Ellie's detox went from manageable to critical within 24 hours. When we increased her coconut oil from 1/2 teaspoon a day to 3/4 teaspoon she suddenly manifested symptoms we have not seen since February of 2011, plus a few new ones.
We pulled coconut oil.
L.a.m.e.
Last night she was wheezing and coughing, snotting and draining. And having trouble breathing. Today I skipped her dosage, and after a four hour nap with the humidifier going she woke up bouncing and practically her old self. That fast?!
I was left wandering around today wondering how in the world we would manage a little body that rids toxins via the sinuses and lungs.
Thinking and researching and cooking and sourcing. (yeah so what's new. nothing there.)
As I sought out new treatments for detox and possible medications, it has seemed a little bit.....surreal. Recommendations that include false unicorn root and activated charcoal leave me feeling like I am entering a new land....a land somewhere between the Shire and MacBeth. In fact, sourcing Ellie's food often feels like I am asking someone for dragon scale or eye of freakin' newt. But I am reminded of the grade school lesson that just because you don't understand something does not mean it is bad (or have cooties).
So coconut was not an FPIES fail. It was another sign of a toxic little body working hard to heal, and a mommy who just does not know enough.
While at the WAPF conference I had the amazing gift of getting more information about a doctor who is a couple hours drive away. Nine months ago I looked him up, and thought 'no way. I bet this guy recommends eye of newt'. Today I pulled up his contact information, and made a new patient appointment for Ellie, hoping that he would know how eye of newt works, what it helps with, and would maybe even write a prescription for it to help with the cost.
That is the GOOD thing about coconut. It finally helped me to say: I can't do this by myself anymore.
While I will forever be indebetd to Dr. Natasha for her continual emails of direction and hope, there is only so much an occasional email can provide from another continent. The top, numero uno, GAPS trained-MD-plus lives within a 2 hour drive of us. I think that might be more divine than coincidence. It's time to go see what he has to say about FPIES. Should I warn him we are coming?
Showing posts with label coconut oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coconut oil. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
More on Fungus and Coconut Oil
Did I forget to mention that coconut oil is anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal?
In her book Dr. Natasha talks about the over growth of body bacteria and how it has amazing potential to wreak havoc. She discusses sensory issues, like those we commonly associate with autism. I can't remember where I read it in her book or pieced it together, but the concept as it applies to Ellie is this:
Certain bacteria belong in your gut. When the body flora gets out of whack, it can travel up into your mouth and even into your sinuses. An example of this is thrush. This imbalance can cause foods to taste funny and even burn, change your sense of smell, etc.
One thing we always found to be bizarre with Ellie was her insistence on drinking her bottles super hot. HOT. Shortly after going GAPS, she started complaining it was too hot. And now she practically drinks her bottles cold...which is handy for travel.
After introducing the coconut oil she began to want her bottles warmer, and after this last increase she has jumped back to wanting them pretty darn hot again. Crazy stuff! The detox in her body is changing her senses and how she feels.
The other thing we are seeing with the increase of coconut oil is eye goop. Not a lot, but it's there, and enough to bug her and ask me to washcloth her face clean. We never saw this even when she was full blown FPIES. I don't even remember seeing it when she was on inhalers and nebulizers and wheezing from all the phlegm and gunk. I know other FPIES-GAPS mamas have mentioned it as a detox reaction with their kiddos, but this is the first time we have seen it. And tonight when I put her to bed she was a bit gunky in her sinuses, too. Gonna have to keep an 'eye' on it. Might be pushing too hard too fast.
Today was day 8, and day two of 2/3 teaspoons. The goal is one full teaspoon per day. We will see how she feels tomorrow.
In her book Dr. Natasha talks about the over growth of body bacteria and how it has amazing potential to wreak havoc. She discusses sensory issues, like those we commonly associate with autism. I can't remember where I read it in her book or pieced it together, but the concept as it applies to Ellie is this:
Certain bacteria belong in your gut. When the body flora gets out of whack, it can travel up into your mouth and even into your sinuses. An example of this is thrush. This imbalance can cause foods to taste funny and even burn, change your sense of smell, etc.
One thing we always found to be bizarre with Ellie was her insistence on drinking her bottles super hot. HOT. Shortly after going GAPS, she started complaining it was too hot. And now she practically drinks her bottles cold...which is handy for travel.
After introducing the coconut oil she began to want her bottles warmer, and after this last increase she has jumped back to wanting them pretty darn hot again. Crazy stuff! The detox in her body is changing her senses and how she feels.
The other thing we are seeing with the increase of coconut oil is eye goop. Not a lot, but it's there, and enough to bug her and ask me to washcloth her face clean. We never saw this even when she was full blown FPIES. I don't even remember seeing it when she was on inhalers and nebulizers and wheezing from all the phlegm and gunk. I know other FPIES-GAPS mamas have mentioned it as a detox reaction with their kiddos, but this is the first time we have seen it. And tonight when I put her to bed she was a bit gunky in her sinuses, too. Gonna have to keep an 'eye' on it. Might be pushing too hard too fast.
Today was day 8, and day two of 2/3 teaspoons. The goal is one full teaspoon per day. We will see how she feels tomorrow.
Oh, Enema
One major part of the GAPS learning curve involves enemas. Oh yes. That's right. Enemas. As if we don't deal with poop enough in this house. Apparently in some holistic type granola-ee communities enemas are all the rave. And colonics. In our house we are 9 months into GAPS for Ellie and still getting used to the enema idea.
What is that you say? You really didn't want to read an Ellie Belly Update full of enema speak? Well picture me jumping out from behind a curtain and yelling ENEMA at you as loudly as I can. Did you jump? Were you frightened? yeah, you and me both. But here is the deal. We NEED to talk about it more. Poop in general. Because it comes out of our intestines which is the root of all our immune system. So in an effort to provide an update and perhaps even a little education, here is our enema-capade.
Enemas. They get toxins out faster. Period.
Before giving Ellie her first enema I was scared to death. I had read a bunch of Dr. Google on how enemas are bad and can be addictive and damaging and blah blah. Ok YES. If you dont do it right. So please for the love of everything FPIES, be sure that you have information on how to do it right. (email me for resources on that if you are interested, but please don't go buy a standard enema in the store and use it- otherwise check your GAPS book for more info)
Ellie hates anything near her butt, and can you blame the girl? For the first 18 months + of her life anything that came out burned her skin into blisters. (side note: anything in your body can show up in your urine, so major hints on toxicity there)
We are well into the introduction of coconut oil. She is up to 3/4 teaspoons of raw, unrefined coconut oil per day. In addition she gets a full rub down morning and night, with occasional touch ups during the day. When we increased her from 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp oil...she didn't poop. I let her go one full day, and the next morning her eczema had increased to be full body, and very painful. It was also not the typical rashy eczema she gets. This time it was cyst like, bumps under the skin that seemed fluid filled.
So yesterday she was not feeling very well. By evening she still had no pooped, and luckily during a phone chat with another FPIES mom the light bulb finally turned on - she hadn't pooped! Crap! (harhar) She was detoxing and not getting it out the fastest and correct way via her colon, so her skin was doing the work. ugh. Detoxing through the skin is painful and nooo fun.
So last night we enema'd her. Twice. It took one kids enema and then one adult enema to get her to go. And the girl never cried. In fact when I said 'ok Ellie we have to tickle your belly again because you didn't go poopoo' the girl clapped and yelled 'yaaaay!' (At that point I gave my husband a very puzzled look.)
Enema-capade complete. Detox bath of epsom salts. Rub down of coconut oil. Off to bed.
This morning I was stunned at the improvement in her skin. We are talking dramatic. Most of it is localized back to her legs now where she has her trouble spots.
Bye bye toxins! Hello healing! Oh enema, you saved the day!
What is that you say? You really didn't want to read an Ellie Belly Update full of enema speak? Well picture me jumping out from behind a curtain and yelling ENEMA at you as loudly as I can. Did you jump? Were you frightened? yeah, you and me both. But here is the deal. We NEED to talk about it more. Poop in general. Because it comes out of our intestines which is the root of all our immune system. So in an effort to provide an update and perhaps even a little education, here is our enema-capade.
Enemas. They get toxins out faster. Period.
Before giving Ellie her first enema I was scared to death. I had read a bunch of Dr. Google on how enemas are bad and can be addictive and damaging and blah blah. Ok YES. If you dont do it right. So please for the love of everything FPIES, be sure that you have information on how to do it right. (email me for resources on that if you are interested, but please don't go buy a standard enema in the store and use it- otherwise check your GAPS book for more info)
Ellie hates anything near her butt, and can you blame the girl? For the first 18 months + of her life anything that came out burned her skin into blisters. (side note: anything in your body can show up in your urine, so major hints on toxicity there)
We are well into the introduction of coconut oil. She is up to 3/4 teaspoons of raw, unrefined coconut oil per day. In addition she gets a full rub down morning and night, with occasional touch ups during the day. When we increased her from 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp oil...she didn't poop. I let her go one full day, and the next morning her eczema had increased to be full body, and very painful. It was also not the typical rashy eczema she gets. This time it was cyst like, bumps under the skin that seemed fluid filled.
So yesterday she was not feeling very well. By evening she still had no pooped, and luckily during a phone chat with another FPIES mom the light bulb finally turned on - she hadn't pooped! Crap! (harhar) She was detoxing and not getting it out the fastest and correct way via her colon, so her skin was doing the work. ugh. Detoxing through the skin is painful and nooo fun.
So last night we enema'd her. Twice. It took one kids enema and then one adult enema to get her to go. And the girl never cried. In fact when I said 'ok Ellie we have to tickle your belly again because you didn't go poopoo' the girl clapped and yelled 'yaaaay!' (At that point I gave my husband a very puzzled look.)
Enema-capade complete. Detox bath of epsom salts. Rub down of coconut oil. Off to bed.
This morning I was stunned at the improvement in her skin. We are talking dramatic. Most of it is localized back to her legs now where she has her trouble spots.
Bye bye toxins! Hello healing! Oh enema, you saved the day!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
So Far So Good
At least a month ago Ellie reached the maximum dose of her probiotic. This would sound fantastic except for the fact that this probiotic is not strong enough for her healing, and that we have been using it as a 'gentle start'. Simply put, she has been receiving a maintenance dose while we decide how to push forward. Then she had the acorn squash incident, and now the elk broth incident, and it has made her fungus issue glaringly apparant.
Because that is what I do - fall back into old patterns and often forget the obvious - I had gone back into waiting for Ellie to be symptom free before starting her on anything new. This is one constant brain battle when going GAPS, because conventional medicine is based on symptoms and not on the root. By the time I 'found' GAPS, I was trained to watch for baseline, which is the term used to describe an FPIES child who does not appear to be symptomatic.
The problem with this is that it does not take into account that sometimes we have to get worse before we get better, or that in the case of bad body flora and toxins, the body has to get rid of them. An obvious and often unrecognized example of this is a fever. The fever is a natural immune system response used to burn the tar out of any little buggers that have invaded the body. Allopathic medicine prescribes fever reducers to help us feel better, yet to medicate a normal fever can handicap the natural healing process.
In Ellie's case, I have been waiting for her recent illness (from elk broth or possible virus) to clear before moving forward. I have been moping and bummed and watching the calendar thinking of wasted time. And her eczema has not been going away.
While talking with another FPIES GAPS mom, she mentioned the next steps for her kids, and commented that 'they are going to get sick, but that is just the way it is.' It was a jarring comment for me. It made me realize I had fallen back into waiting for baseline. You see, when Ellie failed acorn squash it became very very apparent that her eczema was largely due to an entire body take-over of fungus. The next steps are to get that under control, or she will never be able to eat more foods.
Raw organic coconut oil has amazing anti-fungal properties, and is the next step we have decided to venture forward with. I have been waffling on which coconut oil to use, and over the last week one of our favorite coconut oil companies (Tropical Traditions) had a fantastic sale which included a free jar of their top raw organic coconut oil. So I grabbed the jar and decided it would be the one.
Since we have been using coconut oil on her skin for months now, I did not take the time to do a sensitivity test (GAPS lingo for patch testing).
Today is day three of our new routine. I have added 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil to one bottle a day. She also gets a full body rub down of coconut oil every morning, and additional applications for problem spots throughout the day as needed.
So far so good. She is tolerating it very well, and tomorrow I plan to increase her dose to 1/2 teaspoon. The goal is to get to 1 teaspoon per day.
Such a wonderful thing to feel like she is making progress once more!
Because that is what I do - fall back into old patterns and often forget the obvious - I had gone back into waiting for Ellie to be symptom free before starting her on anything new. This is one constant brain battle when going GAPS, because conventional medicine is based on symptoms and not on the root. By the time I 'found' GAPS, I was trained to watch for baseline, which is the term used to describe an FPIES child who does not appear to be symptomatic.
The problem with this is that it does not take into account that sometimes we have to get worse before we get better, or that in the case of bad body flora and toxins, the body has to get rid of them. An obvious and often unrecognized example of this is a fever. The fever is a natural immune system response used to burn the tar out of any little buggers that have invaded the body. Allopathic medicine prescribes fever reducers to help us feel better, yet to medicate a normal fever can handicap the natural healing process.
In Ellie's case, I have been waiting for her recent illness (from elk broth or possible virus) to clear before moving forward. I have been moping and bummed and watching the calendar thinking of wasted time. And her eczema has not been going away.
While talking with another FPIES GAPS mom, she mentioned the next steps for her kids, and commented that 'they are going to get sick, but that is just the way it is.' It was a jarring comment for me. It made me realize I had fallen back into waiting for baseline. You see, when Ellie failed acorn squash it became very very apparent that her eczema was largely due to an entire body take-over of fungus. The next steps are to get that under control, or she will never be able to eat more foods.
Raw organic coconut oil has amazing anti-fungal properties, and is the next step we have decided to venture forward with. I have been waffling on which coconut oil to use, and over the last week one of our favorite coconut oil companies (Tropical Traditions) had a fantastic sale which included a free jar of their top raw organic coconut oil. So I grabbed the jar and decided it would be the one.
Since we have been using coconut oil on her skin for months now, I did not take the time to do a sensitivity test (GAPS lingo for patch testing).
Today is day three of our new routine. I have added 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil to one bottle a day. She also gets a full body rub down of coconut oil every morning, and additional applications for problem spots throughout the day as needed.
So far so good. She is tolerating it very well, and tomorrow I plan to increase her dose to 1/2 teaspoon. The goal is to get to 1 teaspoon per day.
Such a wonderful thing to feel like she is making progress once more!
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