Any other spectrum children here who get frequent ear infections?

[rafiki]

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[wapiti]

tubes? What does the ped say? Have you seen the ENT?

 

Silverman has a section on ear infections in Upside Down Brilliance (re: VSLs). Without going back to look at it, I'll try to remember her point -- I think she hypothesizes that ear infections have something to do with "left-brain" weaknesses, particularly when they occur during the first three years of life. I'll take another look when I go upstairs later...

 

Maybe you could ask on the general board for more "alternative" ideas (re: the allergies and such).

 

ETA, fwiw, my ds8 with more "issues" (especially speech but also sensory, motor, etc. though he is not on the spectrum) was the one who did not have tubes. Other ds8 (the one with peanut allergy and asthma) did have tubes, at 2 y.o. I don't know why I didn't push more for tubes for the one - many of his infections were sinus rather than ear, but I have serious regrets at this point.

Edited November 26, 2011 by wapiti

[blessedmom3]

My ASD son (7yo) used to have frequent ear infections. In my research , aprox. 90% of ASD kids have food allergies and infections . According to a Russian Dr ( the name escapes me right now ) and Natasha Campbell , it has to do with the gut.

My son hasn't have a ear infection since he was four . We gave him a lot of fermented food such a s Kamboucha tea (sp?) and kefir and he was much better since then . Not sure if these foods made him better but since he was drinking these for a few months, he never had a ear infection again. Also he started to talk better too. However he still tests ++ for eggs&milk intolerance but the allergist said he is so low that he is ok to eat these foods now and then.

 

Anyway, back to the subject, I do think there is a correlation between ear infections & ASD & gut syndrome . I'd suggest watching these videos on youtube by Cambell and that Russian Dr as well as The Gut Syndrome by a different Dr.

 

ETA We have a Copay too , so we avoid going to the Dr . In Europe (where I am from ) , they rarely give antibiotics for ear infections so when my son used to have them, I just did not go to the Dr . Just gave him Tylenol and wait ...unless the fever went up for more than two days ( which never happened ). We just used home remedies , such as Oregano oil in the ear and internally , which is a strong antibiotic . I do think in US Dr abuse antibiotics .

Edited November 27, 2011 by blessedmom3

[5knights3maidens]

My daughter nevers gets ear infections. She may have had 1.

You can use a drop of warm oil in the ear. I did this for my other dc.

[Misty]

Anyway, back to the subject, I do think there is a correlation between ear infections & ASD & gut syndrome .

 

:iagree: Definitely. Although my kids never had reoccurring ear infections for some reason.. That is one thing we did not have to deal with.. But they do have the food allergies, etc. that is so common with ASD.

 

To the OP.. Are you giving probiotics along with the antibiotics to be sure there is not further gut damage with all of the antibiotics?.. We always treat with natural antibiotics here... But when they have an ear infection related to a virus, we usually just let it run its course with some ear oil drops (found at any health food store). Rarely are antibiotics truly needed for a viral ear infection anyway. Knowing what I know now about gut health and ASD, I do not ever give my kids antibiotics unless their lives depend on it. There are plenty of natural alternatives that work just as well without compromising gut health.

 

One other thought.. my mother had reoccurring ear infections as a child.. She has food allergies out the wazoo... She had multiple ear surgeries as a child and ended up 75% deaf in one ear. She has other issues like ADHD, etc. Anyway, a few years ago, she saw a sign hanging outside of a chiropractor's office about ear infections and how they could help.. I guess she was still suffering from some sinus infections, ear infections, etc. at that point. She decided to give it a try and to her surprise, it really did help. And she is not one to subscribe to "alternative treatments". So you might see if a chiropractor could possibly help.

[sbgrace]

My spectrum son had major ear infection issues. Finally he got mastoiditis :( in the surgery for that he got tubes. Last time checked he still had one tube. We've had two infections since I think. The thing about ear infections is that antibiotics kind of boomerang on themselves. Kids build up resistant bacteria and, specifically, biofilms which protect the bacteria in there from the antibiotics. Most (all?) tubed kids will have those in their ear fluid. Healthy kids don't if I recall the study specifically. Anyway, knowing what I now know about ears and especially with that horrific infection/mastoiditis thing I would have done tubes long before we did. They are over-done, yes, but when ears don't drain and need repeat antibiotics they can be the right decision imo.

 

My spectrum son doesn't have allergies or food intolerances--we were all allergens free (gluten, casein, egg, etc.) for a long time though thinking if might help with GI stuff as well as ears. That said, he does have GI issues including low IgA which compromises his immunity to intestinal infections. We do lots of probiotics. Florastor (or a dairy free s. bouldari if dairy free--Klaire Labs has one) is fantastic for taking with antibiotics because it's the one probiotic the antibiotic can't kill and it's great with yeast control as well.

Edited November 27, 2011 by sbgrace

[kiwi mum]

Mine had constant ear infections until he turned five and has never had another one since. It was only recently that I joined the dots - they stopped at the same time that he went gluten free.

[Finnella]

One other thought.. my mother had reoccurring ear infections as a child.. She has food allergies out the wazoo... She had multiple ear surgeries as a child and ended up 75% deaf in one ear. She has other issues like ADHD, etc. Anyway, a few years ago, she saw a sign hanging outside of a chiropractor's office about ear infections and how they could help.. I guess she was still suffering from some sinus infections, ear infections, etc. at that point. She decided to give it a try and to her surprise, it really did help. And she is not one to subscribe to "alternative treatments". So you might see if a chiropractor could possibly help.

 

I remember reading about this when my sons were younger. My older son, who is not on the spectrum, had an awful time with ear infections. The adjustments did help.

 

My younger son is on the spectrum but has always been the healthier of the two.

[Guest mom2sons]

Both my kiddos had chronic ear infections. Wound up getting pe tubes for both of them by an ent. One of the best decisions we made. The ear infections almost completely went away. It is hard to hear when the ears are infected, the eardrum gets pulled in from suction caused by lack of equalized pressure on both sides of the eadrum - that's one of the causes of their pain. they did have dairy allergies but one outgrew that by a year. I'm glad we had the tubes put in.

[DandelionMom]

My oldest had multiple ear infections before the age of 18 months, and my youngest we suspect has food allergies.

[mamakven]

I have 3 on the spectrum, and 2 of them had/have severe ear infection issues.

[Rhonda in TX]

My Aspie DS had one ear infection, when he was 2 years old. He's always been a remarkably healthy child.