Originally published February 29, 2012
My youngest was just 4 years and five days old when she was whisked to the hospital in the middle of the night because of her asthma. This was her fourth hospital trip for asthma related issues in less than two years. Her first was when she was two and a half and we were traveling. Luckily we had family in the area and could find a local hospital and get her seen quickly. The attending physician asked me how long she had had asthma. “She has asthma?”, I said quizzically. Duh. During the three days she was admitted to that hospital, I had time to think about my daughter’s non-existent asthma. Thinking of the humidifiers on FULL STEAM AHEAD all night, every night in the winter. And still, every time she got a virus – that barking cough appeared. Frequently, Dad would take her downstairs so she could sit, propped up on the sofa – making it easier for her to breathe while she slept. Then a nice steamy shower in the a.m. and she’d be ready to go for the day. So THAT was asthma? Call me stupid, but it never occurred to me that was what asthma looked like. In my mind it was wheeeeezing. Not coughing. And I wasn’t going to take her to the doctor for coughing. I could handle coughing.
At the time, coughing seemed like the least of our problems. We were engulfed in her brother’s immense medical and behavioral issues called autism, so to say we had our hands full would be an understatement. The biggest issue surrounding the coughing, at that time, was the fact she would awaken said brother and nobody would sleep another wink in our house that night.
So started our journey into asthma – another one of the “A” afflictions facing more and more of our kids these days…Asthma, Autism, ADHD and Allergies. We bought a nebulizer and had our arsenal of inhaled drugs. Treatments were done several times a day, everyday. Little by little she got better. But then cold season was upon us. And she ended up hospitalized again – pneumonia. When she recovered, her pediatrician suggested that she continue her nebulized steroid daily, everyday, to tamp her respiratory system inflammation down. That way, when she got sick again, she would be inflammation free and would be able to cough normally. It worked, when she got sick the next time – there was no hospitalization. Hooray! But little pieces of our victory started crumbling away. She started to need more and more nebulizer treatments to stay at her baseline of “good”. Then the stomach pain started. Every time after she ate, she would report her stomach hurt. It even caused her to stop eating preferred food. A little research showed that an “uncommon” side effect of one of the nebulized meds was stomach pain and should be discussed with the patient’s doctor immediately.
That conversation went something like this:
Dr: “Well, that is a very rare side effect”
Me: “Yes, I realize that, but she is experiencing it and it is very real”
Dr.: “Well, there isn’t much you can do. Maybe back off the med a little”.
We followed this protocol and then next time she got sick – she ended up in the ER again. This time oral steroids were prescribed. Yes, they worked. But by 4 years old, her asthma was ESCALATING and the drugs were becoming useless, or worse, harmful.
Four.
FOUR YEARS OLD.
“If it is to be, it is up to me” – it is one of those sappy lines from those useless management training classes I took in my previous life. But it had never rung more true than when I thought about it at that point in my life. How sleep deprived had I been for it to take this long for me to come to this realization? It was time to take my autism biomedical skills, used to bring back my son’s health, and kick some asthma keyster.
I put on my thinking cap and realized that inflammation was my enemy. I KNEW how to treat inflammation – and I was off and running. Omegas, curcumin, anti-oxidants. Settling on a regimen I thought would work well for her, I felt a little hopeful. She was on her supplements for about 3 months before catching the dreaded H1N1 flu. Yes – the one and only. I was convinced she was going to end up back at the hospital. I bumped up her nebulizer treatments and she…got…better. And I noticed that spring that she had more energy, and less allergy reactions to pollen. Those dark circles under her eyes were gone. Her belly flattened out. Her ears, normally packed with almost black ear wax, were clear.
Reporting back to her pediatrician at the next “well child visit”, he was pleasantly surprised to see she had done so well in the past 10 months. I explained our shift to the Vitamin D3 and Curcumin and Quercetin. He said to me “Well, when the meds are no longer working – you have to move to the naturals”. Less than two years before I had BEGGED him for options. I had felt powerless and defeated and he shrugged his shoulders. And today he acts like I did the most natural thing in the world – almost as if HE SUGGESTED IT.
Then I realized that my mistake those years before was that I went to him for an answer – again. Why? Did he ever, EVER give me a useful suggestion for a health issue? Child not sleeping? Well, you shouldn’t co-sleep. You should cry it out. Child not pooping? Take this Miralax. Child has autism? Watching too much TV. Why did I go to him? Had I not learned where the power to heal my family came from already? It comes from within – within ME. I am the only one that cares what happens in my family (yes, hubby does too – but healing is my job). It comes from within YOU too.
That pediatrician? S/He’s got a family and a business and paperwork and coding and regulations to take care of everyday. S/He is not up until midnight researching a supplement that some folks calls “quackery” to see what PubMed articles are published on it. S/He is not watching the minute changes in your child daily. S/He is not motivated by the pain you see in your child daily.
When did we turn this power over to the doctors? When did regular people become too dumb to understand healing? I remember listening to my grandmother and her siblings talking about “cures” or “poultices” they used growing up (and were still using). Of course, they were Pennsylvania coal people and had no money for doctors. They HAD to heal themselves or perish. Very quickly, healing became sophisticated and science-y …and moved out of the hands of the every-man. Not long after, we stopped paying attention. As a nation we fell into this “Aaaah, I can relax because I’m being taken such good care of” by my smart and caring doctor. We stopped questioning. And if we did question we were chastised for it.
We’ve handed over our health to people that generally do not know us and do not care about us.
This revolution is about taking back that power. It’s about doing your own research on PubMed, printing it out and showing to the doctor when you say “No” to a treatment and s/he wants to know why. It’s about sticking to your guns. It’s about your right to say NO or “I want another opinion” or a different method. It’s about walking away from someone who will not have a CONVERSATION with you about your health.
Small steps. Big change. Question authority. It doesn’t have to be adversarial. It just needs to happen.
~ LuvBug
* To read more blogs by LuvBug, Click Here.
How do you give your daughter the curcumin and quercetin? I have the capsules but my 3 year old cant swallow them. Do you sprinkle them on food or put them in drinks?
I used to have to mix it with a grape or raspberry flavored sryup. Over time I found syrups that had less yucky stuff in them (fake flavors/colors). I had to ramp up to that. mix it in and with even some of the worse flavored ones, I would put in a drop of stevia. My kids also liked chocolate, so I would give them a chocolate chip or two after the “yuckies” to help get the taste out of their mouths…because water just did not do the job.
Sprinkling on food or mixing in drinks did not work – because then they would not finish the foodstuff. They knew what was coming. There were fights but you have to brace yourself and get it in there and let them know there is no option. A few times I had to sit on my daughter to get it in her, and reward her afterwards. It is medicine – not prescription, but no less healing.
Needless to say, at just under 5 years old my daughter could swallow pills. I had pill swallowing written into the ABA section of my son’s IEP and he got it in a few months. Little sister was not far behind…
oh forgot to mention a story I heard bout a guy who had cancer…did everything the doc told him to and yet he was dieing….then last ditch effort the guy tried some alternative herbs…he got better and he went to his doc and told him about it. the doc said oh yah I heard about that stuff helping cancer.
the part of the problem is. most docs just dont care about there patients. when I worked in a hospital…docs came into work with there big healthy veggie juices and there healthy salads…while the sick person lying in the hospital bed ate stale grilled cheese sanwich.
it is a look out for yourself attitude of society…that is slowly being broken down by people who have been brought to there knees by human suffering…these are the new breed of people who have suffered enough to have compassion for others to know better then to judge others….God is seperating the wheat from the weeds….
love you luv bug!!!!!!!!!
I swear I was writing this very blog post in my head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am one angry momma. and it is not only mainstream doctors I am so angry about but also the DAN doctors on the other side of the fence. I mean did doctors get all the power of God. where people practically bow down to them. listening to every word spoken as if Jesus himself were speaking. I am so angry about this doctor obsession we all have . I mean these doctors are raping us! yes even the grand DAN docotrs…people are selling there homes to pay for doctors that can barely give there patients the time of day.
I am going to start a new movement called be your own doctor! take your power back folks!!
LOL – thank you. I think some of us can be guilty of transferring our doctor-as-god infatuation over to the DAN! doctors…and they fell right into it as well. I would definitely join your movement channa!!!
We are doing it right! Turning to each other, to the Mom’s. This is pissing off the Pharma controlled medical robots. Love it!
We need doctors who can think and be our partners. And until that happens, we will turn to each other. The big kids hospital turned us away about 5 years ago – and then my pediatrician basically mocked me for turning to the internet for solutions. Where else are we going to turn when the established medical community says “that’s normal” “we don’t treat that” “that didn’t happen”? If you are not going to help me, do not mock my solutions!
A long, long, time ago, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to have the power to heal people. I studied biology and biochemistry, I took entrance exams to medical schools and I was accepted. But then like an aha moment, I saw a body. A human body being dissected by first year medical students. And it daunt on me… this is the only time a medical student truly gets to see inside a body. The pressure to learn and repeat over and over the names of nerves, veins, connections, etc. And do doctors remember all that once they graduate…I think not. So how can a doctor see inside your body when you tell them something hurts…..they can’t… they only hear a symptom and to the best of their abilities then give you a drug and move on to the next patient.
So needless to say I quit medical school and joined the military.
Now my philosophy is that I have the doctors work for me, I USE them.
I get the official diagnosis of what I have or my son and then I research natural ways to cure it.
Thank you thinking moms. Your stories are the sparks to my burning fire to protect my son.
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense.” -Buddha
Beautiful quote.
Thank you
Great job! My 5 yr old has asthma, too, we’ve managed it quite well with homeopathic remedies and the occasional albuterol neb if he gets bronchitis.
Homeopathy has helped a ton here with the asthma. We can use it instead of a neb when she gets sick. Knock wood – no neb is over two years….
This. Was. Eye. Opening! My son just came down with a cold. I always have to keep him home for a day or two from school because his coughing is constant. The description of your daughter’s asthma symptoms, before you realized what it was, are the same for my son. Thank you for sharing your story and experiences. I know that for me, reading a list of symptoms doesn’t always connect the dots, but hearing someone else’s story, which mirrors my own, is so helpful.
I’m so glad the story helped you connect the dots…How I let my daughter cough her head off for four years, as I ran around doing all kinds of naturals and biomed for my son is beyond me…But it happens.
PS I love that you have “VW” in your screen name…
YOU ALMOST WROTE THE STORY OF MY DAUGHTER EXACTLY!! EXCEPT SHE WAS 2-3 YEARS OLD, NOT FOUR. OTHERWISE SAME STORY EXACTLY!! CURED HER THE SAME WAY! I believe her brother “saved” her…. and she has since, done the same for him in other ways. Much Luv, Jacey
Bingo!
Well done. Thanks for the pep talk. Onward….
We hold each other up…
Your description of your discovery of your daughter’s asthma sounds like ours. Funny how something so obvious can be so not obvious.
http://www.momintwocultures.com/2011/06/working-our-way-through-letter.html
Thanks for this post. We’re doing a lot of these things already, but it helps to see someone spell it out for us.
I love that post – I can totally relate. I hope everyone is doing well.
Thanks for running this again. I swear, each time I read it I get more and more out of it!
xoxoxo
xxoox!!!
My son is “allergic” to steroids. Oral and inhaled. I had numerous arguements with the pulmonologist. I told her that about two weeks after starting inhaled steroids ( she also wanted him to take every day), that he would need MORE Xopenex and his stomache would hurt, his joints would ache to the point he refused to walk. We went thru this for over two years. At each appointment she would insist that he needed the steroids and that the symptoms I described could NOT happen. At my last appointment with her, when I told her that my son’s neurologist was very concerned about his reactions ( my son has mito dysfunction), she actually said “I am the lung doctor not the nerve doctor” to me! At that point I told her she could obviously not help us and we walked out of her office.
I contacted the neurologist for suggestions on a more open-minded pulomonologist. He asked if I would do one more trial with the inhaled steroid and we would do blood work. I agreed. We did pre, during and post bloodwork. It showed that within 10 days of starting Pulmucort ( inhaled steroid) his levels of creatine kinase had skyrocketed to dangerous levels. Both the pre and post levels were normal. The neurologist told what was happening was that the steroid was causing Rhabdomyolisis (sp??). Basically the muscles were breaking down and releasing this chemical into the blood. Creatine Kinase is toxic to the kidneys and will destroy them!!!! Save the lungs, destroy the kidney. We couldn’t win.
Like your daughter, everytime my son got a virus, his asthma sprialled out of control and we ended up in the ER for the night and sometimes the hospital for severl days. We knew his levels of neutrophils and IgG were slightly on the low side. I took him for a full immune workup. While the Immunologist said his system did not work correctly, it was not bad enough to warrant the possible side effects of IVIG.
I asked her about an over the counter product I had just seen, an oral IgG supplement. She said it would not hurt him, but there were no studies to show it would help. They were just starting to study oral IgG and knew it may help stomach issues. I bought a bottle ( $70 for 3 months) and started him on it ( along with all his other usual mito and autism supplements).
He very seldom gets sick, and when he does, it is normal. A few days of feeling puny, maybe a little extra use of his inhaler, and he bounces back! No hospital or ER for the last two years.
For us, Quercetin did not have any apparent effect, and Cucurmin gave my son kidney stones after a year of use ( they were tiny and he passed them quickly and hasn’t had another since we stopped the cucurmin).
Another effect I credit the oral IgG with, and believe it worked in conjunction with adding Leucovorin 6 months earlier ( folate autoantibodies), is that my son’s reading comprehension improved greatly and is now normal. My theory is that the Leucovorin improved connections in the brain ( it also normalized his binocular vision after only 3 months) and the oral IgG reduced inflammation, allowing the brain to function more normally.
I love how beautifully you pulled all those pieces together.
We did a ton of 5-mthf for years and quercetin – those two did the same thing Leucovorin and oral IgG did for you: reduce inflammation and improve connections (and now I’m talking about my son with autism)…
Great work, Momma!
Pingback: It’s So Much More Than Just Autism! | The Thinking Moms' Revolution
Pingback: All Hail Saint Medina! | The Thinking Moms' Revolution
You read our minds. We’ve had this exact conversation a million times, but don’t seem to stumble across many other moms (dealing with autism or otherwise) who think this way. We absolutely have learned the hard way that we are our children’s healers. We must rely on our own instincts and research. By blindly following the advice of our doctors (and not questioning them), we made some really poor decisions that resulted in harm to our children. And we’ve spent years trying to undo this damage. Hat’s off to you for encouraging moms to think for themselves. That’s why our tag line is “Rethink what you’ve been told. Refuse the status quo. Escape the whirlwind of confusion.” -Molly & Leah
Appreciate it for helping out, fantastic info .
Pingback: Feb 29, 2012: LuvBug’s Power to Heal… | The Thinking Moms' Revolution Starts Here
Understood. And thank you. This is a great start!
Are there any enzymes, probitics or brands of curcumin in partiuclar you recommend?
I feel compelled (as a lawyer jabs me in my ribs…) to say I am not a doctor. But I can tell you about my family and our experiences. There are so many types and brands of enzymes. I found Houston Enzymes a great place to start to learn about enzymes especially this page http://www.houston-enzymes.com/learn/
Most enzymes available over the counter are plant derived and if you have a food sensitive kiddo, be sure you know exactly from what plant your enzyme is derived.
Probiotics are as varied as the people on this earth. Talk About Curing Autism Now (TACA) has some great information to get you started on probiotics and lots of different supplements. Start here with the “Supplements – An Overview” http://www.tacanow.org/family-resources/supplements-an-overview/
Our family used Lee Silsby’s Enhansa as a Curcumin supplement. Curcumin is very hard for the body to absorb and their formulation makes that a bit easier. Do some research on this first – it is not a supplement that is for everyone. Here’s a post from one of my favorite blogs about it: http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/08/enhansa-curcumin-supplement-helping-families-treating-autism.html
Part of being a “Thinking Mom” (or Dad) is doing the research, finding a message board in Yahoo or Facebook so you can compare experiences with other families, and thinking about what is right for your family.
Bravo! Bravo! Beautifully written. Perfectly illustrates our reality! THANK YOU LUV BUG!
Can you tell me what curcumin is? I just read about querctin. I have vitamin d3 and probitoics for my son’s asthma. I have also read about enzymes. How are those and probitics different? The probitics have worked for about 6 months but now bouts of his asthma are kicking back in again and I think I need to change his regimen. What probitoics do you use? I use organic garden of life. Thank you for your great article.
Curcumin is a spice used a lot in Asian food. It turns out it is one of the best anti-oxidants out there and helps a lot with inflammation. You can get it concentrated in capsules.
Enzymes help you digest nutrients. The biggest reason for them in ASD kids is to break down casein and gluten so they do not leak through the gut into the bloodstream as large molecules that poison the brain. The other reason is to break down carbs so that you’re not feeding the “bad” bacteria as much. Probiotics, on the other hand, are “good” bacteria that your child needs in his/her gut. Most ASD kids have messed up gut flora and the probiotics help to kill the bad bacteria and restore the good bacteria so the leaky gut can heal.
Curcumin is the most powerful component of the spice tumeric, sometimes called the poor man’s saffron because of it’s colour. I use it liberally in everything savoury from spaghetti sauce and lasagna to eggs, potatoes, salad dressings, bean dishes, stirfrys … I buy it by the kg bag and put it in glass canning jars in the pantry. People in Northern India have the lowest incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease and they consume large amounts of tumeric daily. Might just see how it goes in my morning cuppa…
http://fitlife.tv/benefits-turmeric/
Or maybe in juice!
“Love Bug”, I could not have hoped for a better life partner than you. Thank you for your courageous and exceptionally successful efforts. Your efforts have both wowed and amazed me. Moreover, our daughter – and son – have benefited greatly from your work!!! Much love and appreciation.
“hubby”
That is the sweetest thing I have read in a long time ♥
Awesome Article, and Prof – I just have started NAET for my own allergies and for my 6yo ASD kiddo’s sensitivities. I’m pleasantly AMAZED that i am not on my Zyzal yet this allergy season. I should’ve been a month ago. and Wheat isn’t making me swell anymore. Amazing.
Awesome! I’m doing it as soon as I have some income coming in…
Amen, sistah! I can so relate to this one. I DO know asthma (because I’ve had it since I was 12) and I recognized when Beckett started doing an asthmatic-type cough at night at about 16 months. Of course, since I recognized it so soon his lungs were clear by the time I took him to the doc. She said, “Asthma doesn’t come and go like that.” Um, yes, it does. That’s EXACTLY what allergic asthma does. It only sticks around when the inflammation level is so high that the body can’t heal itself. THAT’S usually when it’s diagnosed. The doc should have known better. But all she would have done was give him meds, anyway, and I didn’t want him going down that road. So, when my cousin mentioned this “quackery” called NAET, I signed Beckett up. All the allergies and food sensitivities gone in a few short months. No tendency toward asthma has reappeared. Someday I’m going to spend the money to get myself some NAET.
I think there was a time when Med students only got a semester of education about drugs. That has to have flipped now. Full on education on how to prescribe for health. Awful. Good work Mom!
It’s a long, strange and somewhat unbelievable story about how so many of us are living parallel lives, but at least we are finding each other… Stay posted for t-shirts and what not – we love swag!
When there is a Thinking Moms Revolution T shirt, bumper sticker, hat… i want to be on that design and execution team. Another ditto dat, high five, how is that there are so many of us living parallel lives?
Thanks for this wonderful reminder. Sadly, most modern-day medical practitioners have forgotten that in the end, ALL healing is SELF-healing. No one has the power to ‘heal’ another; rather, it is the responsibility of healing practitioners to safely and effectively elicit the healing response that resides in every cell, tissue and organ system. Of course, the inherent capacity for healing may only express itself in varying degrees, as it is dependent upon the smooth operation of complex, coordinated efforts that occur from the inside-out. While crisis-averting drugs are sometimes necessary, even those are patterned after chemical interactions which healthy bodies produce on their own, naturally, in crisis. As my six year-old granddaughter recently stated, “it’s not the pathogen–it’s the terrain.”
I love your six year old granddaughter…what a great sentence!! Woo hoo!
(did I mention *anecdotally* that she’s home birthed, breastfed and unvaccinated?)
Gasp, I think you raised yourself a revolutionary Dad! 😉
GREAT post, Luvbug!
I love this site, and ALL of the thinking moms (and dads) out there! Thanks for the daily dose of inspiration, perspective, and HOPE in my inbox each morning. Viva la Revolution!
Thanks for reading ~
Bravo, LuvBug!
Thanks, Pop!