Our first visit with a DAN certified naturopathic doctor.

Today, Lucas had his first visit with a DAN certified naturopathic doctor, Dr. Karima Hirani (click here for her home page) at the Hirani Wellness Center in Culver City, who by the way is a REAL doctor with an MD, MPH after her name. This credential was reassuring to me as I wondered the validity of their practice.  The main concern I had was how safe all the supplements I am already giving Lucas is, given I have started them by word of mouth from other parents with IDIC 15 or through various autism support sites such as TACA.  No physician I have dealt with thus far at Kaiser have had anything to say on the subject of supplementation, they would "neither deny nor promote the efficacy of supplementation".

To my surprise, Dr. Hirani complemented me on a job well done with the supplements I have already started, reassured me that they were safe and were rated high (A being the highest rating and D being the least effective intervention) on the list of "Parent Ratings of Behavioral Effects Of Biomedical  Interventions" list (available on Autism.com) generated by the Autism Research Institute in San Diego. This list shows  27,000 parent ratings of various  interventions such as supplementation, special diets, detoxification methods and pharmaceutical drugs that either helped their children get better, worse or showed no effects. The number one beneficial intervention on the list is Detox (chelation) followed by gfcf diet, paleo diet, Vit B12 shots, melatonin (which she said was an antioxidant! I didn't know that! always thought it was just a hormonal  sleep aid),  food allergy treatment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, fatty acids, digestive enzymes and diflucan (an antifungal)- just to name the top 10 effective treatments on the list.. What was even more surprising to me was that she told me the dosage I was giving Lucas could and should be doubled for maximal effect!  On one hand, I felt relieved that I was not doing any harm to him by the many supplements I have started him on but on the other hand, I wondered if the dosage she was recommending isn't just a bit too much for him, given he is only 22 months old.
Let's take for example, the DHA recommendation: I have Lucas on a daily dose of 800 mg of DHA which even the neurologist said was a bit much, but Dr. Hirani said I should give a mixed EPA\DHA blend at a whopping 1.5G!  She showed me evidence of it helping with learning\cognition, protection against stress, autism, GI issues... I have also read the Japanese article on this but still feel 1.5G at this age maybe a bit too much.  Also, wouldn't it thin out his blood too much creating a risk for internal bleeding?  According to her, this has never been an issue with her patients.  I am hesitant and yet, I don't want to miss out on doing as much as possible for him before the age of 3 when according to scientists, most brain development occurs.  Along with the higher dose of DHA on her Action List, she included Vitamin B12 shots twice a week, double the L carnitine dose from 250 mg which I currently give to 500 mg, probiotic (EnZym-complete DPP-IV II Isogest (given at the start of a meal), calcium powder with vitamin D (important especially if on a gfcf diet), DMG (dimethylglycine, a modified amino acid which has shown to improve speech), Vitamin E Alpha Gamma Blend-through her Wellness Center; and Super Nu Thera.  She recommends Kirkman company for all supplements as this company specializes in products for autism.  She also does NOT recommend the Child Life brand of probiotic and multivitamin I give Lucas.  She said there was "nothing really in it".  Good to know.  Other than the supplementation advise, she recommend I start a gfcf diet, purchase the book "Special Diets for Special Kids", schedule a fasting blood work, get blood work through Kaiser (serum mercury, RBC magnesium, ASO, antidnaseb AB, cortisol, gliadin IgG, IgA, erum zinc, copper); get a NutraEval lab work (worth $800!-not covered by insurance) to test for food allergies and immune system problems, get stool and urine sample for parasite, yeast and heavy metal studies.  She gave me a kit for the urine sample which needs to be sent out to France (yes, France!) for analysis.   I am sure I am leaving some thing out here but luckily, she gave me a recorded CD of all her recommendations for me to study.  She also gave me a contact email for the local TACA leader and recommends I attend one of their meetings.

Whew!

So, on the drive back home as my mind is overwhelmed and spinning, I felt glad I scheduled today's consultation and also quite happy that she was so thorough on all her recommendations.  I have heard about alot of these recommendations through other parents, but it is reassuring to get a professsional's take on it.  The issue I have with actually carrying out the plan is, unlike other cases of autism where the cause is a mystery and a battery of tests need to be performed to find out what actually is causing the problem, my son has a known genetic condition called IDIC 15 that over produces certain factors in the brain causing delays, possible seizures and autism.  His autism is not due to a food allergy, heavy metal poisoning (he is only 22 months, where would he get that kind of poisoning?).  There may potentially be an immune system problem, but how likely would that be in producing autism?  At one point, I would like to carry out all the lab work she recommends but right now, I feel he is too young and aside from his autistic qualities and delays, he seems quite content, eats and poops very well.  If I had all the money in the world, I would do it now, but these tests and supplements aren't cheap and we can't take out a second mortgage to do all these things.  Even I could probably benefit from all these supplementation, who wouldn't?  I think it would be better to wait until he is a bit older and space them out so we don't break bank. Today's consultation alone cost $400 excluding the stool/urine kit and Vit B12. It was money well spent.  Hopefully, we will be able to apply these costs (including future purchases of supplements) to Gabriel's Healthcare Reimbursement Account.  It really is too bad that Kaiser doesn't cover any of this (except a few lab work) and they don't provide their own naturopaths.  Maybe in the future,  they will. I can only hope.