How long to see results from removing gluten….and some observations
I would appreciate feedback from folks with more experience in thisthan me!
I have had my 4 yo DS on a GFCF diet for about a week. The behaviors Iam trying to resolve are Autism Spectrum related, possiblyADHD….tantrums at preschool, lack of cooperative play with peers atpreschool, his stim which is talking to himself, quietly, constantly,and hyperactivity. Trouble with transitions and changes in routine,esp at school. We are also getting OT for what we believe are sensoryprocessing difficulties. This is all we have done so far to treathim. His poops appeared normal firmness before and came once a day. Idid notice some skin issues (bumps on arms, rough skin on back, and ared cheek). Also he has dark circles under his eyes and always lookstired. He was self limiting on wheat and dairy, and was willing to eatapples and grapes if I insisted for “variety”. Won’t eat veggies.
NOW His bowel movements still appear normal and are coming once a dayonce every other day. I now have him eat rice pasta, a veganparmesan (GFCF), GFCF bread, peanut butter, corn chips, GFCF cookies(limited), today he got corn syrup based pancake syrup on his GFCFpancakes…darifree, apples and grapes and white grape juice, potatochips, french fries. That is pretty much all he will eat. He didaccept some GFCF chicken nuggets today.
We so far have seen the tantrums go away at preschool, but still aloner at school. Definite silliness the first 4 or so days he wasgluten free. I have noticed some increase eye contact (he now playseye games with me ….staring into my eyes while making silly faceswhich is a new game) but he has a long way to go with that.
Skin issues have NOT resolved. In ADDITION to what was mentionedabove, we now have noticed a couple of little hives on his redcheek…they look like pimples, sort of. He also had terrible gastonite! Also what looks like more skin rash type stuff on his butt.
What does this mean? Anything? Maybe cut out something else? Does theprogress take a long time? How long do you think it usually takes toget the ultimate in results? Should I be moving on to the nextintervention, say, enzymes? I am jumping the gun, aren’t I. 
We are still assessing with the schools and a psychologist as toa “label”.
Adena Rioz said,
Wrote on November 20, 2006 @ 10:04 pm
Hi Jen, great to have you on board. It seems like you are seeing some goodchanges so you are on the right track. For some kids soy can cause very similareffects as the milk. He may have a problem there. Hyperactivity can often becaused by high phenolic foods. Your apples and red grapes are high on thislist, food coloring is too. My son has the same problem with msg or too muchchocolate.
My best practice to pass on is keeping a daily diary of intake and behaviours.Here is my format. 4 columns, 2 narrow and 2 wide. Titled: time, supplement,food/beverage/activity, behaviour/symptoms. Use one page/day, within a coupleof weeks you will begin to see trends. Only change one thing at a time,supplements too. Wait for at least one week to add any other new thing. Thiswill give enough time to see if there is any reaction to the new item. Becausethe foods that our kids react to are as varied as the spectrum itself, this isthe best way to figure out what works for your own child.
Epsom salt baths in the evening are a form of detox and can help withhyperactivity. Start out with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of epsom salts in the bath waterand work up. The most I have used is 1 cup but some people go much higher. Don’t let him drink the bath water though, epsom salts are a laxitive and cancause the runs.
Try Dana’s site for a list of phenolic foods http://www.danasview.net she has a linkfor the Feingold diet also, it concentrates on hyperactivity and is used inconjunction with gf/cf often. Hope this stuff helps.
Huey Mcfaul said,
Wrote on November 22, 2006 @ 7:58 pm
That isso helpful. I think I am on to something. I pray to God I can findsomething to feed this kid other than rice and potoatoes and pearjuice (I heard that does not feed yeast, right?). Rice and potatoesprobably can feed yeast too…right? Argh! He is so picky, I was sohappy just to get him off of the wheat and dairy! It seems as thoughjust about everything he is willing to eat feeds yeast. I need to dosome more reading.
I am already keeping a running commentary journal but Natalie’s soundsgood too. I wonder if I can do both. I hope I can find correlationsto something. It is more helpful when the reactions are immediate,like, with the more traditional food reactions come (hives, etc). Iwas surprised to see the little ones on him. didn’t I read somewhereGFCF can reveal other food sensitivities that were masked before?
Cole Mohmand said,
Wrote on November 24, 2006 @ 9:35 am
I had my son’s OT do hand writing samples every week and fromt ehtime he was completely off of wheat (about week three) is when tehhandwriting really improved and his spech therapist was markingabout 20% gains almost weekly. that lasted for about two months.Right now he’s doing well, and playing catch up still, but boththerapists are rewriting his goals for the new year, so we’ll haevto see how he does. BTW… we started GFCFSF and other allergen freediet in late September ‘04.