Time for a new face? Who am I really?

I have a small confession to make, I have been contemplating starting a new blog.  One that reflects my new being.  There is just no easy way to say this, so I will just say it.  I am no longer the mom you read about in these entries behind me.  I am still a fuss about food, that will never change.  I am evolving though.  It's as if I entered my chrysalis stage and am awaiting my wings.  I feel renewed in such a way that our future never looked brighter.

Autism?  A distant memory.

Even PANDAS is only visible in my rear view mirror now.  It isn't gone, but it isn't here either. 

The evolution I have been part of is almost mind-blowing.  I wouldn't believe any of it, even if I were reading it in a memoir only 6 months ago.  It would appear like a character in a fictional novel, someone else's life, certainly not mine.  How incredibly wild it was to wake up one day and realize this IS me!  This WAS me all along, how did I not know sooner??

Well, you are probably thoroughly intrigued by now, lol.  I may lose readers here, but I hope to gain others, in fact, what I hope most is to retain all of my current readers and gain others, so we can all merge into this realm together.  What I am referring to is energy medicine.

This means something different to each person who participates or practices energy medicine.  To me, it simply means being totally in tune with my gut feelings.  Even writing this is hard for me, because I have spent years squashing the real me, without even realizing it.  I may sound "crazy".  I know I am not though, because I am living the ultimate....the results of accepting it.  More importantly, so are my kids!

Over the past year or two, as I have been helping parents trust their gut instincts to guide them in healing their children, one thing became very clear....I just know things.  I have been asked so many times, "How did you know to....?"  I repeatedly heard myself saying, "I don't know, I just know".  

What I have finally learned about myself during an insightful transformation is that I am in the early stages of uncovering my potential as a clairsentient.  Meaning, I have a gift of "knowing".  I am not a fan of labels, so I don't even like labeling myself with this somewhat intriguing label, haha.  It does, however, provide some form of description though, and it provided me with a description of something I realized I could relate to.  I have always been an extreme empath, to the point of embarrassment, because I can't always control it.  It isn't cool to cry in front of someone, because I have taken on their emotions....even when they haven't shared them with me!  This is one of the reasons I had shut it off previously.  But it didn't leave me completely, in fact, it was the underlying force of all of my decisions for my children.  Clairsentience is one of the most overlooked psychic abilities and requires one to clear their own energies in order to become a clear channel.

There are two ways that clairsentience works.

1. Clairsentience works by allowing an intuitive to receive signals from the spirit realm. A clairsentient will be able to sense the messages, where as a clairvoyant will see the messages, and a clairaudient will hear the messages. The clairsentient will feel what a spirit is trying to say, and interpret the message by using their intuition.
2. The second way that clairsentience works, is by allowing an intuitive to understand the feelings of the people around them, (empathy). Clairsentients often use their abilities to share and heal the pain of others. By sensing what someone feels, a healing clairsentient will know exactly what remedies someone needs

When an event out of my control spiraled me into a situation requiring a lot of self-analysis, I saw this side of me that I never acknowledged.  I took some time to just be.  Something I never did, I was always researching, creating, fixing something or someone, and planning the next step.  For once, I just took time to BE!!  I didn't research, I didn't fix things, I wasn't onto the next best treatment or practitioner.  I just waited for communication from the universe.  It was in this calm that I found myself.  Suddenly, I got ME.  I mean, I really got who I am, who I have been all along.  Everything began to make sense, including what was going on with my kids.  And how interesting to find out (after the fact) that my solar plexus chakra which was blocked and needed some attention, as I began going through this transformation, is the chakra that is most linked to clairsentience. 

I decided things were going to change.  And change, they have!  I am now using my intuition to guide our health decisions.  Not that this is very different from my past, although now I am doing it more consciously, with intent.  We use only homeopathy and soil based organisms.  Remedies are chosen based on intuition.  I also clear our energy regularly.  It's amazing what dealing with the chakras, meridians and aura can do for detox!!  I can't believe we survived biomed without this knowledge!  I see instant changes in us, when we acquire non-beneicial frequencies and likewise, when I remove them.  We have been able to move through high potency remedies with ease since participating in energy healing.  Our past was riddled with significant detox symptoms, something I thought just came with the territory.  How wrong I was!

What I find most important about metaphysical powers is that we all have them.  We are born intimately connected to the universe.  We can choose to shut them off or we can choose to actively embrace them.   None of what I have experienced is extraordinary, the only difference between myself and others is that I am now recognizing these events and learning to use them to my advantage.

In retrospect, this isn't really a new me, but merely the next progression of me.

So my whole point in this entry is that I would love to continue writing, but this is a new realm for me and I am not sure exactly how much I plan to share.  Like anything else though, it will come to me, when the time is right.  I hope you will find yourself wanting to follow along as I find my wings.  My new blog can be found at "You are what you...believe!"

Turn of events, my new "face"

You may have noticed that my blog has recently taken a dramatic turn from past entries.  I have always spent a lot of time reading and learning, but nothing has made more sense to us until we embraced homeopathy 100%.  Not just taking a remedy here and there, but truly embracing all it has to offer, believing in it, and learning from those who have created this fascinating ancient medicine.

The little-known facts that supplementation renders the body lazy while introducing new and potentially dangerous toxins, and that much of what we have done in the past has literally been aimed at suppressing symptoms, rather than providing true healing, have put me on a new path.  I will never again think in terms of eliminating symptoms, even with herbs.  I will never again consider ignoring the signs of degeneration and/or healing put in front of me by the body.

Our new journey stems from the deep understanding of where homeopathy and healing meet.  There is nothing more natural or more effective.  We have seen it on every level and most recently, our children have come off of EVERY supplement they have ever taken.  They no longer need anti-microbials (even natural) to keep their gut in check.  They no longer require digestive enzymes to digest their food.  Amazingly, homeopathy and SBOs (soil based organisms) have encouraged their own bodies to take over healing.  They are flourishing and they are growing (finally)!

I'm not suggesting my life is peachy every day, because detox is ugly, even when it's happening from a natural place within the body, and emotional detox can be even uglier than physical detox, but man oh man, the progress is permanent and it's complete! 

So as we move forward, my journal will take new shape, one of true healing from within.  If you are a loyal reader, you have probably seen everything we have been through.  If you are a new reader, you are have started in the right place.  Our past is a story, it's our story, but our future is riding on today.  Welcome to our new path.

The dangers of suppression

What is suppression and more importantly, what are the consequences of suppression?  Once you understand, really understand (and respect), the health consequences of symptom suppression, it will change your life.  Well, it should anyway.  It did mine!

Homeopathy has not only changed our lives physically and emotionally, but I am learning things that I have never learned from any other forms of healing in the past 5 years of biomed.  My research has unearthed information that should be shouted from megaphones everywhere, because without these little tidbits of knowledge, we are and will continue to harm our potential to remain healthy!!  We are literally sabotaging our own health!

Suppression.
The Webster Dictionary says to suppress is "to restrain from a usual course or action "

The "usual course of action" in this case would be symptoms, which in actuality, are the natural course of action being taken by our bodies to HEAL!  A symptom is bothersome to many, it prevents them from going to work, hanging with friends, feeling good, so we want it gone, but let's think about this for a brief moment.  Let's use the example of a burn.  When you burn your finger, it turns red and swells up.  What is your instinct...to run cold water over it and STOP the swelling, right?  Is this really the best course of action to take?  And what would happen, if you never ran that cold water over it?  Do you even know?  The swelling is called inflammation and inflammation is actually the way your body attempts to repair the damage that was done.  The human body is designed to heal itself!  By running cold water over it, you are literally stopping the body from doing what it needs to do!  So what should you do instead?  Believe it or not, you want to ENCOURAGE the direction the body is trying to take that damage, run very warm water over the burn!!  Not as hot as the original burn, but warm enough to be uncomfortable.  Guess what happens?  Nothing!  That's right, no blistering, no pain, although if the burn is bad enough (as was in one case when I grabbed a very hot ceramic pot and lifted it) you might have some mild residual signs left over, in my case, my burned skin was left a bit rough. Other than that, I had no blisters and no discoloring, it didn't even hurt!  

Or how about this scenario which I am SURE all of us have experienced.  FEVERS!  Why do we fear fevers so much?  A fever is the RIGHT action taken by the body when a foreign invader has taken hold.  Fever kills pathogens.  So the body knows what to do as soon as it encounters these bugs, it turns up the heat high enough to kill them!  Out of fear, most people immediately run for the fever reducers/pain relievers.  I bet you didn't know that fevers are self-limiting?!  The highest most fevers will go is 105-106 and once your body has reached this temperature, you are no longer at risk of a febrile seizure.  Fevers are misunderstood and the sales and marketing of fever reducers are aimed at fear.  The one piece of good advice I got from our worst pediatrician was to let fevers be, and that they ARE in fact self-limiting to about 105.  When you stop the fever or even just reduce it slightly, you are inhibiting the body from successfully fighting the pathogen.  So guess what happens?  It survives.  Common sense?  And don't even get me started on the topic of doctors who tell patients to use fever reducers in their kids pre-vaccination.  Good God, there is no more destructive advice than this!!  

So let's now think about a simple cold.  What happens, your body begins to purge from every orifice...not a pretty sight or feeling: snots, ear drainage, secretions galore.  Raise your hand, if you were ever guilty of taking something to eliminate this nastiness.  But again, let's think about what the body is trying to do.  It's eliminating the pathogen!!  Colds start in the nasal cavities and ears.  Mucus is designed to purge pathogens.  And common sense would say that when you stop this from happening....need I go on?  I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but really think about how ludicrous this even sounds when you think of it rationally!  Why hasn't anyone ever taught us to think about our health in this fashion?  Well, because it would hurt pharmaceutical sales, of course!

The examples of suppression are endless and we are often partaking in this dangerous act daily.  Putting creams on eczema, treating acne with topical gels, giving anti-inflammatory, pain relievers, DRUGS!!  All of these products are designed to make your life more comfortable, they do not get at the root of the problem, they don't cure anything, they only suppress.  Why do you have chronic inflammation Miss Fibromyialgia, what is causing those skin lesions Mr. Eczema....people, you are not only ignoring how your body communicates and heals, but you are downright fighting it!  Your body reacts and tries to heal itself and then you say, "Oh no you don't, I have work to go to work...I have a date to go on....etc!" and you do/use everything possible in your arsenal to eliminate the "symptoms".  Well you have just effectively eliminated healing too. 

We need to trust the body in doing it's job.  It won't have an overnight fix and you might feel yucky for a while, but when you stop the body from doing it's job, the consequences are great.  And maybe part of mother nature's magnificent design is to SLOW. YOU. DOWN.  You may not even realize that subsequent illnesses or symptoms are related to the act of suppressing other conditions, but I assure you, it is all related.  Your body is a fine tuned machine with all the equipment necessary to run optimally.  Your future health depends heavily on what you choose to do today!  I am not suggesting you shouldn't do anything at all when things run a muck, I am just saying that HOW you choose to deal with these imbalances is critical and either facilitates health progression or degeneration.

I also want to add that just because a product is "natural" doesn't mean it isn't suppressing a symptom and shutting down your body.  Anything that stops a symptom, rather than addressing it's cause directly, is suppressing the body from healing.  It's that simple.  I learned this the hard way and as we use homeopathy, which encourages natural healing, we are witnessing the host of suppression(s) we took part in, as we retrace old symptoms.  How completely and utterly eye opening.

So what are the consequences?  If you aren't addressing the reason the symptom arose in the first place and you are prohibiting the natural healing action designed by mother nature, what do you THINK is happening?  You are not only allowing illness to prevail, you are encouraging it on some level.  Sure, some minor things are superficial, but every time you eliminate the body from doing it's job, you are also reducing it's ability to learn how to respond next time, and the time after that and well, eventually, your body is going to learn to stop responding to illness.  It may take some serious research and experimenting to truly understand the underlying cause of symptoms.  It's typically not simple or cut and dry, but if you want to know more about the stages of natural detox and what they look like when they are suppressed, check out these incredible videos from Mary Coyle:

Video one

Video two

Our body is designed to detox illness, pathogens, and toxins.  When we hinder our innate healing abilities, things begin to shut down and where does this land us?  Cancer anyone?  Autism on the rise much?  Autoimmune disease is a PRIME example of suppression and inability to detoxify naturally.  HELLOOOOOO!!  This, my friends, is suppression at it's finest.  

Next time you have a headache, or inflammation, or a fever, or anything that is uncomfortable for that matter, stop and think, "what is my body trying to do?".  Don't reach for that over the counter toxin to stop your body from working.  If you love your life and your future health, just don't.  Tough it out, learn the signs of your body and do something to support it rather than tearing it down.  Think of what you have to gain from trusting your body!

Let's remember too that suppression doesn't occur only on a physical level.  We can suppress emotions and feelings which will ultimately wreak havoc on our psyche, as well.  If you can't release these emotions through discussion, consider other spiritual forms of emotional detox such as yoga, meditation, quite time for yourself or some other form of spiritual release.  Even kids can be guided to partake in these activities.  =)

Why now?

Why now?  Why didn't I find this path with homeopathy sooner?  Especially when homeopathy was the very FIRST therapy we tried with both myself and Grayson 6 years ago.

My best friend and I have discussed this at great length recently, because we wonder, could we have avoided all of the bumps in the road that lead us here?  Could we have healed ourselves and our children sooner?  Should this have been the first treatment we tried?  We unanimously agree, NO!!

We needed the path we were on.  We are who we are today, because of the path we have traveled.  We saw glimpses of who our children could be, and it drove us harder.  We learned about anatomy and physiology, because of the path we traveled.  Our diets are healthy, our environment is cleaned up, because of the research we did.  We researched and experimented and we came to incredible conclusions due to the roads we visited.  And most importantly, we met the people we needed to meet to find this path.  It wasn't put in front of us sooner for very valid reasons, we just weren't ready for it!  Every single day of our pasts have lead us to this very point in our lives.  I wouldn't change a thing. 

I am a dedicated researcher and a dedicated parent, no...that is an understatement, it might be more appropriate to define myself as anal retentive and controlling, and a little over zealous at times.  ; )  This is why it's even more undeniable that for the first time in our healing journey, we are in the right place.  I am ready and able to let go.  I am ready to hand the torch to someone else and jump on the waves.  I am ready to trust and look inside myself for guidance and confirmation that we are on the right path finally!  I'm ready, and so are they...

The low down....and dirty

Get your mind out of the gutter!!  Dirty, hmm.  The only dirt I am referring to here is the soil, because the latest and greatest on us involves the soil!  Well, sort of. 

**SEE UPDATE FROM SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 BELOW!

Mud pies and probiotics 

I believe there is a reason kids make (and eat) mud pies!  lol  Their body instinctively knows more than us germ-a-phobic parents!  Soil contains the very organisms that used to enter our body on a daily basis.  I know you are thinking, "but what about the parasites??"  Well, if you are ingesting certain microbes along side the parasites, those parasites have no chance of survival!  And chances are, if the soil is loaded with these beneficial bacteria, the bad guys are probably non-existent anyway.  Ahhh, mother nature....Now, I am not suggesting you run out back and make yourself a mud-pie for lunch, because today you can get those same bacteria in a capsule.  They are targeted to certain microbes and yes, they are parasite-free, haha.

Remember your grandmother talking to you about growing up on the farm?  I know mine did.  She raised animals, played in the dirt, rode horses, and ate foods grown in that very soil.  They didn't use anything but water to rinse those veggies too!  Today it's so eloquently referred to as "farm to table" and it's highly under-rated.  Before we tarnished our soils with pesticides, fertilizes and chemicals (be it natural or not), we had soil full of micro-organisms very beneficial to just about every aspect of our body chemistry and while they aren't natural residents of our intestines, they SHOULD be regular visitors!

These micro-organisms prevented the growth of anything harmful in the soil and ironically, they can do the same in our bodies!  The data is overwhelming and I will share a few links below, in case you want to read more, but before we get to that.  Let me share the results of our last five weeks using SBOs (soil-based organisms). 

We started them on very low doses on a Friday so that we could spend the weekend observing.  We didn't need to observe much though, because their uncontrolled yells, fighting and screeches could be heard from anywhere in the house.  We are no stranger to die-off and anything that results in die-off usually tells me that we are on the right track, but holy cow!!  But just like any other successful intervention, we also saw TONS of improvement.

Why the new probiotic? 

Just prior to starting the SBOs, Grayson had been going downhill, symptoms resembling his dark Clostridia-riddled days.  It was slow, but it was mounting.  He had begun to wake grumpy and irritable and this was quickly appearing to be the new norm, the OCD was trickling in and he had a new snort-tic, which we were trying to determine, if it had been related to the mold exposure he had at school (yeah, nice right?  A topic for another day, we are now homeschooling).  The symptoms were picking up speed and intensity.  Gavin on the other hand, had become a handful long before this.  Things had been going SO well, then suddenly we felt like we were hit by the pathogenic school bus from hell again.  I was increasing their three-times-daily natural anti-microbials without success.  Vague memories of Clostridia creeping back in, giving me nightmares!!  So we started the biofilm program back up and included Lumbrokinase this time.  It was going fairly well, but we were creeping back up the hill to better.  It wasn't fast enough for me.  I like to run when there is a hill on my horizon! 

In my usual nightly research mode, I came across a probiotic that was similar to some mentioned in our FB groups here and there.  I was intrigued, to say the least, because intertwined in the overgrowth madness, I felt like all I was doing was killing (the microbes, not the children).  This seemed to spur massive oxalate dumps.  Was it the chicken or the egg.  Were the pathogens causing the oxalates to build up or was the oxalate dumping causing the PH shift enabling the overgrowth.  Regardless, I needed to find out how to encourage the growth of the good guys.  Maybe in this way, we could salvage the few oxalabactor formigenes (the specific bacteria solely responsible for degrading oxalates from the diet) we have left.  Feed them, let them grow!!  If we can't buy them and put them back into our intestinal terrain, we needed something to protect the ones we have left.  I had personally begun to have oxalate dumps in this time period too, which had me seriously reconsidering the role of killing off microbes daily, even with the natural stuff, because this didn't start for me until I began the same regimen my kids were on.  I never had problems with chocolate, nuts, or carrots before.  But it wasn't long before I too was following in their footsteps.  Anytime we are killing off massive amounts of anything, we should question what else could be impaired in the process.  I knew it was the lesser of two evils at the time, but now I can say that I know differently.  But how would we do this successfully with such overgrowth challenges in the picture?

Jagged path to the finish line

As with anything else that sets our body straight, we experienced a healing crisis in the first weeks on the SBOs, plus to muddy the waters, we decided that giving the anti-microbials was counterproductive and would kill off these essential bacteria, so we stopped everything other than their supplements, camel milk, Lauricidin and nightly probiotics.  While ramping-up the SBOs we had incredible challenges.  There were days I was running toward the kitchen cabinet that holds our natural anti-microbials....running.  My husband had to stop me!  Thank goodness he had done as much research as I had done on the SBOs and believed in the science behind them.  He was much stronger than I in the moments of question.  As we foraged through the "symptoms" it began looking more like we were seeing a healing crisis, as defined here.  Here is a description of healing crisis from Shirley's Wellness Cafe -

"Healing Crisis: As with all true natural cure, the road to better health may begin with a healing crisis. As you move toward better health with natural healing programs and better nutrition, healing begins to occur. As part of the healing process the body will begin to discard toxic residues which have built up in your body over the years. The healing process usually does not occur without repercussions. During the initial phase of healing, as your body begins to clean house, (detoxify) and your vital energy begins to repair and rebuild internal organs, you may experience headache, uneasiness, flu like symptoms and fatigue. This is called a healing crisis. You may feel worse before you feel better. As you continue to improve, you may begin a process called retracing. For example, if you used to get skin rashes, the rashes may reappear or get worse for a period of time as your body eliminates toxins through the skin. You may also experience an initial increase in urination, or you may feel more nervous. In actuality, you are not getting worse, you are actually getting better. Eventually you will reach a plateau of better health. During the healing crisis, it is important to not suppress these temporary symptoms with drugs or the healing process may become interrupted."

and this

"One crisis is not always enough for a complete cure. The person in a chronic "locked" disease state will often have to go through cycles of healing crises, with each one improving the condition some. It has taken time to develop a chronically diseased state, and time is required to let go of the "locked" energy, piece by piece. It's like peeling the layers off an onion.

Often the crisis will come after one feels their very best and most energized, setting the stage for the elimination. The whole body gets into action. Most people feel an energy boost at the beginning until the toxins start dumping into the blood stream for elimination. Go as slowly as your body needs so your elimination is gradual and comfortable.

With a more serious condition, there may be many small crisis to go through before the system can become healthily balanced. Everything must be considered and given its proper place in the build-up to a healing crisis. One should expect it and work with the body, not resentfully against it."


What did our healing crisis look like?  In this order...

• Better connections with both kids, but more-so with Gavin, including significant eye contact
• Spontaneous singing from Grayson (who is normally extremely shy when it comes to performing in any way)
• More affection
• Grayson's snorting and Gavin's defiance significantly increased in frequency and intensity
• Sensory defensiveness increased then fluctuated off and on for a few weeks
• Anger and irritability
• Both became clumsy, knocking things over, bumping into things and hurting themselves
• Disproportionate reactions to anything frustrating
• Yeast symptoms including: hyperactivity, mood swings, emotional liability, anxiety, sensory seeking and defensiveness
• Many bowel changes (I won't gross you out with the details)
• Repeated hiccup episodes, from both boys
• Familial awareness in Gavin that never existed before (ie - one night he wouldn't let me in the kitchen while he surprised me with cleaning off the entire kitchen table from dinner, he's only 3)
• Longer periods of the boys playing together
• Gavin lost two chunks of hair from the scalp which is smooth where the hair was
• Lack of focus
• Explosive behaviors
• Pain in ears for both (severe, like ear infections) which only lasted a day for each
• Lethargy
• Incredibly fidgety
• Grayson began exhibiting tics we haven't seen in a while like head-tilting, jaw stretching and ear and head swatting
• More irrational anger and hyperactivity
• Gavin randomly experimenting with unknown foods and eating veggies
• OCD in Grayson
• Increased cooperation with both boys listening to me without argument
• Increased hitting from Gavin
• Bedtime routine more streamlined, less frantic
• Sporadic sleep disturbances (not able to fall asleep, waking in the night, early waking)
• Moods becoming more consistently happy with less of the above intermittently
• Physical symptoms coming and going in Gavin: significant bloating, increased keratosis on arms, red spot like an inflammation under one eye, very dark circles under the eyes, broken blood vessels in one eye which increased when dose was increased, and eye pains for about a week
• Grayson's tummy remaining flatter than ever
• Increase in die-off symptoms appearing 45 minutes after dose, this increased to an hour and then it went away completely
• Still seeing disproportionate irritability in Gavin and randomly with Grayson
• Unsolicited report from school about Gavin having a "great day" and he's never really had a bad day
• Grayson's snorting decreasing after going through a clear runny nose that burned his nose and lips for days
• Increased cooperative play between the two boys
• Grayson's mood consistently improving, only appropriately proportionate moments of frustration which diffuse easily
• Gavin's BMs still changing, but many great ones in between
• Gavin responding well to our requests
• Intermittent yeasty signs coming and going, but since adding in Allimax (liquid garlic) this has tapered off quite a bit
• Sensory defensiveness in both is gone
• Intermittent bloating as doses are increased for Gavin
• Old scar on Grayson's face fading, not as pink as before
• Still seeing some random die-off symptoms, but less frequently and shorter in duration
• Gavin expressing himself more vocally and clearly
• My requests are met with a simple, "ok"
• Consistent happiness all day, in both
• Appropriate irritation for age of boys and tied to specific events
• Gavin's keratosis is slowly clearing up 

So what does this mean exactly?  Well first I must say that we have gotten past many of the above symptoms.  Considering we've spent over a month with our children off of anti-microbials completely and we've seen incredible improvements says a lot more than my words can ever spell out here.

** UPDATE - To see our OAT results after a month and a half on these probiotics (with NO antimicrobials or antibiotics), click here.
  
Now I would like to share some links with you about SBOs.


Soil-based organisms and immune function


22 Ways soil-based organisms build dynamic health


Collective writings of SBO probiotics by Dr. Rosthschild


I've chosen a particular brand (Body Biotics), because of it's pure ingredients.  There are only a handful out there to begin with, but many are made with maltodextrin (made from corn and I would guess probably GMO), and contain traces of soy and dairy.  Some contain ingredients like chlorella and spirulina which are unsafe for mercury toxic people.  Body Biotics is the brand that Jordan Rubin used to heal himself from death's door, when Crohn's Disease had taken the best of him.  He went on to create his own product, but Body Biotics remains to be the purest formula my research has found.  

My husband and I have also been using this product with great success.  In fact, it's recommended that all members of the family at least use a maintenance dose since pathogens are shared and will just pass back and forth, reinfecting each other.  I am also off all of my anti-microbials!! =)

**UPDATE September 14, 2018 - I have since found a probiotic that we like even better than the Body Biotics. You are free to try whichever brand resonates with you, of course, but if you have a child with potential histamine issues, Body Biotics will aggravate things, even though they bring healing, as well. We have been using flourish by Entegro which is never frozen, freeze dried or powdered.  This probiotic is also a consortium like Body Biotics and it contains soil based organisms, but the kicker with this one is that it doesn't contain any histamine.  When I contacted the developer, Jarod Work, to ask about histamine, he informed me that they had third party lab testing done to confirm that there are no detectible histamines in this probiotic! This was quite evident to us when for the first time, we were able to give a probiotic without ANY negative effects.  We went slow with the introduction, because historically, my kids have always reacted to probiotics (as many kids on the spectrum do) and I have since learned that this may be related to histamine. They don't tolerate fermented foods well either. My husband and I began to notice subtle changes that were happening pretty early on. We saw this immediate calm come over both boys, their edge was gone!! They weren't fighting and bickering constantly like they had in the past. Their hyperactivity calmed significantly and even more impressive was the focus and maturity that we witnessed as we began to increase the dose to the recommended dose. I was so impressed with this probiotic that I have decided to become a consultant for the company (it's free to sign up as a consultant, btw!).  You can find these amazing probiotics here.  You can click on this link to join my Facebook group to learn more, as well as hearing about special promotions that they run frequently.

**UPDATE January 2019 - Since having conducted a handful of UBiome tests on myself, I have discovered that the only probiotics to sway health from an overall perspective, is flourish!  My testing spanned the timeframe from June 2017 to January 2019 (so far, as I have another in the pipeline, pun intended!).  In that time, I methodically changed things to see how the testing would respond.  Three tests were conducted while taking various probiotics and my test in May of 2018 even had me taking 4-5 SBO capsules, Seeking Health histamine blocker probiotics AND a prescription strength Oxalabacter Formigenes probiotic!  The only testing that shows improvements in my bowel disease ratios and bacterial diversity are the tests post-flourish and it began within just months of taking flourish.

This test is from three months before starting flourish.  You can see that my gut condition was souring into the red zone!  This meant my microbiome was prone to bowel disease and at the time, I was having some abdominal pain randomly, especially after eating.  My stools were inconsistent too. 

This test was conducted less than 2 months after starting flourish and you can see the incredible improvements already documented!  I had dropped all the other probiotics I was taking and had started dosing flourish slowly so for the first month I wasn't even at a full dose!

And here we have GREEN!  Two of the markers are in the green!  Under 5 months on flourish.  

June of 2017 levels of Akkermansia 

January 2019 levels of Akkermansia!

We can all use a little GABA.  My mood has been incredibly consistent since starting flourish.  I can be a better parent now that I don't explode over every little thing!

Did you know that probiotics produce nutrients that are absorbed in the colon which effects systemic vitamin levels, as opposed to supplemental vitamins which are absorbed in the proximal part of our small intestine? It has been proven that probiotics produce a huge number of vitamins, such as:

• Vitamin A

• Vitamin K

• Vitamins B1-B3, B5-B7, B9, B12

• Essential Fatty Acids

So perhaps the need for B-vitamin supplementation is really a call for proper probiotic colonization. The importance of B-vitamins in our health can’t be overstated – they activate our genetic pathways, produce energy, enhance detoxification and allow our cells to survive.

Additionally, probiotics also increase the digestibility, bioavailability and processing of a large number of nutrients, including:

• copper

• calcium

• magnesium

• iron

• manganese

• potassium

• zinc

• proteins

• fats

• carbohydrates

• sugars

• milk

• phytonutrients

• cholesterol

A tablespoon a day can keep the doctor away (wink)


My probiotic levels only reached "moderate" after starting flourish!

To read more about flourish - https://jessica.entegrohealth.com

To join my Facebook group where I post a lot of studies and members share their experiences - https://www.facebook.com/groups/letsflourishjessica/

The three year wait

I have waited THREE YEARS for today.  I couldn't imagine life like this and both my husband and I got teary eyed acknowledging that we are getting there....We've seen hints of it, little glimmers that it was possible, but nothing ever like this.

The three year wait....for what?  I'm not talking about a doctor waiting list or an opening in a highly respected school, I am not even talking about finally having a nice night out alone with my husband (Lord knows we need that!).  What is different about today is that Grayson just went through a round of chelation (low, frequent oral dose) without a single regression!!  His belly remained flat, he slept well and didn't have any bed wetting incidents, he woke happy and stayed happy through the entire round, no irritation, he's been patient, cooperative, helpful, independent, flexible, very affectionate to us AND to Gavin....I am completely and utterly amazed!  For those who know what I am talking about, seeing a round with no regression is nothing short of a miracle.  Our kids have ALWAYS regressed on round, and sometimes pretty significantly.  They always came out of it a few days later and often with gains they didn't have before, but the round itself was like a living hell.  That is why we can only handle one round every two weeks.  We are now post round by one day and STILL nothing negative!!  Everyone went to sleep well without melatonin.  We even increased his ALA recently!  He reacted SO severely to our original addition of ALA and then again with any subsequent increases, we even had to reduce our increases numerous times because he wasn't handling it well.

We just finished round 63 and I had heard that when you get past round 60, things start changing for the better.  When we reached round 60, things were actually getting worse!!  So this comes as a huge surprise that we would see a round this good so soon after those traumatizing days. He's been doing really well lately, but this just tops the cake!

I don't know, if all rounds will be such a breeze, and frankly I don't care.  If we only have one of these rounds every now and then, it has shown me what is possible.  I am grateful for the reminder of what we are working so hard to recover.  When I look back to where we started, how incredibly difficult life was every single day, I want to cry tears of joy for the progress we have made, and believe me, I do.  I have never been more grateful for anything in my entire life, it gives me goosebumps.

We've had parent teacher conferences with both boys' schools in the past week and our children are not just doing well, they are excelling and flourishing.  They are respectful, well rounded children and I am proud to know that they will be astounding members of our community some day, because of this intense labor of love.

In honor of all of the recovering children out there, if you are a biomed mom, please raise your right hand....higher, higher.....now bend it and pat yourself on the back!  You deserve it.  This is no easy road, in fact, it is downright grueling at times.  Life changes and we accept it and challenge it, we take the bull by the horns and we dominate this illness like warriors!!  And thanks to all those who paved the path before me, my children are living proof that this IS reversible, healing the immune system IS possible!

I am a firm believer in living one day at a time, and this is one heck of a day...

Quick or right?

The question here is, do you want to heal yourself and/or your children quickly or properly?  I see a lot of biomed moms reaching at straws, looking for the magic bullet to heal their kids TODAY.  This is some sort of a mesh between biomedicine and our brainwashed alopathic medicine way of thinking, isn't it?  We are so trained to think we can pop a pill and cure a disease overnight.  The key word there is cure....we aren't curing ANYTHING by popping a pharmaceutical pill.  What are you doing?  You are suppressing symptoms and making things worse.  If you don't get to the root of the reason for the symptom in the first place, you aren't healing or curing anything.  But this isn't the purpose of this entry, actually so I will try not to get sidetracked.  Darn hot-buttons!!

My point here is that even us biomed moms can get caught up in wanting to try anything that will heal our kids even faster.  Well, I have news for you moms, it took years for this sort of genetic mutation and environmental damage to do it's work on you (your mom, your kids) and it's going to take just a teeny weeny bit more time to heal your children from this passed on type of toxicity.

I am certainly not suggesting that anyone stop looking for ways to think outside of the box or to help your child heal faster, BUT with that said, also be prepared to just settle for the tried and true to get you through.  I spend just about every day reading, learning and researching, as well as connecting directly with other moms who are going through this very same life. The recurrent theme I see developing is that those who heal most thoroughly follow a very strict diet, they work on nutritional deficiencies and they get the metals out.....for years.  When the metals are removed, all the rest will fall into place, it's that simple really, but patience is the key, because it is going to take time.

When we first decided on low frequent dose oral chelation we were convinced that we would be doing this for a year tops and we would have our perfectly recovered healthy child at the end of the tunnel.  So.....it's been two years  (3 with biomed) and although we have come a LONG way in recovery, we still have such a very long road ahead of us.  Our children are virtually indistinguishable from their peers, but this doesn't come easily.  They are still on hoards of supplements, require special diets, and will probably require years of slow, safe detoxing.  The part to come to grips with is that this is ok.  It is going to take a lot of dedication, sacrifices, perseverance and time, but that is ok, isn't it?

A lot of people question who they should trust when it comes to chelation, DAN! doctors or Andy Cutler and here is my take on this....Andy Cutler is a biochemist, meaning he is specifically trained to know what these chemicals do in our bodies.  He understands their half-lives and how they work, not to mention the fact that he recovered himself from being horribly ill, using this very same method of chelation. How many doctors out there do you know who are chemists? None.

So next time you get the inkling to try IV chelation, because you think bigger is better or a glutathione push, because well, glutathione is low so that MUST be the problem, right?.....or you hear about some new trendy supplement that claims to cure it all, don't get caught up in the glory, just take a deep breath and remember that recovery is not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Book review for a fabulous mercury recovery memoir

When I was contacted by author Aine Ni Cheallaigh, to review her new memoir, “Getting the Mercury Out”, I admit to having selfish reasons for wanting to read it.  As a fellow-mercury poisoned reader, I knew I would identify with her, but little did I know that I would connect with her experiences on so many different levels...even areas of my life that I didn’t know to relate to my own mercury exposures.  I never could place a finger on my anxiety and uncontrollable distress during my college years.  Considering I had 8 of my 9 fillings put in when I was 14 years old, my deteriorating moods suddenly made sense!

By page 9, I was already hooked.  I felt as though I could feel her words coming from my very own mouth, right down to the self-diagnosing!  The paragraph below particularly hits home:

“In later years, when I learned about mercury toxicity, I read about how the first symptoms manifest as subtle emotional changes.  Depression creeps in.  There is an unwarranted sensitivity and irritability.  Emotional reactions become less reasonable, even as the mercury toxic person insists that their reaction is a totally logical response to their circumstances.”

I also had a good laugh when she described how the sheer number of pills she had to take daily didn’t fit into her pill organizer.  I struggle with my own pill organizers every time I try to cram all those damn pills into the little cubbyholes they were intended to fit into.  It’s clear that these organizers were not made for mercury toxic people!  I love that she brings humor to everyday annoyances that can sometimes seem so disturbing to the mercury-toxic brain.  A sign of a good author is one who can strategically force a smile on your face even while sharing a serious account of ill health. 

By the time I reached her recollection of the nightmare commonly known as the “dump phase”, I was confident that I was looking into the crystal ball known as my future.  Although I already know to expect this phase, I didn’t know how devastating it really could be.  It’s clear to me now how the sum of such symptoms combined with a child’s neurological development and smaller organs would equate to an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.  Aine herself experienced something that put her squarely on the spectrum, temporarily! 

I feel better equipped to weather the storm ahead now.

Aine delicately balances the intrigue of her personal story with the dark facts surrounding mercury poisoning, combine that with how to successfully heal from this devastating illness and you have a powerful story with purpose.  Once a non-believer in alternative healing herself, she eloquently shares the intricate details that turn her around, making her such a believer in alternative health that she wants to shout it from rooftops....or store shelves, lol. 

“Getting the Mercury Out” is an easy and interesting read, the story kept my interest from cover to cover.  I found myself reaching for the book whenever I had a few precious moments to myself and before I knew it, I was passing the book to my husband encouraging him to read it so that he would better understand what I am facing, since this ultimately effects him as much as it does me.

If you suspect heavy metal toxicity in yourself or a loved one, this book is a great place to start.  It is also a nice memoir for those who would like to identify with a story similar to theirs.  I have read multiple mercury poisoning books, but they tend to be technical and hard to follow for a beginner.  “Getting the Mercury Out” will encourage you, inspire you and educate you in one fell swoop.

Click here for a Kindle version of this book

Is it the chicken or the egg?

I have often said that I am learning more about my own health through my children, but lately, it seems to be the reverse.  In the process of preparing to have my dental revision (replacement of amalgams and cavitations cleaned out), I am learning more about my health status which is in turn, helping me understand the deficiencies in my children! For the first time since starting biomedicine, I really feel like I am coming full circle with the whole picture.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been found to have low sodium, am borderline hypothyroid, have an enlarged thyroid, my cholesterol is too low, my MCV, MCH, and BUN are high and as odd as it sounds my eyeballs and thyroid are holding onto mercury.  There were many other findings, but these are significant.

A huge piece of the puzzle comes into play with the thyroid which is often one of the first organs to be effected by mercury poisoning.  Even before I had my blood work done, I had ordered and started using iodine, based on symptoms I was having (especially being cold and tired all the time lately).  I also was able to tie it to the kids and their symptoms which includes pathogenic and viral overgrowth as well as an inability to detox, among many other things.  In the process of ramping up my dose, I began having odd sensations and a fogginess in my eyes along with frontal headaches.  The symptoms were often reduced quite a bit by doing something called salt loading (when I load up on a sea salt with high mineral content), and since I have found out I am low in sodium, this makes complete sense.  You can see the basic iodine protocol here.  I have also read that iodine encourages natural detox, hence the eyes burning and acting up!  I've read some truly amazing stories about others who have changed their lives by addressing their thyroid problems naturally.  What I also find interesting is most of us struggling with this are under the medical radar, because our test results put us in the "normal" range.  There is actually a "Type 2" hypothyroidism that is going undetected in a huge part of the population, because of doctors who primarily treat the test results rather than the patient and his or her clinical symptoms.  The reason it isn't showing up on tests, is because there are sufficient levels of thyroid hormones being produced, it's how the body is using them (or in our cases, not using them) that differs!!

"Type 2 hypothyroidism is defined as peripheral resistance to thyroid hormones at the cellular level. It is not due to a lack of adequate thyroid hormones. Normal amounts of thyroid hormones and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) are detected by the blood tests; therefore, blood tests do not detect Type 2 hypothyroidism. Type 2 hypothyroidism is usually inherited. However, environmental toxins may also cause or exacerbate the problem."

Well that certainly makes sense to me.  These people tend to show physical signs as they progress with the illness, like puffy eyes and faces.  They retain weight regardless of their diet and work out programs and they often experience bouts of depression and fatigue.  Goodness, this sounds like more than half of America, if you ask me!  Check out this link for before and after treatment pictures that will blow you away!  I've been lucky enough to not have the puffiness or weight gain, but that is probably where another large part of my large puzzle comes into play....

Low cholesterol.  Society has been so brainwashed to think we need our cholesterol lowered.  This is not so, in fact, a healthy total cholesterol is 222mg/dL!! which is above the lab range of 125-200mg/dL. Yet again (surprise, surprise) the lab testing ranges are wrong!  People who have under 160mg/dL are predisposed to violent behavior, suicide, depression, anxiety, delinquency, bipolar disease, Parkinson's disease, manganese deficiency, celiac disease, hyperthyroidism, liver disease, malabsorption, and malnutrition.  This is because cholesterol plays an important role in many physiological factors in the body.  The formation of sterol hormones, cell membranes and bile acids, would not be possible without cholesterol!  I found this in a newsletter (again, the universe is speaking to me, I ALWAYS get ironically timely newsletters related to what is going on with our family!) from Great Plains Labs....tell me if this doesn't sound like autistic children?!

"lower cholesterol values were also found in chronic fatigue syndrome and in children with dyslexia, a difficulty in reading. More recently, it has been discovered that cholesterol is needed to activate a protein called Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) which plays a central role in neural patterning, mood regulation, and cerebral development.  This could be why individuals with cholesterol deficiency are more prone to aggressive behavior, lack of attention, increased number of infections, and motor difficulty. Cholesterol is essential for the proper functioning of serotonin receptors which are responsible for good mood and oxytocin receptors needed for good social interactions and interpersonal bonding. "

Check out this article from Great Plains Labs

It goes on further to say, regarding medical grade supplementation of cholesterol

"Parents reported that their children were sleeping through the night, overcoming aggressive behaviors, learning to walk, speaking and becoming more responsive to family members.  Other parents reported a decrease in the rate of infections, reduced skin rashes, reduction in self-injurious behaviors, improved muscle tones, rapid growth and improved behavior overall.  It was reported that one autistic adult, without speech, even spoke for the first time. "

I tend to wonder if any of the autistic children out there are even being monitored for cholesterol levels?!  This make so much sense, especially since the foods that contain the higher amounts of cholesterol are shellfish/seafood, breads, soy, eggs, and dairy!  I know for us, we are avoiding all but one of those foods and most of these kids tend to be sensitive to eggs too!  Is it the chicken or the egg?

New Beginnings makes a medical grade cholesterol supplement that offers 250mg of cholesterol per capsule, that is equal to one egg.  It's called Sonic Cholesterol and requires a doctor referral to buy.

What does this have to do with my children?  For one, the low cholesterol....probably genetic, but also would make sense that children who do not eat the foods listed above (just about all kids using biomedicine) are on the low side.  Grayson's total cholesterol was 152.  Do you think ANY Doctor mentioned this to us?  All they did was look at the items that were "out of range" per the lab standards, and even those items were brushed off.  In fact, both of my boys had elevated MCH, MCV and BUN, like me!  I have read in Andrew Cutler's book, Amalgam Illness, that elevated MCH and MCV is very typical of those with mercury poisoning.

Symptoms of low iodine in children are: slow growth (bingo), low muscle tone (bingo), lack of stomach acid (bingo), frequent infections (bingo), overgrowth of yeast and bacteria (bingo)....so far five for five.  And, according to Ayurvedic practionner Dr Douillard, "iodine protects our body’s cells from Chlorine, bromine and fluorine that can be carcinogenic in high concentrations. Heavy metals, pesticides, pollutants, compete for iodine receptors in our bodies, and if our iodine levels are low, the receptors get filled with the toxins instead."  Ahem, need I say more here? 

I see now why the symbol for autism is the piece of a puzzle.  We literally have to take bits and pieces of information from varying sources to piece together our children's health status.  Only this will allow us to put it all back together, AKA - recovery!  There is not one doctor, that I know of so far, addressing each and every one of these topics.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg, I'm sure!!  I would like to reiterate to ANYONE trusting just one doctor to find all of the answers for you....DON'T!  Get out there and research, find your own answers, scour internet sites, forums, books, read about your specific child's test results, even if they aren't off the typical ranges.  We get so hooked on scanning down that column "out of range" and breathing a sigh of release when nothing is in that column, but look at their numbers, are there any patterns emerging, are they close to the edge of the range....if there are unanswered questions in your mind, don't wait around for someone else to answer them.  In some cases, even taking a look at your own (and your partner's) health can shed light on what is going on, after all they ARE our offspring.

The name of the game

Two steps forward, one back....that's the name of the game when your child is recovering from the onslaught of daily toxins with a compromised immune system. 

As you might have seen from my previous post, we had a LOT of great improvements occurring, but of course I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop....and so it did (sigh).  When there are so many overlapping treatments, it's really very hard to know which are causing or helping what.  We spend a lot of time chasing symptoms, trying to address each one as they come and go.  I'm not going to lie, some of it is guess-work, but after two years of this, typically there is some sort of history to pull from.  I have to admit though, this time around, I am stumped, because with homeopathy, there are two possibilities: aggravation or the need for a higher potency.  I find myself confused about whether to take a break or increase the drops.  My gut is telling me to hold off on the remedy and watch for a few days, because what I felt like we were experiencing last night was more of a worsening of symptoms that already exists (not that the remedy isn't a match) but possibly that he is getting too much of it and we are seeing a slight proving of the remedy.  In case you don't already know, proving in homeopathy, is when a person is exhibiting the very symptoms that the remedy is intended to treat.  In a healthy person, giving them a high dose of a remedy causes provings, which is exactly how homeopathy is tested.  In person taking the right remedy, it's possible to see mild provings when they are taking too much of the remedy. 

Want to know how it all went down last night?  Ok, so we had these fabulous days of progress, everything was going great, he was flexible, patient, happy....then yesterday we noticed some minor set-backs like a growing irritation with daily routine, less flexibility, even a slight belly by sunset.  We were thinking that because he had such a rough night of sleep the night before, he was just tired, but now thinking back, perhaps the rough night of sleep was our first indication that something was brewing.  (note to self - when sleep is disrupted, hold off on remedy)  So even with the irritations, he was still unbelievably calm and went to bed GREAT!  He fell asleep fast, which is not usually the case when something isn't right, so again, we were thinking we were right on track.  9:30 pm rolls around and he started crying.  Usually if something like this happens from a bad dream, he just needs a little attention, we rub his head, let him know we are there and he falls right back to sleep.  Not this time!!  An hour later, I was still trying to calm an irritable, crying, frantic and unreasonable child.  He would calm for a short time and it would all start back up again.  He couldn't keep his legs still, he was thrashing and flipping and screaming.  The poor thing was so tired, but he just couldn't relax and sleep. Something obviously wasn't right with his body.  I ran an epsom salt bath for him thinking the warm water and salts would sooth him, well he fought that too, screaming, kicking, holding onto door jambs to prevent from being brought into the bathroom, but I knew he needed it so I calmly reassured him that this is going to help him feel better and get back to sleep.  He tried smacking the water out of the tub and screaming at us.  He wouldn't listen to calm rational talk and he was fidgeting rather than relaxing, so I finally closed the shower curtain so he couldn't see us and I told him when he is ready to start breathing calmly and steadily (his breaths were jagged, frantic, short, choppy attempts) he could get out.  It took him a while to get control over himself, but he did and within a few minutes, he was relaxing against the side of the tub breathing in deeply through his nose and out through his mouth like I taught him.  This has always been my method for trying to get him to calm himself, focus on deep breathing, open the airways, stop holding his breath.  He had been holding his breath which causes panic.  Once he was relaxed, he came out talking more calmly and ready for rest.  He was telling me that he is sad and he doesn't want to go to school because he misses us.  He has always loved school so I don't know, if this is the cause of the mood or the result of something else going on with his body, but it's a sign that something isn't going well.  And that is the beauty of this process, it's all experimental and hindsight tells us more than the moment we are experiencing.  Just because he could be great for a few days in a row, doesn't mean we have crossed a bridge, it's quite the jagged path!