Progress with Probiotics

Our next step on our biomed journey was introducing probiotics (good bacteria, like what you find in yogurt) to the kiddo.  One of the websites I've been reading, biomedheals.com said this:

"There is a theory out there now that is applying to conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, verbal apraxia, really a huge umbrella of conditions that are becoming way more common in our society. The theory is these children have lots of bad bacteria and yeast in their intestines. We are not suppose to have yeast in our intestines. Only in our stomachs. When yeast leaks out into our intestines it lines them and makes a coating. And why this is an issue, is because our stomachs only digest proteins. Everything else is digested in the intestines. And when there is yeast in there it blocks the intestines from absorbing all the wonderful vitamins our food contains. Which in turn, almost starves our bodies and brains from the fuel it needs. And when that happens, a lot of issues can arise."

So, realizing this made total and complete sense, and after researching more about probiotics I decided to try it.  Since the kiddo seems to be very sensitive to a lot of supplements I give him (sometimes he experiences rare side effects such as hyperactivity with fish oil, and teeth grinding with magnesium) I always introduce a supplement at a very low dose and if all goes well I increase slowly.  So I started at 1/8 of the recommended dose of probiotics for children, every other day.  The third day (his second low dose) he had massive diarrhea.  (Yep, bet you weren't expecting to read that.)  Hubster, kiddo, little brother and I were at a restaurant with my sister and totally not expecting to experience that.  Nothing quite like telling your waiter your son got poop all over the floor and also using up every last diaper wipe to clean the kid up.  I carried kiddo out minus his shorts (for obvious reasons) and he signed over and over again "silly" as we fled the scene.  About twenty minutes later, we had another case of diarrhea.  Fun times.

I did lots more research after the restaurant fiasco and read that high doses of probiotic can cause something called die-off, or basically when all the bad bacteria and yeast are killed simultaneously and therefore have to leave the body, and that there can be up to three pounds of yeast to be evacuated.  Yeah, disgusting and horrifying.

Needless to say, we took a break from the probiotic for a few days, fed the kiddo quite a few Pedialyte popsicles, and prayed that we had seen the end of the diarrhea.  We had.  

And we noticed two positive things immediately.

1) His bloated belly was gone.  Many a time people have commented on his belly.  Some have called it the Buddha belly.  Others have joked he looks like a starving kid in Africa.  But the belly vanished when he had his die-off experience.

2) The 'cloud' was gone.  It's like he was in a little cloud, oblivious to a lot of things, and after the die-off experience his eyes are suddenly opened to things around him.  When I took him to playgrounds he used to play for a little bit, but be more content to play with sticks and rocks.  I always thought it was because he has limb apraxia as well as verbal apraxia, and stairs or anything that requires climbing or motor coordination are very difficult for him.  But now, I'm thinking it was more because he was unaware of a lot of things going on around him.  He's been having fun opening and closing doors and turning on and off lights (both things he's never done before).  He watches other kids and tries to do the things they do.  If you watch this video, you'll see him attempting something he's avoided completely in the past.  I attribute this to the probiotics.  This is a major victory.  He climbed this kid-friendly mountain four times while we were at the playground. :)

I'm continuing to give him his small dose of probiotic to keep all that bad bacteria and yeast at bay.  I haven't noticed a huge difference in his speech, (it's slow and steady progress) but I'm hopeful that with his gut healing from all the junk that was in there that his body and brain will be getting the proper nutrients that it needs and he can keep making amazing strides. :)