19/09/2025
【Child L's Story】 Regulation of Gut Microbiome
The child's parents are Hong Kong residents living in a major city in mainland China. They came to know us through a friend's recommendation. Initially, the parents were not aware of the impact of the gut microbiome on their child and had doubts about it. However, the child is already five years old and still exhibits obvious signs of autism and delayed language development. With a mindset of trying, they began attempting to regulate the gut microbiome three months ago.
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If you need assistance, please contact us.
First consultation HKD 690 (includes education on gut microbiome, developmental delay, diet, and a complimentary week of high-quality Japanese probiotics). We will also continue to monitor the child's behavioral progress, and our psychologist will assist parents with guidance and behavior modification techniques to help the child adjust.
In collaboration with Professor F. Jin's laboratory team at the China Academy of Sciences, our Hong Kong Gut Microbiome & Mental Health Center brings this safe, science-based knowledge to Hong Kong. Contact us early to help your child be as healthy and happy as others.
Tel: 6090 9333 (WhatsApp)
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Initial Short-Term die-off Reaction:
During the first two weeks of taking probiotics, the child's performance was more tired, with noticeable bad breath, some muscle soreness, and reduced bowel movements during the first week. The mother understood that this could be a temporary die-off reaction (Note: A die-off reaction occurs when harmful overgrown bacteria in the gut—such as certain Clostridium, Candida albicans, Desulfovibrio, Sutterella, Streptococcus pyogenes, etc.—are eliminated, releasing toxins that temporarily affect the host. Only a few people experience this reaction).
Although these reactions made the mother a little uneasy, she observed that the child's speech significantly increased, comprehension improved, and eye contact also got better. After careful consideration, the mother persisted with the probiotics but reduced the dosage, gradually increasing from a small amount. The die-off reaction gradually subsided day by day.
Language Development:
•Day 1: The longest sentence was four sounds—most of the time, it was unclear what she was saying. The mother had to guess.
After 2 months: The child's ability to understand others' speech noticeably improved, talking more, often proactively expressing what she wanted to eat, though sentences still mainly contained "eat XX," with no characters. Sometimes, there were successive sentences like "Hungry, eat XX."
After 3 months (current stage): Speech pronunciation is clear, she enjoys talking and seizes every opportunity to learn speech. For example, she now says "airplane" when she sees one in the sky (previously, she never said this). Her speech sometimes includes subjects. She often speaks in continuous sentences. She understands others' speech well and explains things much more now.
Social Interaction:
Day 1: No eye contact, no interaction with others, only focused on objects, and had abnormal reactions to others' emotions (e.g., she would laugh when other children cried).
After 1 month: Eye contact increased significantly, she actively paid attention to her mother, could sense and comfort her.
After 3 months: Her eye contact became like that of a typical child. She started stepping out of her own world and her interaction with people around her increased noticeably.
Sensory and Cognitive Awareness:
Day 1: Her issues in this area were generally minor. However, because she didn't talk much, it was unclear whether she understood certain things.
Now, after three months: Since her speech improved, she can answer questions. After watching cartoons, she can correctly answer questions about them.
Health and Physical Behavior:
Day 1: Constipation, bowel movements only every two days; sleeps about 9 hours a day, wakes at 3:00 am, and takes about 30 minutes to fall asleep again; sometimes hits mother, often gets upset and throws things to break them. Very sensitive to sounds, requests to leave noisy outdoor places quickly, and covers ears. Frequently cries and is very stubborn about her route to school; even crossing the street on the opposite side is unacceptable. If her wishes are not met, she gets upset. She is picky about food—refuses to eat shrimp, chicken, and some vegetables, and refuses to eat at all.
After 1 month: Bowel movements are normal, twice a day, soft and not hard; no longer throws objects on the ground; mood has improved, fewer tears and tantrums.
After 1.5 months: Not picky anymore; she now eats foods she previously refused, as long as they aren’t spicy. Still refuses spicy foods.
After 2 months: Sleep is fully normal, at least 10 hours daily, no night waking, and she sleeps deeply; no longer hits mother, instead often kisses her. Sensitivity to sounds has completely disappeared. She behaves well in noisy places, not throwing tantrums when things don’t go her way.
After 3 months: No longer obsessed with her route. The mother shared that yesterday at the park, she asked to play longer, and her mother told her she could have an extra 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, her mother said it was time to go, and she walked to the park bench to change her shoes and prepare to go home. The mother mentioned that in the past, she would have cried loudly and refused to leave, but now she is much more obedient, cooperative, and her mood has improved. It’s much easier to take care of her. Compared to before, the child is now much happier. She no longer grinds her teeth or spins around at night.
The mother said that three months ago, she really didn’t have much confidence that regulating the gut microbiome could help, and fortunately, she didn’t give up after experiencing the die-off reaction. Now, seeing her child improve day by day, she is very confident that in a few months, her child's progress will be even greater, and she hopes he can develop similarly to other children.
Although we receive many thank-you notes, we do not ask parents to write testimonials, because protecting the child's privacy is something we care deeply about. No one wants others to know their child's past difficulties, so we help tell their real stories without revealing names, hoping to give other parents some hope.
This is a truly real case. Due to the length of the story, we will share more cases at other times and want to tell parents: “Don’t give up; the root of the problem is very likely in the gut.”
(Our probiotics are not just a single strain but include a variety of strains to help children better.)
Author credit line of picture: ID 8286035 © Zfq9571 | Dreamstime.com
(The child in the picture below has nothing to do with this story.)
