Lightbulb moment!

My husband and I have always noticed that when we don't give our boys grapefruit seed extract (GSE) they respond negatively, almost immediately.  When we had their last stool test done, it showed encouraging results of no yeast or bad bacteria.  Now, we know that yeast can be systemic and may not be in the GI tract, so we never really questioned it beyond that, but I must say, we were slightly perplexed by the fact that they needed the GSE so frequently.  In further reading, I came across some information that made the lightbulb in my dusty brain flicker!

Let me start by edumacating you.

Our natural detox system is broken down in phases in the liver.  The Phase 1 pathway is dependant on many enzymes in our body and is responsible for breaking down toxins for easy transport, but in that process, they actually become more toxic so it's very important for the Phase 2 pathway to step up and remove those toxins from the body, and fast.  If these two phases aren't working together, a toxic bottle-neck occurs.

Here is the layman's picture.  You take your garbage out to the curb for pick-up weekly to keep the house clean (Phase 1).  Let's just say the garbage truck (Phase 2) starts coming less frequently, but you are still putting the garbage out.  It starts to pile up!  It becomes more stinky, toxic!  Now imagine that going on in your blood...

Many people who are mercury toxic have slower Phase 2 cycles, causing the toxins to sit around poisoning the body.  Now more interesting news....GSE slows down Phase 1 liver function.  And even more importantly, methylators like MB-12 and DMG, taurine, glycine and epsom salt baths (sulfation), speed up Phase 2!  Another important part of Phase 2 is....GLUTATHIONE!  Helloooo, mercury toxic and chronically ill people are low in glutathione!  While it's not beneficial to try to take glutathione in the form of a supplement, there are ways to increase your own.  You can take certain supplements like NAC and you can eat foods like avocado, etc.  Click on the link above to learn more about glutathione.

I have always known that the liver phase pathways determine our ability to detox, I never really boiled it down to why the supplements we give the kids effect this process!  (ding, ding, ding)

There is a test that will look at your DNA to determine how your liver is detoxing and because it uses DNA, it is a test that only needs to be done once in a lifetime!  The test by Genova Diagnostics is called DetoxGenomic Profile.  It requires blood work, so you will have to get your doctor involved in this order, but WELL worth knowing!!  I would hate to be giving our children supplements that could slow something down that doesn't need slowing down, especially when it involves our natural detox mechanism.  I know that Grayson is a slow methylator from an organic acid test we have done in the past, so this will inevitably effect his phase 2 pathway.

I love when things make more sense.  This is why I read endlessly.  It creates a deeper understanding to why I work so tirelessly at helping our family get healthy.  It also makes it easier to know when to tweak things as healing occurs.  I wish it was as easy as popping a single pill and moving on with life, but it just isn't that easy.  Recovering from chronic health issues requires a deep understanding of how our bodies work and then years of helping them get back to that healthy place.

Stressing...

We ordered DNA microbiology stool tests for both boys and decided to stop their nutraceuticals Saturday night, after the noon dose, then test mid-day Sunday.  This would give us about 20-24 hours without anything.  Well, it's now Sunday night and Gavin went in his diaper twice during sleep (before waking this morning and again at nap time) so they weren't sample worthy because of the diaper chemicals and Grayson hasn't had to go yet!

I am worrying about the length of time they are going without their nutraceuticals, more for Grayson than Gavin, because of school tomorrow.  I will have to keep him home from school to do this for two reasons.  One is that they give him a dose of his nutraceuticals during school, following a doctor's note.  And the other reason is because I don't want to set him up for failure, if things come to a head during the day.  So far both are doing surprisingly well, but we have experienced the calm before the storm in the past when my husband didn't give them any of their nutraceuticals all weekend while I was away, to see how they would do.  They were great all weekend, things came to a head days later and it was an absolutely horrible time that I would rather not repeat.  It took much longer than a few days to get them back to where they were.  It caused us to have to skip rounds of chelation and my life was incredibly difficult having two going through it at the same time.

One thing I can be sure of is that they will have their nutraceuticals out of their systems for sure.  Mommy might not fair so well over the next couple of days or weeks though.  Wish us luck....

Monday morning update - I had to keep Grayson home from school.  I was hoping they would both go by now so I could get them back on their nutraceuticals and glyconutrients (I stopped those too, since they can effect microbiology).  STILL no BMs in this house, ugh!  I can't believe this, they have both always been SO regular, I could practically set a clock by them and now, the ONE time I need them to go, they don't, neither of them.  I am praying that yeast overgrowth isn't causing some sort of constipation.  That would be quite the double-edged sword!  This morning we have a lot of hyperactivity, aggravation, impatience, and outbursts.  Grayson is doing a little better than Gavin.  Gavin is back to yelling about everything, he can't communicate without screaming and explosive outbursts. 

**OH, as I am writing this, Grayson has to go, YEAY!!  Off to collect a sample, woooo hooo!

Monday evening update - I was finally able to collect a sample from Gavin at about 1:30 today, thank goodness, because all of his old symptoms were back full force: the yelling, explosive outbursts, defiance, crying a lot, red anal ring, and he even had dark circles under his eyes.  Then tonight after a shower, I noticed that the wet dog smell that had been gone, came back slightly. I am convinced now that this was related to pathogen overgrowth. 

I decided to give both boys just half of their usual nutraceutical dose instead of bombarding their body with too much die-off at once.  This proved to be a good idea, because now at 6:30 pm, they are both doing GREAT!  I feel like Grayson didn't even skip a beat with this whole thing, which proves that chelation is really helping him.  Gavin is also back to a fairly level mood again too.  I reintroduced their glyconutrients today too and with that comes the happy faces. For Gavin, the glyconutrients has reinstated lots of thorough speaking.  His speech has most definitely been effected by the glyconutrients!  If this break has proven anything to me, it's that one thing!

Another thing I was able to decipher from this is that the rash Gavin got after starting the glyconutrients is not an intolerance/allergic reaction, because while he was off of them, it didn't change at all.  It had already been slowly drying up before stopping the glyconutrients and it is still in that same condition even after two days without them.  In the past, removing the source of his eczema made almost immediate changes in the rashes, within 24 hours at minimum.  I am convinced that the glyconutrients triggered a detox of some sort, whether it be viral, bacterial, yeast related, or even heavy metal or some other toxin. 

So hopefully we are back to "normal" and in a few weeks we will know what was going on for both of them this weekend when the tests results are in.  I can't wait!!!

Just a few little tidbits on yeast and mercury in honor of stool testing
For those of us going through chelation, we know all too well that yeast is a common complication of mercury.  Our daily attempts to maintain yeast levels is just a management process in place until we can bring mercury levels down with chelation.  It isn't the fix.  For those who are treating yeast regularly and not doing chelation, it's just a bandaid.

These little snippits of information are from Andy Cutlers's book "Amalgam Illness"

• Intestinal overgrowth of yeast is common and often goes along with mercury poisoning.
• Intestinal yeast overgrowth can crowd out the bacteria that produce vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting.
• Excessive yeast can also interfere with vitamin D metabolism in the liver and kidneys, affecting calcium metabolism.
• One very direct test for yeast infection is to administer Nystatin, which kills yeast and see if you react to it (I would recommend GSE which is a natural yeast killer).  If yeast is causing a problem, killing it will exacerbate this problem.  Whatever symptoms flare up when enough yeast are killed are due to the yeast.  If no symptom flareup occurs, then intestinal yeast is present at an appropriate level.
• A low sulfur diet may suppress yeast, a high sulfur diet will feed it as well as one high in sugars and carbohydrates.
• Coffee is a sulfur food, tea has yeast killing tannin.  If you have a yeast problem, take your liquid stimulant in the form of strong black tea instead of coffee.
• Repeated reappearance of skin dryness, hyperkeratosis or other irritation over areas where mercury containing antiseptics have been applied in the previous few years is not uncommon and should not be confused with yeast or fungal reinfection.

Glyconutrients, how's it going?

Tomorrow will be ten days since we started the glyconutrients.  We have been on our therapeutic doses for six of those days. 

Glyconutrients + chelation = rapid detox?
We have also done a chelation round during the first week.  Chelation always sets things off for a few days and this was no exception.  Just about all of the gains we saw, especially in Gavin, were lost during the round.  I would expect that mobilizing metals would have this effect and in fact, if it's true that glyconutrients also enhance detox, I would expect the side effects of chelation to be even worse.  We managed through the round as usual though, just a bit rough here and there.  Grayson was emotional for a short period and then came off of the round like a champ!  Almost NO post round irritation AT ALL!  And the most amazing thing, his tummy was flat starting the last day of chelation and has continued for an entire 4 days straight!  Last night he was slightly bloated just as he went to bed, not exactly sure why, but he was flat again this morning.  Before last night though, the bloating literally did not come back even once during those three days and chelation ALWAYS makes him bloat more!  This was a pleasant surprise and the only thing we did different with this round was use the glyconutrients.  We didn't even use his homeopathic constitutional remedy like we normally do.  He's been waking happy and staying happy, he is flexible, cooperative, playing nicely with his brother, we are just utterly impressed with him!  The morning of his last day on this round of chelation, I came downstairs to find Grayson reading so sweetly to Gavin.  He was asking Gavin to point to things, "Gavin where is the hammer?.....where is something you would use to climb up higher?" referring to a ladder.  Gavin was excitedly reciprocating.  It was so cute!  They waited for breakfast in the front room while reading books, no fighting, no irritation, no questions about where their breakfast is....wow!  Is this what normalcy looks like?  If so, yes please!!

TMI
Something else new that both boys experienced was one odd day of very green, sticky, stringy nasal mucus.  It was something I have never experienced with either of them.  I swear, it was like GLUE!  Eeeeeeeeew!  Sorry for the details, but I found it interesting, especially since both got it on the same day and in both, it was gone the next day. 

Continued speech gains
We continue to see amazing gains in speech with Gavin daily.  He is adding new words to his vocabulary faster than I can even document.  He has always said "cake" for any form of bread and Saturday morning we were making pancakes, the first thing he said to us was, "I want pancakes!"  the entire word, PANCAKES!!  Then on Monday I made them bread and toasted some for breakfast, he promptly indicated that he wanted some "toast".  It's apparent to me that in addition to the added vocabulary, there is an increase in the cognition that comes with the use of these words.  Some might say this is just coincidental and that he was due for a developmental spurt in speech....I would vehemently disagree.  His speech has been slow since it started, this sudden rapid burst of speech occurred exactly when we added the glyconutrients, not a day sooner!  He is even adding slang into his sentences, for example, the other night he said to my husband, "Yeah, I want to see it..."  Yeah? Never heard him say that before either.  And he is suddenly saying, "See, Mommy?" as he turns something towards me to look at.  He is aware enough that he has to turn whatever it is he is referring to so that I can see it at the angle he was viewing it from originally!  Today my husband was working from home downstairs and I was making lunch for us.  I asked Gavin if he wanted to call him to come up for lunch.  I handed him the phone after dialing for him.  He waited for him to pick up at which point he said, "Hi Daddy, I eating, you come up eat." His father said that he was clear as day, he understood every word.  Then he said, "Bye Daddy" and hung up himself!  Oh, that is the other new thing...."ing".  He now uses "ing" to explain when he is doing something like, "I done eating".  Again, this is brand new to him, this week!

Detox or intolerance
One thing I am not sure how to address is a rash on Gavin.  It looks just like eczema he used to get, except that it isn't on his cheeks (yet anyway), it's on his bottom, towards the hip and around the back.  I have read that it's possible to get rashes on the glyconutrients and I know about detox rashes from doing chelation and treating Grayson for latent viruses, but there is something about giving a new supplement and seeing a rash that has me second guessing myself.  My first instinct was to stop giving whatever is causing it!  I read that with the glyconutrients, it's not uncommon to see a resurgence of symptoms in reverse from the order they were acquired.  So seeing the eczema would actually be in line with his personal healing.  The rash appeared during chelation too, which is interesting, because it's possible that the detox was kicked into high gear from the glyconutrients.  Of course, it's still possible that the rash is a reaction to an ingredient, so I am cautious, watching it's progression.  Today it actually looks like it's starting to dry up and it doesn't look any larger than it was the past two days.  I have my fingers crossed that this is a good sign.  I know when clearing a person of viruses, this is a very good sign....so here's to hoping!  Check back for more as we progress.

Preparation for my dental revision

I had written in a previous message about how I made an appointment to have my fillings replaced by a mercury-free dentist in the area.  Well, I canceled that appointment and made another appointment with a different dentist, also in PA, but a good hour and a half away.

I had begun some research about a week before my appointment, to be sure I was doing all the right things pre-removal, like taking the right supplements to build up my immune system and avoiding the right supplements the day of the procedure (vit C interferes with Novacaine), etc.  Boy am I glad I did that, because in much of my reading, I kept seeing reference to something called the "Huggins protocol".  What people were saying is that they were following the Huggins protocol for safe removal of the fillings and the Cutler protocol for chelation.  So in reading more about this protocol, it appeared that I was using a dentist that omitted the MOST important part of the protocol.  It's a process in which the dentist uses a meter to do galvanic readings of the teeth with fillings (they are mini batteries with charges, positive and negative) and then they remove the teeth in sequential order, by quadrant, taking out the teeth with the highest negative reading first, working in order to the teeth/quadrant with the lowest positive reading.  I did a lot of reading about why this is done and regarding the blood chemistry of it all, it just makes sense.  The basic gist of it is that if you remove them out of order, you trigger degeneration in the body (causing the body to attack itself, ahem - autoimmue disease), by removing the highest positive first, you actually encourage RE-generation - AKA - healing!  There is a very technical set of reasons behind it all.   Those who have done it improperly have often experienced a worsening of symptoms and this process can very quickly throw the body into autoimmune disease or worse.

I finished my research the Friday before my appointment, which was a Monday!  Talk about short notice!  My gut was telling me not to go through with it, that it wouldn't be worth the risk.  But I had to balance these thoughts with what my alternative was, so I called the Huggins Alliance and spoke with Stephan Cairns who shed some light on the situation for me.  I was then convinced that I needed to go with my gut and cancel my appointments.  I knew this would mean spending a lot more money and having to travel further for my procedure.  The good news though was that Stephan advised me that THE best Huggins Alliance dentist in the nation was right here in PA, Scranton PA to be exact!  In fact, Stephan himself flew to PA to use her for his own dental revision!  That is encouraging!  Stephan so graciously shared his story with me.  He was a fit young man all his life, working out 6 days a week, he was active and did things like sky diving, scuba diving, etc.  One day he fell going up a flight of stairs and knocked his front teeth out.  So like any unknowing and trusting person, he went to his local dentist and had 4 root canals and 5 crowns in order to repair the devastating damage.  Within 6 months, he was developing numbness, tingling in his limbs and eventually, he couldn't even walk up that same flight of stairs he fell face down on.  The doctor broke it to him, he had MS, multiple sclerosis.  If anyone is familiar with MS, it's a known disease of heavy metal toxicity (but of course, not in mainstream medicine)!  At the time, he didn't know this, the doctor told him it was incurable and that he needed to just get on his meds ASAP.  He refused to believe it!  He still suffered for ten long years, before finding Dr. Huggins, who he now works for!  He flew to Dr. Grube's office, had his own revision done three years ago and in his mid-fifties, he can now do push ups with one hand and he is MS- free!  There are hundreds of stories like this involving cancer, MS and other autoimmune diseases with the Huggins clinic resulting in an 86% recovery rate of those with serious illnesses when they arrive!  Dr. Grube herself was a cancer patient 18 years ago when she had her own revision done by Dr. Huggins himself! 

So is my health worth it, even with the extra cost, you betcha!!  We pay for health insurance, hundreds and sometimes thousands a month, and what do we really gain from that?  Not much, unless you experience a catastrophic emergency or give birth to a child, or two, lol.  My mindset on this is that I will charge it on a credit card and pay it monthly, just like my health insurance, only I will immediately benefit from the experience now, rather than later!  I'm worth it.  I believe in prevention and what better prevention than to remove the most toxic metal on this planet from my mouth BEFORE I get sick?!

I am now preparing for my first appointment, which is just an exam.  During this appointment the Dr. will review the results of my hair test and blood work (all of which I have to have done before my appointment, of course), she will measure the mercury vapors in my mouth twice, once when I arrive and once after chewing gum for ten minutes to simulate eating, which will increase the reading.  She will measure the electrical charge of each tooth that contains a filling, she will check for cavitations (where teeth were removed and contain pockets of bacteria) with a cavitat machine and we will discuss our plans for the actual procedure which will be done in one visit under conscious sedation, allowing her to safely cross the midline.  We will need to stay in Scranton overnight so that the vibration from the long car ride isn't right after my appointment which can cause dry sockets among other things.  I must say, I am slightly relieved to know that I will be out of it for this procedure and I will only need to go once rather than for multiple torturous visits!

I've already done my hair test, sent it in yesterday.  Let me show you exactly how much hair I needed to remove from the nape of my neck, it was slightly unnerving!  For the last 4-5 snips of random pieces of hair at the root, I began sweating profusely and shaking, because the darn little scale was NOT tipping and it felt like a LOT of hair.  What you see here is the whole strand, of which I had to remove the first inch, closest to the scalp and that portion is in the baggie to the right.  The blue thing on the left is the little scale they send you with the test kit.  It is designed to tip when it's received enough hair for the test, 0.25grams of hair.  Luckily, my hair falls over the spots I had to cut out for the test and I am sure they will grow back uneventfully without much attention.  Either way, it's not fun to look at this bulk of my hair on the plate, good thing I have thick hair!

The next step, tomorrow morning after 12 hours of fasting, is my bloodwork, waaaaah!  I am just glad to be getting this all over with.  February 16th is my exam and then I will make the appointment for the actual replacement.  I can't wait!!

UPDATE - See my blog entry for my dental revision exam here - Dental exam for yours' truly.  

Bio medicine, just for the autistic?

I'd like to talk a little bit about bio medicine and something that tends to confuse many parents. Right now, much of the biomedical research being done is on the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) community and the results achieved with biomedical treatments. Why is that? Probably because they are the most effected and we are reversing what was once considered a purely genetic and irreversible condition known as autism. But do I think these are the only people who would benefit from bio medicine? Absolutely not! We are seeing more and more research on bio medicine effecting those with autoimmune disorders like Lupus and Arthritis, Lyme Disease, and they are even reversing cancer! The rise of ASDs is an epidemic, so it's drawing attention and rightfully so. Twenty or so years ago, ASD afflicted 1 in 10,000 kids. Now? 1 in ONE HUNDRED at best! In the UK, it's 1 in 60!

So what is bio medicine, you ask? Well, let's dissect the word, it pretty much makes sense....bio, like biology and medicine, hmmm, ok so here is the medical definition:

bi·o·med·i·cine (bīˌō-mĕdˈĭ-sĭn)

noun

1. The branch of medical science that deals with the ability of humans to tolerate environmental stresses and variations, as in space travel.
2. The application of the principles of the natural sciences, especially biology and physiology, to clinical medicine.

So we are treating illnesses with nature, it's that simple. Anyone, wait no, EVERYONE can benefit from that.

Where we seem to get hung up, as parents, is hearing the term autism used in conjunction with this form of treatment. We conclude that, if we need to use bio medicine to help ourselves or our kids, it MUST mean they are autistic, right? WRONG! I think the only reason we see this connection is, because this disorder is single-handedly bringing bio medicine to the forefront of medicine. When we were first looking for natural ways to address what was going on with Grayson, I would see the word autism and turn around, change my path, just to come back to this dreaded word yet again. I kept saying, " but I don't get this, he's not autistic"....and no, he has never been diagnosed as being autistic, but why do I keep ending up here? Because it's working for kids of ALL degrees. Because it's basic biology people!! Remember, something as common as ADD is actually on the autism spectrum, and I repeat "spectrum".....there are all degrees of illness associated with this particular disorder. Label or no label, what it comes down to is there is a set of "symptoms" that come with the illness we are dealing with and whether they put your child on the spectrum or not is not what is important. What IS important is that you recognize these symptoms as something that needs attention. So is my child autistic? No, he's not. He's social beyond words, he's funny and he reads body language better than some adults I know, he is bright and very aware of his surroundings. Did he have symptoms of an autistic child? He sure did! He hand flapped, he started to loose eye contact at the worst of it (and still does when his health takes a turn for the worse), he has tantrums that aren't reasonable, he used to line up cars incessantly, he was and still sometimes is a sensory seeker (when his gut dysbiosis flares), he bounces off the walls and couches, he traces outlines of our cabinets with his hands, he has moments sometimes DAYS of being highly emotional....does any of this sound like it could be your kid? They sound like normal childhood behaviors, but what really is normal? Are we becoming accustomed to these behaviors over time, because they are more common and because the child isn't "autistic"? And when you clump all of these "behaviors" into one child, do they take on a different definition? Yes, they become symptoms of something that is very hard for parents to grasp. It's not necessarily autism, because what is going on inside of an autistic child's body can also go on inside of a neuro-typical child, which will then cause the very same symptoms that are often seen (to a more severe degree) in autistic children. I truly believe that the severely inflicted children who are at the far end of the autism spectrum are just the most fragile kids alive. Everyone handles things differently. Just think of how you handle a cold, your neighbor might have completely different symptoms with the same cold strain and allergies, you have one to mold and your cousin reacts to dogs, your child might react to milk!....These kids can't handle toxins, they cannot handle the pesticides, the heavy metals, the plastics, the cleaners and bleaches, the injections, the viruses, the EMFs, the radio frequencies, the chemicals in mattresses and fire retardant pajamas, the parabens in soaps and lotions and even TOOTHPASTES.....they are breathing, absorbing, eating....toxin after toxin and what is the one common thread they all have? More than 90% of these kids have low glutathione. This is a naturally occurring peptide in the body, a natural antioxidant. It drives our ability (or lack thereof) to detox these toxins that we encounter increasingly every day. You might be interested to know that Tylenol (our teething best friend at one point, right?) reduces glutathione. So a child who might have already been on the brink of low glutathione, give him or her Tylenol and you have just enabled his or her body to hold onto more toxins. Is it that simple, no it's not, there is a lot more that goes into this vast system, but this is one of the many things we are seeing more and more often with children these days. Do parents realize this when they reach for the Tylenol, because they just want their poor achy child to be comfy, no they don't! Do they realize that the reflux and ear infections are commonly from dairy allergies, probably not! Do they know that colic and loose stools often accompany gut dysbiosis and that their children probably need probiotics, I bet they don't!

So I am going on and on, and it's so easy to do once you get into the biology of it all, because it's all so connected, but my point is that every child could be effected to some degree. I see children in grocery stores and I think...."I wonder, if his parents know that those behaviors mean something more than "he's a boy". Having a child inflicted with a weak immune system that allowed him to accumulate more toxins than he can handle has made me hyper sensitive to those signs. They are universal and I believe that at some point, knowledge will expose the truth about our children's health. I honestly believe that we are at a state of emergency with our kids. If we don't start eating differently, cleaning our homes differently, reading the ingredients we put into our children's bodies, using water filters, washing produce, buying organic meats, we are going to see an incredible increase in autoimmune diseases in this generation and the generations to come. It is a documented fact that babies today are born with over 500 identifiable toxins already in their system, as tested in the umbilical cord fluids. So I encourage you, when you see a behavior that troubles you, or a rash that a doctor can't tie to an illness, or even a continuing sleep disturbance, consider this possibility. It's time to learn what we can do for our kids and their futures.

So now you are probably thinking, ok this is crazy, YOU Are crazy and what do we do about it anyway?! Well there are some really basic and simple things we can all start doing, like always washing your produce thoroughly, even thick skinned produce which will likely infect the protected inside when you slice through the dirty bacteria laden skins, you can shop organic as much as financially possible, you can clean with something as simple as vinegar and water, it's so safe you could drink it! And what about nutrients, get your kids tested for nutritional deficiencies, supplement with things like probiotics (always) and omega 3s. Switch to natural toothpastes without fluoride (you do NOT need fluoride for dental hygiene even though successful marketing schemes will have you believing that), replace your soaps, shampoos and lotions with natural and organic products to avoid the nasty chemicals our bodies don't know how to process (your skin is the largest organ of your body and you shouldn't apply anything to it that you wouldn't be able to eat), eat a healthy wholesome food diet and watch for reactions to foods (which isn't always easy since you can react up to FIVE days after ingesting a food), avoid ALL preservatives and colorings. If you can't pronounce an ingredient, avoid it! These things are simple, they take some time and thought, but the health of your child is a stake. If this doesn't fix the concerns you might have, keep searching for your answers. They don't call us Warrior Mothers for nothing!

Happy Holidays and all that jazz

We love the holidays, but this year being the first on Grayson's new and challenging diet makes things a bit harder to manage. We have to bring foods with us that he can eat, if there isn't something available. We try to mirror the foods we have for dinner so he doesn't feel completely different. Luckily by just removing the food before sauces are added, etc, he can usually just have the fresh and simply cooked foods, but it certainly does make it hard for whoever is cooking. He watches prepared dishes go by at the table while telling us he wants to try it. Of course, NOW he wants to try everything that passes him by, not before the diet, ha ha ha. That brings me to another topic, variety. I can't believe what a 180 he has done since removing the culprit foods. He used to limit himself (which, accompanied by other symptoms, can be a sure sign of food allergy) to breads, cereals, crackers, pretzels, pancakes, waffles, milk, cheese....all the highly allergenic foods he is reactive to. Since we have rid him of the foods he craves, he eats and ENJOYS an amazing variety of foods. How many three year olds ASK for salmon and brocolli for lunch?? Mine does! That is the full side of this half empty glass!

The hardest part of the holiday dinners is sweets. Every holiday dinner comes complete with an array of desserts that he can't even come near with a ten foot pole. He earnestly watches everyone enjoying their yummy treats while he eats whatever experimental dessert mommy can make and pack up for the night. He's a trooper though, he handles it like a champ! I think it hurts me more than it hurts him. Isn't that always the way?

We are struggling with trying to figure out the cause of his food allergies. Once we get that figured out and dealt with, there is a VERY good chance he could eat normal again. He progressed by leaps and bounds when we first took him off the allergenic foods, a HUGE leap forward. But now, we are seeing some other things that were probably masked by the effects of the foods in the first place. He continuously swats and rubs at his head, face, ears and nose. I noticed these habits since he was learning to walk, but thought he was just teething. Obviously he isn't teething anymore, but continues to do this. He tells me he is itchy. For many, this is a sign of yeast overgrowth so he could have chronic yeast and/or viral issues. Yeast doesn't have to be in the intestines either, it can be in organs and in the brain. So we will be experimenting with natural yeast treatments. A sure sign of this is an overactive immune system, sensory issues, sleep disturbances, an increase in symptoms when he has viral die off from being ill with a virus....like now. We found a wonderful product made by BioRay Inc. which has fabulous reports from other parents. It's all natural and completely safe. We will start by detoxing his liver and balancing his PH levels, if need be. It's safe enough for a breastfeeding mother to take and I personally am considering trying it, as well! Liver detoxification would benefit anyone who is effected by every day life.