Gluten/Casin Free Diet (Need Help!)

[Guest guest]

I received many very helpful emails back after posting about my son

Dylan (almost 2 years old) going in to have his tonsils and adenoids

removed (he just had tubes put in also). This surgery has been

highly recommended by his pediatrician and his ENT (he is chronically

ill over 75% of the time and his adenoids and tonsils are severely

enlarged).

Many of you recommended trying the Gluten/Casin Free Diet first

before doing the surgery to see if that makes a difference since

there seems to be SO MANY horror stories from many of you about going

through these surgeries with your children.

My biggest concern in attempting this diet (which after researching

it looks like it is going to be hell on earth to follow) is that

Dylan rarely eats anything at all as it is (when he is sick he won't

eat anything, he will only drink liquids), so he pretty much just

lives on a few crackers, cereal and other carbs that I know are not

allowed in the GFCF Diet. And to top it off, he is a very skinny

little boy and has chronic diarrhea for the past 5 months.

If I can't get him to eat " regular " food that taste good (he has

major sensory issues too and don't like the texture of most things,

just crunchy stuff) then how in the world am I going to get him to

eat this other food (and furthermore, what should I order and how

will I know if he will like any of it???). I definitely do not have

the time to make my own food (as I work and do much of his therapy

myself too), so I will have to order much of my food from Kirkman

Labs and specialty stores.

Any ideas here???? I am sure many of you have picky eaters and if so,

how are they doing on this diet?? Dylan does awesome during his

therapy sessions, but then gets sick and is out of commission for 7-

10 days at a time and then regresses again. I feel I must take all

my energy right now and focus on getting him well first before even

attempting any more of his therapy. I am at my wits end and

definitely going to give the diet a try. Thanks for your

thoughts! Have a great weekend!

Christy (Dylan's Mom)

[Guest guest]

Christy,

Your son sounds a lot like mine. My son was 3 when we startd the diet. He was

sick soooo much. I was very worried about him. Now he is 5 and manages to

avoid most of the colds and viruses at school. He has gone from a skinny kid

to tall and healthy. He is in the 75% in wt and height now. this diet is

doing something right. My son is very picky too and loves carbs and crunchy

foods. You see that your son is craving foods with gluten. There are good

tasting crackers and cereals out there that are gluten free. If you have a

Health food store near you they usually have Rice crackers( and sons is

one brand) . they are crunchy and good with peanutbutter and jelly on. My

son loves Natures Path Envirokidz Gorilla Munch cereal and Amazon Flakes.

Most potato chips and corn chips are ok. We use s Seasons pot. chips

and Green Mountain Gringo Tortilla Chips. Plain popcorn is ok too. Food for

Life rice bread is in freezer at most Health Food stores and is good toasted

for crunchiness. I order Miss Robens Versatile Crunchy cookie mix. I bake

them and keep in the freezer. they last a long time. My son has started

eating some protein like chicken and hamburger, which I make gluten and

casein free for the whole family. Start slow. Take milk products away first,

gradually and start trying to find gluten free foods he likes. Have you gone

to www.gfcfdiet. lots of info and message board at autismdiet.com. By the

way diarhea is a classic sign of gfcf intollerance. My son had the

constipation- no more. He also became much less hyper, more attentive, no

more tantrums, less spacey, and happier. We have added a lot of supplements

from Kirkmans and that has helped his immune system. It gets easier and is

now just part of our life and very worthwhile.

karen w