Our battle against Yeast

*A warning- the following post talks about poop. A little , not a lot, but poop non the less.

We began Liam on Nystatin, as prescribed by our new and amazing pediatrician about 6 days ago to battle Yeast Overgrowth which is common in kids with Autism.

Most people just in general have yeast overgrowth in their guts and this effects many things- how our body functions, behavior, moods, even sleep. But we are able to function (fairly) normally even with the excess yeast. However, EVERYONE can benefit from pro-biotics.

In people with Autism, this yeast overgrowth effects them incredibly much more so. Behaviors, moods and sleep patterns are already quite sensitive and easily disturbed to those on the spectrum.So, this has been on in our battle plan for a while but wanted to wait until we were under the right care to tackle it.

I was a bit nervous going in to it, i had heard stories of experiences from many parents and experts that during the initial "die off" of the bad yeast, that his behavior might change for the worse- temporarily- followed by more positive behavior changes. I was a little afraid of this die off period but i knew it had to go down. Bring it on.

So 6 days ago we began, he is taking 2 ML 4 times a day and he just lets me give it to him, no fights. Always awesome :)
Immediately the first thing i noticed was that he stopped going number two 3-4 times a day. Since starting he is down to 1, sometimes 2 poops a day. Also they are no longer loose or watery and he hasn't had a diaper rash since. His poor little rear is so sensitive so that was never fun.

So that's been positive change number one.
The second thing we have noticed is that he is a little bit more verbal, has started trying to imitate sounds and has also started pointing at us. He plays a game were he points at me, i say mama, he points at jenny and she says jenny and so on.

And thus far the only real negative reaction is that he seems to get really sleepy mid day, especially when hes at school. The only thing i can think is that it has something to do with the Nystatin, although drowsiness is not listed as a side effect.

We are now gluten free, dairy free, soy free and yeast free. And we are rockin the GFCFSFYF label! Shooooot. ;)

Along with the Nystatin I began giving him a new probiotic. The nystatin kills off the bad yeast and bacteria, and the pro biotic will help grow the good bacteria in his gut. All good things.

More on that in my next post.

And so we continue to soar!

-Alex