Listen to Your Gut

Listen to Your GutIn the fall of 2013, I attended “An Evening of Inspiration“, a fabulous benefit put on my non-profit, Epidemic Answers, to benefit our Canary Kids Film Project, a film in which we’ll be documenting the potential recovery of 14 children from autism, ADHD, asthma, atopic dermatitis, juvenile RA, mood disorders and type 2 diabetes as they receive free healing and recovery services for 18 months.

My fellow board member and friend, Patty Lemer, the Executive Director of Developmental Delay Resources, was interviewing people on film at the event about how they got involved in the project.

I told Patty my story of how I originally started blogging for Epidemic Answers four years ago after I heard our Executive Director, Beth Lambert, give a presentation about her just-published book, “A Compromised Generation:  The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in America’s Children” at the Wilton library.

I found myself finishing Beth’s sentences and was astounded that someone else was on the same page as me and had also recovered her children.  Of course, I immediately asked to volunteer for them, which is how I started blogging for them.

If you don’t know my story, I’ve recovered my sons from sensory processing disorder (I call it “autism light”), asthma, acid reflux and eczema, and they also have had or continue to have developmental delays, hypotonia, hypothyroidism, mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, methylation defects and failure to thrive.

It has been a long row to hoe, but it has very much been worth it.  Along the way, I discovered that many of my own health problems were related to and/or contributed to the health problems of my children.

I would not have achieved this level of success in our health if I had listened to what my western, allopathic doctors were telling me.

I would say, “My son barely eats; he eats 2 spoonfuls of yogurt and 5 Cheerios, and it takes him an hour to eat, and then he throws it all back up”.  They would say, “He’s fine, don’t worry about it”.  They said that all the way from his beginning at the 40th percentile for weight until he fell all the way down to the 3rd percentile at 18 months, when he lost weight.  THEN they said, “There’s a problem.”  Really!?!

I would say, “He has poor motor skills.  His first crawling happened when he was 8 months old, and he slithered backwards.  Then, he army-crawled until he was 19 months old.  He cross-crawled for only a couple of weeks before he began to walk at 20 months.”  All along, they were saying, “He’s fine; don’t worry about it”.  Until he hit 18 months, THEN all of a sudden they said, “There’s a problem.”

I would say, “He projectile vomits, and my clothes, his clothes, his car seat, chairs and rugs are covered with it constantly.  He throws up after every meal.”  They said, “He’s got a weak gag reflex; he’ll grow out of it.”  They said this until he was 2-1/2 years old, and THEN they said, “He has acid reflux.  Give him some Prevacid.”

I would say, “He’s hypersensitive to sounds, lights and motions.  He cries all the time.  Something is wrong.”  They would say, “He’s fine; he’ll grow out of it.”  By this point, my son was 3 years old, and I had had enough of being told that, “He’s fine.  There’s nothing to worry about.  He’ll grow out of it.”

The truth is, there was a gnawing feeling inside of me that “something’s not right, something’s not right”.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.  So, even though my then pediatrician du jour said, “Don’t worry about it; he’ll grow out of it”, I had grown a pair by then and learned to put my foot down for my child.

I badgered her with questions until finally she gave up and said that maybe we should see a developmental psychologist.  We did, and voila, we got the diagnosis (even though it’s not a DSM diagnosis) that my son had sensory processing disorder.

From then on, nothing could stop us.  I began to research WHY he was like this.  Therapy obviously helped, but there was more to it.

Why was he sick all the time?  Why had he had so many ear infections?  Why did he develop asthma?  Why did he have developmental delays and acid reflux?  Why was he so sensitive?

Nobody that I knew really knew, so I had to keep digging and digging until I got to the point where I figured it out.  It’s toxicity, gut dysbiosis, nutritional deficiencies and hormonal imbalances.

Try getting THAT answer from your pediatrician.  Unless you’re one of the lucky few with an integrative pediatrician, you’ll never hear that answer, despite a multitude of peer-reviewed medical research journal studies out there that they just don’t have the time to read.

The system is broken.  If you want health and recovery for yourself and/or your children, you will need to take your health back into your own hands and stop giving away your power to the religion of worshiping men and women in white coats as if they know everything.  They probably don’t.

You need to listen to your gut instinct when it tells you that something is wrong.

It’s so easy to push that knowing down and stuff it aside and listen to the authorities who tell you that nothing is wrong and don’t worry about it.  I’m telling you don’t do it; you’ll regret it if you do.

I teach my clients to become their own and their children’s own advocates.  If you don’t do it, who will?  You can’t expect that someone else will care more about you and your children than you do.

My children and I would not have recovered from our health problems if I had not listened to my intuition, that little voice that said, “Something’s wrong.”

 

THE “R” WORD

road to recovery signYou may or may not know my personal recovery story. I have recovered my 2 sons, now ages 5 and 7, from sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma, allergies, acid reflux and eczema with a biomedical approach, which means correcting nutritional and hormonal deficiencies, removing toxicities and correcting gut dysbiosis.

I’m still working on failure to thrive, mitochondrial dysfunction, hypothyroidism and persistent eczema in my older son. In addition, they both had developmental delays, and my older son had severe hypotonia as a baby.

I have recovered from immune dysregulation, in which I had shingles twice, the worst case of poison-ivy ever, bronchitis (which I’d never had before), constant sinus infections and constant colds that would last 3-4 weeks at a time.

My older son had immune dysregulation, too, when he was younger: he would go to preschool, get sick and be out for at least a week at a time, then go to school the next week, get sick, and the cycle repeated ad nauseum (pun intended).

I also had severe adrenal fatigue, which was caused by dealing with my older son’s severe SPD.

Adrenal fatigue caused middle-of-the-night insomnia, in which I would be awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night and be so dead tired the next day that 3 hour naps wouldn’t help.

I later learned that adrenal fatigue was the cause of the onslaught of my “female problems”, which I’d never had before: a suddenly irregular menstrual cycle, a uterine fibroid and ovarian cysts.

I also found out I have two types of anemia: iron-deficiency (the more commonly known about kind) and folate-deficiency. I learned how these and most of out other problems can be tied back to gut dysbiosis and its chronic infections, especially Candidiasis.

I also discovered that I am hypothyroid and that this may have played a large part in my sons’ problems when I was pregnant with them.

I found out that I was loaded with heavy metals, especially mercury and lead, which are the most neurologically damaging. I immediately had my sons tested and found out they were full of them, too.

It’s been very hard going through this, as most people, even most doctors, don’t know about the causes of all these problems. They don’t understand that all of these problems are related, and they certainly don’t know that recovery is possible.

We got a lot of help from changing our diets and seeing a naturopath, a functional-medicine doctor and a holistic nutritionist, as well as from me doing never-ending research about how all of these problems are connected.

We’ve recovered from so much, although there is still more work to be done. In any case, we are so much better off now than we were 4 years ago, when all of these problems hit a crescendo.

I want people to know that recovery is possible, which is why I joined the non-profit Epidemic Answers. We seek to educate parents about the causes of these problems as well as let them know that recovery is possible.

In fact, we’re making a documentary film to show the world that recovery is possible because most people just don’t know that.

Most people don’t know that a child can recover from autism or asthma or that an adult can recover from an autoimmune disease, even multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

If you want to learn more about our film, you can find out more by watching this video or by visiting our website. Please help us get this film made!

 

HOW MY SON’S SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER CAUSED MY SEVERE HEALTH DECLINE

tired womanHaving a son with a developmental delay was very hard on me.  He didn’t walk until he was 20 months old.

This was extremely hard for me because he didn’t walk until 3 weeks before his little brother was born, and I was having to carry him everywhere.

I suppose the bright side is that he didn’t weigh a whole lot, given that he was also a failure-to-thrive baby.  [Read more…]

ACID REFLUX: ANOTHER RED FLAG

endoscopeWhen my younger son was born, he, too, was “fussy” and “colicky”.  He had an outright problem with nursing:  he refused to.

When he would, he would shriek in pain or fill up so much (probably because he was starving) that he would throw it right back up.  [Read more…]

RED FLAGS ALL OVER THE PLACE

red bannerSome of the first red flags I had from my older son were his failure to eat solid foods, his projectile vomiting any food or breast milk he did eat, and, later, his failure to thrive.

It was so sad to watch my baby dwindle from being born at the 40th percentile for weight down to the 3rd percentile at the age of 18 months.

He crossed three percentile curves on the way down; crossing two of them constitutes “failure to thrive”, but he also fit that definition by dropping below the 5th percentile curve. 

Where Were the Doctors?

Where were his doctors in all this?  Again and again, different doctors told me, “He’s fine” and “There’s nothing to worry about”.

They said this even when I told them that he would throw up after almost every meal and even though his weight percentile was declining.  They told me that because his height percentile was growing (for a few months) that there was nothing to worry about.  They were wrong.

But I knew this wasn’t right.  He had been projectile vomiting since he was a newborn.  The doctors told me this was normal, that he was just a fussy baby with colic.

It became extremely hard for me to feed him solid foods later on when I introduced them when he was 5 months old.

It would take a good, solid hour just to get a few Cheerios and Yo-baby yogurt in him.  Then he would turn right around and throw it up.

I did anything I could to distract him to get some food in him:  sing, dance, have him play with toys and objects, turn on the TV or radio.

None of these really worked, but I was desperate.  Many times he would outright refuse to eat, but then he would be starved for his next meal.  Other times he would eat some, but then he would wake up screaming and/or wake up vomiting.

I was told by the doctor to limit the milk to 20-24 oz. per day in hopes that this would encourage him to eat more solid food.  That didn’t work.  He just ate less and cried even more, probably because his blood sugar was always tanked and he was starved.

I was told by the doctor that his feeding strike may be because his teeth were coming in.  His teeth came in, and many times after that, he still refused to eat.

I was told by the doctor to give my son gas drops, Orajel and Tylenol because maybe he was gassy and maybe his teeth and gums hurt.  This didn’t work.

The older he got, the longer his naps got.  I suppose that because he wasn’t getting enough calories to remain active, it was easier for his body to just rest when he could, although many times he couldn’t rest because he would wake up cranky and/or vomiting.

I even made a spreadsheet (I used to be an analyst).

I tracked his food intake for six weeks from when he was 9 months old to when he was 11 months old.  He had stopped nursing when his bottom teeth came in at 9 months of age, so I could quantify exactly how much breast milk he was drinking per day as well as his food.

He ate and drank an average of 715 calories per day; he should’ve been getting around 1,300 on average.  An average of 60% of his calories came from milk, and this didn’t seem right.

Dismissed as a Neurotic Mom

I received a dismissive, condescending attitude from the doctor when I showed the spreadsheet to him.  I was waved off (this was not the first time this was to have happened) as if I were just another neurotic, hypervigilant, first-time, New York City mother.

With no help from a doctor except for a list of fattening foods to give him such as butter, cheese, full-fat yogurt, maple syrup, etc., I desperately tried to up the calories in every bite.

Dairy and sugar seemed to be the best choices for calorie loading, but I wasn’t keen on giving him too much sugar.

I am hypoglycemic, and I know that sugar can only exacerbate blood sugar issues by temporarily creating a short-term blood-sugar high, only to have it come crashing down quickly afterwards with the shakes, a headache, irritability and excessive body heat.

So I gave him quiche, yogurt, cheese pizza, bagels and cream cheese, and any food I could think of that I was supposed to avoid for causing me to pack on pounds.

We moved out to the suburbs when my son was 10 months old, and, in this new town and state, his eating issues and poor weight gain were still not a concern to the new pediatrician, that is, until his 18-month checkup.

He had lost weight between his 15th and 18th month checkups, and his percentile had continued to plummet.  He was now at the 3rd percentile for weight.  This doctor told me to give him Pediasure and put him on a fast-food diet.  That was sure to pack on the pounds, right?

I dutifully went to the store and bought packs and packs of Pediasure and immediately thereafter took my son to McDonald’s where he proceeded to… eat 4 or 5 French fries.  That was it.

He wouldn’t even eat fat-laden, sugar-sweetened, chemically-altered-to-make-you-want-more-of-it fast food!  He did, however, take quickly to the Pediasure, probably because of all the sugar in it.  He practically lived on it.

I asked the pediatrician if maybe my son had acid reflux because doesn’t that cause a lot of throwing up?  He dismissed me and said, no, it was just a weak gag reflex and he would grow out of it.

By this time, I was a few months away from giving birth to our second son.  Although my son continued to throw up at least half of his meals and Pediasure, he did slowly gain weight, as the pediatrician had also given him a prescription for Periactin, which is an anti-histamine that is also used as an appetite stimulant.

He wasn’t walking yet, which was another huge red flag for me.  I kept wondering and researching to find out if these two major issues were related, but I couldn’t find anything that said that they were.

The pediatrician seemed to think that they weren’t, but at least he did make a referral for my son to be evaluated by our state’s Birth-to-Three program.  Of course, between the time it took for the initial evaluation and the physical therapist’s first visit, he began walking.  He was 20 months old, and my second son was 3 weeks away from being born.

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WHAT IS GUT DYSBIOSIS?

fungal myceliaGut dysbiosis — this topic is the motherlode.  It’s one of the two core (in my opinion) reasons for the explosion of chronic childhood illnesses we see today.

Gut Dysbiosis:  A Common Link Among the Epidemic of Children’s Chronic Illnesses

First, let’s discuss the numbers behind this epidemic:  How many kids did you know when you were growing up that had autism, ADHD, acid reflux, allergies, asthma, developmental delays and/or mental health issues?  [Read more…]

Acid Reflux Medication Dangers

Acid Reflux Medication DangersBelieve it or not, acid reflux medication dangers are real, and these medications do major harm to your body. Shocking, right?

It’s true.  All of those medications (Prevacid, Nexium, Zantac, Prilosec, omeprazole, even Tums) reduce stomach acid, which is what they are designed to do.

The problem is that acid reflux is actually caused by TOO LITTLE stomach acid, not too much.  Counter-intuitive, right?  So what happens when you have too little stomach acid?  For starters, you can’t properly digest food, leading to nutritional deficiencies, particularly magnesium, calcium and vitamin B12.

A magnesium deficiency is linked to:

  • Anxiety and panic attacks
  • Asthma
  • Blood clots
  • Bowel disease
  • Cystitis
  • Depression
  • Diabetes
  • Dysmenorrhea
  • Fatigue
  • Heart disease
  • Hypertension
  • Hypoglycemia
  • Inability to detoxify
  • Insomnia
  • Kidney disease
  • Liver disease
  • Migraines
  • Musculoskeletal conditions
  • Nerve problems
  • Premenstrual syndrome
  • Osteoporosis
  • Raynaud’s Syndrome
  • Tooth decay

A calcium deficiency is linked to:

  • Delayed development
  • Dermatitis
  • Lethargy
  • Mental confusion
  • Muscle cramps
  • Numbness or tingling of the fingers
  • Osteoporosis
  • Poor appetite
  • Rickets
  • Skeletal malformations

A vitamin B12 deficiency is linked to multiple neurological disorders, including

  • Abnormal reflexes
  • Anemia
  • Anorexia
  • Apathy
  • Ataxia
  • Balance problems
  • Dementia
  • Depression
  • Developmental delay or regression
  • Difficulty walking
  • Dizziness
  • Failure to thrive
  • Fatigue
  • Forgetfulness, memory loss
  • Generalized weakness
  • Hallucinations
  • Hypotonia
  • Impotence
  • Involuntary movements
  • Irritability
  • Language delay
  • Lower IQ
  • Macrocytosis (enlarged red-blood cells)
  • Mania
  • Mental retardation
  • Numbness or tingling
  • Pallor
  • Paranoia
  • Personality changes
  • Poor head growth
  • Poor motor skills
  • Poor socialization
  • Poor weight gain
  • Psychosis
  • Restless legs
  • Seizures
  • Shortness of breath
  • Speech problems
  • Tremor
  • Unsteady or abnormal gait
  • Urinary or fecal incontinence
  • Violent behavior
  • Visual disturbances
  • Weakness

Not only do acid reducers cause nutritional deficiencies, but they also take away an important component of our immune system.  Stomach acid is used to kill nasty bugs, viruses, parasites and bacteria.  Without enough stomach acid, guess what happens?  That’s right – infection.

By prescribing proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), doctors are putting their patients at a higher risk for infections like pneumonia and gastroenteritis, as well as getting more colds and stomach bugs.

In addition, by taking acid-reflux drugs, you’re more likely to get sick more often because your immune system can’t fight off these offenders.  It also makes the rest of the gastrointestinal tract susceptible to bacterial overgrowth.

Is it worth taking acid-reflux medication?  I don’t think so, and I can tell you that, as a mom, I was furious at the doctors who prescribed them to my boys for their acid reflux after I found out how truly dangerous these drugs are.

 

FAILURE TO THRIVE

“Failure to thrive” is when your child’s weight percentile falls to the 3rd percentile or below or when it crosses 2 or more major percentile curves.  When either of these (or both, as in the case of my older son) happens, it’s an indication that the child is not growing as he or she should be.

I could scream every time someone tells me that I’m not that big or my husband’s not that big, so my sons’ failure to thrive is something I shouldn’t worry about.  Or how about when I’m told to stop comparing my kids to fat American kids?  [Read more…]

IS IT FATIGUE OR MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION?

mitochondrionBecause of my son’s failure to thrive, our pediatrician sent us to see Vicki Kobliner, a holistic nutritionist, who’s also on the board of Epidemic Answers with me.

Given that Crane Man has constant fatigue and stomach pain, poor growth, mild sensory issues and developmental delays, Vicki suggested having preliminary tests for mitochondrial dysfunction done.  [Read more…]

RECOVERY FROM SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, REFLUX, ASTHMA, ECZEMA

older sonMy Children: Recovered from Sensory Processing Disorder, Acid Reflux, Asthma and Eczema, and getting healthier everyday!

(NOTE:  This is a blog I wrote for Epidemic Answers, a 501(c)3 non-profit of which I am a Board Member.  We let parents know that recovery is possible from autism, PDD-NOS, ADHD, allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases and other chronic children’s health disorders.)

I have recovered my sons from sensory processing disorder (SPD), acid reflux,  asthma and eczema.  [Read more…]