Gluten Confession

[Guest guest]

so I let him

> have wheat that morning. I know, very risky, but I

> was in a bad state of mind. I let him eat half a

> package of Ritz crackers! Here's the wierd part: NO

> REACTION. Why??? I can't figure it out.

I may be the person Wendi referred to in her message, so I will reply

to you here. My son is celiac in addition to being autistic. At the

time I began using enzymes, I did not know he was also celiac. I gave

gluten infractions with the enzymes, and I did not see any reaction

for about two weeks, but then I did. If your child is also celiac in

addition to autistic, his intestine may have healed now, but you might

see reaction within the next two weeks if you continue to give gluten.

But, see below, your son may not be celiac and it may be that he can

have gluten again. Personally, if you want to challenge gluten, I

would recommend using enzymes from this url, which I use now for

occasional infractions and also for the other foods my kids do not

tolerate.

http://www.houstonni.com/

So with these enzymes, I do allow my son to have gluten occasionally,

and I see no reactions, but I have to be careful how I do it, because

it does do slight damage to his intestines every time I allow an

infraction, and if I allow more than 1-2 infractions every month or

so, then he will start to show signs. But other people whose children

are not also celiac, have been able to resume eating gluten with these

enzymes with no problems. It depends on the child.

Could it

> have something to do with removing all sources of

> antimony and arsenic? We did that in the early

> summer.

Removing metals has allowed many kids to resume eating gluten and

casein, but not for other children. Perhaps your child is one who can

now eat gluten/casein.

He's getting allergy shots 2x per week from

> his DAN allergist. Could that make any difference? I

> wouldn't think so.

If your son has an allergy to wheat, and these shots have cleared

that, then I would think this may also have been a contributing factor

to him being able to eat wheat again. This may or may not also impact

other gluten grains, depending on which allergy shots your DAN was

providing. You might want to ask your DAN this question.

Dana

[Guest guest]

I think you may have bveen gfcf long enough that it may be that it would not

have effect unless cumlative-or maybe the rasction is not as before and it

not bieng noticed-like less concentration- Just my guess.f

Gluten Confession

> Help!!! I'm totally confused!!!

> , who is 20 months old, has been GFCF for a

> year now. He tested positive for both gluten and

> casein peptides both in September of last year and

> also again this summer. I have been dealing with

> family members who refuse to believe in the diet, and

> that he has any problems at all. They think I'm nuts,

> but we have had infringements with pretzels once, and

> one other time, it was wheat but I don't remember what

> it was, and have always seen severe reactions to wheat

> within a few hours. He became really aggressive,

> stimmy, and was in a lot of intestinal pain.

> Now to my confession:

> Thursday, I was at the end of my rope with my mother.

> I knew we were meeting her for lunch, so I let him

> have wheat that morning. I know, very risky, but I

> was in a bad state of mind. I let him eat half a

> package of Ritz crackers! Here's the wierd part: NO

> REACTION. Why??? I can't figure it out. Could it

> have something to do with removing all sources of

> antimony and arsenic? We did that in the early

> summer. He's getting allergy shots 2x per week from

> his DAN allergist. Could that make any difference? I

> wouldn't think so. I just now got up the nerve to

> confess to my husband. We're both stunned. Any

> ideas, anyone?

> , Confused in Missouri

>

> =====

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

*

Dana,

I am concerned and confused. If you know it is doing slight damage then

why is gluten allowed to be eaten?

(LJs mom) in New York

*

On Sat, 06 Oct 2001 20:40:37 -0000 danaatty@... writes:

I do allow my son to have gluten

> occasionally,

> and I see no reactions, but I have to be careful how I do it,

> because

> it does do slight damage to his intestines every time I allow an

, > Dana

* * \l/

*

* * ( @ @ )

*

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*

* HAVE A GREAT DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!

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[Guest guest]

I have a son who went without g and c for about a year. Then, because I

assumed this was an allergy and because he hated this diet, I let him begin

eating both again. He was able to eat these foods for close to a year

without a re occurrence of his symptoms (which was diarrhea and several

" accidents " a day). Though I had not put him on this diet for AS, I've seen

a lot of these type behaviors since he's been off the diet. I've finally

got him back on the diet and his diarrhea and " accidents " have stopped, not

so his AS type behavior, yet.

Lolita

>. Any

> > ideas, anyone?

[Guest guest]

You invite my opinion, so I have decided to give it to you along with

a soap box. You are free to stop reading now if you don't want to

read the soap box. I will include my disclaimer that it is a

statement of my opinion, and it is not intended to be offensive, but

then knowing my history with this group, I am sure it will attract

flames from at least one person, either here on the forum or as

private email.

Remember a thread a few weeks ago about Mc's french fries?

Someone posted an opinion that all those additives seemed like poison

to that person, but then others flamed her for having that opinion,

like she was saying that people who allowed their child to eat those

fries were intentionally poisoning their child.

Apparently, people here on this forum do not tolerate other people who

believe that gluten is not necessarily a poison for an autistic child,

but the on the other side, they also do not tolerate people who might

believe that other things ARE a poison for a child.

People can have this sort of " extreme " opinion regarding ABA, gfcf

diet, enzymes, nutrasweet, caffeine, artificial additives, alcohol,

cracking knuckles, choosing to vaccinate, and choosing to use

medication, among other things. And other people have no problems

with those things, or disagree completely on the importance of those

things. And some people, like me, are in the middle.

I am not 100% gluten free, even tho I am also celiac. I choose to

accept whatever consequences of the occasional infraction, because I

see the benefits of an occasional infraction as worth the costs. It

is the same with my son. He is basically a typical kid of a younger

developmental age than chronological age. He knows he is different.

He knows he cannot eat everything that other kids eat. He knows he

has difficulty playing with other kids. He knows they tease him.

I try to be realistic. If I can give him some measure of " normality "

at parties and holidays and special events, then I will do that. He

knows he can have allowable infractions for special things. It helps

restrain his rebellion at other times. He knows I care about him, and

I will listen to him if he wants something special for a special time.

I do not see any regression for these infractions, altho

intellectually I know some physical injury is occurring. So I see the

benefits outweigh the detriments.

I choose to support parents in whatever is their decision regarding

the best interest of their own child. Some parents wish to vaccinate,

albeit as safely as currently possible. So I have my vaccination

recommendations. Some parents choose to use enzymes *instead* of gfcf

diet, and I will give my information regarding that. Some parents

choose medications to help with their child's issues, and I will

provide information on that. I do not necessarily agree with these

decisions, but it is not my child, and the parent knows his/her own

child best. I do not believe my opinion is necessarily the correct

opinion for a child who is not my own child.

I give my son occasional gluten with enzymes because I have no guilt

in doing so. I believe it is best for my own child and our situation

here. And other parents withhold all gluten because they believe it

is best for their own child and situation. And I know of other

parents who know that gluten does have an effect on their child, but

they have not removed it at all, because for their own child and

situation they have determined that removing it would have greater

detriment than benefit.

This group here, I have generally found to be rather judgmental

concerning the opinions of parents which may be different than the

" established " opinion. I guess it is the " gfcfdiet zealot " forum.

Other message forums, even tho for the support of the gfcfdiet, are

not nearly so judgmental as this one is. I am not saying that I

believe you yourself are judgmental, but that in general the people

here seem more judgmental than on other forums.

I posted my differing opinion here a few weeks ago regarding the use

of chew tubes for children who want/need to chew. I received quite a

few flames over that. And even tho I asked for suggestions on how to

word my opinion so that it would not be inflammatory, noone offered

any suggestions. Does this mean that there is no way to word my

different opinion to not be inflammatory? Or that my different

opinion is not welcome here? I don't know, but that was not the first

time I have been flamed by people in this group for my different

opinion. On most of my other forums, I would have receive a reply

indicating something like " I disagree with this opinion because ... " ,

but not the flames I receive here. I personally know of several other

parents who do not use this forum for just that reason, that their

different opinion is flamed here and not welcome.

I am not saying that people here who disagree should not state that

disagreeing opinion to this group, just that it appears that those

disagreeing opinions are either 1. stated in a very judgmental manner

or 2. not welcome at all. Sometimes this forum is worse than a few of

my AS forums where very socially deficient people such as myself get

into very heated arguments using less than socially-appropriate

language, over issues which would make most of the parents on this

forum cower and hide.

When I first joined this group, I lurked for quite a while before

posting here, because the messages I read were in my opinion very

judgmental of differing opinions, and not nearly as supportive as I

would expect from a group of parents and others who were theoretically

in similar situations regarding their children. Every time I relax my

philosophy of only replying here when I think I have something

specific to contribute, I regret it because I receive flames. So

every time that happens, I restrict my messages here. I have done so

again, I now have returned to waiting for quite a while before

replying to a message, to see what others may say which may make my

reply not necessary, and only posting when I have something specific

to offer. And if I ever do want to post a different opinion again, I

will think very long and hard about whether or not it is worth the

flames.

So now I will answer your specific questions.

> *

> Dana,

> I am concerned and confused.

Why are you concerned and confused? It does sound like you are trying

to NOT be judgmental, but then it does sound like you ARE judgmental.

> If you know it is doing slight damage

then

> why is gluten allowed to be eaten?

Because I have determined that for my child, the benefits of

occasional infractions are worth any detriment incurred.

Dana

[Guest guest]

" I choose to support parents in whatever is their decision regarding

the best interest of their own child "

Amen! I'm new to this group, so haven't come across the issues you

brought up, but my belief is that we are all " experts " on our own

children. Who else could love them, hope for them, work for them and

sacrifice happily for them with our enthusiasm?

Valeri

[Guest guest]

Dana-

We are in the middle of round 4 infraction/ infringement testing,

because I want to believe that this diet will not be permanent. Expense, and

cooking aside, my son was a normal baby until 18 months, until the " shut

down (we are sure vaccination related) If he was able to eat these foods for

8 months prior to the vaccination, we are hoping he will some day be able to

eat these foods again. I want to believe this diet is a bandaid, and not a

permanent treatment. My husband and I believe that the longer you keep your

children off of the food, the more likely they will never be likely to

digest it. I have no problem with the expense,or baking, or

inconvenience...Our infractions come because my son (who was TOTALLY out to

lunch at 3), by 6 was pretty high functioning, and was able to remember the

food we took away. MANY when they start this diet, have non-verbal, or lower

functioning, or young children. My son SINCE we have put this diet in place,

has constanly asked for food he couldn't have. Not for the high, I have to

say, I am a good baker, my cookies are good, the pizza (with soy cheese) is

as close as you can get, but the taste does not cut it. I have been on this

diet as well, and I found myself craving foods, that when I ate them did not

feel any worse for the wear....Autism is hard enough, there should never be

any rivalry to opinions, but I think often people are verhy tense and

comments are misunderstood. I have been " flamed " several times (some were

not intentional, but I just misread the " emotion " behind the words " , and

some were quite intentional, but knowing everyone typing has a child like

mine, I give them the benefit of the doubt that they are strung out. I

agree with you that even if opinions differ, we should all learn from

difference, we all, may learn something new -Shari

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Sometimes when you are on the diet for an extended period, an infraction

will not cause any affects. You probably gave the intestines adequate time

to heal-temporarily-so 1 time doesn't hurt much. Removing arsenic and

antinomy are important, but have you taken steps to remove these materials

from his body? I think you got lucky, and could again, but I wouldn't push

my luck. Sometimes it takes a while for reactions to begin again. I know

someone who felt that enzymes were successful, when in actuality, symptoms

began resurfacing after about 2 weeks when damage was done. It just took

that long to show up again. Take Care, Wendi

Gluten Confession

> Help!!! I'm totally confused!!!

> , who is 20 months old, has been GFCF for a

> year now. He tested positive for both gluten and

> casein peptides both in September of last year and

> also again this summer. I have been dealing with

> family members who refuse to believe in the diet, and

> that he has any problems at all. They think I'm nuts,

> but we have had infringements with pretzels once, and

> one other time, it was wheat but I don't remember what

> it was, and have always seen severe reactions to wheat

> within a few hours. He became really aggressive,

> stimmy, and was in a lot of intestinal pain.

> Now to my confession:

> Thursday, I was at the end of my rope with my mother.

> I knew we were meeting her for lunch, so I let him

> have wheat that morning. I know, very risky, but I

> was in a bad state of mind. I let him eat half a

> package of Ritz crackers! Here's the wierd part: NO

> REACTION. Why??? I can't figure it out. Could it

> have something to do with removing all sources of

> antimony and arsenic? We did that in the early

> summer. He's getting allergy shots 2x per week from

> his DAN allergist. Could that make any difference? I

> wouldn't think so. I just now got up the nerve to

> confess to my husband. We're both stunned. Any

> ideas, anyone?

> , Confused in Missouri

>

> =====

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>