to disclose or not to disclose biomedical--how open minded are developmental pediatricians?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
One thing I experience frustration with is Docs (unless they are DAN docs) being uniformed or narrow minded about biomedical. I tried to make an appt with a dev. pediatrician and when I told her nurse that we were doing biomedical she staunchly declared that this wouldn't work out (ie. only can see the dev. pediatrician if I give up biomedical). A friend, who does biomedical for her son (& is a nurse), warned me not to tell the dev. pediatrician that we are doing biomedical. So, now I'm going to see another dev. pediatrician whom I've haven't disclosed this info. to. We've been following Amy Yasko's protocol since June and biomedical for the last 5ish years (my son is 8 years old). Biomedical and diet has been everything to us. My son used to be super constipated and now he goes almost everyday with ease. I don't think there have been profound changes on his intense sensory needs, but he always making improvements and but the fact that his gut & digestive system is in a better place (& thus absorbing nutrients appropriately) has and continues to be totally worth it for me. I'm going the dev. pediatrican route b/c I want a diagnosis (or not) of ADHA and consider options for that. My son was diagnosed with -PDD-NOS, but I also suspect he has ADHA. I would love to hear other folks experiences on disclosing biomedical or not. PS--when we started this journey I consulted with 2 pediatricians (one a friend of mine) who didn't know (or subscribe) to the notion of yeast. I know its not necessarily their fault since they are not developmental pediatricians and they get minimal nutrition training, but its frustrating that basic nutrition and gut knowledge isn't out there and you eventually have to be dig and dig and dig until you, as a parent or caregiver, find things out on your own. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

What do you mean when you say "biomedical" and what is ADHA?

When I googled biomedical- I got biomedical engineering
When I googled ADHA - I got American Dental Hygienists Assosication and Eid el-ADHA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean when you say "biomedical" and what is ADHA?

When I googled biomedical- I got biomedical engineering
When I googled ADHA - I got American Dental Hygienists Assosication and Eid el-ADHA

I'm guessing OP means ADHD and they are following something along the lines of this

http://treatadhd.ca/resources/biomedical-survivial-guide/

[Anonymous]

yes sorry I meant ADHD...thanks

[Anonymous]

Um. Biomedical is an adjective. You are using it as a noun. Biomedical WHAT?

[Anonymous]

OP,

Disclose or don't. There's never been any clinical evidence supporting the "diets," it's purely anecdotal, so please don't try to sound so lofty that the two pediatricians you know didn't know about the effect of yeast. You sound very gullible.

DAN diets are incredibly restrictive and maybe your issue isn't ADHD, maybe it's what you're letting your kid eat (or not).

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't disclose, OP, because as soon as you tell pediatricians this information you become THAT parent. The parent who thinks they know better than the doctor, the AAP, scientific knowledge as a whole...

[Anonymous]

If you're going to a medical professional for advice, you need to be willing to be open and honest about your child and what's going on for them medically. Lying to the developmental pediatrician is going to render the visit useless.

[Anonymous]

ND's aren't necessarily medical doctors. Naturopathic medical school requires a four-year bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, and completion of mandatory pre-medical courses. Naturopathic medicine is complementary and alternative medicine, which can definitely have it's place, but NDs are not qualified to evaluate for or diagnose ADHD. Again data is very limited on what they can draw from diet to the effects of ADHD.

If you're really interested in the role of nutrition I would seek out an actual nutritionist.

[Anonymous]

In my experience (from a close friend who used this approach), biomedical was more than just some vitamins. it was a MAJOR regimen of supplements, etc.. and also chelation.

The important thing is that supplements is that -- insofar as they do affect your body, which you are counting on -- they are acting on your child's health and you should disclose them to the pediatrician. You can expect most pediatricians to be skeptical because, as mentioned above, there's no medical evidence that they work and no real studies about their long-term effects on your child.

BTW my friend's child is now a young adult, and the restrictive diet, tens of thousands of dollars' worth of supplements and doctors, etc. etc. did nothing to change his diagnosis. In her case, she did the DAN approach instead of more conventional educational supports like tutors, etc. Her DC is a wonderful person (in no small part because she is), but it makes me sad to see all the opportunities he missed during his crucial development because they were chasing some elusive "cure" that didn't exist.

[Anonymous]

You don't have to say the word biomedical, just say, we are treating child's constipation with xyz, supplementing with abc. You gotta disclose. My ped was able to warn me to stop fish oil a week before my child's dental procedure to reduce risk of bleeding. He never said, stop giving fish oil altogether. (Although when we did stop fish oil, we noticed no decline at all, and so we decided on our own to drop it)

[Anonymous]

The three dev peds I've consulted with generally seemed pretty open to alternative therapies, though I've never asked about this.

[Anonymous]

Also don't go in there in an openly hostile way. The underlying attitude in your post and references to open mindedness suggest that you might be combative without realizing it.

You are asking a professional for a professional opinion. Don't hold back information.

[Anonymous]

No. Never withhold treatment information from a physician. They need to know what your child is on or what you are doing, so that they can adjust their treatments and advice.

Not telling the doctor about other treatments is irresponsible and potentially dangerous.

[Anonymous]

My child recently saw a specialist where the registration paperwork asked for parent to list all medication and supplements: I've also discussed gluten free diet and tests results from a homeopath with our developmental ped, who is always open to whatever we are doing, even if doctor doesnt endorse it. In my experience, the ones that tend to be judgemental and hostile to working as a team are the natural doctors, not the medical doctors.