Gluten Free Living

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Comment by Kacy Booth on June 27, 2009 at 3:44pm

Patty,
I contacted Sage Lab and they could not have been more helpful! Thank you so much for the tip. They have already sent out his testing kit and contacted my insurance company!! I am very excited! Hopefully, we will know something definitive soon :D This will make his life a lot easier....maybe without any medication at all, as that is our goal! Thanks again... <3

Comment by Patty K. on June 23, 2009 at 5:32pm

I had SAGE Medical Laboratory FL (1800-491-9551) does the testing. My peditrican refered me and then I had to pay for out of state expenses (health insurance only covered a part of it). There are forms that are filled out and blood that is drawn and sent into the lab be tested. It is tested for the IgG antigens, delayed food reactions. They then send you a big list of harmful foods and the amount of immune response to each one. They give you a dietary consultant to help you with creating a diet and giving you ideas based on your specific results. They suggest a rotation diet. That means that you start with a diet that contains no "harmful" food items and over time you should be able to determine the amount of each food item can be ingested & how often. If you cannot do the testing, I suggest the other method I have seen done. Eliminate one food at at time (rate varies with each child) and observe your child. This can actually be very expensive over time and difficult if your child has a limited prefereance of food choices. I have heard of some people elimiating all common allergens all at once and then adding them back. The usual suspects that I see the most are gluten/wheat, milk products (casein), soy & even eggs. Other people suggest apples and other food items it varies with what you read and who is doing the talking. Lots of opinions out there. The best basic book is The Kid Friendly ADHD & Autism cookbook The Ultimate Guide to the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet by Pamela J. Compart MD & Dana Laake RDH, MS LDN. It has good explainations of the practicals and recipies that are really good. As you go, you naturally expand the diet. It depends on how it is going and how well your family tolerates it. Let me know if you need more information. I have lots. I have had this diet in my life for over a year and I have lots of food ideas and suggestions.

Comment by Kacy Booth on June 23, 2009 at 8:56am

How can you get your child tested? Did you go to an allergist to have that done? I live in a small Alabama town with ZERO resources for Autism. Our pediatrician that was "learning with us" moved so now we have no-one in the medical community to offer assistance or guidance. Also, I was under the impression that if you had one thing with gluten, you ruined the next 6 months. We are just starting out, so I am yielding to your expertise in this area. Let me know what you think is a good next step for us. I would really love to have him tested!!!! Thanks for joining the group and for your comment!

Comment by Patty K. on June 22, 2009 at 9:23pm

Got lots of recipies and tested numerous products. It depends what you are looking for. There are also several good magazines. What I can tell you is this. I had my son tested before I wasted my time & money. He has high reactions to gluten, wheat & soy but lower reactions to lactose & casine. After, I embarked on a cooking craze and made a meal plan for the family that we can a live with (allergen free). After about 6 months on this diet the result was that he felt better and has less IBS symptoms (inabled us to finally get him potty trained). When he feels better, he acts better. It does not fix his autism he is better able to cope with it. I have since rotated in limited amounts of gluten, wheat, soy & dairy. I keep an eye on his behaviors and watch for the signs he has had to much. The new result is a modified diet. We can go out and eat at normal places or go to a party. We just do everything in moderation and we are teaching him about moderation. The house is still mostly GFCF/soy free. But nothing hits the spot better than a PB&Fluff sandwich on "real bread".