Hi Brian, I answered your last question that was part of another thread, but for more info on the methylation subject, here's a link http://www.cnsspectrums.com/aspx/articledetail.aspx?articleid=2591 Methylated spirits/  Stephen Stahl

You may have already seen this article, but just in case...  What I gleened most out of this article was that having an adequate pool of neurotransmitters was key to having the meds function with manipulating them. Tracing that backwards, it takes the  raw materials and synergy of all the organs to produce that pool. 

 What's been very curious about my son's  journey, is that we saw a deterioration (in terms of  emotion, mood and sleep) pretty early, with increasing issues around 18 m. By 3 it had escalated  to where we sought medical intervention, and  questioned, "when do we hospitalize?", though we somehow did manage at home. It was the inconsistencies in his behavior that kept me from seeing  that inpatient would discover a 'why?' any more than I would.  Anyhow, beginning at that point, we found meds that worked, though it took a rather aggressive approach to get stability. Later, as you've read, Levi was transitioned to nutritional therapies and supplements, and attained an enduring degree of stability than he did on meds. Currently, he's on minimal nutritional support- limited diet restrictions, but no exclusive eliminations, and minimal multimineral/vitamin support.  The decrease in nutritional therapy began last spring, and so far there's been no significant change.  All the while, it's been the same kid, the same genes. Person-wise, there's been many variations. I'm relieved the 'feral' one is extinquished, and we're seeing  as Jistac notes,  constant diligence and pressure turns carbon into  diamonds (at this point, I'm satisfied with 'uncut').    So, it makes me wonder. I was told this was a 'for life' illness. Obviously, things changed that he's been med free now as  long as he was on meds, and  still doing well. But he's remained well without the dietary/nutritional supports as well, which makes me conclude that for the most part he is getting what he needs from his normal food, that finally, he is properly (at least adequately)  absorbing and metabolizing what his body needs.  But why is that enough now when it's not that different than before?  All I can come up with is that his chronic illness began with and was escalated by nutrient depletion, which could have a myriad of reasons, from altered gene expression, environmental toxins or viral exposure, to who knows what. I don't see his illness being all that different than what's experienced during the aging process, where lowered cell replication accuracy  drops, lowers cell efficiency in enzyme  production and energy transfer. It's like a set of conditions  triggered and staged an early induced aging mechanism, but more  damaging  coinciding with the most active and demanding period of cell replication and synaptic growth. And prior to accruing the tools to navigate socially, there's no norms to recognize or  fall-back  on. Imagine the energy required  when basically starting out with a starved brain and forced to catch up or fail.   In terms of depletion, it would make sense that meds helped interim, in that they are designed to target mechanisms, but they still rely on having an adequate pool (noted in Stahl's article) on which to act. When meds 'poop out', it's possibly due to the supply not being sufficient enough to gain effects from the meds, and not the med's fault. As we used supps to restore levels, the meds were too enabled, so we lowered them. As adequate nutrient levels were obtained, we didn't need med assistance. Just like when I thought it would always take meds to keep things in check, I also expected needing continual diet/supp support, as least to a degree greater than what we're  doing.   What in essence I think we did was restore the body's ability to recycle it's proteins and neurotransmitters and get out of that 'depleted cycle'.

...A long story to get to how the methylation cycle is pivotal to conserving and processing the neurotransmitters, DNA, RNA, mtDNA, antioxidants.... Healing his gut was also an important piece, not only to utilize what came in, but non-functioning, it was a liability and drain on the  rest of the organs, including the function of the brain. We did a strict gfcf during that part of his recovery to minimize what insults we could (tests showed he was not processing those proteins, spilling rather than using them). They didn't raise major flags when we did allergy testing, so as long as we aren't seeing deterioration from ingesting them now, we use limited amounts, as they help maintain the diversity of nutrients (as well as adds to a perceived quality of life).  Just wanted to further explain where we've been to where we are. You can see on the other response there were a lot of interventions to reset things. 

--

Darryl - parent volunteer, dad to
Levi, 13, stable using supps and diet exclusively since June 07. Previously treated and stable with med combo inc. lithium, 900mg seroquel, and small amounts of risperdal, luvox and focalin after being dx'd at age 3 1/2.