Question about possible withdrawal symptoms

alcyone · Post by **alcyone** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 9:39 am

Hey, guys.

I have been on my new diet (GF/DF/SF/EF) for a few weeks now and can happily report that I'm doing much better. Not perfect, and I think I still need some adjustments, but definitely better. My question is actually for one of my sons. My oldest, Jake, just turned four and is autistic and both boys have had issues with eczema since they were a few months old. Since I had to make major adjustments to my own diet anyway, and we now have a GF kitchen at home, I decided it was a good time to try the boys on a GF/DF diet and see if it would help them at all.

Sunday was the first day, and other than Jake not liking any of the milk alternatives we tried, it seemed ok. They ate heartily Sunday, and Jake's teacher says he seemed fine yesterday, but last night he wouldn't really eat. He also hasn't had a BM in over 24 hours, but he's usually the most regular of us all, having one to two somewhat sludgy BMs a day. This morning when we woke him up for school he was extremely lethargic and kept moaning but couldn't tell us where he felt bad. He is verbal, but the majority of it is echolalia (he repeats words and phrases), so it can be hard to get information from him. I can't stress enough that lethargy is something we never see in my son, no matter how sick or tired he is. Jake is extremely hyperactive, and has been ever since he was a baby. The only time I have ever seen him lay around was this past Christmas when we all caught a wicked stomach virus, and he spent most of the first day sleeping. Anyway, we kept him home and he sat on his bed for awhile and finally fell asleep (also strange because he gave up napping when he was 2). After sleeping for an hour he seems to feel a little better and he's a bit more active, but won't eat. There's no fever or other signs of illness, and no sign of dehydration. He doesn't like the "milk", but he's been drinking lots of water and watered down juice.

I have heard of withdrawal reactions in some people, especially with some of the major intolerances, and I think I had some mild issues when I started my diet, but nothing like what Jake seems to be going through. Michael (my two year old) seems to be taking it fine so far, and has even adjusted well to the new "milk", which really surprised us (he was a certified cow's milk junkie, constantly begging for it and refusing to drink anything else, even sweet things like juice).

Is this normal? Does anyone here have any experience with withdrawal, or has anyone put their kids on a special diet that resulted in similar symptoms? Could this just be coincidental?

Thanks!

Post by **tex** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 10:15 am

I certainly don't claim to know anything about issues such as this, but I would suspect that his reaction (of lethargy) might possibly be part of his response to stress, presumably because of the (sudden) diet changes. Both gluten and casein contain addictive neuropeptides (gluteomorphin and casomorphin, respectively) that can indeed cause real withdrawal symptoms in some individuals, when these foods are withdrawn from the diet. Some individuals are affected much more profoundly by these neuropeptides than others. Maybe too many changes at one time seems overwhelming to him (after all, too many changes at one time can seem overwhelming to anyone).

Tex

alcyone · Post by **alcyone** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:25 am

He's been gluten free at home for just over 3 weeks, but I was still letting him eat normally at school. I thought if he was already used to the GF food at home, and we used that time to identify gluten alternatives that he enjoyed, it wouldn't be too upsetting for him to drop the dairy and start taking his GF food to school. I guess I was so worried about the psychological side that I didn't consider the physiological side. Ugh.

Thank you, Tex. As always, I am so grateful for your help and knowledge. Do you think I should try to adjust anything at this point, or just stay the course and ride it out since we're a few days in? He did finally eat a little lunch, and his mood seems a bit better this afternoon.

JLH · Post by **JLH** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:35 am

So glad he is doing better. I hope he keeps on improving every day in every way.

I hope you read Beckett's story that I posted the link to here: http://therashreality.com/2013/12/01/re ... tts-story/ I know everyone is different.

alcyone · Post by **alcyone** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:12 pm

Thank you, Joan, that's a very inspiring story. We have worked so hard with Jake for the last 3 years with various therapies and his PPCD program at school and he has come a long way. I don't really know why I waited so long to try diet change, but we're hopeful it will help him in some way. Even if it does nothing else besides making his tummy more comfortable and improving his eczema, I will be thrilled.

Post by **tex** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 1:15 pm

alcyone wrote:Do you think I should try to adjust anything at this point, or just stay the course and ride it out since we're a few days in? He did finally eat a little lunch, and his mood seems a bit better this afternoon.

I wish I were qualified to answer that question. In the long run, I truly believe that the diet would/will be a huge benefit for him, but I'm sure that getting there will involve at least a few major bumps in the road, and working out the details is never easy for such a project. He's lucky to have such a caring and well-informed mother.

Tex