Asthma and the chiropractor--am I being taken for a ride, or does this stuff really work????

[malayasmommy]

My 3.5 year old DD has virus-induced asthma, severe enough that when she gets colds we usually end up in the ER with an rx for inhaled nebulizer meds, prednisone, etc.  Since April we’ve had her on a controller nebulizer (Pulmicort) 2x/day, and I HATE that I have her on it!  But of course, it’s not good for her to be as sick as she normally has been.

We’ve been going to a holistic chiropractor, had 2 visits and she gave us some vitamins for a smoothie for her daily (something to decrease inflammation, a bottle of Super Greens, GABA in addition to the Omega-3 and vitamin D she was already taking).  My concern is that this costs me $250 to purchase those vitamins and I don’t know…just wondering if anyone else has had success treating asthma this way?  She was doing this kind of strange thing where she would press a bottle of vitamins we’d been taking against our stomach and have us press up on her arm—she said she was reading our energy to see how effective the vitamins were.  Does this seem a little strange?  I’m all for alternative medicine but this made me scratch my head.  The clinic is a respectable one, she seems intelligent and knowlegdable but there’s a part of me that wonders if I’m being taken for a ride.  Anyone else have experience with this?

I really, really, REALLY want to get her off her Pulmicort but also don’t want to see my baby girl not able to breathe.

[SweetSilver]

I'll throw in my opinion--I absolutely have no faith in this kind of diagnosis.  The vitamins I don't disagree with, but the "holding trials".  I don't believe in NAET, not "muscle testing", none of that.  If any of that works, it is a mind-body connection IMO.  The mind is powerful in regards to allergies, implicated both in creating dangerous reactions and easing symptoms.

My experience with a naturopath and allergies was similar to yours--wanting me to pay lots of money for vitamins.  It's discouraging and suspicious, isn't it?  A conflict of interest, for sure, not one bit better than a doctor prescribing a preventative medicine that makes him a profit.  You have to wonder......

Many are going to disagree with me, and that's OK.

[cameragirl]

Quercetin is proven to help reduce the number of asthma attacks. If she likes apples, do you do not need a supplement at all. Just have her eat an apple a day, which contains sufficient quercetin. I probably wouldn't buy anything from that chiropractor, since I don't really buy into that type of chiropractic care. Omega 3's and vitamin D are definitely a good step, and will help support her immune system and body in general.

That being said, it may be worth an adjustment or two to see if it helps at all. I'd probably find a different chiropractor, though. If her spinal alignment is off, it might make for less room for her lungs in the first place. We have had good luck with adjustments for growing pains with DD. She was going through a growth spurt recently and wetting the bed nightly, which is not normal for her. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the chiropractor to adjust her since I was there anyways. No more accidents after the adjustment. It might have been coincidence, but I can't say either way.

[malayasmommy]

We've done another chiropractor in the past, his treatments do seem to help loosen up non-productive coughs and it's great for ear infections.  But yeah, when she told me she could tell I was Vitamin D deficient by doing the energy testing I wasn't so sure of it!  (I take a really high supplement already!)  If nothing else, it's important to trust your Dr and if I get a "vibe" then maybe I need to find someone I don't get that from.

CameraGirl, my daughter eats AT LEAST an apple a day, sometimes more!  She loves them!  I wish that would be enough to cut back on the attacks, but so far it hasn't stopped them...I'll make sure she keeps eating them though!

[franklin907]

We actually did some energy testing for DS1 & both DH & I did it, too, it was really strange how our bodies reacted & things she told us (that we already knew, but she had no idea about); however, we didn't stick with her in DS1's healing process (which is still ongoing). I actually just started quercitin for him today & theres a lot of really interesting information on it for both asthma & allergies, but I don't know if you could get enough from an apple a day- that's actually what brought me here today, trying to find good info on supplement doses. Also, a couple good books is Dr Kenneth Bocks "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics" & "Why Stomach Acid is Good for you" by Dr Wright. We started DS1 back on his digestive enzymes about 6 weeks ago & it's had a huge impact on his asthma, but these books have been a great help for me! HTH

[cameragirl]

I believe and apple would be a good maintenance dose. More may be needed to get your symptoms under control. I personally found quercetin and bromelain after I had surgery on one hand. I swelled up like crazy and it hurt like crazy. I also didn't react well to the anti-inflammatory meds. For the next surgery, I didn't use the prescription at all, and just used the supplements. I had almost no swelling and the pain was manageable. I believe I took 500 mg 2-3 times a day. I'm not sure what a child might take, so I'd definitely look into that.