Caryn

"This 2005 video by Gary Null entitled “The Drugging of our Children” questions the validity of medicating so many children for symptoms of ADHD. This video will show how school-aged children in the U.S. are increasingly given ADHD meds for symptoms of ADHD as a first step. Doctors need to look at other conditions to rule out other causes before prescribing ADHD meds."

BikeWP, Our son has been GF for almost 4 years. We originally found out he had a problem with gluten through an allergy/intolerance blood test. We immediately took him off of gluten because he was suffering from chronic multifocal ticcing (doctor's dx) and had signs of emerging OCD. At that time we did not screen him for celiac disease (who would have thought?) but we eventually did stool testing and genetic testing and now he has an official celiac diagnosis. I don't know your exact details with your child, and I can't speak for every child with gluten intolerance, but I can tell you what our experience was like. Initially we saw an increase in ticcing and a period within the first few months where our son's reactions to gluten exposures were pretty severe, unlike when he was eating it every day. It is a weird phenomena that other GF families have also experienced (I won't say all, but others I am in contact with have had similar experiences as I did with my son. He puked after eating things that were 'cross contaminated' with gluten or had minute amounts of gluten in it (like seasoning on potatoes). He would get explosive watery diarrhea after eating something accidentally that had gluten in it. Then we would see ticcing with very mild exposures. With celiac there is a lot of gut damage and possible problems with fungi or digestive bacteria that can further hinder digestion. But the good news is that after the digestive system healed my son's symptoms became less severe, then occasional, and after two years they ceased altogether. But it took two whole years of healing. It didn't happen overnight. We really educated ourselves about how to safely eat gluten free and my son does not cheat. So my answer to you is don't give up, yes it can get worse, but it will most certainly eventually get better. Just be sure to feed your child food that is easy to digest, healthy, and prepare it in a safe kitchen free from cross contamination. Once the body heals and the antibody levels drop into the normal range you will notice a huge change.

Ah, yes! I saw this too. Pretty lousy and typical of the CRA. It is a pity, too. Fructose is crystallized corn sugar. Many avoiding corn syrups use it. So educated customers will be avoiding corn all the more when it's true source becomes totally ambiguous. I wish there was a law against this. I now have neighbors with kids on regular diets w/o allergy or neuro issues actively avoiding HFCS. "A rose by any other name is still a rose."

Abbe, There is a new coconut milk in the refrigerator section at WF. It is really good. Goes great on cereal. You can do almond milk too. We like Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Cereal. It is like farina. I make it with milk now but used to use coconut milk or almond milk when my son had leaky gut problems. You can make it with water and then add a touch of milk after to cool it and make it creamy. Add your favorite sweetener. We like maple syrup or honey. Get ghee at WF (is expensive but tastes a lot like butter and makes a nice spread over GF toast). A new company just came out with a really good GF bread. It is called Rudi's. They are out of Colorado. Their breads contain egg whites. Is your son allergic to the whole egg? Mine was allergic to the yolks but now eats eggs no problem (three years later). His egg reaction was quite low initially. I can't remember if you are watching yeast or not (it has yeast) and sorghum which can be problematic for some on GF diet (especially initially when they are in recovery). But you should try it if you can find it. I think it is a good transition bread. It is the first GF bread to inspire my hubby to take it to work like a real sandwich. When he got home that night he said, "Wow, where did you get that bread from?" Another good bread is EnerG Light Tapioca Loaf. Here's what you do with it: wet a paper towel, wring it, and wrap the slices in it (don't stack the slices, make sure that each slice is covered by the towel on all sides.) Heat in microwave for about 20 seconds. Now you have a nice soft bread for sandwiches. (Eat immediately-- not as good if it is packed in a lunchbox). Kids love it as a sunbutter and jelly sandwich. That same bread makes a great toast. It is gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, nut free, and egg free. They say don't freeze it, but it is a big loaf and doesn't last long after you open it. Keep in fridge afterward. As long as you micro and toast it the stuff will be fine for about three days. I just got a recipe for a dairy free chocolate pudding and hope to post it up soon. The secret ingredient is avocado! Lunches--- There is a product called Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas that we use. Ingredients: Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Filtered Water, Tapioca Flour, Safflower Oil, Rice Bran, Vegetable Gum (xanthan, cellulouse), Sea Salt. Okay, again, this is one that you have to wrap in wet paper towel and nuke in micro to make it soft and pliable (like 25 secs, maybe more.) If you nuke it longer it will get hard and crunchy. But it makes a nice wrap for rolling up in the lunch. There are a lot of brands that make gluten free marinara (spaghetti sauce not so much), and we buy GF rice noodles all the time. Check to make sure the brand you pick is also egg free. But there are loads of noodle brands to choose from. Don't choke your GF noodles. Be sure to boil them in a nice big pot of water. Boil the water first and then throw them in at a high rolling boil. Give them exactly 15 minutes and drain in a colander, running cool water over them. This is important. GF noodles are a MUSHY mess if overcooked. They do not hold up like the wheat ones do. They also get sticky. This is why I like to run the cool water and toss a little before I add them to the dish. Glutenfreeda is a nice company that sells gluten free oatmeal in individual flavor packets. Just add water. My kids love them. We buy Hormel lunch meat in prepackaged boxes from our local grocery store. They are GF and advertised as natural (have brown cardboard boxes with red). Can't buy deli meat, you know that? Anyway-- they are really good. We do roll ups with them. Kids love them. Trader Joe's has an all beef hotdog and they will eat those too. I just cut them into round slices and mix with ketchup, heat and throw in a thermos. Sounds gross, I know, but they love them. Trader Joe's also sells a lot of potato chips and off brand Cheetos type stuff all labeled GF and many are dairy free too. Check it out for barbeques, etc..... Your best bet is to ask for concierge at WF or Trader Joe's next time you are there. They have sheets with listings of safe GF foods. TJ's also labels everything GF. It is easy peezy there. My three year old learned how to shop GF in just a couple of trips. Ohh, and almost forgot-- Udi's makes a really nice oatmeal granola made with GF oats (tested and certified) and honey. Anyway, you can serve that for breaky with coconut yogurt and fresh blueberries and strawberries. My kids love it. They think it is a dessert. Caryn Sounds like you are busy. Good luck with the book!

abbe, You can do it! What are his favorites? Lemme see if I can help you phase it in.... You would be surprised at how many alternative products there are out there. Also, did your doctor RULE OUT gluten intolerance? If not, I highly suggest doing gluten free too, at least initially. It isn't that much harder but if the crux of the problem is gluten then the wheat avoidance might not show a recovery like it should. Caryn

It took us almost two years after we started my son's strict diet before the tics finally went away completely. Hang in there. Don't stop the diet. If he is reacting to corn that strongly then you know you are on to something. You have to remember that antibody levels rise and fall SLOWLY. So it could be that your son has very high anti corn antibodies right now and so his tolerance is non-existent. It could take 6 months to two years to get those antibody levels down to the normal range. We have seen this with our son's gluten antibodies and the stool testing we do annually. After two years he still had elevated antibodies, although they were really close to the normal range. Don't quit, don't quit, don't quit. Now my son can have minimal corn without any tics. The diet takes time. That is all I can say. We monitor and limit the corn to 'special' occasions and he seems fine. We do NOT do any corn byproducts, syrups, or any artificial colors at all. I want to add that corn syrups, in particular HFCS, has mercury in it. Might be a factor with all these kids having neuro flare ups when they eat it regardless of corn allergy. Caryn

Cheese is bad because it is moldy. Your daughter probably has a fungal problem. That is common with these kids. I would eliminate dairy for a while unless it is fermented (kefir). I would also look into getting her tested for fungal infection. Also, cheese is loaded with corn. We deal with corn allergy here (corn is very fungal, too, BTW). We now use cheese but have to shop carefully and don't use it as a staple at all! You may have a corn intolerance that is appearing like an inconsistent dairy allergy. BTDT! If it is corn the process of elimination is pretty tough but well worth it if you can eliminate it completely. Do heavy probiotics too to help if fungus/mold is her issue. (30-50 billion).

As per fighting mold, We have had great success with a very high dose of probiotic coupled with an anti-fungal diet and use of Candex. We did not use a prescription for it but our doctor said that he would prescribe it if the Candex didn't work. On the high note, if you are diligent with the protocol and wait until it is eradicated they can eat a more varied diet in time. I have found this to be true with both my boys. Just go slow and only expose the allergen once every four days and in small doses. We have been amazed after three years to see small signs of tolerance in our oldest son. We tried so many times but kept getting reactions. I thought he would never 'out grow it' as they say. But for him the recovery period lasted over two years. We do not do corn syrups at all and don't do maltodextrins either. We have experimented with xanthan gum and recently citric acid without incident. I have also tried corn starch and did not see a reaction. Hope this helps. The probiotic we used was between 50 and 75 billion. I gave the probiotic at night.

I am glad to hear your son's IgE results have improved and his gut is healing. Just a caution on IgG testing. Doug Kaufman of "Know the Cause" television show was one of the original developers of the IgG allergy testing. BTW, we used that same test for our son 3 years ago. According to Doug the test is fatally flawed because the patient is most likely reacting to moldy specimens. This is why a group tested in the same batch could similarly end up with little allergens and that same group could test much higher with a subsequent testing on another test date. If the specimens are contaminated (as is often the case) then the patient would react more heavily to the mycotoxins present on the food rather than just on the food itself. We are dealing with a corn allergy over here, too. Corn is infested with mycotoxins more so than any other food source in the U.S. So be very cautious with corn if your son is allergic to mold. The Corn We Eat is Infested with Mycotoxic Fungi If he has/had fungal overgrowth problems then I highly suggest you be VERY cautious reintroducing corn, nuts, wheat (even gluten free), and dairy. They are high in mycotoxins and can set you back in the healing process if consumed too much, or even at all, if fungus is an issue for your son.

Wombat, From the daily mail: The great autism rip-off ... How a huge industry feeds on parents desperate to cure their children Fairly scathing article but gives names and addresses of DAN docs in U.K. Caryn

If he gets runny stools then you know you've over done the magnesium. If his stools are normal then you are fine.

Great news Carolyn.N Am happy to see the results have been good and quick. In our experience with Tigger we never did NAET or the BAX treatment. We too have seen a tremendous reduction in allergic reactions to HFCS, food dyes, and corn in general. He does not tic any longer with minor exposures. He actually hasn't had symptoms in over a year, knock on wood. We are still on a very strict gluten free diet and have greatly reduced the supplements too in the last year. Of course many of you know that our son was pretty chronic at onset and it was not long after his preschool vaxes. Maybe the NAET is a quicker way to get there or a way to go in lieu of a restricted diet?

And I might consider seeing a dentist, too if I were you. I've been getting my old fillings removed this week and was amazed to learn what bad silver fillings can do to you. I am suffering from the "band around my head" squeezing me like a vice sensation too. You may have an abscess, a cracked filling, or have old worn fillings that are leaking toxic metal vapors in your mouth. It will make you tired and can cause depression. My old fillings are 'hot' to the touch while my new fillings are the same temperature as my natural teeth. I have a metallic taste in my mouth and my sense of taste is off. I salivate more than what is considered 'average' and my tongue is swollen much of the time. I am sensitive to hot and cold food and beverages too. By Thursday they will all be gone and then I will be able to tell you whether the hangover headband headache is gone too. (BTW, that is a classic symptom according to a couple of books I am reading on the subject.) My father's good friend had all his silver amalgams removed 10 years ago by the same dentist and he said that his chronic back pain stopped immediately after they were removed. I had 12. I now have 6 left. I will be happy if removing them would stop the headaches. Although they aren't really headaches in the sense that my head actively hurts. It is a constant squeezing pressure on my head. Pain killers don't alleviate it either. Some times my neck is sore too, and I take magnesium for that. It seems to help a little. I've needed dental work for a while and have put it off too long. It seems like the symptoms crept up on me and really got bad when I cracked my filling last winter. If you decide you need to have your teeth checked out do make sure you make an appointment with a dentist that specializes in safe mercury removal practices. My dentist takes them out in big chunks and has a special high powered vacuum system. He also wears a gas mask. There is only a couple dentists in my area that do this and I live in a big city. I agree with Cheri that a chiropractor is important with violent neck ticcing. I do not have any ticcing myself. My son did have neck ticcing several years ago and the chiropractor really helped him get realigned after an injury (he slid into a cabinet while playing Spiderman). In our case my son's ticcing did not stop until we made dietary changes too. His symptoms were multifocal and he had a touch of OCD too. He does not have any fillings in his mouth, btw.

Oh, I figured.... I've been picturing a handsome hunk with long wavy light brown hair around the shoulders and eyes the color of the deep blue ocean..... LOL No, honestly-- The fact that you opened a can of mackerel and doused it with cream and tomato sauce gave you away in the first two sentences. That is definitely a man meal.