Re: Having concerns about my 7 month old. Advice needed please!

February 27, 2011

I scanned your email, so forgive me if I repeat something you addressed already.My recommendation would be to up YOUR vitamins, get on some bio-available ones (I like AOR advanced B, has a bunch of bio-available Bs) Your kids are likely deficient in the Bs.

MTHFR has been linked to down syndrome and autism... you may carry the gene that alters your metabolism of folate and that in turn messes up the metabolism of many things. Well, heck you probably already know about that!!!

If you cannot give up gluten entirely, cut way back. I consider myself GFCF but I do infract a couple times a week. When I eat some gluten, I " lube up " my intestines first, eat something greasy. This is just a theory and to be fair, I got it off DogtorJ.com's website and dude is a veterinarian. LOL But he suggests that perhaps the reason Italians are not a country of celiacs is because it is customary there to eat the fatty " antipasto " before the pasta. And then to follow the meal with the roto-rooter lettuce salad.

(I also use enzymes for infractions... butter and sour cream and cheese are the dairy I infract on... I am not a milk drinker and in our home we use Meyerburg (sp?) goat's milk) What is your craving bread-wise? Udi's makes a great bread, Kinnikinnick makes a great pizza dough, and Glutino makes a great pretzel. What's your downfall, I can likely suggest a GF replacement.

This will probably be a bit long but if you could bear with me, I could really use some advice!

A little background: My 5 year old DS is on the mild end of the autism spectrum. My 3 year old DD has Down syndrome. I also have a 7.5 month old DS. We have not vaccinated the baby at all and do not plan to.

Everything was going great up until about 3 months old. I am breastfeeding and he was doing great. No skin issues, no food issues, development on track in all areas. Sleeping well.

Then when he was 3 months old, I got appendicitis. I needed an emergency appendectomy and was on a lot of pain killers in the hospital as well as anesthesia for the surgery and IV antibiotics during the surgery. During this time, I was told by the anesthesiologist that I needed to " pump and dump " the milk for 24 hours from the surgery. I read some info on some breastfeeding sites that said that I didn't even need to " pump and dump " for that long but I wanted to be conservative and do what they said. I had some frozen breast milk which was fed to DS and then when we ran out, he got two bottles of formula...his 1st ever formula.

After the surgery, he started waking up at night more often. At first we blamed it on low milk supply due to the surgery. But then my supply was back up and he was still waking. We blamed it on teething and on growth spurts but the wakings continued to become more frequent.

By the end of December (around 5.5 months), he was literally waking up every 30-90 minutes at night and screaming hysterically. He would arch his back like he was in pain. I took him to the doctor twice to have him checked out. Everything checked out fine...ear were fine. No signs of what could be causing it. Doctor wanted us to try Zantac in case it was silent reflux. He showed no signs of reflux at all but we tried it just in case. It made no difference.

Then we thought maybe the antibiotics from surgery messed with his belly or maybe the formula triggered a food allergy/intolerance (even though he wasn't showing classic symptoms). So I eliminated dairy from my diet and we started giving him a probiotic every day. The screaming and arching subsided.

He now still gets up 2-3 times a night which is still more than before but I guess within the range of " normal " for a breastfed baby. I feel like he is no longer in pain when he wakes which is good.

The problem though is that I feel like he is " changed " not that the whole ordeal is passed. He is now 7.5 months old and is not sitting up unassisted. He will roll to get places but isn't crawling or pulling up (still a little early for that). The biggest concern though is that he doesn't seem as talkative as he was. He used to babble and would go back and forth with us if we talked to him. Now he seems to be a very serious baby. If you try to get him to laugh, it takes a lot of effort. He will just stare at you with a serious face. He doesn't really babble with consonant sounds much any more.

Physically we don't notice any concerning symptoms. Skin is fine. Bowels are normal.

We are at a loss as to what to do now and we are very concerned.

We have continued with the probiotic and I am still dairy free. I also take the following supplements myself (so he gets benefit through breast milk): multi, Metagenics Vessel Care, D3, mineral supplement, probiotic.

What would you do at this point? I have considered eliminating gluten as well but I honestly don't feel like I can do it. I am having a hard enough time maintaining my weight while breastfeeding as is and am concerned that if I restrict my diet further, it will be bad for my health and ultimately for the baby as well.

Sorry this is so long. Please give some advice if you can!

-- Toni------Mind like a steel trap...Rusty and illegal in 37 states.

February 27, 2011

I am homozygous for the MTHFR C677T mutation so I already know that and that is

why I take the Metagenics Vessel Care (has the same folic acid as the Folapro

plus a bunch of other Bs). I am taking a good quality multi from Thorne.

I don't really crave any gluten in particular...it is just a part of my diet in

general. I crave milk/dairy and that has been very hard for me to give up but I

am doing it. I am also down to a size 2 though so like I said...can't lose much

more weight. My older DS and my DD are both gluten free but I just haven't been

able to do it myself and maintain my weight.

I can't take a fish oil supplement...took me 5 years to figure out that the fish

oil supplements were what were causing me to have dizzy spells and heart

palpitations (crazy, huh?). Is DS too young to supplement this directly?

>

> >

> > This will probably be a bit long but if you could bear with me, I could

> > really use some advice!

> >

> > A little background: My 5 year old DS is on the mild end of the autism

> > spectrum. My 3 year old DD has Down syndrome. I also have a 7.5 month old

> > DS. We have not vaccinated the baby at all and do not plan to.

> >

> > Everything was going great up until about 3 months old. I am breastfeeding

> > and he was doing great. No skin issues, no food issues, development on track

> > in all areas. Sleeping well.

> >

> > Then when he was 3 months old, I got appendicitis. I needed an emergency

> > appendectomy and was on a lot of pain killers in the hospital as well as

> > anesthesia for the surgery and IV antibiotics during the surgery. During

> > this time, I was told by the anesthesiologist that I needed to " pump and

> > dump " the milk for 24 hours from the surgery. I read some info on some

> > breastfeeding sites that said that I didn't even need to " pump and dump " for

> > that long but I wanted to be conservative and do what they said. I had some

> > frozen breast milk which was fed to DS and then when we ran out, he got two

> > bottles of formula...his 1st ever formula.

> >

> > After the surgery, he started waking up at night more often. At first we

> > blamed it on low milk supply due to the surgery. But then my supply was back

> > up and he was still waking. We blamed it on teething and on growth spurts

> > but the wakings continued to become more frequent.

> >

> > By the end of December (around 5.5 months), he was literally waking up

> > every 30-90 minutes at night and screaming hysterically. He would arch his

> > back like he was in pain. I took him to the doctor twice to have him checked

> > out. Everything checked out fine...ear were fine. No signs of what could be

> > causing it. Doctor wanted us to try Zantac in case it was silent reflux. He

> > showed no signs of reflux at all but we tried it just in case. It made no

> > difference.

> >

> > Then we thought maybe the antibiotics from surgery messed with his belly or

> > maybe the formula triggered a food allergy/intolerance (even though he

> > wasn't showing classic symptoms). So I eliminated dairy from my diet and we

> > started giving him a probiotic every day. The screaming and arching

> > subsided.

> >

> > He now still gets up 2-3 times a night which is still more than before but

> > I guess within the range of " normal " for a breastfed baby. I feel like he is

> > no longer in pain when he wakes which is good.

> >

> > The problem though is that I feel like he is " changed " not that the whole

> > ordeal is passed. He is now 7.5 months old and is not sitting up unassisted.

> > He will roll to get places but isn't crawling or pulling up (still a little

> > early for that). The biggest concern though is that he doesn't seem as

> > talkative as he was. He used to babble and would go back and forth with us

> > if we talked to him. Now he seems to be a very serious baby. If you try to

> > get him to laugh, it takes a lot of effort. He will just stare at you with a

> > serious face. He doesn't really babble with consonant sounds much any more.

> >

> > Physically we don't notice any concerning symptoms. Skin is fine. Bowels

> > are normal.

> >

> > We are at a loss as to what to do now and we are very concerned.

> >

> > We have continued with the probiotic and I am still dairy free. I also take

> > the following supplements myself (so he gets benefit through breast milk):

> > multi, Metagenics Vessel Care, D3, mineral supplement, probiotic.

> >

> > What would you do at this point? I have considered eliminating gluten as

> > well but I honestly don't feel like I can do it. I am having a hard enough

> > time maintaining my weight while breastfeeding as is and am concerned that

> > if I restrict my diet further, it will be bad for my health and ultimately

> > for the baby as well.

> >

> > Sorry this is so long. Please give some advice if you can!

> >

>

> --

> Toni

>

> ------

> Mind like a steel trap...

> Rusty and illegal in 37 states.

>

February 27, 2011

For ice cream, I use coconut ice cream. Good fats in it, won't let you lose weight. LOL :-)I wouldn't know what dose to tell you to use with the CLO or fish oil for an infant.

I am homozygous for the MTHFR C677T mutation so I already know that and that is why I take the Metagenics Vessel Care (has the same folic acid as the Folapro plus a bunch of other Bs). I am taking a good quality multi from Thorne.

I don't really crave any gluten in particular...it is just a part of my diet in general. I crave milk/dairy and that has been very hard for me to give up but I am doing it. I am also down to a size 2 though so like I said...can't lose much more weight. My older DS and my DD are both gluten free but I just haven't been able to do it myself and maintain my weight.

I can't take a fish oil supplement...took me 5 years to figure out that the fish oil supplements were what were causing me to have dizzy spells and heart palpitations (crazy, huh?). Is DS too young to supplement this directly?