#Round 9 - FAILED / ABANDONED

                                                -26th Nov -28th Nov -

Feeling all gungho, but not wanting to do split my 150mg ALA into 30 parts, which will probably end up being just a speck or two on the paper, I decided to do DMSA for this round ...

While on DMSA this time round, I decided to omit rice from his diet and just gave Jaden meat and vege for mealtimes.

Well, all I wanted to say was Jaden took the diet well, but I can see that he was craving for carbs, for those sugar -those yeasty monster in him probably was practically begging to be fed with sugar ...

and that of course, did create havoc. The havoc what we parent would call a die-off behavior.

He was rather cranky and would just go weepy or have sudden outbursts of crying session. 

This time, I up-ed his Adrenergize to help with his adrenal stress, which I suspect could have been one of the culprits yet I do not rule out the die-off reaction from no carbs diet. 

I gave him red quinoa though from the second night onwards as I could see he needed more than just vege and meat and going all cold-turkey was not really helping.

In fact, on the second day of the diet, he threw up and seemed really lethargic. I had to cancel all classes for him that day and all he did was sleep or lie down.

I just did not want to let that one day of chelation go to waste, and seeing that he has no fever, nor was he not eating, so I continued with my dosing until ...

I woke up at 730am the next morning after the last 1am dosing on Wednesday morning ... I could have finished the round on that Wednesday 9pm or Thursday 1am but no, I have to be careless enough to set my alarm to ring at 445pm instead 445am to wake up.

I really felt as if my whole energy was drained because of having to abandon this round. 

However, after trying out ALA the week before and this week, DMSA, I noticed a big difference in giving these two chelators.

Jaden seems to fare better on DMSA compared to ALA as ALA causes him to verbal stims a lot. DMSA does not do that to him but he tends to be cranky a little on DMSA. Yeast can be quite an issue too as I saw rashes appearing bits by bits near his crotch area, and that is where they usually attack him too. 

His poo, however on a red quinoa diet, he seems to poo quite frequently, in fact almost after every meal of quinoa. The poo that comes out of him looks nasty, with specks of the quinoa skin that makes it looks as if its a sporadic poo.

It took him about three full days, after stopping the red quinoa to clear out the specks from his colon, back to the normal brown colour stool. *sigh*

Even his therapists commented that Jaden fared better this week compared to last week when he was on ALA. He was just mostly spacing out on ALA .

Jaden, on Tuesday after the puking session, although feeling lethargic, he was still as cranky as ever. I took him down to the playground during the evening and had him played on the swing, for almost 1/2 hour, letting him sweat it all out and well, that really work wonders. He became much more manageable, more calm after the swing. :)

and now he has been having the flu, and I am just taking the advantage of resting much before I continue re-chelating #Round 9 again, on DMSA until my ALA arrives from iHerb.

Once you start, you can't stop ...

#round 8 of chelation week (19th Nov -22nd Nov) :-

##round 1 on ALA 5mg

ALA is known as Alpha Lipoic Acid.

ALA detoxification is effective for the removal of mercury and arsenic from the brain, which means to use ALA as the chelator, it will cross the brain barrier and pull these toxic metals out.

DMSA, on the other hand, does not cross brain barrier and is only effective for the removal of lead, and assists in the removal of mercury.

The reason why parents are advised to do one chelator at a time, during the first few rounds instead of doing both at the same time, is so that they would know how the child reacts to each chelator -the symptoms and such so in future, the parents can pinpoint the problem to the main cause.

We chelated during weekdays again because I find this arrangement sort of works better for me, and I get to rest during the weekend.

During the first day of ALA, the first initial feedback of mine would be I felt that Jaden did better on DMSA (first day) compared to ALA.

He was also constipated on every first day of chelation lately, including this round on ALA.

Jaden was not focusing as well as he did too on DMSA days. He seems to have less eye contact, and always in a daze.

Red dots, which I believed might just be the toxic exiting his body, started appearing randomly near his thighs and crotch area. He, too, started scratching his butt due to a few red bumps appearing over there.

There was an increased of verbal stimming and jumping too. He was just stimming away verbally and hopping around like a kangaroo.

There was also an increased of Jaden licking his palm after touching things, be it the wall, the grill door, whatever that he wanted to feel, he would feel with his hands, then onto his tongue.

ALA seems to have him waking up at nights, when he usually do sleep like a log throughout the night. Somehow, night feedings this time round weren't as smooth as it was supposed to be. He seems to have this sudden crying outburst (somewhat as if he had a nightmare).

Though he was constipated on the first day of chelation, the next two days, he actually have well-formed stools coming out from him, and they seem to not be as smelly. I know, shit are all smelly but the parents that shares the same experience as I do, will know what I am talking about when it comes to the level of smelliness. 

I triggered the second day poo by giving him the Oxycleanse supplement. That supplement do come in handy but if I could choose, I rather give natural laxative inducer such as juice, fruits or vegetables.

Supposedly, metals get excreted out in stools when one chelate using ALA, whereas metals are excreted through urine when using DMSA.

The positive side to the ALA dosing is that I did not see any yeast flare-up compared to him on DMSA.

In fact, I even gave him a shot of 0.04ml of MB12 injection on 21st Nov. I must have done it right because he did not show signs of hyperactivity.

That was my first time injecting his butt after a looooong hiatus that both Mr and I tried on him earlier this year. 

However, the successful injection on the first time did not go well the second time I tried. Instead, the needle bended and I got pricked instead. Guess I still need to figure out how to do it fast and steady on the little cow of mine. 

p/s: to understand what I am doing, do read this . =)

Do you know the works of Calcium and Magnesium?

WHY CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM AREN'T ALWAYS THE BEST OF FRIENDS

Magnesium competes with calcium for absorption and can cause a calcium deficiency if calcium levels are already low.

excerpted from :-
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/magnesium-000313.htm#ixzz2CGuMsrrO

Most people take it for granted that calcium and magnesium are good for you.

In many ways these minerals are very important; your nerves and muscles depend on them.

Taking too much calcium, or using the wrong form of calcium, **TUMS for example, may lead to kidney stones, bone spurs or calcifications.

Calcium does not work alone in your body. It requires vitamin D, parathyroid hormone and healthy saturated fat in order to be utilized for strong bones, teeth and muscles.

Bone health not only requires calcium, but an array of other vitamins, minerals and hormones to complete that process.

Magnesium is a critical mineral for health. Magnesium is necessary for some 300 reactions in the body, it is used by every organ in the body, especially your heart, muscles, and kidneys. It contributes to teeth and bones as well as activating enzymes, contributing to energy production, and helps regulate calcium, copper, zinc, potassium, vitamin D, and other important nutrients.

Intestinal flu, stomach and bowel diseases, diabetes, pancreatitis, hyperthyroidism, kidney malfunction, and use of diuretics can lead to low magnesium levels. Too much coffee, soda, salt, alcohol, excessive sweating, and prolonged stress can also lower magnesium levels.

Low levels of magnesium may lead to agitation, anxiety, restless leg syndrome, sleep disorders, irritability, nausea and vomiting, abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pressure, confusion, muscle spasm and weakness, hyperventilation, insomnia, poor nail growth, seizures, migraine, asthma, allergies, fibromyalgia, ADD, and nervous disorders.

Foods rich in magnesium include unrefined grains, nuts and green vegetables. Green leafy vegetables are particularly good sources of magnesium because of their chlorophyll content.

Calcium should be taken during the day. Magnesium is best taken at bedtime for better utilization and better sleep. The reason for this is that calcium is antagonistic towards magnesium, as they act biochemically to cancel each other out.

**TUMS is calcium carbonate. This can lead to an imbalance in the blood’s bicarbonate buffering system which may undermine your health.

excerpted from :-

http://blog.seattlepi.com/naturalnotes/2009/09/01/magnesium-and-calcium-arent-always-the-best-of-friends/

Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol #Round 7

We just finished another round of chelation this week, only to realize we are only at #round 7. Despite saying over and over again that I would want to try out chelating solely using ALA, I chickened out and is still on DMSA.

We had a two weeks break from chelation. 

I want to say, it is because I was just feeling really really tired, knowing that I will not be able to bring myself to wake up every 4 hours for the feed for 3 nights continuously but that is just all BS. (*bullsh*t)

Those are just excuses for myself when I am being a selfish mother, taking off chelation week so I can go and enjoy concerts and sleep my ass off... pure procrastination but time waits for no man. The more I keep resting off chelation, the less chance I would be able to help Jaden recover and if he could make decisions, I bet he would want to hurry this up so he could be just like any other neurotypical children out there.

I am glad I have a fellow mummy friend, a good one at that, to keep supporting and pushing me to go on. Since I do see positive results coming from what she is doing for her son, the perseverance .. it is very inspiring to me. *sigh*

Anyway, after the two week hiatus on chelation week, I do feel recharged to take on sleepless nights again and I took the opportunity of the public holidays this week and little classes in between to do chelation on weekdays again. In fact I think its better for me as it enables me to have a good rest during weekends.

I started chelating Jaden on Monday 12th November 1pm and just ended the round today, 15th November 1pm. 

I thought I will have repeat moments like oversleeping again and nearly missing dosage hours but surprisingly, I did well this round. I wake up on time, or even before the alarm rings and got to do all the night feeds successfully. Must be because Jaden had been tired out fully during the day and he sleeps like a baby during the night. Weekdays are good, afterall eh?

Jaden was constipated on the first day of chelation, thus I gave him an OxyCleanse supplement on the second day on empty stomach, two hours after lunch/before dinner. He had a go not long after he had the supplement and his bowel movement have been consistent these two days. Shall watch out for today though because it is very very important that he needs to pee and poo daily especially during chelation to have those metals coming out of him. 

Mood wise, he was pretty ok except for yesterday's sudden crying and looking weepily sad when his friend had an outburst of excitement. Lasted for a short while though. Other than that, he was pretty well behaved throughout chelation. 

He didn't break into giggles like before, or have rashes or red bumps or red rings on anus appearing. The only thing that we could really see evident, that might be also caused by yeast flare-up, though it seems quite minor to me was Jaden jumping like a kangaroo. He was just stimming away, jumping like a kangaroo whenever he could. I am willing to take that over temper issues and red rings/bumps/rashes and giggles anytime. 

In fact, this time round, he surprised both Mr and I with... about three things.

1) Finally picking up the hand signs of "finish" without us having to prompt him

2) We heard him say "Please" albeit not clear but it sounded like that when we asked him to and attempts of making the "P" word.

3) He actually took off his own pants and walked to the toilet (toilet door was opened) and he peed into the toiletbowl without me asking him if he has to pee or bringing him to the toilet to pee. 

Wonderful isn't it when we have positive updates like these from time to time and you know its coming from chelation? or maybe it was partly OmegaBrite's helping too .. still, its the positivity that is driving me to go on. 

Cheers to another week of successful chelation. Now, where's that glass of wine for myself? :p

Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol #Round 6

Since we were away visiting my mother in law last weekend, I did not get to chelate Jaden over the weekend. Knowing that I would be out from the house, away from the boy coming Saturday, I decided to chelate him during the weekday instead.

I started on #round 6 on Monday on Jaden.

We are still currently stuck on DMSA as I am planning to purchase the ALA in 25mg capsules. 

Jaden's yeast attack is quite bad this time round. Although its not attacking in behavioral, its attacking physically on his skin. Itchy rashes are appearing around his thighs, near to his private parts, and sporadic red spots near the bottom.

I am currently trying to keep the rash in control, by applying candelula and diaper cream on him to prevent further rash growth.

He, has been peeing without showing any signs of wanting to go toilet too. He usually will show signs of wanting to pee or he will stand up and take off his own pants but he has leaking pee in class a few times. I wonder if its the cause of chelation or its just him, immersed in work and play that he forgets to quickly signal for toilet time.

I had a missed dosing timing again this round. In fact, it was a bit worse off than previous. This time, it was nearly an hour missed but because of what I was told by other parents, I continued dosing Jaden and went on with my planned 'schedule'. 

Since he did not show any negative reaction and continues to remain all cheerful, calm and better in fact.. I am glad I did not abandon round. If this was my round 1 or 2, I would have most probably abandoned round.

I caught him spitting half his DMSA out too, one time and as calmly as ever, I poured out half the pre-packed DMSA and re-dosed him. Well, 5mg is rather little according to a fellow mother and there should be no harm done compared to large doses of DMSA.

DMSA can be rather taxing on the body organs so I plan to give his body a rest real soon, maybe two weeks to recover while I prep his body with more helpful supplements. 

I just can't wait to tryout ALA, but he might get into a euphoric mode I read... *sigh* Its really true isn't it, no good things will just come without the bad, and the with the bad, comes the good. Depends on which is the greater evil I would rather have ... =)

I nearly got tempted to stop at the 64hour dosing as that was the minimum hours of dosing required but luckily I did not do that. That temptation was so bad as I was really needing the sleep. Must be the time of the month coming for me too, hence the tiredness in me but I psyched myself up, telling me that its only 3 more doses.. 3 more to complete a 72hour round. Since I have already done 64hours, I can hold long enough to last through 72 hours..

Jaden suffered from constipation this time round. 3 days of not pooing at all. Its really amazing where all the waste is stored in that tiny 5 year old body. He farted last night and it was enough to put both Mr and I out, so I can imagine how the smell would be like once I make him poo today, which is A MUST and THE GOAL OF THE DAY for me today.

I have asked some parents for advise on what 'assisting' tools/supps that could help him go and I was recommended the fastest way -glycerin suppository. Of course, there are other suggestions like taking mag citrate instead of mag glycinate, drinking a ripe banana-organic dates smoothie, George's Aloe juice ... but glycerin suppository is the most easily obtained 'tool' for me at the moment so the suppository it is for now. 

Wish me luck that his diaper is big and strong enough to hold those 3 days' waste.

Dividing a 25 mg DMSA

Dividing four 25mg DMSA capsules to last me the 3days of AC Chelation process.

All I need is 19 doses with a spare one, just in case I need them ... 

My style of storing them? Tie 5 folded papers up, and pop them into the fridge until dosing time ... then only I mix them with water / orange juice as when I need them .. as it is advised NOT TO PREMIX DMSA ...

I am going to try ALA soon, maybe this Wednesday as I will be taking a break this weekend and I can't do next weekend so I will be doing the chelation during weekdays. :)

Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol #Round 5

12th October 2012  (2pm) - 15th October 2012  (2pm)

Just that when I thought I had just successfully finished my #round 4 with Jaden and was looking to a few days rest before I begin chelating again, it was Friday again and there I was, sitting at the dining table, cutting up dosages and dividing them onto the folded paper.

I am surprised that I was eager to chelate him this weekend, despite lacking of sleep. The goal I set for both Jaden, 5 years, to see if we can actually feel the light and if God allows, for us to reach that light at the end of this long dark tunnel. 

It gets easier once you pass #round 1 or maybe #round 2, when you finally, somehow created that every 4 hour dosing schedule.

This time round, I had a scare on Saturday morning. Partly my fault for trying to be hero and thinking that even if I clocked in just a few hours of sleep, I would be able to wake up as soon as the alarm goes off and quickly get the DMSA into the syringe and *touch wood* successfully syringing it into his mouth without waking him up. 

It was raining, that Saturday morning. In fact, I think it had been raining for quite some time and everybody knows, its the most perfect weather to sleep in, under the warm covers.. and that was what I did. 

My alarm went off at 950am, and I thought I would just sleep 5 minutes more.. the boy was actually awake by then, and was giggling and playing. 

I really thought that with him moving around the bed like that, giggling away, I would be able to quickly jump out of bed in 5 minutes and get the DMSA ready.

Well, I did jumped out of bed very very QUICKLY... when the clock showed 1040am.

HIS DOSING TIME WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AT 10AM

I TOTALLY MISSED THAT 1/2 HOUR WINDOW ALLOWED ...

so I panic, yet I didn't want to abandon round, thinking that 5mg is still really very little and that I was just 10 minutes late from the allowed window.

So holding that thought, I fed him that DMSA and then panic and stressed myself silly after that, not knowing if I had done the right thing, or I need to abandon the round this weekend because of my greed for 5 more minutes. 

I quickly send out SOS messages to experienced parents, online, sms and calls. 

*phew* turned out that I did the right thing and that my effort thus far was not in vain. 

One that has not gone through this over-sleeping act, will never really be able to phantom that exact feeling I had. 

I thanked the parents who replied my SOS messages.. and found it funny that I could not type " You have no idea what I have just been through.... :)"

I am sure almost every one that replied me had gone through that oversleeping moments and panic as much as I did. This is the type of unnecessary stress I need not, in addition to the lacking of sleep. :p

Seems that Jaden is good on this round too. The obvious signs of him having his yeast flaring up, are his sudden break into giggles and hyperness. *sigh*

Round ended at 2pm Monday and he was pretty fine, throughout the day... and then it all began, the   bad off-round moments.

Started early this morning, when he didn't sleep through the night soundly like what he usually does, waking up at 6am-ish and cried and cried and then played till about 8 before he got a stroke of cane by me and he fell asleep rather fast after that... and the bad behavior mode on, hyperness .. oh boy...

Will most probably be taking a break off chelation for next week and begin the week after... maybe this time I will try using ALA and observe if Jaden will behave much better on ALA alone.

Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol #Round 4

This week, I started my round at 10pm Friday, 5th Oct, after I got a confirmation from Mr that we won't be heading down to Melaka for the weekend to visit my mother-in-law.

I was actually hoping we won't go so that I could really carry out this chelation round. I already had a break with Jaden last week, for his 5th Birthday weekend and also both of us were not really feeling well, with the cough and all but this week, both is fine and knowing me, if I procastinate this week's round, I don't think I will be feeling the momentum to want to carry on as often as every weekend anymore.

*touch wood*

Jaden is rather well behaved on this round. I added in OmegaBrite, that reached from US through a friend to, so on top of the cod liver oil he takes daily, now, its an additional OmegaBrite once a day. I am going to monitor how it goes with his behavior and learning development, and see if I can push it up to 2 Omegabrite a day, then to 3caps daily. Supposedly I will be able to see some results in 2-3 months if taken daily. 

Jaden is taking the OmegaBrite gelcaps. Everything is so much easier now that he can swallow capsules although he has his moods, at times trying to runaway from supplement time but he will still take them in the end after some persuasion. 

" OmegaBrite's is 3x more concentrated than standard omega-3's and highly purified to 90% omega-3. Only OmegaBrite contains 70% EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) in a 7:1 ratio of EPA to DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), preferred by physicians at leading academic centers world wide. EPA is the body's natural, anti-inflammatory molecule and provides a natural balance to Omega-6 Arachidonic acid. Both are essential for health. One tiny OmegaBrite 500mg softgel capsule supplies you with pure hexane free 350mg of EPA Omega 3 and 50mg of DHA omega 3 with no aftertaste and no drug like side effects."

I am starting to see yeast flareup too, although not very much in behavior, its more like red tiny bumps appearing here and there on random parts of his body. We are still currently on 4caps Nystatin and 4drops of OoO daily when doing chelation.,

Supplements taken during this time round's chelation:-

• Before breakfast - Digestive Enzyme, Candidase, Trienza
• During breakfast - Cod Liver Oil, Omegabrite
• After breakfast - Magnesium Glycinate, CoQ10, Folinic Acid, Ester-C, DMG (w/ folic acid & MB12), P5P, Silymarin and 2 Nystatin and Calcium Citrate (1/4 teaspoon)
• 2.5 hrs later - Zinc Picolinate and Factor 6 Probiotics
• During one of the doses for chelation, I add in 2 drops of OoO together with his DMSA
• Before lunch - Digestive Enzyme, Candidase, Trienza
• After lunch - Magnesium Glycinate, Folinic Acid
• Before dinner - Digestive Enzyme, Candidase, Trienza
• During dinner - Cod Liver Oil, OoO
• After dinner - Magnesium Glycinate, Silymarin, Ester-C, 2 Nystatin and Calcium Citrate (1/4 teaspoon)
• Before bedtime -Zinc Picolinate, Factor 6 Probiotics

I am just wondering if I am giving Jaden enough minerals to make up for the ones he is excreting out with the DMSA...

Jaden has been having a good daily bowel movement, only that at times its nicely formed, sometimes reallyl smelly and mushy soft diarrhea like .. but as long as he does his Number 2 daily, I am pretty fine with it.

After a week of a persistent therapist who insist that he feeds himself his own dinner everytime she is here, he has learnt finally how to feed himself without any help from me. These days, I only sit with him and watch that the bowl of rice does not fall over the table but he is doing the feeding himself. Still messy of course.. which one would find bits of rice scattered all over the floor but I am not complaining. At least he is feeding himself and wants to be independent

Jaden is being much more choosy now, he is starting to make his own choice of what he wants and doesn't want. A good thing yet a bad thing when it comes to avoiding tasks but his team of therapists sure do have a way to make him complete tasks even if he didn't like them.

As for me, he sometimes challenge me, when he is not supposed to be doing something and I say no, he will purposely climb up faster or just not budge from where he is but there is nothing I can't solve with my bestfriend, Mr Cane. I have 5 bestfriends in the house, you see :)

This chelation round ends on Monday, 10pm, 8th Oct. Probably I am going to give him 1/4caps of Adrenergize on Tuesday morning to make sure his mood is stabilize.

By the way, I started gving him 1/4caps of Adrenergize two days before I started chelation with him as his mood was so foul, the Phospatidylserine did not work its magic on him anymore. Somehow, the 1/4caps of Adrenergize worked fine, giving me good boy behaviors. 

Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol #Round 3

Today's #round 3 of AC chelation ended at 10am.

I started my #round 3 @ 10am last Friday.

I was really inspired to carry on doing it this weekend (21st Sept -24th Sept) despite from the negative behavior I had from Jaden the previous week.

Surprisingly two days before I started on this #round3, I discovered that Phosphatidylserine was a magic pill. At least it was to me.

It was prescribed to Jaden by Dr Erwin back in June 2011 but I never got round to giving him that supplement after all the other supplements that I had been slowly giving him on Dr Rina's prescription and trust me, there were just too many that I felt sorry for the boy so I was keeping it at the most minimum and also the ones that are the most important. 

I remembered reading about Phosphatidylserine in the Fight Autism and Win book, that it does wonders for mood. Ok, maybe I am exaggerating about the word wonders but what the book wrote was actually 'improve concentration, focus and mood, modulate cortisol lever @ 100 - 200mg per day and the softgel I had from Dr Erwin's clinic is 500mg (derived from soy lecthin) but it was a risk I am willing to take as the book claims the positive reaction and the note on the bottle by Dr Erwin to me was it was for neurological. So why not, right?

AND... it was MAGIC!

His therapists commented on his behavior for the two days he was on that magic pill that he could sit longer, level of concentration is back and that he is so different from the past two/three weeks they had classes with him. It was a total 360 change in Jaden's behavior. 

I did not give it to Jaden on Saturday or Sunday. He was a bit naughty but nothing that I could not tolerate so it was all good. 

These two days, last night and today, he was rather weepy. On and Off he would cry for no reason but then again, I am also weighing in other possibilities that might not be the doing of DMSA but the food he ate last night. Either the rice last night or the gfcf cake he had for trial run. Going to monitor again tonight for the cake after his dinner because with Jaden, reaction to food allergy is almost instantaneous. 

I am so glad that this round is over and I shall be taking the next weekend off as its his birthday this coming Friday. Now, its back to catching up on lost sleep for me  :)

Developmental Pediatrician -First Appointment

I made the call in February. I was then told, ok, we will slot you in.. the next available slot will be in Oct 29th. 

and my reply was none other than, "Of course, I would love to have that slot!"

It was utmost important that I have Jaden to go have a go-see with Dr Ranjini, who is a developmental pediatrics. I have procastinated on this matter since 2011 when all of Jaden's therapists had asked me to arrange an appointment with her and ask for a proper diagnosis for that ass of a Dr Quack in Taman Desa was nothing but a Quack, a Fraud and best of all, to put a label on him, a conman who is out there to milk money off helpless, desperate parents.

I actually called up Baby and Beyond, the clinic in Bangsar Village II, which Dr Ranjini does go to. I opted for that clinic instead of Sunway Hospital is because, first, its a hospital. Second, its in Sunway and I rather head on to Bangsar anytime. 

One Wednesday, the clinic called us and asked if I would be able to go in the next day as they have a cancellation and I am next on the list. 

I answered YES without hesitating, hear what the lady had to say to me -what to bring (med certs/immunization cards/tests) and then after we hung up the call, I started to panic.

Oh dear! Jaden was not on his best behavior for quite some time now. Its been about 2 weeks since hes on a complete rebel mode, monster mode.. whatever negative mode you can think of, he is that!

but still, I would not give up on this meeting.

We went in the next day, just Jaden and I and after filling up the necessary forms, it was our turn to enter the room. 

Dr Ranjini -first impression of her. She is a very approachable lady, someone whom you will NOT dislike at first sight and is very kid-friendly, somehow a sternness somewhere but it was all good. She asked, she listened, she observed, she tried to engage him in play and work only to be met by a boy who prefers to jump down from her chair, rummage her table instead of the table set out for him. Obsessed with certain puzzle pieces, trying to squeeze into her couch, hopefully he can just blend right in or something like that. 

He was not the compliant boy that I used to know. He showed a bit of temper when asked to do work or coming for tabletime. *sigh*

There are times when he will have his eye contact looking at things earnestly, like when Dr Ranjini took out a ball and played ball with him.. 

After one hour in the room, the boy decided he had enough and opened the door by himself and went out to the reception area by himself.

Luckily there were no other patients or family around, so she allowed him to go out and we carried our conversation by the door, keeping an eye on him while we chatted on. 

What I like about Baby and Beyond clinic is that their main glass door is locked and could only be opened with the buzzer so it really felt safe and that they have a big bus that the children can play pretend as a bus driver, a big play house... Jaden? He was interested in the big glass window looking out and also the brochures. Trust me, when we left the clinic, it looked as if the tornado hit the brochure shelves. 

It was a very reasonable fee she charged us for that 1.5hr session compared to Dr Quack. I really hope karma will hit him back on prowling on parents like us. Dr Ranjini informed us that she will be sending the report in a week or two, so now we are waiting again, for her diagnosis.

Whatever it is, I would think I am alright with it by now as I have come to terms about my son's condition. So with this report, it would only really be a guiding light for me on which issue I would want to address first and work on...

Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol #Round 2

I have to admit that I am rather a procrastinator and I really need to be pushed to do something. Thankfully there is a mother who really pushes me each time I see her to carry out my next round of chelation for Jaden.

After the first successful round of AC Chelation for Jaden, there were issues of tantrum and the worst scenario was the yeast issue then when his ass turned really red with tiny bumps appearing. He seemed to show signs of the itch too but what that put me off was that I had tried so hard to make the butt not be red anymore with the antifungal I pile on him for the past two months. 

We had a anti-yeast protocol and also the anti-parasite protocol while at that and I did see really good results from it. 

After #round 1, it was as if I had never done the anti yeast and parasite protocol before. That was what that dampened my hope but I had always known all along that yeast would be a long fighting battle until we find the right dosage, till then, it will always be a pesky persistent enemy, just not much of a big enemy if compared to the overall big boss -AUTISM.

So last two Fridays ago, at 130pm, I took out 4caps of 25mg DMSA and divided them up into 20 dosages. For an every four hour dosage, 72 hours dosing, 19 dosages altogether. Confused much? :p

I gave him his first dosage of #round2 at 230pm, then 630pm and then we went out and time was not on our side if I were to wait till 1030pm for the next dosing, so I adjusted it and gave him 1/2hr earlier -10pm and from there, all dosings were at 2,6,10,2,6,10 .. you get the drift...

#Round 2 went by really quickly in a way but this was a bad round for us. 

I observed that he was really easily agitated, temper that was really bad and that he showed signs of being aware of the boy, who he meets once a week, lets call that boy, M. 

M has always been playing with his ipad around Jaden, and at time crying or having his tantrum issue but it has never affected Jaden. This time round, both boys were fighting over the ipad, and then Jaden even went and give M a push in the back when M was crying as it affected Jaden and made Jaden wanted to cry too. It was rather confusing on whats happening and I am not sure if its a good or bad thing. 

So I have to conclude that behavior wise on #round 2 was really bad. Mall security guards thought I was kidnapping Jaden, the way he was screaming his lungs out when I have to pull him out from shop outlets that he was stimming in. It was crazy!

Anyway I was glad that the #round 2 ended and he was a bit back to being on a good behavior after the round.

Remember, I only said " a bit ..."

There are new issues I need to find out and tackle them again before it becomes an issue for me. :(

p/s: The pressing on chin and squirting the DMSA in at night on #round2 was proven not to have really be that effective compared to the first time I did it on the repeated #round1.

Swallowing capsules

I can proudly now say my almost 5 year old can swallow capsules. 

Yesterday, while we were all ready to have our dinner in Melaka, after paying my mother-in-law a visit, I decided to try my luck by just giving Jaden his digestive enzyme just like that, without having to insert it into bits of oranges (like how I do it at home usually) and he surprised me by just swallowing it and quickly sipping his water after that.

So, to test Jaden further that it is just not a coincidence, I tried again with his Trienza in between his meals and he did it again, and again for other supplements. 

Conclusion, YES!! Jaden can swallow capules now and these capsules are exactly small or tiny. You can imagine how happy and proud I am of Jaden.

BUT this success did not come easy.

We started our biomed journey back in Nov/Dec 2010 and the first year we were on biomed, it was a battle each day trying to get those supplements into his body. Both Jaden and I were both constantly crying and fighting. Him crying because mummy was being a crazy lady forcing him to drink up all those bitter stuff and mummy crying because Jaden really put up a good fight and daddy was on his side instead of mummy's. I was called crazy, I was accused of traumatising my own son ... *sigh* yes, I have been through lots of those moments but I stuck through my own method and look at us today.

I have to admit, it had never been easy.

I was a very forceful mom. I would cane him until he finished up the drink, I would shove the pieces of fruits with half the capsules in and block my palm at his mouth so he can't spit it out and have to take it all in. Yes, during those days, he gets caned quite a lot... and as he grew up, getting used to the idea that if I take it all in without a fuss, it would be all over in a minute or two. 

First I started out having to open up all the capsules of the supplements and mixing it into his drinks. Fruit juices or his potato milk to mask the flavor although I do have to admit that some of these supplements are just plain nasty and imagine he has to drink it all up. 

Then I started sprinkling out some of his supplements into his bits of fruits such as persimmons, mangoes, watermelon. Sweeter fruits to mask the overall bitter taste. Sometimes it works, sometimes no and he learnt that these fruits are 'bitter' too and he started to refuse taking them.

I figured out its time I have to try another method to get it all in again. I almost gave up after a bad fight over the supplement intake issue, and I gave it a rest for quite some time before I told myself, its now or never for Jaden to recover. If its not me to do all these bad cop job, who else would be willing to, right? 

So I tried again, this time, I only divide the capsule into half, their contents still in the capsule and I stick them into fruits like bananas and mangoes and mandarin oranges. This, I only started doing back in December/January of 2012.

It worked fine until he decided that he didn't like them in his bananas. Maybe that needs a little effort more in swallowing them as he needed to chew a bit and that made him bit into the bitter contents. So I stuck with mandarin oranges which he just can't simply refuse. 

From there, it was the whole capsule in half a slice of mandarin oranges and then I break the slice of mandarin oranges into three parts and one slice of mandarin oranges equals to three different capsules. 

and today, well, no more mandarin oranges !! YAY !! 

Most probably I would only let him swallow on the whole and plain like that when we are travelling but when we are at home, I am still going to give him with the bits of fruits so that he won't get scared of swallowing capsules just like that. HEY, even I get scared when I see 8 different pills staring me in my face daily.

I am just thankful and grateful that 'today' came. =)

Off rounds

Jaden's mood was pretty unstable.

He would have an upturned mouth, quivering ready to cry ... refusing to do his work and screaming his head off at his therapists. Lots of pinching, stubborn and the frequent pee-ing too. 

It seems that he has more pee than usual and have to go rather frequently, something which does not happen often. Its almost like he could not control keeping it in until he reaches the toiletbowl/potty. 

Of course, that took place yesterday after his last dosage of 5mg DMSA at 330pm. 

I also noticed that he has a fiery red ring around his anus, which I had made quite a big effort in clearing it all up before I embarked on this chelation journey and here it is, flashing me in the face the bright red ring! 

This is due to yeast usually, and that I can totally understand as he has been giggly during the chelation weekend. So, now, its back to combating yeast again before I go on my #Round2. 

Jaden has also been teeth-grinding these two nights, and extra loud last night. So I am going to retain his double calcium intake for about a week and see if the teeth-grinding issue would go away. 

There is a belief that if the kid is heavily metal-toxic, they tend to do better on rounds and then get a little cranky when they come off the rounds. So, no prize for guessing which group Jaden belongs to ...

Poo, however, was good so far. It should be in the number 3 category of the Bristol Stool Chart. *phew* Its always better out than in -constipation can make Jaden a difficult boy to deal with most of the time. 

Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol #Round 1

Finally I summoned enough courage to re-start on #round 1 chelation for Jaden. 

Took me over almost a month and more to get my ass on dividing the doses, prepping my body and mind to be mentally strong enough to go through the difficult two dosings of the entire process. 

I was not worried about Jaden not wanting to take his doses when he is awake because I feel by now, after two years of asking him to come to me and getting supplements, medicine and bitter stuff shoved down mouth, he has learnt that its easier to quickly swallow it than to put up a fight with me. He never wins at that. Maybe not now when I still have the upperhand in parental control.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, because we are just starting on our very first round, Jaden will only be taking 5mg per dosing every 4 hours for the next 72 hours. That would add up to 18 doses altogether. 

Minimum advisable hours to do would be 64 hours each time on a round. That is personally up to the parents as these kids are usually school-attending children and they have no choice but to do that. However, the ideal recommended hours would be 72 hours, and that is what I am doing with Jaden.

I have got my hands on a 25mg DMSA.

Many would be scratching their head over DMSA right now, aren't you? DMSA stands for Dimercaptosuccinic Acid. I am not going to explain further as there is always Wikipedia to do the job but to summarise it, its a chelating agent where it helps bind toxic metals in our heavily metal laden children. Research shows that most of the autistic (spectrum) children do have lead or mercury or both poisoning in their blood level. It is like detoxing our children from lead, mercury and some, even arsenic. 

Chelation is not a one off thing as these toxic metals do not get in there in a day, but was accumulated since don't know when so this chelating process would also take time to push these toxic out of the body. There are cases where some are completely 'recovered' and some, reaches a stage where nobody would once believe they were autistic and this is what I am aiming for. Of course, RECOVER is on my mission list, be it that this procedure might take a few years but if there is light at the end of the tunnel, I will march together with Jaden towards it. 

I would most probably do at least 5-10 rounds with just 5mg DMSA and then increase another additional 2.5mg to the 5mg. That is the step to take, it seems, as written in my book of AC chelation bible book -Fight Autism and Win. 

Then there will be ALA adding in, which ALA crosses the brain barrier and bla bla bla, but that is another story to tell next time when I start adding ALA to his DMSA but for now, lets stick with DMSA first. 

SO the story is...

We re-started our #Round 1 AC (Andy Cutler) chelation protocol on Aug 3, 2012. 

The first two days were a breeze through as I did not see any meltdowns, signs of fatigue or yeast flare-ups. DMSA are known to trigger yeast flare-ups despite one is on a anti-yeast protocol before, battling out the yeast. 

Jaden had two poo incidents, once on Fri evening and Sat morning, where it was mushy, mustardy, diarrhea-like, just non-watery though kind of poo. He took another dump on Saturday evening and it was well-formed by then, and it was in a rather healthy looking color -based on Bristol stool chart. I bet you didn't know that there was such a chart, didn't you? So did I, until now.

Yesterday, Sunday, nonsense started. In the evening, after dinner, Jaden went into his giggly, euphoric mode. That was when I started to panic. Yes, yeast army has arrived and started partying. His poo? Well, it came in two colors, well formed but one was nearly tar-liked in color. That could only mean bad news, indication of something not right inside there.

Other than being giggly and all last night, he did display some positive signs such as being a calmer boy than usual, much cheerful. 


Oh, I forgot to mention another downside, he was stimming much ore, flapping his hands and that also boils down to it being caused by yeast. YES, we parents like to blame em YEAST !!!

Before I started out this round, I was only scared of the two dosings that requires me to give it to Jaden when he is sleeping. Remember how I failed the last time round because he put up a fight with me the last time round on the second night of dosing and I have to abandon round? 

Well, it seems by my endless effort trying out various ways (during that one month break), I practiced trying to open his mouth when he is sleeping whenever I could and FINALLY, I think I may have found THE SECRET to it, without waking him up and also getting those doses in. I shared it with one parent I met up last night and she text me late last night saying it worked with her son too. 

*PHEW*

BUT do let me stress. Every kid is different. They have different sensitive issues, for Jaden, it was his lips. If you touch his lips, it will stir him up from sleep and make him angry and that was what that caused my previous abandoned round. 

Speaking of detoxifying this metals out from our children, some minerals get depleted too. That is why, during chelation, we crank up on their supplements. Jaden has to take double of his zinc, magnesium, milk thistle (just because I am a scaredy cat and wanna protect his liver all I can), calcium and probiotics. 

This is a 3days on a round, rest for 11days and then continue again on the next round. Each round is 72 hours, you should have get the idea by now though. Why rest right? This is because we need to let their body recover from all these detoxifying, build up again on their immune system and then go on a fight again. Even soldiers need to take a time out, to replan, regroup and refill their ammo before they can fight, right? Just like detoxifying, some will purge it out but you don't expect those purges to go on 24/7 for the next 365 days, do you? You would be jelly by then. So its basically the same concept. 

Some children's neutrophils are also lowered while on DMSA, so they need time to get their neutrophils to a safe range before they begin their battle again. That is why there are some that only does one round of DMSA once a month for their children. Its not about how fast you go, and that will give you success. Its how steady you go, how you do your rounds based on each child's health rate. Its a fight of course, a fight with time.. and that is all.. but aren't we all fighting against time for everything? Just that, this is rather a tough fight as each child's situation is different from another. Some might just need less than 100 rounds and they could be saying "Hallelujah", some may need more time and rounds. 

Whatever it is, the motto is never to give up ... 

One and half hours more to go before his last dosage of DMSA for this #ROUND 1.. and I can successfully say, 

YES I COMPLETED A ROUND ON MY BABY BOY !!!!! 

and damn, I deserve a good glass of wine to celebrate ! :)

p/s: This would mean I took another baby step forward. YAY !!!!!