Newcomer with questions

May 8, 2007

Hi, I am new to the list and am hoping to get some help from those

who have successfully implemented the SCD diet. I have and 8 year

old son with autism. For most of his life he has had very soft/loose

bowel movements and bouts of diarrhea. He has recently and for the

first time had some problems with constipation. We saw a pediatric

GI doctor who put him on miralax, benefiber, and 1/2 of an ex-lax

twice a week. Well the combo was just too much! I want so much to

try the diet but my son currently eats no meat, chicken, fish, eggs,

vegetables. He is super selective and very stubborn. As a baby and

young toddler he ate pureed baby food - all kinds. I am worried that

he may have lost the ability to digest some of the above protein

foods. He hasn't had them in six years. When we go to a restaurant we

bring his food. He always orders from the menu - a hot dog and

french fries. He wants to eat it, he tries, but never really manages

to eat the meat. Recently I got him to eat one chicken nugget - Bell

and Evan's (no hormones, antibiotics, all white meat chicken

breast). Using a first/then approach I got him to eat one per day

for about a week. After that he started just playing with it and

pulling it apart. I often suspect that some of the food he refuses

might give him problems. I also suspect the diet he is eating is

giving him problems. He is verbal but doesn't really talk about how

he feels. I can prompt him and ask questions (especially in writing)

and he will answer. He has answered yes when I ask if he has a tummy

ache or burning tummy. He is very verbal when refusing to eat what

he doesn't want. This is what he eats now: Low acid orange juice,

juicy juice (but only in the juice boxes - won't touch it if it's in

a glass and he can see what it looks like), peanut butter, jelly,

bagels, pretzels, cheeto's, peach fruit cups, mandarin oranges,

cookies are his favorite, pizza, popsicles, popcorn, corn,

applesauce, and occasional apple or pear. I believe the corn,

apples, pears cause him a lot of problems so have only given them

rarely. I desperately want to improve his diet but as you can see he

basically exists on Carbs. I removed milk and yogurt a month ago -

before that he would sometimes eat 3 custard style yogurts a day

along with 3 - 5 cups of milk. Has anyone had a situation similar to

mine? It is hard because 5 months ago he started a new private

school which he travels an hour to get to each day. I want this

transition to be successful and fear what I am in for if I turn his

world upside down with the diet. But, I also long to improve his

nutrition and quality of life. I should mention that we will see our

first Dan practioner at the end on the month and a new GI doc who has

expertise working with ASD kids in July. Sorry to be so wordy. I

really appreciate any suggestions or ideas. Thanks.

May 8, 2007

,

It is very common for kids to come to this diet who self limit their food

choices. Yes, it is apparent that he exists on mostly carbs...and not good ones

for the most part. This is going to be your biggest issue in transitioning him,

I believe. I see a red flag in that he used to consume an enormous amount of

dairy. Most children can tolerate the proper dairy when on SCD. Personally,

our transition to SCD went fairly smoothly. I can tell you that our son ate no

meat or cheese prior to SCD though. He ate any fruit, little vegetables, wasn't

really interested in any form of dairy, and loved, loved, loved his pasta, bred,

crackers, cookies, ect. You get the picture. He was a total carb addict. I

was surprised at how he began to eat much more variety once we took away all of

the grains. There have been a few parents on this list who have had children go

on a food strike because they wanted to stay on their beloved grains or dairy.

Hopefully, a few of them can give you some encouragement and guidance. Ilene is

the perfect one to encourage. Her son refused to eat anything for nine days,

but finally caved in. He has made good progress in the past several months. I

would encourage you to take the plunge. I think that you will find that it

improves your son's quality of life not just because of the good nutritional

factor. As Elaine says in her book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which outlines

why the diet scientificly works and how to implement it properly, give SCD a

full month's trial with complete commitment. See what happens. It is very,

very important to read the book, and read through both the btvc.info and

pecanbread.com web sites. It is critical to implement SCD from the beginning in

the proper manner. Start with the intro diet, and then progress slowly with the

introduction of new foods...making sure they are all pealed, seeded, and well

cooked. Use the chart within the food preparation section of pecanbread.com as

a guide to help you know which foods are best tolerated in the beginning months

of the diet and so forth. Please, ask any questions you have. We want to see

your son succeed with SCD, and will be glad to help as best we can.

Meleah