Light bulb!!

I am thinking back to some things that have spurred new research for me.  Rubella...yep, that's right, the same virus my 12 month old was injected with before things got crazy for us.  Two things sparked this research.  First, the fact that his stool test came back so clean means something else is going on, namely viral possibilities which I always thought were there, just never really took the time to dig deeper with everything else on my plate.  Secondly, when I give him the teeniest tiniest dose of monolaurin, his sensory symptoms come flooding in, along with a spaciness and emotional instability we haven't seen in ages!  This tells me he is fighting something that is reacting to the monolaurin, which interestingly is typically used to target RUBELLA!

So then I began researching Rubella symptoms, because I read somewhere that the rash is a pink lacy, blotchy sort of rash that starts at the neck and slowly moves across the torso and out to the limbs, then disappears after just three days.....when we began increasing Grayson's olive leaf extract, which is an antiviral, he broke out in a lacy pink rash which I first noticed just around his collar and the back of his neck, then before the end of the day, it had moved down his torso, back and front and onto his arms.  This lasted three full days.  It never reached his legs, but remember that vaccinations are a weakened version of the virus.  Thinking back even further, to when he was reacting to his 12 month vaccinations, which included the MMR...he experienced a fever, a gland popped up on the side of his neck that hasn't ever gone down permanently since, and he broke out in this same rash only days after the gland popped up, he also experienced a sore knee that he wouldn't even bend to go up the stairs, and a swollen eye!  I will bold the symptoms he experienced.... 

Check out the eerily similar symptoms!

Early Rubella Symptoms

Rubella symptoms that are the same in both adults and children include:

• Mild fever
• Swollen lymph glands behind the ears and/or neck

In adults, other early symptoms may occur one to seven days before the rubella rash appears. These include:

• Tiredness (he was lethargic while the rash and fever were present)
• Muscle and body aches 
• Headache
• Red, watery eyes (swollen eyelid and red eye)
  

In children, the rubella rash may be the first symptom.

These early symptoms usually last three to four days -- although it can be as short as one day and as long as eight days before the rubella rash appears.

Rash: The Classic Rubella Symptom

The rubella rash is a red, blotchy rash that lasts one to five days. In most cases, it lasts three days, which is how rubella got its other name: "three-day measles" (see Rubella Pictures). The rubella rash is lighter in color than the measles rash. It begins at the hairline and then spreads to the face and upper neck. The rash gradually moves downward and outward, reaching the hands and feet.

Joint Pain

Joint pain and swelling can occur with a rubella infection. This symptom is more common in young women, and most often affects the wrists, fingers, and knees. Joint pain and swelling are more common when the rash is present, but may continue for up to two weeks after the rash has faded.  (Grayson had a swollen knee that he couldn't bend, I actually feared arthritis, which he was even tested for by his pediatrician!)

I only wish I knew at the time to consider testing for Rubella titers to see exactly how high they were.  If I knew then, what I know now, I always say this.  This finding however, can mean real healing for Grayson, it means getting to the root of one of the major problems he could be experiencing.  If he was, in fact, shedding the virus at the time we increased the OLE, I worry about the possibility that Gavin could have been infected as well.  We will cross that bridge when we get there, but I must say, we are now beginning to see the very same symptoms cropping up in Gavin, and at the same time, he is 2.5!

Here is a picture of Grayson on the left with the rash and a patient with true active Rubella on the right.  Keep in mind that the vaccination is a weakened form of the virus and we are bringing the virus out with antivirals, so it wouldn't be as severe as acquiring the virus via contact with a person who has it.

Long time no chat

Wow, it's been months since I have updated the blog. School started and things got crazy! As the old saying goes, "No news is good news" and this is true in our case! We had such great changes with the Flagyl in July and then in a matter of months, we were seeing an increase in the bacteria-behaviors like anger, aggression, defiance and the resurgance of sensory issues occasionally. So back on the Flagyl we went...I wanted it addressed before school started and what a great idea that was. Last year when he started school, he was a mess, an absolute mess with hitting, very vocal meltdowns, temper tantrums and acting out. This year he is the perfect dream student! He is older too, of course, and he loves helping the younger students which I hear he does very patiently...that's my boy! We have been off the Flagyl for about a month and so far so good. We try to keep the bacteria at bay naturally with daily Olive Leaf Extract, Oil of Oregano, Biotin, we rotate in Capruylic Acid four days a week and I recently bought peppermint gel caps, but I haven't really gotten them into the action yet. I am still researching that front. Then at bedtime he gets four doses of probiotics - two dairy free Culturelle and two New Beginnings Probiotic Support which contains Sacc. B.

We are still chelating and just finished with round 14. We had a few blunder rounds....forgetting to wake up for a middle of the night dose, oops, so we had a few do-overs, ha ha ha. It's going really well though. He handles chelation great, comes off the round fairly well, with just a tad of the high sensory stuff like shirts bothering him and pajamas not fitting right, the covers on the bed are annoying and won't lay right, but that is fleeting thankfully. If you read my earlier posts you see how much of an improvement this is! I have to say that since starting chelation we have seen AMAZING and permanent changes in him and of course keeping the bacteria down makes Grayson the perfect child so that helps. He was never able to peddle a bike, he hated even trying, it was just exhausting for him. Suddenly one day he hopped on and peddled around in circles, whizzing around me like a bee. That just came out of left field. He has no problem walking beside us when we are out now, he used to cry that he had to be in the shopping cart or stroller and that he was just too tired to walk. He still prefers the stroller some days, but he doesn't fight us if we say no. I believe his mitochondrial function is improving based on these changes. A silly change I just noticed yesterday...He is normally afraid of bugs, won't go near them, but was always intrigued by them. His little brother who is 16 months old has no problem grabbing a hold of the elder box bugs as they sun themselves on our deck, but Grayson would always partake in the action from a distance. Last night the baby noticed one in the house and next thing I know, Grayson is holding the bug in my face asking me if I want it. Talk about a shock! I was SO not prepared for that, ha ha ha. He had the bug crawling all over his arms and body, giggling from the tickles. I have never been more excited to see my boy acting like a BOY! He's always had these fears of things that most kids relish in, getting his hands dirty, birds, frogs and bugs. I am all for it, get dirty, get wet....you can change and wash clothing, life is too short to not enjoy being a child. And I am enjoying watching it!