April update!

Well, I wish this post would say that we are on our way to the doctor, but sadly, no. We're still hovering at #11 on the waiting list, and trusting God for perfect timing in an appointment for our boy.  However, we're still working on what we can do while we wait.

For starters, we have narrowed down that his headaches are probably from a yeast/microbe imbalance (aka "Candida Overgrowth" or "Leaky Gut"). We noticed that every time he consumed a lot of sugar or fruit, he would complain that his headaches were worse, or would get this dazed, hung over kind of look about him. He would get spacey and have a hard time focusing, and thus, get very emotional very easily.  These are all tell-tale symptoms of the yeast overgrowth, which is common with NIDS kids.  It makes sense that he started to get these headaches right when we started the protocol since he began consuming a lot of fresh and dried fruit since we eliminated our other favorite, portable snack foods, i.e. string cheese, popcorn, hard pretzels.

The doctor will probably put him on an anti-fungal, but in the meantime, we are going to try to starve the yeast. As any baker can tell you, yeast feeds off of sugar, so we are eliminating dried fruits, any sugary baked goods and snacks, as well as grapes and bananas. As per the NIDS protocol, we are limiting his fruit to 2 servings a day (or 1 large-ish apple, which are his favorites), and we are rationing his ketchup intake (his favorite condiment on all the eggs and meat that we eat).  We have also put him on a super enzyme as well as Kyodophilus probiotics and he drinks a cup of Kefir a day. I am planning to start either making my own goat keifer or goat yogurt since the price is so high, but for now he is getting the stuff from the store cooler...My friend who is also treating her daughter similarly recommended a urine test to specifically check for the Candida levels. Our pediatrician was not familiar with it, so I'm considering whether or not to look for a local naturo-path that may check the levels for us so that we are not waiting on the doctor in TX to tell us what we're pretty sure we know.

Well, that's about all the updating for now. I should add that after 3 days of being fairly sugar-free, N told me that his headache was the best that it's been in a long time. Praise God!

Blessings,
Hillary