Home Archives for HEALTH TOPICS DIGESTIVE ISSUES ACID REFLUX (GERD)
January 23, 2014

Birth Practices and Breastfeeding Practices

Birth Practices and BreastfeedingI interviewed Jennifer Margulis, author of “The Business of Baby:  What Doctors Don’t Tell You, What Corporations Try to Sell You, and How to Put Your Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Before Their Bottom Line”.

In this webinar, you’ll discover how many common pregnancy practices, birth practices and infant care practices are driven, many times without safety studies, to keep you and your baby as a profit center.  Sign up below for the webinar replay:

Sign up to find out about:

  • The link between ultrasounds and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism
  • Why the maternal death rate doubled in the U.S. between 1990 and 2008
  • Why the C-section rate is so high now and how you’re more likely to have one if you have good medical insurance and at a for-profit hospital
  • Fetal induction and its role in emergency Cesarean sections
  • The link between C-sections and autism, allergies and asthma
  • The link between early cord clamping, anemia and neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD
  • How birth practices and breastfeeding practices can be linked to children’s chronic illnesses and neurodevelopmental disorders

When I was on the way to becoming a new parent, I was like most people out there, who assume that doctors and the healthcare system are looking out for us and have our best interests at heart.

Jennifer (Dr. Margulis, PhD) shows us how this just isn’t so. She shows us how pharmaceutical companies and medical-insurance companies are not only shaping for the worse what our healthcare choices are but also how there is a revolving door between them and federal government that drives federal healthcare policy.

You and I are looked at as long-term profit centers by the healthcare industry. Food and prevention don’t make a lot of profit, so they’re ignored. I love Jennifer’s quote, “You won’t see a farmer going to a doctor’s office with free kale in the hopes of getting pregnant patients hooked”.

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, BIRTH TRAUMA, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, HEALTHY BABY, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, PRENATAL HEALTH, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER
October 3, 2013

Listen to Your Gut

Listen to Your GutIn the fall of 2013, I attended “An Evening of Inspiration“, a fabulous benefit put on my non-profit, Epidemic Answers, to benefit our Canary Kids Film Project, a film in which we’ll be documenting the potential recovery of 14 children from autism, ADHD, asthma, atopic dermatitis, juvenile RA, mood disorders and type 2 diabetes as they receive free healing and recovery services for 18 months.

My fellow board member and friend, Patty Lemer, the Executive Director of Developmental Delay Resources, was interviewing people on film at the event about how they got involved in the project.

I told Patty my story of how I originally started blogging for Epidemic Answers four years ago after I heard our Executive Director, Beth Lambert, give a presentation about her just-published book, “A Compromised Generation:  The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in America’s Children” at the Wilton library.

I found myself finishing Beth’s sentences and was astounded that someone else was on the same page as me and had also recovered her children.  Of course, I immediately asked to volunteer for them, which is how I started blogging for them.

If you don’t know my story, I’ve recovered my sons from sensory processing disorder (I call it “autism light”), asthma, acid reflux and eczema, and they also have had or continue to have developmental delays, hypotonia, hypothyroidism, mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, methylation defects and failure to thrive.

It has been a long row to hoe, but it has very much been worth it.  Along the way, I discovered that many of my own health problems were related to and/or contributed to the health problems of my children.

I would not have achieved this level of success in our health if I had listened to what my western, allopathic doctors were telling me.

I would say, “My son barely eats; he eats 2 spoonfuls of yogurt and 5 Cheerios, and it takes him an hour to eat, and then he throws it all back up”.  They would say, “He’s fine, don’t worry about it”.  They said that all the way from his beginning at the 40th percentile for weight until he fell all the way down to the 3rd percentile at 18 months, when he lost weight.  THEN they said, “There’s a problem.”  Really!?!

I would say, “He has poor motor skills.  His first crawling happened when he was 8 months old, and he slithered backwards.  Then, he army-crawled until he was 19 months old.  He cross-crawled for only a couple of weeks before he began to walk at 20 months.”  All along, they were saying, “He’s fine; don’t worry about it”.  Until he hit 18 months, THEN all of a sudden they said, “There’s a problem.”

I would say, “He projectile vomits, and my clothes, his clothes, his car seat, chairs and rugs are covered with it constantly.  He throws up after every meal.”  They said, “He’s got a weak gag reflex; he’ll grow out of it.”  They said this until he was 2-1/2 years old, and THEN they said, “He has acid reflux.  Give him some Prevacid.”

I would say, “He’s hypersensitive to sounds, lights and motions.  He cries all the time.  Something is wrong.”  They would say, “He’s fine; he’ll grow out of it.”  By this point, my son was 3 years old, and I had had enough of being told that, “He’s fine.  There’s nothing to worry about.  He’ll grow out of it.”

The truth is, there was a gnawing feeling inside of me that “something’s not right, something’s not right”.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.  So, even though my then pediatrician du jour said, “Don’t worry about it; he’ll grow out of it”, I had grown a pair by then and learned to put my foot down for my child.

I badgered her with questions until finally she gave up and said that maybe we should see a developmental psychologist.  We did, and voila, we got the diagnosis (even though it’s not a DSM diagnosis) that my son had sensory processing disorder.

From then on, nothing could stop us.  I began to research WHY he was like this.  Therapy obviously helped, but there was more to it.

Why was he sick all the time?  Why had he had so many ear infections?  Why did he develop asthma?  Why did he have developmental delays and acid reflux?  Why was he so sensitive?

Nobody that I knew really knew, so I had to keep digging and digging until I got to the point where I figured it out.  It’s toxicity, gut dysbiosis, nutritional deficiencies and hormonal imbalances.

Try getting THAT answer from your pediatrician.  Unless you’re one of the lucky few with an integrative pediatrician, you’ll never hear that answer, despite a multitude of peer-reviewed medical research journal studies out there that they just don’t have the time to read.

The system is broken.  If you want health and recovery for yourself and/or your children, you will need to take your health back into your own hands and stop giving away your power to the religion of worshiping men and women in white coats as if they know everything.  They probably don’t.

You need to listen to your gut instinct when it tells you that something is wrong.

It’s so easy to push that knowing down and stuff it aside and listen to the authorities who tell you that nothing is wrong and don’t worry about it.  I’m telling you don’t do it; you’ll regret it if you do.

I teach my clients to become their own and their children’s own advocates.  If you don’t do it, who will?  You can’t expect that someone else will care more about you and your children than you do.

My children and I would not have recovered from our health problems if I had not listened to my intuition, that little voice that said, “Something’s wrong.”

 

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, ENDOCRINE ISSUES, FOOD AND NUTRITION, GENERAL, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, METHYLATION, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, OTHER DISEASES, RECOVERY STORIES, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, THYROID DISEASE, TOXINS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,
September 4, 2013

Ritalin, Adderall and Anti-Depressants Aren’t the Only ADHD Options

Ritalin, Adderall and Anti-Depressants Aren't the Only Choices for ADHDDid you know that most, if not all, school shootings were performed by children on some type of anti-depressant or other psychological medication?

Even if you think your child would never do something like this, do you really want to take that risk?

Many parents feel that they have no other option but to medicate their child if he/she is hyperactive, inattentive or has behavioral problems.

Usually it’s a boy, and recent statistics show that 1 in 10 children has been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD.  That’s crazy!

I keep doing a double-take and wondering when people are going to wake up and smell the Kool-Aid that they’re drinking.

Yes, I believe many of these diagnoses are correct.  I don’t think it’s just better diagnosis.  I really can’t remember kids having these issues when I was in school, but now that my sons are in elementary school, I see it everywhere.  In fact, I heard that the 2nd grade teachers said that this last class was the toughest yet in terms of behavioral problems – the teachers were worn out!

There is another way, and I recommend that parents look into the possibility of their children having gut dysbiosis, food allergies/sensitivities and/or toxicity before reaching for Ritalin or Adderall for ADHD options.

Unfortunately, your local pediatrician likely hasn’t been educated about these issues.

A child with any of the above issues is more likely to have had colic, projectile vomiting, developmental delays, chronic ear infections, chronic runny nose, ears/cheeks turning red after eating, distended bellies, acid reflux, cradle cap and more.

You can find out what’s happening to our children by viewing the full-length video below of “The Drugging of Our Children”.

 

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, COLIC, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, EAR INFECTIONS, FOOD AND NUTRITION, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, IMMUNE DYSREGULATION, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NEUROTOXINS, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, SINUS INFECTIONS, TOXINS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
August 29, 2013

Pollution in Newborns

Pollution in NewbornsI’m sorry to say that most people just don’t know this.  I didn’t either, despite the fact that it was published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2005, the year my older son was born.

In their landmark report, Body Burden:  The Pollution in Newborns, the EWG pointed out that an AVERAGE of 200 toxic chemicals were in the cordblood of newborns, meaning that there is only one place these could have come from:  the mother.

They found a total of over 280 carcinogens, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, plastics, neurologically damaging pesticides and other nasties in these babies.

I remember telling our former pediatrician about the shocking levels of heavy metals that I had discovered in myself and my sons.  She said, “But you don’t live in a toxic waste dump!”

The point is, I don’t think you have to anymore to be this toxic because we’re all being exposed to these toxicants on a daily basis, then unknowingly passing them onto our children, whose toxin load will accumulate over time, and they’ll pass it on to their children.

It’s one of the main reasons we’re seeing such an epidemic of chronic illnesses like cancer and autoimmune diseases as well as developmental delays and disorders such as autism, ADHD, PDD-NOS and sensory processing disorder in children these days.

The good news is that people can be recovered from these conditions.  I’ve recovered my own sons from sensory processing disorder, asthma, eczema and acid reflux.

Here’s the trailer from the well-thought-out documentary, “Unacceptable Levels“.  It’s 2 minutes long and worth it for you to get a glimpse of what’s going on.

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, CARCINOGENS, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, ECZEMA, ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS, ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS, ENDOCRINE ISSUES, FLUORIDE, FLUORIDE, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, HEALTHY BABY, HEAVY METALS, HIDDEN TOXINS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NEUROTOXINS, PESTICIDES, PHTHALATES, PHTHALATES, PLASTICS, PRENATAL HEALTH, TOXINS
July 1, 2013

I’M NOW OFFERING KLAIRE LABS PROBIOTICS AND PROTHERA SUPPLEMENTS

Klaire Labs probiotic_groupI’d like to let everyone know that I am now offering my clients world-class probiotics from Klaire Labs and supplements from their parent company, ProThera.

Klaire Labs’ probiotics are a known and trusted entity, especially in the autism-recovery world, and the application of their probiotics extends far beyond autism to those with allergies, asthma, ADHD, OCD, SPD and other autoimmune, digestive and neurological disorders.

The ProThera line includes minerals, vitamins, fatty acids and supplements designed to improve the function of the immune system, liver and adrenals, as well as antioxidants, amino acids and enzymes.  They even carry non-denatured whey protein!

To learn more about how I can help improve your symptoms of these conditions, you can read more about me here.

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ALZHEIMER'S, ANEMIA, ANXIETY, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, BIPOLAR DISORDER, CELIAC DISEASE, COLIC, COLITIS, CROHN'S, DEPRESSION, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, FIBROMYALGIA, GLUTEN SENSITIVITY, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, HYPOTONIA, IBS, LEAKY GUT, LEARNING DISABILITIES, LYME DISEASE, LYME DISEASE, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, OCD, PANCREATIC INSUFFICIENCY, PANDAS, PARKINSON'S, POOP, PROBIOTICS, RETAINED REFLEXES, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, SCHIZOPHRENIA, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, TYPE 1 DIABETES Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
June 10, 2013

pH Testing

pH TestingpH testing is an easy way to determine your level of health.  I’ve got some pHion diagnostic pH test strips that I got on Amazon, and they measure pH between 4.5 (very acidic) and 9.0 (too alkaline).

An optimal pH of urine and saliva (says the lablel) is in the range of 6.75 to 7.25, which is right around a neutral pH of 7.0.

I just measured my own pH, and I’m at 7.5, which is optimal.  Given what I know about nutrition, I’d guess it’s easier to correct a too-alkaline pH rather than a too-acidic condition.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is very acidic because it’s full of sugar, processed grains, starches, meats and dairy, all of which are acidic (sugar being the most acidic).  SAD foods are typically low in alkaline foods such as sea vegetables, vegetables and sea salt.

Dr. Mark Sircus, author of “Sodium Bicarbonate – Full Medical Review“, says that the “first step in maintaining health is to alkalize the body”.  He also writes that “The closer the pH is to 7.35 – 7.45, the higher our level of health and well being”.

I have to say I feel pretty great right now, and my pH is 7.5.  I’m curious to see how it measures when I’m not feeling well.  I’d guess it’d be on the more acidic side.

Interestingly, Dr. Sircus writes that “cancer cells have a lower pH than surrounding tissue” because “excessive acidic pH leads to cellular deterioration, which eventually brings on serious health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and heartburn.”

A low pH can also be associated with colds, the flu, viral infections, allergies, asthma, cancer and neurological disorders.

If you want to get vain about it, Dr. Sircus points out that there is “a relationship between the aging process and the accumulation of acids”, so there’s another reason to eat your veggies – so you won’t age so fast!

Now that I’ve read this book, I’ll be more diligent about tracking the pH of my family and tracking it versus how we feel.  How about you – have you ever checked your pH?

 

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ALZHEIMER'S, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, GENERAL, GREENS, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, OSTEOPOROSIS, OTHER DISEASES, PARKINSON'S, STANDARD AMERICAN DIET (SAD), STRESS, SUGAR, TYPE 2 DIABETES, VEGETABLES Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 31, 2013

THE “R” WORD

road to recovery signYou may or may not know my personal recovery story. I have recovered my 2 sons, now ages 5 and 7, from sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma, allergies, acid reflux and eczema with a biomedical approach, which means correcting nutritional and hormonal deficiencies, removing toxicities and correcting gut dysbiosis.

I’m still working on failure to thrive, mitochondrial dysfunction, hypothyroidism and persistent eczema in my older son. In addition, they both had developmental delays, and my older son had severe hypotonia as a baby.

I have recovered from immune dysregulation, in which I had shingles twice, the worst case of poison-ivy ever, bronchitis (which I’d never had before), constant sinus infections and constant colds that would last 3-4 weeks at a time.

My older son had immune dysregulation, too, when he was younger: he would go to preschool, get sick and be out for at least a week at a time, then go to school the next week, get sick, and the cycle repeated ad nauseum (pun intended).

I also had severe adrenal fatigue, which was caused by dealing with my older son’s severe SPD.

Adrenal fatigue caused middle-of-the-night insomnia, in which I would be awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night and be so dead tired the next day that 3 hour naps wouldn’t help.

I later learned that adrenal fatigue was the cause of the onslaught of my “female problems”, which I’d never had before: a suddenly irregular menstrual cycle, a uterine fibroid and ovarian cysts.

I also found out I have two types of anemia: iron-deficiency (the more commonly known about kind) and folate-deficiency. I learned how these and most of out other problems can be tied back to gut dysbiosis and its chronic infections, especially Candidiasis.

I also discovered that I am hypothyroid and that this may have played a large part in my sons’ problems when I was pregnant with them.

I found out that I was loaded with heavy metals, especially mercury and lead, which are the most neurologically damaging. I immediately had my sons tested and found out they were full of them, too.

It’s been very hard going through this, as most people, even most doctors, don’t know about the causes of all these problems. They don’t understand that all of these problems are related, and they certainly don’t know that recovery is possible.

We got a lot of help from changing our diets and seeing a naturopath, a functional-medicine doctor and a holistic nutritionist, as well as from me doing never-ending research about how all of these problems are connected.

We’ve recovered from so much, although there is still more work to be done. In any case, we are so much better off now than we were 4 years ago, when all of these problems hit a crescendo.

I want people to know that recovery is possible, which is why I joined the non-profit Epidemic Answers. We seek to educate parents about the causes of these problems as well as let them know that recovery is possible.

In fact, we’re making a documentary film to show the world that recovery is possible because most people just don’t know that.

Most people don’t know that a child can recover from autism or asthma or that an adult can recover from an autoimmune disease, even multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

If you want to learn more about our film, you can find out more by watching this video or by visiting our website. Please help us get this film made!

 

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ADRENAL FATIGUE, ALLERGIES, ANEMIA, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, CANDIDA, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, ENDOCRINE ISSUES, GENERAL, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, HEAVY METALS, HYPOTONIA, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, OVARIAN CYSTS, RECOVERY STORIES, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, SINUS INFECTIONS, STRESS, TOXINS, UTERINE FIBROIDS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 3, 2013

REMOVAL OF ALLERGENIC FOODS HELPS ASTHMA AND ACID REFLUX

toddler with inhalerMy older son got sick a lot, especially after he started preschool when he was 3.

He would go to preschool for a week then be out the whole next week because he was sick; the preschool didn’t want kids coming in who were sneezing and coughing.

Constant Sickness Turned to Asthma

When he was 4 years old, he had a severe asthmatic episode after we went to Los Angeles to visit my husband’s family.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 2, 2013

ACID REFLUX: ANOTHER RED FLAG

endoscopeWhen my younger son was born, he, too, was “fussy” and “colicky”.  He had an outright problem with nursing:  he refused to.

When he would, he would shriek in pain or fill up so much (probably because he was starving) that he would throw it right back up.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), DIGESTIVE ISSUES, HEALTH TOPICS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
April 29, 2013

RED FLAGS ALL OVER THE PLACE

red bannerSome of the first red flags I had from my older son were his failure to eat solid foods, his projectile vomiting any food or breast milk he did eat, and, later, his failure to thrive.

It was so sad to watch my baby dwindle from being born at the 40th percentile for weight down to the 3rd percentile at the age of 18 months.

He crossed three percentile curves on the way down; crossing two of them constitutes “failure to thrive”, but he also fit that definition by dropping below the 5th percentile curve. 

Where Were the Doctors?

Where were his doctors in all this?  Again and again, different doctors told me, “He’s fine” and “There’s nothing to worry about”.

They said this even when I told them that he would throw up after almost every meal and even though his weight percentile was declining.  They told me that because his height percentile was growing (for a few months) that there was nothing to worry about.  They were wrong.

But I knew this wasn’t right.  He had been projectile vomiting since he was a newborn.  The doctors told me this was normal, that he was just a fussy baby with colic.

It became extremely hard for me to feed him solid foods later on when I introduced them when he was 5 months old.

It would take a good, solid hour just to get a few Cheerios and Yo-baby yogurt in him.  Then he would turn right around and throw it up.

I did anything I could to distract him to get some food in him:  sing, dance, have him play with toys and objects, turn on the TV or radio.

None of these really worked, but I was desperate.  Many times he would outright refuse to eat, but then he would be starved for his next meal.  Other times he would eat some, but then he would wake up screaming and/or wake up vomiting.

I was told by the doctor to limit the milk to 20-24 oz. per day in hopes that this would encourage him to eat more solid food.  That didn’t work.  He just ate less and cried even more, probably because his blood sugar was always tanked and he was starved.

I was told by the doctor that his feeding strike may be because his teeth were coming in.  His teeth came in, and many times after that, he still refused to eat.

I was told by the doctor to give my son gas drops, Orajel and Tylenol because maybe he was gassy and maybe his teeth and gums hurt.  This didn’t work.

The older he got, the longer his naps got.  I suppose that because he wasn’t getting enough calories to remain active, it was easier for his body to just rest when he could, although many times he couldn’t rest because he would wake up cranky and/or vomiting.

I even made a spreadsheet (I used to be an analyst).

I tracked his food intake for six weeks from when he was 9 months old to when he was 11 months old.  He had stopped nursing when his bottom teeth came in at 9 months of age, so I could quantify exactly how much breast milk he was drinking per day as well as his food.

He ate and drank an average of 715 calories per day; he should’ve been getting around 1,300 on average.  An average of 60% of his calories came from milk, and this didn’t seem right.

Dismissed as a Neurotic Mom

I received a dismissive, condescending attitude from the doctor when I showed the spreadsheet to him.  I was waved off (this was not the first time this was to have happened) as if I were just another neurotic, hypervigilant, first-time, New York City mother.

With no help from a doctor except for a list of fattening foods to give him such as butter, cheese, full-fat yogurt, maple syrup, etc., I desperately tried to up the calories in every bite.

Dairy and sugar seemed to be the best choices for calorie loading, but I wasn’t keen on giving him too much sugar.

I am hypoglycemic, and I know that sugar can only exacerbate blood sugar issues by temporarily creating a short-term blood-sugar high, only to have it come crashing down quickly afterwards with the shakes, a headache, irritability and excessive body heat.

So I gave him quiche, yogurt, cheese pizza, bagels and cream cheese, and any food I could think of that I was supposed to avoid for causing me to pack on pounds.

We moved out to the suburbs when my son was 10 months old, and, in this new town and state, his eating issues and poor weight gain were still not a concern to the new pediatrician, that is, until his 18-month checkup.

He had lost weight between his 15th and 18th month checkups, and his percentile had continued to plummet.  He was now at the 3rd percentile for weight.  This doctor told me to give him Pediasure and put him on a fast-food diet.  That was sure to pack on the pounds, right?

I dutifully went to the store and bought packs and packs of Pediasure and immediately thereafter took my son to McDonald’s where he proceeded to… eat 4 or 5 French fries.  That was it.

He wouldn’t even eat fat-laden, sugar-sweetened, chemically-altered-to-make-you-want-more-of-it fast food!  He did, however, take quickly to the Pediasure, probably because of all the sugar in it.  He practically lived on it.

I asked the pediatrician if maybe my son had acid reflux because doesn’t that cause a lot of throwing up?  He dismissed me and said, no, it was just a weak gag reflex and he would grow out of it.

By this time, I was a few months away from giving birth to our second son.  Although my son continued to throw up at least half of his meals and Pediasure, he did slowly gain weight, as the pediatrician had also given him a prescription for Periactin, which is an anti-histamine that is also used as an appetite stimulant.

He wasn’t walking yet, which was another huge red flag for me.  I kept wondering and researching to find out if these two major issues were related, but I couldn’t find anything that said that they were.

The pediatrician seemed to think that they weren’t, but at least he did make a referral for my son to be evaluated by our state’s Birth-to-Three program.  Of course, between the time it took for the initial evaluation and the physical therapist’s first visit, he began walking.  He was 20 months old, and my second son was 3 weeks away from being born.

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Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), COLIC, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
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