Yeast is a Beast!

Along our journey of gut healing, we recently had our six-month check up with our integrative pediatrician and had a long discussion on the findings from Damion’s recent stool collection. Unsurprising to us, they found a lot of yeast overgrowth (medically described as “candida” overgrowth). The reason this is unsurprising is because it has been a pretty constant issue for Damion over the years. We have done small things in the past to try and overcome this issue, but this time around we want to make a much bigger effort to address this problem.  So today I thought it would be worthwhile to talk a bit more in depth about yeast overgrowth in the gut, as it may be an issue for others that they are not even aware of.

Symptoms

Yeast overgrowth in the gut can cause a variety of symptoms, some physical, some behavioral. A list provided by our doctor that can also be found on the TACA website lists the physical symptoms as: Gastrointestinal pain, constipation, smelly gas, white tongue, diaper rash, skin rashes, red ring around the anus, and a rash or cracking between the toes. The list provided for the behavioral symptoms includes: inappropriate laughter, sleep disturbances, bedwetting, fatigue, depression, poor cognition or inattentiveness, hyperactivity, increased “stimming” behavior, high pitched squealing, increased sensory seeking, climbing or jumping off things, sugar cravings, self-limiting foods, and plateauing in skills.

After reading that list from the doctor I honestly felt like they were describing the majority of the issues that we are trying to resolve for Damion. Damion can be often unfocused, he likes to make high pitched noises, he is sensory seeking, he self-limits food and craves high carb foods, he does the inappropriate laughter, and he gets stuck “stimming” a lot. Not to mention he is no stranger to skin rashes, and can have gas with a smell that could clear a room (which he of course finds funny since he is a 10 year old boy). But as you can see this really brings into perspective just how big of a problem this yeast overgrowth is for him.

Resolving the issue

There are some medications that help with yeast overgrowth, our doctor prescribed one for Damion to be on for a short bit to try and kick start us in getting rid of this problem. It must be working because after only a couple of days on the medication we are starting to see some die-off reactions, which are to be expected.

There is a lot of information that says that immune support and probiotics are also found to help reduce yeast. Yeast growth can really start to take off after being on antibiotics since it kills off both the good and bad bacteria, leaving yeast to try and fill those now empty spaces. We have had Damion on probiotics for years but have decided to try and change up the brand we are using to see if that helps with his current yeast issue as well.

The other big way to treat this yeast issue is of course with diet, which I know firsthand is no easy thing especially with a child who has as many sensory issues with food as our Damion does. It’s also no surprise that we get the catch 22 with some of the symptoms as the main goal would be to reduce sugars and carbohydrates since yeast feeds on sugar, but you are hit with symptoms from yeast overgrowth like “sugar cravings” and “self-limiting foods”, making the hurdle a hard one to get over. In lieu of going cold turkey onto an anti-candida diet or Specific Carbohydrate diet, we are trying to introduce some new, healthy, high protein and no-to low carb snacks. Hopefully once we get a few more foods worked into his current diet that fit the target for what he should be eating, then we can go more for the full restriction. Baby steps…

If those symptoms look familiar to what you are seeing with your autistic child, I recommend reaching out to a good holistic or integrative doctor yourself (ours at Sancta Familia Center in Columbus is awesome!)  and finding a way to navigate through this issue. I have yet to see Damion yeast free, but I believe deep down that if/when we get this under control, we will see a large amount or progress that we have been waiting oh, so long for.

Disclaimer: I am a mom, not a doctor. The advice that I am presenting through this blog is not meant to be medical advice but just a first-hand interpretation of advisement we had through our son’s doctor and the results that followed.