Stuttering and Allergies - 2

Mon Sep 11 15:05:51 2000
From: "Nancy T in Maine" <fcefxer@mint.net>
Newsgroups: alt.support.stuttering
Subject: Re: Stuttering connected to food and allergies?
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 11:13:55 -0400
Reply-To: "Nancy T in Maine" <fcefxer@mint.net>

YES!! I've hunted around the Internet all morning about this one, and time after time, it keeps coming up, either gluten intolerance, milk allergy NOT Lactose intolerance) an allergy to all three components of milk, and yeast overgrowth( candida), they feel are linked to stuttering.

My son is an allergies child (milk ect...) always has mucusy stools, diarrhea.... AGAIN a great explanation to good days and bad days!

This would be a good avenue to follow up on.
--
Nancy Tozier

From: "Steve Woznick" <swoznick1@home.com>
Subject: Allergies and stuttering
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 04:48:12 GMT
Organization: @Home Network

A fellow poster recently created a thread on the subject of allergies, particularly gluten, and its link to stuttering. I want to add that I'm a covert stutterer and I have a milk allergy, among many other allergies. I'm wondering maybe if the allergy somehow affected the development of a stutterers brain in early adolescence? Also, is there anyone doing any research on this correlation to determine the validity of it? Thanks
Steve

From: "Nancy T in Maine" <fcefxer@mint.net>
Subject: Re: Allergies and stuttering
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 11:21:30 -0400
Organization: The Maine InternetWorks, Inc.

Steve,

My son has a milk allergy and beef. The more people I ask, the more there seems to be a connection. Out of curiosity, whether you agree or not, do all of you people who stutter have allergies? Please respond. Allergic symptoms are not just runny noses or coughs, they can be excema, psoriasis, headaches, leaky gut, acid reflux, stomach aches, and diarrhea.

--
Nancy Tozier

Subject: Re: Allergies and stuttering
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 21:13:59 +0100
Organization: NOISP News server

Hello Nancy,

As a bodybuilder I have had the signs of food allergies from drinking huge amounts of milk and dairy products. I use to have a runny nose, and that usual 'bunged up feeling'. I have also spent several months on a dietcontaining only fish and chicken with vegetables and VERY low carbohydrate for dieting. I do seem to be stuttering less when I reduce my carbohydrates.

When we eat a lot of carbohydrate we will find that we become tired, lethargic and then due to lack of mental concentration our speech will naturally be worse, even if only slightly.

Protein foods do not give you this kind of slow, tired sluggish feeling and a diet rich in protein and low in carbs will actually make you feel a lot more alert and awake. Many people who stutter (myself included) find that a strong coffee actually decreases stuttering somewhat. Not amazingly but certainly to a noticeable degree.

Exercise too helps many people who stutter, every stutterer I know who goes to the gym / exercise all say that they stutter less during and for a few hours after a workout. Once again this is due to the 'heightened alertness' during exercise. There is a drug on the market used for asthma called ephedrine. In the UK it is available in some cold remedies, in the USA it is available in some states (but not all) over the counter at a pharmacy. This drug certainly increases my fluency by at least 50% and I know of another few stutterers who say the same. Ephedrine side effects are very similar to amphetamines all though it is not actually in that class of drugs. Its downside are that you feel irritable and very hyper, but it works great for getting things done...lol..it gives you loads of energy. ... but after about 5 hours you feel burnt out.

So getting back to the point, I believe that food may effect our level of fluency due to the reasons above. Try eating really healthy for a few days and exercising, you will notice after a week how god you feel, how more awake you are and in turn you will notice an increase in fluency even if it is minor.

I am not for one minute suggesting that we all go out and take loads of drugs or start running marathons, but the facts are there to tell us that our speech can be affected by our physical condition and our mental health as well as our diet.

Well thats my two cents worth anyway.

Pete Hawke

From: Paul <astradyne@bigpond.com>
Subject: Re: Allergies and stuttering
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 20:29:34 +1000
Organization: Netscape Online member

g'day,

as a bodybuilder and exercise enthusiast i'd like to second your comments. i have a very noticeable increase in fluency after a weights session, maybe something to do with raised serotonin and/or testosterone levels, or maybe just the extra stimulus to the brain due to the increased blood flow. i have experienced fatigue and lethargy all throughout my life, and haven't even realised it until i've cleaned up my diet in the last couple of years (just sticking to meat, fruit, veges, rice and no processed foods such as bread and cereals). i have so much energy now, and my speech has improved out of sight. no-one i know considers me as a stutterer, although sometimes i can be a little dysfluent (as can non stutterers). i've been trying nicotine patches recently and i've noticed it has a positive effect. i picked up on this after hearing that some ts people have had success with it. it's funny you mention the ephedrine, because for years i've had the impression that we need to increase the serotonin and decrease dopamine, but it seems like the stimulatory effect is what is needed. stutterers seem to suffer from a sort of mental fatigue. also picking up on your carbohydrate point, i've been having an eating plan where i fast from 10 p.m to about lunchtime (only having a protein shake in the morning). it takes a couple of days to get used to this, but now i find that i am a lot more alert and my speech is better during this fasting period.

cheers,
paul

From: Paula <paulav@telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: Allergies and stuttering
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 22:16:27 GMT

Hi Nancy

I have no allergies I am aware off, and was very healthy as a child. However, I never had much energy or stamina which could well be due to foods I ate ( mainly bread as a child). Although I don't think foods cause stuttering, not cures it, I feel it certainly can have a big influence on it. If you want to check out diets for health, I would suggest you check into the blood type diet from Dr. Peter D'Adamo. This will eliminate wheat for all blood types, and also dairy ( except for B bloodtype)

Paula

From: Peter Cremasco <crumpet@dnet.aunz.com>
Subject: Re: Allergies and stuttering
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 18:35:21 +1000
Organization: Interpacket Group Inc.

On Mon, 11 Sep 2000 11:21:30 -0400, "Nancy T in Maine"
<fcefxer@mint.net> wrote:

>My son has a milk allergy and beef. The more people I ask, the more there
>seems to be a connection. Out of curiosity, whether you agree or not, do all
>of you people who stutter have allergies? Please respond. Allergic symptoms
>are not just runny noses or coughs, they can be excema, psoriasis,
>headaches, leaky gut, acid reflux, stomach aches, and diarrhea.

I suspect that just about everybody would have at least one of those symptoms. For example, I used to suffer from asthma and am allergic to custard apples and penicillin. I have gastric reflux and the associated intestinal disorders that go with stress and anxiety: I stutter.

My wife is allergic to sulphur drugs. She has gastric reflux too. She suffers terrible migraines: she does not stutter.

My son has asthma: he does not stutter.

My daughter is allergic to some medications. She gets headaches: she doesn't stutter.
---
Cheers

Peter

From: "Nancy T in Maine" <fcefxer@mint.net>
Subject: Re: Allergies and stuttering
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 06:53:15 -0400
Organization: The Maine InternetWorks, Inc.

Peter Cremasco <crumpet@dnet.aunz.com> wrote in message
news:9vsrrs4qpav9eo6049seh7q77ls1bj93dn@4ax.com...
>
> I suspect that just about everybody would have at least one of those
> symptoms. For example, I used to suffer from asthma and am allergic to
> custard apples and penicillin. I have gastric reflux and the associated
> intestinal disorders that go with stress and anxiety: I stutter.
>
> My wife is allergic to sulphur drugs. She has gastric reflux too. She
> suffers terrible migraines: she does not stutter.
>
> My son has asthma: he does not stutter.
>
> My daughter is allergic to some medications. She gets headaches: she
> doesn't stutter.
> ---
> Cheers
>
> PeterC

Yes, it is just a thought, but could be a good explanation, or could be wrong. My son got VERY aggressive when he drank milk, yet my daughter got asthma. ( Before he became aggressive, he had reflux)When we took it away, both stopped instantly. Her allergy effected her lungs, while his effected the brain. If out of control aggression, could be stopped immediately by removing a food, and allergies and stuttering are both effects that happen on the same side of the brain, it merits looking into. Which I did.

I was going through Pub Med to read if there where any new studies done on stuttering, and I found something interesting.

I believe this is the right number, as my notes are brief scratchings.... PMID 8888054 UI 97042856 A girl was given a large dose of steroids, and stopped stuttering. This is also, in my limited medical knowledge, a treatment for asthma, which is an allergic reaction.

Also Pub Med # PMID 6545358 UI 86088828

I've learned lots about allergies and might I make a suggestion for your family asthma? Stop all milk, cream, yogurt, casein or whey for 4 days . Also for your wives headaches, corn in the form of dextrose or other forms, in all processes foods is known to cause migraines. I hope this helps.

Just food for thought.
Nancy