Ok, I've lost count of the restart days, but we've been steadily increasing. Since we weren't seeing any negatives on the lower doses, I started increasing the dosage a bit faster, increasing 3 drops each day. We did 10 drops, 3x, yesterday. Today, after two doses of 11 drops, we started seeing some of that "weepy" behavior I've read about on AutismNCD. Since the second dose was later than usual, I'll drop down the dose to 5 tonight and then stick with 10, 3x/day, for at least a couple of days.
This weekend, we're visiting the grandparents. They haven't seen Demi for about 4 months and have noticed significant changes. Most noticeably, they've noticed increased interaction and communication - asking lots of questions, making connections and drawing conclusions from different facts, remembering certain things. Her speech is much clearer.
Gotta get back to family activities now.
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Up to 7/7/7
End of week two and we're up to 7/7/7 drops now, 21 in a day. I haven't seen any big changes yet, but no stimminess or hyperactivity either, quite a bit different from earlier this year. Perhaps she's less toxic now so she won't have as much of a reaction?
I'll continue pushing through the Christmas break. I'll be able to observe her even more closely. Over Christmas, our activities will be outside her norm since we'll be with grandparents, but she'll be home in her normal environment for 1.5 wks after that.
I'll continue pushing through the Christmas break. I'll be able to observe her even more closely. Over Christmas, our activities will be outside her norm since we'll be with grandparents, but she'll be home in her normal environment for 1.5 wks after that.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
2nd Week (Day 9) of Restart
We're up to 5/5/5 and holding now. I'm not seeing excessive stimmy-ness or hyperactivity. I have noticed increased BM activity. I expect that to normalize soon; it's not causing a problem. She has had no accidents.
Yesterday, I went to her school for a small workshop and learned that the regular pre-K kids would be assessed before Christmas break on capital, lowercase, and letter sounds. Whichever letters/sounds weren't mastered, they'd get certain activities sent home to help. Last night, I asked Demi each letter sound, skipping around the alphabet. She knew all but 4 or 5. She knows all but maybe 2 capital letters and maybe 4-5 lowercase. That tells me she's right where the regular pre-K are. Yea for Demi! I was very pleasantly surprised. She seems to pick things up more quickly now. We'll see if that continues.
Yesterday, I went to her school for a small workshop and learned that the regular pre-K kids would be assessed before Christmas break on capital, lowercase, and letter sounds. Whichever letters/sounds weren't mastered, they'd get certain activities sent home to help. Last night, I asked Demi each letter sound, skipping around the alphabet. She knew all but 4 or 5. She knows all but maybe 2 capital letters and maybe 4-5 lowercase. That tells me she's right where the regular pre-K are. Yea for Demi! I was very pleasantly surprised. She seems to pick things up more quickly now. We'll see if that continues.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Day 5 of Restart
Dose: 5/4/4
Demi seems a bit more stimmy today, both verbal stims and general movement, not so much the hand waving that she ususally does.
She's still taking her fish oil, Juice Plus+ (adult dose), and Threelac (to guard against yeast).
For me, the headache has decreased (not that it was bad to begin with). It intensifies if I bend over. That, along with the pain over my molars, makes me think of sinuses. Could NCD be getting into that area? The pain in my upper jaw is mostly gone today.
Demi seems a bit more stimmy today, both verbal stims and general movement, not so much the hand waving that she ususally does.
She's still taking her fish oil, Juice Plus+ (adult dose), and Threelac (to guard against yeast).
For me, the headache has decreased (not that it was bad to begin with). It intensifies if I bend over. That, along with the pain over my molars, makes me think of sinuses. Could NCD be getting into that area? The pain in my upper jaw is mostly gone today.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Day 4 of Restart
Up to 4/4/4 today.
Demi's teacher reported that she seemed more distractable today, although she did well with tasks. She also reported additional stims.
At the dinner table tonight, she actually carried on a conversation with us about something that happened at school. Typically, she lapses into her own story dialogue without including us. Her eye contact was very good. Speech was mostly understandable (a relative term at best!).
Since her stims are not overwhelming, I'm going to continue increasing for now. Once up to 5/5/5, I might hold to allow her body to adjust.
As for me, I'm restarting, too. I've had the typical increase in BM's and increased urgency with urination. I've also had a mild headache which I'm sure is from not getting enough water. More muscle aches, although that could be due to workouts. I've also noticed a mild pain in my upper jaw, just over my molars. That started about the same time as the headaches.
Demi's teacher reported that she seemed more distractable today, although she did well with tasks. She also reported additional stims.
At the dinner table tonight, she actually carried on a conversation with us about something that happened at school. Typically, she lapses into her own story dialogue without including us. Her eye contact was very good. Speech was mostly understandable (a relative term at best!).
Since her stims are not overwhelming, I'm going to continue increasing for now. Once up to 5/5/5, I might hold to allow her body to adjust.
As for me, I'm restarting, too. I've had the typical increase in BM's and increased urgency with urination. I've also had a mild headache which I'm sure is from not getting enough water. More muscle aches, although that could be due to workouts. I've also noticed a mild pain in my upper jaw, just over my molars. That started about the same time as the headaches.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Day 2 of Restart
Today's dose will be 4/3/3 (up one drop from yesterday)
Another change I've noticed already: Demi doesn't need as much sleep. She was up at 5am, 2 hrs before her normal time, and wouldn't go back to sleep. I think she'll adjust once she's back on it, although I wonder if it will continue as long as I increase the dose regularly.
Another event: Demi came up to me out of the blue and asked to be picked up. She RARELY does that. Before, she had done it after Dana already asked. This time, she asked all by herself. There had been no mention of picking up anyone. Earlier in the day, she had asked me to read her a story and asked to sit in my lap. She has enjoyed sitting in my lap more recently, so that's not quite as surprising and asking to get picked up.
Another change I've noticed already: Demi doesn't need as much sleep. She was up at 5am, 2 hrs before her normal time, and wouldn't go back to sleep. I think she'll adjust once she's back on it, although I wonder if it will continue as long as I increase the dose regularly.
Another event: Demi came up to me out of the blue and asked to be picked up. She RARELY does that. Before, she had done it after Dana already asked. This time, she asked all by herself. There had been no mention of picking up anyone. Earlier in the day, she had asked me to read her a story and asked to sit in my lap. She has enjoyed sitting in my lap more recently, so that's not quite as surprising and asking to get picked up.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Regressions without NCD
For no good reason, I procrastinated putting in my order of NCD and we ran out. Even once I did complete the order, something got messed up with the shipping, so we didn't get it like normal. Anyway, Demi has been without NCD for over two weeks now.
Over that two weeks, I have noticed a steady decline in her awareness. We've had to repeat things 3 or 4 times, sometimes even getting right in her face, before she "hears" us. I thought perhaps part of the problem was that she was missing her hearing aid during this same period (so that she literally could not hear us, even though her hearing loss is mild), but we found the hearing aid and the attention didn't improve. She has been increasingly within her own world, only interested in conversing within her own universe, usually about friends and happenings at school.
When we ran out of fish oil back in April, she got kind of spacey. This lack of awareness is different. I've continued to give her fish oil even without the NCD, but perhaps she can't absorb it as well without the NCD?
Yesterday, I found a bottle of zeolite hidden in my purse that I had forgotten about, so I started Demi on it again today. I gave her 3 drops this morning, then 3 drops in her milk for lunch at school. There seems to be a difference already! After school, she was playing with a manger scene on the mantle and her father called her name sharply. Just yesterday, he would have said it at least 2 or 3 times before she noticed. Today, she immediately responded. Wow!
I plan to take advantage of this break by regularly increasing her dose. The parents over at AutismNCD are really noticing great gains from very high doses. If they run into a bout of stims, they back off slightly for a time and then continue ramping up. That's my plan. She's tolerated it well so far, so I plan to ramp up 1 drop/day until we hit some stimming. Then back off one drop for a few days and then back up again.
She has made some progress, even during this lack of awareness period. She has learned almost all of her capital letters and many lower case. Her speech has deteriorated without NCD; I hope to see sharp improvement with that after being on NCD again. Her fine motor skills have deteriorated somewhat, but I suspect they'll come back after NCD, too.
Update on the Therapeutic Listening: We're on a break for now so we can try to determine what it's doing for Demi. She was on it about 12 wks straight. We noticed some eye contact improvement, some improved attention. Her therapists reported significant eye contact improvements and significant posture improvement. I didn't see quite that level of improvement. One behavior that has disappeared while on listening was a certain stimming behavior she did while working at a table. She would rub her fingertips quickly across the table in front of her, like waving her hands on the table. It would seem she was not paying attention, but she was usually ready with a correct answer, so perhaps it was some kind of sensory adaptation for her. We'll wait to see if any bad behaviors return or if the good behaviors regress.
I'll post how she does each day with increasing doses of NCD.
Today is 3/3/3.
Over that two weeks, I have noticed a steady decline in her awareness. We've had to repeat things 3 or 4 times, sometimes even getting right in her face, before she "hears" us. I thought perhaps part of the problem was that she was missing her hearing aid during this same period (so that she literally could not hear us, even though her hearing loss is mild), but we found the hearing aid and the attention didn't improve. She has been increasingly within her own world, only interested in conversing within her own universe, usually about friends and happenings at school.
When we ran out of fish oil back in April, she got kind of spacey. This lack of awareness is different. I've continued to give her fish oil even without the NCD, but perhaps she can't absorb it as well without the NCD?
Yesterday, I found a bottle of zeolite hidden in my purse that I had forgotten about, so I started Demi on it again today. I gave her 3 drops this morning, then 3 drops in her milk for lunch at school. There seems to be a difference already! After school, she was playing with a manger scene on the mantle and her father called her name sharply. Just yesterday, he would have said it at least 2 or 3 times before she noticed. Today, she immediately responded. Wow!
I plan to take advantage of this break by regularly increasing her dose. The parents over at AutismNCD are really noticing great gains from very high doses. If they run into a bout of stims, they back off slightly for a time and then continue ramping up. That's my plan. She's tolerated it well so far, so I plan to ramp up 1 drop/day until we hit some stimming. Then back off one drop for a few days and then back up again.
She has made some progress, even during this lack of awareness period. She has learned almost all of her capital letters and many lower case. Her speech has deteriorated without NCD; I hope to see sharp improvement with that after being on NCD again. Her fine motor skills have deteriorated somewhat, but I suspect they'll come back after NCD, too.
Update on the Therapeutic Listening: We're on a break for now so we can try to determine what it's doing for Demi. She was on it about 12 wks straight. We noticed some eye contact improvement, some improved attention. Her therapists reported significant eye contact improvements and significant posture improvement. I didn't see quite that level of improvement. One behavior that has disappeared while on listening was a certain stimming behavior she did while working at a table. She would rub her fingertips quickly across the table in front of her, like waving her hands on the table. It would seem she was not paying attention, but she was usually ready with a correct answer, so perhaps it was some kind of sensory adaptation for her. We'll wait to see if any bad behaviors return or if the good behaviors regress.
I'll post how she does each day with increasing doses of NCD.
Today is 3/3/3.
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