Jennifer

efgh, Our son had touching and repeating word tics as well as some other strange ones. I had never noticed an increase after watching T.V., but I have after being on the computer for a long time is the past, lately I have not. Perhaps his increased overall health has made him less susceptible to the flicker cause of tics? Jennifer

efgh, I really think that the wheat allergy had a lot to do with the problems. In most of the cases a wheat intolerance inflames the lining of the gut and can create a "leaky gut" syndrome. His stool test showed that he was not digesting his food....a cause of the wheat intolerence. If the stomach cannot function properly than the body cannot assimilate food and nutrients. I think I mentioned in one of my other posts that many of the neurotransmitters are manufactured in the stomach, so a healthy stomach is of vital importance!! We aren't taking near the supplements we used to. The doctor put him on a child's mutl-vit. from Thorne Laboratories which has most of the vitamins he used to take, but the amounts aren't nearly as high. We are still doing the body bio electrolytes and minerals as well as chlorella (I ordered the one from Dr. Mercola) Flax and fish oil, iron citrate (he is anemic) , digestive enzymes, vit C, probiotics and FOS, amino acid complex (he is way low on just about every amino acid). The doctor feels very confident that with the healing of the stomach his nutritonal issues with a little bit of help will resolve themselves, he was basically suffering from malapsorption. He used to eat non stop and yet he is a thin child. He doesn't eat nearly as much as he used to eat and can go for a while without eating, even though he may be hungry he is not experiencing the drop in blood sugar that he used to. This expreience has made me realize how important starting with the stomach really is. We still have the elevated levels of lead and mercury to deal with, but my hope is that the chlorella will take care of that. Once his nutrient levels and the yeast issues are resolved we may pursue the detox issue a little more intensely. The first couple of weeks we went wheat free were very ugly. He was going through withdrawls..the doctor warned us of that. He was impossible to be around and his tics were terrible. About week 3 things started mellowing out and now he is great! Jennifer

Claire, Yes, we are still alive and well. The wheat free thing really threw me for a loop and I spent sooooo much time reading books and trying to find decent foods and recipes that I hadn't been on the forum for a very long time, but none the less have been thinking of all of you all. Our son tested postive for milk too, but I haven't noticed a thing with raw milk...he seems to tolerate it just fine. This is the best he has ever been. Not only are his tics gone, but he is so happy and a pleasure to be around, he doesn't seem like the same child. Even though his tics had greatly improved we were still struggling big time with mood swings! So far I have been really happy with the FOS powder. Best of luck, Jennifer

Claire, Based on Body Bio's test results and nutrient recommendations, we give our son 2 tsp. a day of their electrolyte solution. Our doctor, however, thinks that supplmenting daily is perfectly safe because it doesn't take much especially in children to throw their balance off. Also, we have been wheat free for going on 1 month now, I am shocked at the difference. Our son is so much more calm and easy going. He responds postively when corrected instead of everythng being "our fault". I just bought the book "The Maker's Diet" by Dr. Jordan S. Rubin. The book explains the nutritional instructions God laid out in the bible and why. Dr. Rubin was dying of Chrohn's disease and made a miraculous recovery based on a biblical diet. He explains how so many neurotransmitters are manufactured in the stomach, 95% of serotonin is. If the stomach isn't working the nervous system can certainly suffer. Our son's OCD is much improved, the only thing that is still hanging on is his bedtime ritual of "good night, sweet dreams, sleep well" (he has to say that and in that order), but now he only says it 1 time intstead of 3. Our son drinks milk, but as I've said before only raw. It's going on 1 year now and I have been nothing but pleased with it. Our doc put our son on probiotics along with FOS a probiotic enhancer. I don't know if your doctor is having your son take FOS-if not is is worht looking into. Since our son has been on that combination his bowels have been very regular. Jennifer

Gl&L Mom, Here is a good website I found on gluten-free ideas. We just found out that our son is allergic to gluten(among other things) so I'm in the midst of restocking my kitchen. HEre is the web-site: http://www.ellenskitchen.com/faqs/glutfree.html Claire, Didn't see your earlier post about carbon, sorry. What I meant to say was charcoal. I don't have a specific link, I read it in the Krkman Labs catalog. They specialize in supplements for ASD kids. The number is 1-800-245-8282. Jennifer

Claire, That is awesome news!!!! I am so happy for your entire family. We too are starting a very restricted diet because of allergies. How long after you eliminated the offending foods did you notice a difference? Thanks in advance for your reply. Jennifer

Beata J, I know this all sounds overwhelming. The key is to eliminate gradually.My son was a candy-aholic, but I took advantage of the summer months when there is such a variety of yummy fruit and kept it out and ready for him..that helped him transition and he was still getting sugar, just in a healthy form. Also you will find that there are many natural and organic alternatives. Cheetos and Dorritos make a natural version (for my son they aren't o.k. because of his allergies), but if allergies aren't an issue they are a delicious alternative without all the MSG and other artificial ingredients. I'm so glad that you found this forum, there are alot of experienced moms with awesome tips and info!!! Jennifer

efgh, Our doctor seems to think that tics are a form of seizures. He said if we were to do an EEG we would see seizure activity. He also assured me that tics would never progress to full blown seizure disorders such as epilepsy, but he does beleive they are related to seizures. I have heard this theory before. I'm not quite sure what good an EEG would do especially if it is true that tic disorders show abnormal brain patterns. Jennifer

Claire, We supplemented with acidophilus daily for the yeast, but never did anything to kill it. The doctor has him taking golden seal and dandelion root in the morning which targets the different types of fungus present and some high potency acidophilus just before bed along with FOS which is a probiotic enhancer and liquid bentonite to ease yeast die off reactions. He said the idea is to attack the yeast in the morning and add the good bacteria at night. Proteins are composed of individual amino acids which are responsible for growth, repair and maintenance throughout the body. Some of the ones most commonly mentioned such as taurine, gaba and 5- htp are amino acids. Glutamine, one of the amino acids our son is low in, is necessary to detox ammonia out of the brain. Ammonia is not a good thing to have in the brain it can cause tons of problems including seizures (this is also a very common problem seen with ASD kids). Norepinephrne is a neurotransmitter, I can't remember it's specific function. It's precursor amino acid is L-phenylalanine (not to be confused with the artificial sweetner which is DL-phenylalanine..a completely different chemical structure.) Four of the eight amino acids needed for brain functin were extremely low. His amino acid test was very revealing. His liver is sluggish and sure enough the amino acids for liver function were very low. If his gut is infamed it stands to reason that the malabsorption issues would carry over to proteins as well. The test was about $220.00 and well worth it, this is one I would highly recommend. As far as the similarities go, no I don't think it has anything to do with the labs. If you read the consequences of heavy metal toxicity and particulary mercury you will find that they cause the very things we are finding our through lab tests ex. inflamed gut, enzyme and mineral disruption etc.... On a positive note the doctor feels very confident that we wil see some dramatic improvements just by doing the GF/CF diet. Hope he's right!! Also Claire, I know youare holding off on the shots for a year, so in the mean time try to research them best you can, there are many other scary things other than mercury. A good website is www.909shot.com, it is the National Vaccine Association. They were a really big help to me. If you have your son's past lot and batch numbers they can tell you how many "reported" reactions they have on file. I put reported in quotation marks because not everyone reports. Also. I just read about a mom who sent her son's baby tooth in to a lab to check for mercury, the results were astounding..over 3000 ppb for one little baby tooth. This amount wa exceed the amounts allowed to be released from a dump. I had never thought about using a tooth, but it makes sense. It sounds more accurate than using hair. I called my local lab and they will do it for 35$. Fortunatly I have several of my son's baby teeth that we put in a box after the "tooth fairy" came to collect. I'll keep you posted on the results. Jennifer

Hi All, We just got back a couple of days ago from our doctor visit and here are the reults: Allergies: wheat, spelt, gluten, all dairy, eggs, beef ,lamb, banans Yeast: very high and he has other fungus in the intestines, malapsorption issues very low iron levels He is also very low in almost all amino acids except for tryptophan and gaba. Since tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin his serotonin is o.k., but the amino acid precursors to norepinephrine are low. Jennifer

efgh, I think the fish oil is working better now because we supplemented for so long with the higher omega 6 flax oil and we are still using the flax oil along with the fish oil. In the past we did not do the two oils simultaneously. From our experience with our son I would have to say that Dr. Kane's research has proven to be valid. In states of heavy metal toxicity the omega 6's are supressed and merely supplementing with fish oil-(higher omega 3's) makes the situation worse. Then there is the scenario of the person that has within range levels, but the body cannot utilize it's stores, pancreatic enzymes are recommended in this situation. Jennifer

efgh, This sounds similar to Body Bio's take on fatty acids. We just started giving our son fish oil about 3 weeks ago along with the body bio flax oil. I haven't noticed anything unusual. I don't know if it is a coincidence, but he has been much calmer that past couple of days. Before when we did just the fish oil he kind of seemed even more wired than normal. Jennifer

Chemar, Thanks for the info. Our new doctor does acupuncture as well as homeopathic treatments. How often did you do acupuncture? The new doctor is out of town-we'll have to see if it is something feasable because of the distance, but it is good to know that things like this help support the process. Jennifer

GL&L mom, I too have read Dr. McCAndless' book, and many other doctors as she stress the importance of eliminating mercury from the brain last. Our son's kidneys and liver are taxed right now. This makes me very nervous to continue anymore detoxification. Jennifer

efgh, I think the key to the fish oil is DHA. Our doctor says that is the component of fish oil that is very healing to the brain and fish is the only oil that contains it. There is a component in flax oil that the body converts to DHA, but it is not nearly as efficient as taking straight DHA. Also as far as protein goes, Body Bio's dietary recommendation for our son included organic free range chicken, it is very high in nitrogen (very important for the body). Jennifer

GL&L mom, We had a pressure treated playset too that we tore down. It was also about 4 years old. I can't remember the exact amount of time, but they continue to be toxic for many years!! I don't know about carpet, I've read that cabinets that are not 100% wood continue to give off formaldehyde gasses for 15 years!! I have a couple of good websites that cover environmental issues for children, they offer less toxic solutions. I'll find them and include them in my next post. Also soil could be an issue too, it wouldn't hurt to research if the area you live may once have been agricultural. Back in the 30's they used a lead/arsinate based pesticide. Arsenic stays in the soil forever. Be careful too of the surrounding area of pressure treated playsets and decks as the soil can become contaminated. Jennifer

efgh, Our doctor too strongly recommends fish oil. He personally uses Carlson's lemon flavored oil. I think that overall all the benefits that have been doumented are outstanding, we probably would have had some negative feed back by now if trace amounts if any mercury were causing a problem. There are never any guarantees, I guess we just try to do our best Jennifer

Claire, Yes we have done quite a bit for heavy metal removal. The mercury doesn't surprise me because it is very difficult to get rid of especially of his detox pathways aren't functioning as they should. We know his kidneys and liver are taxed. As far as the lead goes. I have racked my brain and I think I came up with something. The very first hair analysis we did showed high levels of lead, which was done during first grade summer vacation. We have done 3 more since then (a total of 4) and after the second one his lead had disappeared and never showed up again. We home-schooled during 2nd grade then he went back to the same school in 3rd grade up until Christmas and we decided to home-school again (his diet and supplement program just wasn't happening). Coincindentaly lead shows back up in his system after returning to the same school. His school was a private Christian school that used to be an old military bunker. I am very suspicious that there may be lead pipes and who knows about the paint? I plan on contacting the principal this week. If this is the case, this poses a health risk to all the other children that go there. As far as vaccines go, thimerisol is not the only issue. They contain aluminum. formaldehyde and viruses that may very well have mutated in the proceess. When you are dealing with viruses you cannot guarantee their stabiltiy from batch to batch. Some cases of ASD are actually brain viruses. There is some speculation that this is the case for some T.S. patients in which case the waxing and waning is caused by viral flair ups in the brain. Dr. McCandless touches on this in her book. I don't want to tell you what to do, but before giving your son any more vaccines try to research the topic so that you can make a fully informed decision. Most states have a waiver allowing for religious. medical and personal exemptions Jennifer

Hi All, I've allready posted this info under another topic, but thought I would post it seperately as well so that I could keep you up to date on our doctor visit April 2nd. Our son has high lead and mercury. That is all the office told me, we'll have to wait til next week for the rest of the results. I'll let you know the plan of attack after our visit. Jennifer

G&L mom, So glad you have some place to start. Our son too was very high in heavy metals. We just got the test results back of the DMSA challenge test and he has high lead and mercury. This is an interesting article on MT protein. http://www.autisminfo.com/AmyHolesMD.htm Research suggests that some children are born with this defective protein (neccessary for detoxing heavy metals) if never exposed to mercury it seems that they would probably be O.K. , but mercury makes the situation much worse. The link speaks of MT therapy to get the protein working again, this could be an answer for future exposure. And once the toxic overload is under control it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to stay on plenty of antioxidants and use chlorella on a regular basis as a preventive measure for any futute exposure. Jennifer

Claire, I would definitely stay away from DMSA. It is much too hard on children and they are finding now that some children have had irriversible kidney damage because of it. The DMSA is quite agressive and if detox. pathways are not functioning right then as was mentioned before by Nancy, it recirculates and redeposits somewhere else. We did the one time challenge test which, by the way, the doctor called me today to let me know that our son is high in lead and mercury. I haven't got a clue where the lead is coming from. One more thing to research. The mercury didn't surprise me in the least. It didn't show up in his last two hair elements tests, but it did in the challenge test. Which is also not surprising. The most promising way of getting rid of mercury seems to be through MT promotion therapy. And I believe that any homeopathic remedies would help support the process. Here is the link http://www.autisminfo.com/AmyHolmesMD.htm Jennifer

Claire, I think one good thing we have on our side, is that even though we've been vaccinated we have not received near the number of vaccines as our children. My mom gave me my vaccine records and I probably had 10 shots as a child- today it is over 20 by the time they are done...more than doubled. The highest mercury containing vaccine is the HepB which they are given at birth. Fortunatley they weren't doing that back when we were kids. I do, however, still wonder about my mercury levels...I'm considering getting myself tested as well. We might as well all get well together. Jennifer

Ronna, I agree with you 100%. Our doctor told us that 80% of the toxicity comes from the mother the other 20% from the father. I have read in many articles that toxicity is passed down to generation after generation. So our children are bearing whatever we were exposed to plus what they get exposed to. I really fear for the next generation that comes along if things in our environment and vaccine procedure don't change at a quicker pace. There is much more awareness now with ASD reaching epidemic proportions, but I don't think changes are being made quickly enough. Managing our children' health takes so much time, but if we can raise awareness among friends and our individual communities maybe we can make a difference. Just in my church alone(whcih is a small church) there are 3 families(us included) dealing with these problems. One family just got the diagnoses of ASD for both of their children ages 2 and 4 within the last month. If we start at grass root levels maybe we can turn things around. Jennifer

Claire, Very interseting article. It still amazes me how they openly caution against mercury in fish, but the mercury in vaccines continues to be a contraversy! Two years ago when we did our son's hair analysis he had toxic levels of mercury . He does not like fish and has probably eaten it 2 or 3 times in his life. I'm still convinced that his vaccines were the source, especially after his reaction to his last DTaP. Jennifer

Claire, I posted some info for you under efgh's link under naturopathic visit...should have posted it under yours. Don't know if you saw it yet, but I mentioned that I would post a website re: MT disfunction, which directly affects the body's ability to detoxify mercury. Here it is: http://www.autisminfo.com/AmyHolmesMD.htm I also came across an interesting article from Dr. Mercola and another mercury source that shows all the different areas of the body that can be affected by mercury. I'll dig those out too and try to post them as soon as possible. To make a long story short it seems that mercury has a very bad effect on the body with everyone, just in different ways. Mercury can settle in so many places it can even settle in your bones. If it settled there the effects would not be quite as obvious as when it gets to the nervous system. Some people don't show symptoms until they are much older such as cases of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, M.S. etc.- whcih have also been linked to mercury and immunizations. It's unfortunate that our kids are dealing with this, but I think the silver lining is we know about this now that they are young and the chances of turning things around is awesome...a lot better than if they were adults. Jennifer