What Works For Us: the Nemechek Protocol
Last fall, there were a series of unfortunate events that made Marshall’s life, and ours, painful and a tricky. To make a long story short, he had two major falls that injured the same ankle/leg. He missed multiple days of school, couldn’t participate in physical therapy, and struggled to enjoy everyday tasks. As parents, we struggled with lots of why questions. Why our kid? Why a weight bearing part of his body? Why the unanswered questions about what was actually injured? Why weren’t things healing properly? Why the endless doctor visits, medical bills, etc?
The obvious answer here is that things happen. It could always be worse. There were lots of silver linings: it wasn’t summer, so he wasn’t missing out on the pool. I was on sabbatical, so I wasn’t missing work to care of him. He was still small enough to ride in a wagon to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. And the biggest silver lining of all: the entire scenario led us to the last key piece of what works for us-- the Nemechek Protocol.
I’d love to tell you the whole story in person sometime, because it’s a doozy—but I’ll cut to the chase in the interest of time and respecting Marshall’s right to privacy. Basically, x-rays and examinations brought up some underlying health issues, and a long rabbit trail of research led me to a Facebook group, and in that Facebook group, someone suggested reading The Nemechek Protocol book.
For the first time since Marshall was born, I read something that I could truly, 100% resonate with. I was nodding along as a devoured the book, relating with each and every item Dr. Nemechek addressed. And for the first time in my life, I was reading a scientific book written by a medical doctor that toed both sides of medicine: the belief that conventional Western medicine is not evil, but that there are risks and side effects for everything (antibiotics, anesthesia, immunizations, etc), AND that diet and environmental factors contribute to our health—even our mental health.
You see, I’ve always had unscientific theories about contributing factors in Marshall’s story. What led Marshall to where he is today? I do not carry any guilt, as I know this is the path that the Lord put us on on purpose—but I’d be naïve to think that absolutely nothing I’ve done, either during his pregnancy or upbringing, has contributed to who he is today. I have never been able to let go of the fact that I ate terribly during his pregnancy. I’m not talking poor choices every now and then—I’m talking McDonald’s multiple times a week, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets—lots of processed food void of nutritional value. I know that what I ate during Marshall’s pregnancy did not cause him to be autistic—but I always wondered if it played a part. Dr. Nemechek’s book addresses some of these ideas in a way that makes total sense to me.
The best part of reading the book was that Dr. Nemechek writes about one of the issues that had always felt unresolved to me up to this point: vaccinations. Now, I know this is a hot button issue in today’s world, and I first want to say that my respect for you is not linked in any way to your choice on whether to vaccinate yourself or your children. However, two things have always seemed true to me. The first is that vaccinations are scientifically proven measures used to keep our children safe from potentially life-threatening diseases. The second is that there are mothers who swear that their child was neuro-typical and regressed after vaccinations. While I believe that vaccinations do not cause autism, I could never look a mother in the eye whose child regressed after vaccinations and discount her testimony. What would any mother gain by making an experience like that up?
Dr. Nemechek’s theory on what can contribute to autism beautifully addresses both of those truths. I really can’t do it justice in my own words, so you’ll need to trust me on this one: both of those truths can co-exist. Remember that brain-gut connection I told you about? The one that more and more scientists and doctors on agreeing on? Well, Dr. Nemechek’s protocol tackles this head on. Basically, Dr. Nemechek developed a protocol to help multiple concussion victims regain better brain function through improved gut health. And it worked. Since the protocol is non-toxic and doesn’t carry any risks, he began trying it with kids on the autism spectrum, kids with ADHD, and kids with developmental delays. And it worked. After reading the book, I joined yet another Facebook group and read testimonial after testimonial from parents whose children had improved dramatically after a few weeks, a few months, or a year on the protocol. Kids going from non-verbal to verbal. Video after video of victory after victory. I get chills thinking about it as I type this.
Dr. Nemechek also discusses other symptoms of unbalanced gut health, one of which is acid reflux. Joey, our youngest, who is not on the autism spectrum and has never shown any developmental delays, has acid reflux. He developed it as an infant (just like Marshall) and then grew out of it, like most infants. Interestingly enough, though, after undergoing two surgeries in his first two years of life, Joey’s acid reflux came back-- so much so that he had to be put back on prescription medication. I could literally read Dr. Nemechek’s book through the lens of Joey and see how this protocol might benefit him too.
Of course, I talked to Wes in my rapid-fire excited voice every step of the way until I finished reading the book. We made the conscious decision that we would try the Nemechek protocol, but that we would not tell Marshall’s teachers. This way, we could truly see if they noticed any differences. One of the tricky things with diet intervention, like being gluten free, casein free, and dye free, is that we couldn’t really do a blind experiment—everyone who interacted with Marshall needed to know these restrictions in order to maintain the diet plan. While we definitely saw a change in Marshall with diet intervention, it was easy to second-guess things or assume that everyone was just looking for change. When we made the decision to start the Nemechek protocol, we were able to do it without being super public—this allowed for us to get some honest feedback on behavior changes. I vowed to not ask his teacher (as hard as it would be) if she noticed any differences in his behavior.
Our biggest struggles with Marshall at that point were transitions and protests. He truly struggled at a very deep level with any transition—from one activity to the next, even with warnings (especially at school), and entering any new space. I dreaded dropping him off at preschool everyday, not because he would cry and say he wanted to stay with me (he wouldn’t) but because he would dawdle when it was time to go in. He would be fine, standing along the wall waiting for the door to open, but as soon as the door would open and kids would start filing in, he would freeze and back up. I wish he could better verbalize what made it so hard for him, but he couldn’t. Maybe it was the noise, or the change in environment, or visual stimulation of so much movement, but he would freeze and back into me until I coaxed and prodded and pushed him through the door. Everyday. We talked about it. I bribed him. But it was still really really hard for him, and not just at school. It was as if the threshold of each door he entered, no matter where it was, was lined with fire. School. Home. Friends’ houses. Church. Anywhere we went, the transition was hard and I found myself dragging him. And heaven forbid anyone were to great him when he arrived! That made things even harder.
I truly had zero expectation when we started the protocol— in fact, I cringe when I read the phrases “reversing autism,” or “recovery from autism,” in Dr. Nemechek’s materials because I don’t believe there is a true “cure,” nor that Marshall’s autism is always such a terrible thing. We weren’t looking to cure Marshall—we were looking for another way to improve his quality of life in a natural, non-invasive way. Basically, the premise of the Nemechek protocol is to rebalance gut health through three basic supplements— a source of high quality omega 3, a source of high quality omega 9, and a pre-biotic. We also removed Marshall from all other vitamins and supplements, with the exception of the ones he had proven deficits in.
We started the Nemechek Protocol on December 28, 2018 with both boys. It really was no big deal, aside from remembering to give them each the supplements each day. Within a week, we noticed subtle changes that the book mentioned would happen—Marshall was more aware of people around him, more interested in interacting with others instead of being in a separate room, and he desired our attention constantly—much like a typical 5 year old might. He was still Marshall, of course, but he was definitely more engaged with the world around him.
As we entered the beginning of 2019, we settled into a nice routine. Marshall had fully recovered from his injuries in the fall and, shockingly enough, he actually showed interest in trying a few extra-curricular activities. Our policy has always been that we will give any extra-curricular a fair shot (more than one session unless it’s an absolute train wreck) but that we won’t force Marshall into anything he doesn’t want to continue. We started private swim lessons (we were on a plight to get that boy swimming, as he loves the water!), a basketball skills clinic, and a dance class.
Marshall expressing interest in trying new things was somewhat unique in and of itself. What took place when we entered these activities was something else entirely. My child, who prior to the Nemechek protocol struggled with just about ANY transition, walked into the basketball clinic, swim lessons, and dance class like he owned the place. Not a single hesitation. Not a single whine. Not a single struggle in a new environment with new sounds, new people, and unpredictable routines. Now, I’m not saying things were perfect—it turns out he didn’t love basketball, and definitely struggled to stay focused in a loud gym. But dance class went much better than expected, and he absolutely loved it! He couldn’t wait to go back each week. His inability to keep up with his peers in that environment was not overwhelming to him, and it was truly a bright spot in our winter. I honestly couldn’t believe he did as well as he did.
Now, as I mentioned, I mustered up all the self-control within me and didn’t ask his teacher if she noticed a difference. I waited. And waited. His transitions into school had gotten better, and we had developed a behavior chart to keep him accountable and give me feedback on his specific struggles. His charts were coming home perfect nearly everyday, and I just couldn’t get over who he was becoming socially. Of course he still had his struggles, but the mere fact that he was willing to go and try new things in new environments with new people was a breath of fresh air. And the ability to walk through a door with him without any coaxing was something I’ll never take for granted.
Mid-February, Marshall’s teacher asked how basketball and dance were going, and I shared how well he was doing. I told her how he waltzed right in without any issue, and she made the comment that she, “felt like he was a different kid lately.” I couldn’t believe it! She saw it too! I poked and prodded a little about what she meant by that, and finally shared what we’d been doing. She saw a noticeable difference in the classroom starting in mid-January, when Marshall was about two weeks into the protocol.
Not only did we see changes in Marshall, but lo and behold, Joey’s acid reflux improved. Even on medication, Joey still had symptoms and really struggled to talk comfortably after a meal—he was very “urpy,” to use our Cribbs family scientific term. Slowly but surely, Joey’s symptoms improved, and we cut down his dose of medication to once a day. And then, a few weeks later, we were able to remove him from medication completely.
Both of my children are now medication free, and I truly believe that the Nemechek protocol has been the final piece in the puzzle of what works for us. Our lives aren’t perfect, and Marshall still struggles with plenty—but I am happy to report that we are not in desperation over things we once were—sleep, public outings, new settings, etc. In fact, our current cocktail of consistency, nutrition, chiropractic care and the Nemechek protocol awarded Marshall a break from therapy this summer. No, it’s not forever, and no, he’s not “caught up,” but it sure feels nice to breathe life in in this relative season of calm. I’m confident there will be rough seasons ahead—in fact, Marshall recently broke his collarbone—but after seeing the fruit of our struggles this fall, I’m ready with eyes open to where the Lord will lead us next.