Hi Janie - Like Hayden, my daughter Rachel suffered horribly from constipation. We tried everything from more fiber/water to RX. Finally, I read a book by Karyn Seroussi that explained what has been happening to our children, as well as provided the answer to Rachel's problem. Her husband is a research chemist for Johnson & Johnson Ortho Diagnostics Division and they corroborated the research of Reichelt, Pangborne and Shattock that identified "opiod peptides" in autistic patients' urine. Some of these opiod peptides are produced from the incomplete digestion of milk and gluten foods and they are very potent. They are a form of morphine, and besides being very constipating, they cause neurological symptoms that manifest as autism, as well as impair immune function. By implementing a strict gluten-free/casein-free diet, no milk/milk-products or wheat/rye/barley/oat products, my daughter is no longer constipated, makes great eye contact, has made remarkable progress behaviorially and cognitively and, has better sleeping habits! I strongly suggest Seroussi's book and/or Lisa Lewis' book "Special Diets for Special Kids" or go to www.gfcfdiet.com (http://www.gfcfdiet.com) to understand how to correctly implement this GF/CF diet. Also, we saw the most improvement in my daughter once we put her on a digestive peptide enzyme after having been on the GF/CF diet for about a month. These help breakdown any casein or gluten opiod peptides hanging around in the body as well as any hidden sources she may ingest. There are two such supplemental enzymes available in the U.S. - SerenAid and EnZymAid. I implemented the diet slowly, so as to help reduce the withdrawal symptoms Rachel was sure to go through.

Normally, our bodies produce an enzyme called DPPIV - dipeptidyl peptidase IV that breaks down these opiod peptides. When this enzyme has been disabled and the intestines are damaged (leaky gut) these opiods get into the central nervous system. I cannot impress upon you enough the importance of using the diet if Hayden is the type that self-limits his diet to milk products and wheat products.

Though my daughter has always loved pumpkin and squash, I make her rice bread using a banana bread recipe (no yeast) and mix mashed pumpkin or zucchini with it to make it more nutritious. I add lots of pumpkin pie spice to it in lieu of a sweetner and she really likes it. Maybe this might be a way for you to get some veggies in Hayden's diet.

It may be that some of those children who exhibit autistic symptoms from birth have a defective gene that doesn't allow for the production of this enzyme. For those children who, like mine, respond to this diet, and who also develop normally their first year and then regress, the enzyme has been disabled by some "environmental assault." I believe that my daughter was injured by the thimerosal (mercury) in her vaccines. "Autism: A Unique Form of Mercury Poisoning" by Bernard et al can be found at www.autism.com/ari/ (http://www.autism.com/ari/) and is a very well documented and convincing hypothesis that explains one of the major causes for the increase of autism over the past 60 years. Of note, mercury cleaves DPPIV, as well as contributes to a leaky gut.

I hope I haven't gone on too long. It is just that I can't bear the thought of another child suffering like my Rachel and I will try to offer any insight I have to try to help end Hayden's suffering.

Janie, read these sources... cry... get angry... and then pray for the strength of Wakefield, Singh, Shattock, Shaw, Waring, Rimland, Loe-Fisher, Burton, and other researchers and advocates of our precious children, to prevail.