The surprising body part that could be causing Autism

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Ahhhhhh....you devil, you.

And for all you or I know, you & I and everyone else on this forum share similar physical brain abnormalities. Without scans, we don't know.

Like I said in my thread months ago, I suspect/theorize that there's a genetic component + an environmental/chemical/digestive one. It's possible that the brain "rewiring," is genetic, but it's also possible that it "rewires," in response to bacterial/food/other chemicals and it's changes are simply the brain's way of coping with the barrage of chemicals flooding into it from the digestive tract that aren't supposed to be there.

It's possible that autism is mostly caused by digestive health issues, and that those with brain structure differences are simply statistical outliers. It's also possible that those with observable structural differences had worse digestive issues and the chemical shitstorm that ensued caused the brain to rewire itself. It's also possible that only some people have the genes required to cause the rewiring in response to bacterial/food chemicals.

The point is, you don't know and neither do I.. so referring to structural brain differences as "real," and discounting the symptoms and experiences of others as somehow "lesser," forms of autism than Temple Grandin has is ridiculous.

Goldfish. I took a quick look at the post you linked, but it is very long. Would it be possible to give just a short list of the symptoms that the diet helped you with?

Maybe, maybe not. Who's to say that changing brain chemistry via diet & healing the intestinal lining wouldn't result in the brain structure changing and adapting to it's new environment? Especially IF it changed and adapted to all the chemicals that were thrown at it in the first place. Again, I don't know and don't pretend to.. but neither do you and nor should you.

Yes, here is the list:

Autism, ADHD, OCD, Tourettes, Depression, Anxiety, Dyspraxia.

The post may be long, but IMO it's worth the read. There's a lot of valuable information in it. Give it a read when you have the time. It may turn out to be very beneficial to you.

Ok now it is me who is getting upset (I'm trying not to tho lol). I already explained why I used the word real, because I couldn't think of a better word, and I said that I'm sorry that I used the word "real", I didn't mean the symptoms were not real. I could say "the physically observable type", versus the type where "the brain seems normal", would that be better? Or would that be insulting to you as well? And I didn't say the symptoms were "less real" or "less disabling", what I said is that if your brain is formed normally, and your "circuits" are "ready to work", your Autism is potentially curable, while in a person like Temple it is not, her "circuits" are "wired" differently, areas of her brain are actually very developped while others are underdevelopped, and a diet won't change that (but even if it was "curable", Temple already said that she would not want to be "cured").

It almost seems like you would prefer if a doctor told you that you that you are autistic, rather than telling you that your brain is normal and that you are affected by certain foods or bacteria, and that once you get rid of the bacteria, or quit eating the food that affected you, you will be perfectly "normal" (i.e. not autistic). I mean considering you are making a huge effort and following what seems to be a very strict diet to get rid of your symptoms, it would be good news if a doctor told you that your brain is normal and not "physically" autistic, it wouldn't be insulting, would it?

Now we are getting in the "miracle" realm. Its like if you were telling me that you can make a leg that has been amputated reappear through a diet. Yes the circuits can readjust, to a point. A diet won't turn Temple's brain into a "NT" brain (and she wouldn't want that anyway).

Again, you're continuing to refer to some sort of different brain structure (which I may or may not have, I do not know) as autistic, and the exact same textbook signs & symptoms, potentially caused by something besides brain structure
(or at least exacerbated by), as somehow not autistic. That's my issue with what you're saying. IMO, there's no differentiation between the two. Either you fit the profile of symptoms and criteria that qualify one as autistic, or you don't.

And then like myself, and at least 117 others that were mentioned in the link to the AutismOne conference topics, we've been able to go from definitely on the spectrum to reducing symptoms via mostly diet to the point that I/they would not currently be likely receive a diagnosis of autism. Yet I know I still have subtle ASD traits, but only a highly trained expert would pick them out. That's why I've said I suspect it's part genetic part digestive/chemical induced. It's certainly not insulting to me that I've been able to reduce/eliminate symptoms to the point that I can lead a pretty normal life in comparison to a couple of short years ago, no. But it is insulting that you're trying to differentiate between my lifetime of experiences and those of TG's brain as if that somehow made my near life long autism symptoms invalidated as not being autism. Again, it's particularly silly to make these judgements considering neither of us has seen a scan of my brain to even compare to your theory.

Thank you for the list.

I am presently reading your long message, but I am far from done. I already have a few questions tho.

Do you know why your ADHD medicine quit working? Or was it a placebo effect to begin with?



Have you been officially diagnosed with the conditions you mentioned? Also did you ever look into bipolar disorder? Because so far, there is parts of your message that reminded me of that (my brother is bipolar). I'm guessing you probably have been diagnosed with dyspraxia and Tourettes tho, because these conditions are pretty obvious (my son has dyspraxia in addition to Aspergers, he also had a surgery for a lazy eye when he was very young, and has diabetes type 1).

P.S. To answer your previous message briefly: yeah I think there is a difference between someone who's leg is numb and someone who doesn't have a leg at all, eventho the symptoms are the same (you don't feel your leg). Sorry. And I'm sorry also if my comments are insulting to you, they are not meant to be insulting. And you don't have to keep trying to convince me that your symptoms were real, I believed you the first time.

To goldfish:

Still not done reading your other message, but I was thinking maybe you should be a herbalist? or maybe you would like homeopathy or aromatherapy? It seems to be a subject of interest for you, and maybe you would be able to help a lot of people through this passion. Myself I am interested in the healing power of plants, but I have never been as thorough as you are about the subject, I simply have a few books (which I consult once in a while), used some of the plants for salads, boiled some of them for "teas", and dried some of them for future use (I used to live in the country, we had plenty of plants, including plantain, clover, camomilla, etc). Now I live in the middle of the woods lol, here we do have a little bit of plantain tho, clover, mint, plenty of dandelions ... and mooses, bears, and wolfes.

It's common that people have to increase the dosage as it's efficacy wears off over time. I believe it quit working for 2 reasons:

1) As a strong stimulant, it was actually fuelling the digestive infection I didn't know I had, making my intestines increasingly permeable, resulting in more and more food/bacteria chemicals leaking out into my bloodstream and wreaking havoc on my brain.

2) As a strong stimulant, it was leaching magnesium & sulphur from my body, which allowed the salicylate acid levels to increase higher and higher and mess with my brain.

Pretty sure I covered all of this in the thread and you'll see when you continue reading it.



Only with ADHD - and even that was a self researched self diagnosis, as I've been transparent about, that was confirmed by my GP and the results of the Amen Test that I introduced him to. Everything else has essentially been self diagnosis via common sense (OCD is not difficult to determine, nor is depression or anxiety etc) and relentless researching online and reading books. I considered getting an official diagnosis of AS at one point only so that my immediate family members would believe what I had learned vs. angrily telling me I'm not a doctor and thus can't possibly know. Meanwhile all it takes is to read a few books on the topic and realize whether they match your entire life or not. Also, I was reluctant to get an official diagnosis as I did not want the label to hold me back in life in any capacity - i.e. professionally. Now I very highly doubt I would be diagnosed as on the spectrum as my symptoms are far too mild and no longer screw with my life in any big ways.

I've read about bpd, yes. Some say I had traits of it. It's possible that had I seen a psychiatrist during that time a couple years ago that they may have diagnosed me as bipolar. I believe that if I were to have seen several different psychiatrists and explained symptoms, or subsets of symptoms, that each of them would have diagnosed me with different things. I also believe that all of these things are all overlapping and exacerbated by intestinal dysbiosis - as I've stated at the end of the OP in that thread. As for others in the thread conversation calling me manic.. I wasn't manic, I was merely excited to share what I'd done and how well it was working for me. Anyone who had experienced what I had would have been thrilled to share it with this group. Forgive me for being happy about being able to share knowledge with people who could transform their entire lives with it as I have.

Dyspraxia & Tourettes weren't officially diagnosed, either, but I certainly had symptoms of them. Tourettes... I'd get frustrated and mad about something and could not possibly refrain from swearing. Man o man was I yelled at a lot for that over the years.. and I'd explain that I wasn't consciously deciding to use that language, that I could not help it, it just happened. I also had facial tics. Dyspraxia, like the other symptoms, was textbook. I didn't learn to run properly until I was 15 years old or so because I was so rigid and uncoordinated. And right down to fine motor skills, there was a time a couple of years ago where I could barely use my fingers to tie my own shoes. I couldn't use my hands to do anything unless I was on Dexedrine. (ADHD stimulant med, dextroamphetamine, I've since quit taking completely several months ago or longer now.) My balance and coordination were so poor that you'd swear I was drunk. It was bizarre. I think that the SA sensitivity contributed to these symptoms, in addition to extreme depression, anxiety, audio sensory overload, and very impaired executive functioning - as so many of these things were relieved when I detoxed the acids.

I don't know if there's a correlation to all of this and lazy eye or not - but an ASD friend has a lazy eye, as does one of my cousin's ASD kids. I've read that there IS a correlation to type1 diabetes. My nephew and both of my cousin's kids all have type1 diabetes. They also all have obvious signs of ASD. They also all have signs of digestive imbalances. I've read on some naturopath's websites that these digestive imbalances (candidiasis) are believed to be the cause of the onset of type1 diabetes in kids. It may be that the pancreas become physically infected and that's what shuts it down; I don't know - but it makes sense to me.

Once you get through reading you'll see that one of my close friends is an Herbalist and his father is a Naturopathic Doctor. I learned a lot from them, as well as because of them & then going off and doing my own research.

I'll always have an interest in these things, but I doubt I'd go put myself through school for a decade to make a career of it. I have other business ambitions I'm working on now, bit by bit, step by step. Slowly but surely I'll get there and realize my goals.

If you have even a passing interest in plants and what they can do, do yourself a huge favour and read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Life-P ... +of+plants

The Secret Life of Plants is one of the best books I've EVER read on any topic. It really is as reviews describe... THE one book you must read about plants. I read it as a crash course into my Herbalist friend's plant world, but got so much more out of it than that.

Usually prior to a tipping point event the meme/theory gains some sort of currency on the outskirts for a period of time despite mainstream belittlement. Nothing resembling this happened here.

Isn't that how you would describe WP's response to the thread in my signature? I certainly would.

Yes, but in fairness in your case there were also issues related to presentation methods. But my point is at the time gut theory was not being mentioned not in the mainstream or even outliers Autism/disability media. It really was only being taken seriously in the wilds if the web. Compare that with another tipping point event "gay marriage" . 10 years ago it was belittled by most of the mainstream but the advocacy movement for it was getting mainstream coverage.

Hi again Goldfish

One last comment about your other message.

I did see that you mentioned your friend is a Herbalist a few times. And yes I understand, there is other things you want to do, and it probably takes a while to become a Herbalist. It was just a thought because you seem very interested in this subject, and maybe you have a special talent for this. P.S. my previous doctor was a "regular" doctor, but also an osteopath (I think it is the right name but its been a while and I can't remember exactly, it is similar to chiropracy but it doesn't hurt, which is a big plus lol), and he was also an homeopath. He was a very cool doctor. Also thank you for the information about the ADHD medication, this is all good to know! And for answering my questions about your diagnosis, I appreciate.

About the lazy eye, it is often (not always) due to a side of the brain being more active and dominant than the other. My son himself always says that he is "left-brained". He doesn't have digestive imbalance. And his diabetes started when he was 15 year old (it seems a lot of people with diabetes type 1 become diabetic around that age). One of my ex-husband's cousin also had diabetes type 1 (also started around 15), and so did one of my ex brothers-in-law (for him it started when he was 25 or so), neither had ASD tho.

This really does remind me of bipolar disorder. I'm not saying that all your "ups" and "downs" were necessarily due to bipolar disorder, surely some of it was due to all the things and ailments you had to deal with, but it might be one of the causes that made it worse, to the least some things you describe reminded me a lot of my brother. The symptoms may vary depending on the severity and type as well, for example my brother has long "downs" and then long "ups" as well. On the other hand my husband's dispatcher (he drives concrete trucks) is also bipolar but his symptoms are different than my brother, he constantly gets ups and down (in the same day), and often it happens instantly, one minute he is nice, the next minute he is a complete jerk (and my husband is really tired of him lol), and he does get "manic" as well. Not every bipolar person becomes "manic", my brother doesn't, he just get depressive and it lasts for a while, then he gets in a good mood (for no apparent reason) and this lasts for a while as well. He feels better when he takes his medication, but sometimes he stops taking it because it also modifies his personality to a point (less down but also less high/up), and this bothers him. But about you, its not so much the "happy" part that hinted towards bipolar disorder, it is the succession of what you describe as deep depression, followed by the opposite mood (also for a while, like the "downs"). Again, I don't know, its just a thought. Anyway if you're cured, I guess it doesn't really matter anymore.



Note that most people who follow a specific strict diet will get this effect whenever they eat something they are not used to. Full vegetarians for example, if they eat meat, it will make them feel pretty bad, some will even puke, they also lose a certain "clarity of mind" that they get from vegetarianism, it can also make them more irritable than usual, and then it takes them a while to "detox" their body again ... which reminds me that I haven't checked the vegetarian youtube guy in a while (but I can't remember his name anyway lol).

Also I cannot stress enough that you shouldn't generalise, regardless of our argument about the nature of Autism (or different causes for the symptoms of Autism, etc), especially when talking about such a strict diet, as while it might help some people who react like you to certain food or whatever else, it might be detrimental to others. Personally I would suggest people should be very careful when trying new diets, and not change their eating habits too quickly, to give the time for their body to adapt, and also see if it truly helps them, or if it causes other issues. The same applies if someone is trying to become a vegetarian.

And the more I read, the more I realise that your diet is not for me. First of all, I don't think I would have the patience, nor the will, to be as focused as you are on such a diet. Also, among other things I never had any issues like you with dairies and gluten. But when you said "quit drinking coffee" you lost me completely lol, coffee is my favorite beverage, and I'd rather be dead than not be allowed to drink coffee. And honestly, so far I don't want to be "cured" anyway, of something that I consider a "difference", (including the impairments), I pretty much feel like Temple Grandin about this. But if I started having issues like the ones you mentioned (when you thought you were losing your mind, and couldn't tie your shoes anymore, etc) I would probably try everything I can to stop this kind of symptoms, it must have been truly scary.

I also saw that you mentioned Candida, if you look at my previous posts you will notice that I mentioned this as well, and that it can cause symptoms similar to Autism (and feeling "drunk" as well), and this has been known for a while, for some reason I thought you were talking about some other newly found bacteria. By the way, kimchi soup is my favorite meal, I eat it almost every day (and I like kimchi without the soup part too).

Ok I think I'm done for now, but there is a lot of interesting information in your post, and it was really nice of you to take the time to share with others. And despite our arguments about some words and the nature of Autism, I think you are a nice person who is sincerely trying to help others.

Also, I'm sorry that you went through such difficult times, I hope that everything will be better from now on.

And thank you for the book suggestion, I appreciate and will look into it (I don't have money right now, but when I do I might buy it)