first off the DAN doctor ordered her off the GF diet?????that just seems wrong especially if you were seeing some progress...I'm sure he has lots of test that will cost you lots of money and you may not see much improvement but if you have a large trust fund to spend go for it...I personally would find another doctor quick.....You might want to consider seeing a dietician to see if you can get more variety into your daughters GF diet...good luck

first i want to say that i'm not saying a gf diet doesn't work , i think it works for some and not others , i know children that have been on it for years and are no better, i think it means what works best for the child , whether it is ot or aba , the diet thing i don't quite get

my son B is the same age as your little girl
we had to stop cos B stoped EATING he still only drinks rice milk that and we do limit his weet now and then but it could be just the big change all together.
change is always hard for plp with ASD so do it slow maybe that will help it worked for us and he is fine only being half on the diet
i hope i helped :)

Hi, sweetie.
If you feel that the diet really didn't help I'll share what I have done with my son Julian who is now 14. 6 years ago we started with the DAN Dr's. For every Rx the gave I found the natural side to use. We also started him on Dr. Houston's AFP peptyzmes. You can read about these at houstonni.com, they are great suppliments to use. We also have him taking oil of oregano drops daily, this kills the yeast and parasites. We have him on culturell it contains 10 billion lactobacilis the healthy bacteria we need to maintain a clean and healthy digestive tract. Please go to foggyrock.com and look us up we are the 4muskateers...here you can see what we have done with Julian and check out the pictures...the ugly yellow one was before any intervention and the rest well they speak for themselves. you can also e-mail me at home: denny_mima@hotmail.com

My child is PDD NOS and he is 7 we have a DAN doctor as well and she did a full food panel to find out exactly what he was allergic too. In fact we do one every year because it drastically changes. He unfortunatly is allergic to about 30 different foods and we do see a change in his attitude if he gets some of the food that he is allergic to. The body just simply releases different drugs to combat the allergic reaction to the food which ends up makeing him either very mean or short tempered or some other negative reaction. I am surprised that your DAN doctor has not done a food panel and i am surprised that he took you off the diet as they are all about the diet that is there whole basis of their existence it biological, what goes in has a reaction so lets limit the bad things that we are putting in.

He may have taken you off the diet to run tests. My understanding of some of the sensitivity tests is that if you aren't eating the food your blood work will not show the sensitivity.
At this point GF & CF results are anecdotal. You have to try to find out whether or not it works. And you have to "test" it periodically by giving "forbidden" foods & waiting for a reaction. - It sounds like you got your reaction & are ready to return to the diet.

To quote a teacher I once had, "The same blood flows through your bowels & your brain. If the first doesn't work right, how can the second?"
GF works because if you do not digest gluten properly it releases morphine like compounds into the blood stream, not to mention the bellyache. - hmmm...spaced out & cramping... I'd whine too

I am shocked he said it was ok to take her off the gluten diet. My grandson has been on it for 1yr and 5 months and is doing great. He is talking up a storm and is so smart. He is four years old.

I love the idea of diet over drugs. My two youngest were on the GF diet for Celiac disease. They were happier on the diet - if only because their bowels worked better.

If your doctor's switch is because of a nutritional thing, may I suggest quinoa if you need something for protein.

Quinoa is a seed, like millet. It's grown in the Andes mountain in Peru where the only other protein-rich foods available are parrots and guinea pigs. It's a complete protein.

It's versatile. I've eaten it like oatmeal - with honey and milk (through a straw); mixed it with berries or peaches and we make an awesome pilaf with grilled onions, pine nuts and a pinch of cayenne.

I buy it at a local health food store but have gotten it on the internet. It also comes in flakes - much like rolled oats, which makes great cookies that we take on hikes.

It's fun to cook. You know it's done when the outer shell comes off in a spiral.

You will hit a plateau on the diet, because it's not a cure all. Most of these kids do have digestive "allergies" or sensitivities, but not all of them do.
The DAN doctor possibly wanted to do food testing to see exactly what sensitivities she has as they will not show up if she is not ingesting whatever it is she's sensitive to. However, that said, if she is sensitive to gluten/wheat, she needs to be back on it for a good while before testing for the testing to be accurate. Not only that, the level of sensitivity could change after time. The chemicals created by the indigested particles of gluten that do cross over into the bloodstream build up over time, which affects her behavior more. The chemicals are like opium, causing them to be unable to process thoughts clearly, etc. (it's like they are drugged)
You may want to take her off of dairy too. Dairy sensitivity (casein) is quite often behind the inability to speak.
I just reread your post, and your wording makes it seem like maybe he said to try her back on it after he did the bloodwork. If that's the case, possibly gluten/wheat showed up negative. There is a possibility for some kids to be able to overcome their sensitivity and eat the offending food, once the villi in their intestine have healed. The only way to know is to go back on the food.
My son was on the GFCF diet from July one year to May the next, then we decided after some other treatments to try out the foods again. (also peanut free) It took much longer than 5 weeks to notice things I think are from the offending foods. However, he's 14 and 6'2", so it would take a lot more to affect his body than your 4 1/2 yr old daughter.
If it were me, I would desire a different doctor too. DAN doctors aren't cheap, usually aren't in our network of providers, and to pay someone that much money, they better be explaining EVERYTHING to me! I would suggest starting a list of questions now, as you think of them. If you do have to go back to this doctor you went to for results, take your questions with you.
God bless you in your quest to find ways to help your daughter.