OT: autistic daughter

I just had a recent diagnosis on my 7 year old daughter that I have been waiting for a few years.  She was diagnosed with PDD-NOS.  Everyone is in total denial except for me!  I have known something was wrong for a long time and this is a relief but also devastating at the same time.  My husband doesn't understand, he is a severe head injury, so he just can't comprehend why she acts this way.  I am trying different things instead of mood stabilizers.  Does anyone know if a Glueten free- casein free diet is ok for us rny'ers? 

Thanks in advance and have a wonderful holiday!

Nikki

Nikki - sorry to hear about your daughter - the good news is that now that you know the issue you can work towards a solution, they know what to treat!

I would imagine that a glueten free and casein free would be fine. AS long as you are getting in protein first, veggies second and whole grain carbs last. I am sure that your carb options are limited doing glueten free anyway. And well a lot of people are lactose intolerant post-op so they don't eat dairy anyway (which if I am remembering correctly is where casein is found).

Just be sure to check with your surgeon and good luck
Liz

I'm glad your daughter has finally been diagnosed so you can begin treatment for her.  She's entitled to services through the school and the county---be sure to take advantage of what's available to her.  I'm not sure how successful dietary changes are in treating things like autism, but you won't know if you don't try. 

Good luck to all of you!!!!

I have a number of friends who have children with that type of autisim and they all said that doing that diet change seemed to kill the child's personality and became very empty as in like the life of the child... what made them -well them was just gone... I know most of them haven't gone to drugs... I know most of them have cut out food colorings and such and that seemed to help some...  

Hang in there...

I am sorry that your daughter is struggling with this but glad you got your answers.
Sounds like you have a full plate, Make sure you take care of yourself

Glad you got your answers, Nikki, although I know how difficult this must be.

I don't think a gluten free diet would be detrimental to us as RNY-ers.  The carbs come last for us, anyway, and most of the time that's where gluten is anyway.

Thoughts and prayers to all of you!

Pam

Nikki,
Sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis. I can truly understand where you are coming from. MY 8 year old son is severly autistic and we had had him on gluten-free/casin free diet for almost 2 years. It has done wonders for him as his behaviors and attention has gotten so much better. Good Luck with Gluten-Free/Casin free diet that you will be doing with your daughter. I just can't do it as my family is vegetarian.

Nikki,

My husband's 18 year old daughter is also autistic.  She was diagnosed really really late because her mother moved about 10 times in the fist 10 years so she was never in the same area with the same physician/same school long enough.  Plus her mother was in denial for a long, long time.  Once she was in a stable environment with stable services (mostly associated with the school district), her progress was remarkable.   She graduates from high school this year and has been in a transitional program learning warehousing.  She'll be able to hold a job.  We've talked about but never tried a gluten free, casein free diet because we only see her twice a month on weekends.  Best of luck to you and please use whatever services are available to you through your school district and/or county.   

Lisa Mc

Thank you to everyone.  This has been very hard on me and it means a lot to know that everyone here is so supportive to step up and offer advice.  I am sort of still in the state of denial, shock and wandering what to do now.  I know I need to take care of myself so I can be here for her but right now I just want to know where to go next.  Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Nikki

 I don't think it would be a problem--but I would check with your doc (I'm not much of an expert being only four days out, lol). But I do have a daughter with autism spectrum disorder--she was diagnosed at 17 months and is now 8 years old. So if you ever wanna chat about THAT, just give me a buzz. Good luck if you decide to try the diet. I'd thought about doing the GFCF diet, but didn't think it was the issue (maybe the milk, b/c at first she was totally addicted to dairy). If anything I'd like to go more organic--less chemicals, etc.

Keep us posted!