Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone else has expereinced an easing of autisitc symptoms / behaviour when your child is on antiobiotics. Our son is currently on penicillium for a throat infection and in the last few days has been speaking a lot more and is a lot more energetic.
I found a few articles on the internet of parents who had similair experiences with using antiobiotics, but it does not seem to be a common approach (I guess as cant keep giving a child antiobiotics). Hence I have every reason to believe its a a barmy theory.
Our son is under assessment and has yet to be diagnoised ASD, so we dont know if this improvement is due to general development (which we really hope) or the fact he is taking the medicine. His language skills had been improving steadily before, but it got a lot faster this week.
It would be good to hear from anyone with any comparable expereinces or thoughts.
thanks
curious said:I feel I am stating the obvious, but surely if someone is unwell they might feel less inclined to speak - both generally with illness, but also specifically with a throat infection, and the associated pain. So the antibiotics might simply be doing their intended job of treating infection...
I feel I am stating the obvious, but surely if someone is unwell they might feel less inclined to speak - both generally with illness, but also specifically with a throat infection, and the associated pain. So the antibiotics might simply be doing their intended job of treating infection...
I think that S-Clive's original point was that the child's behaviour was better than it was before the episode of illness. i.e. better than when the child was running a normal temperature. There are lots of theories about possible links between intestinal issues and autism - that is actually Andrew Wakefield was pursuing before he created the MMR fiasco. People's behaviour responds to all sorts of influences and it is possible that the improved behaviour may be due to the occurrence of the fever itself or from the antibiotics. The improvement in behaviour may be permanent i.e. not dependent on continued use of antibiotics (continuous use of antibiotics will lead to reduced immunity as I understand it)
I caught an interesting piece on Radio 4's All In the Mind ( www.bbc.co.uk/.../b07cx2f0 ) yesterday that was talking about the link between gut bacteria and mental health. The suggestion is that prebiotics and probiotics can help with mental health. Well worth listening to this episode.
I've not come across this, I've probably seen the opposite to be fair in people I've observed taking antibiotics who also have autism traits, but then they also regularly take omeprozol due to numerous stomach related issues.
Have you considered that it may be the placebo effect? If someone feels they're getting medication to help them get better - in the short term it can have quite a profound effect on underlying anxiety and stress levels, as every time they take the tablet they associate it with getting better. Logic would suggest it would have lesser effect on adults who know what the tablet actually is - rather than a child who would see it purely as medicine. When my son started on his medication, the doctor told us not to expect any results for 2-3 weeks as it takes that long for the build up in the system to start working. We saw an instant improvement though - which I can only explain as placebo (especially as the medication side effects only started to appear a week or so later).
This is not barmy theory. There are many reports that people with autism often have related intestinal issues. I know that I feel much better (i.e. clear headed and functional) when my guts are working effectively and in balance. I have found that I have some food intolerances that affect me and I have cut some foods out (Apples, tomatoes, strawberries are culprits in my case*) and I feel better as a result. the antibiotics may have had an impact on intestinal transit time and this may have made him feel better and more able to function. I would look at his diet and make sure that it is properly balanced and healthy to start with. If he is eating properly (take advice on this if in any doubt) then you might look to see if there any trigger foods that upset him (increased or decreased transit time, irritability etc etc) again, you may be able to get him tested for allergies of you have a real suspicion about this.
*) I think I have a thing called pollen fruit syndrome which is a reaction to specific chemicals in these fruits.
He has a fever the first few days, but not in the last 4 or 5.
There is so much speculation and anecdotal evidence about all these things its hard to get a feel for what could help. It is extremely confusing.
Did he have a fever? I remember hearing about something called the fever effect on a tv show but as far as I know it's not proven. Here is a link about it from the NAS.
www.autism.org.uk/.../2016-04-11-fever-effect.aspx