What doctor advised for my son...

[Edel2019]

Hi everyone

My son has been diagnosed with Developmental Language Disorder.

I went to this GP because he specialises in children with cognitive and developmental disorders. So, he told me yesterday that the below is what my boy needs to take. I am thinking I will go ahead and follow the advice, but I'd prefer to not to it completely blindly. Any advice or experience from anyone? It just seems like a lot to be giving a 5 year old....he's also to be off lactose and gluten

1	DHA Fish Oils 
2	Mindlinx Supplement 
3	Vitamin D Spray
4	Rubex Orange Effervescent Tablets
5	Ancient Minerals Magnesium Oil 
6	BioCare Reduced Glutathione
7	Biocare Zinc Citrate
8	Metronidazole Liquid
9	Nystatin Powder
10	Probiotics 10 Lactobacillus Acidophilus

.... a GP told you the above? are you in the UK?... if so, it's genuinely shocking and worrying. A GP is a general practitioner, they do not specialise, specially is something like child development.

Do you know why he has prescribed an antibiotic (metronidazole) and an antifungal (Nystatin)? Does your child have an infection?

A probiotic like l.acidophillus can be beneficial post antibiotic to restore gut biota.

There may be something in the vitamin d and omega 3 fish oils, but not enough evidence yet.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30607782/

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30744880/

Also some evidence for glutathione being beneficial.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3628138/#!po=1.11111

Same for glutamine

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3787567/

Low levels of amino acids glutathione and glutamine have been found in children with autism.

Can't hurt to give a multivitamin for children with omega 3. No need to give multiple separate supplements especially as they may not have the correct dosage for children. Also more costly for you.

Does this GP benefit financially from recommending you all of these supplements? It is not usual practice in the UK to suggest this (I have an ASD child) so presuming you are not UK based?

Hi there and thank you both for your replies

I'm in Ireland. He is not our regular GP. We were referred to him by our SLT.

This GP had us provide urine and hair samples which were tested in the UK. We went through the results together on Friday and overall my boy's gut is basically full of fungus. His magnesium levels are also extremely low.

He's been on the fish oils and Mindlinx for a while now. The other stuff is basically to help his gut heal; clear out the fungus and then come around October hopefully it'll be sorted....

123bananas thanks for such an informative post. No he doesn't benefit financially from these supplements. Yeah he's definitely different to our mainstream GPs. But our usual GP isn't great.

This current GP solely deals with children with autism, developmental disorders etc and has been doing so for 20 years. This all gives me confidence, but when I heard all these names of things I'd never heard of, I started to wonder if I'm doing the right thing.

It makes sense to me that my boy's gut is full of muck. He is a frail, pale looking child despite having a large appetite and a healthy diet, and no other health conditions. We've done bloods and are due to do another set when lockdown is over.

If he is deficient in magnesium then they should be prescribing the correct level for his age of whatever vitamin supplement he needs. Vitamins can be harmful if not given at correct levels as they are used in cell metabolism. Too much magnesium can affect the heart so make sure the dose is correct, a pharmacist can check it.

The vitamin C supplement should be fine to give, but too much can cause diarrhoea so be watchful.

Sounds like the antibiotic and antifungal are to try and clear the gut infection, did he do a stool sample to confirm the fungal infection?

It sounds like he is trying to help, but with a more naturopathic approach alongside allopathy.

Can gut problems be determined from hair and wee? I don't think they can.

If he's frail and pale despite a good diet, I would advise you to see an actual paediatrician and paediatric dietician who can do proper assessment and tests.

Thanks again for such useful replies. They've got me thinking.

No he hasn't done a stool sample.

I think it's no harm to get this all checked over by a pediatric dietician.

It makes sense to me that my boy's gut is full of muck. He is a frail, pale looking child despite having a large appetite and a healthy diet, and no other health conditions.

How can this be ascertained with no stool sample? I would have thought it was not very likely with a child who has a healthy diet, anyway. I say this as the mother of a DS with asd who has an extremely limited diet and eats no fresh fruit and little fresh veg.

Does he get much fresh air and exercise?

My mother once sent me to some sort of naturopath (?) and I came away with a list of about 8 different supplements to take, and told to give up wheat. This was off the back of some "resistance testing" where she put different substances and gauged "my body"'s reaction to them (through the container). Some of the things in your list look familiar!

I would be cautious. GPs are human. Some studied homeopathy and even prescribed homeopathic remedies a few years back, and that has now been widely discredited. I'm at a loss to follow how he has concluded he needs to give an antibiotic and an antifungal on the basis of a urine and hair test, unless he has diagnosed your son with a urinary tract infection. I'm not a doctor, I may be talking absolute rubbish, but I think you are right to be cautious.

I would get a second opinion maybe from an actual childrens ped

Is the prescribed stuff like the GAPS diet?
www.gapsdiet.com/gaps-outline.html