Ending rounds 46 and 21

Holy moly!  We just put the kids to bed and I feel like I just ran a marathon!  They were so incredibly yeasty tonight, it was overwhelming to all the senses.  It started with Grayson, because Gavin was still on round (I continue chelation with him through Monday, while Grayson is at school), Grayson was considered post-round since we stopped his last dose at 7:30am this morning as he left for the bus.

At dinner he just started winding up so much he couldn't seem to control it.  He was like a happy drunk.  He was talking so much and out of control, like he literally could not stop the motor.  It excelerated to a giddy hyper that slowly turned into his typical yeasty impatience.  He can't stand anything his brother does, he's too loud, too annoying, just plain too much so he yells and demands and Gavin retaliates.  So we put him in an epsom salt bath, gave him a few melatonin and read him a book.  By this time, Gavin was beginning his own yeasty wind up or perhaps it was redistribution at it's finest.  All I know is that while we were trying to wind Grayson down, Gavin was "flying" all over the second floor.  Grayson was irritated by everything his brother did and flying was no exception.  By the time we were giving them their probiotics, they were getting physical with each other.  A stomp here, a swat there, next thing we know, Gavin is hauling off and whacking Grayson, then we had tears.  Forcing a "sorry" out of Gavin when he is like this is nearly impossible, he was too inappropriately giddy and angry at the same time, such an exhausting combination.  While I was tucking Grayson in, it was like he suddenly deflated.  I think the melatonin hit him, because he said, "I'm getting tired".  Since laying Gavin down, we haven't heard a peep from him.....(Sigh)

We are finally sitting in the peace and quiet.

Stool testing

We've come full circle since our stool test break from the antimicrobials.  We increased slowly and secretly hoped we wouldn't need as much to keep them maintained....wishful thinking!  We were continuing to see the Jekyll and Hyde behaviors, good one minute, not so good the next.  As long as we don't see consistency with behavior, we know we need to increase their doses until we do see those nice smooth days again.  We are back where we started as mentioned in this post about Nutraceuticals for yeast, bacteria, viruses and parasites and things are running more smoothly now.

We did our stool tests through Direct Labs, since it means we don't need to take both boys to a doctor that isn't covered by insurance, just to pay for the tests ourselves anyway.  Our doctor is about 45 minutes away, so we would be spending the money on gas to drive there too.  Using Direct Labs allows us to order the tests online, the kit comes in the mail, we collect the samples and send it back using the enclosed Fed Ex envelopes!  Easy peasey lemon squeezy!  The test we chose is supposed to be 100% accurate and at Direct Labs it's called the "Microbial Ecology Profile -MM KIT".  It's retail price is over $1000, but they have it for $259!  

Here is Metametrix's overview of the test:


GI Effects is unlike any other stool analysis profile, going beyond the standard parameters for identifying gastrointestinal disorders.

The GI Effects Profile uses DNA analysis to identify microbiota including anaerobes, a previously immeasurable area of the gut environment. DNA assessment is specific and accurate, avoids the pitfalls of sample transport, reports results as specific numbers, and is more sensitive than classic laboratory methods.
Download the White Paper on documented limitations of culture based stool assessment.

Advantages of the GI Effects Stool Profile

• Greater Accuracy
  Microbial DNA analysis improves the accuracy of results and includes both aerobes and anaerobes. Anaerobes comprise over 95% of the bacteria in the gut and are difficult to detect with old culture methods.
• Antibiotic resistance genes
  DNA analysis detects organisms possessing genes that give rise to antibiotic resistance, offering clinicians a superior tool for effective patient management.
• Single Sample Collection
  Culture methods require multiple collections, whereas the GI Effects Stool Profile requires only one sample collection leading to improved patient compliance!
• Eliminates Errors in Transport
  Sample transport is a source of significant error in culture analysis due to the change in microbial balance from the time of collection. Using DNA analysis, the specimen is placed in a fixative tube that stops microbial growth and offers a highly accurate snapshot of the microbial balance in the gut.
• Increased Sensitivity
  GI Effects detects as few as 5 cells per gram - a 5000-fold increase in sensitivity over microscopy for parasite detection.
• A Better Value
  No reflex or add-on costs for additional testing!
  

Why Use Stool Analysis?

Gastrointestinal function is important for general health. The intestinal tract contains significant amounts of bacteria; some beneficial, some neutral, and some harmful. Balancing beneficial microbial flora in the gut is key to proper digestion, efficient nutrient usage, and ridding the body of waste and pathogens. Poor digestion and malabsorption can lead to immune dysfunction, nutritional insufficiencies, mental/emotional disorders, and autoimmune diseases.
Metametrix offers the Complete GI Effects profile for the most thorough look at the gut microbiome.

Ironic

Ironically, after yesterday's difficult day, both boys are doing exceptionally well today.  I don't know, if they experienced quick die-off and are bouncing back or, if this calm is going to prove to be the minority.  I may never know!  All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS!

Wonderful account of mercury toxcity

Via one of the many forums I frequent, I was directed to this link which is probably THE best account of living with mercury toxicity that I have ever read.  It's thorough and stunningly detailed.  I have shared it with members of my family and close friends.  Not only does it force the idea of looking at one's own health, but it explains what my children are going through in their little innocent lives.  If you or someone you know has been vaccinated, has amalgam fillings, GI issues, allergies, mood swings, or learning disabilities, this is a MUST read memoir!

There are many others sharing their similar stories.  Just Google Jeremy Pivens who developed mercury poisoning from eating sushi too frequently.  And Hillary Swank, suffered something similar while she was trying to bulk up for her role in Million Dollar Baby.  Her ailments lasted years, until she discovered the source.  Andy Cutler himself was heavily mercury poisoned and as a chemist, he discovered the road to healing using himself as his own first guinea pig.  The list is endless.  Do you want this to be your babies??

Wishful thinking....and a glass of wine

Is it bad that I want to drown my sorrows in a glass of wine....that I haven't even poured yet?

I was hoping that the too-good-to-be-true signs we saw after taking a break from their antimicrobials/nutraceuticals for the stool test meant that the overgrowth wasn't too out of control.  Unfortunately, it was just the calm before the storm.

Grayson went off to school perfect and came home like a space cadet.  I knew this was the start of the oh so familiar downward spiral that inevitably follows a break from their antimicrobials.  He was quiet and distant, played on his own a lot and Gavin's interferences resulted in explosive outbursts.  His belly which had been so flat for a week now, was bloated again tonight.  After bedtime, he came out of his room twice to rub a wet washcloth on his neck, because he was hot.  He was also exceptionally thirsty.  All signs of die-off.  Now, I have to decide whether to wait this out to see if he levels off again or to continue to increase the antimicrobials.  My gut tells me, we are going to be heading right back to the high doses of antimicrobials.

Gavin had a rough day today too, he was more volatile than Grayson.  His die off signs are different from Grayson's.  It actually took a while to get a handle on what they were, considering what we were so used to with Grayson.  Today his belly was huge and his moods were extreme.  He was still speaking very well, but the moods were just out of control.  He couldn't handle any direction, and he would vacillate between needy/clingy and defiant.

Bedtime was tough, I was alone tonight, but now I sit here with the glass of wine that my husband brought me and I am in self-pity-land for now.  Tomorrow is another day.

Veggy burgers and lemon avocado dip

Oddly enough, our two year old Gavin won't eat avocado or daikon by themselves, but put the two together with this dip recipe and he gobbles it down faster than I can slice it!  He dips the slices of daikon into the lemon avocado dip, like chips and dip.

I have a few variations of this dip, so I will give you the original recipe as it started and the simple one I made today for these photos.  I prefer using more lemon juice and then sweetening it up a bit, like the recipe from today, but you can make a spicier version of the original too.  My boys also use this dip as a dressing on salads and, if you want it to be easier to pour, just add a little water until you like the consistency.

Both of these recipes below are low oxalate.

Original lemon avocado dip/dressing
1 avocado
1/2 of a cucumber peeled
1 clove of garlic
2 Tbs red onion
1.5 tsp dried dill


Today's lemon avocado dip/dressing
1 avocado
1/4 c. lemon juice (fresh squeezed, not from concentrate)
1-2 inches of a large daikon root (you could use onion instead)
2 tsp xylitol (or choice of sweetener)
1.5 tsp dried dill

Blend and add water to consistency preference

Veggy burgers (this recipe can actually be made raw by dehydrating instead of baking)
3-4 c. winter squash (butternut is good in this, but any will work)
1 c. soaked garbanzo beans
1/2 c. soaked pumpkin seeds
1/4 c. soaked wild rice
1/8 c. oil
1/3 c. onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 Tbs GF aminos or GF tamari - I use Coconut Secret Aminos (optional)
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp thyme
just enough water to pulse the mixture into a chunky but pasty consistency

This makes a fairly large batch of "burgers" so it can be cut in half or you will need to blend it in two batches after mixing the ingredients in a bowl first.

1. Preheat oven to 355
2. Pulse all of the ingredients together in a blender or food processor 
3. Spoon/shape into burgers on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
4. bake for 30 minutes or when they are firm and the edges brown (if they are more watery, more time is needed)
5. Let cool so they will set better

They freeze great and can be reheated in the toaster oven!

Stressing...

We ordered DNA microbiology stool tests for both boys and decided to stop their nutraceuticals Saturday night, after the noon dose, then test mid-day Sunday.  This would give us about 20-24 hours without anything.  Well, it's now Sunday night and Gavin went in his diaper twice during sleep (before waking this morning and again at nap time) so they weren't sample worthy because of the diaper chemicals and Grayson hasn't had to go yet!

I am worrying about the length of time they are going without their nutraceuticals, more for Grayson than Gavin, because of school tomorrow.  I will have to keep him home from school to do this for two reasons.  One is that they give him a dose of his nutraceuticals during school, following a doctor's note.  And the other reason is because I don't want to set him up for failure, if things come to a head during the day.  So far both are doing surprisingly well, but we have experienced the calm before the storm in the past when my husband didn't give them any of their nutraceuticals all weekend while I was away, to see how they would do.  They were great all weekend, things came to a head days later and it was an absolutely horrible time that I would rather not repeat.  It took much longer than a few days to get them back to where they were.  It caused us to have to skip rounds of chelation and my life was incredibly difficult having two going through it at the same time.

One thing I can be sure of is that they will have their nutraceuticals out of their systems for sure.  Mommy might not fair so well over the next couple of days or weeks though.  Wish us luck....

Monday morning update - I had to keep Grayson home from school.  I was hoping they would both go by now so I could get them back on their nutraceuticals and glyconutrients (I stopped those too, since they can effect microbiology).  STILL no BMs in this house, ugh!  I can't believe this, they have both always been SO regular, I could practically set a clock by them and now, the ONE time I need them to go, they don't, neither of them.  I am praying that yeast overgrowth isn't causing some sort of constipation.  That would be quite the double-edged sword!  This morning we have a lot of hyperactivity, aggravation, impatience, and outbursts.  Grayson is doing a little better than Gavin.  Gavin is back to yelling about everything, he can't communicate without screaming and explosive outbursts. 

**OH, as I am writing this, Grayson has to go, YEAY!!  Off to collect a sample, woooo hooo!

Monday evening update - I was finally able to collect a sample from Gavin at about 1:30 today, thank goodness, because all of his old symptoms were back full force: the yelling, explosive outbursts, defiance, crying a lot, red anal ring, and he even had dark circles under his eyes.  Then tonight after a shower, I noticed that the wet dog smell that had been gone, came back slightly. I am convinced now that this was related to pathogen overgrowth. 

I decided to give both boys just half of their usual nutraceutical dose instead of bombarding their body with too much die-off at once.  This proved to be a good idea, because now at 6:30 pm, they are both doing GREAT!  I feel like Grayson didn't even skip a beat with this whole thing, which proves that chelation is really helping him.  Gavin is also back to a fairly level mood again too.  I reintroduced their glyconutrients today too and with that comes the happy faces. For Gavin, the glyconutrients has reinstated lots of thorough speaking.  His speech has most definitely been effected by the glyconutrients!  If this break has proven anything to me, it's that one thing!

Another thing I was able to decipher from this is that the rash Gavin got after starting the glyconutrients is not an intolerance/allergic reaction, because while he was off of them, it didn't change at all.  It had already been slowly drying up before stopping the glyconutrients and it is still in that same condition even after two days without them.  In the past, removing the source of his eczema made almost immediate changes in the rashes, within 24 hours at minimum.  I am convinced that the glyconutrients triggered a detox of some sort, whether it be viral, bacterial, yeast related, or even heavy metal or some other toxin. 

So hopefully we are back to "normal" and in a few weeks we will know what was going on for both of them this weekend when the tests results are in.  I can't wait!!!

Just a few little tidbits on yeast and mercury in honor of stool testing
For those of us going through chelation, we know all too well that yeast is a common complication of mercury.  Our daily attempts to maintain yeast levels is just a management process in place until we can bring mercury levels down with chelation.  It isn't the fix.  For those who are treating yeast regularly and not doing chelation, it's just a bandaid.

These little snippits of information are from Andy Cutlers's book "Amalgam Illness"

• Intestinal overgrowth of yeast is common and often goes along with mercury poisoning.
• Intestinal yeast overgrowth can crowd out the bacteria that produce vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting.
• Excessive yeast can also interfere with vitamin D metabolism in the liver and kidneys, affecting calcium metabolism.
• One very direct test for yeast infection is to administer Nystatin, which kills yeast and see if you react to it (I would recommend GSE which is a natural yeast killer).  If yeast is causing a problem, killing it will exacerbate this problem.  Whatever symptoms flare up when enough yeast are killed are due to the yeast.  If no symptom flareup occurs, then intestinal yeast is present at an appropriate level.
• A low sulfur diet may suppress yeast, a high sulfur diet will feed it as well as one high in sugars and carbohydrates.
• Coffee is a sulfur food, tea has yeast killing tannin.  If you have a yeast problem, take your liquid stimulant in the form of strong black tea instead of coffee.
• Repeated reappearance of skin dryness, hyperkeratosis or other irritation over areas where mercury containing antiseptics have been applied in the previous few years is not uncommon and should not be confused with yeast or fungal reinfection.

Protect them from their beds!

At 7:30 this morning when I opened my eyes, to the sound of Gavin rustling around in his bed, it hit me.  He didn't sneeze?  Not once?!  For as long as I can remember, Gavin has been sneezing the minute he opens his eyes.  His consecutive sneezy salute was always my cue that he was awake for the day, so when I heard him talking and rolling around, I was surprised that he was actually awake for the day without his usual routine.  Then something else hit me, last night was his first night on a new allergen-free pillow!  IT WAS THE PILLOW!!

I knew we needed new pillows, and I had waited too long after buying all the necessary things to protect them from their chemical-laden mattresses, but I couldn't find anything suitable.  A child's pillow needs to be washable and finding a natural, allergen-free alternative that could be washed wasn't easy.  Then one day recently, I received a daily deal newsletter from Mamapedia and it highlighted a company called CleanRest that was created by the father of a child with severe allergies, I was relieved to not only finally find pillows for our kids, but to get them at half price!!  And heck, I didn't even have to step foot outside for this purchase, it was ushered right to my computer and eventually to my front door!  For $22 (their full price) these pillows are washable, water resistant, breathable, allergen and chemical free and they carry a lifetime warranty!  How can you beat that?

So last night was our first night using them and clearly Gavin was effected by his old pillow, which I am embarrassed to say, I hadn't even thought of! 

Antimony in our mattresses
When both kids had elevated antimony on their hair tests (Gavin also had very high phosphorus) I immediately knew it was their mattresses, because I already knew not to put pajamas on them that had been treated with fire retardant (AKA - antimony)....well, for all of Gavin's life anyway.  We learned from Grayson's experiences.  When Grayson's first hair test came back with elevated antimony, I stopped using those pajamas immediately, but didn't know much about the toxins in his bed.  And of all places to not address toxins, we spend nearly one third of our lives there, and infants over 50% of their lives!! 

How exactly DO we protect ourselves from our beds?
If you don't have enough money to go out and buy yourself a nice cushy all natural latex mattress, and I would assume that most of us can't afford to go out and replace all the beds in our homes, then there are much less expensive ways to protect yourself from the multitude of chemicals in your mattresses.  Antimony isn't the only danger lurking in your peaceful place.  Included in the list of chemicals you are encountering nightly are: adhesives, petroleum based foams, plastics, vinyls, fungicides and pesticides.

Here is a link sharing multiple stories of people who came down with sudden ailments after buying new mattresses. Just click on "health problems from mattresses" on the left to see the stories.

In other countries like New Zealand, they have even gone as far as to prove that SIDS is the result of a baby inhaling all of these chemicals.  You can read about it and buy crib mattress wraps here.  We use this mattress cover on Gavin's crib mattress.

This is taken directly from their website

Crib death (often referred to as SIDS) is caused by gaseous poisoning, the gases being phosphine, arsine, and stibine (and/or derivative gases).  These toxic gases can be generated from the mattress where a baby sleeps.  They are formed by the action of common household fungi (e.g. Scopulariopsis brevicaulis) on  compounds of the elements phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony (respectively) within the mattress which are activated by a baby's body heat.  The crib death risk increases as a mattress is re-used from one baby to the next since mold grows exponentially.  New mattresses have been shown to begin off-gasing (releasing the toxic gases into the air) after 1 month of a baby sleeping on it.  See our Analysis page for more info about mold in bedding.

Household fungi become established in nearly every mattress which is slept on, and in underbedding (sheets/blankets slept on) which is washed infrequently. The risk of crib death can be virtually eliminated by ensuring that babies sleep on mattresses (and other bedding) known to be free from the above elements.  The BabeSafe range of bassinet and crib mattresses complies with this specification.  All other types of crib mattress should be enclosed in a BabeSafe slip-on mattress cover.  BabeSafe is made from a thick polythene material that is 125 microns thick, it is a type of plastic but does not cause sweating.  Not just any plastic will do, only polythene (125 microns +) will prevent gases from escaping into a baby's bed.  Any other plastic is permeable to these gases and is therefore useless in preventing crib death.

Interestingly, three of the elevated heavy metals in our kids' hair tests were antimony, phosphorus and arsenic!  Not all of them were over the safe range, but they were on the high side of safe and for both, antimony was over safe!  I am not one to wait for things to get really bad to react.  I prefer to choose prevention.  This was a warning sign that my children were being poisoned by their beds.

For $28 you can encapsulate a twin mattress with food grade polyethylene just like the crib mattress covers above.  They also carry larger sizes.

Once we covered their mattresses, we needed something to put over the plastic so they wouldn't feel the crunching below them and of course, those water resistant mattress covers you buy in the stores are also treated with chemicals as well as containing many harmful materials such as PVC, pthalates and and more.  I found an organic 100% cotton mattress cover for each other their beds and topped that with 100% organic cotton sheets.  Remember that each child needs at least two of the mattress pads and sheets, in case of the inevitable midnight accident.  When one is in the wash, the other is on the bed.

In closing, just imagine this, the average child is surrounded in a chemical-laden haven every night with their mattresses, mattress pads, sheets, pillows and pajamas....for much of their life.  I see no better way to spend my money than to eliminate these toxins from my child's life!

And just for the record, since replacing Grayson's bedding and chelating with DMSA (which removes antimony in addition to mercury and lead), his Antimony levels have not only come down to the normal range, but they have come down even below that! 

Glyconutrients, how's it going?

Tomorrow will be ten days since we started the glyconutrients.  We have been on our therapeutic doses for six of those days. 

Glyconutrients + chelation = rapid detox?
We have also done a chelation round during the first week.  Chelation always sets things off for a few days and this was no exception.  Just about all of the gains we saw, especially in Gavin, were lost during the round.  I would expect that mobilizing metals would have this effect and in fact, if it's true that glyconutrients also enhance detox, I would expect the side effects of chelation to be even worse.  We managed through the round as usual though, just a bit rough here and there.  Grayson was emotional for a short period and then came off of the round like a champ!  Almost NO post round irritation AT ALL!  And the most amazing thing, his tummy was flat starting the last day of chelation and has continued for an entire 4 days straight!  Last night he was slightly bloated just as he went to bed, not exactly sure why, but he was flat again this morning.  Before last night though, the bloating literally did not come back even once during those three days and chelation ALWAYS makes him bloat more!  This was a pleasant surprise and the only thing we did different with this round was use the glyconutrients.  We didn't even use his homeopathic constitutional remedy like we normally do.  He's been waking happy and staying happy, he is flexible, cooperative, playing nicely with his brother, we are just utterly impressed with him!  The morning of his last day on this round of chelation, I came downstairs to find Grayson reading so sweetly to Gavin.  He was asking Gavin to point to things, "Gavin where is the hammer?.....where is something you would use to climb up higher?" referring to a ladder.  Gavin was excitedly reciprocating.  It was so cute!  They waited for breakfast in the front room while reading books, no fighting, no irritation, no questions about where their breakfast is....wow!  Is this what normalcy looks like?  If so, yes please!!

TMI
Something else new that both boys experienced was one odd day of very green, sticky, stringy nasal mucus.  It was something I have never experienced with either of them.  I swear, it was like GLUE!  Eeeeeeeeew!  Sorry for the details, but I found it interesting, especially since both got it on the same day and in both, it was gone the next day. 

Continued speech gains
We continue to see amazing gains in speech with Gavin daily.  He is adding new words to his vocabulary faster than I can even document.  He has always said "cake" for any form of bread and Saturday morning we were making pancakes, the first thing he said to us was, "I want pancakes!"  the entire word, PANCAKES!!  Then on Monday I made them bread and toasted some for breakfast, he promptly indicated that he wanted some "toast".  It's apparent to me that in addition to the added vocabulary, there is an increase in the cognition that comes with the use of these words.  Some might say this is just coincidental and that he was due for a developmental spurt in speech....I would vehemently disagree.  His speech has been slow since it started, this sudden rapid burst of speech occurred exactly when we added the glyconutrients, not a day sooner!  He is even adding slang into his sentences, for example, the other night he said to my husband, "Yeah, I want to see it..."  Yeah? Never heard him say that before either.  And he is suddenly saying, "See, Mommy?" as he turns something towards me to look at.  He is aware enough that he has to turn whatever it is he is referring to so that I can see it at the angle he was viewing it from originally!  Today my husband was working from home downstairs and I was making lunch for us.  I asked Gavin if he wanted to call him to come up for lunch.  I handed him the phone after dialing for him.  He waited for him to pick up at which point he said, "Hi Daddy, I eating, you come up eat." His father said that he was clear as day, he understood every word.  Then he said, "Bye Daddy" and hung up himself!  Oh, that is the other new thing...."ing".  He now uses "ing" to explain when he is doing something like, "I done eating".  Again, this is brand new to him, this week!

Detox or intolerance
One thing I am not sure how to address is a rash on Gavin.  It looks just like eczema he used to get, except that it isn't on his cheeks (yet anyway), it's on his bottom, towards the hip and around the back.  I have read that it's possible to get rashes on the glyconutrients and I know about detox rashes from doing chelation and treating Grayson for latent viruses, but there is something about giving a new supplement and seeing a rash that has me second guessing myself.  My first instinct was to stop giving whatever is causing it!  I read that with the glyconutrients, it's not uncommon to see a resurgence of symptoms in reverse from the order they were acquired.  So seeing the eczema would actually be in line with his personal healing.  The rash appeared during chelation too, which is interesting, because it's possible that the detox was kicked into high gear from the glyconutrients.  Of course, it's still possible that the rash is a reaction to an ingredient, so I am cautious, watching it's progression.  Today it actually looks like it's starting to dry up and it doesn't look any larger than it was the past two days.  I have my fingers crossed that this is a good sign.  I know when clearing a person of viruses, this is a very good sign....so here's to hoping!  Check back for more as we progress.

Nutraceuticals for yeast, bacteria, viruses and parasites

There is much discussion among the bio-medical moms about "yeast protocols", but it's more than that.  When we have an imbalance in our gut flora, yeast (also known as candida) grow out of control and can even become systemic. When this happens, it's very likely that there are also other pathogens along for the ride.

Why does this happen?
There are many reasons for yeast, bacteria and parasitic overgrowth, some of which are:

• dysbiosis
• prolonged antibiotic use
• impaired digestion for any reason
• poor diet
• some medications
• immune or autoimmune problems
• poor liver function or liver disease
• nutrient deficiencies or malabsorption
• prolonged disease

It's hard to know what came first, the leaky gut or the dysbiosis, but what it all comes down to is that our children require daily assistance in fighting off these buggers (at least until we can get to the bottom of the problem by removing the cause and chelation does that).  Many doctors prescribe ineffective RXs which are temporary fixes and the pathogens actually have become resistant to them, so we prefer to use natural methods of keeping them down!  And they work!

You will not find the definition of nutraceutical in the Webster Dictionary, it's a fairly new term being used by holistic doctors.  My favorite definition was found on wikipedia

"Nutraceutical, a term combining the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical,” is a food or food product that provides health and medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease."

I recently decided to start myself on a regimen of the kid's nutraceuticals to see, if they had any effect on me.  I have more energy while taking them and, if I forget a dose (I usually take them twice a day) I notice that my mood becomes more irritable and I get a tickle in my throat forcing me to continue clearing it.  I also notice a die-off effect, if I don't continue taking them on a regular basis, indicating rapid overgrowth in the period that I am not taking them.  The throat-clearing is something I have noticed coming on for years and the only time it goes away is with grapefruit seed extract (GSE).  I also know that I suffer from the virus Herpes Simplex I which is evident by mouth sores and just about every time I get sick, I end up with one or more.

Immune suppression
There are latent viruses and then there are chronic persistent viral infections.  An example of a chronic persistent viral infection is EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) and some herpes viruses.  When a person has a chronic infection like this, their immune system is always slightly suppressed, leaving them vulnerable to other immune attacks.  Imagine an army trying to fight off their opponent, and then while they are fighting, yet another group comes in and attacks them from a different angle, and perhaps even another....they are going to lose the battle merely based on the fact that they just don't have enough guys or energy to fight them all.  This is what is happening to our bodies.  It's not that some crazy mongo-pathogens are growing into Hercules, it's that our immune systems are suppressed with so many daily and bio-accumulative assaults ranging from heavy metals and chemicals to plastics and who knows what else in our make-up, deodorant, lotions, shampoos, toothpaste, pesticides, plastic containers, plastic liners in baby formula and metal cans and yes, in vaccinations too, etc.  We can't fight these pathogens off as readily as we used to be able to so now we are seeing the effects of this phenomenon in GI disorders, autoimmune disease, neurological disease and even cancer.  It used to be only the elderly that were effected by the build up of these toxins, but now, as recent studies have indicated, babies are born sick, pregnant mothers harbor multiple chemicals and our children's rate of learning disabilities, ADD and Autism are significantly on the rise.

The daily grind
So what is our current chosen nutraceutical routine?  We have tried ALL kinds of herbs like Neem, Goldenseal and Uva Ursi as well as Caproyl (caprylic acid) among so many other products aimed at taking down these nasty invaders, but the tried and true products that never fail us are simply the following:

• 3-4 drops of high potency good quality Oil of Oregano (OoO) three times a day.
• 125-300mg of Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) three times daily and even more during rounds of chelation (never take GSE combined with SSRIs, because they both slow phase 1 in the liver detox pathways).  This is the liquid version (each drop is 10mg) and this is the tablet version(each tablet is 125mg).
• 20-25mg of biotin daily (split into 3 doses) - this is a B vitamin that is created by the good gut bugs, so when we are low in those, we are low in biotin and yes, this is the same biotin that strengthens hair and nails, lol.  Biotin prevents yeast from colonizing and morphing into it's more dangerous form, the same form that causes leaky gut.
• 100-750mg of Olive Leaf Extract (OLE) three times a day.  We use Swanson Vitamin super strength, but there is also a smaller dose, both are great and cheap!  If you want an alcohol free liquid, this is a wonderful product, but keep in min, each FULL dropper is only 100mg.  It's great when you are just starting out.

This combination has been fool proof and as many times as we have tried adding to, removing or switching them around, we always end up back at this arrangement, because it works for us. 

Tolerating the nutraceuticals
I have heard so many parents say that their children don't tolerate one or the other and I do know this is entirely possible, however, I think when a child is showing an inability to "tolerate" one of the above by way of an exacerbation of symptoms, I would bet that it's not an intolerance.  This is called "die-off".  In fact, when Grayson's IgG allergy panel showed ALL citrus as something he reacts to, I was sure that his worsening of symptoms when given even 10mg of GSE was related to an intolerance.  I just couldn't get his yeast overgrowth under control though, so I decided I had to push through the first few days to see, if I was wrong.  I am so glad I did!  Notice that above he is now on at least 300mg of GSE three times a day?  Originally, one drop would send him into an emotional, sensory tizzy!  I thought, no way can I give him that!!  When I pushed through what proved to be die-off symptoms (the toxins released into the bloodstream when yeast are killed is multiple times worse than their waste byproducts when they are alive) for the first week or so, we came out on the other side experiencing a new calm I had NEVER seen before!  And since then, we have been slowly increasing his dose to the point where he is fairly consistent unless we are stirring things up with chelation or he gets sick, both increase yeast overgrowth.

I would go as far as to say that all Americans and their children have some form of overgrowth, if they are overly emotional, experience more than typical outbursts or tantrums, sensitive to things like sound, or even if they crave sensory input like loud music and physical pressure (Grayson used to push his hands between two cushions of the couch a lot, a friend's daughter rolls herself under cushions and asks her mom to lay on her).  Increased viral infections (under-active immune system) are another sign and even harder to connect with is the LACK of illness from an over-active immune system.  Grayson started out with hyper-immunity and we thought his incredible lack of illness was a good sign.  We couldn't be more wrong.

Typical (the more common) symptoms of candida overgrowth are:

• Frequent stomach pains and digestion problems
• Skin problems (skin infections, eczema, psoriasis, acne)
• Foggy brain / Trouble concentrating
• Constant tiredness and exhaustion
• Anxiety
• Mood swings
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Anger outbursts
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Intense cravings for sugars, sweets, and breads
• Itchy skin

I think it's safe to say that most Americans suffer from at least one of the above, no?  And what about our poor diet as mentioned earlier on?  We are seeing this crop up as the cause for so many things now!  I think it's safe to assume that many Americans suffer from Candida overgrowth, at minimum.   It's more evident in our kids by way of neurological symptoms.  Grayson's Sensory Processing Disorder completely evaporates when the yeast condition is under control.  As SOON as he experiences overgrowth that we haven't caught, we begin to see signs of tics, sensory defensiveness by way of frustration with clothing and his blankets at night, sensory seeking which involves bumping, crashing and jumping and one of the biggest signs is an over emotional state of mind.  Within 15 minutes of his nutraceutical dose, it fades away, sometimes after a temporary worsening.  These are very common symptoms in children and I know from talking with many many other bio-med moms that they are fairly consistent across the board, although their sensory symptoms do vary from child to child.  Some are more sensitive and some are less sensitive to the overgrowth, in other words, if you were to test a child for levels of yeast, one child who is VERY sensitive and symptomatic could have lower numbers than a child who reacts less, but has higher numbers on the test.  I am not sure what drives this and what other factors are involved, it could even be related to an actual allergy to the toxins, but that is just one possibility.  One thing I do know is that Grayson is super sensitive to any change, even changes in temperature, weather, and diet, so it makes sense that he would be so sensitive to the ever-changing landscape of his pathogenic burden. 

What about bacteria?
Now that we've touched on yeast and viruses, what about bacteria?  There are some nasty bacterias getting attention out there, like the increased infections involving e.coli and nursing homes experiencing clostridia problems, and what about the strep bacteria, some people get that infection regularly (I can honestly say I have NEVER had one, knock on wood).  Grayson has been tested and has all three of those residing in his gut and I am not referring to the good strains.  We were also able to see from testing that he was not colonizing the lactobacillus strain we give him nightly!  Here is the link to the first blog I wrote when we first had Grayson tested and discovered the clostridia and yeast.  When Grayson is experiencing bacteria overgrowth, we see a completely different set of symptoms arise.  Over time we start to see a worsening in behavior, a defiance starts to creep up, we see a Jekyll and Hyde sort of bouncing back and forth moodiness and then suddenly we realize that our days are completely riddled with explosive, negative outbursts.  Nothing is right, nothing makes him happy, he says mean things, he pokes fun at his brother with pleasure, he slams doors, hits walls, screams and hates everything and everyone.  If we are just keeping the bacteria at bay, we will have days of this, on and off, then we either realize it's happening and increase his OLE and OoO (they are antibacterial in nature) or it gets out of control and then we need the big guns!  The biofilm protocol!  When we first learned of Grayson's seriousclostridia overgrowth we tried three courses of (20 days each) antibiotics aimed to focus directly on the Clostridia and he was a DREAM while was being actively treated, we had our Grayson back.  Within 6-8 weeks, the symptoms would begin to crop up again and before long, we were back where we started.  What it did do for us was prove that the Grayson we knew was hidden under there and needed no prompting to use manners, be affectionate with us or his brother and he was completely compliant again.  We just needed to figure out how to peel off this layer of evil.  This is where the biofilm protocol came in.  Just giving the meds or nutraceuticals just wasn't enough.  But we didn't give up, because we saw that recovery was possible.

Biofilm protocol

Biofilm Maturation

Pathogens develop a polysaccharide protective coating over themselves allowing them to hide from treatment.  That is their ultimate goal, survival! In fact, I think it's their only goal!  Even the bacteria in and around your teeth develop biofilm, known as plaque.  Based on it's exposed location, we are able to remove it every six months when we go to the dentist for a cleaning, but what if it's in your intestines, then what?  The biofilm protocol is a process that involves using enzymes to poke holes in the protective polysaccharides that bacteria build around themselves, allowing the chosen nutraceuticals to get into the matrix and attack the bacteria.  The final step of the biofilm protocol is a mop-up so that the intense die-off toxins are absorbed and ushered out of the body so it can't do any additional damage to it's host.  This is a daily process that is done until the symptoms are eradicated.  We have only had to do this twice, the first time was for about 3-4 months straight (things were REALLY out of control when he was three years old, I'm sure you could find a post from back then to see the details) and then one other time to just keep things under control and we didn't need to use it for long the second time around.  As we near higher rounds of chelation, we aren't seeing the massive swings up and down like we used to.  We have occasional regression which usually has a cause like illness or chelation itself (which stirs things up) and then there is rapid recovery once the trigger is resolved or gone.  He still has a sensitive system and full recovery will require years of chelation, but the progress is encouraging, we are fighting a battle worth fighting!

And I am sure you probably don't even like to think about parasites, but we all have them.  We deworm our pets every 6 months, what makes us think we don't need to do the same?  To see my more detailed post on parasites, you can click here.

Balancing act
These gut bugs are all intertwined in some way.  They communicate with each other, they feed each other, and they hitch rides on one another.  It's important to understand the symbiotic relationship they share in order to treat for them.  Also, having a microbiology test done is a good way to start, otherwise you are aiming in the dark.  When you know what you are aiming at, you are much more likely to hit it.  The best part about many of the microbiology tests available, is that they also test each of the microbes found in the stool against natural and RX anti-microbials to determine what they are resistant to and what works best at killing them.  They provide a scale of what has the best and worst effect that allows you to really target the buggers!!  Once you know what you are going after, it's good to know how they effect each other during treatment.  Typically when someone tells me they are fighting a yeast infection of any kind, I immediately think bacteria.  The reason is that yeast tend to increase when they are trying to fight off a bacterial invasion.  So the symptoms you will see first are yeast symptoms.  You will hear a lot of parents say that their children are giddy, too happy, inappropriately laughing at things or even nothing, almost like they are drunk and suffer from sleep disturbances.  Some even get the drunken sailor walk!  This is because yeast put out ethanol, yes that is alcohol, so they ARE drunk!  Funny?  Not when it's your child.  So back to my point, first you see these symptoms, so you immediately think you need to attack the yeast beast, right?  WRONG!!  Doing so, without also administering an anti-bacterial is going to result in the nasty increase (or unleashing) of whatever bacteria the yeast were trying to control.  We experienced this big time and I will tell you that, if I had to choose, I would take a nasty yeast overgrowth over the evils of bacterial overgrowth ANY day.  My child becomes the exorcist with bacteria, complete with head-spinning and spitting!  Ok, not really, but he might as well!  It's BAD.  So, make sure to ALWAYS treat both together.  This is why we give GSE with OoO and OLE.  And to add insult to injury, if your child is also viral, and/or has parasites....the picture gets even more complicated.  Yeast tend to hitch rides on parasites, actually feeding off of them, one parasite on top of another, nice picture?  And viruses?  When there is viral die off, or shedding, there is an increase in yeast, it actually feeds the yeast.  So this is precisely why we give all three together, because GSE attacks yeast (and also some bacteria, but not all), the OoO is a really good broad spectrum that attacks both also and OLE is an anti-viral and anti-bacterial.  But beware, killing off too much of one can cause an increase in another pathogen.  Killing too much yeast off can result in more bacteria overgrowth and vice versa, etc.  The trick is to experiment with your child (or yourself) to find the right combination.  For example, if you see bacteria signs, there are two possible things you can do, decrease the anti-fungal (GSE) or increase the anti-bacterial (OLE).  I am inclined to raise the appropriate nutraceutical first.  Then I stay at that dose for a few days to see how they respond.  I make adjustments regularly, even today.  If your child is sick, viral die off will feed the yeast, and eating foods that feed yeast will also cause an increase, bacterial infections will show with bacteria signs, etc.  It's a balancing act.

For anyone unsure of the cause of various odd symptoms, like the lists above, consider trying a course of these nutraceuticals to see, if they make a difference.  I bet they would!

IMPORTANT UPDATE - I thought it might be interesting for you to know that even with the use of grapefruit seed extract three times a day for years, our older son, who had an IgG sensitivity to every citrus product known to man, has had an updated IgG and the only citrus left on it is orange.  Grapefruit has dropped off, even with excessive usage of the GSE.  So for those who are afraid to use it, because their child showed sensitivity to citrus, this proves that it should not effect that sensitivity.  Again, EVERY child is different, I am just sharing our experience.

Have we evolved too much?

Is there such a thing as too much evlolution for a species?  I think we had it right at one point, we were cleaning up our water and food, and this increased our life expectancies.  Disease was already on the decline, but we had to take it all a step further.  Or was that too many steps?

My husband saw an article recently suggesting that this will be the first year in a long time that a generation's life expectancies are shorter than our parent's!

I am going to go out on a limb and just for the sake of experimenting with this theory, let's think completely out of the box and use body odor as an example.  We all know that we excrete toxins through our skin, creating body odor, but what is the possibility that this was a form of communication at one time?  I mean, we already know that dogs can sense fear pheromones in humans, right?  Everything our body does has a purpose, some perhaps that we don't even know since we can't even consider everything we could be testing for.

Could our instincts and genetics have had more control in our destiny than we can even fathom with our brainwashed ideas?  Have you ever noticed that one person's body odor might be offensive to you, while another person's was almost appealing?  Why is that?  Stop and think about it without inhibition and think of the raw potential purpose for this.  Could our instincts have driven us to be attracted to those who are genetically in tune with each other?  We have so many "genetic" mutations occurring and yes, I do think the environment is very much involved, but we have to have these predisposed "genetics" to begin with and where did they get out of control?  What if deodorant squelched our opportunity at using a sense that had more sense than our conscious mind?  Could this one little itty bitty change in our lives have made a huge impact on our ability to know who our perfect matches might be?  and to go as far as to say even genetically so?  Ok, so you get my point, I am not suggesting we go back to cave-man days and start sniffing each other out, but we SHOULD be putting more thought into our own actions, because everything we do will effect the next seven generations, or more. Somewhere along the way, we got it wrong.  We are shorting ourselves somewhere.  Our greed has taken over, we are creating toxins and chemicals faster than we can even test for them, what does that tell you?  Our waters are polluted, our rain is tainted with heavy metals, our homes are made with toxic materials and our children are being born with more than 200 of these toxins already in their blood....evolution?  What do you think?

 Sure, all these new inventions often provide us with more comfort and convenience, but at what price?

Glyconutrients - day four

Both boys are definitely different and some of the ways are so hard to explain or even put my finger on, it's just that their dispositions overall are more "here" and "connected".  Since neither of my children have been diagnosed with any form of ASD, I should be clear that they always appeared to be connected (well, most of the time, not always), so this increased connection is a testament to the fact that I didn't even realize how disconnected they could be!  Does that make sense?  We are still having some mood swings, but they aren't as frequent or as severe as before, in fact, with Gavin (our two year old), his change is unreal!!  I think he is more effected by the addition of the glyconutrients and I have changed nothing else about his daily routines.

Change is good!
Gavin's gains are ocurring at lightening speed, I just can't even begin to tell you how many times throughout the day my jaw is dropping.  I am overjoyed at the impressive improvements I see literally by the minute!!

Just about every morning, Gavin would wake highly irritable, yelling for food, crying when it wasn't plopped in front of his face upon opening his sleepy eyes, very unreasonable overall.  He expressed his concerns with what appeared to be a lot of anxiety for such a little guy.  I always remember Grayson bopping around happily in ignorant bliss at this age, so I have been concerned about Gavin's inability to relax and enjoy his days home with mommy.  Since starting the glyconutrients, he is waking happy, staying happy and cooperating so much more than ever before!  That doesn't mean he doesn't have moments of irritation or tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants, after all he IS still two years old, but what IS different is how he recovers from the outburst and how he now seems to understand (and accept) my explanation of why he can't have/do what he wants, etc.  Here are just a few more examples of the progress I've taken note of in the first four days of taking glyconutrients, and the things I am listing below are things he has NEVER done before:

After his first dose (which was later in the day)

• more alert and aware of family interactions, included himself in family conversations
• humor at appropriate times
• said sentences like, "I want read book", he has never used the verb "read" and book has always come out as "blook" in the past and he said "Mommy, I fall", his word for fall has ALWAYS been "go boom", even up until this afternoon, before the dose.
• words are crisp and articulate and his annunciation is clear

After his second dose

• started saying two-syllable words like uncover, button (t's were very clear) and snowsuit.
• said "Grayson" during conversation, completely on his own, without prompting.
• ate a big plate of raw cabbage and pepper as a snack without battling me for a more sweet snack.
• ate brussel sprouts at dinner without negotiation or ultimatums.

After his third dose

• said his first three-syllable word, clear as day, "cottonballs" (again, t's were crisp).
• after his nap I saw a new personality emerging, he was silly and dancing, chit chatting with me.
• SO much more patience with life in general, not anxious for no reason like before.

After his fourth dose

• he put on his own socks without frustration (was proud of himself) and the second one was very challenging, he just kept trying, usually he would grunt and throw the sock if it didn't go on after the first attempt and most of the time, he didn't even want to try.
• saying "please", "thank you" and "sorry" totally unprompted and at appropriate times, with feeling.
• conversation is bouncing back and forth, in the past, I always felt like I was talking at him and he was only responding when he disagreed, we had mini conversations this morning, like a little adult.
• he asked me to sit with him for breakfast, at the island, and proceeded to try to pull out the chair for me as he was asking me to sit with him.
• NO ANXIETY while waiting for breakfast!!  Patiently asked, "I eat now, please?"
• after going potty in his little potty seat he said, "I flush, Mommy." Flush is a word he has never used before.
• taking direction without a battle.
• playing on his own for longer periods of time.
• singing and dancing during down-time instead of hanging from my robe.

Here he is glowing with happiness while playing outside yesterday!

With Grayson, the gains aren't nearly as numerous or quick, but both my husband and I have noticed that he is waking much more alert, less grumpy and tired.  He is also in much better spirits at dinner time with almost no irritation, unless something in particular sets him off.  We have always had problems with consistency with him, so only time will tell, it's too early still to know what kind of long-term effects this could have on him, but we DO see a change in his confidence and moods.  Two of which were his most deficient traits.  It's also harder to assess him, since he is in school most of the day, so I am looking forward to our first weekend together while on the glyconutrients, although, it will be interesting, because we will be on a chelation round too (#45!).  Oh, the excitement of our lives, lol.

With me, I have only noticed that I am not as tired as I should be, considering I have been waking up at 5:30 in the morning (do I suddenly need less sleep?) and not falling back asleep.  Nothing huge yet, but what could be happening is that the younger the person, the more quickly they respond to the supplementation.  This is only an assumption on my part, but it seems to be the trend here.

Our Dosing
We started the boys on half a teaspoon and I have been increasing a little bit each day.  They are both on one full teaspoon in the morning, as of today.  I've been advised to bring them up to a therapeutic dose of one and a half teaspoons.  After we see enough change in them to move them back to a maintenance dose (and they remain consistent) we should be able to take them down to anywhere from 1/4-1/2 teaspoon daily.  I look forward to making this pricey supplement stretch as far as possible, lol!

Glyconutrients seem to be a hot topic in the holistic health arena and I've gotten a lot of questions about where we bought ours, how it's working, and people just curious about glyconutrients' action in the body.  I would say this newly emerging supplement, could be a huge missing piece to our nation's big health crisis. Stay tuned....

Glyconutrient study results

I have gotten more questions about the glyconutrients so I thought I would post some study results here from various sites.  Please note that I am not suggesting or endorsing the use of glyconutrients, just sharing what I found in my own research on the topic.  It was this information coupled with the many testimonials I was able to find on websites and in forum discussions, that pushed us towards giving glyconutrients a try.

We definitely saw language gains with our two year old, literally following his first dose!

From the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center - Effects of a Glyconutritional Supplement on Brain Potentials Associated with Language Processing.  

The effects of a nutritional supplement on language processing were studied in 20 healthy 20-30 year-old males.

Subjects were tested on two separate visits one week apart. On the first visit each subject received either supplement or placebo prior to testing. On the second visit subjects received the opposite
treatment. During testing, subjects judged (agree or disagree) whether a word following a sentence was related to the sentence. Brain potentials were recorded during testing, averaged separately for conditions, and analyzed using SPSS repeated measures software. Relative to placebo, the supplement was associated with decreased reaction time and a significant amplitude increase of the ERP slow-wave response in the agree condition. The slow-wave response has been related to post-stimulus processing,
i.e., preparation for the next stimulus and reflection on what has just transpired. These findings are consistent with a facilitatory effect of the nutritional supplement on information processing

The late-occurring Slow Wave did discriminate between treatment conditions,
showing a significant supplement-related amplitude increase in the Agree condition. This effect -- greatest at sites associated with executive functioning, alertness and emotion (i.e., frontally; Andreassi, 2000) -- has been related to post-decisional processing. These findings are consistent with a facilitatory effect of the nutritional supplement on aspects of performance and information processing.
It is important to note that the supplement did not have any side effects, and consequently these positive influences are not associated with other known supplement-related effects.
-Andreassi, J.L. (2000) Psychophysiology 4th edition, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.



Oxidative stress has been an ongoing problem with children on the spectrum, so this study is particularly interesting.

Effect of Ambrotose AO^® on resting and exercise-induced antioxidant capacity and oxidative stress in healthy adults

Richard J Bloomer , Robert E Canale , Megan M Blankenship and Kelsey H Fisher-Wellman

Cardiorespiratory/Metabolic Laboratory, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA

Methods

25 individuals (7 trained and 5 untrained men; 7 trained and 6 untrained women) received Ambrotose AO^® (4 capsules per day = 2 grams per day) or a placebo for 3 weeks in a random order, double blind cross-over design (with a 3 week washout period). Blood samples were collected at rest, and at 0 and 30 minutes following a graded exercise treadmill test (GXT) performed to exhaustion, both before and after each 3 week supplementation period. Samples were analyzed for Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and nitrate/nitrite (NOx). Quality of life was assessed using the SF-12 form and exercise time to exhaustion was recorded. Resting blood samples were analyzed for complete blood count (CBC), metabolic panel, and lipid panel before and after each 3 week supplementation period. Dietary intake during the week before each exercise test was recorded.

Results

No condition effects were noted for SF-12 data, for GXT time to exhaustion, or for any variable within the CBC, metabolic panel, or lipid panel (p > 0.05). Treatment with Ambrotose AO^® resulted in an increase in resting levels of TEAC (p = 0.02) and ORAC (p < 0.0001). No significant change was noted in resting levels of MDA, H₂O₂, or NOx (p > 0.05). Exercise resulted in an acute increase in TEAC, MDA, and H₂O₂ (p < 0.05), all which were higher at 0 minutes post exercise compared to pre exercise (p < 0.05). No condition effects were noted for exercise related data (p > 0.05), with the exception of ORAC (p = 0.0005) which was greater at 30 minutes post exercise for Ambrotose AO^® compared to placebo.

Conclusion

Ambrotose AO^® at a daily dosage of 4 capsules per day increases resting blood antioxidant capacity and may enhance post exercise antioxidant capacity. However, no statistically detected difference is observed in resting or exercise-induced oxidative stress biomarkers, in quality of life, or in GXT time to exhaustion.


How many children on the ASD have you heard of that are infected with the HHV-6 virus?  Read on...

Integr Physiol Behav Sci. 1998 Jul-Sep;33(3):280-7.

The in vitro immunomodulatory effects of glyconutrients on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

See DM, Cimoch P, Chou S, Chang J, Tilles J.

University of California, Irvine, Department of Medicine, Orange 92668, USA.

Abstract

In humans, eight monosaccharides are required for the synthesis of glycoproteins. Dietary supplements that supply these crucial sugars are known as glyconutrients. A glyconutrient compound was added to Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) isolated from normal controls and patients with the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a disease associated with immune dysregulation. The in vitro immunomodulatory effects were investigated. Cell surface expression of the glycoproteins CD5, CD8, and CD11a were significantly lower in patients with CFS compared to normal controls. Addition of glyconutrient homogenate to PBMC from patients with CFS stimulated with phytohemagglutinin significantly increased the expression of each glycoprotein. Furthermore, natural killer (NK) cell function was reduced in CFS patients. The glyconutrient preparation significantly enhanced NK cell activity versus human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6)-infected H9 cells in an 8 h 51Cr release assay compared to placebo for PBMC from patients with CFS (p< .01). Finally, apoptosis was significantly higher in patients with CFS. The percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly decreased in PBMC from patients with CFS that had been incubated for 48 h with glyconutrients. Thus, glyconutrients improved abnormal immune parameters in vitro in patients with CFS.

PMID: 9829439 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

This one is big for me, because our kids fight daily pathogenic overgrowth due to immune system dysfunction, also from PubMed.

Int J Immunopharmacol. 2000 Apr;22(4):299-308.

Effects of a glyconutrient on macrophage functions.

Lefkowitz DL, Stuart R, Gnade BT, Roberts E, Lefkowitz SS.

Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA.

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that mannosylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA) enhances the respiratory burst (RB), phagocytosis, and killing of Candida albicans and Escherichia coli by resident murine peritoneal macrophages (Mphi). Upregulation of the above Mphi functions was associated with the binding of mBSA to the macrophage mannose receptor. The present study was done to determine if certain glyconutrients could stimulate Mphi functions in a similar manner. Resident peritoneal murine Mphi collected from C57BL/6 mice were exposed to the glyconutrients for 10 and 60 min. The RB was measured using chemiluminescence. Both phagocytosis and killing were measured after incubation with each of the following microorganisms: Candida albicans, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The percent phagocytosis and killing were determined using fluorescence microscopy. Results indicated that certain glyconutrients, caused a dose and time dependent effect on Mphi-induced killing of all three microorganisms.

PMID: 10689103 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Plant-derived nutraceutical may boost brain power
Glyconutrient supplementation may have effects on cognitive function, according to a study that examined the influence of these plant sugars on perception, cognition and memory in 62 college students. In randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial with 1-week wash out periods, participants received 1 tablespoon of glyconutrients or placebo (rice starch) 45 minutes before performing cognitive tasks designed to evaluate perceptual skills, attention, working memory, etc. The students' scores indicated significant improvement in accuracy of visual discrimination (of environmental inputs) following glyconutrient supplementation but not following placebo. In addition, scores on the simple, but not complex, working memory task were better after glyconutrient consumption than after placebo; although the difference was significant for only one of two sessions. Scores on tasks of cognition and attention were not significantly different between glyconutrient and placebo conditions.

Source: Stancil AN and Hicks LH.* Glyconutrients and perception, cognition, and memory. Percept Mot Skills. 2009;108: 259-270

* Both at Howard University, Washington, DC



Shirley's Wellness Cafe (where I go frequently for health info) has a number of listed glyconutrient cases here.

This is from Shirley's Wellness Cafe

C.E. Pippenger, PhD, the Peter C. and Pat Cook research professor in the department of biomedica/health sciences at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., has heard some anecdotal accounts from pediatric pulmonologists who have seen patients helped tremendously by glyconutrients (saccharides).  Their reports spurred him to conduct one of the country's few double-blind, phyto-controlled studies of nutritional supplements in children with asthma.
In his study, Dr. Pippenger followed 100 patients with asthma and their use of glyconutrients, phytonutrients and a combination of both starting in January 2001.  Ninety-two patients from the original group completed the study by June 2002.  Most patients who didn't complete the study left it due to compliance problems.  He expects results will be available sometime this fall.
"We began the study because we believe the science surrounding glycobiology and receptors and interrelationships between sugars, cell function and the immune system are justified," Dr. Pippenger said.  "If we can demonstrate that there's an effectiveness to nutritional supplements, then we can have a strong foundation for administering these to asthmatic children.  They may decrease the amount of other medications the children."
Sharon Riesen, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, Calif., also has been studying glyconutrients and their effects on children with asthma.  Preliminary results of her open-label, controlled crossover study who 60 percent to 70 percent of its participants who used glyconutrients reported improvement of their asthma symptoms.  Glyconutrients appeared safe, and no child involved in the study needed to stop due to side effects, "which is incredibly rare, even with the placebo," she said.
"My passion is to get this information out to physicians that they could be using glyconutrients instead of medicines like prednisone," Dr. Riesen said.  "The side effects of so many of the asthma medicines are intense.  To have the kind of success that glyconutrients appear to have with asthma without side effects and have the majority of physicians not know anything about it is a shame."


For yet another wonderful explanation of glyconutrients by a mainstream doctor of medicine, Dr. Reg McDaniel, click here.


ManaRelief provides glyconutrients to malnurished children and orphans around the world and they have been doing it for 11 years!  In fact, if you look at some of the pictures here, you will see children holding bottles of Mannatech glyconutrients that have been donated by the company.

Cauliflower....cookies???

Let me explain first, hahaha.  Our boys are on a low oxalate diet and carrots are high oxalate, so when I found a simple carrot cookie recipe, I decided to use something similar in consistency and loved the idea of sneaking a veggie into the cookie, which is something I try to do frequently!  These are not very sweet, but you could increase the sweetener, if you would like.  They are very tasty like they are though and feel free to swap out ingredients (like carrots for the cauliflower or a different flour), if you would like.  You don't taste the cauliflower at all.

Dry ingredients
1/2 c. black eyed pea flour (I just use the grain setting on my Blendtec to turn these into a flour)
1/2 c. garbanzo bean flour
1/3 c. arrowroot or tapioca flour (be aware that tapioca is corn-based)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar or 1/4 tsp unbuffered vitamin C crystals
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (we eliminate this ingredient since it's high oxalate)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. cauliflower pulsed in a blender so it looks like small kernals, like rice (or substitute grated carrots)
1/3 c. raisins or dried cranberries

Wet ingredients
1/4 c. coconut nectar (you could substitute agave or honey)
3 Tbs oil
3 Tbs apple or pear sauce
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 325 degrees
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

Mix wet ingredients in one bowl and dry in another then
combine.

Fold in cauliflower and raisins/cranberries.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes or until light brown then move to a rack and cool.

Store in a paper bag and use within a few days.

Update on Glyconutrients - first dose

Ok, so I didn't think I would be providing an update quite so soon, but my husband and I are sitting here with our mouths open, unsure of what to do.  We are at a loss, so we are just laughing hysterically.  We keep glancing at each other in awe pretty much.

We gave both kids their first doses of the glyconutrients today and both have responded with such energy that we are dumb-struck!  I have never seen energy like this in either of them, ever!  Both are deleteriously happy and running back and forth chasing each other across the whole house.  This increase in energy isn't all we are seeing though.  There is also an increase in cognition that I didn't know was possible, meaning, I thought they were where they belonged cognitively, so this was surprising to both Dave and I.  Gavin's speech took a leap well beyond gradual.  Granted, he's been coming a long way in the past few weeks, but tonight it's been even different from this morning!  For instance, a word he has ALWAYS used for when things fall, is "boom".  This morning he threw his Taggie and it landed on the floor in his room, he told me it went "boom".  Later in the day, he went up to get it and when he came back downstairs, I said, "Oh I see you found Taggie." and again he said "Boom Taggie" letting me know it was the one on the floor in his room.  Then tonight, after his first dose of the glyconutrients, for the first time ever in his life, he used the correct word!  He had been running with Grayson and fell down.  He promptly ran over to me and said, "Mommy, I fall!" Dave and I couldn't believe our ears!  Then another sentence came spewing from his mouth, "I want read book."  Wow, he's also never used the word "read"!  At dinner he pointed to our rice and and said, "rice"!  I didn't even know he knew the word, and even more interesting, he pointed to my egg roll and said, "wheat....roll!"  He also correctly identified the colors red, orange and blue, again, something he has never done, not correctly and so confidently!

And Grayson, he was SO happy and talking SO much, almost too much!  But everything in his mind was creative and spewing out of his mouth so fast, I couldn't keep up!  After running like a nut case with Gavin, he got very hot (which is quite common for him, but he normally gets VERY upset about it).  Well this time, he came over wiping his face and neck, panting, he said, "I am SO hot!" He had a long sleeve shirt under his short sleeve shirt, as he was reaching for his sleeve, he started to say, "can....." and he trailed off.  He was going to ask me to help him, which is ALWAYS the first thing out of his mouth.  Instead, he removed both shirts without complaint, put the long sleeve shirt in the mud room hamper and came back with the short sleeve shirt.  Again habit reigned and by default he said, "I can't do this", but again, he stopped and continued on with reversing his inside out shirt, all on his own!  He's never turned a shirt inside out without severe frustration!  He put it back on and then proudly said, "I was going to ask you, but I caught myself" and then off he went, happily!  Normally this would have resulted in frustration and a tantrum while he fumbled through reversing the shirt, and probably would have ended in him throwing the shirt in anger.

Is all of this the result of a sugar high, so to speak, since their bodies are lacking these sugars?  Keep in mind, they aren't the same as sweeteners, they are a complex carbohydrate type of sugar, concentrated.  Were they so on cue, because of the adrenaline or did it have something to do with new connections being made?  Will this continue or was this totally coincidence?  Only time will tell.  One thing I know for sure, my kids were different tonight than they have EVER been, ever!  We enjoyed the moments immensely and I look forward to more of them.

The newest - Glyconutrients

I have randomly seen glyconutrients mentioned in forums and on web sites for healing immune dysfunction, but their price and the idea of adding yet another supplement to our daily routine appealed to me just about as much as swimming with sharks would appeal to me!  So I never really chose to read much about them.  Recently, they popped up again in one of the forums I frequent and whenever I see someone mention them, they always say that they would never be without them.  That appears to be the recurring feeling about glyconutrients.  It intrigued me enough (especially since having illness after illness run through our household all through the holidays) to check out what they really do. 

Let me just start by saying that I am a skeptic by nature and when something appears too good to be true, it probably is!  Glyconutrients fit into that box for me, but the more I read, the more miraculous stories I would find, one after another, after another, people with Lupus, CFS, diabetes, Lyme, amoebic infections, and even cancer all healing!  I even came across quite a few reports of success with autistic kids.  So I dug deeper into the function of the product and let me just say this, it makes sense. 

Let me try to provide you with a simple explanation about what glyconutrients are.  Glyconutrients are immune modulators.  Ok, so what exactly does that mean?  Our cells are surrounded by little hairs that hold carbohydrate sugars and these sugars are how our cells communicate to each other.  Simply put, if we don't have these sugars or we are even just short on them, our cells aren't communicating properly, and what happens when our cells don't communicate properly?  Well, they begin to misunderstand which cells are safe and which are intruders, AKA - autoimmune disease, our body begins to attack healthy cells, among other things.  When our cells can't determine which cells are safe and which are intruders, that also means that viruses, yeast, bacteria, parasites and the like, are free to roam our bodies where they will do a number on the immune system and organ function.  This is precisely how cancer starts!  We all have cancer cells in our bodies, but our own cells (when communicating properly) attack them, regularly.  These little battles occur in your body daily!  I am sure the next question on your lips is why wouldn't we have these sugars surrounding our cells?  Some of them we make in our bodies and some are obtained only from diet.  In order for our body to make the sugars that it can  and should be making, we need at least two of the sugars obtained from our diet.  Soils do not contain the nutrients it once did, so we are deficient in many nutrients, including these sugars.  And just to stop here for a moment, we NEED these sugars to survive, did you get that?  We cannot survive without them, that is how important they are! 

Another piece I find interesting is for those who are casein free, because one of the sugars known as galactose, is only available in milk.  When you remove milk from one's diet, they aren't getting these precious sugars anywhere else.  This would make sense why children on the GFCF diet would suffer from the results of a deficiency in these sugars!  I'm sure you are thinking, well, just put those sugars back into the diet then!  Not as easy as it appears.  The reason casein is removed in the first place, is the inability for these children to digest it, which means, they wouldn't benefit from the sugars if they were returned to the diet anyway.  So glyconutrients provide these necessary sugars to our starved cells. 

The most amazing piece of information I gathered from all of my research involves stem cells.  There was a study done where the doctor checked all the participants before dosing them with 6 days of glyconutrients, most of them had no stem cells to speak of.  Within a week of taking the glyconutrients, these same people showed an average of between 200-400 stem cells in one small sample of blood!  Multiply that by the entire body and that is TRILLIONS of stem cells!!  Do you know what this can mean?  What illness does not respond to stem cells?  The minute I read that, I was sold.

There have been multiple Nobel awards given for glycobiotics, doctors use and recommend their use, there are books written on the topic, so I figured what the heck, if they will do what the science says they will do, perhaps we can cut down on some of the other things we use.  I don't expect them to be THE answer, but to aid in a faster recovery, maybe!  Needless to say we decided to give them a shot, and heck, when the company offers a 90 day money back guarantee, how could I resist??  We chose to purchase from a company whose product only contains the top two important sugars known to effect healing, galactose and mannose.  Using other formulations reduces the concentrations of these very important sugars, thereby reducing their effectiveness, so the quality of the product is VERY important.  The other thing that was important to me about the product we chose is that they don't have multiple fillers.  They use a small amount of larch bark (not rice bran like other companies) to aid in mixing the product with liquid.  It is a completely pure product with no other extras, so when you spend your small fortune on a bottle of miracle sugars, you are sure you are getting pure sugars, no extras.  This also means that the bottle lasts longer, because the dose necessary to reach therapeutic results is much lower. 

Our delivery arrived today, I was like a school girl again, giddy with excitement to start our first dose.  So Gavin and I dove right in.  We had empty bellies (requires taking on an empty stomach) so I promptly mixed a cocktail for each of us, at the starting doses.  Well, I went a little higher, because I didn't read the instructions, he he he.  I based my dose on a discussion I had with a representative of the company, who recommended starting the kids off at 1/2 teaspoon once a day, given with an EFA.  So I just chose double that, lol.  Within 30 minutes of that dose, I started feeling fatigued.  My eyelids became heavy, my head started to feel full and then I got this sensation all over me, including in my head, like I had a sudden increase in blood flow, complete with full-body goosebumps.  WEIRD!!  An hour later, it's all calmed down, but it definitely did SOMETHING to me!  It isn't uncommon to see a die-off effect from taking glyconutrients initially, because by allowing the cells to communicate properly, the pathogens will be attacked.  It also encourages natural detox. 

I am going to be chronicling our events, anything different or new while we embark on this new adventure. 

Wish us luck!

Where it gets interesting

When we have minor set-backs, it's hard to know, if we should be seeking the cause or, if we should just ride through the rough patch keeping things as they are. 

Triggers and Tantrums
Last night we decided to make a stir fry for the boys using Trader Joe's brown rice and lots of veggies.  They gobbled it up, loving every bite.  Then this morning, I gave them muffins that were made with small amounts of white rice.  They were perfectly behaved last night and again this morning, but not long after eating their muffins this morning, both boys began showing strong symptoms of regression.  Grayson's eyes grew pinker by the minute, he lost his never-fading smile and replaced it with a seriousness that only comes with regression and/or illness, he was spacey, and became highly intolerant of Gavin's existence, his belly bulged, and the oh so lovely defiance immediately reared it's ugly head, literally coming out of nowhere.  Gavin became highly defiant as well, which always results in screaming over everything, he also likes to purposely irk Grayson when he is like this, he experienced multiple fears in our attempt to take them to story time at Barnes and Noble and more belly bulges.  Both become insatiable, like they are bottomless pits and they react severely to being told no, tantrums, tears and more tears. 

Who, what, where and when
There are a few things that cause regressions such as this: yeast overgrowth, which could be related to them addition of rice in their diet the past few days, oxalate dumps cause the same sort of regression and with the oatmeal, brown rice and banana this morning, we have certainly increased their oxalates more than we should have.  In fact, we may even need to cut oatmeal out completely and I dread the idea of having to find another breakfast option for them, since we are already so limited with breakfast foods.  Food sensitivities are always in the back of my mind so the possibility of cross contamination with the Trader Joe's rice that we tried last night is something to consider.  And lastly, illness, and I PRAY we are not heading down that road again.  We've spent the past month and a half fighting illness after illness.  I have to admit, this morning I woke up with that strange tickle in my nose, that usually means a cold is brewing, boy do I hope I am wrong. 

What to do, what to do
So here we are yet again, the familiar air of regression.  Do we increase antimicrobials, do we give L-arginine to address the pains of oxalate dumping, do we increase anti-virals to attack a possible virus?  Unfortunately, there is no true way to know, so we are forced to pretty much ride it out at least until we see additional signs of what it could have been, in hindsight.  For instance, if they get sick, we know what it was.  We did increase their grapefruit seed extract and oil of oregano slightly by adding a mini dose in between their usual doses.  If they are having a pathogenic flare (rice feeds yeast) this increase will cause a temporary worsening of symptoms (from die off) and then they will come out of it suddenly.

This is the story of our lives, two steps forward, one back.