Corn Flakes

Just had to share this little story that warmed my heart . . .

I bought some Organic cornflakes from Trader Joe's for my husband and myself.  Of course my kid wanted to try them, so I cautiously let him.  In addition to corn they also have barley malt which he's never had.  Well turns out he LOVES them.  And the best part about it as it seems to be a mutual relationship.  Last night at bedtime my son asks me, "Mom, how come the cornflakes don't make me itchy?"  Good question, as we are talking corn here--the stuff that usually causes him stomach aches, hives, and itching.  I can only chalk it up to NAET as he's been doing really well with all corn since the treatment.  It's just really cool to see him eat some 'normal' foods, and even better to not have to be medicating him with benedryl and atarax at bedtime (or anytime for that matter.)

Food Allergy Action Plan

For kids with food allergies, it's a good idea to have an action plan in place.  Even if you've verbally gone over one with a caregiver--I can't tell you how many times I've had to remind my own mother (who is very supportive with my son's issues) of what to do or what foods to avoid.  Here's a good place to start:
http://www.foodallergy.org/files/FAAP.pdf  (thanks to another food allergy mom who has this listed on her blog!)

I would also suggest keeping a list of allergic foods and benedryl on hand.  I have made an emergency pack from a plastic pencil holder kit that has benedryl, epipens, an inhaler (albuterol), and a list of meds along with doctor information. I taped the epi pen instructions to the inside lid so they can be immediately located--hopefully it's never needed, but always be prepared!

Moving Forward

Here's a brief update on what we've been up to.  We treated for artificial and natural flavoring last week, and within 10 hours my son had a fever of 102 and a terrible headache.  At first I thought the illness was related to his treatment since we've seen that in the past, however the fever lingered for a few days and then turned into a cold so he obviously had a virus.  The nasal congestion moved into his chest which always spells trouble for him, but not this time!!! He actually got a normal cough like non-asthmatics get.  There was no tightness or wheezing or breathing treatment.  This is the FIRST TIME EVER a cough didn't require any special care.  What a relief, as anyone who's ever dealt with asthma knows how scary it can be.

In other news, we've had success with the little guy taking krill oil which is a form of shellfish.  No reaction at all.  And we were able to trial his zinc supplement that has a "natural tangerine flavor" which every time he took it he'd break out into hives above his eye, but he did fine with it.  We also treated for soy lecithin, and today was a corn oil treatment.  Actually, I spent $20 on a slew of oils to take in and test against.  Of the 10 oils, he held strong to all of them but corn oil and palm oil.  We'll treat for palm oil next week, and then I'm hoping to move into oats and other grains unless something else creeps into the picture.  We've been at this for about 13 months now--I just counted 56 treatments!--but to see the change in him has been incredible.  The itch is controlled, lately he's been telling me it's gone but I think it's still going to be a while before this beast is conquered.  He's not covered in hives and his eyes aren't swollen.  This past December was the first time we didn't need to have his Christmas pictures touched up to remove the eczema (we always take our family portraits that time of year.)  The next couple of months will be very interesting as we move onto wheat and dairy . . .stay tuned!

Vitamin D, the immune system and asthma

In reading other eczema blogs, I stumbled upon a paper from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812815 which I will try to accurately summarize:

Vitamin D, the immune system and asthma

which is dated November 2009 and written by Nancy E Lange, MD, MPH, Augusto Litonjua, MD, MPH, Catherine M Hawrylowicz, PhD, and Scott Weiss, MD from Brigham & Women's Hospital. I'm not familiar with the authors or any of their previous work, but I did find this interesting.  Here are a few excerpts:

This article will summarize some of the emerging evidence on the complex role of vitamin D in the immune system relevant to asthma, and provide an overview of investigations thus far linking vitamin D and asthma.

Key issues

• Recent evidence points to vitamin D as an essential immune system regulator.
• Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are widespread, regardless of latitude.
• Low vitamin D levels have been linked with many immune-mediated diseases and cancers.
• Basic science and animal models demonstrate the multiplicative effects of vitamin D on cells of the immune system and cytokine profiles.
• Genetic and epidemiologic studies have shown an association between asthma and vitamin D.
• The rising prevalence of asthma may be linked to vitamin D deficiency.
• Further investigation is needed to fully understand the role of vitamin D in the development of allergy and asthma.

Extraskeletal effects of vitamin D

In humans, vitamin D is obtained through ultraviolet B exposure, diet and supplement intake. It is converted to 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ by the liver. Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ is converted to the active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃, in a variety of sites including the kidney and cells of the immune system. Experimental evidence suggests an effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ on multiple different processes and cell types. In the immune system it leads to a decrease in the Th1 response, thought to be the mechanism involved in the association between low vitamin D levels and a variety of autoimmune diseases. It modulates the Th2 response affecting cytokines such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13. This is one possible link between vitamin D and allergy/asthma. It has been shown to upregulate T-regulatory cells, leading to an increase in the synthesis of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. In macrophages, vitamin D upregulates synthesis of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin, which may enhance the ability to fight infections. In airway smooth muscle cells, it has been shown to modulate chemokine release. Vitamin D may play a role in fetal lung development and in the differentiation of type II pneumocytes and surfactant secretion. Vitamin D has also been associated with a lower incidence of and mortality from a variety of cancers.

The paper concludes with "The role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases such as asthma is only beginning to be understood. Several ongoing or planned human clinical trials are aimed at clarifying this link in the next 5 years. . . The elucidation of the precise roles of vitamin D in the immune system and in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases has the potential to have profound effects on our ability to prevent and treat these disorders."

I hope my summary was an accurate account, and no disservice was done.

Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil Treatment

Yesterday was our first NAET treatment of the New Year.  My son's eczema flare from the shortening had settled down for the most part, but there was still some residual dry skin putting up of fight.  I brought in a sample of the shortening, made from hydrogenated soy and cottonseed oils.  Muscle testing showed a definite weakness, so we treated for the shortening plus a vial labeled "super heated vegetable oils."  Within a couple hours of the treatment he was looking like a million bucks.  His skin has a glow to it, like that "pregnant glow."  I can't look at him enough, he looks wonderful!  Words can't describe how happy it makes my heart to see the relief brought to my son.

He passed the soy bean treatment from last time, although we have yet to venture into soy.  Maybe I'll make a stir-fry with some soy sauce and see how that goes.  Last time I did (before NAET), I put in about a teaspoon just for flavor and the poor kid looked like Uniqua from the Backyardigans--you know, the pink splotchy one.

Ultimate GOAL

In order to be successful in obtaining what I want, I find it very helpful in writing down my goals and keeping them front and center.  This gives me clarity, focus, and passion to work at what is so important to me.  So I'm going to state my ultimate personal goal for 2011 here:


Get my son to a good place with his food allergies so he's able to go off to kindergarten with confidence and no worries.


What will it take to get us to that point?  Well, we're already in a much better place from 12-15 months ago.  We have reversed the constant new food allergies as he is now able to eat previously forbidden foods.  We're going to continue with NAET as it has given us so much to be encouraged about.  We're going to continue making healthy choices when it comes to food. I am still making most of our foods from scratch as it's now become a way of life for us, and I love knowing what ingredients we are consuming.  And we're going to continue with a handful of supplements that have made a positive impact--Probiotics and Vitamin D for sure.  Like any parent of a food challenged child, I just want to know and have faith that my child will be safe when he's away from home and out from under my watchful eye.  If he can get to the point where he doesn't have to announce that "I'm allergic, I can't have that", all the better.

Damned If You Do

I go out of my way to find special foods and crazy expensive special ingredients, but the one time I cut a corner--BAM!  Eczema.  This time it is shortening.  Yes, I know it's not healthy in the least bit.  But we're out of town and I only had a couple days worth of coconut oil left and didn't feel like spending $13 on a jar to make a batch of cookies.  It's just disappointing when my attempt to do something nice for my kid fails and he suffers for it.   We now have something else to add to our NAET list, but at least we've identified it and can get past it.