Eating paper

We finished the second week without any supplements. Everything is good. But i see some bad behaviour slowly coming up again.

One is eating paper (also called PICA) and chewing on everything like crazy. I also see an increase in head stimms during play. Nicky also chews a lot on his clothes again.

I know that it can be a high blood level of lead, it also can be that his body has iron-deficiency anaemia or that zinc is missing.

So, because we do not eat any more fish any longer (full with lead!) and Germans haven't used lead in ages in their houses, we can ignore the lead problem for now (we also had no high lead levels in the last test anyway!).

And when it comes to iron, it was not in Nicky's supplement program. So i guess it really is zinc that's missing.

So i hope that the next issue of InStyle magazine will be left for mom and not for the mouthing Mr. Nick.

Sundays, sundays

We had some very good days with good sleep. Nicky ate very good and no bath room issues. On Saturday we went to the city of Wetzlar, where we spend the day with Anna. It was very peaceful and Nicky kept walking with us up and down the hills of the city. We even sat down in a street cafe for half an hour. Nicky was just very good. Even the drive in the car was good.

But then came Sunday. And just like last Sunday Nicky was a different person. He was loud, restless, uncooperative. We had to give him Benadryl again. But that didn't do the trick right away for him. After 3 more hours he finally calmed down and even fell asleep on the couch for a nap.

So what is going on with him? Is it something he eats or does on Saturdays that pushes him over the edge on Sunday?

Well my birthday is next Sunday, i just want my love bug Nicky feeling good.

Wednesday march 11th and Thursday 12th

The last days where uneventful. Nicky was mostly calm and contend. On Wednesday he had issues with falling asleep and he woke up a couple times during the night so w. had to stay with him the whole night. I think the pomegranate juice made him hyper, i will give this another try in a week. Pomegranate juice would be so great for him.
Yesterday he fell asleep on the couch at 7pm and slept through the night without once waking up.
We absolutely will go back to supplements, but we will watch it closely.

Today our friend Anna from the US is visiting us for the weekend. She is in Denmark for a semester right now. We are all very excited. We will have some "Wiener Schnitzel" tonight. Everybody loves them and they are SO typical for Germany. Tomorrow we will visit Wetzlar and Sunday Frankfurt. Philip is jumping in circles right now, he can't wait.

March 10th, first day "Without"

Just a short update like promised: This is the first day without supplements and herbal teas. Nicky did good in therapy session, no stimming, no craziness, no loud noises, good visit on the potty ;O) . He fell asleep without melatonin and through the night.

Starting over

Once in a while we do a "Starting over" with supplements and treatments for Nicky. It gives us answers what really helps him and what not and especially what makes him crazy and stimmy. This is the perfect timing right now: We got the test results back last week (see post) where we saw some improvements and some things we have to fix, like the uric acid problem.
We had a terrible weekend with Nicky and couldn't figure it out why. He was loud, unhappy, restless and just kept us on our feet for hours. On Sunday noon, i finally gave him some Benadryl. It was the only thing i knew would help him. And it did, he finally sat down for two hours before he started all over again.
It brakes your heart, and the worse is, there is NO one out there who can help you. It really could be that he is in pain, but there is no way to figure it out. Last night he woke up, sweating, screaming, and i almost heart an "Aua" . It can be everything, just a nightmare, his stomach, his liver, his kidneys, it could be life threatening.
But we have, like almost all parents with kids on the spectrum, given up to talk to pediatricians and neurologist about test results. They don't give it a look, i saw it last week at an appointment in a children's hospital. The doctor was really nice and good, very sensitive and helpful, but he doesn't care about biomedical stuff.

Well anyway, today we start with "No Supplements at all" and i will use this blog as a dairy on his behaviour. I will especially look into sleeping patterns, behavior (stimming, craziness), constipation problems and how therapy sessions work.
See ya later!

Is it GOUT????

We got Nicky's last Urine-Blood-Stool-Test back. We do this once-twice a year to see where he has deficits in different areas: Liver, Fatty acids, Vitamins, Gluthation and especially yeast issues. I will tell you more in a posting later this week. But i just came over something interesting. since we make this tests for the last four years, Nicky always had problems with uric acid and also citric acid. So our new DAN here in Germany gave us some meds to lower the uric acid. After half a year we made the test again in January '09. I was sure we are in a better place now and was full of hope.But not so! The test came back with uric acid levels still elevated, better then in august, but still very elevated. So??? You think you have it under control and then it just hits you! Can it be gout? Is it a dietary issue after all? Nicky always had big problems with gross motor skills, he had three times a hip infection in his life (ever had one or know one? No? Same here, till our son came along!). His tests always came back with elevated uric acid. Does that makes sense? YES if you read about GOUT. There is a recommendation in diet:

Here is a partial list of foods high in purines, which have the highest concentration of purines and should be avoided by those who are prone to gout or are already suffering from it.
Beef * Pork * Bacon * Lamb * Seafood * Foods that are made with a significant amount of yeast such as beer and bread * Alcoholic beverages While these foods high purine levels can also aggravate symptoms of gout, they can sometimes be enjoyed in moderation by those who usually follow a low purine diet.
Asparagus * Cauliflower * Mushrooms * Peas * Spinach * Whole-grain breads and cereals * White poultry meats, such as chicken, duck and turkey * Kidney and lima beans.
And finally, here are some foods that are safe to include in a low purine diet, though they should not comprise the entirety of your eating plan.
Green vegetables and tomatoes * Fruits and fruit juices * Breads that do not use yeast (check the kosher section or a health food store) * Nuts * Milk and milk products, such as butter and cheese * Chocolate * Coffee and tea.
If you suffer from gout or have a family predisposition to the disease, it is a good idea to steer clear of low carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins and Protein Power diets. Their recommendation to eat large amounts of foods high purines such as meats and dark vegetables is almost certain to cause problems in those predisposed to gout.

AHA, low carb diet is not good if you suffer from high uric acid. But that's what SCD is all about, isn't it? So i have to ask myself what do i want to treat? His uric acid problem and with it probably joint pain on every step he makes? Or constipation, which comes back when we go back to Carbs.
Stay posted, i haven't figured it out, i am still in shock and denial.