Enzymes/ CEASE therapy anyone?

Hi Startdust66,

I would like to know whether you went with Homopathy treament and if yes, would you like to share your experiece with me. 

Thank you. 

Hi Startdust66,

My son is exactly matches your description. Did you go any further with treatment? desperately looking for a remedy :-(

Many Thanks.

The other point I'd venture to make Stardust66 is at least consider the environmental impacts on your child.

I appreciate that you are alarmed by the sudden onset of myriad problems between 2 and 4 years. And I can understand your argument that because it has waited until 2 to show, somehow it seems inapplicable to be from birth.

Much of the problem for people on the spectrum lies in both social interaction and environmental sensitivity. The social interaction is at early stages and below 2 was probably no more apparent than for any child. But your child is now finding efective communication challenging.

Stress and worry are collossal issues. Increased sentience means increased problems with processing the sounds, movements, smells and other sensory inputs in a very confusing world.

Its far from easy but it might be more productive to look at the environmental stresses on the child. Are there factors that could exacerbate this. Are there things that by observation you could identify and at least try to ameliorate?

It might be sensitivity to clothing, difficulties being touched or handled, certain noises such as domestic appliences.

The accumulative effect of this sensory onslaught and the frustration of being unable to communicate the reasons is bound to produce very dramatic reactions, and progressive deterioration.

It is not altogether clear what can be done at that age to ameliorate things, but observation and understanding might have more direct relevance than simply throwing dietary or other supposed remedies at the problem, when the lack of scientific evidence to support effectiveness means, quite frankly, that you might stand as good a chance with ECT!

Good thing I browsed the next chapter of Lache's book - as that is also very relevant.

Chapter 9 - Body and Mind: Impact of Physiological Changes on Brain and Behaviour.

It points out some surprising dietary connections.

Just as a published source examining causes of autism could I venture to suggest Richard Lathe (2006) "Autism, Brain and Environment" Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

This is quite a heavy going scientific text and I don't have the background to determine whether it is a sound book. Others could comment.

His Chapter 8 is entitled "Gut, Hormones, Immunity: Physiological Dysregulation in Autism". It explores brain/gut relationships, and there seem to be a number of issues here, such as stress, hormone regulation, impaired immunity, liver and kidney malfunction.

It certainly looks as if such issues should be taken seriously and homeopathic medicine is hardly likely to have any realistic effect given we still undderstand so little about these relationships.

Growing up I suffered dreadfully from gut complaints including bloating, indigestion and gastric upsets. It was largely attributed to stress, and while its a while ago, and understanding of autism has moved on, looking back I feel stress was probably the key factor in my case.

Whether there are dietary options to reducing some effects of autistic spectrum problems, I agree with others on this thread that this cannot have anything to do with a cure, if such a thing is possible. But if there were mechanisms that might improve day to day existence, and reduce stress, that might be beneficial in improving a life.

Lache has a good bibliography to this chapter, so that might point to wider reading. If the initiator of this thread wants to explore he should do so but try to find a sound scientific basis.

My own perception of things is that there is way too much quackery, and however good intentioned, a lot of overly theoretical trading in solutions (often costly).

The thing to remember with these solutions is the practitioners aren't really accountable for the long term consequences. The lifespan of their schemes might be of the order of five to ten years if their remedies have any credibility. The consequences or lack of outcomes may affect a lifespan. And the marketteers of these remedies wont be around to account fo their failures. 

As mentioned above, the illnesses you mention the children having, apart from the dry skin and separation anxiety, are caused by viruses and possibly bacteria: these infections can and do clear up on their own; they are what doctors call 'self-limiting'. It is not surprising, theefore, if there is an apparent correlation between Homeopathy and a cure, but it is a mistake to presume that correlation implies causation. This is one of the most common logical fallacies, and it may make sense to you, but this is not the same as the Truth.

stardust66 said:

Placebo effect can only apply as a possibility when the taker of the remedy knows that they have taken a remedy to supposedly cure their ailment. With a baby or a toddler, who is too young to understand that they have been given a remedy to supposedly cure an ailment, this is not possible. With an older child, it is obviously a possibility, but not with babies or toddlers.

Ah, well, this is the thing! Placebo effects have been extensively studied, and whilst no-one really knows quite how, or why, they work, they do know some often quite startling and counter-intuitive things about it.

One of them is that you can know that you are taking a placebo and the placebo will still work!

Another is that you don't always need to actually take anything.

What this suggests is that you don't need to have the cognitive ability to understand that you are being 'treated' or what that 'treatment' is for for it to have an effect.

Therefor, it is entirely possible for placebo to work even on very young children.

Things I have seen homeopathy work for: chronic knee pain (My Mother. The NHS had tried everything possible with no success, but homeopathy worked: She has never suffered with this again). Diverticulitis (My Grandmother. Again the NHS had told her there was no cure). Gout (a close fried of my parents). Heavy mentruation bleeding (My aunt), Serious skin irritation (my aunt. again the NHS had been unable to help). I was VERY sceptical about all of this, prior to the age of 30, and believed that they had all been "conned" in some way. I then suffered with severe back pain in my early 30s which the NHS could not seem to cure. I was treated homeopathically, and I did not believe that it would work. It did. I was better within a week, and it has never returned. I have also had treatment for wrist pain (Tinasinuvitis) which was successful. Myself and several family members and close friends have been treated successfully for bereavement. I was succesfully treated for severe pregnancy sickness during my second pregnancy. I had been hospitalised during my pregnancy with my son from severe sickness, and given lots of medication, which did not help, and I now suspect may be a cause of his autism. With my second pregnancy I used homeopathy successfully for this condition and prevented further hospitalisation.

For children: I have seen it be successful for puss pouring out of ears, chronic blocked sinuses, separation anxiety, bronchitis, dry skin. (All of these either my own children or my close friend's children)

All of these conditions, as far as I can tell, from what you've said, could be caused by things that would, or may themselves, clear up, or pass, naturally all by themselves without any external intervention.

Whether it can help autistic behaviours I do not know, but I am willing to find out, and would like to hear from anyone who has tried this approach.

Whatever happens you will never actually know for sure.

As I stated previously autistic traits can come and go as a child develops. They may also come and go as the environment in which the child exists changes.

If you use a homeopathic treatment and his autistic traits improve, then you can not say for sure that it was the treatment that caused the change.

It could have been countless other things.

This is why controlled scientific studies are done the way they are done, and such studies have been done into homeopathic remedies, in general (I'm not aware of any that have looked at Autism specifically), and they have found that not only are they no more effective than placebo, they're actually no more effective than doing nothing at all.

If you want to ignore scientific knowledge then go ahead, you're not the first, and you won't be the last, but do so knowing that you are wasting both your time and your money.

Placebo effect can only apply as a possibility when the taker of the remedy knows that they have taken a remedy to supposedly cure their ailment. With a baby or a toddler, who is too young to understand that they have been given a remedy to supposedly cure an ailment, this is not possible. With an older child, it is obviously a possibility, but not with babies or toddlers.

Things I have seen homeopathy work for: chronic knee pain (My Mother. The NHS had tried everything possible with no success, but homeopathy worked: She has never suffered with this again). Diverticulitis (My Grandmother. Again the NHS had told her there was no cure). Gout (a close fried of my parents). Heavy mentruation bleeding (My aunt), Serious skin irritation (my aunt. again the NHS had been unable to help). I was VERY sceptical about all of this, prior to the age of 30, and believed that they had all been "conned" in some way. I then suffered with severe back pain in my early 30s which the NHS could not seem to cure. I was treated homeopathically, and I did not believe that it would work. It did. I was better within a week, and it has never returned. I have also had treatment for wrist pain (Tinasinuvitis) which was successful. Myself and several family members and close friends have been treated successfully for bereavement. I was succesfully treated for severe pregnancy sickness during my second pregnancy. I had been hospitalised during my pregnancy with my son from severe sickness, and given lots of medication, which did not help, and I now suspect may be a cause of his autism. With my second pregnancy I used homeopathy successfully for this condition and prevented further hospitalisation.

For children: I have seen it be successful for puss pouring out of ears, chronic blocked sinuses, separation anxiety, bronchitis, dry skin. (All of these either my own children or my close friend's children)

Whether it can help autistic behaviours I do not know, but I am willing to find out, and would like to hear from anyone who has tried this approach.

stardust66 said:

I don't know whether it can help ASDs, but I am a firm believer that it does work for other health conditions. Myself, my mother, my aunt and my grandmother have all used homeopathy with amazing results. I've also used it for both my children, and been amazed at the results with them, as I wondered if in adults it was a case of placebo effect, but this just cannot be the case with children. Several of my close friends have also had huge successes with homeopathy and their children for a range of illnesses and situations. I understand why there is a great deal of scepticism about it, as logically it does not make sense, but I have seen it working!

May I ask you two questions, stardust?

1. Why do you think that the placebo effect cannot work in children?

2. For what types of ailments have you seen homeopathy to work?

Hi - me again.  You could try helping him by presuming he is autistic until you get a definite diagnosis (or not).  From your description he could be, but we are not in a position to diagnose as you know.  I've always thought the discussions about autism + gut problems are interesting.  It's been an issue for ages.  I do have an opinion in that autistic people tend to suffer from anxiety, some have poor diets, some do not like using the toilet either at home or at a public facility.  It can be v anxiety-inducing for a child to use a public toilet when loads of other children are also in the loos, quite often laughing, sometimes screaming or having a carry on.  So whether there's something specific about some autistic people + bowel troubles which marks them out from others I cannot say.  I don't think it's been proven from what I've read, altho there are always theories.  Can I say I know I was blunt in a previous post + I do understand your desire to leave no stone unturned to help your son.  Many parents have researched various therapies over many years.  You can spend a lot of time on these but they are not proven. You ask what you can do.  Posters have mentioned tried + tested ways in their replies.  Once again good luck with everything - it's about time your fortunes improved.  Have an urge to start on about the unfairness of it all but will stop now!  Let us know how things progress.  We do understand.  

Out of interest, as the general opinion seems to be that CEASE therapy and Enzymes will not help, what in people's experience can I do to help my little boy?

Please bare in mind that he does not have a diagnosis of ASD, as the professionals do not seem to be able to agree about him. This limits my help channels.

Please, any suggestions would be much appreciated, as I may be barking up the wrong tree with the therapies I have so far investigated.

Ongoing. He has had so many referrals. He is under a dietician for his poor eating, CAMHS for anxiety, Child Development for ASD assessment, a urologist about the constant wetting. Our GP and the dietician have said that at this point, to refer him to an enterologist as well would be too much, though I have tried to push for it. Our GP has said that we need to get to the bottom of some of his other problems before she refers about the digestive problems, which is a good point.

We are trying a casein free diet at the moment, and although there has been no change in his behaviour, there has been no more diarroeah since we started this a month ago. Gluten free is not going to be an option for us, as his food intake is so limited, but I know that enzymes can work in place of cutting out gluten.

I have kept food diaries for the last year, and there seems to have been no trigger for the diarroeah.

You mention diarhhoea - has he been tested for food intolerances / allergies?

I don't know whether it can help ASDs, but I am a firm believer that it does work for other health conditions. Myself, my mother, my aunt and my grandmother have all used homeopathy with amazing results. I've also used it for both my children, and been amazed at the results with them, as I wondered if in adults it was a case of placebo effect, but this just cannot be the case with children. Several of my close friends have also had huge successes with homeopathy and their children for a range of illnesses and situations. I understand why there is a great deal of scepticism about it, as logically it does not make sense, but I have seen it working!

I must admit, that I am sceptical about whether it can help with ASDs, and I fel that enzyme therapy seems more grounded in medical sense, but I am willing to try anything to get my little boy back to the bubbly, happy, confident and calm little person he used to be. I am just curious to hear from anyone who has gone down either of these routes, even if you found that nothing changed with you or your child.

Stardust66,

This is me posting as myself, not as a moderator.

Homeopathy, in particular, just plain doesn't work. A homeopatic remedy contains so little of its 'active ingredient' that it can hardly be detected; the 'stronger' versions often contain none at all. Homeopathy is junk science. Please, whatever else you do, save your money and don't patronise these hoaxers.

Regards,

Alex R

Thanks for your comments. I am well aware that there is no definitive answer about what causes ASDs. Some believe it may be genetic, some believe it may be environmental. It is possibly a combination of both.

In so far as the idea of getting my son statemented educationally, I know that is just not going to happen. The SEN code of practise is changing in 2014, and from now on, children will need to be severely impaired educationally to receive statements. I currently teach one child with ASD and one with ADHD. Neither have statements, so no extra funding is available for them. We do what we can for them as a school. My son is not delayed with his speech. People usually comment that it is as if he has "swallowed a dictionary". He was counting meaningfully before he was two, and reading at 3 and a half. His numeracy and reading levels are well advanced for a boy of his age. His writing is not, but it is average for a boy of not yet 4. All of this compounded together means that he is very unlikely to ever get statmented for SEN.

The first issue which I spotted at about 2 and a half was a sudden hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli. He had been an excellent eater up to this point, but suddenly could not tolerate most foods or textures. This continues. He was suddenly frightened by certain sounds. Other issues arose once he started school at 3. School's main concern is that he does not interact with other children at all. It is as if he cannot even see them anymore. He also seems to have lost the ability to play (at home and at school). He also has growing obsessive traits, which lead to life being very difficult for us at home.

Thank you autismtwo for your link about enzyme therapy. My son certainly has some digestive issues. His diet is VERY poor due to his limited food intake, and he has had problems with his bowels over the last year. He gets bouts of unexplained diarrhoea, which we cannot tie down to anything. I am interested in the research surrounding leaky gut syndrome and ASDs, and enzymes certainly seem to help in this respect.

Please, any responses from parents who have tried enzymes or homeopathic treatment would be fantastic. So far we have successfully used homeopathy to treat his severe separation anxiety which he had for the first term at school. Within weeks of treating him with pulsitilla, the screaming and crying on being left at school stopped, and his separation anxiety in the night also stopped.

i believe there is a gut bacteria connection to mind formation with autism at an early age. Scientist are being to realise that the gut bacteria is feed back system to the whole body and has a primary role in mind formation. One of my main triggers in Autism is bowels, GI tract problems, IBS, food allergies,,,, I believe as a child my gut system was faulty(maybe due to dna genetics), maybe there is a lack of an enzyme as such, I would not be so quick to pa pa the idea of enzyme therapy...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12056881

quote "Improvements ranged from 50-90%, depending on the parameter measured. Enzyme therapy to treat ASD may indeed a viable option in treatment protocols. These results indicate that further controlled studies are warranted"

Goodluck Stardust

Hi - I can understand you finding it hard to accept that autism is incurable, especially as your child appeared not to be showing signs of autistism until he was 2.  Was it a lack of speech which triggered investigations?  I agree with Scorpion's comments.  I know in the end you'll decide for yourslef whether to go ahead with these therapies or other therapies.  I've never heard of the 2 you mention.  Although I think homeopathy just doesn't stack up at all scientifically.  Perhaps it has a psychological effect on some people?   A lot of these "therapies" are pseudo science at best + are not at all cheap. I think the best thing to do is learn all you can about autism + how it affects your child as an individual, also make sure he gets a statement of educational needs + that he gets a school which will help him educationally.  This should help to bring him out of his "shell".  I know this isn't what you want to hear.  You're minded to move heaven + earth to find a cure.  No-one has.  Ever.  Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true.  What you can do is what Scorpion + I + other posters may say when they respond.  That is that you can help your child enormously to fulfill his potential.  It is not the end of the world to be diagnosed with autism.  Concentrate on what's proven to work.  In that way you'll see a difference.

Autism, if that is what he has, is a developmental disorder.

This means that as a child develops they can at first appear 'normal' but then as various developmental changes take place inside their body autistic traits start to appear one by one.

So, your son's development is in fact perfectly typical of many autistic children.

Potentially you may find that, even without any kind of support, help, or treatment, many of the traits you see now will fade and disappear, or they may not.

This is the nature of developmental disorders.

The traits, and their disappearances, are triggered by perfectly normal hormonal changes within the body.

What this means is a great many parents see these changes happen, look for solutions, and then when some traits fade and disappear they jump to the conclusion that the treatments caused the change.

Unfortunately many charlatons use this to their advantage and prey upon vulnerable parents who naturally want to do whatever they can to help their child.

Very few of the so called treatments for autism have been shown to have any real effect in scientific studies, and one should be particularly suspicious of anything that claims to be a cure.

I know you want so very much to believe that something will cure your son, but this entirely natural desire is precisely what these con men feed off.

I am also finding that I am getting no support from the health professionals who just seem to spend their time bickering amongst themselves instead of trying to help my son or reach an  decisions about him. I would be willing to take any help and support available if any was being offered but right now there is nothing for us. I need to find some way to help my little boy become happy again and to help him succeed at school. Sorry, I know I sound very pessimistic but if I wait for the NHS to decide, I feel I might wait for years.