Secretin-The Miracle

After several calls following the "Good Morning America" Show featuring the Becks, I discovered that "Dateline" carried the issue the next night. I was stunned! Thus began my quest to secure some secretin for my Matty. Hope springs eternal!!

On October 22, 1998, Matthew received his first infusion of Secretin. I was eager to see the miracle that I had heard others proclaim. It was difficult for me to remain objective because I so wanted a miracle for Matty. The next week he took his second infusion. At 13, we have tried everything that I could possibly find to help him. Unfortunately, five days following the second infusion, Matty had a severe seizure although he had never had seizure activity prior to the secretin. It could have been just poor timing, I do not know, in that he was of the age (puberty) where seizures often begin. He had another seizure like the first one three weeks later even though he was on depakote. Three weeks later he had a tantrum. We changed his medication to Tegretol. This has seemed to control the seizures. Many autistic children develop seizures around this time in their life. What I find most interesting is that in 1998, Matt had 159 tantrums severe enough to go to the clinic and after beginning tegretol, the following year, he went once. Quite a change, wouldn't you say? I often suspected the tantrums were temporal lobe seizures but they were always undetected in medical tests. Behaviorally, the Tegretol has reduced the number significantly.

Matthew was one of four children selected to participate in the a trial of the Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph over Autism method at his school. I was amazed along with his speech therapist with his initial response to the method. You see in this photograph that he is paying attention. At 13, Matt has never cooperated with the speech teachers. In one book about a cricket,Quick as a Cricket (When he saw the book, he SAID "Cricket") Matt SAID clearly, "monkey" and the page had animations of monkeys on it but they were called chimpanzees in the text. I would recommend that this method be attempted with any child with speech delays. You'll have to e-mail me to get more information.

Matt also had Auditory Integration Therapy with good results for 3 months. It was difficult for him to do the therapy and for those who had to condition him. If the effects had lasted, I would be screaming to you to do this. It was expensive and difficult. If I knew for sure it would help to do it again, however, I would endure it. His sound sensitivity is his major disabling factor. He has little or no speech. I tried the FEINGOLD DIET on him as a toddler and I think I was making headway with this but things were so stressful in our home, I was unable to continue. I believe that diet plays a major role in whatever type autism Matty has. I know for certain that his digestive system works differently and he metabolizes foods differently than his two siblings. I tried the Nystatin and Nilstat for yeast infections. He was born with thrush and was treated for thrust for at least a full year during his infancy. He had some chronic diaper rash also. I asked a doctor about this and he went postal on me. Again, I was unable to continue the therapy although I feel it would have eventually made things better for Matt. Consider the yeast connection. We did the SuperNuthera Vitamins but Matty did not like the taste of it. I tried everything I could to get it in him. He could smell it across the house. I did the DMG thing too. Too little time to objectively evaluate. I lost a lot of good information such as my notes on Matt's reactions to the above therapies during a messy divorce. I have recently sent for his original medical tests back in 1987 hoping to find an indicator somewhere we were unaware of at the time in his amino acids etc. I believe it's there. Did I mention he failed his PKU 3 times? He finally passed it when the health department sent two nurses to my house when he was a month old. Still question that. Appreciate comments.
Matt is presently takingAmbrotosewhich is for healing a possible leaky gut, and Tegretol for seizures, a multi-vitamin, and Melatonin. The Melatonin has helped him get a regular night's sleep and this has always been a problem. I am constantly searching for non-invasive ways to improve his quality of life. I appreciate suggestions also. The Do's and Don'ts of the Diet from Dr. Goldberg is a good resource.
I am planning to begin the Cassine Free Diet next week with him. Research seems to bear out this theory that many parents had discovered on their own. As far as the Vitamin A Therapy , I have not tried it. Because of Matt's reaction to secretin, I am leery of the Bethanicol. Worth checking out tho!