tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post1196079090053728989..comments2023-04-23T00:16:48.148+01:00Comments on Questioning Answers: Antibiotics and autism: friend or foe?Paul Whiteleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-59859494264237198572018-11-19T14:47:43.235+00:002018-11-19T14:47:43.235+00:00My son was diagnosed at age 3 with auditory proces...My son was diagnosed at age 3 with auditory processing. At age 4 ADHD. At age 5 OCD. At age 7 asperger's then tourette's, ODD, Anxiety disorder with intermittent explosive disorder. As we all know, these disorders are all within the spectrum. Interesting there's a new acronym for another disorder every other year ( equivalent to a pharmaceutical company's wet dream). I have been a relentless mission to finding the root to my son's debilitating battle within in his body. He's in there but it seems he's had to face one obstacle after another (WE are ALL in this crusade). We are all affected as a family. We've tried a slew of SSRI's some stimulants, mood stabilizers and 2 antipsychotics. We've even gone as far as having him admitted to a psychiatric unit for 7 days (a total waste). Hes in a behavioral school and the staff psychiatrist is at wits end. I haven't been very compliant to all his suggestions. As we all know, it's all trial and error when it comes to medications. Hearing the words "probably" "I think" "interesting" "it's complicated" "paradoxical" makes me want to scream and be placed in a padded white room. <br /><br />Anyway, I've veered off to the point on my commenting. We recently had our son tested for PANDAS which is detected through Cunningham bloodwork. He has tested positive for PANDAS. It was a celebratory moment. Imagine the parent of a typical child trying to wrap their head around that reaction. It felt like we finally found the answer. He's been on amoxicillin 875mg twice a day for 9 days now. First few days, he was doing well, but now things have made a turn for the worse. Feeling defeated and discouragedAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14575783922562794125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-77951831941494848702013-01-02T12:33:51.700+00:002013-01-02T12:33:51.700+00:00i am a mom of 2 year son who has been diagnosed wi...i am a mom of 2 year son who has been diagnosed with autism very recently..by looking at this page..i felt a ray of hope..cuz here in republic of maldives we dont have such technology apart from that we have so many autism children who's parents praying for atreatment..i fond about b12 vitamins are also given to these children. i wish i could treat my son..it's heartbreaking to see him when going to school with other normal kids and my boy remains silently at a corner..here they believe there are no medical treatments for autism only that therapy thing and speech therapy...but i had this belief that someday soon we will cure our little kids with autism...this is all i have to say and i hope i will be answered with very positively..thank you..rumshaAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05235915902269822560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-44726912483280089662012-10-24T20:30:08.921+01:002012-10-24T20:30:08.921+01:00Many thanks for the comment Skepticon.
The idea t...Many thanks for the comment Skepticon.<br /><br />The idea that autism is more likely autisms (plural) is gaining some support:<br /><br />http://questioning-answers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/more-autism-developmental-trajectory.htmlPaul Whiteleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-92140986939144265582012-10-24T16:36:05.908+01:002012-10-24T16:36:05.908+01:00I am a father of a young son who has been diagnose...I am a father of a young son who has been diagnosed with autism. The medical community in Canada does not recognize autism along with any of its potential subsets as being caused by a biologically environmental condition. It only recognizes it as a behavioural condition and treats it as such. I am open minded to the possibility that my son falls into a subset whereby his autistic tendencies are related to some kind of infection that came about either In utero or otherwise. Early on as a baby my son had skin rashes that his mother was treating with a light topical steroid. I often wondered if the rashes were caused by some infection. At five years of age, most of the rashes are gone but he still has it around his mouth. I have since read about cycloserine and am just starting to give him 10mg daily doses. I am not sure how he will react to it but if he does improve i.e. he is less OCD and hyperactive I could be convinced that this anti-biotic is targeting something that his normal immune system is not. I know the medical community has a reputation for being closed minded. Take for instance Helicobacter pylor bacteria, it took a maverick doctor in 1982 to prove to the medical community that bacteria can cause ulcers. He faced a lot of resistance to this theory but in the end he proved right. I wonder if one day a subset of autism will be identified as being caused by a certain pathogen. It would open the doors to the medical community in screening for such things and maybe prevent a few children from living a debilitating life. I should also mention that genetic related mental conditions more often than not show for dysmorphic feature traits. Children like my son who appear perfectly normal will be grouped together with children that might have a genetic condition and who are also categorized as being autistic. It is important for the medical community to categorize Autism into its subsets otherwise it is prone to being abused. A one size fits all approach helps no one.Skepticonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11035640181509494932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-69669145220852461852012-08-14T00:15:45.481+01:002012-08-14T00:15:45.481+01:00I am very, very intrigued; both in this article, a...I am very, very intrigued; both in this article, and the response by rmagliozzi. How did you discover your son's "titers?" What doctor was willing to test for this? Many doctors discount these ideas of autism as a "treatable" entity altogether, choosing rather to see it as an incurable birth defect. <br />Have either of you heard of the book "Saving Sammy" by Beth Maloney? Her son had PANDAS and was cured by an antibiotic called "Augmentin." I have not since heard any mention of this particular antibiotic. <br /><br />I'm a few months late to the discussion, but hope it's still relevant as I have a son with high-functioning ASD and have a lot of questions about antibiotics, and exactly how much probiotic is used when someone says their child takes "a lot." <br /><br />thanks!<br /><br />-karen<br />karensomethingorotherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14476544335741075497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-61448886968545709102012-05-13T09:15:03.900+01:002012-05-13T09:15:03.900+01:00Many thanks for the comment rmagliozzi.
PANDAS ha...Many thanks for the comment rmagliozzi.<br /><br />PANDAS has been a topic of conversation on this blog previously and I would agree with many of your sentiments about it with regards to overlap with autistic symptoms.<br /><br />Inflammation... well, evidence is accumulating on a role for inflammation with regards to lots of things around autism.Paul Whiteleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-41282912046873839662012-05-13T04:40:54.249+01:002012-05-13T04:40:54.249+01:00Have you ever heard of PANDAS or PITANDS? They are...Have you ever heard of PANDAS or PITANDS? They are autoimmune disease triggered by strep or infections that affect the brain and cause psychiatric symptoms, OCD, repetitive behaviors, sensory issues, violent behavior, and some kids also get hallucinations. My son with autism has this, as does my other boy without autism. As more and more of the brain is infected, you will start to see more symptoms mimicking other psychiatric diagnosis. The oldest has had PANDAS since age 1 and is now 8, which is probably why he has such a broader range of symptoms, compared to his younger brother of 4, who has only had it maybe a year or two. <br />Antibiotics reduce the inflammation in the area of the brain being attacked, and stop the symptoms, if done at the right dosage. Doctors who treat PANDAS and autism are finding out more and more that many individuals who are ASD or PANDAS often have lots of underlying inflammation and also latent infections (Lyme is very common with ASD, mycoplasma and many of the 10 herpes viruses also are, and my son's immunologist also mentioned he's had kiddos suffering from parvovirus as well. My autistic boy also had Epstein Barr Virus, but now those titers are back to normal.). The brain has it's own immune system, and when that is crossed by lymphocytes, bacteria or other things, behaviors and functioning can go completely haywire.<br />This is why antibiotics can work for autism and other mental illnesses. They lower the inflammation. The problem is that they often have to be used long term, and relapse can happen. <br />On regular cephalexin, my son's PANDAS and ASD went into remission. He was like a normal boy. What sucked was that he started getting swollen joints so we had to take him off of it and put him on Zithromax, which isn't working as well.<br />Also, researchers at John Hopkins University linked ASD to microglial activation in the brain, and found the immune system is playing a major role. <br />I am also a firm believer in lowering inflammation through diet and lots of probiotics to offset the bad effects of antibiotics.rmagliozzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15558683543114703685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-31533879532862776232012-03-04T12:44:43.967+00:002012-03-04T12:44:43.967+00:00Many thanks for the comment catastrapie.
Antibio...Many thanks for the comment catastrapie. <br /><br />Antibiotics are very potent medications not to be administered lightly. These studies looking at antibiotics as an intervention perhaps more importantly highlight potential 'mechanisms' pertinent to symptoms associated with autism above any 'treatment' significance.Paul Whiteleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14288851488012254897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548560205914833324.post-26927789249053233442012-03-04T10:18:01.553+00:002012-03-04T10:18:01.553+00:00Interesting article, I'm one of the peeps with...Interesting article, I'm one of the peeps with ASD who had a lot of ear infections treated with antibiotics. However I have bad reactions to a couple of them so would not want to be recommended antibiotics as a 'treatment'!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com