Preparing for Kindergarten

Monday is my son's first day of Kindergarten!  I'm a little anxious given his medical history, but he's doing much these days which brings me some relief.  After talking with his doctor as to how to handle the peanut allergy, I then met with his new teacher.  The school is very accommodating to peanut allergies and already has safeguards in place such as a peanut free lunch table and hand washing after lunch.  His classroom will also be peanut free, and all parents have been made aware.

There's a great Food Allergy Action Plan form that the doctor completed for me that I will be providing the school with, in addition as to making copies to keep in my son's emergency packs.  An emergency pack will also be kept in the office and in his teacher's desk.  This kit contains epipens, benedryl, and ventolin.  In addition, the school has asked that I type up a profile sheet on my son that will be shared with all staff so that they are aware of his conditions.

On the NAET front, my husband has always had an itchy throat reaction to cantaloupe. Just the other day he ate some and not only did his mouth itch, but his arms, too. I gave him a home treatment, and two days later he tried cantaloupe again (he ate 1/4 of the melon.)  Magically, there was no reaction at all from what he told me.  So weird.

My son has treated for herbicides, late summer weeds in our area, and a bioflavonoid called rutin that I use to take a lot of before I had him.  Rutin is in his new supplement, and since he showed weak he was treated for it.  I want to work on latex, insect stings, pesticides, and then move onto dioxins.

Skin Test Today

Following up on our allergist visit last week, my son had a skin test done today.  He had 4 panels: A) Trees/Grasses; B) Weeds; C)  Other environmentals including dust mites, dog, cat, etc; D) Food (beef, milk, chicken, egg, corn, wheat, soybean, peanut); and some tree nuts:  walnut, almond, pecan, and cashew.

So what did I learn?  Once again reaction trumps the tests.  To my amazement there was absolutely zero reaction to the peanut/tree nuts.  Actually out of all the foods, only egg showed a very mild reaction (the nurse wasn't even going to mark it, but I was certain I saw a small welt.)  His trouble spots were shown to be ragweed, a fungi called alternaria (more on that in a later post), a tree called red top, dust mites, and dog.  I knew dog would be a problem after my kid was licked on the arm by a dog over the weekend and it looked like he put his arm in a hornets nest.  Fortunately the old emergency pack with benedryl did the trick.

So what to do from here?  The peanuts are still a concern, especially since the RAST blood test shows a level 6 reaction.  Because of that, we're not going to challenge any time soon and we're to stay away from all nuts and continue to carry the epipen.  There are some new tests that we could look into in the future.  One being "you know peanut test" that was FDA approved a month ago.  It's a blood test that not many labs are doing right now that IDs which peanut proteins are triggering the reaction.  There's a genetic microbiology test that can be done which shows peanut proteins 1-3 that cause a reaction and 4-6 that relate to a positive test (but no reaction, if I understood the doctor correctly.)  The doc ruled out immunocap as there's a 5-10% change of anaphylaxis which he says is too much of a risk.  He did say that due to the negative skin test my son is now is the" 20% chance of out growing his peanut allergy" category.

As for NAET, our last treatment was for "Immune Modulator" which deals with aligning the misaligned T-cells of the immune system.  When the T1 cells over power the T2 cells the immune system goes into overdrive and overreacts, causing inflammation resulting in various ailments like asthma and eczema.

My son has had soy sauce a handful of times in his stir-fry and has done fabulously.  Prior to NAET he was breaking out in huge hives and his skin would turn thick and scaly.  We also just bought a new supplement to try at the recommendation of our Ped, it's called NeuroProtek by Algonot.  The doc was pretty excited about this one as he was seeing positive results with some of his autistic patients.  It's all natural containing flavonoids rutin, luteolin, and quercetin that's suppose to reduce symptoms of gut and brain inflammation, and nerve and tissue damage.

Wheat Again

We've gone back to revisit wheat.  It's clear that the kid can handle wheat in small amounts, but has difficulty with his skin after eating more than a cookie or something small.  Over the last couple of weeks we've done an additional 5 treatments for wheat with various combinations:  wheat w/yeast, wheat w/ DNA, wheat w/RNA, wheat w/DNA,RNA, Base, and wheat w/trypsin (a digestive enzyme.)  Don't get me wrong, I am frustrated at the lack of quick results and having to re-treat wheat so many times.  But I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet as I keep reminding myself of all the foods we've gotten back because of NAET:  tomato, yogurt, oats, chickpeas, soy, citrus, pork and I'm sure there's more that escape my mind right now.

We also had a good visit with the allergist.  I'm happy to report that it's been one year since any asthma issues!!!  I think NAET and vitamin D have a lot to do with that.   The doctor is taking my son off his daily asthma meds (flovent) for a 2 week trial to see how he does before school starts.  Speaking of which, I will have a kindergartner is about 2 weeks!  My main purpose for the allergist visit was to get help with a medical plan before starting school.  The nut allergy still has me worried and I want the doctor's input as to how to address it.  Next week we're going in for a skin prick test and then we'll be able to come up with a plan from there.

GAPS Nutritional Program

A very enlightening interview with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, the founder of the GAPS Nuritional Program.  GAPS stands for 'Gut and Psychology Syndrome.'  From the article, Dr. Campbell is a medical doctor with a postgraduate degree in neurology. She worked as a neurologist and a neurosurgeon for several years before starting a family. Her first-born son was diagnosed autistic at the age of three.   Looking for an answer for her son, she ended up getting a second postgraduate degree in human nutrition. As a result of her work, her son fully recovered and is no longer autistic. She now has a clinic in Cambridge, England, where she treats children and adults with autism, learning disabilities, neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders, immune disorders, and digestive problems.

Article: A Warning to Parents: DTaP Vaccines Can Cause Shock in Milk Allergic Children

It's really disheartening to continue to learn of the components of vaccines.  I say disheartening because I don't understand why my son's medical doctors at the time never raised any flags or advised caution knowing how allergic my son had become.  My only guess is that they were not educated themselves and were just doing their job of vaccinating the masses.  I also take some blame because I initially blindly trusted the doctors and did not initially do my research.  My son had a 12 day anaphylactic reaction to his third DTaP injection.  This entailed breathing difficulty, welts and hives, and vomiting; and was my wake up call that it was going to be up to me to help my son.

Soy Sauce?

We had our first encounter with soy sauce since treating again for it mid-April.  Our neighbors invited us over for dinner, and they served the most delicious pork tenderloin marinated in steak seasoning and soy sauce.  I held my breath a bit as my son ate two pieces (not bites, but actual slices) of meat.  No reaction!  He'll have to try a stir-fry before I'm really convinced he's good with soy sauce, but it's a good start.

Since my last post my son has treated for animal fat, candida w/mucus membrane (trying to get rid of the itchy privates that still make an occasional appearance), and he re-treated for egg whites & yolks after the RAST test came back.

Blood Test Results Are In

I finally received the recent RAST/IgE blood test results from mid-June.  Since starting NAET and the last RAST test 22 months ago, all his levels with the exception of egg and peanut have decreased a level.  There's no doubt that he still has lots of IgE, but take a look at a couple of examples:

Honey has gone from 28.4/level 3 to 4.55/level 2

Soy has gone from 24.2/level 4 to 6.87/level 3

Brazil nut was 21.91/level 4, now 5.24/level 2

Tomato and Wheat were formerly testing at level 2 and are now level 1.

The big surprise was egg.  While yolks stayed the same, whites shot up from 12.3/level 3 to 28.4/level 4.  We have a long history with egg, and he's been eating them in baked goods and with french toast for many months now without reaction.  I've always been told that RAST testing produces a lot of false results, and that reaction always trumps the test, so the test can be fairly inaccurate.  In the allergy world, it's one of the main tools available however it doesn't appear to hold much significance from what I can gather due to all the inaccuracies.  I've read that it can take a number of years for RAST results to show a decrease after NAET treatments even though the patient is no longer reacting.  This update was ordered by our Ped, but our allergist is opposed to the test.

Peanuts still tested at 100+/level 6.  We have yet to do any work with peanuts, or any nuts for that matter.  However, all the tree nuts were also down a level from August 2009.  

Vitamin D levels were also tested, and came back as 65 ng/ml, which is the high end of the optimal range.  This is great news, as everything I read says just falling within the range is still too low; D levels need to be at the high end for D to combat inflammation.

Since the MSG treatments, my son has treated for his own blood, my dad's dog, aluminum, and small intestines.  We were able to get a few drops of blood from when he had his lab work done a couple weeks back.  The phlebotomist thought it was a weird request when I asked for a small vial. I told him I wanted to hang it around my neck.  Just kidding!  After I explained we were doing some alternative treatments he obliged.  For years I've said that my son is allergic to his own blood, it's as if he has fiberglass running through him.  He showed weak to his blood sample, so we treated.


For the last month my son has been having issues every time we visit my dad's house, with each reaction proving to be more intense. The first three times it was a mystery.  Finally with the last and most severe breakout of bodily hives and itching my dad made the connection that the dog had been groomed the beginning of June and the groomer applied a finishing spray that in the past has made my dad's eyes itch (and he's not an allergic person.)  I was really hoping this would prove to be the culprit, because if it wasn't that could mean that a new allergy has emerged.  We cut off some dog fur and treated for it last week.  After clearing we made a trip over to my dad's and just hung out in the yard to slowly test for any reaction.  That worked fine.  Then today we ventured back over and spent some time in the house.  NO REACTION!


As for aluminum, I thought this might be a beneficial treatment due to all the aluminum injected via the vaccines.  Our practitioner said this was a really hard one for her daughter, who woke up in the middle of the night with diarrhea after treating for it.  After clearing aluminum, we proceeded onto treating for small intestines.  My son didn't experience any adverse reactions with either.


So what's on tap?  We're looking at treating for DNA, RNA, neurotransmitters, and enzymes over the next few weeks.  

MTV: True Life, I'm Allergic to Everything

This episode takes a look at two young people coping with food allergies.  The one girl actually seeks alternative help that looks similar to NAET and seems to be getting some relief.  From the very beginning of the show when they were showing their pantry, etc I was thinking that she has an MSG allergy.  At the end she has an anaphylactic reaction to chinese food, which convinced me even further that MSG is a major culprit for her.  I was appalled that the head of immunology at John Hopkins had the nerve to tell her it's in her head.  Right, like it's been in the head of my two, three, four, and now five-year old.

I'm glad to see mainstream TV taking on this serious subject.  It really hit home for me, I must have had tears in my eyes the entire time I was watching.  I could totally relate to all the benedryl, inhalers, food preparation, and excitement when a new food is added back.  Fortunately we've never had to use the epi pen.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/true-life-im-allergic-to-everything/1666298/playlist.jhtml#series=2211&seriesId=5232&channelId=1

Going out on a limb

Back in December a good friend of mine was battling eczema in her then six month old son.  I gave her the low-down on my best arsenal of products and routines which included bathing, moisturizing, and diet.  I also told her that if she got desperate enough we could talk about the hocus-pocus called NAET.  I was hesitant because it's weird and one really needs an open mind to take the steps to try it.  I was also hesitant because what if it didn't work for them, and because it's so weird that they'd think I'm a complete nut job.

Well, she did reach the point of desperation and has been undergoing treatments for her son for about the last month.  Yesterday was the baby boy's first birthday party which I attended.  I was approached by the dad and grandma as they were so thankful for the recommendation to try NAET because they are seeing such an improvement in their boy's skin.  WHEW, what a relief!!  The dad has gone to a handful of appointments and said after their first visit he was ready to throw in the towel because it seems like such a hoax.  But, he knows what I've been through with my son and the vast improvement we've seen, my kid is walking proof that this weird stuff works.  Everyone was commenting on how great my kid's skin looks!