Matthew has been GFCF (Gluten free, casein free) since October or November I think? He's been dairy free since April of 2006. We just finally removed the wheat late 2007. Anyways, I wanted to chart our journey so when I lose the rest of my mind, I can recall the details.
Going CF (casein - or dairy - free) - whoa that sucked. The first week was heaven, next 3 were hell. He had major withdrawls, detox, yeast die off, whatever. He was a screaming, raging lunatic of a 2 year old. He was like Damian Omen III. It was BAD. It was hard at first, so many things have hidden dairy. McDonald's fries, coating on chicken nuggets, lunch meat and hot dogs....great, there go all the staples of a toddler's diet. There are subs, but they require you mortgage your home because they cost a lot more than the cheapo stuff.
Going wheat free was easier in ingredients but harder because my son loves wheat. Well, that is also a sign of an intolerance. That what we crave we usually are intolerant of, like a drug addiction. Actually the neurochemical reactions are the same. Children with Autism with dietary intolerances do produce morphine like responses to certain foods. So, the withdrawl can be a bear.
With removal of dairy and wheat we saw a reduction, not extinction of certain behaviors. We would see what we considered "dairy" behaviors like night wakings, up for hours in the middle of the night with screaming and then giggling, meltdowns over everything, lots of stimming, etc. The we sat in on a webinar with Dr. Kurt Woeller, he blew us away when he said those are all classic signs of yeast overgrowth. Removal of the dairy and wheat reduced the yeast I bet that is why we saw a reduction but not extinction of those behaviors. We would be baffled sometimes, wondering how he got dairy when in reality it could have been a yeast feeding food that prompted the response. Hmmm....off to research yeast.....
Once I read about yeast I was so ready to go. Then I found data to suggest herpes strains of viruses have been known to cause autistic like behaviors in kids. Well Matthew had chicken pox at 6 months AND 3 years, I had it twice, lots of viral issues on Eric's side....hmmm....off to do more research.
So we started supplements. We did OLE (olive leaf extract) and Lysine for viruses. The dead viruses can actually become food for yeast so you always have to treat for yeast when you treat for viral issues. We started probiotics and GSE (grapefruit seed extract) for yeast. We've always used GSE but not in as strong a dose until now. Then we saw a huge healing crisis the next day. He was vomiting the whole day. His body was deluged with yeast die off and there are only so many ways the body can rid itself of toxins. I was miserable watching him. Here I had brought him into this world and for reasons I cannot explain, he has so many uphill battles ahead of him. I had fed him all the food unknowingly that had created yeast in his body, I was the one administering these remedies, I cannot explain just how bad I felt for my little boy.
But from then on, HUGE progress daily. We added in Candidase and Virastop, 2 enzymes. The Virastop helped with yeast die off which was a blessing. Yeast die off (in addition to making him ill) made him mean, aggressive, majorly OCD and stimmy. It was a relief when that went away. We've tweeked the dose and supplement so as of today here's what it looks like.
Morning, first thing on empty stomach - 2 candidase, 1 virastop, 1 drop GSE
Right after school on an empty stomach - 2 candidase, 1 virastop, 1 drop GSE
With lunch - 1 Peptizyde (enzyme that works on food, can actually be a sub for the GFCF diet or used when there is an infraction, hoping it will help with our upcoming trip to SD and Disney so he can actually eat some foods that have been off limits for so long....)
Before dinner on an empty stomach - 2 candidase, 1 virastop, 1 drop GSE
With dinner - 1 Peptizyde
Bedtime - probiotic
It is tough to time everything in between therapy and school and such but it is making a tremendous difference.
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