Sunday, July 5, 2009

Antiviral therapy for Autism Treatment

We are onto the stage in my son's treatment that I was most hopeful about, antivirals! Given our family history of viruses, specifically Herpes strain, I have always had a hunch that this was a big piece of the puzzle. Given that my son has had chicken pox twice (6 months and 3 years of age), I am hopeful that this leg of our treatment will bring big gains. We are 14 days in as of today. He is on both Valtrex for the actual viral issues and Diflucan for the subsequent yeast overgrowth that can come from treating viruses. If you are doing any sort of antiviral approach (including natural remedies like olive leaf extract, Virastop, Oil of Oregano, etc) you should always add in an antifungal component as the dead viruses usually become food for the yeast so you can have a yeast flare. We have seen some improvements already in usage of new words (like "meanwhile") and recall of people/places/events and more engaged, prolonged conversation with our hab worker at one point~he sat talking with her for over AN HOUR recalling details of the class he used to be in where she was one of the teachers. He was even recalling people SHE had forgotten about! But, we've also seen the regression that often accompanies these new therapies like more meltdowns, higher escalation over small things, aggression, and perseverations are back to an extent. We've been doing a combo of bumping up natural antifungals like Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) and doing activated charcoal to 1) kill the yeast and 2) mop up the toxins that can produce these negative behavioral aspects. We noticed a big change yesterday after doing charcoal Friday night. Friday was filled with screaming meltdowns, not the most fun times of my life. But, I am hopeful that this is going to end up bringing us good gains so we keep pressing on. Yesterday morning I forgot that my husband was going for an early morning bike ride. My son came into my room and he asked where his dad was, I told him he must be downstairs. He headed off downstairs only to come back into my room to say "sorry mom, but my father isn't downstairs". Wow, that is a great way to wake up, hearing a sentence like that! So the gains are happening and I know this journey is a marathon, not a sprint, so we keep plugging along. I also understand that doing an antiviral approach can also be a good chelator as well. My son did not really show very high metals except for aluminum. We have never done chelation but I certainly think anything that will increase his detox pathways is a good thing. Speaking of, if you know of anyone with a Heavenly Heat FIR sauna that they are wanting to sell, please contact me. I would love to pick up a gently used one for increased detox for my son. Time to run, my son just woke up and said he's "especially hungry" this morning. The day is already giving us some wonderful new gains!! I hope you all had a great 4th of July!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It is so good to read what other parents are encountering and trying out. I am in Australia and my son was diagnosed as autistic last month. I am doing research every day trying to learn about it and I was trying to find out what anti viral, anti fungal therapy consists of as there is no information about it here in Australia. Thank you for making the difference and sharing your knowledge.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the specific info on antiviral and antifungal therapies. I live in Australia and this information is very hard to get a hold of. Hopefully my son will benefit as well when I try him on the medical therapy. I will let you know how I go.