Glutamate - the REAL link between Autism, Epilepsy and Psychosis??

Hi.... having fought my way through the last 3 or 4 posts and their 100's of comments my brain needs to cool off a little and so I thought I'd bring things back down with a bump and create a heap of controversy (this blog doesn't have much of that does it, ha ha).

Hypothesis.... "Glutamate is the trigger for stereotypical autistic behaviour, seizures and also schizophrenia."

Some out there may already know this. Let me know if you do. No-one who talks to us about our son has ever accepted any of these links and they treat him for 3 separate conditions. So how have I been brought to this belief?

Well, it is really a combination of years of trying to understand my son's conditions and some fascinating observations of my son in the past 2 weeks. If we are right, or even on the right path, the effect could be shattering for him and maybe many others.

But without ITLAD and this blog I would have continued to miss the critical ingredient which is the power and enormity of the unconscious mind and the Daemon.

History....
We have known for 20 years that the chemical, MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutamate, E621), which is added as a flavouring in many many foods, causes our son to climb walls, babble, change personality, get angry and hyperactive. As a child, such behaviour was partially controlled by removing MSG from his diet. Nobody took us seriously that he had a condition or even that MSG could do this. They effectively patronised us. But we persisted. At 18 years old, after 14 years of trying, we eventually got someone to accept that he may have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. But again, nobody cared to connect it to anything he ate or any predisposition to chemicals in the brain.

However, we started to read about it and there was a school of thought that Gluten may have a connection. Some reported success by cutting it out of the diet. But no-one could say why this worked, as Gluten was not really linked to brain issues per se, it just tended to be see as an issue to do with digestion and skin issues. And besides... nobody knows how the brain works, do they!? (But that still doesn't stop doctors from cramming drugs into us to help with problems of the head!)

Anyway, at 20, he had 2 big seizures for the first time, a month apart. Medics quickly treated it as epilepsy and gave him anti-seizure drugs. 3 months later, we saw the start of serious psychotic episodes of anger, paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations. Nobody knew what it was or why. No-one accepted any link to the seizures or the drugs. We could not find anyone who would even consider the possibility.

18 months ago, the psychosis was present every day, many times a day and unpredictably severe. It was a terrifying time for the family. For months, we refused to medicate, but we gave in eventually as it was becoming dangerous for him and for us. For 12 months he has been on anti-seizure and anti-psychosis drugs. The seizures seemed to be in control but the psychosis would still rear its head every few days without any obvious trigger. The Psychiatrist was surprised but agreed not to further increase the dose.

NOW HERE IS THE DISCOVERY..........
2 weeks ago, he had his first grand mal for over 2 years (See my earlier post on this). No-one can tell us why this would happen after so long. We just get sympathy and the medics wanting to increase his dose (over my dead body). Last week, he started having daily episodes of 'Mr Hyde' behaviour again. All the old hallucinations coming back and the anger etc.

We looked for what had changed in the last couple of weeks.

Just one thing came to mind.... Weetabix... he had started to eat Weetabix, by the bucket load. That's when it came to me... the old wives' tale that a Gluten free diet sometimes helped Autistic people. But is there a connection?

Well, guess what... Wheat Gluten is the modern source for producing MSG!!

NOW THE HYPOTHESIS....

1. The link to seizures and psychosis.
If some reports are true that, at the times when Glutamate 'floods' the brain, one has vivid hallucinations of one's past life, then perhaps what Glutamate is doing is 'opening the doors' of the unconscious mind and allowing it to leak into the conscious field. For some who are more predisposed, this 'leakage' is probably more of a tidal wave that overwhelms the brain and can, at worst, trigger a major seizure. At the least, it could trigger illusions, visions and voices composed in any combination from the past. It would not be unreasonable to expect such a sufferer to become very frightened, even angry or aggressive and certainly could appear psychotic if still awake! (And a thought on why people get the shakes during a seizure.... perhaps it is because the daemon/unconscious mind finds itself 'in charge' while the eidolon is out for the count... and it is nor very practiced at mundane tasks like managing a human body!)

2. Now the link to Autism
Many of you will have a view that someone with autism has difficulty relating to the 'real world' and will often hide away from it and avoid contact with people. If they are living in their 'right brain', it is no surprise - what goes on in the real world would be far from what goes on in the unconscious mind.

Conclusion

I must research more into the chemicals that could trigger the 'letting in' of the unconscious mind. It may not just be glutamate. Indeed, there is no obvious reason why it has to be the same for everyone. However, I am tempted to believe that the treatment for all 3 conditions may be the same and quite different from the traditional, subjective medications which are accepted by many as really quite hit and miss. The suppression of Dopamine may well be the right treatement for some conditions, but is this deliberate 'flattening of the personality' right for those with Autism? Perhaps all they need is an acceptance that the human mind is made up of 2 minds, one of which is connected to the universe, the other is connected to this human world and when one gets into the other at the wring time, the only possible result can be chaos..

Sorry for keeping you all up late... But I'd be really intersted to hear what yuo all think...is there merit in this? Is it total rubbish? Do you know of anyone who is doing related research?

Cheers
Ed

PS - If controlling the amount of Glutamate in one's head can help manage the overactive 'positive' side of someone's character, then maybe we should recommend daily Weetabix as a cure for people who need a bit more personality in their lives!