airbucket

I hope i didnt do anything to offend the members here, i am not sure why no one will comment on this, perhaps no one has a child with this staph? I try to be considerate here and non offensive, i just ask questions when i dont know where else to turn for answers and get tired of my pediatrician laughing at me. thanks.

Hi everyone! Does anyone's child have this resistant staph issue? My son has it in his nose, the pedicatrician said it wont ever go away. I am wondering, should i be concerned about this in the way that some of the parents here are concerned with pandas and pitands? Is it like a virus that could be affecting his brain or just harmless living in the nose? I am not necessarily asking in relation to tics, but in a general alternative health sense. I asked his ped and he looked at me like i was speaking russian. We here know about the conncections we look for in things that traditional medicine is not interested in, hence my asking. thanks so much!

hi michele, im writing because im in the same boat! i am trying to figure this all out. feel free to PM if youd like to exchange info. your descriptions are so accurate to me, my son is the same way and he has been Dx 3 different times with ausitm, aspergers OCD, Tourettes, and PDD NOS respectively, and also we need to remember that aspergers is one point on the spectrum which i think is more complicated and broad than its described by some doctors. So what matters more could be, do you see social impairments in your son that you dont see in the majority of typical kids? my son is also defiant, argumentative, cranky, curses at times, spits, is mostly interested in just one play theme. BUT he is also completely coginitvely functioning, he understand subtle cues and body language and understands when he is upset after its over, and can be very happy and self controlled. but he is a rollercoaster, sometimes behaving so typical you wouldnt know he had the Dx's and other times so the opposite that life is exhausting and he is miserable. I find a lot of good scheduling and planning ahead at home, free time to do anything, posted expectations and rules, and discussion of feelings and how to handle them are some good tools. Role playing and talking about how our behavior makes others feel etc. There are intersting things out there on these subjects. I am trying to compile everything ive found together. good luck.

Pat: I was slacked jawed reading your post. You describe my son to a T. The only difference being that my son has always has these tendencies/behaviors. At home he is the same way, yet at school, mostly, he is behaved very well, etc. Now this is not to say he is not happy, because he is a happy child, but he gets what i describe as shadows or layers of negativity, mood and hyperness that increase as the day goes on. for us this happens on the weekends too. I know the structure in his classroom is something he loves and does very well with. Mine is very OCD at home, he will "talk back" or tell us to be quiet, we are getting time out, etc., when he is upset. and the sensory issues are horrible! But they always have been, but now it does somehow seem interconnected with the aggressiveness, as though he is on alert inside and that is when he is most "sensory". And also, the very same with the example of taking a slight like someone bumping in to you and not saying sorry, my son wil be reduced to a fury sometimes or just plain sadness. One thing we try and do is a "reality check" when my son is misperceiving someones reaction or how "things should be" - i explain very factually what actually happened and he usually comes around to seeing that no one meant him personal offence. we also remember that the only things anyone really needs to "worry" about is shelter, food and water. That usually causes him to kind of "snap out of it" for a minute. We do have though, extreme hypersensitivity, both internally and externally, sensory. How ar your sons tics? What are they like? Right now i am on the quest of my life so far to get to the root of some of these wierd symptoms that just dont seem right. I just hope it ALL doesnt boil down to "brain chemicals." There is lots you can do and remember as far as the behavior is concerned, modifying it and dealing with it. With that area i am pretty well equiped with plans and strategies. It is so important to be very neutral and limit your talking when you are handing out a consequence or disciplining, and do it quickly. A positive approach from you and implementing natural and logical consequences are all good things to try. Feel free to message me if you want to talk about any of this! my son is very overbearing and forceful and misunderstands how to emotionally react to things. I am determined to try and figure this out, good luck.

How can it seem to be so difficult to track the effectiveness or lack of, of a vitamin or supplement we are trying? Although i havent taken data in a very scientific way, the data i have collected shows ups and downs in my son no matter what, it seems. I may start him on something, it appears by observing mood and tics, that the thing we are trying is working, and then he will have a bad couple days, then another good couple etc. One time he will eat cheese and be fine for weeks after and other times he will eat it and be a wreck the next day or later that day. Does that mean it was the dairy or any number of things that could be wrong in his body? same with gluten. there are any number of examples of this. I cant figure out how to pinpoint anything this way. Of course we have not done any of the requisite tests to give us info on what supps to go on thus far other than yeast and some pediatrician basic testing which all showed some "odd" things but not "noteworthy" according to the pediatrician. But same is the case if its just toxic cleaning supplies or fumes or something environmental. Its a toss up to me with his erratic symptoms. the wierd cessasation of the tics last Feb and a brief spurt for only about a week and now gone again complelety for about 2 weeks so far...? I cant pinpoint anything that could have triggered that and then it stopped so abruptly and completely again? does anyone have any experience with this difficulty? thank you all!

I just wanted to add, WHY would our bodies be intolerant/reactive to something natural? that to me indicates maybe an underlying immune disorder or some other system. ? I have never tried eliminating certain fruits or veggies because i cant understand how something from nature would in and of itself hurt our bodies. I would love to understand this phenomenon more.

mom2ck: I had to reply to your post because i am in a similar situation. I dont know where to turn due to the amount of different issues/Dx's and i am very confused. it never seems like i find someone who can really explain the functions of the brain in relation to food, toxins, etc and what it means if the brain is "damaged", i.e., there is an organic brain problem. As for your concerns with Aspergers, I can share the following - After my son being Dx with aspergers Dec 2007, i really looked into it. he was diagnosed by two experts in their field at Shands hospital in Gainseville, FL. The way they defined Aspergers was that there had to be a malfunction with the ability to understand other peoples point of view, to be able to "stand in someone elses shoes", something ppl without aspergers do all day all the time naturally. Dr Murphy explained that ppl with aspergers have a marked impairment in seeing outside themselves. other than that they can be very typical. There may be some OCD or not much, there may be lots of ritualized behavior or very little. but there has to be an impairment in social functioning for it to be aspergers. This is from her explanations. She also recommended a book, The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome, by tony atwood, http://www.tonyattwood.com.au. my son is 9 and diagnosed with Tourette, OCD and Aspergers. he is on no meds. we tried that once with disastrous results. i have not had any particualar luck that i can pinpoint with certainty with the supps, vits and diet, though i continue to do it. his tics dissapeared last feb completely and totally, and only just returned about 2 weeks ago. school started a week ago. one tic is even getting bad quickly. he is on and has been on nordic naturals fish oil, pure magnesium, kids calm, b 50 complex, taurine, probiotic, multi vit. melatonin, low gluten low yeast diet, but we stray here and there. he has a short fuse, also may hit, quickly angered, severe sensory issues with needing to rub his face and chin and head on yours in a hard way, twisting hands, pinching self at times, way overstimulated nervous system, always on alert. OCD has continued to be bad over the years, with obsessions lasting a whole days at times. lots of talking about the same topic, but with genuine interest. very emotional, cries, dislikes any change, high anxiety. i also cant decide if he has asprgers or not and with all the different symptoms i dont know who to seek out. Your quote below sounded a lot like my son. Does your child have digestive problems? mine does. it is very hard to distinguish between tics, some OCD compulsions, lack of impulse control, etc. They are such fine lines, it seems they are all versions of the same problem. I would love ot be able to find one or two experts in medicine and natural health and psychology and have a holistic approach to my son to cover all areas and to be able to obtain facts about how long it takes for a "trigger" food to affect the body, how to know if certain foods or chemicals can alter brain function, etc etc etc. I hope something in here helps!

mom2ck: I had to reply to your post because i am in a similar situation. I dont know where to turn due to the amount of different issues/Dx's and i am very confused. it never seems like i find someone who can really explain the functions of the brain in relation to food, toxins, etc and what it means if the brain is "damaged", i.e., there is an organic brain problem. As for your concerns with Aspergers, I can share the following - After my son being Dx with aspergers Dec 2007, i really looked into it. he was diagnosed by two experts in their field at Shands hospital in Gainseville, FL. The way they defined Aspergers was that there had to be a malfunction with the ability to understand other peoples point of view, to be able to "stand in someone elses shoes", something ppl without aspergers do all day all the time naturally. Dr Murphy explained that ppl with aspergers have a marked impairment in seeing outside themselves. other than that they can be very typical. There may be some OCD or not much, there may be lots of ritualized behavior or very little. but there has to be an impairment in social functioning for it to be aspergers. This is from her explanations. She also recommended a book, The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome, by tony atwood, http://www.tonyattwood.com.au. my son is 9 and diagnosed with Tourette, OCD and Aspergers. he is on no meds. we tried that once with disastrous results. i have not had any particualar luck that i can pinpoint with certainty with the supps, vits and diet, though i continue to do it. his tics dissapeared last feb completely and totally, and only just returned about 2 weeks ago. school started a week ago. one tic is even getting bad quickly. he is on and has been on nordic naturals fish oil, pure magnesium, kids calm, b 50 complex, taurine, probiotic, multi vit. melatonin, low gluten low yeast diet, but we stray here and there. he has a short fuse, also may hit, quickly angered, severe sensory issues with needing to rub his face and chin and head on yours in a hard way, twisting hands, pinching self at times, way overstimulated nervous system, always on alert. OCD has continued to be bad over the years, with obsessions lasting a whole days at times. lots of talking about the same topic, but with genuine interest. very emotional, cries, dislikes any change, high anxiety. i also cant decide if he has asprgers or not and with all the different symptoms i dont know who to seek out. Your quote below sounded a lot like my son. Does your child have digestive problems? mine does. it is very hard to distinguish between tics, some OCD compulsions, lack of impulse control, etc. They are such fine lines, it seems they are all versions of the same problem. I would love ot be able to find one or two experts in medicine and natural health and psychology and have a holistic approach to my son to cover all areas and to be able to obtain facts about how long it takes for a "trigger" food to affect the body, how to know if certain foods or chemicals can alter brain function, etc etc etc. I hope something in here helps!

good question, ilovedogs. Over a year since my son's TS diagnosis i am still banging my head against the wall while it seems that so many people have been able to pinpoint these "triggers", i have not. OK granted, from what i am TOLD, my son's bio father had some tics as did his father....SO, that brings me back to the original question. I recall years ago the paradigm was that the "brain chemicals" are messed up. Thats all. Brick wall type stuff, it is was it is, an organic disorder, you cant get into the brain and change that. Well, new paradigms surfaced with all this natural stuff. I am now much more versed on the impact of things on our bodies and am a believer, but still cannot pinpoint anything with my son. For my son, who is almost 9, all this started with a Dx of autism as 2 yr old (now Dx with "only" PDD), and my son had the most bizzare sensory issues since the beginning of time. It seems that those sensory things morphed into actual tics, and sometimes the two seem fused. What i would give ot find a forum or a doctor specializing in the sensory mystery, why someone's body would need sensory stimulation that seems so odd and uncomfortable, such as needing someone to blow on his ears, roughly rubbing his ears on my eyes, his forehead on mine, cheek to cheek rubbing etc. That has never gone away, though the actual tics seemed to literally dissapear on Feb 5th. Have not seen one tic except yesterday and this moring noticed a slight a brief body shiver, looked like a tic, but so hard to tell. Of course since my faith has been growing weaker i have let him have all kinds of foods this summer, not to the extreme of candy, but close enough, and he has been a MESS thepast month and half, but still without tics. I still feel like i have NO clue if the foods are problem, something tells me the issue is a deeply complex biological issue involving the liver and digestive systems, and of course immune system, but i am no doctor nor do we at thispoint have a steady alternative doctor to explore this with, though i intend to. Should i chalk my son up, and this bad period up to brain chemicals firing wrong for the past month?? what does that even mean?! Why are children being BORN with these problems?! that is crazy. By the way my son is Dx with PDD, tourette and OCD. He is on no meds and on some supps. Also, a food such as an MnM could not cause a reaction an hour later, could it?! and why dont i get tics eating the junk i eat? i am weary of these mysteries and not having the right doctor to ask. I would like ot try an at home detox, dont know which to try though, i was told about just straight clay drink which cleans out the colon non chemically, but that sounds a little extreme? I dont know if ive added anything helpful here, just agreeing that i do not feel any closer ot knowing the whys of all of this. Good luck as always.

he was on a yeast free, all natural (mostly) diet before and after the magnesium, yes.

Hello everyone, I havent been here for a while. I have just read several of the topics and everything is as interesting as I remember. Some VERY wierd and interesting things have been happening with my son that I figured I would share and see if anyone had any comment. My son is almost 9 and technically Dx with PDD NOS, Tourette and OCD. I say technically because to me those are just words describing a set of symptoms. I am still not sure what I think my son "has" or even if its an external problem, an internal or both. I do care about the symptoms though and eagerly try and treat them. I think I have accepted that you cannot FORCE anything away - you cant force a symptom to go away, your struggles against it create more problems. Anyhow, a very brief background although I have written this before: son was always very sensory, rubbing, touching, pushing etc - that seemed to morph into actual tics or jerking, shoudlers up and down, etc, and a vocal around 5. I didnt notice this to be tics since he had always been SO physically squirmy and "touchy", until finally the jerking movements got so that I realized this is not just a sensory disorder. Anyway, he was Dx with TS when he was about 6. At that time the tics would wax and wane, when they were low they were just like very steady, rythmic movements, like a head bobbing or shoulder shrug with eye blinking. At their worst they were full body spasms every few seconds with severe neck jerking. We tried Abilify and at first it seemed to really help! That lasted about 3 months, then a horrible, nightmare bad reaction happened and we took him off it ASAP. This was a year ago. after that we stuck to a natural diet, yeast free, began supplements. The tics exploded for a little while. We then started a pure magnesium regimen, added melatonin, taurine, a probiotic. Finally the tics began to wane about 3 weeks later. A week later all physical tics stopped. The only tic he has had since Feb. 7 is a total of 4 days of a "breathing", short of breath tic. This occured the first time after eating junk for one of the first times. Also, fish oil was added a week prior. Also, a month later the breathing tic was present the day he happened to eat movie theather popcorn. My son continues to be sensory, overly touchy and rubbing, etc, and does hoot and holler quite a bit, but as for any of the physical tics, I have not seen but one in over 5 months. I find this odd, but then again i am no TS expert. I know the tics wax and wane. But this is a pretty long and clean waning. It's not like even the super mild tics are present. His OCD though lately i will say has been elevated. I would give a limb to know why the tics have gone away so completely right now, we went to Dr Murphy and she didnt think he was pandas, though all she did was a throat swab. I wonder though because he does have that highly resitant staph infection in his nose which spreads now and then to cuts on his body. That they say it doesnt go away because the antibiotics dont kill it. I have no idea if that has to do with anything. There seem to be so many things I could point to. I hope this was informative in some way.

I give my son the "Floradix Magnesium" - ALL it has is mag. I went to the store and this was the only product that only had only mag. for its ingredient. Floradix has other combos, but it also has this singular formula. I pay $22 for 8.5 oz bottle. I wish i could remember better what I was told about the importance of giving the magnesium ALONE....in any case thats why i bought the Floradix. At night I give my son Zinc Supreme which is zinc, B6 and taurine and is calming, along with melatonin or he wouldnt sleep. A huge coincidence is that my sons physical tics stopped 2 days after we started the Floradix regimen, and thus far have not returned. It has been 1 month and 12 days. Of course, we have gone even longer than that in the past with zero tics WAY before we started eating naturally and taking supps. SO, i have no idea if the pure magnesium is the reason, but it sure cant hurt. [Just wanted to add that I give my son both the kids calm and the Floradix(you can find it online through vitacost for much less than some other places). I give him the floradix in the AM and the kidscalm at night before bed. I love both products but I wanted his bedtime magnesium to be 'just magnesium'. I love the floradix b/c it's easily absorbed and doesn't upset his stomach and we all love the taste. I give him the cal/mag/zinc/vitamin D Floradix, btw!

Hi Tracey - I did some research on magensium and its benefits, and i have both Kids Calm, which is a great product for its absorbability as Calicat said, and Floradix, which is only magnesium citrate and gluconate, in a plant based extract, all natural. It is pretty expensive, but it is supposed to be excellent. I also read that if possible its best to give magenesium without lots of other minerals or vitamins with it, for absorption. I give 250 mg to my 8 yr old every morning on an empty stomach.

thank you so much, Cheri, your opinion is very valuable to me! My question at this point is, JUST eliminating yeast from the diet is enough to KILL the exisitng yeasts? I dont udnerstand this too well as the doctor never told us to get anything additional like nystatin or grapefruit extract, etc , he said to just do the diet. Do you know if the diet alone kills the yeast? If it does not, then this episode would be from the "die off". thank you so very much. YES i am also giving a probiotic daily.

regarding magnesium, i have been reading some pretty in depth stuff about how careful you need to be when selecting mag supplement. I have been giving my son 250mg of "chelated calcium magnesium" caps for a few months now. Now i read that powdered magnesium is the most absorbable. Also, i read the citrate is best? I want to find a mag supplement that is stricltly magnesium so i dont have to wonder if mag taureate may be affecting him because of the taurine....However i am also told you cannot give mag without calcium, and then i read that when using mag as a tic reducer, you want to make sure you eliminate all anti magnesium vitamins, the ones that work counter to magnesium, calcium bieng one of them! Can anyone add their 2 cents on finding the most absorbable pure form of magnesium with no added ingredients? Should i just buy mag citrate or lactate and get a calcium supplement? do i need to give calcium? thank you!!!!!!!!!

hi everyone, Phew, question please....my sons OCD has gotten better at home, he doesnt count everything any more or have to tape all the volume control and knobs and buttons in the house any more, BUT it is worse at school now! The obsession at school is with a peer! the teacher and i are at a total loss as ot what to do because my son is so emotionally obssessed with this peer/friend, it is taking over the whole day! He says he loves her, he needs her etc. If she wont play with him he FREAKS out for over an hour, cannot let go, has to have her. Its getting totally out of control. In conjunction with this is the yeast detox we are doing. I have a lot of confusion on this issue. He has been on yeast free and dairy free diet for 2 weeks. Also on a bunch of supps. Had bad tic explosion last week, I took him off all supps except the daily multi vitamin and the magnesium and the probiotics. Tics have reduced slightly but i dont think its from the removal of those things because we just removed them 2 days ago, I dont think i would see a change THAT quickly if one of the supps was causing tics. Anyhow, this yeast free diet - does anyone know if it can really cause problems?? If the yeast is dying off, could this cause mood and emotional problems or a surge in these issues as well as tics? I want to believe so badly this bad time is due to that, but i have no idea! He is not even on any aggressive anti candida medicine. Just the diet. He has not had a scrap of articifical foods in a while now. The DAN doctor said he didnt really think the candida dying would cause major issues. Has anyone experienced your child's OCD revolving around a person? Any ideas or tips on that? Talking to him about it is useless, he gets furious instantly and wont listen and cant calm down. We are in Florida, if anyone knows any good child psychologists, I need some help with this. thank you so much.

Kim: Your post really surprised me, I have never heard of another kid doing this, although of course there are. My son also shrinks from certain touching and hugging, and just seems to need his head and ears to be stimulated, and not gently. I am very interested in this article and the point you bring up, thank you. I really want to explore every area of the body's systems, and learn along the way. I am reading about hormones in a book right now, it is eye opening, the complexity of the human body has to be taken into account when treating it. It just amazes me how sensitive the body really is.

Faith, That was an excellent explanation, very clear. Dont underestimate your talent for explaining things! I get it and I agree, as in, I think its true, but I am left wondering of course. The missing piece is this "thing" which cant be controlled even at the most controlled time, the healthiest times, in other words, even at our kids' best biologically, they still may a tic/have OCD, etc. It doesnt entirely go away. Is this the part that doesnt respond, the brain chemicals? Or a physical abberation in the brain? Is it a gene problem? Will that question ever be answered? Well we have cut out all supplements except the daily vitamin and magnesium, and added melatonin tonite. The melatonin definitely affected him, he was slowed down enough overall to lay down, and he was pretty out of it, but he was also nauseous. He did go right to sleep though. We are going to attempt to track him with a clean slate and finish our testing. Then go from there. I printed your message to remind myself of the bigger picture, thank you! Clara

hi Faith: thank you for your comments and reading my post. The increase is noticeable, even his teacher mentioned it. The increase is as of approximately 2 weeks ago. The newest things have been Zinc Supreme (zinc, b6, taurine), Taurine 500 mg, and Yeast Cleanse which is caprylic acid, grapefruit seed, tea tree and pau d'arco. I have been giving only 1 cap a day although the bottle says to give 3, and he is on yeast free diet as of about 2 weeks now. The priobiotics he has been on since the beginning of Jan, as well as the inositol. I did read that with the yeast detoxing there could be a "die off" period where things get worse, but what would that have to do with tics and this sensory stuff? the sensory stuff is awful - it's something he has always done, but we had not seen it for ages, years even. It is a forceful pushing of his head and a specific need to have his ears touched or to touch his ears to parts of my face. Yet when i try to give him deep pressure he hates it. We went through OT for years with a sensory program and it never helped this stuff. I just didnt think i would see it again. To be honest, I am truly tired of trying to figure out the why's of the tics. Maybe this is just a waxing nothing to do with anything? My son seems the same no matter what, one day is good, the next is not. Maybe there are some kids who just dont have issues with foods and chemicals and stuff. I still could not tell you what one single tic trigger is because the tics are so erratic! They come for a day, go away for 2 months, come back for a week, go away for 3 days, come back - there is no pattern. The only trigger i could possibly mention is the car! No matter what, he tics in the car. I have read a lot about candida and candida allergy lately, but nothing mentions tics as a side effect. The most related side effect it talks about is "irritability". Of course we have only been doing this for about 2 weeks and only been on a healthy diet with vitamins for about a month. However, the amount of tics lately is significantly increased and i do wonder if the Yeast Cleanse or the Zinc Supreme has to do with it. And we have not done a nutrient test yet to determine what if any he is deficient in, so we are not sure if he needs what he is being given, other than the multi vitamin. I just dont know if my son is one who has triggers for his tics, or if they are a solely neurological or brain product. I suppose a little patience on my part wouldnt hurt. I am reading what I think is a really great book, "Allergy Free - Reverse underlying causes of allergies with clinically proven alternative therapies" By Konrad Kail ND. Very interesting stuff. Thank you for all your responses. Every bit of info or a new perspective helps. Thank you!!!

hi Everyone: Hope you all are doing well. Just a question and a little update here. My son, 8, Dx TS, OCD, mild aspergers - we have been on the yeast/dairy free diet and some new supps (probiotics, yeas cleanse, zinc, b6, inositol and taurine) for about 2-3 weeks now. I am seeing my son APPEAR happier, though I am getting weary of constantly trying to track what may be a trigger, a waxing and waning, a food disturbance etc. I can never seem to pinpoint a "cause", but my son has had more tics the past few weeks then normal. Although since we cleaned up diet and added supps as of a few months ago, he is doing better, he is happier and his OCD is less, but the tics are not good, which is strange? As I said i have no clue if this is just a genetic wax/wane im seeing or maybe one of these supplements is affecting the tics? Or perhaps the yeast cleansing we're doing is making things "worse" before they are better? What i did want to ask you all is in any of your kids have sensory issues, particularly the need to rub on others. I dont think this is a tic because he has had this since he was like 2, and he is fully aware and will ask me if he can rub his head on my face or ask me to put my mouth on his ears or eyes and push hard....he has also recently explained that he needs to do this because he just feels like something is ON him! What the heck!? I wonder if it feels like something is crawling under his skin, the way he rubs so hard, and this stopped for a long time, we are just seeing it now again as of the past few weeks, i have to figure out precisely when it may have started. Has anyone seen this? Also of interest to me is that my son came up with candida allergy, which i understand points to an immune disorder? I have taken some books out of the library on autoimmunity and i am becoming very interested in this topic. It seems for some many conditions that our immune systems have been altered somehow and are failing our bodies. I dont even know if I believe in the boundaries that the Dx's set up of this is "autism" and this is "TS" and so on....it all seems ot be a set of varying symptoms that dont belong in our bodies. Nature created perfect bodies, why are these things happening biologically? I wonder if a hundred years ago the incidence of these disorders was high or low and either way, before industrialization if these disorders were then stricly genetic mishaps whereas now we think of them as potentially environmentally triggered? Lots ot think about. Thanks!

Jenny: I can completely sympathize with your sentiments! Its an unjust situation that doesnt get much attention. However, not having much means ourselves, I have learned from others that it is possible to implement something of the protocol on your own, with a doctor available to advise so that you proceed safely. However I dont think it takes money to really do this (of course I am not counting cost of vitamins/supplements/foods) We recently started it on a very low budget and its coming along. I am not recommending of course giving your child things without consulting a doctor, I am just saying that there is a way to do this safely under medical guidance while not spending the fees of a "DAN" doctor. there is just so much detailed information out there now! If you just even read among the posts throughout this forum you can piece together a plan. Having people to email to ask specific questions and get pointed in the right direction is also a good way to make progress. If there's anyway I can help pls let me know and good luck!

hi kallik, We JUST had candida testing done, here is what was done by our "DAN" doctor - reading from the lab report they tested his blood for IgE and IgG antibodies? or levels? they tested for candida albicans. The lab was Esoterix Inc. The results told me how much candida was present and that he was also allergic to it. My son scored "extremely high", >100, in the antibody levels of candida. I assume it was a good test because this doctor is up on the latest innovations. As for heavy metals, we've only had the mercury urine test done by LabCorp which came back "normal" - i dont know the quality of that test. If you need more info on the candida let me know, good luck.

hi Michele, My son is not on a gluten free diet, and i do not think he is gluten intolerant, although that is still some what up in the air. Anyhow, I have not had him on any diet long enough to say that he had a reaction if contaminated...but, I do know how hard it is to deny your child something they like, that makes them happy, but I always tell myself and my son that we are working to heal his body, to help him feel better, and its more important right now then that treat. Then i may suggest we do some activity of his choice as an alternative/replacement treat to the food treat. I have also found that if i dont make such a big fuss about how sad it may be, etc., my son reacts less, it takes less time to accept the temporary limitations - I always remind him that the diet is not permanent, that comforts him. Also, I make "his" foods special, like maybe we bake together so the focus is on fun and not how different things are for him, or maybe we make enough for the class, or something like that to make it a more meaningful experience. Try and keep things on the positive side. In the end you of course must do what you believe is best for your child, and if you do choose to stick it out with GF, maybe some support would be that little help you needed. My son was addicted to sweets, cakes, cupcakes, danish, you name it. He was slowly weaned, it was a battle, now that he doesnt eat those, his stomach is slowly starting to feel better and he is even taking an interest in "natural foods" etc. I think a lot of things like that are all in the presentation to the child. We ourselves have just started a yeast/mold and dairy free diet. He wont be able to eat the pizza after his Saturday morning baseball games, and as much of a tantrum that may cause, I know why we are going through that. I wish you luck in whatever you do with this!

wow, too wierd....I JUST plucked "The Yeast Syndrome" off my bookshelf to read today - i didnt even know i had it or where i got it! Very excited to read that. What i am worried about in my preliminary probing into candida is that there is some complex immune disorder at the root which causes this overproduction. Of course an allergy could be involved, i am thinking maybe gluten as he tested positive for 2 of 7 indicators, both genetic. I have a phone appt with DAN doctor tomorrow and i will ask my questions, particularly am curious what effects on behavior this may have, if the candida is a toxin could it produce behaviors? particularly with my son the trickiest factor has always been how things change with him - he can be having a great day up until a certain point then some things will come out like a modd change, some aggression, crankiness, etc. After I wrote that post about the inisotol, i went to pick my son up and on the car ride home he started with a new obssession of locking and unlocking the doors and could not stop because the click sound was never "right" enough, got to the point he had to sit on his hands! So now im not sure....maybe the obssession was just changing. In any case i still am continuing with 1/4 tsp a day, its only been less than a week. I still think he appears less anxious, less startled, and a little happier. I do need to talk to someone about the obsessions like the one in the car, there is one in the grocery that he HAS to lay down the on the floor every few steps, seems to me a complex tic/obssession. i need some strategies as ot how to help him with these. But yes, Cheri, i still think the major "edge", as you say, is gone. I dont expect the OCd to dissapear or anything. The woman at the health food store was recommending that i buy the inisotol with choline, that its a good combination, but i didnt. I will ask DAN about that. I have seen a reduction in general of his clinginess, which is interesting. And as time has passed since we stopped the abilify, i can upon reflection say with certainty that that med messed his brain up, no question about it. Now, as of about 3 weeks, he is no longer depressive, saying awful things, moping, etc. He is much more his usual self with plenty of OCD, some defiance and moody kind of crankiness. It has been 2 months of vitamin, magnesium, very limited diet respecting artificials, so something is working well. thanks!

thank you Bmom, no my son has barely had any antibiotics over his life. I have a phone appt with Dr Robbins Thursday so I hope to ask him why there is so much yeast overgrowth and certaintly what i can give my son. Thank you!