Early on in our journey I found this amazing symptom checklist from, The River to Recovery blog . Unfortunately, it didn’t include glutamate or symptoms related to excess glutamate so I was always kind of guessing until I was able to research further. With the creation on the Facebook group, I found many others were looking for the same sort of checklist for glutamate symptoms as well and thus this list was created. The majority of these are based on our personal experience or with information we’ve discovered along the way. Hopefully, this will serve as a sort of guide to help discover what may be part of the root cause for many behavioral issues we face with our children and ourselves. This list was especially important when trying to discover what additional food sensitivities our son was dealing with.
Aggressive Behavior: excess glutamate, hypoglycemia, allergies, food sensitivities, phenols, pain, constipation, microbial imbalances, adrenals, PANS, PANDAS
Anxiety: excess glutamate, microbial imbalances, yeast, PANS, PANDAS, LYME, overall inflammation, viral load
Anti-social: excess glutamate/low GABA
Bad Breath: Yeast, ketosis/too low carb, dehydration, low zinc, strep, microbial imbalances
Biting: see sensory seeking
Bloating (aka Buddha Belly): SIBO, histamine, yeast, die-off, clostridia, constipation, oxalate dumping
Chapped Lips: yeast, dehydration, low b-vitamins
Chewing on things: low zinc, low magnesium, yeast
Climbing: see sensory seeking
Dark Circles Under Eyes: food allergies, food sensitivities, environmental allergies, poor detoxification, inflammation, histamine, mast cell activation
Defiance: excess glutamate, phenols, food sensitivities
Dry Skin: food sensitivities, food allergies, need for essential fatty acids, histamine, mast cell activation, low B-vitamins
Ear Wax (Abundant): yeast, food sensitivities, acute illness, need for essential fatty acids, histamine, allergies
Echolalia: excess glutamate, microbial imbalances
Eczema: allergies, food sensitivities, environmental allergies, histamine, mast cell activation
Emotional: hypoglycemia, adrenals, phenols, PANS, PANDAS, excess glutamate
Eye Contact (Poor): excess glutamate/low GABA, low vitamin A, yeast, microbial imbalances, low zinc
Fatigue: excess glutamate, adrenal fatigue, mast cell activation, mitochondrial dysfunction, LYME
Fine Motor Delay: mitochondrial dysfunction, excess glutamate, gross motor delay, retained primitive reflexes
Flushed Skin (face/ears): phenols, detox, histamine, mast cell activation, food allergy, food sensitivity, environmental allergy
Flexed or Crunched Fingers: excess glutamate
Frequent Urination: detox, oxalate dumping, excess glutamate, low magnesium, PANS, PANDAS, constipation
Gas: GI inflammation, food allergies, food sensitivities, trouble processing sulfur (smelly), yeast, microbial imbalances (smelly), constipation (smelly)
Grinding Teeth: parasites, excess glutamate (specifically in the basal ganglia), low magnesium, yeast, microbial imbalances
Hand Flapping: see stimming
Hitting/Pushing/Pressing on you: GI inflammation, see sensory seeking
Holding Privates: yeast, oxalate dumping
Hyperactivity: excess glutamate, yeast, food sensitivity, phenols, see sensory seeking
Humping: yeast, constipation, histamine, oxalate dumping, see sensory seeking
Irritability: excess glutamate, adrenals, detox, food sensitivity, hypoglycemia, histamine, low magnesium, low B vitamins, PANS, PANDAS
Itchy Eyes: histamines, oxalate, low vitamin K
Itchy Bottom: parasites, yeast
Joint Pain: excess glutamate, high inflammation, food sensitivities, LYME, mold exposure, oxalate dumping, need for essential fatty acids, PANS, PANDAS, mold exposure
Jumping (around/couch cushions): see sensory seeking & stimming
Laughing Inappropriately: yeast, phenols, ammonia, microbial imbalances
Lining Things Up: Excess glutamate (specifically around basal ganglia), yeast, low magnesium, microbial imbalances, see visual stimming
Looking out of Corner of Eye/Dropping Things/Looking at things Closely: see visual stimming
Low Muscle Tone/Gross Motor Delay: mitochondrial dysfunction, excess glutamate, high underlying inflammation, retained primitive reflexes, cerebral folate deficiency (CFD),
Migraines: excess glutamate, low magnesium, food sensitivities
Night Terrors: excess glutamate, food allergies, food sensitivities, microbial imbalances, PANS, PANDAS, parasites
Night Waking: excess glutamate, detox, phenols, histamine, low magnesium, low melatonin, hypoglycemia, inflammation
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: excess glutamate, low magnesium, neuro-inflammation, microbial imbalances,
Pacing: excess glutamate, yeast, GI inflammation (see stimming)
Picky Eating: Excess dietary glutamate, yeast, low zinc, microbial imbalances, EoE, constipation, see sensory & reflux
PICA: low zinc, low iron, parasites, yeast
Pressing Abdomen on Things: GI Inflammation, constipation, food allergies, food sensitivities
Red Ring Around Mouth: yeast, food allergies, food sensitivities, histamine
Red Ring Around Bottom: yeast, strep, food allergies, food sensitivities, microbial imbalances,
Restless Legs- excess glutamate
Rocking: see stimming
Self-Injurious Behavior/Head Banging/Biting: allergies, phenols, GI inflammation, microbial imbalances, see sensory seeking
Sensitivity to:
- Noise: excess glutamate, low magnesium, yeast, inflammation
- Smells: excess glutamate, low zinc
- Light: excess glutamate, adrenals, mold exposure
- Textures: excess glutamate, low zinc
Separation Anxiety: excess glutamate, PANS, PANDAS, viral load, microbial imbalances
Sensory Seeking: excess glutamate, low magnesium, neuro-inflammation, GI inflammation yeast, microbial imbalances, retained primitive reflexes
Speech Delays: excess glutamate/low GABA, motor planning/apraxia, need for essential fatty acids, overall inflammation, underlying infections, cerebral folate deficiency (CFD)
Spinning: see sensory seeking & visual stimming
Spitting: Parasites
Spit Bubbles: yeast
Strabismus (one eye turns inwards): excess glutamate
Stimming
- Visual Stimming: excess glutamate (specifically around basal ganglia), microglial activation, yeast, vitamin A deficiency, microbial imbalances, viral load, retained primitive reflexes
- Vocal Stimming: excess glutamate (specifically around the vagus nerve), microglial activation, yeast, high inflammation, viral load, microbial imbalances, low magnesium
Movement Disorders/Stimming/CMS/Repetitive Behavior’s: excess glutamate (especially around the vagus nerve), microglial activation, low GABA, yeast, high inflammation, GI inflammation, microbial imbalances, phenols, viral load, low magnesium see sensory seeking, PANS, PANDAS
Stool:
- Constipation: excess glutamate/low GABA, SIBO, mitochondrial dysfunction, low magnesium microbial imbalances, blockage, dehydration, dairy, too many nuts and/or bananas
- Diarrhea: GI inflammation, microbial imbalances, food allergies, food sensitivities, blockage, histamine, mast cell activation, CFD
- Undigested Food in Stool: malabsorption, lack of enzymes, bile production, GI inflammation, food intolerances/fast transit, microbial imbalances, yeast
- Floating Stool: fat malabsorption, malabsorption
- Sand like Gritty Stool: oxalate dumping
- Very Smelly: constipation, die-off, microbial imbalances, clostridia
- Green in Color: diet high in greens, bile production, microbial imbalances, antibiotics/probiotics, fast transit time
- Pale or Yellow in Color: liver congestion, bile production, fat malabsorption, parasites, microbial imbalances, GI inflammation, coconut flour, fast transit time
- Red in Color: Beet consumption, ulcers, bleeding in the GI tract, GI inflammation, hemorrhoids
Sweating (particularly at night): Detox, Babesia
Tics: excess glutamate, microglial activation, GI inflammation, microbial imbalances (bacteria), low magnesium, EMF exposure, screen time, PANS, PANDAS
Toe Walking: excess glutamate, yeast, GI inflammation, retained primitive reflexes
Wet the bed/pants: excess glutamate, detox, low magnesium, PANS, PANDAS
W-Sitting: low tone, excess glutamate, mitochondrial dysfunction, need for carnitine see sensory seeking, retained primitive reflexes
Yes/No Loop: excess glutamate