Although my two year old is not the subject of this blog, he features in my worries frequently.
I have been concerned about him for a little while. He’s obviously not ASD from his social skills, and I owe a lot to RDI for helping me to recognise his good referencing and checking. However, I think his speech is slow, his bowel motions and picky food habits remind me of Bright Eyes, plus he has a clear milk intolerance.
I thought he might need testing for intolerances so that I could get on top of whatever gut issues he has and increase his rate of normal development, so I went into the GP a few months ago to ask her for an allergy test. She wrote a referral to the allergy clinic of the best children's hospital in the state, which is where I drove (1.5 hours) today.
The first thing I said to the paediatrician was “I’ve got an ASD boy, and I’m concerned about this child because I know there’s a brain/gut connection and diet plays a big part in autism, and I think he has some allergies, plus a few gut issues the same as my ASD boy.”
She said straight away, “Well, you know that research has been completely debunked. Are you talking about Wakefield’s study? He was pulled in front of the Medical Board and given a dressing down. He’s lost all credibility.”
I was completely flummoxed and said, “I don’t know who’s done what research, but there’s a lot of stuff out there that says there is a huge connection between gut and brain and diet is really important.”
“Well,” she said, “there’s a whole lot of stuff on the internet and you can’t believe everything you read.”
At that point I started to cry. I spent the rest of the consultation in tears, and in the end the doctor asked more questions about me than the baby, and even suggested I go to a psychiatrist for my depression.
I was too polite to tell her that I was crying because she completely rubbished everything I have learned and put into action.
I have spent sooooo long doing research and reading, and I have put in so much energy implementing diets and keeping Bright Eyes from eating stuff he would like to eat. And I have seen results. And then I have a doctor tell me there's no proof and it's bad medicine.
I feel like I am on the fringe... again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
When my daughter was 18 months old, we had her taken to an allergist. She did all the skin testing and did not show allergies to wheat, apples, or milk. Then, she developed eczema and required all sorts of creams.
Since some books on allergies recommended rotating foods (breaking them up into four day cycles to help you spot patterns), I tried it. I discovered that every fourth day Pamela had major insomnia and the culprit was . . . apples. We took her off apples and she started sleeping normally for the first time in two years! This was IRREFUTABLE because whenever she had insomnia (very rarely) we ALWAYS traced it back to apples!
By age six, I was still thinking about gf/cf. I talked to her pediatrician about the link between allergies and her eczema. I was told POINT BLANK, "There is no link between autism and food. No link between eczema and food. You are wasting your time. Eczema is chronic and incurable, so just keep giving her the creams!"
Luckily, I have a stubborn streak and tried the diet. HER ECZEMA WENT INTO REMISSION! She has not needed creams ever since, but when she has a major diet violation (rare now), she gets a rash! I could go on an on, but I posted about this at my blog.
Doctors receive very little training on nutrition and food. They receive a lot of training about medications. Once I realized that, I stopped asking doctors about food and autism. I did my own research: an experiment with sample size of one (my daughter). I saw enough confirmations of the connection, whatever a doctor said meant nothing.
Here's the bottomline. You can try the diet for six months to a year. If it does not help, you can check that off your list as things you have tried and proved to yourself as ineffective. If it helps, you will be glad you stuck to your guns.
Great story. Thank you. I will certainly stick to what I know to be working... which of course is diet! I am often amazed at how docs will blithely wave away anything which hasn't had a double blind placebo study and been published in Lancet or equivalent.
Post a Comment