Anyone consider homeopathic treatments, chelation therapy or any alternative tx's?

Cathy, Hi, I remember you from the Guat board. Yes, we've tried the GF/CF diet and have a DAN! Doctor. We have seen huge improvements. The earlier you start the better. You can always just try the diet. You will know if it is working in a month or so. Let me know if you need help. You can test for peptides, but just remember you can get a false negative. Checking the hair for heavy metals does not always work because some kids on the spectrum do not excrete metals, so they don't show up in the hair samples. Most DAN! doctors like you to heal the gut with diet and supplements first, then you can do a chelation challenge to find out about the metals. Our daughter was toxic in lead the first round even though we had her tested when she came home from Guatemala it didn't show up in her blood. It is good to be careful with vaccines, but also check ear drops. I found Thimerosal in my sons eardrops! No mercury is good for anybody let alone safe to be injected into our kids.

Thanks! I have a apt in July with a DAN! doctor..I also found a place to order the hair test kits on line and a lab in Chicago that will do the test..but I will probably wait and see what this MD does..I am thinking about having our 14 year old son tested also for heavy metals..since he has severe ADHD and LD's..I have heard that chelation can even work with older kids.. And..heard of a case where a boy became autistic after this years flu shots..I guess he got the same ones Ana got that contained thimerosal. I guess even though some kids are non-excreters of the mercury..the hair test can also tell alot of vitamin and mineral deficiencies that she may have.. She has been getting essential fatty acids right from the start, as well as probiotics. One interesting thing I was reading..antibiotics can impair mercury from being excreted..of course she was on antibx after the first dose of the shot.. Like the saying goes..if we knew then what we know now..

I am an adoptee---who finally found this part of the boards---my daughter is diagnosed as suspected aspergers along with sensory issues, anxiety & OCD. I use homeopathy, not from a DAN, but a homepathy. I am not sure if it is working as of yet. It's only been 2 mos, I know that it takes a while before seeing improvement. I also give her a multi vitamin along with Omega 3 & magnesium.

Hi An update..this past year has been very hard. Our 1 year anniversary of her mercury poisoning is Dec 15th..so that day was especially hard for me. She continues in speech therapy and with alot of hard work from me and her therapist she is starting to put 2 words together..still not articulating well by any means. Before the fluzone vaccines last year she was saying 15 words clearly..she lost 11 of the 15 words she was saying at 15 months old..it took her 9 months to be able to say duck and dog etc..again..and she is leaving off the end sounds..(which she didn't do before)..She was also have an atrial arrhymia (heart beating fast) at times d/t the mercury as well..so she had to have a full cardiology workup.. We have continued with her DHA/ARA powder from Baby's Only Organic, as well as probiotics..her DAN! MD has her on L-Carnosine, extra zinc, a good MVI and have recently started intranasal B12 and Folinic acid..rather than give her the shots of B12..she is still on GF/CF diet..though some days we are better than others..its just so hard to have a toddler on no wheat and dairy..we have trouble finding the tapioca bread and the rice bread tastes ok but the texture is not good..She is on fortified rice milk which she loves and is still on 2.5 bottles a day (we don't mind as it is one of the only thing that relaxes her and we can put all her vitamins in it).. The three things that haven't gotten better are her signs of ADHD which started within hours of the vaccine..and her sleep disorder/insomnia. Her growth was also stunted and she went from 97% for height down to barely 40-50% and her weight went down from 75-90% to 30%tile.. We tried melatonin at 1 mg and her doc said to go up to 3 mg which I am afraid cuz that is an adult dose..we tried benadryl..no luck..I refuse to put her on narcotic sleep aids but I am getting pretty tired of her staying up until MN, tossing and turning all night and then being up by 7:30am and no nap..she is just 2.5 years old and this has been going on for a long time..her restlessness at night increased dramatically after her thimerosal... We are not litigenous (sp) people by any means, but there are published studes documenting the severe adverse affects that happen when thimerosal and antibiotics are mixed..the mercury actually turns the antibiotic into a brain toxin..the excretion is prevented or markedly delayed as well..this is what happened to our daughter..and she wouldn't have even been on antibx except they gave her kidney infection when they straight cathed her for urine as part of a fever workup..before that she had only 1 cold and was never sick.. Good news..she will pee and poop on the potty if she is naked from the waist down..if she has a pull up or underwear or diaper on she will just go in that..and she is as I said starting to put 2 words together..Her developmental quotient was tested at 130 prior to the thimerosal and after its still above average at 116..her cognitive and receptive language 'came back' but not to her full potential that she could have had..that is the sad part..and her expressive language still has a long way to go..we are hoping after her B12 levels build up that the transdermal Glutathione will help detox her even more..we are going slowly and gently and don't want her to regress or get worse..we are trying to stimulate her brain as much as possible at this early age..she is in gymnastics, Montessori class, library time, sunday school etc.. I am still devestated by what happened..I don't know if that will ever get any better? I think I will be sad on every Dec. 15th.. I thank you for all of your advice and support in this last year..

Dear Cathy: I don't even know what to say! I didn't realize it was the combination of antibiotics/flu vaccine. I also didn't realize how long the symptoms had continued. Of course you'll remember the anniversary date. I hope it gets easier for you. I wish I had some good advice, but I'll have to offer a big hug instead.

Cathy, I am stunned as I read this. I am so sorry that this is something you and your daughter are having to deal with. You sound like a wonderful person and please know that I will keep you in my prayers that you get through the first anniversary. I can't imagine how difficult it must be. :grouphug:

Thanks Elizabeth..I am afraid we are dealing with lifelong issues with diet (the mercury destroys the enzymes necessary to digest wheat and dairy), behaviour and possible LD"s..that is what is so sad..if she gets 1 smidge of wheat she starts toe walking, being spacey and hyperactive and is back to being up at night again..she is up already today after not sleeping till MN last night..

Cathy -- I assume Ana was tested for mercury. how? I asked Xiomara's pediatrician and she had to look up the information and then basically said it was a very involved process that was typically used in large industry exposure cases. Where in the world did you learn of the wheat/mercury connection? I'm impressed that you learned of the antibiotic/mercury connection but I'm assuming that one is more well known. I wouldn't be worried about the change in IQ scores. I don't want to go off on a tangent unless you're interested (I'm sure you already know a lot on this topic too).

Hi Elizabeth.. It is wheat/oats/rye/barley and dairy..there are a couple of thoughts on this..one is that the mercury destroys the ability of the digestive enzymes to work..they can't digest wheat or dairy anymore..and then these substances can leak out into the blood stream (mercury can also cause leaky gut syndrome) and cause hyperactivity, blank stares, worsening of autistic symptoms..it is almost like a drug to these kids.. Over 70% of parents report significant improvements in their kids symptoms after being put on a GF/CF diet..it is the first thing or one of the first things a DAN! doc will tell you do do..they also put alot of kids on digestive enzymes.. The problem with ethylmercury (kind in thimerosal) is that it starts off being 'organic' but when its injected into the bloodstream it turns into inorganic mercury..so..it is moved from the bloodstream fairly quickly and binds to the fatty tissues in the brain, CNS, connective tissue, breast, prostate gland etc..so the kids may be mercury toxic and it won't show up in the blood..Ana had a hair analysis done..which shows excretion..alot of kids 'on the spectrum' don't excrete heavy metals..either lack of glutathione or some other reason..we are lucky with Ana in that her mercury level was sky high in her hair sample..meaning..yes..she has alot in her but..she is at least able to excrete it..her hair was also high for lead, silver, arsenic and cadmium. Another way to tell is if a doc does a chelation challenge..the child is given a chelating agent and urine is collected..they measure the metals coming out in the urine.. Obviously, we have Ana's acute mental status changes within hours of the vaccine as proof of her mercury toxicity..she also had a rash from head to toe..another sign of mercury toxicity.. They call them heavy metals for a reason..they are heavy and have trouble getting out..they can stay in the brain and CNS for 15-30 years and keep causing progressive damage to neurons etc..that is why we are trying so hard to get it out..there are not many ways to do this..most agents don't cross the bloodbrain barrier.. I am by no means an expert on all of this..but I am pretty knowledgable about it after what happened to Ana..

Having great success with her transdermal Glutathione we added a couple of weeks ago..she is more social..actually got off my lap for the first time ever in Sunday school and went to play with the other kids..her speech is slowly improving and with the added calcium powder and glutathione she is sleeping better..still hard to get down..still a late sleeper (MN) but at least she is not up every 15 min right now..