And the results are in....drumroll please?!

After just under one and a half months on the Body Biotics soil-based organism probiotics, see for yourself!

I know the new test is a little more difficult to read.  The orange bar in the center is the median range, but the actual range is much larger than that, and spans the entire distance to the black lines on either side of the orange bar.  If his results were considered high or low for a category, there would be a red H or L in the number column and the diamond would be outside of the normal range with a red diamond.

Those tests say more than anything I can write here!  HPHPA from 413 to 26?!?!  Yeast at normal levels?!?! Clostridia was a ***ch to fight, antibiotics never worked, natural antimicrobials kept things almost at bay, but we couldn't remove them without a significant backslide, and who wants their child on high doses of antimicrobials three times a day, indefinitely?   I can say, with certainty, that these probiotics are our saving grace.  They do everything they say they do!

We have Gavin's results too, but since it was our first OAT for him, we have nothing to compare to.  His 3-oxoglutaric was just slightly elevated, which means he had a little bit of a yeast overgrowth, but nothing else showed markers of dysbiosis and no bacteria issues, although his numbers were slightly higher than Grayson's.  I'm sure the results directly related to the dose of the probiotics, because Grayson was worked up to 6 capsules and Gavin was only at 3.  A friend's daughter who is the same age as Gavin, was also at 6 capsules and her numbers look almost exactly like Grayson's.  She had confirmed Clostridia with a level of 393 in December, plus a confirmed case of Candida Krusei.  Her results are clean for Candida Krusei and her HPHPA (clostridia) marker came down to 22!  Also in just under one and a half months!  We have also had two mainstream stool tests done on Gavin and both the bacteria and yeast testing came back completely clean, they were done more recently.  I don't normally put a lot of weight in these tests, but our friend's yeast testing resulted in two forms of yeast at one point, so I know they can pick things up, if they are there.  Regardless, the OAT and the stool testing are my confirmation that things are under control, with NO ANTIMICROBIALS OR ANTIBIOTICS!  What a breath of fresh air to say that!

If you want to know more about these probiotics, click here.

With the good news comes the bad...isn't that always the way?  When we ran our battery of tests on the boys, we have finally confirmed PANDAS (among other things, including a compound heterozygous gene mutation) for Grayson.  I have always suspected it, but never had the titers to prove it, well now I do.  He was in a flare and sure enough both titers came out over 400. My motto is and has always been....one day at a time.  My research continues!

Now we are focusing on the PANDAS, and hoping that the complimentary combination of the probiotics and homeoapthy will do the trick.  Stay tuned!

Another toothpaste recipe

I know, I have another toothpaste recipe in my blog, but if you are a biomed parent, you understand how your child's sensitivities can change like the wind!  It's very hard to find a preservative-free, GFCFSF, mint-free, flavor-free, low-salicylate, toothpaste that is also free of excitotoxins.  That is a mouthful, isn't it?  Literally, tehehe.

 I haven't had time to write about our latest dietary adventures, but I can tell you that my new toothpaste recipe is in direct relation to some things, ok a lot of things, we are trying to avoid.  I will refer to the original toothpaste post for all the reasons to avoid commercial toothpastes, toxins at their best, and YES they do get into your bloodstream via the blood vessels in you mouth.  You can read more about that here.  In the meantime, as a home-schooling, multi-chef-hat-wearing, uber-researching, no-time-for-me mommy, I am going to get on with this post.  =)

Ingredients
-1/2 C. water
-1/2 C. xylitol (birch sourced only)
-1/4 C. baking soda
-1/8 C. Redmond's sea salt (independently tested as being the lowest in heavy metals)
-1/4 tsp food grade hydrogen peroxide (optional)

I have to warn you that this recipe is very salty, so if you have an aversion to salt flavor, you could reduce the salt in the recipe, but it's very good for cleaning, mineralizing and offering a safe abrasion for scrubbing the surface of the teeth so I wouldn't remove it completely.  You could add flavorings, if you tolerate them, in the form of essential oils, but be aware that they are very high salicylate.

Heat all of the ingredients, except the hydrogen peroxide, just to the boiling point, then reduce to low.  Let this simmer until the liquid is all gone, stirring frequently.  It will take a while, so do something else rather than watching the pot, lol.  When it's fairly thick, like a paste, turn off the heat and let it cool.  If you are adding the hydrogen peroxide, add it here and then blend in a blender or the Magic Bullet which is just the right size for small recipes like this.  Your toothpaste will be less of a paste and more of a thin gel.

I like to keep ours in a glass dropper bottle.  After we use up a supplement, I clean it out with boiling water, take the dropper out and cut an X in the tip of the squeezy part of the dropper cap.  Shake well, turn it over and squeeze the dropper cap to dispense!  It works like a charm!  You could also use a nice little hand pump lid for the texture of this toothpaste.  A little goes a long way.

My teeth feel super smooth and clean after using this toothpaste, I have even grown to like the saltiness (I didn't at first), it makes my mouth feel clean!