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Why Autistics Have Tics, Spasms, and Seizures

So why do autistics have so many tics, spasms, and seizures? This is complicated, but it has to do with neurotoxins. Neurotoxins are toxins which harm the nerves or nerve functioning somehow. They can be created inside the body (endogenous), or enter the body from outside (exogenous).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1e0bB2VzeI[/youtube]

Endogenous toxins are usually created by gut dysbiosis.  Dys means “wrong”, and bio means “life”. Inside the gut, we’re supposed to have thousands of species of mostly healthy bacteria, which form a rainforest inside us.  Because we’re living so far outside our optimal tolerance ranges for best human health, our internal ecosystems are suffering. The probiotics (the healthy bacteria which help us break down and absorb food) are experiencing waves of genocide, and increasingly, all that’s left inside us are undesirable organisms like yeast, funghi, unhealthy bacteria, and sometimes various parasites.

Now these unhealthy bacteria, yeasts, funghi and/or parasites all produce wastes, and many of those wastes are toxic or inflammatory.  Some of these waste products affect the brain and nerves, badly.  These unhealthy creatures in our gut also do a poor job at breaking food into the tiny amounts our cells can absorb, and do a thorough job at stealing and using critical nutrients such as Zinc and Vitamin B12 for their own growth, reproduction, and partying. So when our digestion isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do, we can be producing an awful lot of things which are telling nerves to cause our muscles to fire when they shouldn’t be.

There are also exogenous toxins (being absorbed from outside the body).  We breathe in man-made fragrances, which are in the same class of chemicals as neuro-transmitters (the things our nerves use to pass information down a chain of nerves), and inhale a host of other toxins which impair the nerves, the hormones, or other parts of the body.  We put toxic things on our skin, and drink beverages which harm us.  And we eat toxins in our foods.

For autistics, the natural detoxification of the body is clogged.  All humans are accumulating toxins much faster with every passing year, because we’re steeping in more toxins to absorb. But autistics accumulate more, faster.  Please don’t worry, we know how to decrease these toxins, both inside the body, and in the environments around us; we’re simply lacking the will-power to turn things around, just yet.  I’m confident that will happen soon, especially once you have the right information in your hands.

Between agricultural chemicals, industrial chemicals, personal care and cleaning chemicals, and things like food additives, our hormones and nerves are receiving signals from outside the body that take our health off-balance, in addition to the nasty waste products from gut dysbiosis.  So we have rather a large collection, now, of things which tell our nerves to make a muscle clench when it’s not needed.

Because our autistic detox mechanisms are impaired, toxins which enter our bodies end up circulating and recirculating through the bloodstream, and randomly getting caught somewhere and firing off nerves.  This random firing of nerves is what causes tics (the repeated jumping of a muscle) , spasms (the clenching of a muscle), and seizures.  There are several types of seizures, but the type doesn’t matter; the source is the same.

Now, you might be asking why non-autistic people have so much less of this kind of muscle and nerve spasming.  Neurotypical people have more intact detoxification mechanisms (their liver and kidneys are working better).  The fat soluble toxins which cannot get moved out of your body get packed into your fat cells.  If you feel awful when you try to lose weight, it’s probably because you’re dumping too many toxins into the bloodstream at once, without helping your body get rid of them.

If you know an autistic who is experiencing tics, spasms, and seizures, please begin a safe and simple supported home detox, now.  No, I’m not talking about the drug-store One-Size-(Doesn’t)-Fit-All Detox kits.  Get good advice and support lined up, preferably with a licensed holistic medical professional such as a Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, a Homeopathic Doctor, a Naturopathic Doctor, an Ayurvedic doctor, or an Osteopathic Doctor.   Some Orthomolecular and Environmental Physicians may also be able to support you holistically.  Choose carefully, ok?

Tics, spasms, and seizures can escalate (get worse and worse, causing complications on the complications), and can cause damage that is much more difficult to heal than other symptoms.  So these are the only symptoms for which I recommend you go straight towards intervention, which is detoxification.  Even though you’re still filling the body with toxins while you’re trying to empty them out, and interventions will cost you more because of this, starting to detox as soon as possible will minimize further damage and resulting repairs needed.

Every other symptom that’s telling you which lifestyle factors are undermining the results you want, deal with those lifestyle factors first, before you dive into doing interventions. You can spend an awful lot of money on interventions, and if you’re undermining the results you want, you’re just pouring money down the drain!

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If you or someone you love could use more information on how to Thrive With Autism, please join us for one of our upcoming webinars;

Thrive With Autism Essentials gives you the keys to help the autistics you care about at home, school, and work.

The Five Root Causes of Autism helps you find the unique blend at the root of your particular autistic challenges.

To sign up, please go to:  www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0D4AAFAB2BA2FE3-twafall

Thank you for caring about someone with autism!

Best Wishes, Jackie

4 Comments

  1. Meadow says:

    I so adore and appreciate your intention here to connect those who need a boost with those who have the time, energy, and desire to help! In a nut-shell, that’s what its all about, isn’t it?! Relationships that just feel right, where everyone is left wondering ‘who really got gifted here?’ I wish every city could have a message board filled with some ready to give, and others willing to receive. What synchronicity would blossom!
    I feel your deep longing to be of total service. Always serve yourself first, Sweet One. In that way, your cup will remain full for others. -And you’ll be setting a fine example of self-care that will give other women permission to think of themselves with respectful deserving too. Speak to yourself as you would a small child who innocently needs this thing or that, and reassure yourself with the words and energies she would need to feel. Always, always be kind to yourself. Never a reason big enough for Rush. You are SO loved, surely you must remember to take all the time you need to relax into any project you are loving in the moment. Honor yourself by keeping that body and heart open and at ease.

  2. Nancy Miller says:

    Hi Jackie,
    i first found out about you through an article you wrote a couple of years ago in a Toronto food magazine. I felt an immediate connection to the way you see and experience things. I was never diagnosed on the spectrum, but I believe that I’m there somewhere! I struggle with environmental sensitivities to chemicals, mild and electromagnetic fields and have sensory issues – a very reactive person. My husband is environmentally sensitive as well. Our 26 yr. old son, Daniel was diagnosed with autism at age 10. He has Down syndrome also.We are in the midst of building a little house (in the woods north of Kingston) that is very safe and healthy, and we are fortunate to have a physician who is a D.A.N. doctor. What you are doing is amazingly helpful – we do need to get the word out on how to heal and get ourselves on an even keel. Thanks so much, Nancy

  3. Natasha says:

    Hi- I was wondering about the comment you made regarding why neurotypical people do not suffer toxins as much- I am not entirely convinced their metabiloval systems are able to deal with the onslaught of toxins either- mane their bodies have adapted to deal with more toxins, but if one looks at the global health picture – I think strokes and cancer all link to the toxic lives lived by all humans- I guess I am being pedantic- but if one zooms out- spectrum people seem to survive much much more onslaught than we realize the general human seems be able to handle- what I mean with this comment- a girl I worked with had about tripple the amount of metal toxin in her body that ( apparently) would kill a person- and survived the detoxification process- it was traumatic for the poor girl- but she survived it. Do you think there could is bigger picture to all of this?

    • Jackie McMillan says:

      Good one, Natasha! You’re entirely correct, everyone is suffering from the toxins we’re surrounded by. But it shows up differently depending on which life stage is impacted, which mitigating circumstances surround each life. To answer, I have to take you into the ecosystem understanding of health.

      Our bodies are not machines. They are a dance of thousands of microbes in and out of body systems every bit as complex as a rainforest. During certain stages of development, we are much more vulnerable. In our rainforest analogy, our body productivity or functional ability could drop from rainforest, to savannah, to slash and burn agriculture, to desert.

      It’s not that the non-autistic population is dealing with the onslaught of toxins any better; it’s that this is not affecting their cognitive, emotional, and physical functioning in an autistic way. Instead, we see rising rates in Alzheimer’s, Lupus, MS,CFS, Allergies, spontaneous abortions, physical malformations, etc., while at the same time fertility is falling alongside the number of working-age adults able to support the young and the elderly. Our lifestyle choices are not JUST harming us through increased ASD incidence, but that’s the lever I’ve personally been given, to try to make a positive difference.

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