confused and disheartened | Autism PDD

I second Jenni's comment about looking at yeast. GFCF helped my son make better BM's, but unless we are giving probiotics and watching sugar intake, there's still a spaciness problem.

I don't know if GFCF helps my son be less autistic, but it helps him form his BM's well, no question, and that's great.

Hi Catherine

Our son is not on the gf/cf diet
and we are using enzymes instead
Probiotics and Zinc are also important for digestion

for a natural approach to yeast
you might consider Pau D'Arco and Olive Leaf Extract

regards
forker

Both of my kids were good responders to the diet, but I do know kids who don't need to be on the diet (or were not responders to it). The diet is usually only beneficial if the child has leaky gut syndrome.

If you you put him back to his regular diet and notice a regression...Something you might consider, especially for your son with the loose stools is if he has an intolerance to something else. Serouissi's book and even Lisa Lewis's books talk about how when gluten and dairy are removed from the diet, other intolerances become noticed because they are not hidden by the gluten or dairy's effects on the body. One of the big intolerances is soy products because soy protien does resemble gluten and dairy alot, but it is not identical. So that is something to consider.

Something else you should look into is digestive enzymes and eveb probiotics (for yeast overgrowth).

For more info on enzymes (and even yeast) you can go to www.enzymestuff.com.

I've had my twins on the GFCF diet for 3 months now with no positive changes noticed. Please don't tell me they have to be on it longer because all I hear about with this diet is the wonderful, immediate changes. I have noticed that one sons' BMs became very dark and mushy and he would occassionally complain of "owee tummy" then have a big poop. This didn't happen before the diet that I can remember. Neither had any gut problems; I started the diet to see if it would help with behaviours. Nothing miraculous or even slightly. I read that for the blood test, they have to be on a regular diet (ie with gluten and casein) so we started back this week. My question is, does anyone have a child on the spectrum or know of one who DOESN'T need the GFCF diet or any other special diet? How can you tell (if there are no gut problems) if improvements are due to the diet and not just the therapies (ABA, OT, ST) they're involved in?

Catharine