Re: viral or yeast flare, first month on SCD - what does all this mean

January 21, 2008

Thank you for your thoughtful response. . .

>since you aren't on the enzymes, I'm reluctant to suggest our

protocol. Although, the Candex you mentioned is an enzyme. It's not

bad that you're not on the enzymes, just makes it difficult because

I've never done a yeast protocol and had success without the enzymes

in play.

I'd like to restart enzymes, but not sure what he can tolerate. . .

>We too were in this spot, more and more foods causing issues. If the

gut lining is damaged, then any food that is not digested completely,

will pose a problem, no matter what diet you are on.

The whole point of SCD is to introduce only foods that can be

completely digested. Hopefully we're successful if we go very slowly. . .

> We've had a lot more success with other treatments

Which ones?

>the physical and behavioral issues associated with the HHV6 are

subsiding, and that tells me a lot.

Can you give me examples of these behaviors? I'm not sure which

behaviors are virus.

>I had a Beautiful 3 year old boy that couldn't talk, drooled

constantly, and whose evaluators said I'd be lucky if he ever learned

to dress himself grow into a still Beautiful 9 year old, who does

beautifully in a regular school, rides/races his bike around with his

friends, eats like a horse, not only dresses himself, but helps dress

his 3 year old sister who has more energy than patience for things

like shoes and mittens, and talks so much that his father and I can't

hold a conversation without his piping in. I hope some of this helps.

This last part helps tremendously. It's hope. I am so happy for your

son's success (and yours), now here's hoping for mine!

All the best!

Kelley

-----

> From: Kelley

>

> Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 6:14 PM

> Subject: viral or yeast flare, first month on SCD - what

does all this mean?

>

> Hello everyone. I'm apologizing in advance for such a long post, but

> I'm so confused and don't want to leave anything out in case any of

> you can help. Thank you. Thank you!

>

> My son (28-months w/ Fragile X and PDD-NOS) started with the Specific

> Carbohydrate Diet almost a month ago. He's doing beautifully with it:

> improved communication and social skills, and having well formed

> stools pretty consistently for the first time in about a year

> (unbelievable joy!). The problem is, I think he's having either a

> yeast or viral flare right now, but I'm not sure which, and I don't

> know what to do. We've stopped a lot of our biomedical stuff while

> starting SCD, and now I'm not sure what to do next.

>

> Before starting SCD, he was GFCFSF and following the DAN protocol,

> which included a long list of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, enzymes,

> EFAs, MB-12 shots, Valtrex and Fluconazole.

>

> Just prior to beginning SCD, things were getting pretty bad: constant

> diarrhea and lots of signs that he was intolerant to something we were

> giving him (food, supplements, we couldn't figure it out).

>

> In desperation, we started SCD and stopped most of his supplements

> either because they were not SCD legal or we had a feeling they were

> causing problems. We continued only the B-12 shots, P-5-P (Vit. B6),

> liquid zinc, and S. Boulardi. The result was nearly overnight success!

> Yea! We also tried him back on enzymes a few days after starting, but

> quickly found out that those were not well tolerated either, so we

> stopped them. I've restarted the cod liver oil with success, and will

> soon be trying the probiotic goat's milk yogurt (fingers crossed).

.. .

>

> Things had been fairly stable and progressing nicely for the last

> three weeks, until he developed a rash on his face. At the same time,

> he began waking up a lot at night, being really really fussy and

> clingy during the day, and having more sensory defensiveness. I also

> noticed the bloated belly was back (had been gone since starting SCD)

> with gas and belching. I don't think this is just die off, because we

> made it through that in the first 10 days or so, and were back to

> happy days and nights again. I've been super strict about the diet -

> no infractions at all. We've been steady on the same foods for several

> days, so I really don't think the rash is a food reaction.

>

> The rash is the one so many parents have described: lots of little red

> pin prick spots scattered around in patches. I've seen this rash

> linger, fading and flaring on different parts of his body for the last

> 2 years - not usually on his face, mostly on his chest and back. It

> disappeared completely a few days after starting SCD, but now its

back.

>

> I've always attributed this rash to a chronic Herpes-6 infection,

> which I believe my son first contracted when he had the Roseola virus

> at 12 months, and soon after began having occasional " drop attack "

> type seizures. He has not had a seizure since starting Valtrex, nor

> did he have one in the last month while off the Valtrex. Since

> beginning to read more from this and other groups, I've also wondered

> if this rash and other symptoms he's having from time to time are from

> yeast flaring. I'm still pretty confused about differentiating virus,

> yeast and bacterial flares.

>

> So, back to the current rash on his face . . . interestingly, while

> performing his oral motor therapy, I felt a rough patch inside his

> mouth that corresponded with the most concentrated area of rash on the

> outside of his face. This spot was clearly tender for him. I thought

> it may be some type of sore, but he wouldn't let me get a good look.

> Then, just as the rash on his face began to fade, a cold sore appeared

> on his upper lip just under his nose. He's never had a cold sore

> before. This is the first crystal clear evidence of the HHV6 virus

> I've seen.

>

> What should I take this cold sore to mean? Is this a good sign that

> his body is kicking out the virus? Or is this a bad sign that the

> virus is flaring and that we need to restart the Valtrex (and of

> course anti-yeast therapy).

>

> How does this relate to the rash if at all? Is this all a sign of

> virus, or is this both yeast and virus flaring?

>

> I don't think I can give him fluconazole (its sweet, so it probably

> has SCD-illegal additives), so I'm considering Candex and/or the

> BrainChild anti-yeast protocol. . .

>

> Any advice from those of you who've been through this already is

> greatly appreciated!

>

> Thanks!

> Kelley

>

January 23, 2008

You're very Welcome. I'm glad it was information you found interesting, maybe

even helpful if our munchkins are alike in this area. We began the enzyme

treatment following the basic guidelines laid out in DeFelice's book. This

was of tremendous help, because when a kid that has been potty trained for two

years, starts wetting the bed, stimming up a storm and loses language, you

really could say " well this isn't helping " and stop before you get to the " happy

child effect " which for my child was more of a " I'm awake, aware and energized "

point. There is no diet that will work well if the gut is compromised too much,

and my son had reached such a point. For the anitiviral benefit we use several

supplements to address the virus (Ojibwa Tea, Monolaurin, OLE which is Olive

Leaf Extract with no alcohol, No Fenol, Virastop and Digest Gold) For support of

this viral issue we give Vit. C several times a day, Cod Liver Oil, we did Epsom

salt baths nightly for a long time, we once needed L-Glutamine and Glutathione

supplements, and we use Candidase, GSE and Oil of Oregano as well in our yeast

protocol. It's quite a schedule to fit all of these things in along with

probiotics which must be dosed separately. But, we had a rather amazing thing

happen, his IgA is coming back, and this despite all the immunologists we've

consulted telling us this is impossible. When the viral load is too heavy for

ph (and I think his titers are relevant, but not as informative as his

physical appearance and behavior) he stims heavily, can't focus (call him my

little flutterbug), is emotional, light and sound sensitive, spider veins appear

on his cheeks, various foods become problematic, urine issues, becomes pale,

lethargic and catches every cold within sneezing distance, oh, and my biggest

indicator, his body temp drops to 97.4-96.5. That's a biggie right there. That

tells me something has lodged and is making itself right at home. Basically I

look at everything I do, as keeping the virus on the run. It's constantly trying

to find cells to compromise, and I'm constantly trying to boost his little body

so his immune system can wage an effective war on this virus. That means using

enzymes to bust up the outer shell of this virus, starving the virus of what it

needs to take over more cells, and giving his body enough of a break in the

energy it expends elsewhere so it can focus it's attention on the HHV6. Your

body uses all sort of nutrients just to keep it going day in and day out, and it

burns through some very specific nutrients very quickly when attacking a virus.

So, I supplement and help the attack with the Ojibwa Tea, Monolaurin, OLE and

Virastop. Dosing and timing get dicey, and I don't always get it right. I just

changed from dosing the viral protocol twice a day to three times, doesn't mean

I increased the supplements, I just divided them equally between an 8 hour

dosing schedule instead of a 12 hour schedule, because I was noticing that

around hour 11 we were melting down in term of concentration and energy. Felt it

was better to keep the doses a bit closer together, especially because life has

a way of taking you to hour 12 before you know it, and then it's too late, he's

feeling too puny and it's gonna be a while before he's feeling good again. So,

it's better to keep a more consistent level in his body, and I wondered, would

reducing the dose at each interval be potent enough to keep things in check, and

yes, it is, for now. Doesn't mean this won't change. You keep that hope, because

as you go through this, it will be the only thing that picks you up off the

living room floor when you're so tired and your eyes are feeling grainy from all

the reading, and you've taken an emotional and physical beating all day and the

demands of the next day are weighing heavily and the laundry, bills (for which

there is less and less money), grocery shopping, etc. make this feel like an

uphill battle, well it is, you're carrying your child up this huge hill, jumping

hurdles, going around obstacles (sometimes this includes spouses and family

members) and you hurt. But, it's that hope, and that gut feeling when you lock

onto something that's working that keep you going forward. Most people love

their kids, but it's very obvious when the hope is gone. I've joined and left a

lot of support groups because you can see it, in the eyes or read it in the

replies, when a parent has lost hope. Love isn't enough. It's not enough to keep

a marriage going, it's not enough to save your child. Hope, the possibility of

something better (for me it's faith), that's what keeps you going beyond all

your previous benchmarks of endurance. Good luck to you.

viral or yeast flare, first month on SCD - what