Side Effects

We have noticed two interesting developments with Ellie lately. The first is tied to her visits with the physiologist, and the other with her recent food 'fail'.

Ellie has been in pain since birth. We used to believe it was solely because of her tummy; after all, pooping blood can't feel great. When we took her to see the physiologist about 6 weeks ago we learned that her right femur was completely out of the socket and could have been from birth trauma. That means she has been in pain for certain! Shortly after her first appointment we noticed a change. Our strong Ellie who normally was silent when she fell down or got a bump because shedding giant tears and wailing at the slightest scratch. We looked at each other and thought 'what in the world?!' It was if she had become hyper sensitive. It took us a little bit to realize that when a 28 month old goes from a lifetime of constant pain to none, a knee scrape must feel like quite a shock!

The second thing we discovered was that as Ellie's body battled the sugars from the acorn squash, she slowly lost her verbal abilities. Before the acorn squash trial she spoke in complete sentences, held conversations, and even told jokes. Granted I may be the only one able to understand, but it was there. As of about 4 or 5 days ago her sentences sounded like: "ba-ka-mafaluk-cho-pen". It was the most puzzling thing ever.

There are actually studies showing this is the case with an overgrowth of toxic bacteria in the body. It has been linked to mental illness, autism, OCD, and a host of conditions. Some simply refer to it as 'brain fog'. For example, medical studies have shown that certain bacterias can have an opiate affect on the brain. The bacteria releases toxins when it eats, dies, poops, whatever. And in Ellie's case her overloaded body was working hard to rid itself of the toxins and kill off the overgrowth.

Prior to GAPS we often discussed regression in connection to FPIES, and how a food reaction may cause kids to lose words, fall down a lot, or other weird 'side effects'. We have not seen such a dramatic regression like this in Ellie until now - pre-GAPS or after. Quite frankly it could have been frightening to watch if I had not known what was going on.

Today is day three of her being completely back to normal. Eczema under control, eyes bright and shiny, and more than busy pestering her sister in every way possible. She is back to full sentences and singing songs, and being her usual LOUD self. We will wallow in it for the weekend before pushing forward in her healing once more.