Cottonwood

Just as things started to settle down from clearing yeast, the itch picked up again once we did Acids.  Our Acid treatment also coincided with the blooming of the Cottonwood trees and all those white fluffy things in the air.  He did clear Acid, and then instead of doing Base our NAET doc said his body really needed to be treated for Cottonwood and to keep him indoors for 30-hours afterwards given the reaction his body was having to it.  I tell ya what, as soon as he did the Cottonwood treatment I don't think he itched for the rest of the day and he even went to bed peacefully.  It was nice to do a treatment where food didn't have to be avoided, the downer was keeping him in during some beautiful weather.

Sunscreen Safety List

Sunscreen is always an issue in my house, my kid reacts to everything I've ever tried on him.  I came across this site that provides sun screen testing results, I knew there was a reason why I always avoided the chemical sunscreens--those are bad news!  I did just order the Badger one that was rated highest and uses zinc oxide which we haven't tried since it was in diaper cream, I imagine it will go on thick and white, but if it works then it really doesn't matter.

http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/best-beach-sport-sunscreens/

Making Headway!

We're moving on from yeast--YEAH!!  It only took 4 attempts, but in the end it was worth it.  Our NAET doc tested my son for all varieties of yeast this morning, and he was strong on everything (including cryptococcus!)  Then we moved onto Acids, and without a doubt they need to be treated.  From a food perspective Acids are the toughest we've come across since my kid doesn't eat eggs, milk, or tomatoes.   That leaves other veggies, dried beans, salt, and oil.  I made homemade refried beans which turned out well, but I didn't put any spicy seasoning in them so they're a little bland.  I'm also taking a chance and letting him eat organic corn chips with the beans.  He has to eat something!  They're made of corn, salt, and oil.  But I know the diet calls for fresh veggies.  I'll be rubbing gates all day.  I plan on making a veggie stir-fry for dinner, and will have sweet potatoes available.  Breakfast will be challenging, but I did buy some cottage cheese that only has milk, cream, and enzymes in it.  The doc said yogurt & cottage cheese are more acidic than milk and should be avoided for this treatment, but I might have to chance it.

Life's Lessons

My 4 YO and I were having a talk about learning from our experiences that life brings our way.  I told him he's learning a good lesson early in life, that hard work pays off and that you have to persevere.  I asked him if he knew what 'persevere' meant, to which he replied "mommy, daddy, and me are gonna crash the bad guys! We're gonna win!"  Bad guys to him are his itchies.  And he's right, we are going to win.

Feels Like I Have a New Kid!

It seriously feels like I have a new kid since the candida treatment.  My kid has been sleeping through the night and he has been genuinely happy and pleasant!  He's also put on a little weight recently, up to 31 1/2 pounds--he's gained 2 pounds in the last 2 months which is a huge deal for him.  The other major deal is that he ate corn chips and string cheese yesterday--and he STILL slept through the night!  We're anticipating doing the acid treatment this week which is very restrictive as far as diet is concerned so I've been trying out a couple of the foods he's been avoiding since his RAST test last August.  I hope this isn't a fade, but a sign of things to come!

Another bonus, at swim class tonight I heard him say while in the water "Hey, the water isn't burning my face!"  He constantly reacts to the pool water, every week his eyes are irritated and rashy during class.  I've been debating on taking him out of swim lessons, but it's a safety issue given how frequently he's around pools.  The NAET doc tested him for chlorine, and sure enough he's allergic to it.  It's going to be one of the first things we treat for after the basic 15.  But very curious how he was much better tonight!

Back to NAET--Yeast #3 & Candida

We decided to try and conquer yeast yet again after grains showed they've cleared. We went through each component of the grains vial and it seems that some have cleared and others are still causing issues which we'll go back to later. Good news is that corn seems to be 'a-go', so maybe we can try adding that back to his diet.

This time with yeast we treated it with an emotion attached. Sounds strange, believe me I know! But since we were having such a problem treating it, the doc thought it was worth trying. I had to focus on the trauma he went through after his 3rd DTaP vaccine (asthma, hives, welts, vomiting, fever--for 12 days!) This was proceeded by 6 months of extreme asthma attacks that required monthly urgent care & ER visits.

Good news is that there were no skin reactions with this treatment, what a relief! But asthma reared it's ugly head. It was only a problem every time he laid down and then uncontrollable coughing fits would kick in. But he got through it, and cleared the yeast vial. However, he did not clear candida so we treated separately for the candida vial. Immediately my son's skin brightened up, reminded me of that pregnant glow. And his attitude was improved significantly--he was happy. It also seems as if the itching has subsided a bit, although it is still there. I'm going to ask if they have a cryptococcus vial, as I can't get that picture that I saw of it out of my mind (it matched the lesion on my son's foot.)

Gluten Free Pizza--Yum!

Let me tell you about the delicious pizza crust I made today! After a disappointing shopping trip yesterday in search of Sami's Bakery gluten-free pizza crust for my son's birthday party I reluctantly found one that I had to make. I was dreading it, don't ask me why but I really was. So after reading countless labels I settled on Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free pizza crust because I could make it without egg. Although we've trialed some foods here and there with success, we're still avoiding his allergens until we're through the basic 15 of NAET. Anyways, the crust was surprisingly easy to make--I used ground flaxseed mixed with water in place of the egg. Since my kid is allergic to tomato, I always make a pesto sauce. I put basil, garlic, and olive oil in my Magic Bullet blender, and I have instant great tasting sauce. Then I top the pizza with rice cheese (yes, it's expensive and it does have some caesin in it), and pepperoni from the Whole Foods deli counter, I think it's gluten-free?? The result was a really great tasting pizza with fluffy pizza dough that tasted great (unlike some of the cardboard I've made before.) I'm so happy my son can have pizza tomorrow with his friends, may not seem like much but it is a huge deal. He's also going to get to enjoy his first sip of juice since August.

3rd Time Is Not a Charm

Friday was interesting. We made the 30 minute drive to see the NAET doc, only to not have a treatment. After finding out that the kid didn't pass grains for the 3rd time, the doc and I had a heart-to-heart as to what I thought was going on and what he thought the next course of action should be. I told him I KNOW yeast is a huge issue, and I really want to take things slow and not rush his body through anything. I also told him that I think his liver could use some support, and I have no idea why grains are proving to be so difficult. The doc suggested we look at each component of grains and yeast to see which ones are at issue. The good news is that my boy has cleared corn, something that's been a problem for a while. But he's still having major problems with gluten, oats, wheat bran, and candida. His digestive track is also stressed: small intestine, spleen, stomach, and liver. In the end the doctor suggested we take a week off. Throughout the day my husband and I were really wishing we would have tried to clear gluten, oats, and the other couple of grains that are causing problems. It just seems like the kid is stuck.

Feels Like We're Moving Backwards

Our NAET doc was back today--YEAH! I brought pictures of our ordeal from the last 12 days, and of course we found out the kid didn't clear yeast. At first the dr. wanted to jump in and re-treat for yeast along with a candida vial. The very mention of it sent anxiety running through my entire being. I know we need to proceed to get past these issues, but I dread it. So we talked for a bit as to what would be the best course of action, and the dr. decided a rebalancing is in order using the very first treatment vial (BBF.) But when my son was treated, he didn't even clear that vial. So the doc backtracked only to find that Grains had reared their ugly head and my son was showing signs of not clearing them. In the end, my kid was treated with both BBF and Grains, and fortunately grains didn't take much effort while in the office so hopefully this is the last of them! If all goes as planned, we will return to yeast on Friday, oh please let us get through this!

A Couple of Good Finds

If anyone is interested in researching Yeast and Candida, I stumbled upon this site that has a lot of good information:
http://www.yeastinfectionadvisor.com/yeastinfectioninchildren.html

I also found the best gluten-free/dairy-free brownies! I also make them egg-free by using 1/4c applesauce & 1 teaspoon of ground flaxseed to replace the omega 3s (optional.) They're by Namaste Foods, they also have many other mixes as well:
https://www.namastefoods.com/shopping/storefront/cgi-bin/product_nutrition.cgi?Product_Id=3&Category_Id_Search=5&Closeout_Search=All&Return_Cgi=item_list.cgi

The kiddo is doing better. Though, I'm just kicking myself for not asking for Nystatin while he's on this dang antibiotic! Nystatin would help keep the yeast in check.