Nicolas story on supplements

Many of you follow our blog for years to see how Nicolas and his family are doing. Thank You for that. We have tried so many things to make him get better and life a normal life like we know it. We started with GF/CF diet and put supplements into his diet: There where probiodics, minerals, multivitamins, detox agents and many more. By one point, when we detoxed him from aluminium in his body,a he was on 20 different supplements. To have a good outcome we had to break them down over the day, so he had to take some every 30 minutes. This was a hard time and i really appreciatet the support of Nickys school back in the States. They had a great classroom nurse who just followed our instructions.
Why i am writing all of this? Well we cut back a lot, we are now only on basic supplements. For one reason it`s about me. I couldnt keep up with it. Reason #2 is finances. Buying all these very specific supplement has a huge inpact on your monthly budget. By one point we spendt around $400 per months on supplements and special products for Nickys diet.
So you want to see some huge improvement to support the idea of biomedical intervention. And there was never a doubt that we would do everything, even going bancrupt just to help our son to get better. But the huge change didn`t come...
Two years ago we cut down to just probiodics and enzymes and that was it. But after a while i saw that some things would change: The chewing on books, the drowling, the stimms and the screaming. So back to Zink for the chewing and magnesium to calm him down. And just recently i found that Nicky was dry during nights two years ago . It was so good that we made it without a diaper for an hour or so. I asked myself what it was that helped him to stay dry.
I knew Omega 3 fishoil was good, not just for him, for everybody. So i gave it a shot and got back to 1 tsp. a day and within a few days we saw a difference: Dry most nights, didn`t happen for a long time.
A month ago Nicky started to be very agitadet. He is very loud, stimmy and he screams at the busdrive again. I havent found out why but i am back in my autism books.
I thing he is coming a long way and his improovement here in switzerland is great. But its mostly because of therapies and the love he gets. For us supplements are not here to help him to loose his Dx, they are here to be able to be himself and focus on the learning as much as he can.

I am writing this during school vacation, and its a hard time, b/c Nicky is used to his school routine. He waits for his bus in the morning and can not understand the meaning of vacation time.

Have a great day and thanks for following us.
Cheers
Karin

Red beets - not really fun...but....

When i was a child red beets was a common sidedish at our table. I liked it, but just with salad dressing. Every other cooking variety and you just saw my backlights while i was running.

Just recently i was browsing about what to eat when you feel very tired and get sick a lot. And i came over red beets and the benefits are great.
Here are some numbers:

Per 100 gm beets you will get

• Vitamin A : 20 I.U.
• Thiamine : .02 mg
• Riboflavin : .05 mg
• Niacin : .4 mg
• Vitamin C : 10 mg.
• Calcium : 27 mg.
• Iron : 1.0 mg.
• Phosphorus : 43 mg.
• Fat : .1 gm.
• Carbohydrates : 9.6 gm.
• Protein : 1.6 gm.
• and only 42 Calories
  

On top of boosting your immune system during winter months red beets are also known for following benefits:

• It is believed that red beets when used eaten regularly may help against certain oxidative stress-related disorders.

• The fiber in red beets help reduced serum cholesterol by 30 to 40%.
• Beets can help in normalizing blood pressure.
• Beets helps to keep the elasticity of arteries, when consumed regularly it can help prevent varicose veins.
• The iron content of red beets, though not high but is of the finest quality that makes it a powerful cleanser and builder of blood. This is the reason why beets is very effective in treating many ailments caused by toxic environment and surrounding.
• Beet root is recommended for pregnant women because it contain folic acid that can help lower the risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects in newborn infants.
• Beet juice helps stimulate the function of liver cells and protect the liver and bile ducts.
• Beet juice is highly alkaline which makes it effective in the treatment of acidosis.
• Drinking beets regularly can help relieve constipation.
• Beet juice and carrot juice when combined is excellent in the healing gout, kidney and gall bladder problem.
• Red beets can also help in the following problems; Headaches, toothaches, dysentery, lumbago, skin problems, menstrual problems, etc.

Today we made a great combination of 6 oranges, 1/2 beet root, 1 Carrot, 1 apple and the kids did`nt even taste the beets in it. You can do the same btw with broccoli or spinach, they don`t taste the veggies in the juice :)

Say CHEESE

About cheese....there is a lot to say.... Let`s start where i started: Basic, really basic, didn`t touch too much of soft cheese like Brie, and god forbit sheeps cheese. I ate Emmentaler cheese and Parmesano on top of my pasta, that was pretty much it...till...
That all changed when we moved to Cheese country. My first addiction was for Gruyère cheese, you can buy it at different ages and its flavour changes with age. I like the sligtly salty taste. Gimme a piece of Gruyère and some bread and my meal is made.
Some change i thought i would never make in taste came up with sheeps cheese. I am not a Sheep lover when it comes to meat, i don`t like the sheep taste. So i never really touched sheeps cheese. But recently i come closer to love it. With garlic, pure, or some Cranberrys. Its a great taste and the best thing, Nicky can eat it too, no cows milk !!!
Another "rule" i had before was "if it stinks, i don`t eat". That has changed too, i am going to the cheese shop now and try different cheeses and i am always taking a stinky one too. They are so great in taste, melting in your mouth ...mmmhhh...very yummy.
And if you add a great bottle of wine, more a milder one ...it rounds a great evening up.

More to come from cheese country :) Have a "cheesy" day.

Grüezi from cheese country

It has been way too long since i posted. Today I want to write about our new home country Switzerland, the country I fell in love instantly and finally feel like I arrived in my life.

It will be a year in February that we moved from Germany to Switzerland, to this tiny village just outside from Basel; where you can find probably more cows and sheep around you then people. Where life is slow and the air is filled with silence and the taste of nature; and where people count vine, chocolate and cheese as basic foods.

I have to say that I discovered my love for cows J Not that I want one, but I cannot pass by and not look at them. The different kinds and the fact that they spend most of the year outside up the hills gives you the good feeling of being the closest to nature you can get.

Today I went horseback riding and it was so beautiful. I went all the way up on the hills overlooking our valley. I stopped there and it was the feeling of freedom you only can get on the back of a horse. The view of little farms, villages, busy farmers on the fields, cows and sheep are something I wish I could share with you, it’s indescribable.

I want to write a little more about food and wine within the next days, so stay tuned.

Chai Latte - it can be REALLY healthy...

It has been too long since i posted, and a lot has happened with Nicky and the rest of the family. Hopefully i will find the time to post more in the next weeks.
I just wanted to share a super-dooper recipe about a chai latte i am making myself for a few days now. Its all natural incrediences and great if you want to loose a few pounds and feel full of energy. Here it comes: Cook 1 1/2 liters water and brew the following incrediences for 6 minutes:


5 slices of fresh ginger
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
5 cloves
1/4 tsp. cardamom grounded

After 6 minutes add 1 Tbsp. green tea and let it sit for another 4 minutes. DONE!

Add milk and honey for a great taste. You can drink it cold or hot.

I love the taste of cinnamon and cardamom. Ginger is GREAT for your health, so is green tea.
Hope you enjoy it like i do :)

Wrong diagnosis?

It has been a long time since I posted and a lot happened. First, we moved to Switzerland, and even it was a smooth move it was some hard work to get our stuff into a house only the half size than what we had before. But we love our new (own!) house very much, the surrounding is so beautiful. The hills named Jura are right in front of our door and just lovely. The main issue is the language Swiss German! Its so hard to understand even it is German, its totally different. But slowly we are getting to know our new country and we loved it from the beginning.

There where some changes with Nicky right after we moved it. He was very badly constipated for over a week. We know he is reacting with constipation to big changes, he always did. This time it was very bad and he was in so much pain. The whole thing lasted till I saw a doctor two weeks ago. I was driven by the idea to finally fix that problem. And not to let any doctor to only look at the autism plate and not going any further. B/c that what was happening the last eight years. I was just to scarred now that the insides from Nicky are totally hurt.
So by accident I found this pediatrician who is also a Professor and had some publications about Celiac disease. And he has his practice just 15 minutes from our house. When I called him he told me that he is booked out completely but he would love to see us the following Saturday morning. He told me right away he can not help us with autism, but with the constipation he can. GREAT! That sounded like my kind of doctor.
The following morning we saw him. And he was so different from all the other doctors we saw (and there are many trust me!). He didn't want to hear Nickys history, he just looked at him, took some measurements. He also consulted another doctor who is a neurologist. Then he sat down with me and told me a plan about the constipation. He also told me that Nicky has the wrong diagnosis but he has to read a bit more. Then he send us home with a 9-day-kit to take care of the constipation.
The cramping where gone within 24 hours, Nicky was happy again and so was the rest of the family.
We just saw the Doctor last week and he read ALL paperwork I brought him over. That a foot high pile of paper. He told me he is pretty sure Nicky has a condition called Rubinstein-Tabi syndrome . He told me its a genetically condition and we can run a test. Unfortunately no health insurance is covering and its about 2700 USD if you still want to run it. I said no thanks to the test, b/c it doesn't make a difference in his therapies and there is no cure.
After so many years how can it be nobody ever looked into this condition and this one doctor just took the time to look at my son and see it?? The autism diagnosis comes with the Rubinstein-Tabi dx, it very often does, so does the constipation part. It all fits. I am glad I found this doctor, he takes his time and he told me right at our first meeting. I like that.
I asked the doc if we should should continue with the gf/cf diet and the vitamins. He said I should skip glutenfree and see if there are any changes.
Since this weekend Nicky is eating his first gluten since 2006. So far he is alright but we know it can change soon and then we know he is better off then with.
I keep you posted, this whole thing is spinning in my head, did we go the wrong path? I don't know, but I know we always tried the best for Nicky and we will continue to do so!
Happy Easter!

Are you really cleaning?

Just a short post about cleaning. When you think you clean and desinfect remember following:

The active ingredient in most antibacterial products TRICLOSAN not only kills bacteria it also has been shown to kill human cells.

Lysol and other products that makes you feel safe about bacteria are really not good, especially not on your kitchen counters, tables and childrens toys.
Also the use of bleach. Already the smell makes me pass out (always a good sign from your body something is not right!). There is no bleach available in europe, b/c of health issues!
Next time try all natural remendies like Vinegar (kills germs, bacteria and is GREAT on mold) and Lemon juice.

Here in europe most people clean now with vinegar. You can find 100s of cleaners just made our of simple soap and vinegar. It also smells great.

Happy spring cleaning.

Update on the teeth grinding and zinc supplementation

This is a short update on the teeth grinding (see the post from last week!):
Since monday morning we supplement with zinc again. I didn't expect to see a change so fast but by yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon i saw much less teeth grinding with Nicky. So i guess it worked, hurray!

Teeth grinding and the Zinc supplementation

For the last week Nicky does this very bad teeth grinding. You know the kind where you get the goose bumps and you just have to cover your ears because he makes this grinding sound. So i wonder where it comes from out of the sudden. I know that something is going on with him when his behavior changes like that. We have tippy toe walking when there is yeast overgrowth. We have magnesium missing when he eats paper and every book. We have eye rolling, itchy skin and hand flapping also for yeast overgrowth. I know my Nicky buddy, after four hears on diets and biomedical treatments I can tell right away. It's like a switch you can turn on and off.

We had to get him off zinc b/c the brand we used (Kirkman, yes the moms with kids on the spectrum all know :)) had too high amounts of antimony in it. Within two days off zinc he started the grinding and i had to wonder if his zinclevels are really so low that he reacts like that.

So I ordered another brand i got recommended by my fantastic Yahoo Group in the UK (thanks ladies), it came in today. I have to wait another two days to find out if the zinc is getting rid of the grinding. Wait b/c on weekends we do heavy metal chelation and you don't give good metals during rounds.

But I just know him, he will be fine by mid of next week.

I will keep you posted! Have a great weekend

Karin

Chin up!

All moms with kids on the spectrum come to the point where they see no light on the end of the tunnel. Hope is gone and you sit in the corner and cry your eyes out. Everything seems so impossible to do. You hope to get your child better all year long and here you are again: The end! And yet - NO!
After all, he is your child, you love him, he is a tough boy and he has his will. It's almost impossible to get through to him, but when you do, you know it was all worth it. The smirkes he gives you instead of saying, "I love you". The face he has when he knows he is in trouble and you can not longer be mad with him and instead you squeeze him tight and pray that some miracle will happen soon.
Days are hard most of the time, it is also hard on your marriage and the siblings too. But you pull it together, b/c you know you get the sunshine days too.

To all moms (and dads too) out there who fight this horror every day, i know how you feel. You do a great job and keep going.
To a miracle year 2010. It's going to be our year and i will fight every minute for it.
Love to you all!

Gesundheit!

I am happy to say that both boys have been healthy so far this winter season. Both in Nickys school and Philips kindergarten half the classes are missing b/c of flu, cold and even some scarlet fever. There are some rules in our house they seem to work :

• Always wash your hands right away when you come home. Wash them as long as you sing the ABC-song.
• If you are in a public area, like airport or train, take some desinfection wipes with you to use after washing your hands
  

• Drink your orange juice in the morning

• Take your gummy-bear vitamins (i don't have to push them to that rule :) )
  

• Eat your vegetables

• Wear a hat if temps drop under 45
  

• If you are cold, take a warm bath right away
  

With the first sign of a cough, sore throath or runny nose i try to get rid of it right away. Here are some first helpers with the sign of a cold:

Runny nose: Inhale steam; even better add a little menthol.
Drink hot elderberry juice for cough and sore throat.
Drink lots of fluids, f.e. teas to losen the mucus.
Take Vitamin C and Zink, even better, eat foods with this vitamins: Citrus fruits, red peppers, Kiwi, Sunflowerbread, Turkey, Cashews, Gouda-Cheese...

Bless You - Gesundheit!

Amazing healing

I have been reading a lot about homöopathic treatment and overall natural healing. I use it more and more with me and my family. Some things work, some not. If it comes to treating a cold, cough, sneezy nose and sore throath most of the treatments help.
For example for Philips cough (and he catches it like that) i use a home remmedy with onions. Just cut it in pieces, put it in a jar. Then 2-3 Tablespoons of honey over the onions, finished. Drink 1-2 teaspoons of the honey, you don't have to eat the onions :)
Actually Philip loves it, and he knows it helps him. It helps very good at night, when the cough sits deep. Try it, it's quickly made and inexpensive. And: No meds where you always feel a little guilty to give it.
I also read about the 27 different tissue salt, invented by Dr. Schüssler. He believed this natural salts are the only things we need . I bought them all (they are very inexpensive) and try them with the whole family. The great thing with this salts like all homöopathic treatments: There are no side effects, the doses are so little.
So i tried them with fever, cough, allergy. Last weekend i got a very bad lumbargo while i tried to lift Nicky in the Radio Flyer for Trick or Treating.
It was so bad i couldn't move at all and my husband had to lift me up from the couch saturday night.
I took three different salts, No. 3, 7 and 9. Every hour for 4 hours. When i got up the next morning from bed i already felt better, so i kept going with the salts and by afternoon i couldn't feel almost any pain any longer. It amazed me.
Usally if you have this kind of pain you get a shot or you take pain killers. I guess i found my remmedy for my back.
Try it, it's worth a shot!

LEAD and autism

I just got back Nickys last blood and urine lab results. Every half a year we usually test him for yeast and missing nutrials. It always gives us a view what his body can process and what's missing.
Usally the test comes up with lots of yeast problems, but also Nicky’s problems with getting rid of toxins.
When is saw our DAN two weeks ago i decided on making a heavy metal test, b/c i felt something else is going on with Nick and i wanted to find out.
So we made the test which means Nicky has to take a capsule of DMSA, that kind of sucks the toxins out of his body and shows it in an urin sample we collect for the rest of the day.
The test before we gave the capsule showed already lead levels twice as high as safe.
The result of the second test, where all urine gets collected after the capsule, showed (are you sitting?) 13 times higher than they say its safe.
WOW!
I am very proud and happy that after 5 years doing biomedical intervention i just know there is something going on with him.
BUT, I am sad that two years after doing chelation we are back on the heavy metal issue. Even I keep every possible toxins away from him, Nicky’s body has not the ability to detoxify himself. And let’s face it: It's everywhere, every day. Your air, your water, your food, the clothes you just wear.
For us moms with kids on the spectrum, we just have to detox them with meds and supplements and just hope the pollution of our world will get less.
Writing this my beautiful boy is sitting in the living room shaking his head, spinning wheels and screaming out of his lungs......
1 in 91 children is diagnosed with autism, 1 in 58 boys (!!!)......

Swine flu vaccination

Lately there have been a lot of people asking my opinion on the swine flu vaccination. Most of you know my standing on this controversy. It's a straigt NO. There are different reasons:

• One: I have a child who got probably autism by day one when he received his Hep.B. shot at the hospital


• Two: This swine flu vaccination has not been testet long enough in my opinion, if you read about cervical cancer vaccination there has been some discussion lately.


• Three( And this is the most important part of it!): Both companies who produce the serum for swine flu vaccination add a preservative called Thimerosal . Most of you never heared from it, but every mother with a child on the autism spectrum is at war with this preservative. It's simple said mercury.

Side effects of this vaccination are rarely known, b/c it's so new, no clinical studies have been made!

So see youself as a ginnie pig when you go get your shot. Your doctor will probably ask you to call in if you feel any side effects accouring. YOU are the STUDY!

Writing this makes me really mad, and i know how hard it is to watch the news in the United States and don't get sucked into the hype about vaccinations.

Think about it and decide wisly. Have a healty flu season!

Obama Announces Breaking News: $92 Million in Stimulus Funds for Autism Research

I am sitting in tears while i am writing this. Finally the government is doing more than looking the other way. I just hope they listen to us parents too in the future.

Please read along...

President Barack Obama announced a plan on Wednesday to spend $5 billion on medical and scientific research, medical supplies and upgrading laboratory capacity, as part of an overall $100 billion Recovery Act investment in science and technology. Importantly, Obama's announcement also included a commitment to funding $92 million into autism research. In his speech to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Obama said “And finally, we'll also provide the largest-ever infusion of funding into autism research. Across the country, grant recipients will have the opportunity to study genetic and environmental factors of a disease that now touches more than one in every 150 children. What we learn will hopefully lead to greater understanding, early interventions, more effective treatments and therapies to help these children live their lives and achieve their fullest potential, which is extraordinary.”

Autism Speaks played a vital role lobbying NIH for $100 million of the economic stimulus package.

View the full speech on the White House website.

Read a press release on the full stimulus package announced here

All natural food delivery and getting ready for fluseason

One of my favourite days of the weeks are absolutly tuesdays. Every week we get a box full with natural foods delivered by a natural food store. It's full with fresh veggies and fruits. Everything looks so yummy. Even Philip get's now all excited when the delivery man rings on the door. With fluseason just around the corner i want to "drug" my kids with as much possible vitamins as possible.

It starts in the morning with fresh squeezed orange juice. It goes trough the day with different fruits and veggies for supper. I mix some seabuck thorn juice in their applejuice to raise the vitamin C level in them.

I for myself drink a glass of vegetable juice very day. It's full with carrots, red beet, sauerkraut, spinach, bellpepper, cucumbers and more stuff. Sounds yummy, hum? I just put some salt and pepper ontop and it's not as bad as you think. It counts as a meal instead of lunch and fills me the whole afternoon.

I am not a fan of swineflu-vacinations, b/c i think it's a big hype and nobody knows of late side effects. So this is how we prepare for the winter. I also can see a huge difference in philip beeing more calm and concentrated.

Try it, it's fun and if your kids help you prepare fruit salad they like it even more.

First week without daddy

The first week without wolfgang comes to an end. It was ok, but we miss him dearly. Especially philip askes about him all the time. Yesterday he had his daddy on speakerphone and played in his room with Lego while talking to him. It was for him important to share everything what he was doing right there with wolfgang.
I was very busy this week: I checked out different schools around Basel. I also contacted a new organisation that helps parents of preschool-kids with autism to find the right schools and therapies.
People in switzerland seem very nice and helpful so far and i am looking forward to go with wolfgang sometimes within the next weeks.
And i started running again. It was a good feeling to "be back". I ran around our lake on tuesday, with is about 4K. Tonight i will run my first roadrace. It's in Wetzlar and called the bridge-race. I will run for Nickys school and it's going to be fun. Hopefully the rain will stop while i am on the road. Keep your fingers crossed that i will make it to finish-line before they all leave :)

The smell of hay

This is a great summer, at least august is hot and feels like summer. Since the warm and hot days started, the farmers are out on the fields to get the harvest in as long as it isn't raining.
So for the last two weeks you see tractors everywhere, they get the wheat crop in and leave the hay on the fields. Later they make big balls of straw to keep it for their animals.
They also harvest the grassfields and dry the grass to hay. And this is where my sensitive nose comes in.
I love the smell of harvest, of hay, the busy farmers. It reminds me of my childhood and that we played all summer outside.
Here in germany, farmland is between villages and citys, cows and horses are everywhere. It's beautyful for me. Seeing my children growing up in this peaceful landscape, where field meets forest and forest meets village is a very good thing for them. It makes you appreciate the simple things in life, it shows you how beautyful the world can smell if you just open your nose :) Train your senses and taste the world.
Cheers!

Light on the end of the tunnel

The last months where hard on our family. A lot happened i don't want to explain here, but i think it was the hardest we ever experienced except finding out about nickys dx of autism.
Well since i am a positive person i always knew, the rocky way will have an end.
Wolfgang will start a new and exciting job september 1st in basel, switzerland. That means we will move within the nex half year.
Schools in switzerland are much better for Nicky then the one in germany. They offer includet therapies, sometimes even ABA. We have to find that perfect school.
Since switzerland has french, german, italian and english as languages, this will be the perfect opportunity for Philip to eather go to a german-english school or learn frech. Holy cow, i guess i have to learn with him!
This is exciting, i love to move. But i fear Philip beeing so sad of leaving his friends, especially Kim, his little cute girlfriend. I will miss our friends Andrea and Jens, they grew so close to our hearts. But i know we will find friends and we will just have a big circle of friends around the globe!

Everything is happening for a reason, and since we where never really happy with nickys school and Philip's daycare i see that as the reason. There is more to offer for our kids!
I keep you updated.

FDA Changes Tylenol Warnings But Doesn’t Tell You How to Take it Safely

FDA changes Tylenol warnings but doen't tell you how to take it safely:

Shared via AddThis