Healing advice for toddler (GAPS, homeopathy, or what?)

[sosurreal09]

My 32 m/o was vaccine injured as a baby (seizures, intestinal bleeding, encephalitic cry, constant illness, food allergies (possible related)). We stopped vaxing at 9 m/o and the blood and seizures stopped by 12 m/o. The constant illness never did stop....it has gotten a little better but she gets sick and it last like 2+ weeks (fever and all) every-single-time. She also gets sick often (at least monthly now which is a huge improvement believe it or not...)

I have done a little bit of homeopathy specific to vaccine injuries but our homeopath left the state...

Her diet is good. She is still BFing and she eats all organic foods. (mostly fruits and vegs, rice, quinoa, oats) gets cod liver oil, probiotics, whole food based multi. She only drinks water and BM. All her allergens are completely eliminated by her and I...Also going to chiro regularly.

So I'm not sure where to go from here. Everyone keeps telling me to do GAPS which is a huge commitment and I feel like it just may be too much YK? Plus being dairy and egg allergic limits it even more.

Someone else mentioned doing this http://www.newtonlabs.net/Kids-VaccinationIllness-Assist/productinfo/F098/ http://www.newtonlabs.net/Kids-Detoxifier/productinfo/F001/

I just don't know where to go from here. Besides the constant illness lately she has had circles under her eyes and bruising easily/taking a long time to heal. She also randomly took up napping again after not napping for months...She does have good energy and she poops 2x a day most days.

Any advice or BTDT parents?

Edited by sosurreal09 - 6/20/12 at 6:12am

[sosurreal09]

 

[NotEnoughHands]

Hi sosurreal09,

It's a complicated question you ask and cannot be answered without more information.

Most signifcantly, what form of vaccine damage is there? What is your actual physician's diagnosis?

I tend to steer clear of homeopathy and chiropractics for treatment of medication damage. Nothing particularly against them, but I've never seen any benefit that cannot be easily explained by the placebo effect, confirmation bias or regression to the mean when dealing with the bodies chemical inbalance (although I'm not sure I'd be able to walk upright without my chriropractor due to physical injuries).

They also tend (not exclusively) to make up horror stories about vaccines which often turn out not to be true. (a few to many conspiracy theorists in the camp)

I recommend a qualified dietician (not a nutritionist, big difference). There are far too few who specialize in vaccine damge, & they will also ask, what sort of vaccine damage it is. You need this to progress.

Very best wishes and good luck for you and your daughter.

Paula

[lauriej1]

I would contact Manfred Mueller at the Homeopathic College for a consultation or a referral to a practitioner in your area.

He specializes in detoxification from vaccines and pharmaceuticals

[Alan Schmukler]

You can contact the homeopathy organization in your country/ state for a referral.  Some homeopaths will treat long distance, in case there's no one local.   You can find that information here: http://hpathy.com/homeopathy-organizations/ 

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by NotEnoughHands 

Hi sosurreal09,

It's a complicated question you ask and cannot be answered without more information.

Most signifcantly, what form of vaccine damage is there? What is your actual physician's diagnosis?

I tend to steer clear of homeopathy and chiropractics for treatment of medication damage. Nothing particularly against them, but I've never seen any benefit that cannot be easily explained by the placebo effect, confirmation bias or regression to the mean when dealing with the bodies chemical inbalance (although I'm not sure I'd be able to walk upright without my chriropractor due to physical injuries).

They also tend (not exclusively) to make up horror stories about vaccines which often turn out not to be true. (a few to many conspiracy theorists in the camp)

I recommend a qualified dietician (not a nutritionist, big difference). There are far too few who specialize in vaccine damge, & they will also ask, what sort of vaccine damage it is. You need this to progress.

Very best wishes and good luck for you and your daughter.

Paula

Not sure what you mean. No one told me scare tactics I saw everything with my own eyes

2 m/o shots- encephalitic cry, fever, started getting sick here had fever for 1 month straight, had mild seizures during naps seizures stopped before we got to the specialist when I stopped vaccinating.

4 m/o shots- intestines started bleeding and started pooping 12x a day, illness after illness after illness

6 m/o shots- no added reaction

9 m/o shots- no added reaction

stopped vaxing by 12 m/o seizures, blood, and screaming finally stopped. Still constantly ill.

15 m/o isolated Hib- blood came back temporarily, 7 ear infections in 5 months, still constantly ill. Developed several food allergies. (IgE)

That is where we are at today no other vaccines 32 m/o refer to first post

[Youngfrankenstein]

But that is why she is asking what your child's condition is now.  What are the long-term diagnoses?  You can't take away the vaxes you believe damaged her so what are the conditions that need treatment.  Then people can offer help.

I do not believe that homeopathy is useful so I would say get a relationship with an MD that you trust.  But obviously you feel differently.

[sosurreal09]

All she has left is a compromised immune system we can't seem to heal and her food allergies. She gets sick and it lasts 2+weeks and she is sick often. Possibly sensory/behavioral stuff too. She has dark circles under her eyes and bruises easily/takes a long time to heal.

Her current Dr (MD) said he believes the vax compromised her immune system by how her body reacted to them and he sees that a lot. The allergies could be from the damage to the intestines that occurred at 4 m/o shots and 15 m.o shot.

[stik]

8 months of intestinal bleeding is going to leave anyone in pretty poor health.  How was that treated?  How is her weight?  How were the seizures diagnosed/treated?  What treatment has your doctor proposed?

Given that her diet is already limited, I wouldn't try more dietary restrictions.  Frequent ear infections are probably having a negative impact on her overall health as well.  How are you treating those?  Has your doc suggested tubes?  Has she had a workup to rule out a serious condition causing the bruising?  Not to be all freaky about it, but that's an early symptom of some childhood cancers and really should be looked in to.

[Bokonon]

Has she been tested for Celiac?  I would definitely eliminate gluten if you haven't already, at least temporarily, to see if there is any improvement.

[stik]

I'd be loathe to cut foods unless you KNOW she is allergic.  Looking at her diet in the OP, though - what sources of fat and protein is she getting?  The foods you listed are not all that calorie-dense and pretty low fat.  There are proteins in the whole grains and fat and protein in the breast milk, but I'm not seeing the kind of high-fat, high-protein foods I like to see in a little kid's diet.  Breast-feeding is awesome.  You need to add more high-calorie fat and protein sources - at this point, you're not supplementing breast-feeding with table food, you're supplementing table food with breast-feeding.  Are you vegetarian?  Because that would add a challenge.  If not, it's not a bad time to introduce meat.  It can be hard to get fats and proteins into an egg and dairy allergic child.  A dietician could definitely help with this.  She's not going to get healthy while she's under-nourished.
 

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by stik 

8 months of intestinal bleeding is going to leave anyone in pretty poor health.  How was that treated?  How is her weight?  How were the seizures diagnosed/treated?  What treatment has your doctor proposed?

Given that her diet is already limited, I wouldn't try more dietary restrictions.  Frequent ear infections are probably having a negative impact on her overall health as well.  How are you treating those?  Has your doc suggested tubes?  Has she had a workup to rule out a serious condition causing the bruising?  Not to be all freaky about it, but that's an early symptom of some childhood cancers and really should be looked in to.

THEY DID NOTHING. We went to a GI specialist was told it was "intolerances" but I eliminated everything until I got to the point of just eating free range lamb, romaine lettuce, and olive oil for months. The GI ended up telling me "some kids just always bleed" That was what they left me with at 6 m/o and like I said it didn't stop until we stopped vaxing....Also at a year I started adding foods back in and she only reacted to dairy that's it...until the 15 m/o vax.

Ear infections are less and less now it was more an immediate reaction to the 15 m/o vax---never had one before. She has gotten a few after those 5 months. I treated the first few with antibiotics but they kept coming back so I did garlic mullein oil instead and they healed much better. We started the chiro b/c of the ear infections too. Her last one was right before DD2 was born 5 weeks ago. Our ped did not suggest tubes he said it was from the vax (we changed peds at 5 m/o and at 16m/o).

She hasn't been seen about the bruising I will make an appointment.

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by Bokonon 

Has she been tested for Celiac?  I would definitely eliminate gluten if you haven't already, at least temporarily, to see if there is any improvement.

She hasn't but her poop is fine now, solidified but soft and 2x a day.

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by stik 

I'd be loathe to cut foods unless you KNOW she is allergic.  Looking at her diet in the OP, though - what sources of fat and protein is she getting?  The foods you listed are not all that calorie-dense and pretty low fat.  There are proteins in the whole grains and fat and protein in the breast milk, but I'm not seeing the kind of high-fat, high-protein foods I like to see in a little kid's diet.  Breast-feeding is awesome.  You need to add more high-calorie fat and protein sources - at this point, you're not supplementing breast-feeding with table food, you're supplementing table food with breast-feeding.  Are you vegetarian?  Because that would add a challenge.  If not, it's not a bad time to introduce meat.  It can be hard to get fats and proteins into an egg and dairy allergic child.  A dietician could definitely help with this.  She's not going to get healthy while she's under-nourished.
 

I can't get the kid to eat meat! I even try coconut yogurt and oil etc she won't touch it. The most fattening thing she eats is probably bananas....Far from vegetarian! That's why I was thinking maybe GAPS would help heal her and she would have to eat meat? IDK what to do about the meat thing...I do put olive oil on her veggies :/

She won't do nut butters either. She eats breakfast sausage sometimes. She doesn't even like bacon.

[stik]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

THEY DID NOTHING. We went to a GI specialist was told it was "intolerances" but I eliminated everything until I got to the point of just eating free range lamb, romaine lettuce, and olive oil for months. The GI ended up telling me "some kids just always bleed" That was what they left me with at 6 m/o and like I said it didn't stop until we stopped vaxing....Also at a year I started adding foods back in and she only reacted to dairy that's it...until the 15 m/o vax.

Ear infections are less and less now it was more an immediate reaction to the 15 m/o vax---never had one before. She has gotten a few after those 5 months. I treated the first few with antibiotics but they kept coming back so I did garlic mullein oil instead and they healed much better. We started the chiro b/c of the ear infections too. Her last one was right before DD2 was born 5 weeks ago. Our ped did not suggest tubes he said it was from the vax (we changed peds at 5 m/o and at 16m/o).

She hasn't been seen about the bruising I will make an appointment.

I think the causes of some of these problems are irrelevant to their treatment.  In the interests of full disclosure, I feel compelled to admit that I don't agree with the vaccine injury hypothesis for this complex of health concerns, but that's irrelevant too.  The key thing here is not WHY your child is sick, but helping her get better.  Her illnesses should be treated.  Ear infections are painful and can damage hearing, and chronic infections of any sort are bad for kids.  I would think that anyone who has intestinal bleeding for 1 week is facing risk of infection, malnutrition, and a host of other problems.  An infant who is bleeding for many months is looking at much more serious problems and possible developmental issues.  Those are not issues that can be addressed by a chiro.  What resources do you have access to for medical care? 

From the sounds of things, she may be under-nourished and failing to thrive, which could be both caused by and contributing to the series of long illnesses she has had and her history of digestive issues. 

What about the seizures?  How were those diagnosed and addressed? 

[stik]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

I can't get the kid to eat meat! I even try coconut yogurt and oil etc she won't touch it. The most fattening thing she eats is probably bananas....Far from vegetarian! That's why I was thinking maybe GAPS would help heal her and she would have to eat meat? IDK what to do about the meat thing...I do put olive oil on her veggies :/

She won't do nut butters either. She eats breakfast sausage sometimes. She doesn't even like bacon.

Just saw this.  Do you think it's a texture thing?  If she has sensory issues that are interfering with feeding, that's going to be a piece of the problem too.  Have you called your state's Early Intervention program?  She's about to age out, but they should be able to assess her and at least tell you if therapy (like OT or SLP) might be able to help with this issue.  EI programs allow parents to refer their own children.  Call today.  If you tell me your state, I will be happy to find you the number. 

If she will eat breakfast sausage, I would feed her breakfast sausage. 

[lauriej1]

Homeopathy is the ONLY medical modality that will work.

Mainstream medicine has no answers/cures/treatments that will resolve the issue and I defy anyone to give a case study where it has.

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by stik 

I think the causes of some of these problems are irrelevant to their treatment.  In the interests of full disclosure, I feel compelled to admit that I don't agree with the vaccine injury hypothesis for this complex of health concerns, but that's irrelevant too.  The key thing here is not WHY your child is sick, but helping her get better.  Her illnesses should be treated.  Ear infections are painful and can damage hearing, and chronic infections of any sort are bad for kids.  I would think that anyone who has intestinal bleeding for 1 week is facing risk of infection, malnutrition, and a host of other problems.  An infant who is bleeding for many months is looking at much more serious problems and possible developmental issues.  Those are not issues that can be addressed by a chiro.  What resources do you have access to for medical care? 

From the sounds of things, she may be under-nourished and failing to thrive, which could be both caused by and contributing to the series of long illnesses she has had and her history of digestive issues. 

What about the seizures?  How were those diagnosed and addressed? 

She gains weight and grows they never labeled her FTT. The bleeding stopped when we stopped vaxing as did the seizures. Never got any official diagnosis. I watched her have all these issues days after her shots, yes mainstream Drs didn't recognize it either, but it's not just coincidence it started with vax and when we stopped vax most of it stopped...

I thought the meat thing was just a typical 2 y/o?

[sosurreal09]

*I*DK about any mainstream stuff that would help her which is why I turned to alternative medicine. I don't see the chiro as our main Dr she went a few times at 15 m/o and just recently went like 5x.

Not here to fight about vax either (not that anyone really has) but throwing that out there. I know what happened to my baby and there is no changing that. Even the mainstream Dr admitted he never saw anything like it her immune system was overactive and underactive at the same time. No one could tell us anything really but like I said all that stopped when we stopped vaxing now it's just the constant illness/bruising etc I am concerned with healing.

I brought up the vax b/c IDK how to detox her. At the VERY least she did have the encephalitic cry which is a CDC recognized reaction after the 2 mo shots (when the seizures started too) and she had a fever for a month straight after the shots. THOSE are reactions no matter what your opinion is on the rest.
 

[stik]

I'm trying to understand the extent and severity of your child's medical issues.  Your most recent posts in this thread describe a picky eater with dark circles under her eyes and frequent illnesses.  Some people suffer from genetic misfortune on the dark circles front.  So the real issue there is the frequent illnesses. 

Your first couple posts in this thread describe a child with serious medical issues that pose a long term threat to her life and health.  As a parent with a family history of epilepsy, I take seizures very seriously.  Uncontrolled seizures destroy quality of life, and while seizures themselves usually don't kill people, accidents that occur during seizures - choking, strangulation, falls and other impacts - are potentially dangerous.  ANY intestinal bleeding is a sign that something may be horribly wrong.  Apparently, your child's doctors felt that this particular case wasn't serious.  I'm glad you got it checked out.  In the short term, diarrhea is no big deal.  In the long term, diarrhea in children prevents absorption of nutrients from food and causes dehydration.  12 bowel movements a day constitutes diarrhea in children by my pediatrician's definition.  ANY fever is serious in a child under 6 months - she's older than that now, but from the looks of your OP she was a very sick infant.  Repeated illnesses lasting more than 2 weeks in duration each time indicate that your dd may be immuno-suppressed or have another underlying health problem that makes her very vulnerable to infections.  Like I said before, the bruises are very scary. 

Chiropractors treat backs.  I see that homeopathy is really popular on this thread, but when you have a medically complex ill child, it's basically very expensive bottled water.  Every homeopath I have ever spoken to has been very open and honest about there being a time and place for conventional medicine.  Seriously ill babies fall outside the scope of what homeopathics can do.  The sooner you get to the bottom of these problems, the sooner your dd can be healthy.  Spending half of each month sick with fevers isn't doing her any good. 

Seizures are very hard to diagnose in sleeping children.  Sleeping babies twitch, their eyes roll, they have REM episodes that just look freaky.  They stop breathing and then start again.  Night terrors involve hours of screaming including periods when the child may open their eyes and talk to you, but they're incoherent and they're actually still asleep.  And they're perfectly normal.  Your description of seizures that happened only when your child was napping make me hopeful that your kid might just be a twitchy sleeper.  Which would be cool, because then your dd would be down one potentially serious medical issue.  Seizures, by the way, are a great example of something that modern medicine can often control.  Seizures can be caused by fevers, by tumors, by head injuries, by brain abnormalities, by genetic conditions, and by some other stuff.  There is nothing about napping that makes a person susceptible to seizures then and not when they are awake.  Febrile seizures aren't a big deal.  The other possible causes usually need some investigating and really should be treated.  If you feel strongly that those were seizures, and especially if your dd is still having them, you need to be very assertive about seeking treatment. 

It's a huge relief that your dd is growing well. 

With all her illnesses, it would be a good idea to start looking for doctors who will not stop at "well, this was caused by vaccines" and will propose treatment to address the ongoing issues. 

FWIW - My kids loved meat when they were two.  They don't represent all kids, but there's nothing special about age two that makes a kid averse to eating meat (or anything else).  They do tend to eat small portions, because they are small people.  Worldwide, toddlers eat pretty much everything, including bugs and dirt.  Pickiness is also normal at that age, but sensory issues can sometimes make kids so picky they don't get enough to eat.  There is therapy for that.  If your dd is gaining and growing, her food intake likely isn't an issue, but I would be on the lookout for good sources of fat and protein you can get into her, because a lot of the things you described - the dark circles around the eyes, the frequent illnesses, the bruising - can be a result of nutritional deficiencies, and her diet as described in your OP is lacking in those components.  That's not doing anything good for her health.