After finding out that I had heavy-metal poisoning, I immediately thought about my sons. Was it possible that I had passed any of this on to them?
Could this be responsible for their sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma, allergies, eczema, acid reflux, and developmental delays?
Would I finally find the common thread that I had been looking for all along that tied all of these conditions together?
Yes, unfortunately. Read More→
Maria Rickert Hong is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor who received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She specializes in recovery from symptoms of autoimmune, neurological, behavioral and digestive disorders, as she has recovered her own sons from Sensory Processing Disorder, asthma and acid reflux. She is also a board member, social media director and blogger for Epidemic Answers, a non-profit whose goal is to let parents know recovery is possible from autism, ADHD, SPD, allergies, asthma, autoimmune, Lyme and more.
If I were to tell you that both of my sons have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), you might: a) ask, what is that? b) ask, how did you know that they have it? or c) not believe me unless you had met them — especially my older son — a few years ago.
I believe that they are mostly recovered because of occupational therapy (OT) interventions over the course of a year and a half and because of ongoing naturopathic medicine and dietary changes. Read More→
The following symptoms displayed chronically indicate that your child’s immune system is not effectively handling certain types of immunological assaults (infections):
Why is my child always sick?
Your child may be experiencing immune dysregulation. Immune dysregulation can be caused by many factors, including gut dysbiosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, exposure to heavy metals or other toxins, exposure to excessive electromagnetic radiation, and even excessive vaccination. Click here to learn more about immune dysregulation.
How can I help regulate my child’s immune system?
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This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
Chronic constipation is one of the most common signs that a child has gut dysbiosis and/or a dysregulated immune system or possibly even mitochondrial dysfunction (causing GI motility problems).
Intermittent constipation can often be managed by taking some relatively easy steps such as:
When constipation becomes chronic and won’t let up, it is critical to begin investigating the underlying causes of constipation.
Read the stories of parents who figured out how to improve bowel function in their children by looking for the root cause:
Testimonials:
Relevant research:
Probiotic treatment of irritable bowel syndrome in children. Ger Med Sci. 2010
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This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
Peanut anaphylaxis, the severe and life-threatening allergy to peanuts is something that every parent dreads for their child.
A child who experiences an anaphylactic reaction to a particular food may experience swelling, difficulty breathing, hives, sweating, heart rate changes, diarrhea, or other severe symptoms.
In some cases, exposure to even the smallest airborne particle of peanut can cause a child’s throat to swell, their blood pressure to drop and they can lose consciousness. If appropriate rescue measures are not taken shortly after exposure to the allergen, an anaphylactic reaction can be deadly.
Jack is one of those unfortunate kids who developed a severe allergy to peanuts. When Jack was 19 months old, he had his first taste of peanut butter and quickly ended up in the hospital.
Upon ingesting a small amount of peanut butter on a cracker, Jack’s face swelled, he broke out in large hives, and his eyes swelled shut. Jack was rushed to the hospital where he was given Benadryl, steroids and monitored closely.
He recovered from this severe allergic reaction, but his parents soon learned that many elaborate precautions would have to be taken to ensure that this sort of thing did not happen again.
Jack’s parents, Suzi and John, went to extraordinary lengths to educate teachers, schools, caregivers and family members about the danger that peanuts posed to Jack.
Suzi even considered home-schooling because she was concerned about the risk of exposure in a school setting. According to Jack’s physicians, even exposure to an airborne particle of peanut could have deadly consequences for Jack. There were other exposures throughout Jack’s childhood.
The mere act of opening a jar of peanut butter would make Jack itch, swell and turn red. Jack learned to always carry an epi-pen, an emergency shot of epinephrine that could save his life in the event of accidental exposure.
While Suzi and John did everything they could to protect Jack from accidental peanut exposure, they simultaneously began to look for answers as to why Jack developed this allergy in the first place.
Jack’s family has no history of food allergies, no autoimmune disease, or other indications that his allergy might somehow be a function of genetics.
They took Jack to see many allergists throughout Ohio and Michigan looking for answers. It was here that they learned that Jack’s IgE (immunoglobulin E) levels for peanuts were off the charts.
The allergists could validate that Jack did, indeed, have a severe peanut allergy, but they were not able to provide much comfort beyond this knowledge. The only answer they got from allergists was to “stay away from peanuts, and carry an epi-pen.”
Unsatisfied with the answers offered by conventional medicine, Suzi took Jack to see a homeopath. Unsure as to whether or not the homeopathy was helpful in addressing Jack’s peanut allergy, Suzi also took him to see a naturopath, Dr. AnnAlisa Behling, who practices an allergy elimination technique called NAET, or Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique.
NAET is a treatment developed by a physician and acupuncturist, Dr. Devi Nambudripad, that helps relieve people of allergies and many other health issues.
The technique is derived from principles of energy medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, where certain acupressure points are manipulated in order to help the body “release” allergic and immune-based reactions. Ultimately, NAET helps to balance and regulate the body’s immune responses.
Jack worked with Dr. Behling for about a year to address the underlying immune dysregulation that manifested itself in a severe peanut allergy. By the end of the year, Jack could put a spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth with no problems whatsoever.
In the eyes of Suzi and John, this was nothing short of a miracle, given the severity of their son’s previous reactions to peanuts. In the course of Jack’s year-long NAET treatments, they also learned that Jack had other sensitivities (such as salt, yeast, and egg) that may have been affecting his health in more subtle ways.
Jack was treated for all of these sensitivities and is now a healthy and allergy-free nine-year old. Jack and his family no longer worry about the life-threatening possibility of peanut exposure. Now, Jack is able to be a normal care-free kid — the way kids should be.
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This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
I have a 7 year old daughter and a 5 year old son. Our healing journey really began when they were 3 and 1 years old.
I now know that both of them had gut dysbiosis and dysregulated immune systems which presented in very different ways for each child.
Learning that they had gut dysbiosis and immune dysregulation was like finding the missing link. Learning about these conditions and how to overcome them was what really put us onto the path of healing.
Soon after Alexa was born, she developed oral thrush and was treated with Nystatin. This seemed to clear up the thrush, yet Alexa had “foamy” diarrhea and painful gas constantly.
Nursing became increasingly difficult as Alexa struggled to stay latched on as if she was choking on the milk.
My pediatrician at the time instructed me to reduce my diet to chicken, rice and a couple of vegetables. She also told me to remove dairy from my diet and put the baby on reflux medication. I tried the diet change but refused to use reflux medication.
When nursing didn’t improve, I found a new pediatrician and a lactation specialist that diagnosed oversupply of milk. With their help, the baby was able to nurse properly and seemed healthy. But then the thrush returned and a new round of Nystatin was used.
At about 8 months of age, Alexa began having periodic fevers often accompanied by an ear infection. The fever episodes lasted about 5 days, the fevers would always reach 105 and were accompanied by severe vomiting and lethargy.
The fevers started coming regularly every month and were often treated with antibiotics and high doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Several times, I opted not to use antibiotics and the fevers took the same course as when they were used.
Routine vaccines were administered and the fevers began coming every 2 weeks instead of every month. Repeat blood tests showed inflammation in the body but doctors could not pinpoint where the inflammation was coming from.
We took her to specialists in genetics, gastroenterology and infectious diseases in hopes of finding the cause. All of the time spent and tests performed led nowhere as their tests could not determine anything.
After waiting over 4 hours for a scheduled appointment at a very prestigious hospital, the doctor reviewed the tests and files and actually scolded me for bringing such a healthy child into such a busy place.
The periodic fevers continued and at 18 months of age, white spots began presenting in Alexa’s tonsils. On recommendation from our pediatrician, I began bringing Alexa to an ENT. He diagnosed her with exudative tonsillitis.
At 2 ½ years old, her tonsils were removed and the fevers stopped. Although the fevers were now gone, Alexa had a severely distended belly, pale skin that wouldn’t tan and dark circles under her eyes.
She was slightly anemic and began having rashes and hives. An IgE test was done which showed her to be allergic to eggs and wheat. These were removed from the diet and the hives decreased.
Alexa also had severe reactions to spider and mosquito bites. When she got a bug bite, it would remain swollen for weeks and often become infected because the bite wouldn’t drain on its own. This resulted in more rounds of antibiotics to clear up the infection.
At that time, I thought that these remaining symptoms indicated that she just needed to “catch up” on nutrition. I had never heard of gut dysbiosis or immune dysregulation and I didn’t connect these conditions to Alexa until after my son was diagnosed with autism…
By six weeks of age, Sergio was very gassy and constipated. (This was chalked up to babies commonly having colic…) By 3 months old, he was constipated to the point of stooling only once a week and it appeared to be very painful for him.
My pediatrician advised me to add fiber and prunes to my own diet to help Sergio’s condition through breastfeeding. The constipation continued, and the baby was only sleeping for an hour at a time and had to be held, even while sleeping. He seemed uncomfortable most of the time.
He also spit up or vomited after feedings and the pediatrician suspected mild reflux. She recommended that we try introducing solid foods when Sergio was about 5 months old.
He seemed to like the food, and we were hopeful that it would help the vomiting and constipation. Sergio enjoyed eating fruits and vegetables and ate them happily. He didn’t really take to the baby cereal, and it constipated him even more.
I didn’t make the connection at the time that the dairy and wheat might be affecting him, and so I continued to feed him these foods. By the time he was twelve months, he had given up eating all fruit and vegetables.
He would only nurse and eat bagels and goldfish crackers. The constipation continued to get worse. He was stooling every 7 to 12 days. I know it was extremely painful as he would cry and shake every time. I was frightened but I didn’t know where to look for an answer.
There were other signs that something was wrong with Sergio, but I was in complete denial about it.
He did not smile or make eye contact. Sergio seemed like he was in a fog most of the time. He did not respond to our voices at all.
I almost thought he had hearing issues except that if I ran the vacuum or hair dryer he would run around screaming and banging his head.
I would put my nose to his nose and scream his name repeatedly and he wouldn’t flinch or look at me.
I felt like a bad mom because it seemed like my son had no interest in being with me. I would try to play on the floor with him and he would walk away and put his back to me. The only thing he seemed to like doing was spinning wheels on a truck. Over and over again.
We wanted to hear words from his so badly. At his 15-month check-up the only words he had were “da” and “bye”, and he didn’t use them consistently.
The pediatrician mentioned that he might have a speech delay and told me to track his words until his 18-month check-up and if he started to gain words, then we shouldn’t worry too much about it.
Well, at his 18-month check-up he no longer said “da” or “bye” or anything else. He had no words. He was flapping his arms constantly and moaning.
Sergio could not handle any transitions. Just going from the car into the house caused a complete tantrum. Waking up in the morning and from naps was an instant tantrum. He would tantrum if people came to our house or if he was anywhere crowded. Sergio was constantly miserable.
At his 18-month check-up, the pediatrician introduced us to the M-CHAT (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers) test. It is a series of questions to determine whether a child should be evaluated for autism spectrum disorder. Sergio failed every question on the test.
I went home and called Birth to 3 to set up an evaluation. I read Jenny McCarthy’s book that night and the comparisons between her son and mine really hit home to me that we were dealing with autism.
This was my first introduction to autism. I really knew nothing about it prior to that day.
I felt completely powerless waiting for the evaluation.
The gluten-free/casein-free diet from Jenny’s book really stuck in my head. I thought I would try the diet since it couldn’t hurt, and it made me feel empowered. It was something that I could do while I waited the endless wait for an evaluation.
To ensure that Sergio was 100% gluten and casein free, I had to go on the diet myself because I was still nursing him.
When you have to do something for your child, it is easy. I would do anything for my kids. Give up gluten and dairy? No problem.
For Sergio, it was not so easy. His whole diet consisted of bagels and goldfish. I found some gf/cf alternatives and hoped he would like them.
Sergio went through terrible withdrawals for about a week. Screaming, crying, shaking and nursing constantly.
It took every ounce of my will power to not give in. After that first week, he decided to try a gluten-free pretzel.
I could have chosen to wean him slowly from gluten and casein, but once I realized that these foods were hurting him, I just couldn’t ever give him another bite.
We were very lucky in that a couple of weeks into the diet, Sergio made eye contact with me for the first time. I took that as a sign that we were on the right path.
Our pediatrician gave us the name of a registered dietician that had experience helping children on the spectrum. She walked us through the gluten free/casein free diet and how to implement it.
She also gave us an education on food sensitivities, nutrients often missing from diet and labs we could do to get a baseline of Sergio’s issues.
With the combined information from Sergio’s medical history and labs, our registered dietician was able to give us a diet plan and a supplement protocol. I tracked everything I could think of – food and supplements taken, stool and sleep patterns and behaviors.
Sergio began stooling every day and didn’t seem to be in as much discomfort. Over time, he stopped banging his head and throwing himself against walls. He consistently made eye contact and kept gaining new words.
By age 3, most of his autistic “behaviors” were gone. He developed the ability to connect emotionally and began to speak in 3 word sentences.
Implementing a healing diet along with several other healing protocols, he’s gone from a child severely affected by autism to a neurotypical, thriving child. He is now indistinguishable from other children his age.
Much of this tremendous progress is attributable to early intervention and sticking steadfast to diet and supplement protocols. It took about 18 months of intense intervention.
Now, at the age of 5, Sergio is truly healed. He has no signs of autism or gut dysbiosis. I believe in feeding him nourishing, healthy foods, but he no longer needs a restrictive diet. Sergio is an extremely bright, insightful and loving little boy living a healthy and “normal” life.
Also, Alexa is really thriving now. Thanks to all we have learned about gut dysbiosis and immune dysregulation through Sergio’s healing journey, we were able to apply similar healing protocols to Alexa with miraculous results.
Her distended belly is completely gone and she is not anemic. We have recovered her from her food allergies and she no longer reacts to bug bites.
Through testing, we learned that she had chronic Lyme disease. Using an alternative healing modality called vibrational therapy, her Lyme was completely eradicated. After applying this therapy, all of her concerning symptoms cleared up.
It has been over a year since the Lyme cleared up and now, at the age of 7, she is truly a happy, healthy little girl.
This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
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Food sensitivities or intolerances are often overlooked by many doctors because they are not considered to be “true” allergy (IgE-mediated). This does not mean they are not clinically meaningful.
Many people with food sensitivities do not even know that they have them, but they can suffer from serious health problems if these sensitivities are not addressed.
Cole, a 10-year-old boy into cooking and Tae Kwon Do, was one of these individuals. Although he was never diagnosed with food allergies in the traditional sense, his health and early childhood were quite severely impacted by his body’s inability to tolerate wheat and dairy.
Cole’s mother Katrina was not immediately aware that her son had food intolerances. As a newborn, he had eczema on his body and she recalls that he was a pretty “gassy” baby, subtle signs that his body was not responding well to certain food antigens in breast milk or formula.
Cole had other signs of immune dysregulation including chronic ear infections in his first year of life and an allergy to certain antibiotics. He was also chronically constipated as a baby.
Katrina took Cole to see the pediatrician many times over the next several years for stomach pains, gas, constipation, and diarrhea.
Unfortunately, the pediatrician was not able to do much for Cole, aside from recommending that he drink a non-dairy formula known as Alimentum.
In the meantime, his bowel symptoms continued unabated. By the time Cole was four years old, Katrina made the connection between Cole’s dairy consumption and his bowel symptoms.
Because dairy is usually consumed daily in a child’s diet, it can be hard to isolate this as a contributor to particular health symptoms.
By using the diet elimination and challenge technique, Katrina determined that dairy products would cause Cole to have explosive diarrhea.
Katrina took Cole to see an allergist, who gave him the gold-standard allergy test—the IgE skin prick test. This test concluded that Cole was not allergic to dairy. This did not seem to add up.
Katrina could reproduce the diarrhea symptoms in her son by giving him dairy, and make the symptoms go away by removing dairy, yet the allergists assured her that her son was not “allergic” to dairy.
Feeling discouraged at the lack of answers from his pediatrician and his allergist, Katrina took Cole to see a pediatric gastroenterologist when he was five years old.
It was here that Cole received the less conventional food allergy test, the IgG test, which can help to determine if someone has sensitivities or intolerances to food. Sure enough, Cole’s IgG test indicated that he was very sensitive to both dairy and wheat.
With IgG test in hand, Katrina immediately removed wheat and dairy from Cole’s diet. Within 48 hours of these diet modifications, Cole’s abdominal pains, diarrhea and constipation cleared up. Clearly, dairy and wheat were a problem for Cole, even though several prior medical doctors assured Katrina that they were not his issue.
Because of this discovery, Cole went dairy-free and wheat-free for four years. At birthday parties he would skip the pizza and bring his own wheat-free, dairy-free desserts.
Katrina would pack him special foods wherever he went, so that he would not be exposed to the troublesome food. As far as Katrina and Cole were concerned, this was no way for a kid to live.
Katrina had read about a local chiropractor, Dr. Mark Joachim in Norwalk, CT, who practiced an allergy elimination technique known as BioSET. BioSET is similar to NAET, but uses different instruments and protocols.
BioSET utilizes acupressure, enzyme therapy and laws of quantum physics to help redirect and reprogram a body’s immune responses to ordinarily benign substances like food.
Cole went through the full BioSET allergy-elimination protocol over the course of several months, and by the time he had finished the protocol he could eat wheat and dairy with no observable symptoms—no diarrhea, no constipation, no abdominal pain.
Katrina also used BioSET to clear her own allergies, allergies that she developed as an adult. For her family, Katrina believes that BioSET was “a lifesaver.” Cole can now go to school, birthday parties, pizza parties and do all of the normal kid activities without worrying about the consequences of his allergic reactions.
Katrina often wonders how she and her son developed allergies to food.
As a child, Katrina did not have any known food allergies, nor did her husband (although they both now wonder if they had undiagnosed allergies like Cole).
Certainly, neither of them experienced symptoms as severe as Cole’s when they were children. Yet, Katrina has an unusual past that might provide clues into how members of her family developed dysregulated immune systems.
Katrina grew up near Valley Forge, PA, less than seventy miles downwind of Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear reactor accident in U.S. history.
The Three Mile Island nuclear reactor meltdown occurred in the spring of 1979. Radioactive gas leaked from the plant, although no one knows exactly how much gas escaped.
Several decades later it was determined that there was an increased incidence of certain types of cancer (including lung cancer and leukemia) as well as other health conditions among people living directly downwind of the nuclear plant.
A little over a year after the accident, Katrina’s mother, who was thirty-five at the time, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). There was no other family history of autoimmune disease or MS.
Katrina and her family moved away from Pennsylvania when Katrina was sixteen, but health problems continued to plague her family. Her sister developed recurrent endometriosis and Katrina was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at twenty years old.
Katrina initially recovered from her ovarian cancer, only to find three more tumors over the next eight years. One of those tumors was discovered when Katrina was nine weeks pregnant with Cole.
At fifteen weeks of pregnancy, Katrina underwent a complicated and miraculous surgery where the physicians were able to remove her tumor but save the baby. During and after the surgery, Katrina was heavily sedated, received antibiotics, and received morphine for nearly a week after the surgery.
Katrina carried Cole to term and delivered him via c-section. As is standard for c-sections, Katrina received antibiotics to prevent infections associated with delivery.
After her traumatic battle with cancer and her tumultuous pregnancy with Cole, Katrina developed quite severe environmental allergies and food intolerances.
Subsequent to her pregnancy, Katrina became allergic to many foods including garlic, onions, and other unusual food triggers. At one time, Katrina ended up in the emergency room because exposure to pesticides that had been applied to her lawn caused such a severe reaction that her mouth and throat began to swell and burn.
Katrina senses that whatever happened to her immune system prior to and during her battle with cancer and her pregnancy with Cole, was somehow transferred onto Cole.
Although it is not easy to prove, Katrina believes that her family’s exposure to the Three Mile Island incident set them up for health problems and these health problems have carried on to the next generation.
Fortunately, Cole has been able to recover from his sensitivities to wheat and dairy, and Katrina is now more aware of how food sensitivities, and not just diagnosed IgE “allergies” can wreak havoc on the body.
This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
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Because of my experiences with my older daughter who had sensory processing disorder, allergies and eczema, I caught my second daughter’s biomedical issues at a much earlier stage.
My second daughter, Maggie, developed oral thrush within one week of birth. She was given Nystatin and unfortunately, she was also exposed to antibiotics early on (these were given to me to prevent an infection from breastfeeding with thrush).
Maggie developed colic-like symptoms shortly after exposure to the antibiotics. It was at this time that I began to do some research on the possible causes of colic.
I learned that people in many other countries use probiotics to address colic and also to restore gastrointestinal balance after exposure to antibiotics.
Against our pediatrician’s advice, we gave Maggie some infant-formulated probiotics in breastmilk and within a few days, the colic symptoms were completely gone. After this, all seemed well with Maggie’s health. There was no constipation or other signs of ill health.
Shortly following her nine-month check-up, however, Maggie developed a 105 degree fever after receiving her routine vaccinations. Shortly after this, Maggie’s stools began to get looser and looser.
When I stopped nursing Maggie at around 13 months old, the loose stools turned into chronic diarrhea. Maggie had diarrhea everyday for months and our pediatricians and gastroenterologist only suggested that we feed her less fruit and take her off of dairy (neither of these suggestions were helpful in stopping the diarrhea).
Maggie was also chronically sick with green running mucus and a cough. Luckily, for Maggie, it was around this time (when she was approximately 15 months old) that we began seeing functional medicine specialists for our older daughter and we were able to determine what was at the root of Maggie’s chronic diarrhea and immune dysregulation.
Like her older sister, Maggie had diagnostic tests that revealed gut dysbiosis, immune dysregulation and food intolerances (to wheat, dairy, and a several other foods).
Further tests revealed that she had significant inflammation in her gut (obvious to the eye because her abdomen was severely distended) and had biomarkers predictive of Crohn’s disease.
Her gastroenterologist could not believe that a child not even two years old could be developing Crohn’s disease (a disease traditionally diagnosed in teenagers and adults) but he couldn’t argue with the diagnostic tests she had been given.
How could such a young child develop Crohn’s disease? We immediately started Maggie on the same healing diets and protocols as her sister, and within a short time her chronic diarrhea was completely resolved.
Overtime, her distended belly and irritable behavior (another symptom) and cough and mucus went away. By the time she was 3 1/3 years old, most of her symptoms were gone and she was eating all of the foods to which she was previously intolerant.
Today, at 5 years old, she is happy, symptom-free and thriving. She went from being a chronically irritable and miserable child to one that laughs, sings, plays and enjoys life.
This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
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Rodger was a fairly healthy and typical toddler until he began to show signs of environmental allergies and asthma around three years of age.
While he did have eczema (a subtle sign of immune dysregulation) as a baby, there were no other signs that anything was amiss with Rodger as an infant or toddler.
Because Rodger’s father, Rodger Sr. has known allergies to nuts, they kept highly allergenic foods out of Rodger’s diet to protect him from any possible harm.
When Rodger entered preschool at three years old, Celia and Rodger Sr. knew they could not control their son’s exposure to allergens, so they felt an allergy test was in order. Sure enough, Rodger tested positive on a serum IgE test to shellfish and nuts.
Celia and Rodger closely monitored his exposure to these foods from that point on because they knew how dangerous these allergies could be.
During September of his first year at 3-year-old preschool, Rodger caught a normal childhood virus and developed a cold with a runny nose, congestion, some wheezing and a persistent cough.
Celia took Rodger to the pediatrician where they were told that Rodger had environmental allergies and asthma, triggered by an infection.
The Meds Begin
Their pediatrician promptly prescribed Zithromax (an antibiotic), Rynatan (an antihistamine), Xopanex (a bronchodialator prescribed for asthma), and prednisolone (a corticosteroid and anti-inflammatory agent).
Four medications for Rodger’s symptoms seemed like an awful lot at the time, but Celia just wanted her son to get better, so she complied with the physician’s recommendations.
About a month later, Rodger developed another cold, with the same symptoms: runny nose, congestion, wheezing and cough.
They went back to the pediatrician’s office where they were given Xopanex, Rynatan, and this time they were given a new drug, Nasonex (another corticosteroid).
That same year, Rodger went back to the pediatrician on several other occasions with the same symptoms and each time he was given more prescriptions. He finally ended up on Singulair, a medication used to treat the symptoms of asthma and allergies.
Singular is a popular, although somewhat controversial, drug as the FDA put out a warning in 2008 due to an increased number of reports of suicidal behaviors among users of Singulair.
Celia was told by her pediatrician to give Rodger Singulair every day to prevent symptoms of asthma and allergies. Rodger took Singulair (and some of the other medications intermittently) for nearly two years.
Additionally, Rodger’s allergist told Celia that Rodger would probably have his allergies and cough for life and that she should consider immunotherapy—a treatment that would require Rodger to get weekly allergy shots for the rest of his life.
This suggestion, combined with the overwhelming number of medications that were prescribed to address Rodger’s symptoms, began to make Celia feel weary about conventional medicine’s approach to allergies and asthma.
Celia knew that her son was being drawn into a vicious cycle of pharmaceutical dependency and she was determined to find another way to help him.
BioSET
It was at this time that one of Celia’s coworkers told her how her granddaughter had recovered from celiac disease by going to a BioSET practitioner. Celia liked that BioSET did not require using any drugs, so she found a local practitioner to see if he could help her son.
Not long after Rodger began his BioSET treatments, he ate walnuts in a cookie and experienced no allergic reaction, and he was off of all of his asthma and allergy medications with no further symptoms.
She made no dietary or other lifestyle changes, and he was able to achieve a full recovery.
Rodger, now seven, has no symptoms of seasonal allergies, asthma, or food allergies. He plays baseball, soccer, golf, tennis, and he loves to swim–all activities that could be difficult for a child with severe environmental allergies or asthma.
There is no telling what could have happened to Rodger had Celia kept him on his many medications or had she not found an alternative treatment path for her son. All we know is that Rodger is thriving and living free of allergies, asthma and medications.
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Maria Rickert Hong‘s Children: Recovered from Sensory Processing Disorder, Acid Reflux, Asthma and Eczema, and getting healthier everyday!I have recovered my sons from sensory processing disorder (SPD), acid reflux, asthma and eczema.
I used to wonder a long time ago if these issues were related to each other and to their developmental delays, anxiety, failure to thrive and mitochondrial dysfunction, and now I know that they are.
All of these issues are related to gut dysbiosis (in their case, a system Candida infection) and toxicity. They are both full of heavy metals (mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium).
My older son is at the 97th percentile for heavy-metal toxicity; my younger one at the 90th.
They both got it from me when I was pregnant with them. I didn’t find out until after my older son was over 4 years old that we were all full of heavy metals.
My concerns about my sons’ problems were dismissed by all of their doctors (except for the current one) and chalked up to “they’ll grow out of it”.
A mother knows when there is something wrong with her children, so I was left to research these issues myself.
I found the book “Healing the New Childhood Disorders: Autism, ADHD, Allergies and Asthma” by Dr. Kenneth Bock to be the most helpful at tying these issues back to the immune dysregulation and nutritional deficiencies caused by their gut dysbiosis and toxicity.
Understanding what the root causes are helped me to know what to do to recover them. I changed their diet (GF/CF at first to alleviate sensory issues; GAPS later to eliminate the gut dysbiosis).
We began going to a naturopath to help us with detoxifying safely. I eliminated all toxic household and personal-care products from the house by looking up the safety of their individual ingredients (EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database was a huge help here).
They have both been through occupational therapy (OT) and craniosacral therapy.
However, there are always residual issues.
It would take a lot more out-of-pocket money for OT that would help my sons overcome their developmental delays and retained reflexes, both of which come from the neurological damage caused by their exorbitant amounts of heavy metals.
It’s also going to cost more money to deal with the psychological damage from this toxicity, which is showing up as extreme anxiety and anger in my older son and anger in my younger son.
In addition, both sons are considered “failure to thrive”, for which they’ll need additional services provided by a nutritionist, an oral-motor OT and a craniosacral therapist.
Both the nutritionist and the naturopath will continue to be needed for their help in overcoming mitochondrial dysfunction and toxicity. And there are always more lab tests to be ordered.
It’s a lot of work and a lot of money to do these interventions, but I know they’re getting better.
What’s frustrating to me is how little most pediatricians and, thus, moms know about these issues.
It’s still considered almost heresy to say that a child can be recovered from autism, SPD, allergies, ADHD, asthma, etc., but that’s probably because a pharmaceutical can’t cure these issues; it would only mask the symptoms.
Read more about Maria’s journey here
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This document is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this document.
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