Supplements

Although removing gluten, casein and other intolerant foods make a big difference for autistic/ASD children, many times that’s not enough. One of the gifts of Leaky Gut Syndrome is the body’s inability to properly absorb nutrition from food. Combined with other malfunctions in the body, vitamin and mineral deficiencies start to show up in the form of physical and neurological problems. Our daughter’s supplement regimen includes vitamins, minerals and digestive enzymes three times a day.

Whether it’s her sensory issues, her age or the fact I haven’t taken enough time to teach her, she still does not swallow pills so twice a day I grind anywhere from 6-8 pills, add the contents of capsules and blend the resulting Tablespoon or so of powder with a little Xylitol and enough Agave nectar to make a slurry. There are times when I feel like a sourceress concocting special potions in a little glass bowl; trying to figure out the best way to get these needed supplements into her body. The tangy, bitter flavor is not entirely masked, but she seems to take it with minimal complaint. In our house, the taking of supplements is not optional. For her, absence from these for more than a couple of days leads to a decline in temperament and cognition.

All of her supplements must also be gluten, casein and soy-free. So, what does she take and what does it do for her?













Multi-vitamin

Cod Liver Oil: This is food for the brain and helps with neural connections. Her language and processing speed improved with this.

Vitamin C: Helps support her immune system. Also helps keep her bowels regular.

B6 & Magnesium: A lot of Autistic/ASD children are low in B-Vitamins and many of these children are also diagnosed with ADHD. Our daughter is no exception. B6 and its helper, Magnesium, have been found to act as a natural form of Ritalin for these children. When I first tried this combination, it seemed to do nothing but increase her hyperactivity and give her a good dose of yeast. I even tried it with Folic Acid and Folinic Acid, which is a more broken down form of Folic Acid. (B-Vitamins often need Folic Acid for absorption.) A few tests later and it turns out she has the MTHFR (5,10 Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase) mutation.*

Folapro: This is a specially formulated form of Folic Acid for people with the MTHFR mutation. It's a form of Folic Acid that is easy for the body to absorb. With the introduction of this to her B6/Magnesium, we finally started to see improvements in attention.

B12 shot: Yes. You read that right. I also learned how to administer injections. With this we got better language, focus, and behavior. Fortunately, it’s only every 3 days.

L-Lysine: This helps with the immune system. Aids the body in processing/eliminating latent viruses.

Adrenal Cortex Extract: Mercury is quite a disruptor in our body and for our daughter, one of the myriad ways it shows is through adrenal fatigue. This glandular extract helps regulate her body’s ability to deal with stress

Manganese: Her tests showed a mild deficiency in this. I think the effects are less obvious: better bones, glucose tolerance, and stable metabolism.

Digestive Enzymes: Children with leaky guts have poor enzyme production. This helps make sure her food is getting broken down properly which helps keep yeast at bay and can also help some children tolerate previously intolerant foods.

Calcium: With the elimination of dairy comes the elimination of a good source of calcium. Calcium can be obtained through other foods but her diet is not yet varied enough.

Grapefruit Seed Extract: This helps eliminate yeast or at least keep it at bay. In our case, we’re suspecting it’s the latter. She seems to have improved focus and behavior when she’s on this. When we stop it, things seem to have a slow regression until 4-6 or so weeks later we need to pull it out again. So, we’re trying maintenance dosing to see if we can see steady improvement. Considering that B-Vitamins can increase yeast, this might be the right choice for now. I was using Biotin for maintenance, but, not only do I think she needed a higher dose, I was suspecting it to cause tummy aches, so, we’re using this for now.


Some supplements have come and gone and the ones listed above get tweaked every now and then. The addition or subtraction of a supplement is based on behaviors/problems we want to eliminate and/or changes/improvements we want to see. When we first started Biomedical I knew some of what was involved so when we got the list from the DAN!** Doctor outlining the initial supplements, I wasn’t entirely surprised, but, I was a little dismayed. My husband, although game for helping our daughter, was not impressed by the list and was in fact, a little skeptical.

Fortunately, the addition of supplements comes in stages and the improvements keep me going. Our goal is to get her body healed to the point of not requiring these. Through chelation and the use of perhaps another protocol, I believe we’ll get there.



* Though some could dispute the point with me, my simplistic take on this is that this mutation can affect the body’s ability to take up Folic Acid.
**DAN!: Defeat Autism Now! http://www.autism.com/