Reishi Mushrooms AKA Ganoderma Luciderm

I personally have been using this for over a year which resulted in much better sleep, less hayfever when the seasons come and go, a more calm overall feeling, and probably many more benefits that I haven't even linked to the reishi.

I know exactly what you are thinking.....So what is it and how do you get it?? Reishi Mushroom is technically known as Ganoderma Luciderm and is a medicinal mushroom with very coarse texture, like the bark of a tree. It can't be eaten like a portabella, but it's extract can be taken in various forms. There are special healing effects of Ganoderma herb on circulatory system, nervous system and immune system as well as its anti-cancer effects. This is not a theory, it's been scientifically studied for years with proven numerous health benefits!! It is used in Japan for their mainstream cancer treatments, it's not even considered alternative medicine there.

Here are just some of the benefits of the reishi mushroom:

Reishi is commonly used for:

• Longevity and prevention of diseases
• Insomnia
• Stress
• Influenza and common cold
• Asthma
• Allergies
• Cancer
• Hypertension
• Heart Disease
• High Cholesterol (LDL)
• Diabetes
• Headache
• Stomach ache
• Arthritis
• Back pain
• Skin Care
• Hair loss
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
• Hepatitis

The scientific data accumulated over the past 30 years help explain why Reishi is effective in all parts of our body:

• Immune System
  • Cancer: Reishi is an effective anti-tumor medicine
  • Common Cold
  • Influenza
  • Cough
  • Inflammation
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Allergies
  • Lupus
  • Stomatitis (canker sores)
  • Reishi acts as an antioxidant against free radicals
  • Reishi protects against the effects of radiation
  • Reishi has anti-inflammatory effects
• Respiratory System
  • Asthma
  • Chronic Bronchitis
• Endocrine System
  • Problems associated with Menopause
  • Irregular mentruation
• Nervous System
  • Insomnia
  • Neurasthenia
  • Stress-induced tension
  • Over-sleep
  • Headache
  • Toothache
  • Cataracts
  • Muscular Dystrophy
  • Myasthenia Gravis
• Circulatory System
  • Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
  • Hypotension (Low Blood Pressure)
  • Coronary Heart Disease
  • Arteriosclerosis
  • Arrhythmia
  • Stroke
  • Reduction of Cholesterol (LDL)
  • Anemia
  • Cold Extremities
  • Hemorrhoid
  • Elevation sickness
• Digestive System
  • Gastroenteritis
  • Ulcer
  • Hepatitis
  • Liver Necrosis
  • Reishi regenerates the liver
  • Obesity -- Reishi removes fat in the blood
  • Underweight -- Reishi improves appetite
  • Diabetes
  • Constipation
  • Diarrhea
  • Gallstones
• Skin
  • Aging of the skin
  • Ugly spots on the skin
  • Acne
  • Hair loss
  • Dermatitis
• Excretory System
  • Nephritis

We currently give the boys Reishi in a Reishi-Carob syrup that is to die for. I've never tasted such a yummy supplement!! I HIGHLY recommend this product!! You can use it in shakes, in cereal, you can mix it into milk substitutes and Grayson likes it right in his mouth like a little treat, ha ha ha. We get it from Brainchild Nutritionals - http://www.brainchildnutritionals.com/Feel_Good_Reix.html

Round 2

Round 2 went much better than round 1, we cut his DMSA dose in half and stayed on top of yeast. We also used high doses of buffered vitamin C (from cassava) with magnesium to address irritation and it works like a charm! We started to see spaciness and agitation, I addressed yeast and irritation in one shot and our child was wonderful in a matter of no time. So far the day following the round is going perfect too, phew!!

Round one - Success!

We got through round one with flying colors and if it's any indication of how Grayson will be after chelation is done....(doin' the happy dance)!! He was amazing during the round, calm, well behaved, happy, patient, he was showing signs of very complex thoughts, what more could the parents of a three year old ask for? Maybe if he could just put his toys away without being asked....ok, maybe that is asking too much still, so anyways...

This is a cute little story showing some of the things we experienced while on round. We took him out to lunch (with his own foods, of course) but he read the kid's menu anyway and wanted a side of sliced apples with his lunch. He couldn't wait to order it himself and practically blurted it out while flapping the menu at the waitress before she was done introducing herself. He enjoyed his lunch and apples, chatting along with us throughout lunch like a mini-man. After lunch, he grabbed the survey questionnaire, which we have never explained to him by the way, and promptly said while looking at the card, "I want to say thank you to her, do you have a pen? How do you write thank you?" Dave and I looked at each other with our jaws dropped, very obviously having to digest what he just said. We spelled the words, he very neatly wrote even sized letters on the lines and then circled all the "3"s "because he is three!", ha ha ha. Of course, we had to explain to her why she only got a rating of all threes, but she was thrilled with her little survey card from Grayson and he was thrilled with the smile it resulted in from her.

Our weekend was full of little tidbits like this. He was flourishing, intelligent beyond his years! He was also very tired by the end of each day though and for two of the three nights, he told US when he was ready to go up to bed, the last day it was 6:30pm! He slept like a rock between doses and woke up at 8am every day, fully rested and rearing to go, dressed before he came into our room and smiling ear to ear! I had read over and over again to be prepared for the yeast monsters to increase with chelation, but amazingly, they weren't out of control during chelation, it's now, afterwards, that I feel like it's slightly out of control I don't know why that would be. Unfortunately, with the highs that we experienced during the "on" days, come the dreaded days that follow stopping the round....redistribution days. During the round mercury gets flowing out of the body with the aid of the DMSA (it's like an usher, pulling the mercury ions with it, on it's way through the body and out through the urine). The key to dosing is to keep the DMSA actively in the bloodstream (hence the every 4 hour dosing schedule day and night), as soon as that stops, everything that was moving also stops and you guessed it, needs to go somewhere. So the loose mercury will find body tissue to bind with and then you experience the down days of chelation which for some, can be like mercury poisoning all over again. The first day wasn't as bad as I expected, however, day two and three afterwards have been no fun. The yeast is out of control, he is feisty beyond words, he is showing signs of sensory dysfunction all over again (probably the overgrowth of yeast) and I can't seem to dose enough Biotin, OoO and No Phenol to get it completely under control. I can even see that he WANTS so badly to control his emotions, he tries to, he starts to talk with a high pitched wavering squeal that sounds like he is holding back the tears, trying to keep his cool and then he looses it and the anger of his lack of control lets lose. He crashes and smashes things, before running out of the room in tears. It's been a while since he has had these experiences on a regular basis, so I know it must baffle him as much as it does us. So it's on to more reading for me, but overall, I give this process the big thumbs up!!

Chelation begins

So when does one decide to start the long, tedious and slightly frightening process of chelation? Promptly during the most harrowing wind storm the spring can muster up. Why? Because you can't sleep when you have to dose a child through the night anyway, right? As wrong as it sounds, this is exactly how it happened for us. All these weeks we have been gearing up for chelation, just to put it off for one reason or another, like trying to figure out supplements, we finally decided to get on with it.

We started with the very first pill at 5pm on Friday and it was as if we were waiting for some miraculous event to occur the moment it hit his tongue.....there it goes, we can't get it back now, this is it!! We gave it to him and well, went on with the day, feeling relieved, amazingly. Dave and I just kept looking at each other and smiling that smile that said, we are doing it, we are REALLY doing it, finally!! We just needed to remove the weight from our shoulders and do it. Last night was rough, as I mentioned, we had a disturbingly intense wind storm all night complete with power outages, beeping carbon monoxide alarms, pitch dark to enhance the already tedious job of waking Grayson to take pills and setting an alarm clock by moonlight just to lay in our beds restlessly while the storm whipped our siding with force that kept us all a bit tense. At one point, Grayson ran in screaming from across the house, he was terrified, then the baby chose 5am to wake me for his first feeding of the day, nice timing!! Needless to say, we made it through the first night and day. He did really well and today was a bit tired, but the yeast increase wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I was so prepared for a fury of yeast symptoms based on my reading, but he was very mellow, calm and darn tired, poor thing. He even told US when he was ready for bed....7pm!! One more night of this and for once, I think I am actually looking forward to the week days when we can sleep all night and wake at a reasonable hour. Chelation is only done for a few days on "round" and then a break is taken that is at least as long as the days on, so most people chelating kids will do it on weekends so as not to disturb their school week since it can produce tired and "stimmy" kids. Works for me! We are one day closer to complete recovery. I so often see bits and pieces of the magnificent, calm, intelligent, patient, sweet, caring, and did I say calm little boy we know we can have on a daily basis. I can't wait to experience this day in and day out and I can tell you that I will never again take for granted the simplicity of normal life, with normal foods and no horrendous meltdowns over things like shoes, sleeves, wind, sun, birds under the deck, oh you get the point. We are headed there and today was the first step in that direction. Onward I say...