and
they are having loose stoolsfrequently that needs to be
addressed.
That isn't normal.
Your child shouldn't be havingloose stools still, or baby-like
stools.
(04:48):
That's a sign of a gutdysbiosis or that there's
imbalance going on in yourchild's gut and that needs to be
addressed right.
Environmental triggers orsensors, or your child having
lots of eczema or rashes thatyou can't control, no matter how
much eczema cream you put on it.
All of that indicates there'san issue in your child's gut
(05:09):
that needs to be addressed, andif you don't address it well,
the symptoms just get worse.
I've seen children who areextremely constipated be really
aggressive.
I'm not saying constipationalways causes aggression, but
when you address constipation byaddressing the gut itself not
just cleaning out the gut buthealing the leaky gut that has
(05:29):
occurred as a result of theconstipation then you see that
the children are less aggressive.
I have seen that myself.
General pediatrician had autismand ADHD and she was very
aggressive, not sleeping at all,constipated, going to the
bathroom once a week, picky,eater.
She never let me touch her.
(05:50):
So guess what I thought aboutthe inflammatory effects of
gluten and dairy and I told theparents this is all I know right
now.
This is what helps my child.
Try it and see if it helps.
They tried it.
Guess what?
In four months she was sleepingbetter, eating better, less
constipated.
Aggression was decreasing bymonth six oh, I forgot to
(06:13):
mention she was also nonverbal.
By month six she said her first, which was more.
She also let me examine her forthe first time ever and she'd
been my patient for years.
She did not like anyone thatshe didn't know coming close to
her.
She let me examine her and shewas no longer on the verge of
being kicked out of school justbecause we made nutritional
changes.
So that's the power ofdecreasing inflammation in your
(06:36):
child's brain.
It takes time, it takesconsistency, but it can be done.
You can see improvement in yourchildren.
That family can go out.
They couldn't go out beforebecause of the behavior.
Now they can go out with theirchild.
The child is happy and goingback to school.
The child sleeps well at nightand is no longer in pain.
So that was possible.
When you look underneath andlook at the root causes of the
(06:59):
behaviors that you see.
That's what we do differentlyhere at Glow Pediatrics.
So I got retrained as anintegrative pediatrician and
that's why I started GlowPediatrics.
We address imbalances, take athorough history of what's going
on with your child.
We look at specific testing tosee what food sensitivities your
child has.
We make a tailored,personalized plan, even down to
(07:21):
the grocery store list with thelinks where to buy the items so
that it can get shipped to yourhouse Like, if that's not
personalized, I think whatever'sin.
But that's how much detail weput into our plans.
We encourage our parents to dothe plans for the whole family
because it does work.
We have seen it over and overagain.
It does work.
We have seen it over and overagain.
(07:42):
It does work.
We prioritize addressing sleep,nutrition, addressing picky
eating, addressing aggressivebehavior, because all of these
things can be addressed.
We teach parents.
That's the biggest part of whatwe do.
We teach parents, we empoweryou, because you are the biggest
part of your child's care team,an empowered, knowledgeable
(08:02):
parent.
Your child's growth Empowermentis unlimitless because you know
how to help your child thrive,and it's not just you, it's your
entire family, and you yourself, parent, will see a difference
in your health as well.
Makes me so happy to be able toshare this with you.
Ongoing care looks like coaching.
(08:24):
We have coaching for ourparents where they can come and
ask questions, where they canfind community, because this is
not a journey you go on byyourself.
Parenting is a journey you wantto go along with community, a
safe place where you can askquestions and be yourself, share
your frustrations, thedisappointments, joys and
(08:45):
happiness, and all of it.
Right, we're here for all of it, because that's what it means
to treat the whole child and thewhole family.
But if you're watching this andyou're thinking we've tried
things but something is missing,don't hesitate to reach out to
us.
We're here to help.
We offer telemedicine inseveral states across the
country.
(09:05):
We offer parent medpersonalized nutrition and we
can see anyone in any state forthat, because that's coaching.
Reach out to us and let us knowwe are here to help.
We're here to work alongsideyou and your family.
You can sign up for a consult ongopediatricscom.
Follow us on.
Subscribe to this channel.
(09:25):
Please share it with the familythat needs to hear this Maybe a
friend, a family member who'sstruggling and feels like
something else is going on.
Please share this episode withthem.
We have lots of content on ourIG page, which is our Glow
Pediatrics as well, but pleasefollow us here and share with
other parents that need to know.
Remember, parents, you are thebest parent for your child.
(09:47):
Your child is valuable.
Your child is more than adiagnosis and our goal as
parents is to determine what ourchild's strengths are and to
boost those.
Know that there is hope,parents.
Your child is not stuck.
Your family is not stuck.
There is hope.
Reach out to us.
We're happy to be of service toyou.
Have a wonderful day.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.