Gluten-free diet

[Christianmom]

I have been reluctant to try gluten-free with my son because he has no signs of gluten sensitivity and I hate to limit his diet when he has so many other things to deal with right now. I was wondering if there are mom's who went the gluten-free route when there child had no signs of gluten sensitivity. My son has had no stomach issues, even while on three antibiotics (biaxin, amoxicillin, rifampin), or other signs of gluten sensitivity. His celiac test was negative. Not sure if this makes any difference, but he has hypoglycemic tendencies, and I think low-brain histamine. He is also low in Vitamin D.

[NMom]

I have been playing with a gluten-free diet for my son who also has never shown any sensitivity but does have stomach issues with the antibiotics. I was just curious to see if it had any effect on his OCD and/or tics. I have to admit that I was not hard-core strict. I generally pack a gluten-free lunch for him and cook gluten free dinners but he still has the occasional night out at McDonald's - probably more than just occasionally right now. I didn't see much change in his symptoms but there was another benefit. My son has always been a bedwetter. He very rarely has a dry night. Since changing his diet he's been dry almost every single night. The few accidents we've had were nights when I allowed McDonald's or got lax about the gluten-free diet. I've never heard anyone else make that connection so this might all be coincidence but it seems to be consistent.

[Ozimum]

Hi,

We started our now 17 yo ds on a GF/CF gut healing diet about 12 months ago. He is very sensitive to dairy but nothing else. His Biomed dr diagnosed leaky gut/gut dysbiosis - testing revealed virtually no E.coli (where there should be plenty) and overgrowths of strep, staph etc. I had not noticed any gut symptoms before this, other than the very occasional bout of constipation or diarrhea. I was more concerned about frequent colds and ear infections. (This was before PANDAS dx.)

 

In order to get his gut back to some sort of health, we went GF/CF, low grains, no potatoes, low sugar etc, along with vit supps and probiotics (including E.coli). Within about 2-3 months he saw improvement in his ability to focus and concentrate...and said as much again last night - he committed to the diet because he saw it was doing him good. We're all healthier for a diet of meat, veggies and fruit...much as I ate as a child on my parents' farm. I understand that the things we've cut out and gone low on tend to be inflammatory in the gut. My skinny son has put on 5 kg in the last 4 months (whoohoo!) His latest stool screen result made me want to do a happy dance...it confirmed the improvements we've seen! We're staying on the diet!

 

In terms of PANDAS, I think the benefits of improving gut health have been in the flow on effects to the immune system and the central nervous system. My son has had fewer colds and when he has developed a strep infection we've been able to jump on it with targetted antibiotics. He's healthier and happier.

[Kiera]

Ditto on the end to bedwetting on a GF diet. In fact, my ds's regular Ped said he suggests this to parents who can't get their kids night-trained. I think it works by reducing brain fog, so their bodies can sense to hold it in or go to the bathroom. Even though I've since abandoned the GF diet (low weight problems) the bedwetting never came back!

[Christianmom]

Thank you all for your helpful replies.

 

Ozimum -- Can you tell me the name of the test for leaky gut/gut dysbiosis?

[Ozimum]

"Ozimum -- Can you tell me the name of the test for leaky gut/gut dysbiosis?"

 

Hi Christianmom,

 

My son's Biomed dr ordered a Faecal Microbial Analysis done by a lab here in Australia called Bioscreen. I believe there are other tests available (PEG) but this is the one our dr used to determine how to treat. A good Biomed/DAN! dr should be able to organise something similar near you. (You might look at the web pages for your local labs to see if there's something similar.) Alternative practitioners like Naturopaths also seem to be aware of leaky gut/gut dysbiosis and may be able to assist. I hope you find some answers.

 

Edit for typo (pesky things!)

Edited September 4, 2011 by Ozimum

[thenmama]

xx

Edited March 27, 2013 by thenmama

[kthomas]

DS7 dx with TS and ADHD and possibly PANDAS, has been following a mostly GFDF diet for two months. This started after an allergist suggested an elimination diet for these plus other foods that produced sensitivities in the testing. It has not been easy because everything he likes to eat contain these two ingredients.

We have not seen remarkable differences in behavior, but his congestion has improved dramatically. The one weekend he stayed with his grandfather and ate off the diet he came back home congested this quickly developed into an infection. His tick increased dramatically and we immediately rushed to the Dr. for an antibiotic. The antibiotic cleared the nasal infection/ticks/ADHD behaviors. So for our family the GFDF diet helps to control congestion/inflammation which then manifests into infections and increased tick and ADHD behaviors.

[kthomas]

After posting, I recalled reading this information about Autism and nutrition, specifically GFDF diets and how it positively impacted many of these children. It is what led me to follow up on allergy testing for my son. I am not sure on how to upload a pdf document on this site, but if you email me, I will forward it to you.

 

Metabolic Abnormalities in

 

Autism: Analysis and New

 

Treatments

 

Dan Rossignol, MD FAAFP

 

 

 

 

 

[Christianmom]

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies! You have given me a lot to think about.