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Tuesday 26 March 2013

Glutathione (GSH) Part III - Say Goodbye to Obsessive Behaviours


Stereotypy is a word you may never have used, but it is there in the dictionary.  In the world of autism, they made up their own word for it; “stimming”.  Stimming does not appear in the Oxford English dictionary, but here is a nice definition from Urban-dictionary.
Stim, stims or stimming is short for "self-stimulation". Almost everyone does it (tapping feet, cracking knuckles, twiddling thumbs), but in autistic people these behaviours are more pronounced and may seem downright strange.

Stimming is an obsessive behaviour that can get in the way of doing anything else.  If you are wiggling your fingers 10 cm in front of your eyes, not surprisingly, you are lost to the outside world.

But there are plenty of other obsessions; here is an eclectic mix:-

·         Tearing up papers into tiny pieces

·         Jumping, rocking, trampolining

·         Roller coasters

·         Thomas the Tank Engine

·         Watching the same part of a cartoon over and over again

·         Going to the theatre

·         Eating a Big Mac every day for lunch

·         Always following the same route, walking to the park

Using behavioural techniques from ABA, you can go a long way to managing, and then dramatically reducing, these obsessive behaviours.

Now, thanks to some science, it seems that these obsessions can finally be got fully under control.

By implementing a program to increase GSH using NAC, the science of which was outlined in Glutathione (GSH) Part II -N-Acetylcysteine (NAC), we have witnessed a near immediate cessation of uncontrollable obsessive behaviours.  The obsessions remain, but they are now firmly under self-control.
 
 
 
 

6 comments:

  1. Great post as usual,

    I'm a big fan of your blog; its helped me gain a great deal of insight to the root of autism. I am a young adult with autism/aspergers and I spend a great deal of time reading about supplements/nootropics/medicines that can help relieve symptoms of autism. I've tried countess amount of substances in hopes of being able to alleviate my symptoms and live a regular neurotypical life, but am still on a mission. I'm curious to what you think of memantine as opposed to NAC for autistic sympoms. I know memantine is an NMDA antagonist from which I understand NAC also plays a role in that receptor. I'm just working on perfecting my stack and think if anyone could help with some advice it would be you.


    Thanks
    -Ned

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you have any kind of obsessive behavior like chewing finger nails, grinding teeth etc, NAC would be the one to try. NAC is easy to get hold of and is good for your general health. Memantine is more potent and works differently it affects several different receptors:-

      Glutamatergic (NMDA receptor)
      Serotonergic (5-HT3 receptor)
      Cholinergic (nicotinic acetylcholine receptor)
      Dopaminergic (D2 receptor)

      So it will likely affect different people in different ways. It is known to work well for some people in ASD.
      It is probably best to focus on low doses of substances known to be very safe. NAC fits this description.
      Pregnenolone also looks interesting and is being trialed in adults at Stanford. Quercetin is good for your general health and should be particularly good for anyone with ASD.

      Delete
  2. Where did your list of terms go? I really liked using that to look up things.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unfortunately it is no longer "google compatible". It uses a third party piece of software on a different server to the blog and it no longer works. I will find someone to write some software that can be inserted directly into the blog that makes the index by subject.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unfortunately, in the US NAC is going to become difficult to come by. THe FDA wants it to be treated as a drug, and Amazon will no longer carry it.
    I bought 8 bottles of it, and I wondering what is the best way to store it?
    Also, when I run out, what is the best alternative?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ronald, one reader has stocked up on NAC and keeps it in her freezer. NAC degrades over time in the presence of air, this why solid tablets of NAC are going to last longer than powder in gelatin capsule. Keeping NAC cold may very well make it last longer.

      A good alternative, with very similar properties, is ALA (alpha lipoic acid). I suppose the FDA will want ALA to be treated as a drug as well.

      Delete

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