Re: Help!! Can gut really be healed without special diet????

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I read your post with interest because I was where you are three

years ago. Before SCD my daughter only ate rice and yogurt. I

honestly believe she wouldn't be where she is today (Typical 1st

grade with a shadow) without SCD. If it seems that the feeding

therapy helps expand her diet, I would try SCD. It's hard. Really

hard. But it's been worth it.

Now, after three years of STRICT SCD, I want to try transitioning

from the diet. When I decided to try SCD vs. the enzymes I spent a

lot of time on this board and read 's book twice (!). Are

Houston enzymes still the ones people are getting the best results

with? Is anyone using the Kirkman's isogest?

Happy New Year to us all. Hopefully, we'll all have a healthier and

happier 2007.

Kate

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> I hope someone can help me. I have read 's book over and over

> and all of it made perfect sense. Of course I ordered the Houston

> Enzymes for my 3 yr old ASD daughter and things seem to be going

> fine. Although she doesn't have 'perfect' bowel movements, we have

> gone from 9-10 diarrheas per day to 1-2 partially formed stools per

> day (they are kind of clay like in texture, but much better than

what

> she was having).

>

> Anyway, we just left our DAN's office and he is really, really

strict

> about the diets. In the past year we have tried GFCF and SCD so

many

> times, I have lost count. My daughter is not the typical kid that

> will 'eventually eat'. She has literally gone 8 days without 1 bite

> to eat - we had to take her to the hospital for IV fluids and of

> course, give in to giving her what she wants.

>

> She only eats yogurt, toast, peanut butter (organic, sugar free),

> crackers, chicken nuggets. I know it's a huge red flag that she

only

> craves gluten and casein but it's been like this for 3 years. She

> literally gags, screams, kicks, bites, throws up, etc....when we

try

> to feed her anything new. I have gone weeks working with her on

> feeding and we get no where. She returns to school on January 3rd

and

> they are going to start some feeding therapy with her.

>

> I guess my question is, is it really possible for her gut to heal

> using the enzymes or do I have to go through literal hell trying to

> implement a diet with her???? Her Dr. wants to start LDN with her

but

> says that it will not work well if she isn't on a strict diet. I'm

> just so confused and stressed out right now. My husband has been

laid

> off for 3 weeks and we barely have money to pay bills moreless

start

> buying special foods again.

>

> Can anyone give me any insight on what to do??? Please be honest, I

> can take it :-)

>

> Thanks so much in advance,

>

>

[Guest guest]

> they are going to start some feeding therapy with her.

This will probably be helpful. Here is one story about an in-hospital

feeding therapy that was required for one child

http://www.danasview.net/hsrecovr.htm

> I guess my question is, is it really possible for her gut to heal

> using the enzymes or do I have to go through literal hell trying to

> implement a diet with her????

I did not do any diet or enzymes for my #1, I just gave him a few

supplements and then chelated with ALA. He no longer has any issues

with foods. So I would say, depending on how bad the intolerances

are, it is not *required* to use a special diet. But it does depend

on the child and what interventions you choose.

>> Her Dr. wants to start LDN with her but

> says that it will not work well if she isn't on a strict diet.

It will still do *something*, maybe not as much as with a diet, but

still *something* nonetheless.

> Can anyone give me any insight on what to do??? Please be honest, I

> can take it :-)

Do what works for your child. If a special diet won't work for her

right now, keep the enzymes and try the other supplements and/or

medications.

Dana

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I was just reading your posting and told my husband. . oh my gosh. .

that sounds like our world! My daughter is 11 now and we have been on

the Houston enzymes for almost 2 years. Our daughter also has the

limited diet. . fries. . crackers. .cheese. .bread. . yep, all the

bad stuff. When she was about 3 or 4, we also tried to do the GFCF

diet. We failed. We were told that she'd eat when she got hungry. She

didn't. She starved herself. She lost a ton of weight. . she started

a downhill spiral which also made her anemic, low immunities, in the

hospital a few times for IV's. We decided that the GFCF diet wasn't

working for our daughter. When we began the enzymes almost two years

ago, it was challenging. She must have had a lot of gut damage

because the AFP Pepzyde enzymes made her have stomach pain.

Eventually she adjusted and I believe that the enzymes, along with

the other supplements we are giving her have helped her tremendously.

She is still eating the " bad " foods and taking enzymes religiously

and she is doing really well. She is in great health now. No longer

anemic and gaining some weight. She is talking more, more alert,

doing better with her social skills. She has a long way to go but she

has come so far the past couple years. We are very proud of her and

just take it day to day. This is just my experience. I know

everyone's story is different and different things work for every

child. So I wanted to share my perspective as I know others will

share their stories. Best of luck to you. I know how hard and

frustrating it can be. .and expensive! My heart goes out to you. Just

try to look at this in small steps and not the big picture, like I

sometimes have done. That can make us parents go crazy and feel very

overwhelmed. Take care, Christy from Colorado

> Anyway, we just left our DAN's office and he is really, really

strict

> about the diets. In the past year we have tried GFCF and SCD so

many

> times, I have lost count. My daughter is not the typical kid that

> will 'eventually eat'. She has literally gone 8 days without 1 bite

> to eat - we had to take her to the hospital for IV fluids and of

> course, give in to giving her what she wants.

>

> She only eats yogurt, toast, peanut butter (organic, sugar free),

> crackers, chicken nuggets. I know it's a huge red flag that she

only

> craves gluten and casein but it's been like this for 3 years. She

> literally gags, screams, kicks, bites, throws up, etc....when we

try

> to feed her anything new. I have gone weeks working with her on

> feeding and we get no where. She returns to school on January 3rd

and

> they are going to start some feeding therapy with her.

>

> I guess my question is, is it really possible for her gut to heal

> using the enzymes or do I have to go through literal hell trying to

> implement a diet with her???? Her Dr. wants to start LDN with her

but

> says that it will not work well if she isn't on a strict diet. I'm

> just so confused and stressed out right now. My husband has been

laid

> off for 3 weeks and we barely have money to pay bills moreless

start

> buying special foods again.

>

> Can anyone give me any insight on what to do??? Please be honest, I

> can take it :-)

>

> Thanks so much in advance,

>

>

[Guest guest]

, I truly believe that YES the gut can be healed without the

diet. We did GFCF for a total of 6 months. The last 2 months on the

diet we slowly added in enzymes. After that we left the diet. We saw

great improvements during the first 2 weeks of adding in enzymes and

we continue to see improvements now, 6 months later. We also have

done various yeast protocols and probiotics with some success. I

feel my daughter's gut has healed because of her improved behaviors

as well as her stools, which went from pale yellow and soft since

she was 2 years old to brown and formed. My advice to you is to get

some samples of enzymes (HNI works for us www.houstonni.com) and try

them either with or without the diet. Go to www.enzymestuff.com for

the low and slow method of introducing them. Also, if you can, get

the book " Enzymes for Autism " by DeFelice, she is the owner of

the enzyme stuff website. For us, the enzymes overall are less

expensive than the diet foods.

You have done an amazing job of trying to implement the diets but it

is possible that it just isn't for your daughter. Our DAN! doctor

would like to see us on the diet but is very open minded and

supported our decision to start enzymes. In fact, she even wrote a

note to the school so they can administer them to dd.

Good luck!

>

> Hi ,

> I was just reading your posting and told my husband. . oh my

gosh. .

> that sounds like our world! My daughter is 11 now and we have been

on

> the Houston enzymes for almost 2 years. Our daughter also has the

> limited diet. . fries. . crackers. .cheese. .bread. . yep, all the

> bad stuff. When she was about 3 or 4, we also tried to do the GFCF

> diet. We failed. We were told that she'd eat when she got hungry.

She

> didn't. She starved herself. She lost a ton of weight. . she

started

> a downhill spiral which also made her anemic, low immunities, in

the

> hospital a few times for IV's. We decided that the GFCF diet

wasn't

> working for our daughter. When we began the enzymes almost two

years

> ago, it was challenging. She must have had a lot of gut damage

> because the AFP Pepzyde enzymes made her have stomach pain.

> Eventually she adjusted and I believe that the enzymes, along with

> the other supplements we are giving her have helped her

tremendously.

> She is still eating the " bad " foods and taking enzymes religiously

> and she is doing really well. She is in great health now. No

longer

> anemic and gaining some weight. She is talking more, more alert,

> doing better with her social skills. She has a long way to go but

she

> has come so far the past couple years. We are very proud of her

and

> just take it day to day. This is just my experience. I know

> everyone's story is different and different things work for every

> child. So I wanted to share my perspective as I know others will

> share their stories. Best of luck to you. I know how hard and

> frustrating it can be. .and expensive! My heart goes out to you.

Just

> try to look at this in small steps and not the big picture, like I

> sometimes have done. That can make us parents go crazy and feel

very

> overwhelmed. Take care, Christy from Colorado

>

> > Anyway, we just left our DAN's office and he is really, really

> strict

> > about the diets. In the past year we have tried GFCF and SCD so

> many

> > times, I have lost count. My daughter is not the typical kid

that

> > will 'eventually eat'. She has literally gone 8 days without 1

bite

> > to eat - we had to take her to the hospital for IV fluids and of

> > course, give in to giving her what she wants.

>

>

> >

> > She only eats yogurt, toast, peanut butter (organic, sugar

free),

> > crackers, chicken nuggets. I know it's a huge red flag that she

> only

> > craves gluten and casein but it's been like this for 3 years.

She

> > literally gags, screams, kicks, bites, throws up, etc....when we

> try

> > to feed her anything new. I have gone weeks working with her on

> > feeding and we get no where. She returns to school on January

3rd

> and

> > they are going to start some feeding therapy with her.

> >

> > I guess my question is, is it really possible for her gut to

heal

> > using the enzymes or do I have to go through literal hell trying

to

> > implement a diet with her???? Her Dr. wants to start LDN with

her

> but

> > says that it will not work well if she isn't on a strict diet.

I'm

> > just so confused and stressed out right now. My husband has been

> laid

> > off for 3 weeks and we barely have money to pay bills moreless

> start

> > buying special foods again.

> >

> > Can anyone give me any insight on what to do??? Please be

honest, I

> > can take it :-)

> >

> > Thanks so much in advance,

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

HI ,

My son has only been on enzymes for 3 months now and our hope is that

enzymes will help in the healing of his gut as well. He was on a

strict GFCF and SF diet for a few months, but since using enzymes, I

have found that he can tolerate milk products, soy products, and some

gluten products with little to no reaction. We can only do the best

that we can do. There is a great quote by Theodore Roosevelt, " Do what

you can, Where you are, With what you have. " You can't do any more

than that. We, as parents, want so much for our children to reach

their full potential and feel that if we can't take EVERY measure,

then we are failing them. You are trying your best, and you are taking

the necessary measures for your dd. If she won't eat anything on a

restrictive diet, then don't force it. Try the enzymes first and see

how it goes. Good luck and try to not get overwhelmed. I sometimes

think we all need to be reminded of that every once and a while.

>

> >

> > She only eats yogurt, toast, peanut butter (organic, sugar free),

> > crackers, chicken nuggets. I know it's a huge red flag that she

> only

> > craves gluten and casein but it's been like this for 3 years. She

> > literally gags, screams, kicks, bites, throws up, etc....when we

> try

> > to feed her anything new. I have gone weeks working with her on

> > feeding and we get no where. She returns to school on January 3rd

> and

> > they are going to start some feeding therapy with her.

> >

> > I guess my question is, is it really possible for her gut to heal

> > using the enzymes or do I have to go through literal hell trying to

> > implement a diet with her???? Her Dr. wants to start LDN with her

> but

> > says that it will not work well if she isn't on a strict diet. I'm

> > just so confused and stressed out right now. My husband has been

> laid

> > off for 3 weeks and we barely have money to pay bills moreless

> start

> > buying special foods again.

> >

> > Can anyone give me any insight on what to do??? Please be honest, I

> > can take it :-)

> >

> > Thanks so much in advance,

> >

> >

>