failsafe diet - anyone??? [Archive] - Bub Hub Pregnancy & Parenting Forum

Can I?

26-09-2007, 16:33

We have started the basics, but haven't gone the whole hog yet. The basics were enough to see a HUGE imporvement for our autistic son, and our younger son's eczema disappeared. I want to do the whole shebang, but I am a little daunted too. Maybe we should jump in together?

There are a couple of yahoo groups for failsafers if that makes it easier? I am a member at this one, but mostly read, I don't post.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/failsafe/

Also check out the failsafe website at

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/

for great information. I have read the original book, seen the new DVD but haven't checked out the cookbook yet, so let me know what you think.

Mummabear

26-09-2007, 21:01

Thanks for the reply. I was up until about 2am last night going through that website, it's addictive isn't it! The boys are in childcare tomorrow so I'm hoping to spend most of the day going through the cookbook and working out a very defined menu for the week.

Where did you get the DVD from? I tried our library but they didn't have it, do you know if you are only able to buy it?

Rell

27-09-2007, 06:44

Yep I put my DS on it over 6mths now and havn't looked back . DS was suffering from insomnia, he would wake at 12am in the morning and hard as he tryed he could not get back to sleep. After 3 days on the diet he started sleeping till 6am, it was amazing. my DH was a little sceptiacl at first but when he saw the difference it made was an absolute convert.
The hardest thing i find is going to other peoples places and daycare. Although i had talked to the staff at naths daycare I got there one day to find him eating cheezels:banghead: . They thought it was ok because it said no arterficial colours or flavours, ofcause they are full of flavour enhacers that sure enough had him up at 3am the next morning.
Nath himself is getting really good and aften askes if it has preservatives in it before he eats it.

The first few times you go shopping will take a while but with in no time you know what brands you can and can't buy and you just stick to them.

My next chalange is that nath wants a Thomas the Tank engin birthday cake for his birthday. I have the "Queens" natural food colours but the blue comes out more like a blue/gray. There needs to be some part of his cake he is allowed to eat:(

Hope the diet helps you guys out, it is a bit of work but if you get the results it is very worth it

Take care and good luck

Bewitched

27-09-2007, 07:04

I was hoping to try this diet more strictly too. DS has eczema and it seems to be more inflamed after he has eaten. I put him on a dairy free trial and he has started sleeping right through - at last after 21 months!! :smiliedance: - but the skin condition is still pretty bad....this is only on his face. Perhaps i should wait until he stops teething and see if it's still an issue :confused:

Susan Mac

27-09-2007, 13:04

My next chalange is that nath wants a Thomas the Tank engin birthday cake for his birthday. I have the "Queens" natural food colours but the blue comes out more like a blue/gray. There needs to be some part of his cake he is allowed to eat:(

Does he specifically want the WHOLE cake to be Thomas, or can you use various thomas decorations? Maybe you could make a Thomas scene on top with a Thomas toy and some trees, and train tracks etc out of lollies, even if they aren't ones he is allowed to eat? Or there are edible pictures that you can get to put on top of the cake, but I don't know where from. He wouldn't be able to eat it, but it would be easy to take off.

TreeFrog

27-09-2007, 20:43

I was thinking about embarking on ths diet. Our whole household is a sensitive bunch really, but my DS is the one with all the allergies.

Mummabear

27-09-2007, 23:58

I spent the day going through the website, printing stuff off and reading through the cookbook. Then I went and did the food shopping - yeah, it did take ages, lol but it was cheaper too! I've held back from diving straight into the full elimination diet and have just cut out preservatives and artificial colours, flavours, etc, along with high salcyliate foods (broccoli, grapes, tomatoes, sultanas, etc) so we'll see how we go with that. I have a feeling that DS # 2 is sensitive to salcyiates as he has been very hard to settle since starting on mashed vegies (which included broccoli) and I'm wondering whether DS # 1 is sensitive to those found in fruits. Anyway, I thought I'd just give the basics a go first and then if I don't see any improvement I'll use a dietician and do the full elimination diet.

It's still pretty overwhelming, but I'm hoping it's going to be worth it.

how do you girls feel about creating a support thread on here - swap stories, tips, encouragement, results, etc??

Rell

28-09-2007, 12:55

Great idea to start a thread :yelclap:
I didn't start off with the full diet either, we just did the colours, flavours,preservatives, flavour enhancers, arterficial sweetners and arterficial anti oxidents. If he was still having problems I was going to cut out high salcyiates foods too but thankfully he didn't need it.

Susan Mac - thanks for the cake idea. I think I have convinced him to have a curious George cake now which will be much easier.

Mummabear

28-09-2007, 13:14

I read on the fed up website that you can use red cabbage to create both blue and purple colour. Not sure on all the details of it, but if you're interested it might be worth a check. I'm a big fan of curious george though :thumbsup:

Can I?

28-09-2007, 13:17

Mmmm....cabbage icing ;):p. It would probably work really well.

I would love to join in on a thread too, so will we just keep this one?

Mummabear

28-09-2007, 13:45

Yeah - I had a chuckle at the cabbage icing too :p but hey, if it works, lol.

I've just started up a new thread for swapping ideas and support, etc

stellaj

28-09-2007, 14:58

~J'dore~

28-09-2007, 15:30

Great thread:thumbsup:

We try and do our best with this too. It starts out quite hard but once you get used to buying the right thing it's pretty easy and my kids are always eating, no one ever goes hungry.

I do a lot of baking (wheat free, egg free, sugar free etc...) If you're looking for good recipes the vegan websites often have a lot that follow the same rules as failsafe (we're not vegan though).

I substitute sugar for either pure maple syrup, honey, pureed apples or dates.

This is a pic (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x49/jdore07/?action=view&current=100_2646.jpg) of the spiderman cake (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x49/jdore07/?action=view&current=100_2645.jpg)I made for DS1's birthday. It's a sugar free banana cake. I mad the icing out of crushed up rasberries and strawberries. I used licorice too but could take those bits off before serving if needed:)

Rell- maybe you could try using blueberries:detective:

I crushed mine a little bit too much and they went a bit runny, so if you do use berries try not to over mash them like I did:rolleyes:

Anyway, I think it makes such a difference in their behaviour and I feel a lot better for it too, much more energy.

Mummabear

29-09-2007, 07:29

I'd love to do it in our house too but I'm scared we won't be able to do it without starving. Not that we eat badly but alot of the foods such as brocoli are the only vegetables the kids will eat without a fight... If you just do it part-way they you won't truely know it is making difference will you?

You may very well notice a difference just by cutting out additives. You could keep eating all your normal fruit and veg, but then if you don't notice any difference you might want to cut them out and see if it makes a difference. The fruit and veg are only issues if you're sensitive to salcyites. If you go to www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info (http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info) you can get a list of all the common additives and tips on what to eat. I don't think my DS is going to be going hungry, it will just mean a little bit more work for me in the beginning until I totally get my head around it all.

mumtojoshandsam

24-05-2008, 16:52

Sprry to threadjack (and I know the topic was started last year but...) I am going to put my DS (and probably the rest of us) on the failsafe diet due to him being diagnosed with ASD and I wanted to get rid of the preservatives and artificial colours in his diet and because I am going to her seminar this Wednesday night http://members.*************.com.au/style_emoticons/default/grin.gif and was wondering about a breadmix I have. I threw out the packet awhile ago and was wondering if anyone can help me with either the ingrediants in it or if it is safe according to the failsafe diet.

The Breadmix is Defiance EasyBake Grain Breadmix and I think it is High Fiber.

Thanks

Rachael

Student of Life

25-05-2008, 23:10

Hi ladies, so great that there are more of you out there that are doing the Failsafe diet. We are also failsafe here and have the birthday challenge coming up also. What I thought would be a good idea was to use celephane on the top for some colour. DS is having a pool party and so was going to make an icecream cake, stir some lollies through it and maybe some toffee to make it a bit special.
I would definitely be up for a failsafe support thread - recipes etc.
One question, I read on the website that the Namar hundreds and thousands are failsafe but I haven't found them in store yet. Does anyone know where they can be found?

indigoin0z

20-07-2008, 09:36

we are considering trying it again soon...

we have tried it twice and seen good results but had to give up because we had too many distractions on at the time....

tho this time our household are vegans & vegetarians...

OH GOSH i'd love some support!!
ive already written to sue dengate a while back... but she didnt get the vegan=no dairy/eggs i think...

also:
what do you all do when there are no [or options are all crappy] brussel sprouts &
tin pears you buy are all hard????? totally sucks, this is actually why we stopped the second time... because we couldnt get what we needed...

so great to see a thread here... :thumbsup:

elissas

20-07-2008, 10:11

Thanks indigoinOz for kickstarting this thread again! I could do with some support too.

I find the Home Brand tinned pears from Safeway the "least hard". The Aldi ones aren't too bad either! If I get hard ones I put them to one side and puree them with a stick mixer and freeze it in an ice cube tray. You can just keep adding it to the cubes in the tray as you puree them, so doing a bit at a time doesn't create wastage. Then I use it to mix with DS rice porridge.

indigoin0z

20-07-2008, 10:40

thanx for the reply elissas..

re the hard pears...
yes we puree ours up and use them for the bean paste... but we get worried, because
officially diet wise, we are meant to only eat soft arent we... because of the salicylates/other toxins in unripe fruits?
i get concerned we are messing up the diet if we use them...:confused:

Dannielle

15-08-2008, 17:58

indigoin0z

15-08-2008, 19:41

Hi,

We have decided to give it a try for our girls. I have printed out the booklet and bought fed up. Just couldn't find the cookbook or DVD today. So will try somewhere else tomorrow. It just seems like information overload at the moment. I guess I have heaps of reading to get stuck into.

Not sure how to get DD1 to drink her milk because she wont drink it without a little bit of milo in it.

And oh oh what can I do about vegemite? Is there a safe version?

Thanks:)

hi danielle...:wave: & welcome to the 'jungle'..:detective:

with the milk thing you could try just a smidgin of golden syrup... [tho you might be appalled at that suggestion understandbly]..

but if you are doing the failsafe... than its actually rice-milk you use which is actually much sweeter funnily enough. it looks watery & certainly seems different when you are use to cows, but actually easy to get use to after a while.. tho brands of course do vary..
[for the record it still contains calcium]..

with the vegemite.. its apparently a no go..
tho we have found 'vege spread' by Freedom Foods... not sure that it would be failsafe, but i believe maybe closer so than vegemite.. [i stopped using vegemite bcauz it had the 160b in it & because its no longer an aussie product]..

good luck with it..:fingerscrossed: :thumbsup:

i should mention we are not currently on it, because we have become vegos since & are very confused with our options now nutritionally..:hissy:

Dannielle

15-08-2008, 20:35

Thanks for that indigoinoz.

I think we will cut out most things but not do the full elimination diet at this stage. (I'm hoping we wont need to:fingerscrossed:) Plus it just seems too daunting right now with all this reading ahead of me.

Hmmm, I was going to try the A2 milk for DD1 and DD3 first but if rice milk is sweeter then DD1 might like it. Don't know why I haven't thought of rice milk for DD2 who is CMPI. It would be SO much easier if they all drank the same milk!

I will have a look at the vege spread. DD2 loves her vegemite, and now that I think about it that might be one of her main problems.

erikel

25-08-2008, 14:30

Wow love this thread. I started the full elimination diet 3 months ago and what a difference. My son was a nightmare before strting this and i am amazed at the results. My mother is also amazed. she is a teacher and part of the behaviour committee board for her school, she has recommended this diet be implemented in the school and has amazing support to do this (it's yet to begin). I am loving trying out the recipes (although i am just getting into trying different things). I find it hard somenights tho and naughtly try him on foods he isn't allowed only to regret it heaps the next couple of days. Such is life i guess.
Once again love this thread
Kelli

Dannielle

25-08-2008, 16:22

Hi again,

Well things are going ok so far. DD1 and DD3 didn't like the rice milk but they will drink the A2. It was a struggle to get DD1 to drink it at first (with no milo in it) but now she says she likes it.

I wanted DD1 and DD2 in particular to try it because they both get pale skin and dark under the eyes. Well DD1 is looking SO well at the moment and even has rosey cheeks! I don't think she has ever had rosey cheeks except as a baby and teething etc. DD2 is looking a little bit better too.

I have been wondering if we should have eliminated wheat too especially for DD2. But we will wait and see for now.

But OMG DD3 has surprised me. (She is the quiet one that we weren't worried about.) The tears for no real reason at all took us by surprise.

elissas

01-09-2008, 08:58

Danielle - have you tried the almond milk? I get it at Coles in the health section and DS loves it. He was a milk addict, and switched without even a flinch. One cup of almond milk and he came back asking for more!

Well, we've been failsafe for over a year now and I still get sprung! You'd think I'd have it under control now.

We recently went casein and gluten free (well, small amounts of non-wheat gluten, like the contamination free oats). Results have been remarkable.

I also started adding Inner Health plus for kids and flax seed oil with his cereal every morning. Again, good improvements!

But... has anyone found this? When you make a change, remove another additive or food etc, one of the ones you have already been doing falls out of your brain?

Seems I do this all the time. eg. I usually bake DS' bread, but I bought one of the gluten free multigrain loaves on the weekend as it was a busy weekend and I didn't have time to bake. Anyway, last night he started doing his "whirlwind, running around in circles touching everything in sight trick" :hair: , then woke crying about 4 times last night (when he's been sleeping really well since cutting out gluten and dairy). So, I looked at the bread ingredients - vinegar and yeast. Aaargh. Kicking myself. Can't believe I let them sneak through. :no:

Dannielle

01-09-2008, 17:05

elissas - Didn't think of almond milk thanks, will give it a try.

I put the while family on inner health plus about 2mths ago after everyone got sick yet again. I haven't heard of flax seed oil. I just looked it up though and it looks like I need it myself!

I'm so impressed so far and it's only been 2 weeks. DD2 is looking better today. (no dark eyes)

I have a strange question though. Has anyone found that their kids are extra hungry? Not that I'm complaining.:D My normally REALLY fussy eaters are less fussy. They are eating things that I really didn't think they would even try.

Mummabear

03-09-2008, 20:34

Hi everyone,
Well, I've been so slack over the past few months, and I've really been paying for it. My boys have grown horns :devil:. I've started them back on it over the past few days and already noticing a difference (small, but there, lol). At this stage we are just preservative, colouring and flavouring free, once we're back on that wagon properly I might go gluten and dairy free (they currently have soy milk and soy yoghurt, but do have some cheese). Has anyone noticed big differences with salicilyates and amines (veg and meat)?

I bought a donut maker, a pie maker and a pancake maker the other day (tax cheque splurge, lol :o). OMG - they are awesome. The boys had a great time helping me mix donut dough this morning and then we made donuts and they had them for morning tea. I coated them in fresh lemon juice and put nemar colour free sprinkles on some of them and caster sugar on others but they actually preferred the ones that had nothing at all on them! Then I made pies for dinner - so easy and everyone (including hubby) loved them! I'm yet to try the pancake machine, hopefully tomorrow (you can do ommlettes in it too!). I think these things are going to make this diet a whole lot easier. Next I just need to find a popcorn machine (the air popper one) so I don't have to buy microwave popcorn anymore.

elissas

03-09-2008, 20:45

I've noticed a big difference with salicylates and some amines.

If DS has too many salicylates, he turns into tassie devil, running around touching everything in sight. He is into one thing while thinking about the next 3 things he's going to get stuck into.

Amines - for him mainly bananas. He gets soooo whiney. Same with dairy. Very whiney and sooky.

Student of Life

04-09-2008, 16:42

Hi ladies, long time no chat! We are doing well here. DS1 is mod-high salicylates intolerant and DS2 is amines intolerant and extremely MSG intolerant. Both are off preservatives etc and things are going really well. I have been getting a bit slack with the cooking and would love to find some more ideas that I can put together for the boys. We have my IL's here in Oct and I am sort of dreading them coming as well as be happy to show them how it all works. MIL doesn't cook anything from scratch, everything is from a packet and so I just can't let the boys go and stay with them. They are interstate. DS1 would love to go but just can't.
I haven't gone dairy free as yet but I am thinking that it may help, I am just scared of more limitations.

MummaBear - where did you find the namar spinkles? I have been on the hunt for them for ages. I also would love to get a donut machine as the kids miss them. Another good one for a special treat would be the fairy floss machine. You can make a stick of fairy floss (without adding colours) with 1 tbs of sugar. Pretty good I thought.

elissas

04-09-2008, 16:58

Dannielle - re appetite. DS does have a much better regulated appetite. He really loves to eat, but has stopped begging for sweet stuff. The only downfall if someone mentions the "b" word (banana). Then I'm in trouble - it takes half an hour for him to get over it.

He does crave a lot more water though, and asks for it all the time. He used to drink a fair bit because I'd offer it to him. Now he looks for it and tries to climb up to the sink to get to the drinking water tap!

Student of Life - packet chefs get a huge shock! Has she seen the Fed Up DVD yet? That might help it hit home to her.

Understood re dairy. And gluten for us too. I knew it was coming, I tried to resist having to do it. I just knew I had to bite the bullet and do it eventually, and although it can be a pain, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, as DS loves the almond milk. But the rewards are much greater!

babyluv3

05-09-2008, 21:47

We have been on the failsafe elimination diet for 5 mths, we have 3 kids aged 10, 7 and 9 (almost) 2. Between them, they have problems with behavour, sleep, skin and health problems.

We have seen some improvement, we also went wheat free, but not dairy (although I suspected it) as it is such a restrictive diet, all the cooking and not being able to eat out, etc, its done my head in!!

We have just returned from a 3 day trip to the city, where we had appoointments for myself and our kids, at the AAE Clinic http://www.aaeclinics.com.au/Default.aspx

We all came up positive to all the foods that you have to eliminate on the failsafe diet plus more, and we were treated for 2, and we need more treatments.

On the way home, we bought choc coated donut king donuts, and yesterday it was our eldest birthday, and we had chinese food and pizza, and although we havent been treated for everything, no one has had a reaction to any of these foods yet. Normally, my eldest will go crazy aggro after just having wheat, yet although she hasnt yet been treated for wheat (she had treatment for sugars, as that is in dairy, grains and salicylates ie fruit) it seems the treatment for sugars and amines has helped with her wheat reactions.

I am itching to get us all back to the city, and stay a week and have all the treatments done. We want to live a normal lilfe again, one that doesnt revolve around what we eat (or more pointedly, what we cant eat) and get out of the kitchen and spend quality time with my kids, without dealing with their issues!!

The failsafe diet is fabulous for pointing out just what a problem foods, etc can be for our kids, and ourselves, but seriously, when you have a big family and lots of issues with many foods, it is hard, hard, hard, and really really boring!! My kids have gotten to the point where they are hardly not eating, and they are skinny to start with!!

Anyway, this has been a very positive experience, and I am glad to post how it all goes, if any other failsafers are interested in actually treating the problems, instead of avoiding them.

Would love to hear if others have been to the clinic also!!

Michelle :)

elissas

05-09-2008, 22:03

Hi Michelle!

We've been doing a similar treatment programme for DS and DD through our naturopath/kinesiologist. It's called NAET.

I found that the treatments have been great and helped a lot with the severity of reactions, and DS is ok if he is exposed once or twice. But we still need to maintain the diet. It just means that we can chill if he does have something he shouldn't, and that the fallout isn't so huge. eg. if I was out I could, say, buy him something with wheat or dairy or get some chips from the restaurant even if they use oil with BHA320 in it (one of DS' worst reactions).

But I've found that although it's good and I'm glad we did it, I can't just put him on a normal diet (that would be a dream come true). Well sort of. Even if he wasn't intolerant to so many things, I would keep him completely additive free and low chem anyway. Same with DD - she doesn't seem to be having any reactions like DS (via breastmilk). Even still, knowing what I know now, I couldn't give her anything that I knew contained the rubbish they put in so many foods.

It is worth doing though!!

babyluv3

05-09-2008, 22:57

Hi Elissas,

I have heard that the NAET whilst is very similar, isnt as precise as the AAE.

I wonder if thats why it hasnt actually worked properly?

I have found a nz forum where mums have been writing about it, can I post it here? Its great to hear others views and experiences about these sorts of things, especially as its not cheap, and most of us in this situation, are desperate and at the end of their tethers!!

I have been dealing with my youngest sleep issues since she was born, and she turns 2 next week!! It is usual routine for me to go to bed well after the sun has risen, (for a couple of hours) and I had many nights of not getting to bed at all before I had to get my other two up for school (which is now not an issue as we have broken from the bounds of schooling, and we have now found the peace and joy of homeschooling!!:yelclap:)

And my eldest's aggression has been on a steady increase, which hasnt helped during the last two years of sleep deprivation!!

Michelle

indigoin0z

06-09-2008, 04:14

thanx for providing the info babyluv3 & elissas..

ive been wanting to research options of this [tests] for a long time, but knew it was hefty in price so havent prioritised the time yet.. but now ive just signed up for an info pack...

can you do a similar [cheaper] alternative with a naturopath?..
thats what i was going to look at initially..

babyluv3

06-09-2008, 04:51

Hi IndigoinOz,

A naturopath or homeopath can do similar testing, yes, we have been to a homeopath and she used the vega machine, which i think measures electrical pulse as opposed to muscle testing (kineseology, which is what they use at the clinic) but the difference is, with a homeopath/naturopath while they can identify problems, they arnt as specific (for instance, our homeopath is extremely experienced but she cannot test for amines, sals etc, its too detailed for their testing) and they cant treat the problems either, you are left with a list, and are told to avoid them. So, whilst it may be an easier option than doing the elimination diet, it wont be as exact. Wheras the clinic is able to 'treat' the intolerances, I cant remember what its called, but its like accupuncture, but they use a vibrating tool, down your spine, whilst holding the vile containing the "allergen" and stimulating the different areas on your back. To teach your body that it is a positive experience not a negative one.

Something like that. I hope Ive described it properly.

I rang our clinic a stack of times before I made our appoointments. I was worried as I had a bad experience, we went to a local "naturopath" who claimed she did the exact same treatments as the clinic and it would save us a bucket load in travel/accomodation, but almost $300 later, after just the initial consult for myself and my kids, in which we just sat there and I gave our history, she told me to take them off the failsafe diet and talked me into getting a hypnotherapy cd for my daughter and paid for bottles of probiotics, and booked us for 3 wks later when she was to return from her holidays.

We lasted 2 days of the diet before my eldest started getting pre diet aggressive, and my youngest reverted back to no sleep again, it was a bit better on the diet, it was a nightmare!!

So after many calls of horror to the clinic, I believed they were more likely to know what they were talking about!!

3 months later and Im still chasing this woman for a receipt so I can claim it on my health insurance!! What a fraud!! And I have since heard many horror stories from other people in town about her so called "practices"!!

The people at the clinic are registered naturopaths. If you have naturopathy on your health insurance, you can claim it.

Let us know if you decide to go, and how it goes!

Michelle

elissas

06-09-2008, 07:28

IndigoinOz - Our naturopath (she's also a kinesiologist) is a NAET practitioner does the same diagnosis/treatment. She tests for everything, and very specifically. She even tested and found that DS' body was treating B-vitamins and Calcium as allergens, which she corrected first session. He's also been treated for wheat/gluten, casein, salicylates, amines, corn, yeast extract, food colours, flavours, synthetic antioxidants, general food additives, as well as chlorine, and the vaccines that she found him allergic to (measles, mumps, pertussis and a couple of others). There are some other things but I can't think of them this early in the morning.

The treatment works, definitely. When he's been exposed to any of these, such as the antioxidants or a bit of wheat or dairy, the fallout is so much smaller and much more manageable.

We don't have private health cover, so the sessions cost $50 each, and we did all that in about 8 sessions.

With things like vaccines, the treatment works because it also treats toxins that have already caused imbalance in the body and rebalances it. I noticed a massive difference after the vaccine treatments.

Using this method you can test for anything and treat it. I brought a bottle of prednisalone (cortisone med for croup that DS reacted to violently). She tested and treated it. You can bring your own water from home, anything you like. Here is the Naet site http://www.naet.com.au/find-a-practitioner/

elissas

06-09-2008, 07:48

With any treatment that involves the body detoxing or rebalancing, you may have a period of healing response. With all of Will's treatments, he had a healing response for up to a week afterwards, where the symptoms appeared with avengeance. It was hard, but with all of them after about 4 or 5 days it's like a switch went off in his body and he was pure gold!

After all his treatments, we then took him to our chiro (as recommended by our naturopath), and that cemented everything. Was perfect after that, helped to integrate everything properly and balance the nervous system after all the upheaval.

He can have bits of everything - wheat etc here and there, but I generally keep him on the failsafe diet and gluten and casein free still, because he is SO intolerant to all of these things, and we're suspecting he'll be diagnosed ASD (very mild though) in November. In my heart I know that he would be much higher on the ASD scale if we didn't do everything we've been doing. In a few months I'm going to start rotating some of the foods like wheat and dairy back into his diet, on a more regular basis, but keep it all on a rotation basis, no overloading!

Mummabear

07-09-2008, 22:10

babyluv3

08-09-2008, 02:38

OMG - I just got such an education reading this. I had no idea about any of these treatments!! I'm still trying to get my head around it all. I have a strong feeling that my boys are going to react to a lot of things. We have done preservative free but DH & I were talking tonight and decided that we would take the boys to a dietician and do the full elimination diet with them, but after reading all this I don't know if we should go down that path or whether we should go straight to one of these treatments???

Oh - the colour free sprinkles I get from our local Coles. They always have them. I have never been able to find them at Woolies. Hard part of us is that the regular sprinkles do not contain traces of nuts but the colour free ones 'may contain traces of nuts' and DS2 is anaphalactic to nuts - some things you just can't win can you, lol

After doing the failsafe elimination diet for 5 mths, I would have gladly given it a miss if Id known about the AAE Clinics!! I would definately recommend going there first before trying the diet, I saw the diet as a last resort because I thought I had tried everything else!! Ive been to drs, paedatritions, specialists, homeopath, chiropractor (which we still see), you name it weve done it!! It wasnt until an aquaintance suggested it, that I even knew about the treatment.

They dont 100% guarantee that their treatment will work, but hey, after all the money we have spent on 'medical' treatments that havent worked, to me I dont see any difference. If theres a chance, well there's hope!

Sue and Howard Dengate have and still do, a fantastic job in educating people about the problems involved with food, but if theres an easier way, then I say, go for it. Theres more than one way to skin a cat, my dad use to say!! (Yeah, very disgusting I know, but its true!!)

We are definately going back to the clinic, but as we have to travel and pay for accomodation, it might be a while yet (I hope not, but money doesnt grow on trees).

If you do decide to go, make sure you let them know about the allergy to nuts, as I dont think they treat anaphalactic cases, but they may have other suggestions. And you may find that clearing another problem, may make the nut problem less, it seems this happens with other allergens/intolerances! We were all treated for sugars, but not wheat/grains yet, yet my eldest daughter has had wheat a few times in the last 5 days, and she has not reacted once yet, and she normally gets very aggressive (to others and then turns on herself)within hrs of eating wheat.

They also told me, that when you are prone to intolerances/allergies to a substance, and you eliminate it from your diet, the body will then turn to something else you are having and then that becomes an intolerance/allergy. And it even becomes worse with stress, sickness, pregnancy etc. That would explain why so many people start of with a problem with one food, and eliminate it, only to find that they end up with multiple intollerances/allergies!!

Very, very interesting.

Anyway, good luck with it all!!:)

elissas

08-09-2008, 07:52

They also told me, that when you are prone to intolerances/allergies to a substance, and you eliminate it from your diet, the body will then turn to something else you are having and then that becomes an intolerance/allergy. And it even becomes worse with stress, sickness, pregnancy etc. That would explain why so many people start of with a problem with one food, and eliminate it, only to find that they end up with multiple intollerances/allergies!!

This is what I found with when we went failsafe. For awhile there, I thought the dominoes would never stop falling!

With our treatments, I found spacing them out really good, as it does cause a little bit of upheaval in little bodies (and big ones). There is a healing response time and we did all his intolerances over several sessions, usually 1-2 weeks apart. We haven't treated corn yet, I'll be doing that next week. But I wanted to take DS to the chiro and let his little body integrate everything before doing more treatments, and before doing any full on challenges.

His behaviour, sleep, etc are now very very stable, his speech development and awareness, concentration is great. We've had a couple of mildly (almost undetectable) ASD days, but they've been completely manageable. These have been when he has eaten wheat or dairy etc, but I wouldn't even have picked him for a reaction myself if I hadn't been journalling and keeping a close eye on it, looking for every tongue click and space out. The other night we went out for dinner at a bistro and I ordered chips for him (the oil did contain BHA320), and he showed no detectable reaction!!! This is the additive that turned him into a screaming banshee, even in his sleep!

Even though NAET has worked and this week I'm rotating little bits of wheat into his diet - one brumby's white bread sandwich today, and another on Thursday - I'll still keep him failsafe.

A few reasons for this:

1. He is, we are sure, mild ASD as per discussions with previous paeds. We'll be seeing a new paed in November and I want to keep it safer until we get him into any therapies he might need. There is a critical window of time in reversing ASD and I don't want to pollute it in any way.

2. Wheat, dairy etc contribute to his blood candida levels, and we are treating that with a probiotic at the moment, so I'm laying low on sugars (including lactose etc) until I feel that's clear.

3. And this is the key one - I still believe that everyone should be on the Failsafe diet to a degree. We are all on it. Even if DS is no longer highly intolerant to all of these additives, it still doesn't mean they are benign chemicals that should be regarded without concern. Even chlorine, which DS has been treated for - he might not react to it anymore like he used to, but it doesn't mean that lots of exposure to chlorine is ok for his little body! It's still nasty. DD is not intolerant (we had her tested), and she'll be on it too. After reading "The Crazy Makers" by Carol Simontacchi, I am disgusted and furious at the food industry and how the additives and lack of nutrients in food affects EVERYONE's neurochemistry, so we'll stick to the diet thanks! The only difference is that in the next 6 mths I will be rotating wheat, dairy, salicylates and amines back into DS' diet and keeping them on a rotation basis.

We still won't be expposed to things containing these chemicals unless there are circumstances like birthday parties, occasional swimming, being out with no other options etc.

Dannielle

08-09-2008, 08:14

Student of Life

08-09-2008, 12:05

That is all really really interesting ladies. Thank you for sharing. There is a NAET not far from me so I may give her a ring and see what she says. I think I agree with what you say Lis, about maintaining a chemical free diet, there is just so much **** in the food! I just struggle with giving my DS1 a balanced diet when he is has a high intolerance to sals. If that could be reduced it would make things so much easier. Definitely will give this lady a ring. Oh saw you tested you DD Lis, how early do they test? I am due to have my 3rd in march and would be great to not have to do the elimination diet myself (breastfeeding) to find sensitivities.

Mummabear

08-09-2008, 12:25

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and stories ladies, I really do appreciate it :shakehands:. I read up on both the AAE and the NAETS last night and they pretty much sound like they are the same thing, just worded differently (AAE seems to steer clear of using terms like 'energy', targeting more traditional western terminology, I guess hoping to appeal to more people??). Anyway, there is no AAE clinic in SA so we would have to travel to Victoria to be treated, which is just not an option, so it will be NAETS for us. I told DH about all this last night and he was gobsmacked! He was tested by a natroupath many years ago and it was discovered that he has an intoloerance to dairy protien so he has avoided it all these years, he said if he had known that he could have been 'treated' he would have jumped at it.

I agree with keeping our kids on a predominately failsafe diet - the amount of cr@p in foods these days is unbelievable. Unfortunately I think it all comes down to lack of education and laziness - for us, it's pure laziness as we understand that the food is full of bad stuf, be we just get lazy :(, which isn't good enough really, but sometimes 'life' just gets in the way of being a good parent :o

Anyway, I would love to keep hearing more info and stories so please keep posting your progress, this is so very, very interesting, I'm really enjoying finding out about all this stuff.

Thanks again ladies

elissas

08-09-2008, 13:09

We tested DD at 3mths, but you can test sooner if you like. We'll test her again in a year to make sure she hasn't picked up any others. There were a few things, like a few vaxes, yeast, b vitamins and the main additives like colours and flavours, but nothing like DS' extensive list!

We treated her for allergy to the vaccines. We're doing a delayed programme - starting her 2mth vaxes next week and spacing them out over a month. She tested as allergic to hep b, tetanus, measles and chicken pox vaxes, and has been treated now, so I feel more secure knowing this when we get the vaxes done.

Well, DS has been pure gold today and we have a nice relaxed day at home. So I figured it's a perfect day to do a challenge with one weet bix brick. He had that at 9am and has been an angel all morning, and went to sleep no probs. I'll see how it goes this afternoon and tomorrow, but his reactions to wheat/gluten (both having it and coming off it), have always been quick, not delayed. So far so good!! His poo will be the big tell-all though. I'll smell it if his body treats it as toxic.

elissas

22-09-2008, 21:55

Update on NAET results - so far so good!!

I'm letting DS have little bits of wheat and other forms of gluten, as well as some salicylates and amines. He's also had a few serves of chips at restaurants where they use oil containing antioxidants. And he's been great! His language is still developing well and behaviour... golden!

Interesting - we went to a wedding on the weekend and were seated with another couple - they're daughter is also failsafe. They have done some treatments at AAE, and were lucky that the woman treating them at the centre has her own naturopathic practice, and is treating them "on the side" for a third of the cost of AAE.

We're going tomorrow to do DS' treatment for corn intolerance. I'm hanging for this one - there is corn and maize in soooo many foods.

I'm still taking things slowly and rotating foods. But I think I'll continue to do that a lot anyway.

Letting little bits of dairy in, the occasional cheese toastie etc, but so far I've kept him on almond milk because he really enjoys it and milk isn't so difficult (though almond milk is very expensive).