Ugh...Rice Strikes Again & Why Fish Oil Rocks

I would love to talk about Dr. Wakefield's autism study but I'm going to leave that to Jenny McCarthy & Generation Rescue. What a great response...thanks Jenny! Please read for yourself here if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Rice strikes again! Several months ago we started putting rice slowly back into Aleks' diet. It seemed to be going so well. I was able to buy some products at the store and she seemed to be tolerating the rice products well. I started using organic rice flours in some of my baking as well as her non-rice/her typical foods, but rice was now back in. Somehow during our riceapalooza she started changing. I'm not sure when it happened but she started rejecting her apple juice with the Nordic Naturals Fish Oil & Super Nu Thera in it. So, we cut out the fish oil and Super Nu Thera thinking we'd figure out how to work it back in. Problem is just like everything it became habit and we didn't get it back in. Now fast forward several months and she has no fish oil on a daily basis, occasional Super Nu Thera and her rice intake had increase dramatically.

At this point, I have to say thank God for wonderful therapists and teachers who point out when things aren't going well. We thought all the irritability and non-compliance was due to a high fever and sickness she had last Fall. Yes, some of it was but at this point I don't believe it was all from the illness. Fast forward to January and we are hearing from her therapists and from her teacher at school that she is extra sensitive, irritable and won't follow directions easily. What is going on with our child?? You see, we didn't put the above together with her behavior at all. I sent her doctor a note and she asked about the fish oil? Oh! That's when I started thinking about all of her supplements and diet again. I reevaluated it just like I had done a year and a half ago. I knew I was going to take the rice out again, but how did I get her to drink the juice with Super Nu Thera and the teaspoon of fish out that she needed? I felt overwhelmed and scared. If this behavior kept going on her opportunities for Kindergarten would also be effected. She just wasn't fitting in. I took to praying and researching and woke up one morning and told Bill (husband) that the Super Nu Thera and a 1/4 t. fish oil had to be in her first morning apple juice. I felt confident that if it was first and extra cold that she would drink it. First time she started to stay something, but was so thirsty she did drink it. Success!! After that we made the commitment that every juice would have 1/4 t. fish oil in it no matter what.

It has now been 3 weeks since we took out the rice and put the fish oil back in. The changes are amazing. She is calmer, her therapists say she has never been better and she isn't crying as often. In fact she can bump her leg and just say ouch! I did try and give her rice again one day just to see if it was all fish oil or the combo of the rice and fish oil. The rice gave her dark circles, hyperactivity and irritability. Plus, she was seriously craving any rice product for days afterwards. Yep, rice is once again on her no eat list.

I learned through all of this that I/we have to be vigilant with food and supplements. I have to constantly be evaluating her behavior and monitoring what she is eating. I also learned that there are other ways to get the right supplements in my daughter. I may have to give mini-doses to get one full dose but I'll get there. I am reminded of what many wise parents have told me, autism isn't a race but a marathon. Thanks to the many runners who are with me.

xo

Melissa

Supplements - Part of the Healing Equation

I am often asked about what supplements Aleks is taking and where I came up with the list. Before I put the list of her supplements up, let me first state again that I am NOT a doctor. I am working with Dr. S (DAN! Doctor) , have done my own research and have also had blood/stool/urine and hair analysis done. This is the list that works best for Aleks, but it is not a one size fits all supplement list. I strongly recommend Dr. Jaquelyn McCandless book, Children With Starving Brains. It explains the supplementation and how it helps to heal the body. I used the results of Aleks' tests, Dr. S and p. 116-117 to come up with her supplementation program. Dr. S has been key in helping with the dosages, supplements and the why.

Please note that all supplements are mixed in either organic apple juice or Dari-Free. I also started using an additional flavoring with the apple juice to hide the supplements flavors. I use either Kirkman Labs Strawberry Flavoring or Stevia Valenia Orange Flavoring (Fresh & Natural Grocery Store).
**Probiotics & Digestive Enzymes should NOT be taken at the same time.

Super Nu Thera - Hypoallerenic Capsules -- 1 capsule 2 x day in juice

Nordic Naturals Children's DHA strawberry flavor - 1/2 t. 2 x day (Whole Foods or Fresh & Natural)

L-Carnitine - 1000 mg day -1/2 t. 1x day (Dr. S office in Stillwater, MN)

Unbuffered Vitamin C - Unflavored - Hypoallergenic - 1/4 t.(1100mg) 2 x day (Kirkman Labs)

Zinc- Hypo-allergenic - 60mg - 20/40 breakdown in AM & PM juice (Kirkman Labs)

Calcium - Hypoallergenic - 1000mg - 1/4 t. -Mix with lunch Dari-Free & Probiotic (Kirkman Labs)
*Vitamin D - 175mg - 1x day as part of the Calcium powder

CoQ10 - Hypoallergenic - 50 mg. day - 1 -25mg capsule - 2x day (Kirkman Labs)

Probiotics - 1 capsule - 2x day in DariFree - Metagenics - Ultra Flora Plus DF Capsules - (Dr. S office)

Faith, Hope & Healing-

Melissa

Help For a 'New' Mom on the Autism Journey

Since announcing on the radio that Aleks has autism, I have had the privlege of helping along a few moms who are in the beginning of their own autism journey. One of my new moms just received her son's food sensitivity testing results back and is feeling so overwhlemed. Here is part of the email I sent her. Hopefully the information will be helpful to you too. I've taken out some of the personal information, but felt the rest was okay to leave in.

Faith, Hope & Healing~
Melissa

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Hi! You are not alone. I really feel for you. I totally understand how overwhelming it is when you first get the test results back. I cried all the way home from Whole Foods. What exactly is your child sensitive to? Give me all the foods and let me see what suggestions I can come up with for you. If not chicken or turkey nuggets, I've also made homemade fish sticks for Aleks out of tilapia. It's easy and yummy for her. By the way, Aleks was a super picky eater before the diet. She was down to just a few foods, but after removing all her sensitive foods it got better. All of a sudden she started eating her veggies again! She also was more willing to try new foods! Most of the foods she was eating were the ones that she was sensitive to. Hence her body being addicted to them.

It sounds like your child is still in the 'food fog' that so many of our kids are. When we took out the chicken, corn, rice, soy in addition to gluten and casein is when Aleks had her severe withdrawals. For 3 weeks she was up crying at night and just plain miserable. Then it stopped and it has gradually gotten better. Is your child in Speech Therapy? If not that has been huge for Aleks. We love our ST if you need the name of someone. She has experience with autism and really supports the GFCF diet. Before the diet, Aleks attention span was seconds to a few minutes max. 3 weeks after the starting the diet she was up to 20 minutes for being able to sit still and concentrate. The speech has come along from there. She has never been non-verbal, but has always struggled with just a few words. Now, six months later she is talking in short sentences. The other key element in her healing has been supplementation. I buy many of
mine from Kirkman Labs. I know Dr. Spore will soon start carrying them. Their Super Nu Thera was developed for autistic children and is a high dose of Vit. Bs and magnesium. We also found that Nordic Naturals 'Children's DHA' really has helped. During the beginning of the diet she did 1 t. 2x day. We mixed it in with her apple juice, along with the Super Nu Thera and a few others. The DHA helps calm the brain down. They're finding that so many of our kids have swollen brains. I have Aleks on a strict supplement schedule. I got it from Dr. McCandless's book recommendations and Dr. Spore.

As far as your child's speech, a ST will most likely be able to help you figure out what is going on. We learned that besides it being a speech problem that Aleks wasn't able to comprehend what we were saying. Her cognitive just wasn't there. ST has helped. Susan, our ST, also really helped by giving us tips on how to talk to her which helped. It is so cool to see once things come together. One of the things we learned is to talk as slowly and simply as possible. Fewer words, simple commands and use as many visuals as possible. It won't always be that way, but it will help his brain catch up.

I hope some of this helps. You've been on my mind a lot lately. Rough couple of days with Aleks being sick. It is amazing how the autism stims always get worse during illness.

You're in my thoughts & prayers. Hang in there and know you're not alone.

Blessings-

Melissa