Into, long, questions at the end

February 16, 2004

Hello, my name is Colleen from Prince Island, Canada, my daughter

Jewel is ASD with seizures and is almost 11 years old. We started the SCD in

October, and the biggest change we have seen is her much improved food

choices. She went through a couple of weeks of searching the house for

potato chips and rice pasta (she had been GFCF, soy and sugar free, for 4

years) really obviously carb addicted. Now she will eat just about anything

and everything we give her.

Her main gut issue is constipation, she has been on just about every

laxative known to man, at some point in her life. Most recently miralax

which actually made the problem worse. We were having to give enemas, after

10+ days without a BM. She has always had overflow D. for a few days,

followed by very large hard BM.

We started with the intro diet, then moved along, gave raw pears too soon,

and saw giddy, noisy behaviors so took them away again. She didn't like the

pear sauce. We didn't introduce nut flours until she had been on the diet

for almost 4 months and she did like the almond flour cookies cashew carrot

cake. But then she had massive D. every two days for over a week. It was

uncontrollable, she didn't have time to get to the bathroom, excuse the

graphics but it was very gritty, like the nut flour hadn't been digested at

all. That has stopped and now she hasn't had a BM since (4 days) and I'm

getting worried about her constipation coming back. During the week of D. I

put her back on the intro diet for 2 days then gradually added back in a few

cooked green veggies.

Does the nutty texture mean that she isn't ready for nut flour, should I try

a nut butter instead? She has been dairy free for a long time so I want to

try the nut yogurt before the goat, will this reaction affect how she

tolerates the yougurt? I was really hoping that the yogurt would be the

solution to her gut issues, this is 5 months on SCD without a " trophy " yet.

I keep telling myself that her gut has been damaged for a long time, and

will take a long time to heal. We had testing done in October that showed

she had no yeast and actually did have some good gut bacteria, finally after

working on it for 4 years, using diet. probiotics and natural antifungals.

Yet still the constipation...I think I'll have to put her back on Milk of

Magnesia soon, if nothing happens.

So what do you all think? Do I go ahead and try the yogurt with nuts, or be

brave and try the goat? Thanks in advance.

Colleen, PEI Canada

Jewel's Mom (10 yrs, ASD)

February 16, 2004

Welcome Colleen.....

This was sent to me recently by another SCD mom...... it's from her DAN doctor.

You might want to try the beet juice..... I know another list mom reported that

it worked great, also..........

<<From Dr. Green:

Hi all. I've found a few remedies of particular help with constipation,

though again there's the struggle of getting them in. One of the most

effective is fresh made beet juice, which I usually have combined with

carrot and apple (approx equal parts of beet, carrot and apple juiced

together). It tastes remarkably good, and has helped several kids who

failed fiber, triphal, magnesium, C, kiwis, and Miralax. (and even one

who did little in response to senna). Rhubarb tablets (I don't have any

idea how to get kids to eat rhubarb--except one guy who eats it raw,

plain!) are a pretty good laxative, and there's a Chinese herbal company

who sell Rhubarbin tablets. We've often had pretty good luck with

pharmaceutical grade cellulose, which I started buying by the 30 gallon

drum, as it's quite expensive when bought by the pound (and cheaper by

the 30 gallon!). Carnitine seems to enhance gut tone and motility, and

I suspect that creatine may have some of the same effect, as it enhances

muscle function. Occasionally bethanecol helps to get things moving.

Glycerin suppositories are very benign, and increase the urge to move

bowels. Mineral oil is nasty and somewhat toxic, and I would stay away

from it, though it could be used a few times as an enema (fleet's MO) to

clean things out from below (we've never resorted to this). Some of the

stimulants like cascare and senna are effective but risky for all but

brief (l-2 week) use, as they foster colon " dependency. " Some of the

kids with intractable constipation have a tethered cord, which requires

surgical release (and they often have bladder incontinence too).

Golytely (colonoscopy prep) essentially always works, but it's rather

nasty to give, and can only be used for an acute clearing. Green

MD>>

Patti, mom to Katera, SCD 10 months

February 16, 2004

Welcome to the list Colleen & Jewel,

Nice to see another Atlantic Canadian on the list (we live in Newfoundland)

The nutty texture of her stools and the D indicate that she isn't ready for the

nut flour yet. Once she gets over this you might want to try introducing nut

butter before the nut flour. And go slow - start with 1/4 of a muffin( or cake

etc.) one day, skip a day then try 1/4 muffin again, skip another day and then

increase on the 5th day.. Sometimes it is just a matter of too much, too soon.

If I have any GI upset now for any reason (flu, wrong food etc.) once the D

stops it usually takes 2-3 days before another bm appears.

If you decide to go with the nut yogurt why not try a little bit of nut milk

first to see if she is ready for it first. As above, just try small amounts in

case she doesn't tolerate it yet. If the nut milk goes well then try the nut

yoghurt... slowly.

If the constipation continues you can go with the prune nectar and orange juice.

Full details at http://pecanbread.com/recipes.html and further reading at

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/knowledge_base/kb/constipation_continued\

..htm

And you are right, her gut has been damaged a long time so it will just take

time to heal it. And you seem to be on the right track.

Sheila, SCD 36 mos UC 20 yrs

didn't introduce nut flours until she had been on the diet