I am looking for parents of recovered children. I want to post your story on my blog to give hope to those who are still going through this. If you have a child who is recovered, or know someone who is, please send me an email to sarah at wakingsophie.com.

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I remember reading the parts of Jenny McCarthy’s book where she talked about the failure of her marriage after her child was diagnosed with Autism and thinking, how horribly sad. I have also heard many people talk about the discouraging statistics of divorce in families where autism has occurred. The divorce rate for parents of children with autism has been estimated to be as high as 80-85 percent, though I have not been able to find a source for this stat.

Autism has been the challenge of a lifetime for my husband and I, but it has served to strengthen our bond. I want to share how my husband and I have made our marriage work and found comfort in each other. I will try to be completely open and honest about the issues we face and the ways we have dealt with them, both the good and the bad.

I hope that our experience will help someone, somewhere to preserve their family.

I will publish this new series Every Monday. Use the link below to subscribe to my page.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

When I was finally able to find a DAN! Doctor and get prescriptions, I found that our doctor wanted many things compounded. This created some problems. For one, most compounding pharmacies don’t take insurance and prescriptions are sometimes very expensive. Also I couldn’t find one very close to home that wasn’t outrageously expensive so I have to have things shipped, another expense.

I found a list of pharmacies on Dr Neubrander’s website http://www.drneubrander.com/page5.html . I have used used Wellness Health Pharmacy and they did a wonderful job, but they do not take insurance, so you have to fill out a universal claim form and send it in to your insurance company with the receipts showing you have paid. What a hassle.

Last month I need 3 prescriptions and I really didn’t have the money to spend on them, so I went looking for a pharmacy that took my insurance. I have United Health Care. I finally located one. Here is the info from Dr Neubrander’s site:

The Falls Pharmacy and Compounding Center - (425) 888-6858
Pending Approval as our office does not have a history of Certificates of Analysis.
The Falls Pharmacy and Compounding Center is located in suburban Seattle, WA, providing quality custom-compounded prescription items. Many of our compounds are specifically geared towards the needs of patients with Autism and PDD, including Methylcobalamin PF pre-filled syringes, prepared in our new class 100 cleanroom. Additionally, we compound Secretin, DMPS, DMSA, Glutathione, Naltrexone, NAC, and ALA in topical, oral, and rectal dosage forms. We ship nationwide via USPS and UPS Ground FREE of charge. We are able to bill most insurance plans for compounds. Our compounding staff has more than 40 combined years in excellent compounding experience and service.

Did you read that, free shipping!!!!!!! Sometimes a freezer pack is necessary and that is an additional cost, but is it minimal, around $10.

Well according to my poll what you really want to read about is supplements for autism. This week I will begin delving into this complicated topic. I will discuss the various supplements, vitamins and mineral that have been known to have an effect with some people with autism. I will tell you what I have tried, what has worked for us and what hasn’t.

Please keep in mind that all children are different and autism really is a puzzle that you have to figure out. When I first started this journey I had a DAN doctor give us a list of 8 different supplements to try. Not one of them made a difference with Sophie. Those same supplements may make a difference now because these children will change during the recovery process. Also one supplement may make a miraculous change for one child and have no effect for another.

I am not a doctor or nutritionalist. I am a mom who does a lot of research and has tried a lot of things. I will share everything that I have learned with you.

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I wanted to do a quick post of some of the wonderful blogs and resources that I have found.

Tori’s GFCFSF Blog is packed full of recipes and her weekly menus. She is not only gluten and casein free, but also soy free. She also has a poop blog, I don’t frequent it, a little too graphic for me, but it may shed some light on intestinal issues that your child has. Tori has also set up a site called Lend 4 health that is intended to help parents financially for biomedical treatments. Tori is working hard to provide support to other families battling Autism so as your going through her sites, visit a sponser or two. Just clicking the ads gives her a few cents and can’t we all use that with all of these expensive flours and supplements?

Some other blogs I read are So what can he eat? and Discovering Nathan. These are both mom’s like me and most of their post I could have written myself. It helps to know you are not alone in this.

Dana’s View has great information. Dana has recovered her children and does so much to help other parents! She is a huge blessing.

I frequent 4 main yahoo groups gfcfkids, Autism-Mercury, mb12 valtrex and Enzymes and Autism. Enzyme stuff is another great resource, anything you want to know about enzymes you can find their.

Now for peace and contemplation and spiritual renewal, my new all time favorite blog is Holy Experience. i found this blog through Rocks in my dryer. The blog  Holy Experience really lives up to its name.

The years go by so fast. This little one has stayed my baby longer. She has needed more. More late nights, more diaper changing, more soothing, more rocking, more cuddles, more medicine, more doctors visits, more time, just more time to grow up. It has been my pleasure and honor to give it to her. Sometimes I feel like I have been initiated into a club that I never wanted to join, the sacred club of mother’s of children who need much more.

Last year before her birthday I grieved. Four sounded so big. I knew that she was old enough that people would notice that something wasn’t quite right when they met her. I felt like more was expected of her that she couldn’t meet. I thought that at 3 years old that people might just think she was being shy, just some of the baby in her still showing, but at 4 the jig was up, people would know now that she wasn’t like all the rest of the kids. I feared the second looks, the ones where I can tell they are watching her, trying to figure her out, then the sympathetic looks at me. I hate the fake smile I put on pretending not to know what they were just thinking. What else can I do, let tears stream down my face while I scream out all of our problems. Life was so unfair to her. As I write that, I am immediately reminded of how fair life was to Jesus, what a miraculous gift came from Him to this world through his suffering.

The days leading up to this birthday have been full of joy. Not only have I learned more, found more peace in my hope, but Sophie has been doing so well. Every day she seems better. Every day she does something new, or something that she hasn’t done since autism took root. All the milestones that she did not hit, I see her grow closer towards, and so quickly! She open her first present actually tugging on the paper and pulling it off to discover what was inside. I am finally getting to call the grandparents with the “guess what Sophie did today” announcements. Five is going to be a very good year.

After writing about Sophie’s wonderful progress, I have had tons of emails asking questions. I thought I would answer them all here.

What symptoms did your child have that made you want to try Viral Therapy?

I saw Stan Kurtz’s video about his child and I saw many similarities . The main thing was the the way Ethan moved. Viruses sometimes will effect one side of the body. Sophie’s right side seems weaker then her left. It is hard to describe, easier to see. Stan’s video.
She has problems with balance and what Stan referred to as Floppy Child Syndrome, a Atypical gait and one side of her face is different then the other. She just looked a lot like his child and shared many symptoms.

What testing did you do?

None, I just told her doctor that I suspected a viral problem and wanted to try Valtrex, She suggested Acyclovir with is very similar, but comes in a liquid. Sophie can’t take pills and Valtrex only comes in tablet form with a blue coating that you have to wash off.

Does it make yeast flare up?

Yes, definitely, I have only seen her yeast worse with chelation.

Is she on an anti-fungal also?

Yes, she is on ketoconazole currently, and she has also taken diflucan.

Did she have die off symptoms?

Yes, she had low grade fevers, she was lethargic , she cried and seemed achy and had various rashes, but nothing severe. These symptoms come and go. They were more frequent the first month.

How long before you saw improvements?

At right around the one month mark, I started seeing small improvements in her communication. It has just snowballed from there.

I can not tell you how excited I am! Since adding Acyclovir and Virastop Sophie has made great progress. Yesterday we went on a trip to visit her grandparents. When we got there she immediately said “hi grandpa”. I could have cried right there. She also joined in with my other children in calling the dog.

Her yeast has been really flaring up so she also spent a little bit of time spinning in a circle and barking like a puppy. I will take though! This seems like the break through we have been praying about for so long. She just seems so clear and present. Her eye contact is wonderful and she is communicating and it is relevant. WOW!

I have been taking a break from Chelation so I would no if the viral treatment is making a difference, so I know all this is from Acyclovir and Virastop. I really don’t know how much the virastop is helping, but it seems to alleviate some of the negative symptoms when the viruses are dying off.

Chelation has made changes in Sophie, but not this drastic, this quick. I don’t think I have seen her like this since before the autism. I will probably wait another few weeks to resume chelation.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I use low and frequent dosing chelation. That means that I have to get up in the middle of the night to give supplements.

I sleep on the second floor and the last thing I want to do is go up and down the stairs in the middle of the night to mix medicine. My solution, Chelation Station.

I fill a tray with everything I need and keep it by my bed. First I get some of the prefilled capules of ALA/DMSA, then I get small medicine cups that I have saved from children’s medicine and I get the oral syringes that I use to squirt it in her mouth. The last thing I need is juice. I put the juice in a small bottle, the one pictured came from a pharmacy. I then use one of the thermol cups that are used for coffee. I fill it with ice and put the bottle of orange juice in it.

When my alarm clock goes off I pour a small amount of juice, 1/2 teaspoon or less, into the small cups. I open one capsule into the juice and use the syringe to stir. You can also add some other supplements to the juice. I usually add some biotin or a very small amount of GSE. I don’t want to make it taste too bad because the goal is to make this as easy as possible for you and your child, and you don’t want to have to give a chaser to your child.

That is all you need. When it is time to give Sophie her medicine, I say “Sophie it’s time for your medicine,” I put my hand under her chin and put the syringe in her mouth and very slowly start to give her the supplement. I squirt it towards the inside of her cheek not towards the back of her throat. She stirs a little and then goes right back to sleep.

This makes giving medicine at night as easy as it can be.

I surf the internet on a daily basis trying to find ways to help my daughter. Time and time again I find that autism blogs are on one side or the other, either trying to cure their child or slamming those who those who are. There seems to be a whole pack of Jenny haters that snipe away at any hope being offered to parents.

Only classic therapies are acceptable. They didn’t cure their child and anyone else willing to try will be severely criticized. “Except it”, “don’t worry about finding a cure it. Find good things about your child being lost in their own world, they get to be your baby longer, they may never leave you!” What an easy way out.

It reminds me a lot of the so called Christians that were raised in church and can quote entire chapters of scripture, but they don’t walk any of them. “That is just church talk not what people actually do”. They sit in the pews and gossip and pass judgment. Anyone who dares to actually believe the bible and try to live how Jesus said we should live is going too far! “Doers of The Word are being unbalanced and naive.”

I will fight for my child, I will not abandon her to this sickness. She will be healed and I will do the work required to see it. Children are being healed every day and leaving the spectrum. My child will be one of them. I will not give up in laziness and just let the so called experts handle it. Who, by the way can’t cure it but they can teach your child a few tricks. I will educate myself, I will be my child’s advocate, I will not just except everything that is handed to me in my life and I will not curl up in the fetal position dwelling on how unfortunate and I am.

For those who are too afraid to try, this blog isn’t for you. End of rant. Snipe away.

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