How to start the diet
I have finally made up my mind to start my son on thisdiet. I just don’t know where to start. I havelooked at several of your messages. My son doesn’tdrink milk, nor does he eat any dairy products. It’sjust because he’s a picky eater. I saw the materialthat I can buy, GFCF Diet Packet(including a shoppinglist), cookbook, video. What do you all suggest. Iam receiving no help from my ped., she said shewouldn’t recommend, but gave no suggestions. So I’mon my own. Oh yeah, and have changed his doctor. Myson is 3, was diagnosed as mildly autistic Jan. 27thof this year. Since then I have received no help fromanyone. I called all the people I was told to callthat would start the ball to rolling, no response.After I got tired of calling, I set up appointments toget him in speech therapy, and occupational therapy,but that is it. My son doesn’t eat any veggies. Theformer doctor said that was normal for a child his age(to be picky). I need to no what supplements to puthim on. He wakes up at night with (they said) nightterrors. My husband and I take turns going into hisroom until its over. Sometimes he eats and the fooddoesn’t digest, he may vomit hours later and you cantell exactly what it is. I have a 10 month old baby,and I am a stay at home mom. I am totally sleepdeprived. I have a good support system. Please help. Tell me how to start. Do I order some of thismaterial, or what?
This post tagged as: gfcf products, speech therapy, autistic
Jackeline Eustache said,
Wrote on February 20, 2007 @ 9:08 am
We recently started also. Go to http://www.gfcfdiet.com for info on what hecan eat - it lists name brand foods that fit the diet.We also use supplements from http://www.kirkmanlabs.com - Super Nu Thera forvitamins, Enzyme Compete PPD-IV for digestion, DMG, etc.Its tough there is so much info to sift thru without knowing exactlywhat will work. You might also look at http://www.greatplainslaboratory.comfor info on what tests are recommended and what they will tell you.Its hard, but hopefully it will be worth it.
Chuck Betzer said,
Wrote on February 21, 2007 @ 12:01 am
The GFCF Diet Packet you mention is the one from http://www.GFCFdiet.com(right?) That is a great help to get you started. If your boydoesn’t eat any milk products you are already on your way!!! Soundslike he definitely has digestive problems - throwing up undigestedfoods is a sign. Start looking at what he likes to eat and try tofigure out GFCF substitutes for each item. What we did was use upwhat we had and slowly replace it with GFCF stuff. It took a while(like maybe 2 months) but eventually we were pretty sure we were100% GFCF. Then we spent the next 6 months making mistakes. Notnoticing whey or something like it in an ingredient list, assumingthat we could get him bacon and eggs and hashbrowns from a diner -only to watch them use the same utensils to flip pancakes and frenchtoast AND the bacon and eggs and hashbrowns. We also discovered thatmy son switched from drinkig gallons of cow’s milk a day to drinkinggallons of soy milk a day. We then switched to rice and potato milk.(Then his persistant eczema finally cleared up).
You can do this - especially if you have a good support system inplace and that those folks know how important this is.
Work on the diet first and then think about supps. Try not to doeverything all at once, since you want to make sure the supps areworth the money.
Great books for reference - Lisa Lewis - Special Diets for SpecialKids and Karyn Seroussi - Unravelling the Mystery of Autism and PDD.If you don’t already have these, get them.
This list will be a great help too.
Take it slow - you may see some regression and withdrawal symptomswhen you remove the gluten, but this is a good sign.
Make sure you are doing this 100% (New toaster for GFCF stuff, don’tmake a regular PB&J sandwich putting the knive back in the jar aftereach spread and then think the PB&J is still GFCF - it is nowcontaminated) Also, Playdoh - make your own or buy Crayola ModelMagic. Watch for shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent, anddishwashing liquid.
Give yourself 6 months to make sure you are 100% - I know that somefolks say 3 months, but that is not enough time and you are sure tomake mistakes - I still make mistakes and I have been doing this for3 years.
Hang in there and give this a try.
Lettie Trapp said,
Wrote on February 22, 2007 @ 3:40 am
Where would I find the Carlson’s fish oil with lemon flavor.
Emery Panzarella said,
Wrote on February 23, 2007 @ 10:44 am
I saw it at Whole Foods when in Madison, WI. I ordered mine fromwww.mercola.com (he has a great website, by the way).
Melida Yadon said,
Wrote on February 24, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
http://tacanow.com/gfcf_diet_10_weeks.htmGreat way to start GFCF diet.
Candy Hickel said,
Wrote on February 25, 2007 @ 4:43 am
My son just turned five and wasrecently diagnosed mildly autistic (and ADHD). I got no support from family ordoctor (who’s idea of “help” was to put my child on ritalin). My child had aproblem with waking up at night too… 4-8 times a night. He seemed to “grow outof it” around age 4… but still wakes up occassionally once or twice a night.
There are books that are good to read, Karyn Seroussi’s book “Unraveling theMysteries of Autism and PDD”, and Lisa Lewis’s “Special Diets for Special Kids”(the original… there is a I and II). That is a really good one, for not onlyis it a cookbook, the first part talks about her story, various types of”disorders” that are helped with different dietary intervention, etc.
My own son is currently gluten free, casein free, soy free, and lowphenol/salicylates. We started out taking away all casein (butter, milk, yogurt,you’d not believe how much stuff has dairy in it… even some crackers). Ididn’t really seem to see much improvement. After a few weeks (and in the meantime, I did a lot of work checking out health food stores to find things that mychild could eat to replace what he could no longer eat), we went gluten free.About the same time, I heard that children with hyper problems tend to haveproblems with soy, so very shortly after we went gf/cf, we went soy free aswell. (incidentally, my son doesn’t eat veggies or meat either, but has startedeating carrots just last week, and baked chicken a few weeks prior).
There was very minimal improvement. We put my son on these “Yummi BearVitamins”, DMG, and a cacium magnesium supplement daily. Finally, after learningthat phenol/salicylates were usually linked with ADD and ADHD, we have removedas much as possible, keeping it down to a minimum. The progress has been slow.But, there has been progress. New words here and there… putting togethersentences on his own; not just parrotting back a phrase he picked up fromsomeone. Less hyperness, and he does seem to be sleeping better.
I know someone can offer suggestions of different things to remove or add tohelp your child sleep better. We haven’t tried any of those since he doesn’treally have the “wake up several times a night” problem anymore. I hope thisdiet really helps your son, either a fast improvement, or a slow improvement,it’s still improvement! Hang in there… we are all here to support each other,answer questions, and help however we can. BTW, where do you live, and maybesomeone here can get you hooked you with some local programs to help you andyour son.
Loyd Cashmore said,
Wrote on February 26, 2007 @ 6:27 am
If you have three kids who will be eating at the same time, it just maybe easier to keep them all on the diet. Truly, feeding one that way andfeeding three is not that different. Keeps the chaos down during mealpreparation! Ikeep all family meals GFCF (and we are also soy, corn syrup, and”artificials” free) just so I won’t go nuts trying to remember who eats what! When I maketoast, I do let them have the bread they prefer, and the margarine or butterthey can have, but for family meals, we all eat the same.
For the most part (and I can’t think of any exceptions offhand, unlesssalicylates or some other things are also a problem) juice is fine. And you canfillup your child with things like GF cereals, crackers, and “milkshakes” madefrom all types of milk. At least for my kids, any milk is fine in milkshakes,because all they taste is the nut butter or the frozen banana, or whatever elseI’m using. I can hide powdered nutritional supplements in their milkshakes,too, which is nice.
You will most likely find your son trying more new foods as time goes on.Most of us here, from what I’ve read from other people, would say not to try toreplace a beloved food right away, but to keep trying delicious new snacks andother foods he might accept. For example, if he liked mac&cheese, don’t tryright away to give him a GFCF version because it’s NOT “his” mac&cheese, and hemay not accept it. But try 6 months from now, and he will likely gobble itright up!
Try and find lots of GFCF goodies to tempt him, like soy or rice “ice cream”,various GFCF chips, cookies, bars, and cereals. This might help withcompliance in the early stages. Then you can slowly introduce healthier foods astimegoes on. Whether or not to go “cold turkey”, you’ll have to listen to yourdoctor, your child, and your instincts as a parent. The website http://www.tacanow.comhas a plan to ease into the diet. Some families just want to see fast resultsbecause their kids are having lots of problems, and they choose to go coldturkey.
I went cold turkey for myself and my daughter, but am slowly removing thenon-diet foods from the house for everyone else, so eventually this house willberelatively “clean” and I won’t have to think about what my daughter isgetting into. I know there will always be non-diet foods here, because I havefamilymembers who will NOT allow their special foods to go out the door! But I willkeep them away from the main areas of food storage.
Emery Panzarella said,
Wrote on February 27, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
I am going to take the conservative approach. Get a GOODmultivitamin supplement and some fish oil (I love Carlson’s fish oilwith lemon flavor). If your son is someone who can taste meds inanything, go for the flavorless fish oil capsules and prick themwith a pin to squirt out the liquid (TwinLabs is a good brand,too). The fish oil contains the Omega 3 essential fatty acids whichare critical to brain development and overall health.
Then, remove the gluten. Try TACA (talk about curing autism). Iwas last able to get to it this way:http://laurynhb.tripod.com/jeffwelcome.html
I think they have great information in a very understandableformat. For diet info, just click on GFCF diet on their home page.
I have heard good AND bad things about that starter packet. If youare tight with money, I’d just skip it. Use the money tobuy “Special Diets for Special Kids I” by Lisa Lewis (that is thefirst edition). It contains a perfect intro section plus some easyrecipes. Money very well spent. You can get it at Barnes andNoble, Border’s Books and Amazon.com
Good luck to you. It sounds like your child has food relatedissues. I am sure you will be able to find some relief and supportfrom the parent’s here.
You can also take a different approach: buy enzymes and skip thediet. If that appeals to you, check out enzymesandautism (anotherYahoo group). I will probably catch heat here for suggesting thisoption but many people seem to have successfully gone that route.It, too, is time consuming and confusing. Often they end upremoving foods that enzymes cannot touch (ie; real food allergies).Houston Enzymes are great. http://www.hnii.com
Well, that is enough for now. I am sorry your county healthdepartment can’t get it together to help you. Perhaps you couldgive your city name and someone out here can help you wade throughthe garbage.
If you can afford it, shopping on the web is a great way to get somegfcf foods. Hopefully, you have a good organic/natural foodsgrocery store near-by, too.
Forgot to add this: you should have a good calcium supplement tocombat the lack of drinking milk. Are you using one now? Make sureit is casein/gluten free!
Barney Mcfadin said,
Wrote on February 27, 2007 @ 9:16 pm
I’m not too experienced but as for the milk, I switched my son thissummer then a few days ago to the diet and gave him Soy chocolate milkand he LOVES it. He begs for it all day. Maybe you can try that?Good luck, my son had the same diet as yours and I can’t imagine whatI’m going to give him. Mine has allergies to egg, yeast, and peanutstoo!!