enhansa

I decided to start the Enhansa last Saturday, even though we have family in from out of town. I started with a 150mg. dose...75mgs in the a.m. and 75mgs in the p.m. The stuff (powder) is yellow/orange and just smells nasty, so it took me some trials to find a way to get it into him. I put it in his juice for the first 2-3 days and that didn't work. He probably didn't even get 1/2 the dose on those days because I just couldn't get him to drink his juice. So, I decided to try it in some organic, all natural, maple syrup. I mix it in with about a teaspoon full and then give it to him. He seems to tolerate it much better that way. I tried it in apple sauce and he gagged every single time. So, instead of torturing the poor kid - I tried the maple syrup. For now, that seems to be the way to go.

Negatives - I'm pretty sure I've seen some die-off the past few days. His stimming has increased and his eye contact has decreased. I've been fighting the die-off with upping his dose of Biotin everyday, and even giving activated charcoal on the second day. It seemed to help.

Positives - The negatives have decreased as of today. We are now on day 6 (although, the first 2 days were probably useless because he wasn't taking the juice). The eye contact is back, and he's much easier distracted from the stimming. He's sleeping better, too. Yesterday when I picked him up from school, his teacher told me he had spontaneously labeled some cards they were cutting out. She said one of his teachers was sitting at a table and cutting out picture cards and he walked over and started labeling them (correctly). Now, he does that at home occassionally, but apparently hasn't done it yet at school. She said that typically means he won't have to stay in the communications class and will eventually move out and into the support center, before heading to a regular class. Of course she's only speculating, but, it's nice to hear the "hope".

I told her that we would work on things over the summer and she acted a little concerned about him progressing TOO much - she doesn't want him to not qualify for services next year. I tend to agree with her. Yes, I want him to progress - and quickly. I want him to be happier and able to communicate, of course! But, I know that we need intense therapies for the next 2 years, or he'll have less of a chance of fitting in with his peers at some point. So, I don't want them to pull him out of this classroom because he wouldn't get near the intense ABA that he's getting there. So, it's a catch 22, I suppose.

So, will report more next week (or sooner if needed) regarding the Enhansa and the results.

Oh, I almost forgot!! Today, he said "Hi Uncle D" when his Uncle walked in the door. Yes, it was prompted, but stringing 3 words together .... as far as I'm concerned, that's a sentence.