Guest guest Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 Amnesty, Elevated ammonia is often used to diagnose inborn errors of metabolism, which can be common in children with global delays. It almost always signifies liver dysfunction, as the hepatic urea cycle is the major route for disposal of waste nitrogen from amino acid metabolism. Mitochondrial dysfunction may impair urea production, preventing excretion of waste nitrogen, and ammonia builds up. The central nervous system is very sensitive to the toxic effects of ammonia, often causing problems with neurotransmission and the synthesis of GABA and glutamine. > This is sort of OT, but I thought someone here might know something > about this (? Kassi?) > A friend of mine has an almost 3 year old daughter with global delays, > no known dx yet. They are doing a million tests, and so far one of the > things they have found is elevated levels of ammonia in her blood. > Unfortunately, they have not been able to tell my friend (or at least, > they DIDN'T tell her) what that means, except that it will lower her > ability to fight off illness. > Anyone know anything about it? > Thanks! > Amnesty > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Elevated ammonia levels in the blood usually indicate liver problems. Ammonia is a by product of bacterial metabolism in the gut, but the normal liver can effectively take care of it. There are some interventions that can be done (at least in adults) like giving neomycin and/or erthromycin, which are not friendly to these bacteria (FYI, eryrthromycin makes almost everybody puke, no matter if its oral or IV). Another intervention can be giving something with sorbitol in it which will result in some nasty diarrhea, but it flushes the bacteria out. Was this child screened before discharge when she was born for inborn errors of metabolism, what we call the PKU screen? It actually screens for a whole bunch of things and as far as I know, most states it's done on every newborn unless the parents object. And in over 10 years of obstetrical nursing, I've heard of one parent who declined the test. Have they considered biliary atresia? Although I think that usually declares itself before 1 year of age. Hope this helps. ,RN lemobrn@... You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 Amnesty, Hi...long time no email!!! Ive been busy with Ella and the IEP and well life I miss you guys over here... My neuroligist said that elevated ammonia levels can come up in a blood test if the child is really thrashng about and moving around too much while the blood is drawn. Ive also heard that even just the elevated stress and anxiety in an autistic child, or delayed child can cause that as well... Ella had a blood test redone because of elevated ammonia, and it was fine the next time. Although now I wonder, because Ella definately has gut issues and so does dad! Aimee Amnesty wrote: This is sort of OT, but I thought someone here might know something about this (? Kassi?) A friend of mine has an almost 3 year old daughter with global delays, no known dx yet. They are doing a million tests, and so far one of the things they have found is elevated levels of ammonia in her blood. Unfortunately, they have not been able to tell my friend (or at least, they DIDN'T tell her) what that means, except that it will lower her ability to fight off illness. Anyone know anything about it? Thanks! Amnesty --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Hi Aimee! I was wondering what happened to you! It's good to see you posting again! I hope you can get a chance to write a quick update! Thanks for the info, I will pass it along to my friend! Amnesty > This is sort of OT, but I thought someone here might know something > about this (? Kassi?) > A friend of mine has an almost 3 year old daughter with global delays, > no known dx yet. They are doing a million tests, and so far one of the > things they have found is elevated levels of ammonia in her blood. > Unfortunately, they have not been able to tell my friend (or at least, > they DIDN'T tell her) what that means, except that it will lower her > ability to fight off illness. > Anyone know anything about it? > Thanks! > Amnesty > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Of course... Where to start, Ella will be starting a special day class at a local elementary school in september, with a preeschool setting from 8:30-noon and 2 hours of aba everyday after that, except wed, which are short days. She will also get 3 20 min speech sessions a week and a total of 1.25 hours of OT. Ella switched therapy providers a few months ago and well...Im glad we did. She is doing great. Her speech still needs to come a long way, the apraxia is really aparent at this point, but the motivation is way there. Ella is saying prompted attempt of many words, but says, up, no, off, down, mama, dada, more, jump, eat, milk, and cookie. Granted many of thoses words are still a bit unintelligble because of the apraxia and promted alot, they are leaps and bound from where she was. And my ella bella is a fish.She is swimming, well not swimming, but in the pool, which if you remember the bath was a battle in itself. Ella is so happy in the water, and hold her breath, it scares me to death, but she loves it, our ot love it because her arm are finally getting stronger. Ella climbs into the small suv we have and into her carseat, this just started a couple days ago...I neeed a potty break, Ill be back:) Aimee............. Amnesty wrote: Hi Aimee! I was wondering what happened to you! It's good to see you posting again! I hope you can get a chance to write a quick update! Thanks for the info, I will pass it along to my friend! Amnesty > This is sort of OT, but I thought someone here might know something > about this (? Kassi?) > A friend of mine has an almost 3 year old daughter with global delays, > no known dx yet. They are doing a million tests, and so far one of the > things they have found is elevated levels of ammonia in her blood. > Unfortunately, they have not been able to tell my friend (or at least, > they DIDN'T tell her) what that means, except that it will lower her > ability to fight off illness. > Anyone know anything about it? > Thanks! > Amnesty > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 sorry I forgot stim city... Ella is so stimmy, hand flapping, hair twirling, vocal stim, water stim, you name it she stims it! I feel like she just uses her stims to check out most of the time.I have to admit, they drive me a bit crazy. between my husbands ocd and autistic behaviors and ellas stimms, I feel a bit mentally challenged sometimes. Ella will be 3 august 27, I think we are taking her to disneyland, we havent all been yet! Any stim help ideas... Aimee Amnesty wrote: Hi Aimee! I was wondering what happened to you! It's good to see you posting again! I hope you can get a chance to write a quick update! Thanks for the info, I will pass it along to my friend! Amnesty > This is sort of OT, but I thought someone here might know something > about this (? Kassi?) > A friend of mine has an almost 3 year old daughter with global delays, > no known dx yet. They are doing a million tests, and so far one of the > things they have found is elevated levels of ammonia in her blood. > Unfortunately, they have not been able to tell my friend (or at least, > they DIDN'T tell her) what that means, except that it will lower her > ability to fight off illness. > Anyone know anything about it? > Thanks! > Amnesty > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Aimee, glad things are going well. Allie got her dx before her second bday. Right around her 3rd bday all these " autistic " behaviors started coming out. A lot of it is because they are reaching new physical abilities and cognitive gains. Like Ella might not have been able to put her fingers together (pincer grasp) but now she can, so she wants to do it all the time. She's learning to make new sounds with her vocalizations, so she's practicing and curious about the way it feels. Allie's teacher also told me to watch and see that Allie's stimming gets more pervasive just before and during a growth spurt. So much of stimming is sensory-related and when they grow our girls have a little more difficulty dealing with the changes. Caroline did say that with each spurt Allie should learn to deal with the changes a little easier, and I think that's definitely true. I would suggest you keep pushing the sensory integration big time. Having a solid sensory diet will give her the input she craves. There are days Allie seems to want to be in the tub all day, then other days she's jumping off of things all day. Then there are days she just wants to sit and read all day. As she gets older she'll learn her own ways of dealing with it, like with twirling the hair to get the tactile input. I'd say if you keep doing all the biological stuff to benefit her body, keep a good sensory diet, she'll settle a little more. It was at Ella's age that Allie got so pervasive with anxiety that we began Paxil, it decreased her stims, but she wasn't functioning emotionally from it, that was what led us to try it, not just stimming. I've also heard excess yeast can cause stimming, and sometimes magnesium salts baths and b-6/mag supps can help calm. HTH, Debi --- In Autism_in_Girls , aimee henkel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Thanks debi, Ellas stims are worse as the day goes, shes so perfect in the morning... Any sensory input helps, and we tried a brushing schedule, but she associates it ith therapy, and doesnt tolerate it at home. Pool time and jumping really help, and we rough house all the time, but the stims return in a few minutes. I do see it change with growth and developement. When she gains a skill its like she gains a stim. Allie and ella have so much in common! same dx time, ella was dx at 18m, but I knew at 14m. It was scary knowing before anyone else. For me the dx was just a tequnical thing. Refresh me about allies speech progression if you have time... Aimee Debi wrote: Aimee, glad things are going well. Allie got her dx before her second bday. Right around her 3rd bday all these " autistic " behaviors started coming out. A lot of it is because they are reaching new physical abilities and cognitive gains. Like Ella might not have been able to put her fingers together (pincer grasp) but now she can, so she wants to do it all the time. She's learning to make new sounds with her vocalizations, so she's practicing and curious about the way it feels. Allie's teacher also told me to watch and see that Allie's stimming gets more pervasive just before and during a growth spurt. So much of stimming is sensory-related and when they grow our girls have a little more difficulty dealing with the changes. Caroline did say that with each spurt Allie should learn to deal with the changes a little easier, and I think that's definitely true. I would suggest you keep pushing the sensory integration big time. Having a solid sensory diet will give her the input she craves. There are days Allie seems to want to be in the tub all day, then other days she's jumping off of things all day. Then there are days she just wants to sit and read all day. As she gets older she'll learn her own ways of dealing with it, like with twirling the hair to get the tactile input. I'd say if you keep doing all the biological stuff to benefit her body, keep a good sensory diet, she'll settle a little more. It was at Ella's age that Allie got so pervasive with anxiety that we began Paxil, it decreased her stims, but she wasn't functioning emotionally from it, that was what led us to try it, not just stimming. I've also heard excess yeast can cause stimming, and sometimes magnesium salts baths and b-6/mag supps can help calm. HTH, Debi --- In Autism_in_Girls , aimee henkel --------------------------------- Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs.Try it free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Wow, that all sounds great! I'm so glad to hear she's doing so well! Amnesty > > This is sort of OT, but I thought someone here might know > something > > about this (? Kassi?) > > A friend of mine has an almost 3 year old daughter with global > delays, > > no known dx yet. They are doing a million tests, and so far one of > the > > things they have found is elevated levels of ammonia in her blood. > > Unfortunately, they have not been able to tell my friend (or at > least, > > they DIDN'T tell her) what that means, except that it will lower > her > > ability to fight off illness. > > Anyone know anything about it? > > Thanks! > > Amnesty > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and > 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Allie was dxed 2 wks before her 2nd bday. At that time she had recently begun babbling again and seemed to say " diddle-iddle-iddle " ALL THE TIME! From 9 mos to 18 mos she was pretty much silent, no babble or anything. When she started speech at around 20 mos she would get really mad and say " NO! " but that was it. At 2 yrs 5 mos we went gfcf, she said " bye-bye " 5 days after dairy removed. Within 2 mos she had 100+ word vocab, mostly nouns, labels for stuff. By 3rd bday she was doing 1-2 word labels, would have spontaneous scripts for wants/needs like " want juice...want Dora... " Sometime between 3 and 4 it became more " I want Dora, I want juice...please!... " From that point on most of her language are scripts from videos. This past year (6 yrs old, finished kindergarten) we've seen some big gains, though she still has a long way to go. She is most spontaneous when playing with sisters and other kids, or during class at school, but it's when she's very comfortable and relaxed. I noticed around age 5 that she is speaking spontaneous, unscripted thoughts, but it's so very quiet you can barely hear her. Also, learning to read is helping her language expand. We work in Word and I'll have her type " I like " and then I'll ask her something she likes. She'll verbally speak it then I tell her to type the word if I think she knows how to spell it, or I'll spell it out as she types. She LOVES this. I think the writing is giving her the confidence to speak her thoughts. I also see with Allie that big part of her language is finding what she's wanting to say in her brain and then getting it out. Ella's language will come. Just keep giving her body all the health you can and stay patient and keep the faith. Use the things she loves to encourage her and know she's doing the best she can. It will come. Debi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Thanks debi...I love hearing about speech development it gives me energy to keep on! Its a struggle, the older ella gets she wants to talk, but cant get it out. As Ive said before, I feel bad sometimes like i am pushing her... Its such a fine line. Thanks again, Aimee Oh ella says jeedah (like I spelled it), I dont know what it meant but she loves it! And her obsession with elton john- the older stuff like Yellow Brick Road...has her trying to sing its great, it mostly sounds like shes yelling, but I still love it! Debi wrote: Allie was dxed 2 wks before her 2nd bday. At that time she had recently begun babbling again and seemed to say " diddle-iddle-iddle " ALL THE TIME! From 9 mos to 18 mos she was pretty much silent, no babble or anything. When she started speech at around 20 mos she would get really mad and say " NO! " but that was it. At 2 yrs 5 mos we went gfcf, she said " bye-bye " 5 days after dairy removed. Within 2 mos she had 100+ word vocab, mostly nouns, labels for stuff. By 3rd bday she was doing 1-2 word labels, would have spontaneous scripts for wants/needs like " want juice...want Dora... " Sometime between 3 and 4 it became more " I want Dora, I want juice...please!... " From that point on most of her language are scripts from videos. This past year (6 yrs old, finished kindergarten) we've seen some big gains, though she still has a long way to go. She is most spontaneous when playing with sisters and other kids, or during class at school, but it's when she's very comfortable and relaxed. I noticed around age 5 that she is speaking spontaneous, unscripted thoughts, but it's so very quiet you can barely hear her. Also, learning to read is helping her language expand. We work in Word and I'll have her type " I like " and then I'll ask her something she likes. She'll verbally speak it then I tell her to type the word if I think she knows how to spell it, or I'll spell it out as she types. She LOVES this. I think the writing is giving her the confidence to speak her thoughts. I also see with Allie that big part of her language is finding what she's wanting to say in her brain and then getting it out. Ella's language will come. Just keep giving her body all the health you can and stay patient and keep the faith. Use the things she loves to encourage her and know she's doing the best she can. It will come. Debi --------------------------------- Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 There was some story a few yrs ago on the Schafer Report about a mom who loved Barry Manilow. She played him every day and her nonverbal son was humming one of the tunes. The mom got excited and started playing that one song. Eventually her son learned to talk, her mom credits Barry Manilow, lol. If it's got a good beat, easy to sing to...<g> Does she like " I Need You to Turn to " ? I LOVE that song. Debi > > Thanks debi...I love hearing about speech development it gives me energy to keep on! > Its a struggle, the older ella gets she wants to talk, but cant get it out. As Ive said before, I feel bad sometimes like i am pushing her... > Its such a fine line. > Thanks again, > Aimee > Oh ella says jeedah (like I spelled it), I dont know what it meant but she loves it! > And her obsession with elton john- the older stuff like Yellow Brick Road...has her trying to sing its great, it mostly sounds like shes yelling, but I still love it! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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