Autism Treatment – Supplement Reactions During Autism Treatment

I want to follow up the previous video I did and talk more about supplement reactions and regressions. Sometimes when you have a new group of supplements to begin you have supplements in different forms. You may have chewables, you may have capsules and you may even have liquid suspensions. And as I said previously, I suggest that you add them each one at a time instead of all in the same day. Waiting 2 to 3 days in between each new supplement is also a good idea. But beyond that, there is no rules as to what supplement to start first, which one to start second or which one to start third. If you are working under the guidance of a physician, they may have some thoughts as to what they’d like you to start with. But, for parents doing this on their own, you can just start at the top of your list and work down sequentially. Remember, keeping a log of what supplements you start and behaviors you are noticing is a good idea.

One thing I do see in my practice is reactions to certain types of supplements. When you are using capsules, most of them do not have artificial flavors or colors, if they are coming from a reputable supplement company that caters to the Autism community. And because of that, reactions to capsules are rare. With chewable supplements, I do see reactions, mainly because chewables are sweetened. So the child may react to the sweetener and have hyperactivity or moodiness.

You are probably going to find higher percentages of reactions with oral suspensions, especially if they are sweetened. And with children on the Autism spectrum, if they use an artificial sweetener, that is certainly going to be problematic. Even natural sweeteners can be problematic for kids on the spectrum. A good number of kids on the spectrum have what’s called phenol sensitivities. Phenols can be described as chemicals that are found in many foods and they are very highly concentrated in artificial colors and flavors. A typical reaction to phenols is hyperactivity, increased stimming, irritability, etc. and if you notice these types of behaviors after adding in a new supplement that is an oral suspension, think of phenols. Your child may not be reacting to the supplement but rather to the artificial additives in the suspension.

When you begin adding in new supplements and you start to see reactions, be on the lookout for artificial colorings and flavorings in oral suspensions, because they are likely the cause. You may want to stop that supplement, wait for the behaviors to go away, which could take anywhere between 2 and 7 days, but usually around 3 to 5 days. So be aware that certain supplements can cause reactions at time and hopefully this has given you more information on what to look for.