Our Alkaline Water Experience

Broccoli is my son's most favorite food on the planet. Seriously, he'd pick a head of broccoli over a brownie. I mentioned previously that after eating broccoli his eczema really flared and I could not get his skin back under control. It was at this point that Holistic Doc #1 recommended that we introduce alkaline water to our son. Boy, was this an experience that won't be forgotten.

Water ioners are what change the ph of water, and they originated out of Japan in the 1970s. We were told that there are studies in Japanese hospitals dating back 10 years that show kids are completely healed and recovered from their eczema and food allergies after drinking this higher ph water for 3-5 months, but during that time things could get worse before they got better. I googled the all knowing internet machine to find any information I could on alkaline water. Basically there are 2 distinct groups out there--the group that claims this water is nothing but snake oil and in no way, shape, or form can affect the body; and group two who swear it's the greatest thing on earth, that it's shrunk their tumors, made their skin look better, and caused weight loss. There's also a really poor quality video on the Japanese eczema study, but it wasn't convincing enough to me to put all my faith in. Bottom line I thought we had nothing to lose. Boy was I wrong!

This turned out to be one of the worse experiences of my life. Within 2 days my son's skin was flaking and peeling, and the eczema took on a whole new level and deep red appearance. He looked like a burn victim. The skin on his face cracked and split opened, and in the cracks it was oozing a yellow fluid. The very top portion of his skin was flaking off in huge bits. The eczema completely took over every joint on his body, and his skin turned to extremely rough, elephant-like skin. All we could do is apply oil and rub to comfort him. We had to wrap him in bandages day and night to keep him from scratching, it was August and he was sleeping in long sleeves and pant pajamas, and his sheets needed to be washed daily as they were covered in flaking skin & blood from the scratching. From the onset of this course of treatment one of us had to sleep with our son to make sure he wasn't tearing his skin off, and he would be up for hours during the night just scratching or with us rubbing him.

My husband and I were so taken back by this outcome that we tried the water for a few days to see what would happen. Both of our forearms broke out in pimple like rashes, I counted twenty blemishes on my arms. Also, one of my finger tips (only one) became raw and inflamed with little painful sores. My finger stayed this way for 2 1/2 months, the only thing that finally cleared it up was soaking it in apple cider vinegar for a few days. Ironically this is the same finger tip that is numb from an old injury where I had cut my hand, I wonder if something was going on with the nerve endings? When I told the Holistic Doc what was going on with us, her response is "You're toxic!" Really, come on. I've never had a skin problem in my life, there has to be a better answer than that.

This was an extremely traumatic experience. It took 2 1/2 months for my son's skin to recover from this ordeal and for him to start sleeping through the night again. It was horrible. But since this, things have gotten even more interesting.