The date is July 20, 2003. John needs his ritalin, and that's for sure. so we give it to him, but the results are not pretty. The autistic behavior that we saw four years ago is back. John curls up in a fetal position under a blanket and makes short squeaking sounds like a small monkey. I gently pull the blanket down, and he pulls it back up again. Ok, he's aware of his surroundings. He wants to be covered up, and has enough gross motor skills to make it happen. I ask him a question like, "What's the name of your dog?", and he responds with two squeaks. Other questions evoke the same response. The number of squeaks seems to match the number of syllables in the correct answer. He's trying to talk, and can't.
I tell him I want to check his breath for ketones, and he pulls the blanket down, sits up, and gives me a perfect H, right in my face. Then he flops back down and covers up again. I ask him to put 3 fingers up and he does. This is no seizure. He's in there, but he's afraid, and he can't speak, although he seems to have all of his gross motor skills. I ask him what he wants to do next and he finds my dymo tape labeler. He turns the wheel to L and shows me the L. I acknowledge it, and he then moves it to U. Then N and C ... he wants lunch. Breakfast was a long time ago; he's hungry. And he obviously found a way to communicate. Guess I'd better teach him the sign alphabet, in case this happens again.
I suggest a few things we might have for lunch, and suddenly he says, "Wow, I can talk again. I just broke through a red glass wall." His speech was back, as though it had never left. A part of me was, and is, fascinated. We talked about his experience for a while. He says he remembers the same thing four years ago, but I doubt it. I think he remembers me talking about it. In any case, it hasn't happened in the past four years, until today, and its never happened at school. That's what I really wanted to know. He's been on ritalin for most of the past 7 months, and this is the only occurrence in that time. The other three occurrences, four years ago, also involved ritalin, so ritalin is a necessary ingredient, but certainly not sufficient. I go over yesterday's menu, and he did eat something very unusual, a generous helping of barbecue potato chips. Normally we try to stay away from artificials, but lately I've almost given up. "Oh what the hell, nothing works, so go ahead, eat anything you like." The chips contain MSG, and autolyzed yeast (more glutamates), and smoke flavoring (whatever that is). I think there is a ritalin MSG interaction, at least in John's brain, which leads to fear and a complete loss of speech. This does not mean John is glutamate sensitive; it only suggests a drug/additive interaction. I may test this theory, someday, but for the next few months I think we'd better stay away from glutamates, because you never know when he's going to need his ritalin.
As it happens, we ran another test a week later, somewhat by accident. He ate more glutamates, and the next day he said he saw the glass wall. "It wasn't as thick, so I could break through it." he reported. John had no ritalin that day. So it seems that glutamates are bad on their own, and should be avoided. When combined with ritalin, they're a disaster!
The blood tests haven't told us anything, although some are still pending. Meantime John is getting worse by the day. I can smell that mysterious chemical almost every night. I decide to change his diet once again. That compound can only be produced by a bacteria living in his digestive tract, so I insist on at least 5 grams of fiber with each meal. This is part of the protocol that really helped my wife's ibs. I know, this is a major departure from earlier theories, but what else can I do?