Jennifer

Heather, I just bought a kids herbal book a few days ago. It has some great therapeutic tea recipes. One of the teas which is nourishing for the nervous system has among other things, oatstraw. The book says that this herb aids in healing the myelin sheath of the brain. The book is all packed away now for our trip so I can't fill you in on the exact recipe, but if I remember correctly it has: oatstraw, lemon balm, chamomile, catnip, raspberry leaves and I think spearmint for flavor. I made it for my son tonight and he loved it. Your supposed to boil a cup of water and steap the herbs for about 30-40 min then strain them, add a little bit of honey and it's a delicious tea. I too like Chemar have not had a good experience with Valerian. I tried it a couple of times and it made my son very hyper and irritable. Jennifer

Heather, I agree with you 100%. Our son didn't have diet or stress issues, but he is fully vaccinated and was on constant antibiotics as well. I strongly feel that vaccinations are the leading culprit for neurological problems. We look at factors such as heavy metal toxicity, low immune functions, allergies etc., but something had to have disabled the body's basic ability to function properly. And vaccines are largely to blame. On www.news.yahoo.com there is an article on Nov.11, 2003 about the study that found no significant link between vaccinations and autism, but they admit that one group of children who received thimerosal containg vaccines had a higher incidence of tics. How interesting. We go see a new doc Friday. I'll let you know how it went when we get back, which probably won't be until Monday. We got his blood chemistry panel back from Body bio and there are quite a few things that are wrong. Will fill you in later. Jennifer

Hi All, When chossing peanut butter I would really try to go with organic. Conventional peanuts are the worst nut that you could eat. They are very susceptible to a fungus and so are chemically treated like crazy to inhibit the growth not to mention the pestcides that are used. A couple of good brands are Maranatha and Natural Value. Jennifer

Claire, This is a good site that has the autism conference proceeding. There is some really good info on here especially from Willis Langford. If I remember correctly I think he talks about antioxidants. He cautions against using things like milk thistle for the liver etc. because the detoxification pathways aren't working correctly. www.autismone.org/proceedings/ Jennifer

efgh, From what I have read soy needs to be eaten in a fermented state. I guess by fermenting it you counter the bad effects ( I beleive it actually has a toxin). I've also read that this is how the eat it in the Orient. Also, I can't specifically remember which countries, but in Europe some countries have warning labels on their soy formula. Jennifer

Claire, So glad to hear your son is doing better!! What a scary thing to have happen! It's nice when your able to find a good doctor to guide you through these kinds of things. Also, thanks for the SpectraCell info. That is actually the same test our son did a year and a half ago. They must have added several more vitamins to the test since then. Jennifer

Claire, I'm probably too late responding, but we used Doctor's Data as well for the hair elements test. My understanding is that they were the first ones to come up with hair analysis and they have the largest data base. Jennifer

Claire, I've been told that barley flour is a good alternative to wheat it has plenty of gluten for the rising action and it basically tastes like white flour. Jennifer

Claire, I'm so happy you got all those tests back. Could you please tell me the name of the test your DR. did for the vitamin levels? Our son had one done a year ago, but it was not near as complete as the one you son had done. We have our appt. on the 20th of this month and it would be nice to have that test done as well. Thanks a million, Jennifer

efgh and Heather, Pantothienic acid can be found at any health food store (it is one of the B vitamins) The adrenal glands are affected by stress. It can be physical stress or emotional. I think that most kids on ASD are stressed. Their body systems aren't functioning correctly. And the fact that they know something is wrong contributes to more stress. One of the primary symptoms of adrenal fatigue is blood sugar problems. Jennifer

efgh and Heather, My son eats non stop as well, for as much as eats he should be kind of chubby, but he's not. Also, I always have to have snacks for him because when he is hungry he becomes emotional and completely unreasonable. He has been tested for blood sugar levels and it came back normal, but I have read that many times blod sugar problems are not detected by blood tests unless they are pretty severe. The best way to pin point it is through symptoms. If there are blood sugar problems the adrenal glands are usually involved. Pantothenic acid is critical for adrenal function. Jennifer

Heather, We waited until his bowel were regular before using the PCA as most of it is excreted fecally. The PCA is measured in sprays rather than drops we did about 4 sprays a day. I continued to give him his supplements during this time. I used the PCA for about a year and am using it again only 1-2 sprays a day for preventive measures. Jennifer

Hello All, We have just made the decision to take our son to a doctor on the DAN list who unfortunatley is out of town, but I think it will be worth while. Though we have done some tests, there are still so many more that need to be done. The doctors we have been working wit in our hometown are not that well versed in ASD so we have come to a point where we need someone knowledgable. From what I have read this isn't just a neurological disorder...it involves so many body systems. We just got a blood chemistry panel back...his kidneys didn't come back normal and there seems to be some sort of a viral presence. This is not uncommon. The doctor that I spoke with told me that they have had many children who's primary diagnosis was ADD when in fact they were suffering from many autistic traits. I was also told that many atutistic children suffer from tics. Sounds like the situation can be pretty complex. Social behavior can be a big clue. Autism is not necessarily extreme there are many children who are high functioning which may make it tricky to recognize. I guess my point is that not just the nervous system is affected. I myself got so hung up on the obvious symptoms (tics and OCD) that had we not done the blood chemistry test we wouldn't have realized the other issues. Another thing that came back low were his nitrogen markers which means his body is not assimilating protein correctly. So I think it is safe to assume that his amino acid levels aren't right either. So this is definately a test that I want to have done. Jennifer

efgh, I don't know how the surgery would affect tics, but a friend of mine who is in the same boat as we and has read quite a bit just told me that she came across some information that if there is a b-12 defficiency anesthesia can cause permanent brain damage. This is something worth asking your doc about. Jennifer

Heather, We used some homeopathic drops and then switched to the PCA-RX product. We detoxed for about a year. I haven't used anything for the past 3 months, but will go back to using the PCA daily, but just not as much. It targets all kinds of toxins whcih we are all exposed to daily. The Autism Research Institute web-site is www.autism.com/ari/. There are various topics to the left you can click on. I can't remember with precision which one it is, but one of them has the list organized by state and country. Jennifer

Chemar, What an awesome story!!! You must be so proud of your son. He sounds like a neat kid who hasn't allowed his health issues to drag him down...what an inspiration!!! Take care, Jennifer

Marretts, I highly recommend a book written by Dr. Jaqueline McCandless entitled "Children with Starving Brains". She goes into the whole mercury/immunization issue as well as allergies, yeast etc. and the protocol that she uses including specific tests. I know that as far as tic disorders go she strongly recommends viral panels and amino acid testing. I read her book almost a year ago and I owe a lot to Dr. McCandless. It made me realize just what we were dealing with. One of her protocols in the book is chelation, but according to new info. on her website she is getting away from that as it it quite hard on a childs system and is finding other means to get the heavy metals out. Jennifer

Dear Jean, I posted something about DR.'s who treat the causes of ASD disorders (tic disorders are included) and don't simply prescribe drugs. www.autism.com/ari/ The Autism Research Institute has a wonderful website and provides a list of Doctors who have agreed to the DAN protocol which is all about getting to the root of the problem..yeast, allergies, mold vitamins, minerals etc. the list of doctors can be a little overwhelming, but at least you have an idea of where to start. They have the list catagorized by state and if your out of the country they've got those to. Best of luck, Jennifer

efgh, We won't have any results antil the end of Feb. first part of March. We personally don't have insurance. What coverage you have probably depends on your policy. I don't believe that non-pharmaceuticals are covered even if the supplements have artificial ingredients. Jennifer

Claire, I completely understand your frustration. Our chidren mean so much to us, yet life must still go on. It is a difficult juggling act. There is a test that Dr. McCandless recommends, called an organic acid test. It measures key components in the child's biochemical factory. It is supposed to provide indicators of how efficiently the metabolism is functioning and how well it is converting food into usable products for the body. I believe it is a urine test. This is also one I would like to talk our doctor into doing. Hang in there, Jennifer

Hello All, www.autism.com/ari/ is the site for the autism research institute. They offer a list of doctors who are on the DAN list (defeat autism now) this may be a source of info. for parents out there who are looking for doctors who keep into consideration the bio-chemical factors of ASD. Jennifer

Marretts, don't know the answer to that. I do know the slower you detox the better. Jennifer

Claire, I'm glad you got all your results back. It does pay to get the testing done so you're not doing a bunch of guess work. Hopefully you'll begin to see an improvement with the supplements he needs. Also, if you haven't allready read what Sheila Rogers had to say about vitamin/mineral defficiencies affecting the body's ability to utilize fatty acids correctly. I think her post is under Fatty Acids. I'm glad you are finally getting some answers!! Jennifer

efgh, Sorry I haven't responded sooner...been really busy. The multi-vitamin give my son is called glycobears from Mannatech. Jennifer

efgh, According to doctors a large number of children on the ASD spectrum have thyroid problems. I'm not sure how a thyroid problem would effect a tic disorder per se, but I have read that hyperthyroidism can cause hyperactivity in a child, weight loss the whole metabolism is in hyperdrive with too much thyroid hormone being produced...tics don't seem like a strange consequence. A thyroid imbalance can also produce mood swings and low T-3 can result in lowered serotonin. The thyroid system is very complex. I've been reading a book about it and it seems like something that is very commonly missed. A person can even have all normal ranges, but be missing a protein that transports the hormone to the brain. If all testing comes back normal and it is still a strong suspicion an endocrinologist would be the way to go. We had our son checked, the TSH, T4 and T3 were normal...but I'm still not excluding his thyroid as a possibility for what causes the mood swings and OCD. I even read that some people who were diagnosed with manic depression were suffering from nothing more that hypothyroid (low thyroid). Jennifer