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.