Treatment #9--Metals

This weeks treatments was a toughie, the kid wasn't allowed to touch ANY metal object. Pretty much impossible, but we managed to get through the 25 hours with gloves, gate rubbing, and bribery. The weirdest thing happened during his actual treatment at the D.O.'s office, the inside of his right ear turned bright, flaming red and a few spots broke out on his face. The ear subsided after the 20 minute treatment. Very strange, but I've read about some similar reactions. We had prepped him that it was going to be a tough day and that once he got through it he could pick out a toy from Target. It's so much to ask from a 3 year-old, but he did great. Now, hopefully he clears so we don't have to repeat this one. And I hope this one helps his reaction to the pool water during swim lessons, as it's suppose to help with chlorine--will know more this week. . .

Let him eat cake!

We're not eating "normal" food yet, but I was able to make a pretty decent gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, and cornstrach free chocolate cake. I bought a box of the Whole Food's 365 brand gluten-free chocolate cake mix and substituted applesauce for the eggs, coconut oil for butter, and coconut milk for yogurt. It was so cool to watch my kid enjoy licking the batter off the spoon, and he literally licked the bowl clean. I can't wait to serve it up with some coconut milk "ice cream."

Half way through the basics . . .

Good news, my son cleared for iron after the second treatment. I had a feeling that Iron would clear this time as my son looked fabulous during the 25 hour period following the second treatment. He did however breakout in hives at swim class during the week, so there's definitely an issue there that needs to be addressed.

Today we got to work on Vitamin A, the 8th substance to be treated for out of the basic 15. This one is already off to a rough start with his hands and wrists breaking out in eczema right after treatment, and then he broke out in some pretty bad hives after eating his bland dinner of steak that I marinated in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt & sugar since those were on the list of things he could eat today. It was such a insignificant amount of salt and sugar that it's hard to pinpoint the outbreak on them, and I really doubt it was the meat as I even went as far to get a nice cut of vegetarian fed at Whole Foods. Sometimes there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the crazy world of food allergies, but fortunately there is Benedryl.

On another note, my husband had his first NAET treatment with another practitioner as he has decided to try it for himself. It's interesting to compare notes between the two. Curious for those who have gone through NAET, was your practitioner listed on the NAET website? One of our is, the other isn't. Also, were you allowed to stay in the room with your child (I suppose if you were a surrogate you'd have to.) I do stay in the room with my son even though I'm not a surrogate, but I know in the reading it says another person shouldn't be there during treatment.

Iron, Round 2

As we walked out the door this morning to see the NAET doc, I told my husband that I didn't think our son cleared this treatment, which was for Iron. Some of the itching has reared it's ugly head this week, and there were a couple of nights where he woke up for a few minutes. Sure enough, he didn't clear it by a long shot. So we repeated the treatment and the doc added another support vial to help the body out. I sure hope he clears this time, as I hate to spend anymore money than necessary on this! Fortunately this was the first treatment we've had any issue with, and the doctor said each person tends to have one or two that give people a hard time. So we'll just wait and see how he does at next week's appointment . . .

Mini-Test

My son and I stopped over my friend's house that is under construction. I had some reservations about doing so knowing all the dust, drywall, caulking, paint, new carpeting, and who knows what else he would come in contact. But it was a nice day and he could easily go outside if needed. He did great. After being there for an hour there were no hives or itchies. However, I did notice some pink looking allergy eyes starting on him, and my own throat getting scratchy. But this was all very mild considering how he's reacted in the past, and he required no benedryl. So I continue to be cautiously encouraged that we will get through this...

1/2 a pound & NAET #7

8 ounces, 1/2 a pound. That's how much weight my 3 year old gained in one week. Now that may not seem like much to you, but it's HUGE to us. He had been holding tight on 29 pounds for at least 6 months. Then he finally hit 30 pounds at last week's appointment, and today he had gained another 1/2. I mentioned he has been eating non-stop since starting NAET, so I knew the scale had to start budging at some point. He is also feeling more solid to us, like he's finally getting some meat on his bones. Could be just a growth spurt, or could be NAET. Who knows, but it's a step in the right direction.

We also treated for Iron today, as Sugar was cleared. NAET has updated their workbooks and the new book says to avoid leather in addition to many foods. This is already proving to be a bit of a challenge since we have leather couches. We'll be rubbing those gates all day and hope we clear next week.

Fast Asleep

It's been 7 1/2 long months, but my 3 year old is now able to fall asleep on his own and sleep all night by himself. This is huge! There's no more scratching, flaking, crying, or bleeding. It's calm, peaceful sleep. How wonderful! We're going for 3 nights in a row tonight. And he's so much happier and pleasant to be around now that he's feeling good (I'm sure that goes for myself as well.) Oh, and the appetite on this kid has become ravenous--he's now eating non-stop all waking hours. The D.O. did say that the increased appetite is usually the first sign, I can only hope it's a good sign of things to come.

Clear Skin! and NAET #6

It's been a long time coming, but DS is COMPLETELY cleared as of right now. That pesky spot above his eye has healed with the help of Protopic, I've been so reluctant to use this due to the FDA "black label" that it can cause cancer. Our doctor has been reassuring that it's completely safe as long as he's not eating tubes of it a day. It took about 4 days for the patch to heal--I applied a small fingertip amount twice a day for 3 days and then once for 2 and that seems to be all it needed. The itch has also greatly diminished. The allergist wants me to apply it 3 times a week, and the steroid cream twice a week. I'm going to play it by ear and see what's necessary.

On the asthma front, the last 5 weeks have been tough with upper respiratory infections which have required extra pulmicort and albuterol =( The allergist wants to up the daily dose of pulmicort to .5 from .25, and the Ped agrees since he says a cold should not be leading to asthma, as it shows the lungs "aren't up to snuff." Ugh. The Ped also said that once my son is feeling better that we can try to expose him to one of his environmental allergies (like caulk) to see if the MSM supplement is working and having the desired effect on the liver. Yeah, it would be nice to know, but oh how I dread these types of tests!

As for NAET, we had our 6th treatment yesterday. This was the Sugar Treatment. I'm curious to see if I notice any change, as I think sugar is a real problem from my son. His body just doesn't deal well with it, which I think it telling with his honey allergy being a level 4 on the RAST test. Interesting to note that my son said his itchies are GONE right now and is begging to eat a certain treat that he's been forbidden due to the allergies. Guess he thinks if the itchies are gone, then he can go back to eating goodies. My husband and I just had a conversation saying maybe it's coincidence, but after every NAET treatment there are positive changes that we talk about and notice.

What I notice with myself is that once his skin clears I tend to loosen up some of the food restrictions which then puts us back to square one. And it's not like it's major stuff, but twice in the past I've allowed him to eat broccoli which leads to immediate problems. I just have to remind myself not to let my guard down even though the skin problems aren't right in front of my face!

I've also come across two great NAET blogs, listed listed on the side. I so appreciate other moms sharing their experiences, thank you!

NAET Discussion Blog

I stumbled upon this blog that had a very interesting discussion on NAET treatments by parents, a couple of years worth! Seems people start off very skeptical at first, many see good results while some never do. I didn't do a tally on it, but the positives definitely out weighed the negative:
http://pluckymama.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/naet-allergy-experience/#comment-7503

5th NAET Treatment

We had our 5th NAET treatment today--B Vitamins. The kiddo "cleared" the C treatment from last week, so it was on to the next.
Today's treatment of B vitamins is a bit challenging. He has to avoid all contact with meat, veggies, fruits, grains, beans and so forth. For 25 hours he will eat white rice, white rice pasta, well cooked fish, french fries, cauliflower, and water. I made sure he ate a big breakfast this morning because he won't be allowed any of his favorite foods and snacks. Good thing it's only for 25 hours and half of that will be sleep time!

We are now 1/3 done with the basic 15, which is still early in the game according to the D.O. Is it working? I still am unable to answer that question. But, does my son have a rash or eczema anywhere? Only above his right eye. The rest of his body is completely cleared. Although we have gotten to this point here and there in the past, this has been consistent for many weeks now. Can I say it's due to NAET exclusively? No. It's a lot of hard work from diet to skin care to supplements to research, etc. I can say that his appetite has really grown the last few weeks and that his bowels are now regular. The doc said these are frequent phenomenas that his NAET patients experience. Only time will tell.