Re: Valtrex and Nizoral

February 24, 2009

I'd like to say, from my experience, that it's best when teachers are NOT aware

of medication changes. They can provide a non-bias observation. When my son

would go through an anti-viral or anti-fungal change or an increase in SSRI I'd

get about a week worth of " what's going on with your child " type of notes- the

lack of focus, outbursts, distrupting class, etc. (If it got too severe, I'd

just keep him home.) Then the note would come, " he's back to his old self and

doing well. " THAT is when I'd tell the teacher/aide/etc that he went through a

medicine change/increase/etc. And they'd usually say, " Wow, it's working! "

Of course, it helps if you have a good relationship with the teacher. I did

this once when my son was in preschool and thought he weas reacting to malt

ingredients in some cereals. I took it away for two weeks and then sent him to

school with it as part of his lunch. WILD CHILD! I told the teacher what I

thought was the cause and she said " Never do that to us again! " with an

understanding smile.

Now that he is older (10, in 4th grade) he's harder to handle during off times

and causes more of a problem since he's in a regualr classroom. So after one

bad day, or two mildly disturpted days, I go ahead and inform the teacher what

is going on. And I just say medication, not what or how much.

It's NEVER up to the school to tell you how to medically treat your child.

(Like the too often " your son has ADD and needs medication " situations.)

I'm not sure where you live, but my son regresses every mid January due to

pollen/allergens, he's off for about a month. I have to really step-up the

allery medicine/nasal sprays and such.

- in Mobile, AL

Valtrex and Nizoral

My son is 8 years old and in first grade. He is in a mainstream private

school with 1 teacher to 13 chidren. I took him to Dr. G the first week

of January. He has been on Valtrex and then later Dr. G added Nizoral.

He has been on the diet since July of last year. My son's teacher was

very encouraged by the diet, but does not support the meds. This is

because he has shown a huge regression since January. He can not stay

focused or organized. She said he is the worst he has been all year.

However he does not take away from instruction or disrupt the class.

She feels that the only reason he is keeping his average up is because

it is based on information he already knows. How long does this " die

off " last? It is going on nearly 2 months now. I am frustrated.

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February 24, 2009

I have three boys on the protocol. Noah, 8, has been on it for a little over a

year now, and he's just starting to make concrete, definable progress. Due to

the addition of meds, dosage increases and med changes, the first year can be

difficult. Since everyone reacts differently to different meds, a lot is trial

and error, which is why Dr. G goes so slow and only changes one thing at a time.

It does get better. For us, though, anything was an improvement. Before Dr. G's

protocol, Noah suffered from debilitating migraines and cyclical vomiting

syndrome. He was absent or coming home early from school at least 10-12 days out

of every month.

Regarding teachers and/or aides knowing about med changes, I'm torn, especially

if we're starting a new med or increased dosage during the week when he's in

school. Sometimes, I'll just tell the school nurse, so she's aware if he comes

in with something that could be a reaction to medication. Hang in there; it does

get better.

All the best,

Robyn

> From: C. - Wonderwegian <carriecox@...>

> Subject: Re: Valtrex and Nizoral

>

> Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 7:54 AM

> I'd like to say, from my experience, that it's best

> when teachers are NOT aware of medication changes. They can

> provide a non-bias observation. When my son would go

> through an anti-viral or anti-fungal change or an increase

> in SSRI I'd get about a week worth of " what's

> going on with your child " type of notes- the lack of

> focus, outbursts, distrupting class, etc. (If it got too

> severe, I'd just keep him home.) Then the note would

> come, " he's back to his old self and doing

> well. " THAT is when I'd tell the teacher/aide/etc

> that he went through a medicine change/increase/etc. And

> they'd usually say, " Wow, it's working! "

>

> Of course, it helps if you have a good relationship with

> the teacher. I did this once when my son was in preschool

> and thought he weas reacting to malt ingredients in some

> cereals. I took it away for two weeks and then sent him to

> school with it as part of his lunch. WILD CHILD! I told

> the teacher what I thought was the cause and she said

> " Never do that to us again! " with an

> understanding smile.

>

> Now that he is older (10, in 4th grade) he's harder to

> handle during off times and causes more of a problem since

> he's in a regualr classroom. So after one bad day, or

> two mildly disturpted days, I go ahead and inform the

> teacher what is going on. And I just say medication, not

> what or how much.

>

> It's NEVER up to the school to tell you how to

> medically treat your child. (Like the too often " your

> son has ADD and needs medication " situations.)

>

> I'm not sure where you live, but my son regresses every

> mid January due to pollen/allergens, he's off for about

> a month. I have to really step-up the allery medicine/nasal

> sprays and such.

> - in Mobile, AL

>

> Valtrex and Nizoral

>

> My son is 8 years old and in first grade. He is in a

> mainstream private

> school with 1 teacher to 13 chidren. I took him to Dr. G

> the first week

> of January. He has been on Valtrex and then later Dr. G

> added Nizoral.

> He has been on the diet since July of last year. My

> son's teacher was

> very encouraged by the diet, but does not support the

> meds. This is

> because he has shown a huge regression since January. He

> can not stay

> focused or organized. She said he is the worst he has

> been all year.

> However he does not take away from instruction or disrupt

> the class.

> She feels that the only reason he is keeping his average

> up is because

> it is based on information he already knows. How long

> does this " die

> off " last? It is going on nearly 2 months now. I am

> frustrated.

>

> No virus found in this incoming message

> Checked by PC Tools AntiVirus (5.0.1.1 - 10.100.065).

> http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/

>

> No virus found in this outgoing message

> Checked by PC Tools AntiVirus (5.0.1.1 - 10.100.065).

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>

February 24, 2009

Hi-

I can sure understand your frustration right now. My 7yr old started back on

the protocol last summer and there have been a lot of ups and downs.

Fortunately for us we were able to see a huge increase in his energy very early

on (he was having bad CFIDS episodes that also brought out cognitive problems

and asperger-like and ocd behaviors and loss of eye contact, etc etc for 2 yrs),

so I had that encouragement. But on the other side of that, as he " woke up "

again, he has been off the charts behaviorally because the last 2 yrs he has

been in too much of a fog to absorb discipline (or even receive any since he

wasn't doing anything) or to structure his thinking, so it is like starting over

with a much younger kid. But he is steadily improving, and we're going to find

out Thursday if he qualifies for an IEP after testing was done by the school,

under " Other Medical Conditions " for CFS, even though he is definitely in an

up-swing. But the pieces are

slow to come together. I'm just more okay with it because we've been down this

road for 3 years before, then off for three years, so I'm familiar and more

comfortable with the ups and downs we're going to have. There are times I feel

despairing though, and then that will pass again. I know it is going to take

some time for him to develop the focus and discipline and all those other pieces

he had been losing over the last few years. His regression had been bad, and it

was like watching autism onset at 5 yrs old.

His brother is 9 - responded incredibly to the protocol early on, and I wasn't

going to treat him, but since he was there, we started Nizoral " just to see " ,

and wow ... I just love Nizoral. He's also on Famvir now, and a few MONTHS into

the protocol, suddenly I wake up and realize that homework has stopped becoming

a battle (where it was a constant every minute war to keep his focus on what he

was supposed to do), and that he was kicked back casually on the couch doing his

work all by himself. I am still amazed - I really thought the homework was

behavioral and discipline related, but suddenly he is able to do it and stay on

task. It didn't happen right away - he was on both meds by September I think,

and it's only been a few weeks that we've been seeing this.

As long as you are updated Dr G weekly and they are advising you to continue, I

would hang in there. I don't think you are seeing die-off anymore, though.

Perhaps one of the meds is going to not be the best one for him, and you may end

up changing soon ... that is a big possibility. But even if they are not going

to be the best choice this round, meaning one of those may not be what brings

about the brightness you are looking for, they are still treating his body and

will bring about some improvements from within.

I wanted to throw out one possibility ... when you start addressing the health

issues, sometimes you can see an immediate change - but it isn't always an

immediate improvement. Your son may be experiencing an increase of blood flow

to the higher parts of his brain, but those parts may also be inflamed. If he

is very distracted and unfocused, it could be that he is receiving a LOT more

sensory input and awareness of his environment, and doesn't know what to do with

it yet. Also, if that blood flow is starting to " pump up in there " , it can also

back up into the deeper parts of the brain that are overactive in ADD/ADHD and

OCD, like the basal ganglia. This will have symptoms, and if that's occuring,

Tenex (a vasodilator that expands blood vessels) may be in his future. The SSRI

usually comes before that though.

I just wanted to suggest the possibility that becoming more aware of your

environment could be tough on an 8yr old who doesn't have the behavioral

foundation and habits to cope with it. Do you see anything positive, like any

increase in eye contact?

If it continues and you really don't see any positives, he will likely switch

one of the meds. Either could be a culprit for the rare kid, although you may

be switched back to them another time and love it the next time. It's always so

much easier if we get this dramatic leap of improvement right when we start a

med to cement our faith that we might be doing the right thing. That's what it

was like starting my boys at 18 months old and 3 yrs old. My experience the

second time around w/7 & 9 yr olds), I did get to see the energy increase, and

one child who was already in a decent place just got better, but the other one

woke up with a brain so scattered he could barely function, and the process is

slow coming.

I'm sorry that was so long... I think I needed to relive where we've been

tonight.

HTH-

________________________________

From: fredacurl <fredacurl@...>

Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:49:06 AM

Subject: Valtrex and Nizoral