CuringAutismBlog

We started Step Two on Monday, with supplements intended to get the methylation cycle going. Specifically, Mike is taking hydroxy B-12 tablets, one for four days, two per day for another four days? or longer? and working up to three per day. He is still on a collection of vitamins and minserals from Step One, and "ammonia RNA" drops from Step One-A.

His behavior is pretty typical, very impulsive, sometimes angry, not cooperative at all. Haven't seen any mood swings, really. So, we'll see! This is the part of the protocol where detoxification is supposed to take place. I bought a urine amino acids test to use at this point to see what is going on. I will wait to use it though.

I decided to take him off his Abilify medication as well as his Metadate. He was having an anger problem that got him kicked out of camp. The Metadate probably was making that worse. The Abilify is supposed to make it better. But he still got kicked out of camp. His doctor had suggested putting him on a differnt med if Abilify didn't seem to be helping. So, for now, I'll just take him off it. We have an appointment with his psychiatrist early in September, at which I will try to explain all this. I am really hoping Mike can get off a lot of his meds and stay off. He is also taking clonazepam for anxiety and cymbalta for depression/mood swings. We'll leave those where they are for now.

On July 21, it will have been a month that Mike has been on the previous step, which lasts a month. So it is time to order the nutrients for the next phase. This is the important one, Step Two --getting the methylation cycle going and probably causing detoxification.

From page 197 of Dr. Yasko's book Genetic Bypass, I pulled out the directions for Mike's set of mutations. Remember, ++ means a mutation from both parents; +- means a mutation from one parent and not the other. His mutation set being addressed in this step is for genes regulating these enzymes: COMT++, VDR Bsm/Taq +-, MTR+-, MTRR++. Evidently this is a common set of mutations that Dr. Yasko has found in her practice, because she has a protocol directed to it.

Also, remember that Mike also has some other mutations that cause the CBS enzyme to overproduce, and we are already addressing those by giving Ammonia Support RNA three times a day. He is also taking some mineral supplements and so on from Step One.

Here is what we need for Step Two:
hydroxy B12, one daily, over one or two weeks gradually increasing to three per day. If mood swings, back off for a while.
Continue with two per day of HHC General vitamin, which contains some other good nutrients.
Stop curcumin.
After things have stabilized, add plain GABA.
(Consider phosphatidyll serine, PS, capsules. If causes depression, drop it.)

We need some more Ammonia RNA and HHG General Vitamin. Here is what I am ordering today:

Product Price Quantity Subtotal
SKU540. Ammonia Support Formula* $85.00 3 $255.00
30129. General Vitamin Neurologica... $29.90 4 $119.60
01134. Hydroxy B12 $17.50 3 $52.50
01022. GABA $13.50 1 $13.50
03031. DMG (AANGAMIK) $19.50 1 $19.50
Summary: *$460.10 **$460.10

Mike was verbally aggressive yesterday at his summer day camp (for regular kids), a second offense, so he was kicked out. Unfortunately this sort of thing isn't unusual for Mike. He regular tries to intimidate me, now that he is bigger than I am. I did decide to take him off Ritalin derivatives for now, to see what happens. I understand they can cause aggressive behavior.

None of this has anything to do with the Yasko protocol. It's just same old, same old. He is taking the nutrients required for the protocol but is having some trouble with the diet restrictions, so we aren't following the diet really closely. The most troublesome restrictions are: no sweets, no milk, limited protein, no white flour products (goes with low glycemic diet). So, we'll see how he does, not following the diet strictly. I can't control everything he eats, at his age (nearly 15).

We're in a holding pattern for now as far as Mike as concerned. By that I mean that nothing seems to be changing at this point.

As for me, I have been on the Yasko vitamin for a month now and am noticing some changes. For instance, my whistle came back. It had left because my lips had thinned out. I am very happy about that!

Logically speaking, my daughter Shannon and I must have the same killer gene as Mike, the one that increases the production of the CBS enzyme, C699T. I am guessing that we are protected from the worst effects of the gene by estrogen. In my case, estrogen is ebbing, and I fought depression for years until I discovered a workaround, a very low carbohydrate diet.

So Shannon and I have been taking Dr. Amy's vitamin, which contains a variety of nutrients intended to nourish the methylation cycle, such as broccoli. Why not try it, if you are in the gene pool? It certainly might help, and isn't any more expensive than other vitamins.

I took one for a week, then more, up to three a day. At first things got remarkably better. Then with the increase, they got worse!! I am talking about my ability to tolerate carbohydrates without getting fog in the brain. I must have inadvertently nourished the drain in my methylation cycle caused by the CBS mutation. So I backed off to two tablets a day, one in the morning and one at night. Shannon has been taking one in the morning. (Dr. Amy recommends up to two or three per day for those on her protocols. But the dosage on the bottle is six per day. So for people in the gene pool but not on the protocol, maybe the dosage could be higher.)

We went to visit a friend last weekend who has cats. Shannon and I have always been allergic to cats, and so is everyone in my family of birth. But now Shannon and I are not allergic! A long-haired cat who used to cause sneezing kept sitting on Shannon in the night. I "tested" him by sticking my nose in his fur. No sneezes for either of us!

A friend who is an engineer and grandfather of a child with autism (and therefore in the same gene pool) came to visit this weekend. He mentioned that he is allergic to cats. Could cat allergy be an effect of an inefficient or broken methylation cycle?

My kids are all wanting to adopt a cat now. I am wondering if we are really cured.

A reader has asked how it is going with the supplements.

Mike is about a week and a half into the Step 1-A part of the protocol which lasts a month. This step is for individuals with the C699T mutation, causing the body to make extra CBS enzyme and effectively draining the methylation cycle at one end. This is very hard to fix, but Dr. Amy has come up with a proprietary RNA formula called "Ammonia RNA" to address it. It is expensive, about $5 a day.

I am not seeing his behavior improve or get worse at this point. When the month is up, I will put him on supplements designed to get the methylation cycle going, and that should trigger detoxification, causing probable behavior issues. But, we aren't there yet! I am wondering whether he is going to be one who doesn't do much detox because his system hasn't retained too much. He really has a mild case of Asperger's. As his doctor said at our annual checkup a few days ago, his "mood disorder" is really more of an issue. He is at times manic, can't control his impulses, and defies authority a lot. From what I have read of Dr. Amy's theories, fixing the methylation cycle should bring his brain chemicals back into balance. So I am hopeful, and waiting.