Recovering a child with extreme gut issues and autism

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We are getting a lot of new members.I want to welcome them.I will repost

this. Mimi

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Jen Young recovered a child with extreme GI issues and Autism.She had a

lot of difficulties at first but she did not give up. She constantly

asked for help.

JEN

Just take it slow. We did the basic diet for a longgggg time. We are

still only adding new veggies and meat slooowwwllly. I even use

alternative meats while his leaky gut damages (ostrich, guinea fowl).

I'm not sure why it helps him, but he had trouble with chicken and beef

and I knew these meats were easy to digest. We also do Talipia as it is

pure and farm-raised. I am a little paranoid, but I've been to h**l and

back and I guess that it is a well earned paranoia!

FROM COLLEEN

Food allergies are difficult to identify with my son because he reacts

to so many different foods and hidden ingredients.This is true for

anyone with compromised digestion.

FROM JEN

Observation of behavior alone is not easy. It's hard to tell with

physical symptoms because he always has some type of GI symptom. Then

YOU'VE NOT ONLY COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE, BUT THE ONLY PLACE! Let me tell

you Karin, my son had trouble with every carb on the market. Rice,

potato,buckwheat, quinoa--I thought I was insane until I documented his

behavior,stools, etc. and analyzed the results! He also reacted to

maltodextrin,sugars in general....you name it. I was determined to

ignore autistic specialists and find a scientific explanation for his

trouble. This diet explains it to a T. Our kids have bowel disorders and

leaky guts, first and foremost and autism second, I believe. Elaine is

the only one I trust in healing the gut.

FROM COLLEEN

I can also do more food allergy (transdermal skin pricks)testing on him

but was just curious if anyone had into this allergy type of problem.

JEN

I agree with Colleen here. One skin test said Colin was allergic to

everything. The next said he wasn't--but to the entire environment. The

CAP RAST said, no environment but just egg and casein. SIGH. My son has

yeast and a leaky gut and these allergists don't know beans about

that...

FROM JEN

Also, we know he's very allergic to peaches and I think that almonds are

in the same family as peaches (plum family). My son was " allergic " to

most fruits too. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE I BELIEVE! My son tolerates fruits

now, but we are holding off as his gut is so damaged and his yeast is so

severe. He is just not ready, but everyone is different. Some on this

list eat fruit right away, some wait. You have to listen to your son's

gut and not a test.

FROM COLLEEN

If I do avoid almonds, what other types of flours can he have?

JEN

If you are talking about grain bread - absolutely, positively

not.Elaine likes to say that you can't serve two masters. This is a

diet that only works when followed 100%. Little " cheats " will feed the

bad bacteria living in your son's gut, and continue the cycle. Rotation

diets can be helpful when trying to pinpoint food reactions, but the

SCD is much more comprehensive than that. Please read the book again,

and again if necessary.Colin still can't tolerate the almond flour, or

the bean flour (worse!) or any nut flour period. That doesn't mean he

is allergic, just not healed enough yet to digest breads. I know it

sounds like tough love, but I decided I'd rather give my son meats and

veggies now and be militant for a while so he can re-gain strength and

then get to the " fun " stuff.He is now healthy, gaining height and

weight, and coming back to us!! Last year he was echolalic only

(repeated everything), and did self-stim, the whole nine-yards. Since

this diet, minus the baked goods, dairy and most fruit, he has no

autistic behaviors left. He is almost caught up in speech and he is now

testing a year in advance in some areas--he doesn't even fit the ADD

diagnosis. We have some setbacks (we had an " applesause " setback, a

probiotic dilemna, and trouble with the vitamin), but we always go back

to our set foods and re-coup. His stools are healthy and 1-2 per day.

He does pretend play, is social, and is so hungry I can barely keep up

with him.

FROM COLLEEN

It explains very well in lay terms how and why the diet works, and why

it must be followed to the letter in order to be effective.Would bean

and potato type flours cause an increase in constipation and gas?

JEN

POTATO IS THE ENEMY. I know I am Irish, and I used to live on

potatoes,soy,and sugar (my son took after me)---but please*** don't

give any potatoes!!My son had horrible reactions to that " autistic "

potato milk junk and I kept arguing with the man that it made my son

sick! No wonder, it is impossible for my son to break down and also has

carageenan in it to boot.Re=Read the book BTVC again and again and

again...also, the bean flour gave my son gas and pain and he has been

on the diet since APRIL! It sounds like tough love I know. But close

your eyes and imagine how you felt when you had stool trouble/diar.

Then imagine being a child and living with it every day!They didn't get

sick over night, don't expect them to heal over night either.This is my

inspiration.

FROM JEN

Many of us took months to see real changes, and because you have only

just started and don't really understand how it works yet, you've

probably been making mistakes without knowing it. It takes a while to

get the hang of it.I know it's hard to see your child struggling, but

you really must be patient, and you must be very diligent about

following the diet *completely*. AMEN! I made mistakes. I gave Colin a

probiotic with inulin in it (a no no),I gave him seeds the first month

(A NO NO!!), and raw veggies were so bad I thought he had an ulcer...I

gave him seeds with sugar on it my mistake (he had to be restrained)

and I also once did cashew flour which is so harsh.Oh, and I noticed

the biggest difference when I cut out the baked goods and sugar (we are

now even switching to water only with occasionally freshly squeezed

juice). This is not breaking the rules. Elaine told us what we can eat

but didn't say we had to eat ALL foods the first few months. Each

person is different. It is what NOT to eat that is the most critical.

Plus, once we caught on to the diet (end of April), we noticed

Colin'ssensitivites to environmental molds, scents, smoke, perfume, you

name it! We also started an anti-fungal and are still searching for the

perfect one.Also, do the probiotics at one point.

Harry's PROBIOTICS: Custom Probiotic one

*HTTP://WWW.CUSTOMPROBIOTICS.COM HARRY: ASK IF PB CP-1 WOULD BE A GOOD

ONE TO TAKE. Per .

Letter continued.... If you can't do the yoghurt you must get your good

bacteria somewhere!!! My son is a miracle and we did this ALL through

food and not through supplements. Only now are we adding conservative

vitamins like cal/magn., C, etc. and the ones Elaine recommends on page

48 for chilren.

My son was previously diagnoised first with PDD and then Autism in Jan.

He is now almost 100% fine, and is going to go to a regular class next

year. He has no autistic behavior left! Yes, the vaccines are horrid

aren't they? We avoid them. You know I know it is so scary, and you

always want to know how this happened and why. My son's may have been

from his GI difficulities with the ROTA virus, plus so many

antibiotics, plus mecury issues. Regardless, this diet is helping him.

My advice to you is for this child is: stay 100% on this diet. Also,

add foods slowly.

Introduce one food at a time carefully so you truely have a baseline on

what foods his gut is ready for. Also, read Elaine's book until you

understand so well you can quote it in your sleep! This understanding

will steel your will against others who may try to influence this

period of healing. My son is still not ready for the almond flour, but

yours may be. It all depends on the stage of healing he is in. I do

recommend you do the basic diet and the yoghurt if possible. We do the

goat's milk yoghurt. Unless someone has a true breathing problem or

allergic reaction to the cow's milk products (for yoghurt and cheese),

I would go for it. If you do goat's or sheep's cheese instead, make

sure it is aged 6 months or more, to stay legal and low lactose. My son

does great on Goat's gouda. The GFCF folk had me terrified of dairy. So

insane. I would try the honey cautiously. My son had oral yeast at

first so we didn't do much fruit or honey for most of the first 4

months. We also tried anti-fungals. I think if we had done the yoghurt

sooner, we would not have needed to. He can now tolerate the honey and

yoghurt fine. Also, please be cautious of raw veggies and fruits at

first. I used to feel sorry for Colin and give in to him since he was

so little and deprived of so many sweets! But it just delayed his

healing. The best advice I can give any one with a child with GI

troubles and developmental delays--is stand up for your child's gut. So

many will criticize you and call this diet " restricted. " It is merely

their way of thinking that is narrow and restricted. Healing is serious

business, and don't let anyone get in your way of it. I certainly

don't.

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