Over the past almost 5 years (I can't believe it!) that we've been delving into Autism recovery yeast and clostridia have been our unwanted companions. We've tried many, many things. Some helped, some didn't. Some made things worse. That's what you get in Autism recovery (or ANY biomedical protocol) trial and error. There is no clear cut road map which can be frustrating but it can also take you places you never thought you would go. One such road led to our recent success.
Camel's milk has been very helpful for my son in terms of his immune system healing. And through that connection I learned about a probiotic called Body Biotics. I read the personal experiences in the Facebook group, read documents online, heard from the owner of the company. I was still skeptical (as I usually am). But, I read blog account from other moms about clostridia and yeast levels. So, we took the plunge. It is a heavy boogie regime. You give the probiotics several times per day, 20 minutes prior to meals. You start slowly of course.
Our numbers were bad.....I cringe whenever I sit in on a talk by Dr. Shaw or other leaders in this biomed world talk about clostridia and what those high levels do to the brain on a constant basis. Reference range is 220, over the summer my son's levels were 1800. Yes, 1800. We saw explosive behaviors, aggression, fly off the handle type stuff. It is not pleasant. He is grouchy and everything bothers him. I feel it from both ends, who wants to feel like that and who wants to deal with a child who acts like that? So, after 2 (yes 2) rounds of heavy antibiotics (which I HATE) we had levels in the 700's.....still. UGH!!!! Researcher mom kicked in again.
Which brings me to Body Biotics. We ordered them and anxiously awaited their arrival. We started the product on a Friday. Wow! Immediate response, not in a good way. We had major meltdowns, sensory overload, etc. I knew this was a good sign but still, it is always hard to handle for everyone involved. As we progressed on, we upped the dose.
Here we are about 3 months in. I just received his most recent organic acid test from Great Plains Labs and his clostrdia levels???? Drum roll please............................74!
74? I don't think I have EVER seen his levels so low. I am amazed. Really. So there you have it, our own experiences on this stuff. It does have Lactobacillus Casei (and as with everything else) so do your own research on whether you want to use it for your child. It worked for us!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Never a dull moment.
So last night we got word that today would be a snow day (HURRAY!!). No alarms to be set, no morning rush to get up and out the door. But of course, in the world of Autism and Autism recovery, there really is no such thing as a day off. So, although the alarm didn't wake me, the subtle sounds of footsteps did. You see we had planned to do an updated Organic Acid Test (OAT) from Great Plains Laboratory to see what is going on and if what we are doing is helping the clostridia. And when you do an OAT you have to avoid certain foods for at least 24 hours. One of those foods is anything pear. Well, the one juice we like is an organic pear juice to use to mix his morning and evening supplements. Pear juice is said to not feed yeast and it is a great mask for the plethora of supplements he has to take twice a day. He is a trooper for his supplements in general but to have to take them with just water for 24 hours prior to a test, yeah he deserves some sort of a medal or honor of some sort. So, whenever possible we like to get the testing over and done with quickly and efficiently. It has to be a morning urine sample. I thought about locking the kids' bathroom door so they he'd HAVE to come to our room to go. But I didn't. So, I heard the telltale pitter patters down the hall. I jumped out of bed half asleep running towards their rooms asking "Did you pee yet?!?!?". I know, the makings of lots of therapy in the future for them. So luckily we got the sample and off it goes to Kansas. Hopefully soon we will see the effects of tackling clostridia yet again. Just another day in the life.....
Friday, February 1, 2013
Natural treatments for ear infections
Well as a happy 7th birthday to my daughter, she began to develop her very first ear infection post last week's cold. Wednesday night she ended up being up almost all night with a "headache". I assumed it was nasal congestion and mucous from the recent cold. The next morning we started to bump up her normal supplements and even added some additional to kick what I thought was the tail end of her cold. I gave her some A & I chewables, D3 of course, garlic, and chewable C. Her complaints of her "headache" persisted through Thursday. After being up all night I decided to take her to school late and let her sleep in. That didn't last and not long after she showed up on the kindergarten playground where I was working. Home she went. She was in tears that night. Hmmmm. Something wasn't right, nor was she sleeping through the night which was incredibly rare for her.
So come Friday morning and I am once again asking her about her headache. I finally ask her to show me where it hurts. She points to the side of her head above her ear. And she says it is hard to hear out of that ear (the one she normally sleeps on). The lightbulb went on, EAR INFECTION. My children rarely have ear infections. It is not something I'm all that familiar with in anything other than theory. My son only has had one ear infection, when he was 4. I know they can be quite common in children with Autism but that was not one of our issues. My daughter has never had one. So, garlic drops in the ear, later in the day I did some other ear drops with both garlic and mullein. We did all of our normal supplements plus a few more. I also picked up some Ibuactin (all natural pain reliever) and a homeopathic ear/sinus remedy. So when I got home from work I had a plan! She was once again in tears. The Ibuactin went right to work. Then some ear oil with a warm heating pad. I also gave her a few drops of Oil of Oregano. Within an hour she went from laying on the couch to being up and active. After dinner we did the ear oil again. I also did a topical rub of eucalyptus essential oil down the path of the ear tubes behind and under her ear and down her neck. I followed that up with tea tree. I also did the other ear for balance. Then we started the "cold sock" process by soaking her feet in warm water first. By bedtime her headache was finally gone! It had been a constant (unwanted) companion since Wed night. Hallelujah! She also got her probiotic before bed. So, we shall see how the cold sock treatment goes. While I have known about this, I've never really been at a point to use this. This is about the longest illness she's had. But likely it will be her only time really sick for the next year.
We've found that our kids don't get really sick for very long or often. I'd like to think it is a reflection of their diet and the attention we pay to nurturing their immune system on a daily basis. But it is also good to remember that an immune system is a lot like a muscle, it cannot get stronger without giving it a workout. We have to fight bugs because that is what we are meant to do. But we are meant to fight them and move on, stronger than before. We may have a sniffle or a few days of a cold and then not much more. This has been our worst illness and really her cold last week was mainly fever and lethargy and the only reason she was out of school as long as she was is because I abide by the school rule of being fever free for 24 hours before returning. And since I've been working with kindergarteners, I appreciate the wisdom behind that so much more, the amount of illness that tears through a school is quite astounding! ;) Otherwise she would have been back sooner.
So we shall see how effective all of this is on her ear infection, I will update my blog with the results! I hope you all are staying healthy during cold and flu season this year!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday morning update: She got her first FULL night of sleep since Tuesday night. She woke with a slight headache, only slight ear pain but no issue with hearing out of that ear. She is now writing her bday thank you notes and making Valentine's Day crafts. We will do the wet sock treatment for 2 more nights as per the recommendations. And, this morning we kept up with the D3, Oil of Oregano, A & I, C, Ibuactin and will do the ear drops/heat and essential oils on the outside of the ear for good measure. But, it sure looks like she is well on her way to recovery!
So come Friday morning and I am once again asking her about her headache. I finally ask her to show me where it hurts. She points to the side of her head above her ear. And she says it is hard to hear out of that ear (the one she normally sleeps on). The lightbulb went on, EAR INFECTION. My children rarely have ear infections. It is not something I'm all that familiar with in anything other than theory. My son only has had one ear infection, when he was 4. I know they can be quite common in children with Autism but that was not one of our issues. My daughter has never had one. So, garlic drops in the ear, later in the day I did some other ear drops with both garlic and mullein. We did all of our normal supplements plus a few more. I also picked up some Ibuactin (all natural pain reliever) and a homeopathic ear/sinus remedy. So when I got home from work I had a plan! She was once again in tears. The Ibuactin went right to work. Then some ear oil with a warm heating pad. I also gave her a few drops of Oil of Oregano. Within an hour she went from laying on the couch to being up and active. After dinner we did the ear oil again. I also did a topical rub of eucalyptus essential oil down the path of the ear tubes behind and under her ear and down her neck. I followed that up with tea tree. I also did the other ear for balance. Then we started the "cold sock" process by soaking her feet in warm water first. By bedtime her headache was finally gone! It had been a constant (unwanted) companion since Wed night. Hallelujah! She also got her probiotic before bed. So, we shall see how the cold sock treatment goes. While I have known about this, I've never really been at a point to use this. This is about the longest illness she's had. But likely it will be her only time really sick for the next year.
We've found that our kids don't get really sick for very long or often. I'd like to think it is a reflection of their diet and the attention we pay to nurturing their immune system on a daily basis. But it is also good to remember that an immune system is a lot like a muscle, it cannot get stronger without giving it a workout. We have to fight bugs because that is what we are meant to do. But we are meant to fight them and move on, stronger than before. We may have a sniffle or a few days of a cold and then not much more. This has been our worst illness and really her cold last week was mainly fever and lethargy and the only reason she was out of school as long as she was is because I abide by the school rule of being fever free for 24 hours before returning. And since I've been working with kindergarteners, I appreciate the wisdom behind that so much more, the amount of illness that tears through a school is quite astounding! ;) Otherwise she would have been back sooner.
So we shall see how effective all of this is on her ear infection, I will update my blog with the results! I hope you all are staying healthy during cold and flu season this year!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday morning update: She got her first FULL night of sleep since Tuesday night. She woke with a slight headache, only slight ear pain but no issue with hearing out of that ear. She is now writing her bday thank you notes and making Valentine's Day crafts. We will do the wet sock treatment for 2 more nights as per the recommendations. And, this morning we kept up with the D3, Oil of Oregano, A & I, C, Ibuactin and will do the ear drops/heat and essential oils on the outside of the ear for good measure. But, it sure looks like she is well on her way to recovery!
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