TICK TOCK GOES THE AUTISM CLOCK
PART 9
I spent Annie’s fourth year of life basically banging my head against a brick wall. In an effort to recover her, I tried anything and everything I felt was safe. But everything I tried lead to one step forward and two steps back. I was tired of the emotional roller coaster. I was battered, bruised, and running on pure adrenaline.
I felt more pressure than ever because she was fast approaching her fifth birthday. In every recovery story I had read, the child had recovered by the time he/she was five. I felt like a noose was tightening around my neck. I felt I was running out of time. I truly feared that if I didn’t help her recover by the time she was five, it was all over for us. That clock, ticking over my head, got louder and louder. It was all I could hear and focus on some days… TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. It was deafening.
But then I got a call from a DAN! doctor that had a two year waiting list. I had finally earned my spot. Immediately, I made an appointment so that I could seek a second opinion.
The new doctor told me that Annie had severe metabolic acidosis which was likely leading to her aggression and tantrums. She told me that Annie literally felt like her gut was being burned by acid all day and all night. I probably wouldn’t have been so pleasant either if I felt like my insides were on fire! I felt so badly that we didn’t realize this sooner, like I had let Annie down. I figured some prescription drug would be needed to solve the problem, but was blown away when the doctor told me the cure. She told me to put 1/4 teaspoon of aluminum free baking soda in 8 ounces of water and have Annie sip on it all day. The baking soda would neutralize the acid in Annie’s system. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Almost immediately, the baking soda lessened her tantrums and aggression. It wasn’t gone, but it was so much better.
The doctor also told me about a new way to rid the body of metals and toxins, without the dangers and side effects of chelation. It was called OSR #1 and it was classified as an antioxidant. I was so excited. She told me I had to wait a few months to try it so that Annie had time to recover from the metabolic acidosis.
Fast forward a few months and lab tests revealed Annie was finally healthy enough to begin OSR. We started with just a tiny sprinkle. Within one month, Annie went from only speaking one or two words at a time (unprompted) to speaking in sentences much of the time. For example, prior to OSR, Annie would say “Daddy basketball” if she wanted to play basketball. After OSR, she said, “Daddy, I want to play basketball with you.”
We were afraid to get our hopes up, but OSR really seemed to be working miracles. The doctor told us to gradually start increasing the amount of OSR to work up to a whole capsule. I said to myself. “This is it! This was going to be the magic bullet and Annie would be recovered by the all important fifth birthday.” I was riding high.
Once Annie was on half a capsule of OSR, she broke out in hives. The hives were all over her body – in her scalp, between her toes, EVERYWHERE! She itched so badly that she made herself bleed. She was covered in scabs. She couldn’t eat or sleep. She stopped talking and became extremely aggressive, once again. She looked at me with a look I will never forget. Her eyes seemed to be saying, “Mommy – why aren’t you helping me?” It broke my heart.
The doctor said she must have an allergy to sulfur (OSR was sulfur based). They had seen this reaction in a few other children, although it was extremely rare. She told me to stop the OSR all together for a month. It took the whole month for the hives to disappear. And even once they were gone, Annie had purple scars all over her body from the scabs.
I was terrified to re-start the OSR. The doctor told me to give her just a sprinkle, like we had done in the beginning, and said that she’d have to remain on that dose indefinitely. She assured me that some children simply didn’t need a whole capsule to detox, but I had my doubts. I started her back on the sprinkle. Her hives did not return, but luckily her language did. She was back to speaking in sentences most of the time.
Even though her language and tantrums were better, Annie was far from being recovered. And then it happened… her fifth birthday hit. I was emotionally unprepared for what came next.
To be continued…
For part 10, /part-10.html
For more on the Biomedical Treatment approach to autism, http://www.healthinducedautism.com/biomedical.html
