Grain allergies and vasospasmes.
After my daughter was born, I was "diagnosed" with a GRAIN allergy by a "medical intuitive" in Australia. She was extremely helpful. I'm not sure many people know this but many of us are intolerant or allergic to grains - all grains. Wheat and rice are grains. This might be the case for your baby. Eating grains (grass seeds) is actually a recent event in the evolution of our diet and it occurred without the physiological adaptation needed. We don't have that special cow stomach that really is made for grains.
My allergy stems from when I was 4 when I apparently got the Epstein Barr Virus.
Grains have a protein similar to that in the EBV, so after exposure, the body reacts to grains with the same allergic response. I was amazed when she told me this but not surprised because I had an aversion to rice or pasta meals. I followed her instructions and my symptoms disappeared.
It's extremely difficult to follow a no-grain diet though, especially here in France, so my symptoms are back. I haven't had my intolerance "scientifically" verified though, so maybe I should do that. I have just never needed to because I found that the médical intuituve had been so extremely accurate in her diagnosis. I had asked about and other, more personal things and when I followed her instructions I got better immediately.
My daughter doesn't have intolerance to grains but I know another toddler who has.
Quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, wild rice, tapioca, sago, taro, arrowroot are not officially grains so they are OK. I use buckwheat for bread and you can buy buckwheat pasta and crackers easily, even in France.
This is a great site for the full list of non-grains and recipes & alternative ingredients etc:
http://www.grainfreeliving.com/home
I'm not suggesting this is what's happening with your child, but your description fits with your query on rice and wheat. There's more info on all this on this site:
http://www.nibm.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cmec_immunocereal.pdf
The article is long - if it's too long for you, look at the summary.
I'm sure there are medical intuitives in France but if you are interested, the details of the medical intuitive (in Australia) are below. She does everything over the phone (I've never met her). She told me she's happy to treat people from overseas. If you use her, don't forget to check the time-zone difference before you call. She cured my recurrent breast thrush & vasospasm, when one of the world's foremost experts on this had given up on me and left me with harsh medicines with long-term repercussions. Before trying the médical intuitive, I had tried everything & everyone else under the sun. It turns out I had psychological causations for my problems as well as physical causes (grains played a big part because my gut was so damaged that my intestinal flora was overrun by thrush, which was in my system).
She also did some spiritual healing for my past psychological traumas which was incredible. After having put up with extremely painful feeds (for months) from vasospasm, suddenly the pain vanished the next time I fed! I was in heaven. It was the first time I had experienced pain free breastfeeding.
And the vasospasmes never came back. Of course I had tried all the usual and not so usual treatments before contacting the médical intuitive. So she comes highly recommended by me and others who have tried her since. I’m noting her détails below.
Good luck
V.V.
Karen A Jones
Naturopathic Physician, Medical Intuitive, Reg. Nurse
ND, RN, Dip CE, MCMA
M: +61 450 688 742* | E: [email protected]
Suite 2/23 Avalon Parade
Avalon NSW 2107
*For appointments please call +61 2 8579 0923
WHAT'S WRONG WITH DOCTORS HERE?
One of our mothers is told to wean "for a few days" because the whooping cough the doctoresse suspects her of having might "infect" her 17m old breastfed child through her milk. The doctoressse is so convinced that germs could be carried in human milk (without the antibodies) that she contacts the father of the child to persuade him she knows best. Apparently the basics of immunity in human milk is not taught at medical school in france. Shocked at the incompetence? Lack of basic knowledge? The distressed and knowledgeable mother asks "what's wrong with doctors here?" March 6th 2012
1) What C has already explained : doctors are tought by labs at the fac de médecine, so though they are filled with knowledge of illness and médicine, most of them are incompetent in « health » while getting the impression that they are competent.
2) Radical massive psychoanalysis has mostly influenced health carer workers (doctors, psy...) and the whole population is pushed towards (too) early separation from mothers (to prevent « pathological » fusion with the mother). The whole French society is organised on this basis and the outcome is dreadful but people aren't aware of it.
3)Plus French culture is very patriarchal and breast is considered an exclusively sexual organ, denying its primary fonction which is feeding. Consequently people can’t tolerate breasfeeding long, because it brings them back to the inconscious lack of love and contact they experienced as infants and children (no or short term breasfeeding and little or no contact with the mother), and with an intolerable "primitive" state of being "animal" if breasts starts to fill their rôle as a feeding organ rather than exclusively sexual (Food and reproduction being animal, sexuality being human).
Instincts are very much denied here when it comes to women. See the contraception in this country, where the pills and the hormonal patches are at the top of sales and tend to cut women off from their deep power of controlling their fertility instead of educating girls appropriately about our cycles and nature.
Priority being the woman’s look and aesthetic and so on... compared neighbouring countries (I’m thinking of Germanophone and Scandinavian countries, where I've spent quite a lot of time. The fact of being female is so different, and so much more powerful there !).
4) French don't travel that much (outside of package tours) yet still think that our systyem and culture is the best in the world... the ones who know best. It doesn't help them be open to information and certainly not open to such sensitive issues.
Sorry for this boring long explanation... it's painful to me to be aware of the truth because I'm French and was also a pure product of our culture. I would so much have preferred to have pride in our culture.
Love
VMD.
Gluten. Cause of ADHD? A key player in allergies, sensitivities, distractedness, runny nose, lack of self control, self discipline, head in the clouds? Read and find out.
There's evidence suggesting that gluten sensitivity may be at the root of many neurological and psychiatric conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
What is gluten?
It's a protein found in wheat grain and part of "gluey" proline and glutamine rich proteins known as prolamines. Prolamines are found in all cereal grains, even rice, corn and oats, but only wheat, and to a lesser extent rye, spelt and einkorn, are assosiated with the serious neurological and autoimmune reactions often linked to autism spectrum disorder.
Gluten is only found in wheat species. Spelt or einhorn gluten has dramatically lower antigenicity of common wheat (Triticulum aestivum) that is used in bread products. Other cereal grasses have what are known as prolamines (proline-glutamine rich proteins) with rye containing secalin, barley containing horedin, etc, but they have very little cross-reactivity with antigens associated with wheat intolerance.
It has long been known that people with celiac disease are also more likely to suffer from ADHD, another condition that is heavily influenced by dietary habits.
However, while the treatment of celiac disease is a completely gluten-free diet, with ADHD the most oft-cited dietary villain is sugar, whereas grains are often overlooked (even though they act much like sugar in your body).
It turns out, though, that there may be a closer link between the symptoms of celiac disease and ADHD than was previously recognized, and that connection is gluten.
A Gluten-Free Diet May "Cure" ADHD
Many children with ADHD do not respond well to most grains, especially wheat. This could be because they have full-blown celiac disease, which impacts an average of one out of every 133 people in the United States (although some studies have found that this number may be as high as 1 in 33 in at-risk populations) -- or because they have a less obvious condition known as gluten sensitivity.
People with gluten sensitivity, which may comprise 10 percent of the U.S. population or more, experience many of the same symptoms as celiac disease causes, including headaches, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, gas and more, but may be unaware that the culprit triggering these symptoms is wheat and other gluten-containing grains. It's also very possible to have celiac disease and not know it … as researchers state, "in many cases, the disease may be clinically silent despite manifest small bowel mucosal lesions."
But the psychological and behavioral symptoms of ADHD are now overlapping so often with those of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity that it's recommended "celiac disease … be included in the ADHD symptom checklist." This suggestion was prompted by a new study, which found people with ADHD who tested positive for celiac disease improved significantly after following a gluten-free diet for at least six months. The researchers noted:
"After initiation of the gluten-free diet, patients or their parents reported a significant improvement in their behavior and functioning compared to the period before celiac diagnosis and treatment … "
It may sound strange to you that eating a grain that wreaks havoc on your gut would manifest as symptoms related to your brain, rather than your digestion, but grains are inherently pro-inflammatory and will worsen any condition that has chronic inflammation at its root -- and not just inflammation in your gut, but anywhere in your body. Chronic inflammation in your body can wreak havoc in your brain, and the importance of reducing inflammation when dealing with mental health issues is well known. It is very common for people to experience a wide variety of mental health and emotional improvements upon eliminating gluten from their diet.
Why Even Whole, Sprouted Wheat is a Problem
I recommend that everyone following my beginner nutrition plan eliminate all gluten from their diets, whether or not they have celiac disease or ADHD, because many experience health improvements upon doing so. Among the most important foods to avoid are those gluten-containing grains that contain gliadin molecules, such as wheat.
When gliadin in the wheat protein complex (containing over 23,000 proteins) activates the protein zonulin in the gut, it opens up the gaps between the enterocytes causing an influx of improperly digested wheat proteins and stomach bacteria.
Therefore regardless of your sensitivity level to the wheat proteins, gliadin opens up a pandora's box of intestinal permeability, and subsequent systemic inflammation and immune dysregulation.
See Dr. Natasha Campbell-
McBride and Me Speak
in November
We are both scheduled to speak at the Weston Price Foundation Conference Nov 11-13th.
Please click here for more details.
Wheat also contains high amounts of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), a glycoprotein classified as a lectin, which is largely responsible for many of wheat's ill effects. Other grains high in lectins include rice, spelt, and rye. Interestingly enough, the highest amounts of WGA is found in whole wheat, including its sprouted form, which is touted as being the most healthful form of all.
Lectins are actually designed to withstand degradation through a wide range of pH and temperatures, which is why sprouting, fermenting and cooking will NOT negate its ill effects. WGA lectin is particularly tough because it's actually formed by the same disulfide bonds that give strength and resilience to vulcanized rubber and human hair.
Furthermore, because lectins are so small and hard to digest, they tend to bioaccumulate in your body, where they can interfere with biological processes. WGA is particularly troublesome in this regard. Studies indicate it has a number of health-harming characteristics and activities:
Pro-inflammatory--WGA stimulates the synthesis of pro-inflammatory chemical messengers (cytokines) in intestinal and immune cells, and has been shown to play a causative role in chronic thin gut inflammation.
Immunotoxicity--WGA induces thymus atrophy in rats , and anti-WGA antibodies in human blood have been shown to cross-react with other proteins, indicating that they may contribute to autoimmunity. In fact, WGA appears to play a role in celiac disease (CD) that is entirely distinct from that of gluten, due to significantly higher levels of IgG and IgA antibodies against WGA found in patients with CD, when compared with patients with other intestinal disorders.
Neurotoxicity-- WGA can cross your blood-brain barrier through a process called "adsorptive endocytosis," pulling other substances with it. WGA may attach to your myelin sheath and is capable of inhibiting nerve growth factor, which is important for the growth, maintenance, and survival of certain target neurons.
Excitotoxicity-- Wheat, dairy, and soy contain exceptionally high levels of glutamic and aspartic acid, which makes them all potentially excitotoxic. Excitotoxicity is a pathological process where glutamic and aspartic acid cause an over-activation of your nerve cell receptors, which can lead to calcium-induced nerve and brain injury. These two amino acids may contribute to neurodegenerative conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease, and other nervous system disorders such as epilepsy, ADD/ADHD and migraines.
Cytotoxicity—WGA has been demonstrated to be cytotoxic to both normal and cancerous cell lines, capable of inducing either cell cycle arrest or programmed cell death (apoptosis).
Disrupts Endocrine Function—WGA may contribute to weight gain, insulin resistance, and leptin resistance by blocking the leptin receptor in your hypothalamus. It also binds to both benign and malignant thyroid nodules, and interferes with the production of secretin from your pancreas, which can lead to digestive problems and pancreatic hypertrophy.
Cardiotoxicity—WGA has a potent, disruptive effect on platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1, which plays a key role in tissue regeneration and safely removing neutrophils from your blood vessels.
Adversely effects gastrointestinal function by causing increased shedding of the intestinal brush border membrane, reducing the surface area, and accelerating cell loss and shortening of villi. It also causes cytoskeleton degradation in intestinal cells, contributing to cell death and increased turnover, and decreases levels of heat shock proteins in gut epithelial cells, leaving them more vulnerable to damage.
Why ADHD Symptoms are Closely Linked to Gut Health
A variety of behavioral problems are linked to problems in your gut, not only from gluten, WGA and other components of grains but also due to the gut-brain connection. The gut-brain connection is well recognized as a basic tenet of physiology and medicine, so this isn't all that surprising, even though it's often overlooked. There's also a wealth of evidence showing gastrointestinal involvement in a variety of neurological diseases.
With this in mind, it should also be crystal clear that nourishing your gut flora is extremely important at all life stages because in a very real sense you have two brains, one inside your skull and one in your gut, and each needs its own vital nourishment.
Your gut and your brain are actually created out of the same type of tissue. During fetal development, one part turns into your central nervous system while the other develops into your enteric nervous system. These two systems are connected via the vagus nerve, the tenth cranial nerve that runs from your brain stem down to your abdomen. This is what connects your two brains together, and explains such phenomena as getting butterflies in your stomach when you're nervous, for example.
As explained by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a medical doctor with a postgraduate degree in neurology, in the video below, toxicity in your gut can flow throughout your body and into your brain, where it can cause symptoms of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression, schizophrenia and other mental disorders.
Total Video Length: 1:13:21
Download Interview Transcript
See Dr. Natasha Campbell-
McBride and Me Speak
in November
We are both scheduled to speak at the Weston Price Foundation Conference Nov 11-13th.
Please click here for more details.
She believes the epidemic of autism and other learning disorders originate in the gut, and manifest as a condition known as Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS).
GAPS may manifest as a conglomerate of symptoms that can fit the diagnosis of either autism, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), attention deficit disorder (ADD) without hyperactivity, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, just to name a few possibilities … Fortunately, it is possible to identify GAPS within the first weeks of your baby's life, which can help you make better informed decisions about vaccinations, as if your child has the metabolic characteristics of GAPS, they should NOT be immunized until that is reversed.
What are the Keys to Treating ADHD with Dietary Changes? It is my sincere hope that people will begin to realize that drug therapy, if at all necessary, should be a very last resort, after all other options have been exhausted, when it comes to behavioral problems such as ADHD. The first route of treatment should actually be dietary changes, including:
- Eliminate most grains and sugars, including fructose, from your child's diet. Grains and sugars both tend to cause allergies in sensitive individuals. Even organic, whole, sprouted grain can cause problems in many children so it would be wise to give them a "grain holiday" and see if their behavior improves.
- Replace soft drinks (whether diet and regular), fruit juices, and pasteurized milk with pure, clean non-fluoridated water.
- Increase omega-3 fats by taking a high quality animal-based omega-3 oil. Research has confirmed that animal-based omega-3 fat can improve the symptoms of ADHD more effectively than drugs like Ritalin® and Concerta®. In my view, krill oil is the best option for this. It contains essential EPA and DHA in a double-chain phospholipid structure that makes it far more absorbable than the omega-3s in fish oil.
- Minimize your use of nearly all processed fats, especially trans fats as they disrupt nerve cell intercommunication.
- Avoid all processed foods, especially those containing fructose, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, which may trigger or worsen symptoms. Gluten is also commonly hidden in processed foods like ready-made soups, soy sauce, candies, cold cuts, and various low- and no-fat products, as well as refined grain products like bread, pizza crust, pasta, cookies and pastries.
This includes:
Rice
Corn (only eat organic, non-GM corn)
Quinoa
Sorghum
Soy (but I don't recommend eating this for other reasons)
Flax and amaranth seed
Buckwheat and millet do not contain the gliadin molecule that can provoke the inflammatory reaction from gluten. Therefore, they are usually safe to eat as well.
Gluten-free options are becoming much more in demand and as a result are showing up in grocery stores, restaurants and from caterers. But keep in mind, particularly if you are relying on processed gluten-free foods, that cross-contamination can and does occur, most likely during processing, and many companies simply aren't testing to make sure the final product is still gluten-free.
One study found that of the 22 naturally gluten-free products tested, seven of them would not be considered gluten-free under the proposed FDA rule for gluten-free labeling, which requires products labeled as 'gluten-free' to contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. So again, to be sure your diet is truly gluten-free, it should be based on whole foods, not processed ones.
Finally, the benefits of a gluten-free diet do not always appear overnight. Some do experience improvements rapidly, but in others it can take 9 to 12 months before the lining of your small intestine is fully healed. Generally, allow 6 to 9 months of following a gluten-free diet before you expect symptoms to resolve.
Source: The Primary Care Companion to CNS Disorders 2011; 13(3)
Source: Green Med Info
Related Links: Could This be the Key Factor Spiking the Rise in ADHD?
How a Physician Cured Her Son's Autism...
Why do One in Ten Kids in the U.S. Have ADHD?
MEASLES? A virus, not an infection.
I have my two daughters with rougeole and I am in the countryside no Dr. I have given them belladonna , and water for the température. What else ??? They have very hight fever!! I will be back on Wednesday. They have spots on the face. They caugh and sleep a lot. Tomorrow I will call our family Dr but we wont be able to have rendez vous immediately. Have any of you dealt with it before what did you do? Homeopathie ? Antibiotics? Thankyou besos. Mama O.
Envoyé de mon iPhone
Hi Mama O.
My son (15) had it 6 weeks ago.
First : how do you know it is rougeole (measles) ? Are you sure ?
If it is, it is a virus and antibiotics help only in case of over infection.
Just give water and homeopathy (depending on the individual) to help with inflammation, caughing, fever etc... a lot of rest, quietness, no bright light, no wind, a lot of love and reassurance. Magnesium Chlorure is a good remedy too (will support the immune system and prevent complications). Have confidence in her body ability to heal, she'll feel it and it'll help.
High fever should lower after 3 to 4 days.
Immune system is vulnerable for the time of the disease (officially 11 days) + recovering (3 to 5 weeks).
Make sure there is no sign of meningitis (no hard headache, free movements of her head and child lying on her back you can easily and without pain in her neck lift her streched legs up to the vertical).
Make sure there are no signs of pulmonary infection (caughing is O.K. (make sometimes vomit), as long as it doesn't turn like bronchitis or pneumonia).
These two complications (meningitis and pulmonary) are emergencies that require immediate hospitalization/treatment. They are rare in our countries with healthy children, however they happen, so we need to keep vigilent.
When they will be able to eat again you can give them lactic ferments (cultures), vitamines and minerals.
To give you an idea of the schedule without complications : my son started to have fever on March 10th, was declared with measles (the day when the red spots came out) on March 12th. He was totally floppy and weak. He missed two and a half weeks of school, went back to school with no sport for three weeks, and the MD told him he should be totally fine at the end of the spring vacations. So is he now. To the contrary of what we usually hear, this MD told me the young ones suffer the same way but don't tell it loud... so we think it isn't as hard for them as for adults, which would be wrong.
It is mandatory to officially declare this disease and have it mentionned by the MD in the child's record.
I found this interesting statement: This disease is often an initiatic passage in a child's life, and happen often around age 7, passage from mother to father, from physic to psychic. She'll come out stronger, with confidence in her ability to heal and to overcome difficulties, and ready for a new step in her life.
It is however stressful for the parents ! so keep vigilance, confidence and quietness...
Love
Mama V.LM
My girls had three days of hight fever . They are floppy and my first born trew up today. Second born has had a little diarrea and hasn’t eaten for four days, taking only the breast . She is 22 months old and my first born is 4 ½. She has puffy eyes puffy cheeks with red spots and is tired and sleeps a lot. I will try to get some chlorure , someone else told me I could give them sulfure, occiculsirum belladonna ? Thé de bourrache. Not sure what to try. Ffffff well I will get some rest myself now after two weeks of work. Thankyou!
Envoyé de mon iPhone
Hi Mama O.
I don't usually share the info from my homeopath, as I believe that consultations are still important...but given the fact that everything is closed...
For a fever we systematically give 15ch Alconit in a unidose and alternate it with Doliprane every 6 hours. It has always worked.
I hope they feel better.
Mama T.
Mama O.
As far as I can make out, what you describe matches quite well with measles.
Please be careful with Aconitum after Belladonna if you've already given it... I think they aren't very friendly to one another. Would be better to have an expert's/medical advice.
The danger with little ones with fever is convulsions, which may happen when fever goes very quickly up and/or down. Doliprane or equivalent might induce this quick "down" and then again a quick "up", if not supported by another appropriate remedy (homeo or not). That's why MDs used to give Valium together with any fever killer.
A bath one degree lower than the fever helps to lower it slowly. (You may not have this on the farm...).
Personnally I 've always been comfortable with high fever (with a child without personal pathologies), and I avoid giving him drugs to lower it. It helps fight the virus that hates heat. It keeps him unactive and at rest, instead of giving the artificial feeling to do better and getting exhausted by activity. but it depends how comfortable you are and how the child feels. Sometimes Doliprane helps go through a difficult time.
With measles the high fever lasts a few days and drops down by itself so it should happen to your daughters soon. The high weather temperature may help keep their own temperature high...!
Sulfur made the red spots promptly come out with my son (within 30 mn !) = sulfuric reaction (which I wasn't researching !)
Then he got Apis Mel which worked well to calm down his general condition, Capsicum because the inflammation caused terrible ear pains like otitis, and Coccus Cacti related to caughing, plus his own structural remedy. I do not know the other remedies you mention. MgCl2 has very bad taste. You cannot give it before your child is able to drink/eat something : you need to mixe it to hide the taste.
It is normal and healthy that the children don't eat when they are ill. Vomiting and diarrhea is also cleaning. These are good reactions of protection from their system. They will eat and digest again when they will have the strength to do it in addition to fighting the infection.
Give water or herb tea or vegetable broth or breastmilk, for hydration.
Good rest to you too...
Love
Mama V.LM
Allergies and treatment
My life has been polluted by multiple allergies for over10 years long, now. O-Obviously some of them are from food. I had a break from the symptoms for 18 months without knowing how or why then they started again. It had been such a pain, disturbing my whole life day and night, that I researched other ways to prevent it from fully come back again.
I found the NAET method (see on the web) which is a way to unprogram/reprogram our body to the thing we are allergic to. The practitionner tests all the products we think we are allergic to but also many other ones (current ones and others) with the muscular testing that the kinesiologists are using, before and after the treatment, which is very quick, safe and simple.
The treatment is a kind of acupressure on our back together with some respiration. Then we must avoid the product for 25 hours (some practitionners say 1 week). I did a lot of sessions since I had many allergies and we can treat only two or three at a time.
It's been just a miracle for me. It works wery well with children, you can start treatment in children at any age. When too young to respond with understanding, the parent is used as an middle man.
Unfortunately the practitionner who treated me, moved to the south of France (Ariège), but I think she may come to Paris sometimes. If you are interested I can give you her tel n°. She works with energetic treatments as well. She used to be an MD, isn't any more and isn't in the NAET directory either (doesn't need to and therefore doesn't pay for it !).
Anyway, many supporting thoughts and encouragements to find your way through this trouble. I know how hard it can be.
V
Maman et doula en région parisienne
France
MOPRAL. Side effects possible. NOT TO BE GIVEN BEFORE 12 MONTHS according to the leaflet.
As you asking, no, I was not informed at all about possible side effects for MOPRAL.
We had been dealing with all these side effects, but it never occured to us that they could have anything to do with the médication our trusted pediatrician has prescribed for our baby’s pain.
So when we ended up in the hospital for totally different reasons (which were ignored in the end anyway) we were alerted to the common side effects of MOPRAL.
After my own research into the subject, I found that these are the most common side effects reported with treatment with MOPRAL. (omeprazole):
diarrhea;
gas;
headache;
nausea;
stomach pain;
vomiting.
These are the severe side effects reported :
allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue; unusual hoarseness);
bone pain; chest pain;
dark urine;
fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat;
fever, chills,
sore throat;
red, swollen, blistered skin;
seizures;
severe diarrhea; s
evere stomach pain or cramps;
swelling of the hands, ankles, or feet;
unusual bruising or bleeding;
unusual or sudden weight increase;
unusual tiredness;
vision changes;
yellowing of the eyes or skin.
This is not a complete list of all side effects that can occur.
but I hope this can help other babies suffering and help make parents become more aware.
All the best,
K.
Thank you for replies. Here is how we got to chucking MOPRAL and other risky médications into the bin and found an alternative method that works for us.
I don't think that my son’s reflux is at the heart of this situation. I think it is a result of another problem or a combination of problems that I still cant put my finger on. However, at the time, we were desperate to cure what we saw as the cause of his suffering.
We gave our baby son both MOTILLIUM and MOPRAL, both prescribed by a doctor in the hospital with instructions to give them for a minimum period of 7 months.
He vomited MOTILLIUM from the start. He vomited terribly. The vomiting was violent. It was clearly not a good idea to put more of it into his body.
After 1 week of giving him MOPRAL (which is by the way a medication which is contra-indicated in babies less than 1 year old!) when our son was only 3 months old we were both terrified at the sight our son’s suffering. He started to cry A LOT - we assumed he had a headache or/and stomach pain. He definitely had more gas - which are known, common side effects of MOPRAL. One of the most scary side effects was that he was suddenly no longer able to follow the movement of an object with his eyes. He had been perfectly able to do so before taking MOPRAL.
(vision « changes » are other side effects you can « expect »).
Our baby son was sad, didn't interact with us anymore. He was listless. and last but not least - his régurgitation DID NOT IMPROVE.
I talked to the doctor, who instructed us to continue administrating the médication. We obeyed, for one more month without any improvement in the regurgitating and with the listlessness, lack of interaction with us, and incapacity to follow an object with his eyes. After one more month of this clearly abusive treatment, I realised it was pointless to continue making him take MOPRAL longer, so I stoppe dit.
When I stopped giving him MOPRAL I noticed that some other affections dissapeared that I hadn’t associated with the médication. The wounds on his bottom, blistered and peeling skin that had developped and got progressively worse, went away when we stopped the MOPRAL.
The length of the list of medicines and antibiotics prescribed by doctors for Antoine is quite impressive. I had to try something, because he was suffering from something. I just didn’t know what.
After systematically getting such destructive results on our son, I finally put everything into the garbage bin, my trust in our doctor went in the bin with them.
From the beginning, I hadn’t been really enthusiastic about giving such a cocktail of médication to such a young human being, simply because I couldn’t believe that real ilness can strike with so little warning, with no obvious reason.
Now I realise that sometimes allopathic medicines are necessary, but only when own body’s ability to cure is exhausted, and natural médicine or diet truly can't help.
I have a big problem here (in France) finding a doctor who will tell me everything I want to know before writing a prescription for treatment.
I’m looking forward to finding a doctor who is firstly : open to my questions, who will listen to me, and secondly, who sees the baby/child/adult in a holistic way, with our own personal story, and thirdly, who is keen to consider natural options first instead of prescibing « hard » drugs as a firstline treatment.
I could say a lot about all the doctor’s visits we had gone through here in Paris, but I don't want go back to these painful memories, or even think about the way we have been treated. It causes me such pain to remember my son’s suffering and my eagerness to try anything to help him, without being offered any clear information on our particular situation.
Just to finish the topic : "my son’s reflux and skin problems" – After having chucked the whole slew of médication into the bin, we had pretty well reconciled ourselves to our son’s painful reflux and gas pains.
We went on holiday to Poland at one point, and of course I thought I’d try a doctor in Warsaw.
Instead of antibiotics she prescribed him probiotics. The product is very good. Its a German brand and not available in France. Can’t think why. She also prescribed homeopathy. She only gave me herbs to take and asked me about my diet - which was fine, according to her. (You mentioned cow's milk protein which haven’t been part of my diet for many years. )
She asked me about the emotional situation in our family. She advised us to BF as long as possible. She was very thorough in her questioning of our dietary habits, and our emotional state. The appointment took an hour and a half !
We started giving our son the probiotics, and I started taking the phytothérapie she had prescribed me.
We saw a HUGE IMPROVEMENT after only two weeks!
Now, after 1,5 months of treatment, following her advice, our son regurgitates only occasionally and not much in quantity. The most worrying part concerning his adverse reactions to the MOPRAL and other médications cleared up too. His vision got back to normal. For the first time since he’d ingested the MOPRAL, he was able to follow an object with his eyes, and his behavior went back to normal as well. He began to interact with us again. His skin has totally cleared up. He is again a happy baby.
He only has problems with peaceful sleeping. I dont know if its physical or emotional, but he has a hard time sleeping for long periods or deeply.
Poland is not paradise by any means, and not all doctors are like the one we found, but it's much easier to find open minded doctor, who listens, and who is capable of treating the child as part of a whole family situation.
Please, don't understand me wrong; It is obviously a great priveledge to be able to have access to serious, hard core medication and treatment when it's really needed. I realise now that what was prescribed to our son was not AT ALL the right treatment for our son’s problems.
But ultimately, I'm responsible for my son and I would never agree to allow somebody else decide what is good for my son if I don't know what the stakes are. I don't feel it's right to not have options, alternatives. Why aren’t we given optoins when we seek treatment ? Why aren’t we warned of the possible and probably side affects and their conséquences ?
I know when my son is in pain because he behaves differently. I think he is using screaming now to express the pain of teething. When he doesn’t sleep much during the day, towards the evening he gets overtired and sometimes worked up to the point of exhaustion.
J, thank you for your thoughts.. It had never occured to us that dad's evening playtime doesn't help him relax and get into a sleep mood. Things you have pointed out has helped us to understand the situation better.
These last few days we have been doing our best to create a mood that contributes to calming him down and things are a little better. But we have discovered that he doesn't sleep a great number of hours. and has really very light sleep all the time. We have to accept this and do what we can to help him rest, even though it's not easy for us.
Once more thanks to all of you for your replies. Its so enriching to be able to exchange exeriences.
All the best to you all.
K
[email protected]
Teething and treatments.
S, eat raw garlic to fight off your cold. I find it most effective shreded with carrots as a salad. I know someone else who prefers it as raw garlic and tomato juice that she makes in a juicer. Garlic works very well in fighting and preventing colds. Also, chamomile works really well for teething. It is something that has always been used for teething and adults with gum problems can verify that it works. I would really only resort to doliprane as a last resort and try chamomile first. It is okay to give chamomile on a regular basis. You can dissolve 3 granules in a tiny bit of water and then give the baby the water.
The translation of "racine de guimauve" is marshmallow root, not mallow root. This is what marshmallows were originally made from and has traditionally been used in France on the sore gums of teething babies. Some herbists can still find it. It grows in marshes and I have been looking for it for a bit now. Since I haven't ever seen it though, I'm sort of having a hard time finding it. But I live in a small town and apparently asked the right person to get someone else motivated in finding it for me (since she is close to us and I guess didn't like the idea of me asking this other person). Anyway, she asked someone who knows where it is and is going to show it to me. Good luck finding it - T
Just a quick idea for those who have teething babes, many people swear by these little necklaces made of amber beads which ease pain apparently. Can be ordered on most natural parenting websites. Don't know what it's worth but once when I had a bad earache I put a piece of amber in my pillow and within a few minutes my ear popped and all pain was ended.... maybe a coincidence? R.
Just wanted to tell you we went through recently 2 severe bouts of ear ache with R (who is 3 years and 11 months old).
The first time a couple of weeks ago, really sudden onset, red ear, very hot, crying so much he didn't want me in the room let alone breastfeed or even water. He was quite delirious. I eventually managed to dribble some water (with Belladonna granules dissolved in it) into his mouth while he slept and finally got a doliprane (paracetamol) suppo into him. Then he slept the rest of the night (crawled into our bed at some point but no crying) and in the morning it was over.
Then last week the same thing but this time I got him to take Belladonna straight away and again the suppositoire. and again it passed quickly.
Both times I was sure if we'd called a doctor he'd have got antibiotics. Luckily it was over before we got through to one.
So far of the 4 times in his life R has had a severe ear ache he never needed antibiotics!! It cleared up by itself.
I saw a homeopathe today who is giving him a course of Belladonna (higher dose) to try to put a stop to it. I fugured twice in 2 weeks was starting to be a bit of a pattern.
Aynway Belladonna is by no means the only possible homeopathic remedy for ear infection. It depends on the "symptom picture". But it fitted R's symptoms.
Attached is an article I just found (see : ear infection article) in my files which I remember reassured me the first time Raphael refused the antibiotics he was prescribed by the doctor who we called out a couple of years ago.
Also fever plays an important part in helping the body to fight off infection.. There's an article about that I want to find again...
R
Both my brother and I spent a good part of our childhoods with tubes in our ears. (both of us were breastfed for 3 months, every 4 hours, with supplements according to Doctor's orders) Tubes in your ears grow out so when the next otitis struck, another painful insertion of tubes in our ears...
Great to have a little info on plant treatments. I feel very priviledged to actually see it in print, in English! C.
Allergies and eczema
Hello to all. I was wondering if anyone could recommend soaps and body cream for my baby who gets eczema on a regular basis. I really don't know "what" he's allergic to (if anything) since he still only nurses,
and I've tried different brands of body creams, soaps and detergent for his clothes and so far it hasn't made a significant difference.
Any advice is most welcome.
Thanks ! A
I dont know what to suggest to put on bb's skin, but have you eliminated all dairy from your diet? Thats the n° 1 most common culprit.
A lot of mothers on this forum have had problems with dairy. It doesn't last long in general, but some mothers have to even check packages for hidden dairy. One bb had blood in her diaper because her mother had put milk in her cornflakes in the middle of the night when there was nothing else to eat. She said that a specialist told her later that goat milk (in whatever form) is just as bad as cow.
I know one mother for whom soja gave a worse reaction than cow or mare's milk.
You may already know all this, but maybe not. There must be stuff in "files" on allergies. If you cant download them, then ask me which file you need, and I'll send it to you in private.
Love C
Hello A,
My boys never had eczema, so i'm only proposing things that have worked on others:
Alep soap for the body, and why not handwashing the clothes ?
Also have you tried "noix de lavage" in your washing machine?
http://www.noix-de-lavage.com/
this is not a reference website, but it just in case you don't know what they are!
I've got this little book called: Thérapies naturelles, Maladies d'enfants
they propose homeopathie for specific symptoms, and about eczema they propose according to what type of eczema.
They also say that for soothing any type of eczema we can use calendula talc. They even say we can apply a milk compress, though they don't say what kind of milk, but I suppose mother's milk would be the best .
Well right now I can't do much noise in the house, but if you're interested I can scan the page of this book that concerns eczema, and send it to you! CT
One of my friends use ; KLORANE Gel moussant surgras avec creme nutritive for washing her baby and SAINT - GERVAIS Ecaeane cold cream thermal visage & corps after bathing. You can buy them in the regular pharmacy.
She uses it for her daughter since her skin does not tolerate regular baby soaps.
Dexeryl is often prescribed but it did not work either for her or my daughter. it does not contain enough oil. it has too much waterlily.
I usually wash my daughter with no soap but just with hot shower everyday and use KLORANE occasionally. Then I put Hamalis water and Vaseline. when she has red hips I use Mitosyl which was also recommended by my friend.
I also like to mention that my daughter has reaction against foods which I eat.
If I eat chocolate, bread(wheat), cow milk products, and certain nuts, she gets red around her mouth and hips after nursing. There are some foods less strong like bananas which I can eat and breastfeed but if she eats it her face turns red.
MJ
Hi !
You can still detect what your baby is allergic to even if he's only bf
He must react to something in his environment or even something you eat.
My third son, now 3, had massive eczema and even asthma attacks due to food allergies when he was still 100% bf. I took him to an allergo and he was detected allergic ++ to wheat, dairy products, etc.
I quit completely eating, drinking (a radical diet going as far as traces and I even banned bread in the house because wheat is volatile...) these things and his eczema disapeared completely ! Every time there is a laspse in my vigilance, he gets it back along with asthma.
The allergo prescribed cortisone on a daily basis.... I did it for a few months. Then choose to become more radical with my own diet and to stop completely the cortisone. I was concerned with what cortisone would do in the long run to my son. An extremely strict diet worked better. I now only use the cortisone when he gets an asthma attack (he also developped allergies to pollen...)
As for creams two creams have helped (but never expect a cream to cure anything) :
- cicalfate and Dexeryl. MT
Ha I'm forgetting soemthing : when you deal with allergies you must beware of all creams that contain food. A lot of them do as strange as it may seem. Nuts, some exotic butters etc.
With an allergic child one must also beware of exotic foods and components - those human being in this part of the world have not gotten used to yet : kiwi, bananas, tomatoes, etc.
MT
My boy doesn't have allergies or eczema but I have battled with it for most of my life (stress related and not allergies so they say). Nothing cures it but I finally made up my own "beauty oil" that relieves the itch and calms the flare ups. I don't know if you can use it on a baby but my "recipe" is:
in a clean, VERY clean bottle, add whichever of the following you have on hand:
• Rose oil
• Geranium oil
• Gardenia oil
• coconut oil (not coprah but coconut)
• Bourrache
• Germe de blé (not good for allergic babies)
• Carrot
• Jojoba
• Argan
• Monoi (but only because I like the smell)
Most of the above have skin regenerating properties which is why I use them and then I cut everything with a neutral base
• match the amount with the same amount of sesame (or any other neutral oil - sesame might not be too good for an allergic baby)
Codina is a good source for oils. They are pretty expensive and when you start to buy a lot, the price is steep. I mix it all up and put it in smaller bottles for little gifts or share expenses with girlfriends. The mixture comes out a yellow colour that is very, umm, evocative so a non transparent bottle is better. It's better for the oils anyway. I use the stuff on my flare ups but also as a general beauty oil. It comes out to much less than the Nuxe or other brands you can buy and is the only thing that has ever worked on my patches.
Hope this helps and hang in there!
LL
Thanks C. I hadn't thought of looking at the files on allergies, I downloaded them but can't seem to open them. I think I was eager to get into contact with other parents.
Yes I've heard of the problems with dairy products and I try to cut down on them. However I'm a vegetarian and don't eat any meat or fish, only eggs and dairy products. If I totally eliminate them from my diet I'm not sure it would be balanced enough. But I will do more research on that and see what I can do.
A.
Thanks to everyone !
Several of you mention to look out for the foods I eat, of course I've heard of that before and will try to do so, especially the dairy products. I don't know if I'll manage to eliminate them totally since I'm vegetarian but I'll try to change my diet drastically.
I had never thought of the fact that some creams do contain food products also. I heard about the noix de lavage a few days ago at work and will look into those too.
Luckily R's eczema isn't too bad and the doctor has never prescribed cortisone for him, yet ... But I know it bugs him since I get it too, and it sometimes drives me crazy, mine is really stress related though. Best to all of you,
A
re: the eczema,
I, luckily, so far, haven't encountered it, but i HAVE used my breastmilk for treating baby acne, dry patches and eye redness. i learned this from my doula. she said to hand express a bit into a cup, then suction it
into an empty mini-dose of one of those "eau physiologique" thingies (in other words, empty it of the "eau" and suck in your milk). it's slow-acting but then suddenly does the trick. she even recommended it when his nose was stuffed and it did clear him up after 2 doses.
just a thought. we are so lucky to have our medecine cabinet right at hand, eh??
AM
Wow ! What a marvelous idea ! I think I'll try that right away. Gosh,our milk is good for EVERYTHING ! Thanks so much!
A
You can by empty “embouts” I think they’re called, at the pharmacy. AN.
I suffer from excema and although I avoid harsh chemicals, etc., the thing that works best for me is sunshine and seawater (i.e. swimming in the ocean). But now I'm going to try putting some of my milk on the spots to see if that clears things up! Thanks. ME
Your message was very interesting to me M. R, now 1 yr old, has had an asthma attack a month since Nov. The last one, a few weeks ago, was quite serious – she was in intensive care for 24 hours and we spent a week in the hospital. They did some preliminary allergy tests but we do not have the results yet. I am waiting for them before we go to an allergo, but maybe I shouldn’t wait? R has a treatment of inhaled ventolin and cortisone on a daily basis for the next three months. My doctor, Dr LM-L said that inhaled cortisone has minimal side effects because it is such a minute quantity.
I must admit I have “tried” that strict diet (no dairy, no wheat) several times unsuccessfully, I also suffer from asthma and allergies. I guess I haven’t been truly convinced of the negative effects. I am also put off by the expensive replacement products – am open to suggestions (I am allergic to soy).
Did you see an allergo in Paris? I am looking for recommendations. I would also like to read more about all this if anyone has any suggestions.
AN
Sticking to a diet is extremely difficult.
I found that the first few months were the most difficult and that it actually was psychologically easier to do it at 100% than partially. Because if you do it partially you still have the taste for it. It's basically like trying to quit smoking still having two fags a day.
At first I was very depressed - especially since T was allergic to precisley what constituted 90% of my diet ! I just hated all replacements I could come up with.
I also lost a lot of weight which by then it was pretty bad because I'd lost a lot already because of prolongued bf.
But I basically forgot about other food. The amazing improvement in T's skin and condition was also such a reward. I felt very proud and that gave me the energy to have ready comebacks to people who told me I was taking the whole thing too far.
In fact T who, like your child had already been several times in intensive care etc... (that played a major part in my determination too : “never again” was my motto. And I was trying to do it not only for him, but for myself too because as you know seeing our chidren suffer is such a trauma for us mothers) did not have a single asthma attack for a whole year. He started again when he developed an allergy to pollen. That alas, I cannot control !
You're right though about the alternative product's impressive budget. It does costs a fortune. Especially alternative bread (typically 4/5 euros for 5 slices !).
I'm afraid I do not have many suggestions to reduce the price. You can find different products on the site : valpiforme.fr
All this conversation makes me think that March the 1st is T's birthday. I'll have to bake a very appetizing cake with :
- egg erzatz
- 100% vegetable margarine (there is only one trademark which does that. All the other contain butter or some form or other of mik)
- rice flour
It's just for show because T never wants to eat it !
Good luck AN. Allergies are a major pain in the neck. Maybe you'll be lucky and they'll disapear. I did not get that lucky with T but that seems to be quite a frequent situation.
MN
What about making your own? Flat breads usings all sorts of alternative grains or flours ...
AL had a good recipe for pancakes...
I'm afraid I do not have many suggestions to reduce the price. You can find different products on the site : valpiforme.fr
R : my husband buys olive-based margarine from the bio shops..
There's also palm oil as an alternative in cooking..
RB.