About leaking gut

[Helen]

I haven't posted for a week or two - but I have been reading on a lot of suggestions/comments on how to get rid of tics on this web site. My 6 y.o. daughter has tics since April. Her tics keep changing from one to another & have ups and downs. She just started another one today & I was heart-broken again - this time she sticks her tongue out! The words "leaking gut" have shown up more than a couple of times on forum but I wasn't really sure what that means until I just finished reading an article on a successful story in reversing Autism on the home page! I think my daughter, very likely, has leaking gut! I don't know why I'm so stupid and couldn't relate to that before - my daughter had Hernia when she was born. It was very very uncommon in girls but well she got it! I discovered the swelling when I changed her diaper one time and then... make the story short, she had hernia surgery done on both sides at 7 wks. old. She recovered very fast and honestly, I have never thought about her hernia problem again until now!

 

I think, like that article says, the proteins from gluten and casein in milk products were leaking through the intestine wall undigested and somehow affecting her brain...Is that any special test that can confirm she has leaking gut? And assuming she does have it, what kind of doctor will be the best to treat her? I have printed the listing suggested here but I am not certain whether I should go with a DAN doctor or one from the AAEM. Any suggestion? By the way, what is a naturopath? How are they different from other doctors? I have HMO insurance, chances are none of these doctors are in my network. However, if any one knows of any good ones, I will take my daughter there. I live in New York city.

 

One last thing, I know a lot of you have put your kids on the recommended diet and/or vitamin supplements. Does it really help? Are the tics consistently decreasing? or they still have ups and downs?

 

Thanks a lot! I know there are many of you out there going through the same thing I'm going through. There are times when my daughter is doing good and I'd think may be she's getting better. However, when I see her tics coming back again & again, I'm totally devastated. I sincerely hope that somehow we can all find the right way to treat our beloved children.

 

May God bless us all!

 

Helen

[Claire]

I am not sure if there is actually a test for leaky gut, but there are multiple tests for the presence of peptides from gluten/casein and for yeast. These are issues, which if addressed, help heal a leaky gut.

 

www.enterolab.com stool test $99 each,$198 for both. (IgG I think) No doctor's signature required.

 

www.elisaact.com it is included in their IgG blood test for food sensitivities.

 

Great Plains Lab does a yeast/candidas metabolite urine test and a test for gluten/casein peptides.

 

These gluten/casein tests don't always agree with eachother. With us, elimination for a week showed clear improvements.

 

Claire

[Caz]

There is a test for leaky gut, which is called an intestinal permeability test. YOu drink a liquid containing manitol and lactulose (spelling????) and then you wee into a bottle for a number of hours, and then they test this for how much of the lactulose and manitol you have absorbed. ONe you shouldn't absorb, so if you do you know you have a leaky gut that is allowing things in that should not be there, and the other one you should absorb lots of, so if you dont then you know you have a condition of malabsorption.

 

Please bear in mind that it is not only casien and gluten that can be issues, it can be other things being absorbed that should not be there. If the casien and gluten (or their peptides) are an issue, it is more that you are not able to break these down into their individual amino acids, and as your gut is leaky, you can absorb these larger peptide molicules that a non leaky gut would not absorb.

 

So really there are two issues at play here.

 

Hope you can find someone to help you through this maze.

 

Caz

[Helen]

Claire and Caz,

 

Thanks for your advice. I'll look into that.

 

Helen

[Guest Lulu]

Hi Helen,

 

I just wanted to address your question about whether the diet and supplements really help. The answer is a wholehearted YES. You just have to tweak the suggestions to find out what combo works best for your child. There is much info on the board about supplements. Read through it and you'll notice a definite pattern.

 

Lulu

[Dara]

Hi Helen,

 

I've been away from this forum for a couple of weeks. My New Year's resolution is to try and sign on every day, even if I don't have time to write.

 

To answer your questions about the supplements, diet, YES they work. In our situation, we took our son Karl who is 4 1/2 to an environmental physician in the beginning of November. His name is Dr. Majid Ali, from Denville, NJ. He's mentioned often in the back issues of Latitudes (that's how I found him). During these last couple of weeks, we've seen him three times. He immediately put Karl on a strict diet - no sugar, no diary, no preservatives, all organic. As a result of bloodwork, he did the IeG test and urine tests, put Karl on a supplement routine and began sublingual drops for inhalent allergies to fungus, mold and yeast and trees. The first couple of weeks were so rough, and it wasn't until about three weeks ago that we've been able to do all the supplements and diet.

 

For two weeks now, our sons tics have greatly diminished. They're definately not gone, but the vocals are almost non-existent and the other less intense. If you read some of my original post, you'll see like most of the folks who post here, that our son has had numerous tics and they've been consistent since April.

 

During the last couple of days we've seen some of the tics come back a bit, but we're buckling down with the diet, tv and supplements and hope to see them diminish somewhat during the next couple of days. We also bought two air purifiers which I think are helping. We all have to stick with what we feel is right for our children. And I know how heartbreaking it is for you and your husband. I've never cried as much as I have since April.

 

Keep in touch.

 

Dara.

[Helen]

LuLu and Dara,

 

Thanks for your reply. I have called one of the environmental doctor listed under AAEM two days ago. I spoke to a nurse there about the approach they use to treat tics. I was thinking of the IgG test but they do scratch test and give allergy shots. I'm not sure if I want to go with that.

 

Anyway, I'm trying out the no dairy and less wheat diet (I find pasta without wheat but find it very hard to get any bread that's not made of wheat!). I have also eliminated anything with artificial color or flavor. I give her a glass of juice with antioxidant every morning. I buy more organic food now, not all. So far, I'm still not completely sure if it helps. Her eye blinking and eye rolling were actully worse on the first two days. However, I noticed her tics were almost gone yesterday and today. I'm going to try it for a couple more weeks.

 

I read some of the comments on how anxiety increases tics. I do agree with that. I think sometimes we, the parents, don't realize how much stress our kids are going through. My daughter told me two nights before she wants to stay in first grade and does not want to go to second grade because she likes her teacher and her classmates. She told me she was nervous when she went from kindergarten to first grade because she didn't know who her new teacher would be but thank God it turns out to be fine. I have always been kind of strict to my daughter, expects her to do well in school, etc. Part of the reason is that I know she is capable of doing it; she's always in the 10% in her class. Recently, she's been very sensitive whenever I said she did something wrong in her homework. One time when I said her penmanship is getting sloppy, she immediately broke down to tears and said, "I told you I'm stupid and can't do it..." Now, I try to praise her for even little achievements she has done. We might not realize that our children always try to do things to please us so that we'll be happy about them. Afterall, having a child who is in Harvard is nothing comparable to having a child with good health! I just thought that I'd share this with all of you.