Our daughter is doing wonderfully! Three years ago I would not have believed that she could improve to the extent she has. She has lost all cognitive/executive impairments and her Tourette's is only suggestible (if I ask if she needs to tic she will have to - motor only, no vocals), and not otherwise visible. Going back to school has not resulted in any sort of relapse.
We were at the cottage this weekend and without me asking she got out her homework (Grade 8) and reviewed (reworked) 30 math questions for a test that she has today. She packed the homework herself, got it up to the cottage and took full responsibility for studying. She worked for at least 3 hours. Neat and tidy writing, organized work area. At dinner time she admitted that she was having trouble with one question, but that she felt after dinner when she had had a break that she would figure it out - and she did. No screaming or crying. No throwing things or raging. Absolutely no frustration; just confidence. It was truly amazing!
This was a child that 3 years ago (Grade 5) I had to physically dress, brush teeth, tie shoes, pack backpack, pick up homework from school and work through unfinished school work/homework one on one because of ADD. She had an IEP and the help of the classroom EA. She sat behind a screen and wore ear plugs to decrease distraction. She was removed from the classroom for testing and had an EA sit with her to redirect her attention. She had an EA or another student go to the bathroom with her because she would become distracted and forget to go back to class. She had to eat lunch in the special needs classroom so the teacher there could redirect her to eating; otherwise her lunch would return uneaten.
Her printing was huge and messy and her books covered with doodled pictures (the same one over and over - her OCD). She raged, she screamed, she hit, she was socially withdrawn and regressed. She was so fatigued, dizzy and in so much pain that she had to sit out of gym class, or sit on the curb watching the neighbourhood children play. She had Tourette's so badly at times that she couldn't read because of head snapping/bobbing/eye rolling, and often couldn't give presentations in class because her vocals were so bad. A couple of times her Grade 6 teacher would recount this to me and cry, she felt so sorry for our daughter.
Her improvement has been nothing short of a miracle.
We are maintaining low doses of Buhner's bartonella protocol (minus l-arginine), I am still messing about with the babesia herbs. Both our daughter and I are reacting very strongly to bidens (which Buhner says is not supposed to be as potent as cryptolepis), with brain herxes (dizziness, brain fog), but with the help of Julie McIntyre we are still seeing improvement.
One thing that I found to be a surprise was Julie's recommendation of cilantro/zeolite for detox. I put off using cilantro for about 8 months. One because I thought it was baloney (you'd think I'd know better by now), and two because I couldn't find an organic source. Well I found an organic tincture source, and as soon as I started using it (1 drop 3x daily) our daughter's remaining symptoms declined noticeably (that is, even my husband noticed).
I messed about and ended up being too enthusiastic (10 drops 3x daily) which resulted in a yeast infection (googling revealed that the gut may overgrow yeast to protect the body from too many metals being dumped into the intestine at once). Instead of using zeolite we are using Diatomaceous Earth; we may switch to zeolite (which Julie swears by, and she hasn't led us astray yet - except for dosages which are very tricky for us (we find 1/4 of recommended dosage to be best).
The amazing thing is that during a recent trip which entailed a week's stay in a "free wireless" hotel (meaning wireless is EVERYWHERE) both our daughter and I were unaffected by the EMF's. We are usually quite electrosensitive. Previous trips to wireless available buildings (museums, hotels, restaurants, malls etc.) generally resulted in an increase in symptoms for our daughter (especially ticcing, fatigue and headache to the point of having to sit down and rest) and palpitations/anxiety for me. I was not looking forward to staying in the hotel, and neither was our daughter, but after our first night there we realized that we weren't being impacted to the extent that we had been. We actually slept like logs!
Cilantro and clays are used in many natural metal detox remedies; and it would make sense that removing metal burden from the body would decrease reaction to electromagnetic frequencies.
No child should have to suffer the pain, fatigue and cognitive dysfunction that we have had to endure, but I have learned so much from this journey with our daughter:
That mainstream medicine isn't the be-all, end-all it presumes to be.
That bacteria are not the only problem, that compromised immune/detoxification systems are responsible for symptoms as well.
That our children are being poisoned by the pesticides in their food (big agriculture) and by the metals/adjuvants in the 70 (!) vaccines now recommended by experts (mainstream medicine / big pharmaceutical companies).
No large corporations/conglomerations are going ever again going to tell me what is best for me or my family.
Although in the past I would have considered myself nuts to even suggest this to anyone else (let alone believe it myself), I now read several alternative health sites:
2008 - MMR booster and insect bite (bruise-like rash) - motor/vocal tics, emotional lability (including rage), age regressive behaviour, low level OCD, urinary frequency, diminished fine motor ability, insomnia, loss of executive function. Waxed and waned with strep/viral infections.
2010 - Dx ADHD, Tourettes, Aspergers, motor delay, probable PANDAS.
Jan 2011 - shin/forearm pain, cyclic IBS, foot (sole) pain, dizziness, palpitations, chest pain, anxiety/panic attacks, pick-like skull pain, pain and stiffness at base of skull, tingling in extremeties, chills and hot flashes, extreme fatigue, nightly fever.
Jan 2013 - Bartonella IgG titers declined from 160 (Jun 2011) to 80. CD57 16.
April 2013 - Weaned from abx treatment at 80% improvement. Continued with Full Buhner bartonella herbal protocol, Terry Wahls/PerfectHealthDiet gf/cf/sf diet. Minimizing EMF exposure.
Sept 2013 - CD57 45.
Oct 2013 - All symptoms (PANS and pain/fatigue) 95% resolved. No flares with viral or other infections. Herxing remains with changes in herbal protocols.
Nov 2013 - Improvement to 98% with addition of Buhner herbal protozoan treatment.
Dec 2013 - ANA titers negative. PANS symptoms resolved. Regular classroom requiring no accommodations. B+/A student.
Mar 2014 - Continued improvement in cognitive/executive function with increased dosages of cryptolepis/sida/alchornea (CSA) tincture.
Sept 2014 - Continued improvement with the addition of red root and bidens. 99%
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
AWESOME! I am so happy to hear this! It sounds like metals were holding her up. So glad your little girl is better!
Good work and thank you for sharing. Posted by Mvdr (Member # 43034) on :
Wonderful news, Rowingmom! She is so blessed to have you for her mom! Most would have given up and differed to the Pediatrician. Great job!
Posted by jlcd1 (Member # 18138) on :
Wow that is amazing!!!! And very encouraging! !
Posted by surprise (Member # 34987) on :
Love ya rowingmom- you have no idea what an inspiration you are-- even to us old mama's who need a nudge or two to keep going forward-- to the very new. God bless--
Posted by canadianmama (Member # 36298) on :
Thank for sharing your stories and details. I am SO glad that your daughter continues to improve.
I know what a blessing it is to see your child act "normal" after all they have been through. Brings tears to my eyes to see my son be part of regular young teen life.
Many blessing for continued good health to you and your family!
Posted by Jane2904 (Member # 15917) on :
Thanks for posting and so glad your daughter is improving.
Best to you and your family.
Posted by ukcarry (Member # 18147) on :
How lovely that your daughter has improved so much. That is worth so much to your family, and the life of everyone in it. Thank you for sharing the good news with us here and all the best to both you and your daughter.
Posted by mlg (Member # 35383) on :
Thank you so much for the update and the great news!
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