Overwhelmed!
I went to the DAN conference this weekend. My brain hurts!My son is 7 years old. He’s a BIG kid, probably 80 pounds and 4 and1/2 feet tall. Takes several prescription meds and many supplementstoo. We’ve never done the diet although we did the no casein partfor many years.
I can’t imagine starting the diet with a 7 year old. He does eat arange of foods but loves going to restaurants, goes out every nightfor frozen yogurt, etc…. Everyone at the conference was pushingthe diet, and I just kept saying I can’t figure out how I’d do it.
I should mention I am also 6 months pregnant with twins!
We did start enzymes about a week ago (chewable AFP and Zyme Prime).
Big problem we have is with hand biting (his hand is SO swollen itbreaks my heart) and tons of stims(head rubbing, ear rubbing, fingerstims, etc…). He was VERY aggressive in the past but we havegotten rid of that problem.
Doesn’t have diarrhea and doesn’t seem constipated either. He goes tothe bathroom usually once a day.
This post tagged as: casein, diarrhea, enzymes
Shane Dearmond said,
Wrote on January 28, 2007 @ 5:28 am
I have heard by many to up the Zinc intake when a lot of biting orchewing is going on. Have you had his Zinc levels taken lately? I’mnot sure if that would be the answer but it’s a start?!
I couldn’t imagine going through the diet with a 7 year old eitherespecially being pregnant with twins. Older kids can be VERYaggressive and maybe even harmful. You have a tough decision aheadof you but if the diet could possibly help him then wouldn’t a fewweeks of aggression be worth the end results? Maybe you could call arespite care service and see if they will pay for someone to comeout and stay with your son to make sure he doesn’t harm you or yourbelly or just to make sure he’s taken care of and getting therapyand stuff.
I just had open heart surgery a week and 1/2 ago and a respite careservice is helping me with my son during the day. I also got a grantof $800 to pay my grandmother to stay off work and take sasha to andfrom therapy and to keep him when the respite care service isn’tavailable to be here during the week. She’ll do that for 12 weeksuntil I can pick him up again.
Shonta Labbadia said,
Wrote on January 29, 2007 @ 10:13 am
I’m brand new back into this whole diet world, too! Years ago, I had my sonMOSTLY casein-free, and we attempted the gluten-free part with not much success.So now, we’re back! My son in 9, and weighs in at a whopping 94lbs. I’m in thesame boat as you. Trying to find substitutes for all of his favorite foods,with limited success so far. He took to the Tinkyada brown rice pasta rightaway, thank God! I serve it with Del Monte canned spaghetti sauce (Chunky,garlic style) which I’m hoping is GFCF…I’m awaiting a reply from the companyon this.I bought 2 bags of the Bob’s Red Mill GF bread mix (found it in my local GrandUnion, of all places) so I figure I’ll experiment with that. He loves hisopen-faced grilled cheese sandwiches. I bought Fleischman’s Unsalted margarine,now I just have to get him some gfcf cheese. The kind he currently eats hascasein in it. I’ve also emailed another grocery store to see if they can orderthe Vegan mozzarella cheese slices from Soyco - Galaxy Foods, because accordingto their website, this variety is GFCF.Let’s see, I found Glutino frozen pizza shells in my local HFS…Will check outanother for the Enjoy Life cinnamon-raisin bagels…He didn’t try theEnviro-Kids Gorilla Munch that I bought, but my hubby and my 15-mo daughterthink they’re good!I, too, am pregnant (6.5 months) so we’re busy, too!If I find something that my Alex eats on the diet, I’ll be sure to share it!
Santina Winkelbauer said,
Wrote on January 29, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Be careful substituting for gfcf at first with things that contain soy, as somekids break it down the same way they do/did gluten and/or casein, so you’regetting the same effect (or non-effect for the diet) as when they were eatingthat stuff.
As far as spaghetti sauces, I don’t know about Del Monte, but Prego Traditionalis GFCF. Much as it doesn’t look like a problem, they can’t promise that the”flavored with meat” is GF, due to the flavorings that are purchased elsewhere.When I contacted Hunt’s recently, all their tomato products are at least GF, butwhen they say “tomato products,” they don’t include their ketchup or BBQ sauce,as both of these have vinegar.
Shonta Labbadia said,
Wrote on January 31, 2007 @ 8:06 am
Yes, it does help, thank you! It’s so hard, esp. with a 9 yo who’s extremelyfussy about what he eats.
Santina Winkelbauer said,
Wrote on February 1, 2007 @ 1:13 pm
If you want to consider doing the diet again, go to http://www.tacanow.com and click ontheir GFCF diet link. From there look for “10 weeks to the GFCF diet.” It makesit easier for the child and the parent as far as reducing the chances/severityof withdrawal and easing the shopper/cook into the system instead of cold turkeyfor both of you. Especially as if I am not mistaken you are at added risk ofextended bedrest or other things that would interfere with doing the dietbetween now and when the babies come and if others are cooking/bringing meals itwould be extra difficult to get them GFCF, maybe use the time between now andthen to read up and find local/internet sources for products and recipes. Onceyou have a routine going with the babies and the rest of the family you’ll knowif you’re ready to start the diet.
How has his functioning been since you started him on the enzymes? With somechildren, this helps reduce withdrawal if you start the diet while they’re onthem. Some use them (enzymes) along with the diet, some use them in place of it,although unless you do both at once for a while you won’t really know if thereis a difference between enzymes alone and enzymes plus diet, as some kids needboth for optimum functioning.
As far as whether your child will respond to the diet, I have to wonder when yousay he has frozen yogurt every night. Is this something he just likes or does hecrave it? How did he function when you did the casein-free part of the diet? Ifhe craves it and other foods containing dairy, this indicates to me that heprobably breaks down casein incompletely, into the compound that’s similar tomorphine. Children who break down gluten and or casein incompletely, those whohave delayed sensitivity/intolerance to one or both of these proteins, and thosewho do both all benefit greatly from this diet. Incidentally, since soy is botha common allergen/intolerance food and may break down in the same way as glutenand/or casein in our kids’ systems, be careful that in replacing the otherproteins you don’t just substitute soy, as then you won’t see a difference (orthings might be worse than before if he’s wasn’t intolerant to gluten and/orcasein but is to soy).
As far as starting the diet with a child this age, depending on his functioninglevel, you may be able to talk with him before you start him on the diet andexplain that, much as the foods taste good, they may be making it harder for hisbrain to function, so you’re going to do a trial period to see how things gowithout them. As the gluten stores may take several months to clear in a childthis age, you will probably have to say 3 months or 6 months, not just a fewweeks, and the time probably shouldn’t start till late in the 10-week process ifyou do it that way. Explain to him that you’re going to go in stages becauseit’s going to be a big change for you and for him, and this way it will beeasier to get used to.