Personal situation questions

[fibre_artist]

Ah, I don't even know how to begin...

Our situation: I have various moderate allergies (inhalant from puberty, food much more recently), sensitive to cleaning products, slightly hypothyroid (on meds, no autoimmunities detected), hormones out of whack, and have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The docs at the CFS clinic proposed that I got exposed to pesticides during my pre-puberty growth spurt and I might have genetically deficient detox pathway (possibly related to alcoholism in my mother's family). I have amalgams in my mouth (no holistic dentistry here). DH has stronger allergies (none anaphalactic yet), irritible bowel, and dyslexia.

I intend to bf at least a year. But who knows if that will be possible. The alternative health care in this area is pretty fledgling at the moment. We hope to get as much organic and balanced diet as we can, but the job market isn't helping us out too much there either . Our DC shouldn't end up needing to go to daycare.

I really need to do the research here, since I have to be convinced myself of doing the right thing. We're not even pg yet. Problem is, CFS comes with brain fog, and chances are with pregnancy I can drop 75% of what energy I have now, so the long detailed research I want to do might not be possible for me. I can have a very short attention span (actually, I've taken a couple of breaks already writing this post!). I have a science degree, so I understand research studies - but I have NO biology background besides that I've picked up in researching my own illnesses. Biology makes me sleepy at the best of times, and now is not the best of times.

So I'm hoping that someone has some urls or book suggestions that are easy to read (ie flow well, use lay terms when appropriate, have enough white space, aren't verbose, easy to pick up and put down), and hopefully speak somewhat to my situation. I'm worried that our dc will already have the genetic predisposition to up the Th2 (am I right?) side of the immune system, they don't need added help from vaccines. And from my side they might get a detox pathway breakdown that would predispose them to vax reactions. But if they are immuno-compromised, what are the chances they are going to have complications from the diseases themselves? Especially without an extensive alternative health care system to back them up?

I hope that's enough to go on!

[alegna]

With the chance of a genetic predisposition to autoimmune issues there is no WAY I'd vaccinate. As it is, chances of catching the diseases are lower than chance of reaction.

-Angela

[caedmyn]

There's a book by Stephanie Cave you might want to look at...I can't remember the name of the book but it seems like it was pretty clear and easy to read. You might want to start a new (short) thread just asking for easy-to-read books or links...I think people bypass long posts sometimes so you may get more answers that way.

Also, have you looked into leaky gut syndrome? Pretty much every symptom/disease you mention for both yourself and your DH are leaky gut symptoms. There's a "leaky gut tribe" thread in Health & Healing, and also a sticky on "leaky gut syndrome" in the same forum. There's a special diet that's designed to heal leaky guts and some supplements you can take to help heal. If you do have a leaky gut, you definitely want to heal it before pregnancy as otherwise you will pass on problems to your DC (through nursing, I don't know about before birth).

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Okay, well its hard to know the quality of docs in Canada, but my experience is that most standard docs when it comes to your list of problems, are pretty much as useful as as a sling shot to kill a mammoth. They don't know what they are looking at, or how to attack it.

Originally Posted by fibre_artist

I have various moderate allergies (inhalant from puberty, food much more recently),

Can you elaborate a bit?

sensitive to cleaning products,

It depends what you are talking about here. Many modern cleaning products are so toxic that eventually most people are. My cleaning is primarily vinegar, baking soda or elbow grease.

slightly hypothyroid (on meds, no autoimmunities detected),

Some kelp might help...

hormones out of whack, and have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

the key to both those conditions is minerals. Chronic Fatigue is definitely amenable to minerals. You need to find a book called "Sexual Chemistry" by Dr Ellen Grant, read that, and then find a decent book on Minerals... maybe start by reading the Nutrition 101 thread up the top.

The docs at the CFS clinic proposed that I got exposed to pesticides during my pre-puberty growth spurt and I might have genetically deficient detox pathway (possibly related to alcoholism in my mother's family).

Unlikely. Alcoholism, yet, stuffs the glutathione pathways, but that's self-inflicted not hereditary. Sort out the glutathione pathways, deal with the minerals, sort out your diet, and you have a chance to get a whole lot of that back on track.

I have amalgams in my mouth (no holistic dentistry here).

That's not the end of the world. Get the rest right, and the body can at least control the leaching amalgam.

DH has stronger allergies (none anaphalactic yet), irritible bowel, and dyslexia.

He needs to do the same things, though dyslexic have a huge need for lipoic acid and Vitamin A.

So before you even TTC, you need to get yourselves as up and running as possible, and sort out as much as you can so that hopefully, you transfer as little as possible, epigenetically, to any child you conceive.

JMO

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

This site might help you. Julia is always happy to talk to people and is very helpful.

http://www.sensiblehealth.com/

[fibre_artist]

Thanks all! I should have put a caveat in the op to focus on the vaccination impacts and not get sidetracked into the health conditions... I've been researching those as much as I could in the last 6 years . And the doctor situation was ok up until we moved - had two great NDs working on my gut, and two great in-the-system alternative leaning physicians. I'd probably be stuck in hospital or a nursing home if it weren't for them and my research, so all of that is helping, just couldn't quite get in balance. But we moved to the east coast for the better air and housing options, and we're already feeling much better because of it. Hopefully it'll be enough of a boost, getting away from the pollution and mold and..., that our systems can finally reset.

I will check out the suggestions though.

I do already use only baking soda and vinegar, with the occasional tea tree oil shot - just mentioned the cleaning products thing in the context of mild-MCS. I get dizzy and nauseaous if I walk down the cleaner aisle in the grocery store. The only bad reaction I had was to the floor stripper they used at school, and it was known to cause lung problems to those with asthma anyway (I do have lung problems related to pollution or cigarette smoke, although it isn't typical asthma).

Oh, and to clear up the alcoholism link, the MD said that alcoholics tend to have detoxing problems to start with - the toxic byproducts that give the 'high' tend to be stronger and stay in their system longer, so it's easier to get addicted to it. It was a short hand way of her identifying the possibility of a genetic predisposition to detox problems, but I wouldn't think it's in any way rigerous. Thought it was interesting though.

Right now as far as my health goes, my body seems to be screaming for 'fresh air, fresh water, fresh food, exercise, and calm', so I'm going that route along with my usual vit/min/O3/probio regimine. I'll give myself a few months to acclimatize and sweat out the Toronto crap before jumping into more research (which I find very stressful).

Of course, I just found something else to research instead (vax) - what I really need to do is get off the computer more!! (Anybody researched the addiction to Research? or maybe it's just an addiction to the net...)