Jeffery's StoryBy Candace
When Jeff was first born he had allot of problems with his bowels and what the doctors labeled as colic. I spent many hours walking the floor with him while he cried...he slowly grew out of it and even more so when I got on a health kick when he was 1 year of age. I was starting to face the facts there was something not quite right with my husband, but upon the birth of our last child he really started to act bizarre. I tried to get him to get help and pleaded with his family that something was not quite right with him but it landed on death ears. I ended up leaving him and coming back to the midwest alone. I now can look back and realize he had Schizophrenia just like our son. I started noticing right away that Jeff was sensitive to certain foods and would break out in a rash on his face around his mouth if he ate them, mainly sauces with red dye in it. He also continued to have problem with his bowls. He also had horrible night terrors, but during the day he seemed fairly normal. He was above average intelligence and was doing math and reading before he was 5 years of age. Fast forward to his teenage years. He developed asthma and his sensitivity to certain foods increased. Mainly fruits and vegetables but he was not breaking out in rashes instead his tongue would swell and his mouth would itch. I started to notice that the asthma became really bad in the fall and after the first frost he seemed to beable to breath easier. So I took him to an allergist and had him tested. Sadly the allergist turned out to have other motives in mind than helping Jeff. I had explained my concerns about the reactions to fruits and certain foods and thought possibly he had environmental allergies that where causing his allergies. They tested Jeff for environmental allergies and his whole back welted up about 2" so it was obvious that is what we where dealing with. They never tested him for food allergies..but instead we where swiftly rushed into the doctors office where he informed me he wanted to put Jeff into a trial program for a new asthma drug. He refused to give my son allergy shots and if we would not go into the test program for the new drug he would not see my son..we left feeling defeated. Since I could not get help from the medical community I did the only thing I knew to do..So come every fall we would keep Jeff in the house with the air conditioner running along with several hepa air purifiers, doing breathing treatments and still he could barely breath..but it kept him alive and out of the hospital. A elderly lady down the street had told my son her son had asthma and had just died because of all the years of using the inhalers. So Jeff out of fear stopped using his inhalers. I started Jeff on anti-histamines and he seemed to get his life back. Jeff was now around 18 years of age and staying in another town with my mother because of his work. He started having some problems and went to a local MD. They told him the anti-histamines could make him delusional and at the same time tested his thyroid and decided he had hypothyroidism and started him on meds for it. I always wondered about the hypothyrodism as my son is extremely thin and normally people tend to be overweight that have that. He seemed to do a little better and went back on the inhalers and stopped the anti-histamines, but after time he started decline again and then started to have bouts of delusions. He thought that is was the thyroid causing his problems and wanted to try a method called Wilson's, nobody practiced it here in our state so we found a doctor in a state close by and took him to see him and started on a new program to deal with his thyroid. About this same time I started to learn I had Fibromyalgia and never being one that liked to go to the doctor I researched on the internet to see how to deal with it and came up with my own answer...I changed my diet to an organic diet and cut out sugars and high carb foods and all processed foods and the symptoms almost totally went away. But since I was on this diet and it was helping me I decided my family should be on it also. Jeff was living in different town and decided to go to a Chiropractor that practiced some holistic medicine and he put Jeff on a regiment of supplements along with his organic diet free of processed foods. Amazingly after 6 months of being on them his asthma totally disappeared and he was able to eat some fruits he had never been able to eat in the past. But he visited his MD about his thyroid and shared with him what supplements he was on and the doctor insisted he stopped one of them as he said it was dangerous for him. Within several months his allergies to the fruits was back and he was starting to deal with some asthma symptoms again. Jeff was an adult and living on his own so I did not realize all this was taking place..I now know the supplement the doctor took him off of was one that helped the adrenals which if are taxed can cause allergies. Within a couple months Jeff had degraded to the point where he could no longer hold down a job. We moved him back to our town and rented him a place and helped him find work but he still could not hold down a job so we paid his bills and bought his food all the while trying to figure out what was wrong with him. When he felt he was slipping it sometimes helped for him to drink orange juice and he had some open sores on his feet that where not healing, so I took him down to have his blood sugars tested. They decided he was border line diabetic and was dealing with low blood sugar so they sent him to a specialist. The endocrinologist decided his blood sugars where fine, but that he was dealing with sensitivities to foods and wanted to start him on a rotation diet. Jeff by this time was looking for a quick fix and flat out refused to do the rotation diet. While all this is taking place he had one infection after another..I would no more than get him better and he would come down with something else. The poor kid had blood poisoning without even receiving an open wound, strep throat, some other infection involving his ears...etc etc. I then took him to a neurologist thinking there might be something wrong with his brain. They did the MRI and found nothing so she decided he was dealing with low serotonin in his brain and put him on Effexor...it seemed to help a little bit, but then he started to degrade again, so she doubled his dose...it sent him into orbit and he spiraled out of control. Being fed up with the doctors I went home and started searching his symptoms on the internet and came to the conclusion he had Schizophrenia and started researching Orthomolecular medicine. I started him on a supplement program I devised along with a gluten and dairy free diet. He knew instantly folic acid made him worse so we eliminated that from his supplements and focused on supplements that would lower his histamine levels along with making his diet now only low histamine foods. Not sure why but he also discovered soy had ill effects on him so we eliminated that out of his diet also...which made the gluten free thing rather challenging but we soon discovered brown rice is our friend. He seemed to improve but I decided it might be best to take him to the professionals and get him into the Health Research Institute by Chicago. They found he was high in histamine...no shock there. So they put him on a compound but it was a starter program and was lower in doses than the supplements I had had him on the past few months so after a few weeks on the program he started to slip again. I wanted to get him into a pych doctor to see if I could get him on some meds to just help him until they ramped up the supplements, but we wanted a orthomolecular psych doctor. I found one in Washington State. So I called him and talked to him on the phone for over an hour and explained the situation and how Jeff was high in histamine and explained we just needed to get him on some meds to help until the supplements he was on kicked in and wanted someone to help monitor his progress. We did not want to change his program/ supplements or pay for new tests as we had just had them a done a few months ago via the place by Chicago...he agreed to this. So I leased a house on Whidbey Island, Washington, temporary left my husband behind and moved there with my son. You might be thinking at this point we wheref inancially well off. Quite the contrary, I borrowed the money to cover everything and took my eBay business with me so I could keep an income coming in. We got settled in on the island and Jeff went to his first appointment and the doctor does an about face on us and says he can not treat Jeff unless he reruns the tests !! I thought okay we are out here and I have a lease on a house go for it, it is best sometimes to get a second opinion anyway. In the mean time while he was waiting for the tests to come back he put Jeff on some shots and showed him how to administer them himself. I had been warned by the Health Research Instituteto never give him Folic Acid as it would make him worse so I wanted to know what he was giving him. He said they where B12 and I was like okay as long as it is not Folic Acid not realizing they are basically the same. Jeff starts to have some major issues so I reminded the doctor we need him to put Jeff on some medicine to help he finally relented and put Jeff on something...the tests come back and really did not show anything wrong and he informs us that he can't continue to help Jeff unless we switch to his supplement program. Now I'm really starting to freak out..I have spent thousands of dollars to try and get my son help and this guy is pushing me into a corner. I looked over the supplements and saw one contained a small amount folic acid and said no to that one..he then tells me he did not believe in the histamine theory which was becoming obvious as he never even tested him for high histamine levels. And if I wanted him to treat my son he would have to take the supplements. Jeff being an adult how be it not in his right mind all the time insisted we try it..I think I was in shock..thousands of miles from home and I was starting to realize this trip was in vain and I so wanted it to work so I gave in and let him switch Jeff's supplements. Within a week of being on the shots and supplements Jeff was so deranged I was starting to fear for my own life and called the doctor..his answer was to take Jeff to the mainland and have him admitted...HELLO !! Then to my horror I realized B12 was the same as Folic Acid and was putting his histamine levels through the roof. If I had to take Jeff to a hospital it was going to be back home, so I loaded the van down with all our possessions, closed up the house and drove 1,700 miles basically non-stop to get back home by this time Jeff was so far gone he didn't even know his name.The people at the hospital told me they had never seen anyone as bad as he was and told me he would probably need to be committed. I was not about to do that. So I found a hospital that would allow me to bring him his meals and let him take his supplements from the Health Research Institute while they where treating him. Like someone else mentioned..people with Schizophrenia..actually my son has Schizoeffective disorder, but anyway they have a tendency to not stay on their meds and the same goes for supplements and diet. For the most part I was able to get my son to stay on his diet and supplements if I stayed in close contact with him but he was easily de-railed. So it has been a real challenge and I have found myself having to put him back on track quite a few times. After two years on his diet and supplements he was down to only taking 6 mg of Invega and doing well.Then he decided to quit his meds..he did pretty good for two and a half months and then a local chiropractor talked him into stopping the supplements I had him on and into taking some from him along with a drink mix. I had spoken to this chiropractor when my son had first started going to him and told him he could adjust my son, but he was never to change his supplements or give him anything that contained Folic Acid or B12 and explained what we had been through in the past and I would not allow that to happen again. My son is married and has children and does not live with me and I was unaware of what was taking place until my son started to get really delusional and I had to step back in and get him back on his meds. But to my dismay the meds where not working, so back to the doctor we went, he added 10 mg of abilify to the 6 mg of Invega. I was thinking that was a little steep as when he was on it abefore he only took 5 mg. So we started with 5mg and he was still delusional...we took it up to 10mg and still no help. I finally started investigating and discovered the drink mix and supplements the Chiropractor was giving my son. The main thing in the drink mix was Folic Acid and the more Jeff became delusional the more he drank the drink hoping it would help him and nothing I could say could get him to stop taking them.I had to call this quack chiropractor and tell him HE was going to tell my son he had to quit taking them, so off we went to the Chiropractor's office. By this time...no meds where helping Jeff...so I started him on some pretty potent natural stuff to start cleansing him of the histamine and I stripped his diet down to a drink mix that contained supplements that lowered the histamine levels. It was starting to help but we still had to take him into the hospital because he was so delusional. So as I type this he is in the hospital and thankfully they are willing to work with me again and are giving him his drink mix and supplements along with the meds. I'm hoping we caught this fast enough and it does not take 2 years again to get him straightened around. But what I find very interesting is when Jeff's son was born..he had the same symptoms Jeff did as a baby.I had them take my grandson to a specialist at the Children's hospital to be tested and sure enough..my grandson could not handle dairy or soy and his intestines where all inflamed. They put him on a special formula and diet as he got older and the symptoms went away.I have often wondered had I known the same thing about my son when he was a baby if he would have not developed Schizeffective disorder as an adult. My son and his wife are split up because of Jeff's illness and I can only pray she keeps my grandson on his diet. But sadly I do not think she will as she was one of the biggest determents I faced in trying to keep Jeff on his diet when they where together. Sorry this was so long but I hope that someone that has a son that is dealing with high histamines also may find some hope in my son's story. I know in my son's case if I can keep the vultures away from him he will get better as I have seen him improve overtime with the correct diet and supplements. I also on purpose left out what we followed for supplements because not everyone with Schizophreniaas high histamine levels and if someone was to follow the same supplement program it could possibly make them worse. You are your own best doctor and the internet is your best friend. Research, research and then do everything in your power from being derailed and from people that would make a buck off other people's suffering.
When Jeff was first born he had allot of problems with his bowels and what the doctors labeled as colic. I spent many hours walking the floor with him while he cried...he slowly grew out of it and even more so when I got on a health kick when he was 1 year of age. I was starting to face the facts there was something not quite right with my husband, but upon the birth of our last child he really started to act bizarre. I tried to get him to get help and pleaded with his family that something was not quite right with him but it landed on death ears. I ended up leaving him and coming back to the midwest alone. I now can look back and realize he had Schizophrenia just like our son. I started noticing right away that Jeff was sensitive to certain foods and would break out in a rash on his face around his mouth if he ate them, mainly sauces with red dye in it. He also continued to have problem with his bowls. He also had horrible night terrors, but during the day he seemed fairly normal. He was above average intelligence and was doing math and reading before he was 5 years of age. Fast forward to his teenage years. He developed asthma and his sensitivity to certain foods increased. Mainly fruits and vegetables but he was not breaking out in rashes instead his tongue would swell and his mouth would itch. I started to notice that the asthma became really bad in the fall and after the first frost he seemed to beable to breath easier. So I took him to an allergist and had him tested. Sadly the allergist turned out to have other motives in mind than helping Jeff. I had explained my concerns about the reactions to fruits and certain foods and thought possibly he had environmental allergies that where causing his allergies. They tested Jeff for environmental allergies and his whole back welted up about 2" so it was obvious that is what we where dealing with. They never tested him for food allergies..but instead we where swiftly rushed into the doctors office where he informed me he wanted to put Jeff into a trial program for a new asthma drug. He refused to give my son allergy shots and if we would not go into the test program for the new drug he would not see my son..we left feeling defeated. Since I could not get help from the medical community I did the only thing I knew to do..So come every fall we would keep Jeff in the house with the air conditioner running along with several hepa air purifiers, doing breathing treatments and still he could barely breath..but it kept him alive and out of the hospital. A elderly lady down the street had told my son her son had asthma and had just died because of all the years of using the inhalers. So Jeff out of fear stopped using his inhalers. I started Jeff on anti-histamines and he seemed to get his life back. Jeff was now around 18 years of age and staying in another town with my mother because of his work. He started having some problems and went to a local MD. They told him the anti-histamines could make him delusional and at the same time tested his thyroid and decided he had hypothyroidism and started him on meds for it. I always wondered about the hypothyrodism as my son is extremely thin and normally people tend to be overweight that have that. He seemed to do a little better and went back on the inhalers and stopped the anti-histamines, but after time he started decline again and then started to have bouts of delusions. He thought that is was the thyroid causing his problems and wanted to try a method called Wilson's, nobody practiced it here in our state so we found a doctor in a state close by and took him to see him and started on a new program to deal with his thyroid. About this same time I started to learn I had Fibromyalgia and never being one that liked to go to the doctor I researched on the internet to see how to deal with it and came up with my own answer...I changed my diet to an organic diet and cut out sugars and high carb foods and all processed foods and the symptoms almost totally went away. But since I was on this diet and it was helping me I decided my family should be on it also. Jeff was living in different town and decided to go to a Chiropractor that practiced some holistic medicine and he put Jeff on a regiment of supplements along with his organic diet free of processed foods. Amazingly after 6 months of being on them his asthma totally disappeared and he was able to eat some fruits he had never been able to eat in the past. But he visited his MD about his thyroid and shared with him what supplements he was on and the doctor insisted he stopped one of them as he said it was dangerous for him. Within several months his allergies to the fruits was back and he was starting to deal with some asthma symptoms again. Jeff was an adult and living on his own so I did not realize all this was taking place..I now know the supplement the doctor took him off of was one that helped the adrenals which if are taxed can cause allergies. Within a couple months Jeff had degraded to the point where he could no longer hold down a job. We moved him back to our town and rented him a place and helped him find work but he still could not hold down a job so we paid his bills and bought his food all the while trying to figure out what was wrong with him. When he felt he was slipping it sometimes helped for him to drink orange juice and he had some open sores on his feet that where not healing, so I took him down to have his blood sugars tested. They decided he was border line diabetic and was dealing with low blood sugar so they sent him to a specialist. The endocrinologist decided his blood sugars where fine, but that he was dealing with sensitivities to foods and wanted to start him on a rotation diet. Jeff by this time was looking for a quick fix and flat out refused to do the rotation diet. While all this is taking place he had one infection after another..I would no more than get him better and he would come down with something else. The poor kid had blood poisoning without even receiving an open wound, strep throat, some other infection involving his ears...etc etc. I then took him to a neurologist thinking there might be something wrong with his brain. They did the MRI and found nothing so she decided he was dealing with low serotonin in his brain and put him on Effexor...it seemed to help a little bit, but then he started to degrade again, so she doubled his dose...it sent him into orbit and he spiraled out of control. Being fed up with the doctors I went home and started searching his symptoms on the internet and came to the conclusion he had Schizophrenia and started researching Orthomolecular medicine. I started him on a supplement program I devised along with a gluten and dairy free diet. He knew instantly folic acid made him worse so we eliminated that from his supplements and focused on supplements that would lower his histamine levels along with making his diet now only low histamine foods. Not sure why but he also discovered soy had ill effects on him so we eliminated that out of his diet also...which made the gluten free thing rather challenging but we soon discovered brown rice is our friend. He seemed to improve but I decided it might be best to take him to the professionals and get him into the Health Research Institute by Chicago. They found he was high in histamine...no shock there. So they put him on a compound but it was a starter program and was lower in doses than the supplements I had had him on the past few months so after a few weeks on the program he started to slip again. I wanted to get him into a pych doctor to see if I could get him on some meds to just help him until they ramped up the supplements, but we wanted a orthomolecular psych doctor. I found one in Washington State. So I called him and talked to him on the phone for over an hour and explained the situation and how Jeff was high in histamine and explained we just needed to get him on some meds to help until the supplements he was on kicked in and wanted someone to help monitor his progress. We did not want to change his program/ supplements or pay for new tests as we had just had them a done a few months ago via the place by Chicago...he agreed to this. So I leased a house on Whidbey Island, Washington, temporary left my husband behind and moved there with my son. You might be thinking at this point we wheref inancially well off. Quite the contrary, I borrowed the money to cover everything and took my eBay business with me so I could keep an income coming in. We got settled in on the island and Jeff went to his first appointment and the doctor does an about face on us and says he can not treat Jeff unless he reruns the tests !! I thought okay we are out here and I have a lease on a house go for it, it is best sometimes to get a second opinion anyway. In the mean time while he was waiting for the tests to come back he put Jeff on some shots and showed him how to administer them himself. I had been warned by the Health Research Instituteto never give him Folic Acid as it would make him worse so I wanted to know what he was giving him. He said they where B12 and I was like okay as long as it is not Folic Acid not realizing they are basically the same. Jeff starts to have some major issues so I reminded the doctor we need him to put Jeff on some medicine to help he finally relented and put Jeff on something...the tests come back and really did not show anything wrong and he informs us that he can't continue to help Jeff unless we switch to his supplement program. Now I'm really starting to freak out..I have spent thousands of dollars to try and get my son help and this guy is pushing me into a corner. I looked over the supplements and saw one contained a small amount folic acid and said no to that one..he then tells me he did not believe in the histamine theory which was becoming obvious as he never even tested him for high histamine levels. And if I wanted him to treat my son he would have to take the supplements. Jeff being an adult how be it not in his right mind all the time insisted we try it..I think I was in shock..thousands of miles from home and I was starting to realize this trip was in vain and I so wanted it to work so I gave in and let him switch Jeff's supplements. Within a week of being on the shots and supplements Jeff was so deranged I was starting to fear for my own life and called the doctor..his answer was to take Jeff to the mainland and have him admitted...HELLO !! Then to my horror I realized B12 was the same as Folic Acid and was putting his histamine levels through the roof. If I had to take Jeff to a hospital it was going to be back home, so I loaded the van down with all our possessions, closed up the house and drove 1,700 miles basically non-stop to get back home by this time Jeff was so far gone he didn't even know his name.The people at the hospital told me they had never seen anyone as bad as he was and told me he would probably need to be committed. I was not about to do that. So I found a hospital that would allow me to bring him his meals and let him take his supplements from the Health Research Institute while they where treating him. Like someone else mentioned..people with Schizophrenia..actually my son has Schizoeffective disorder, but anyway they have a tendency to not stay on their meds and the same goes for supplements and diet. For the most part I was able to get my son to stay on his diet and supplements if I stayed in close contact with him but he was easily de-railed. So it has been a real challenge and I have found myself having to put him back on track quite a few times. After two years on his diet and supplements he was down to only taking 6 mg of Invega and doing well.Then he decided to quit his meds..he did pretty good for two and a half months and then a local chiropractor talked him into stopping the supplements I had him on and into taking some from him along with a drink mix. I had spoken to this chiropractor when my son had first started going to him and told him he could adjust my son, but he was never to change his supplements or give him anything that contained Folic Acid or B12 and explained what we had been through in the past and I would not allow that to happen again. My son is married and has children and does not live with me and I was unaware of what was taking place until my son started to get really delusional and I had to step back in and get him back on his meds. But to my dismay the meds where not working, so back to the doctor we went, he added 10 mg of abilify to the 6 mg of Invega. I was thinking that was a little steep as when he was on it abefore he only took 5 mg. So we started with 5mg and he was still delusional...we took it up to 10mg and still no help. I finally started investigating and discovered the drink mix and supplements the Chiropractor was giving my son. The main thing in the drink mix was Folic Acid and the more Jeff became delusional the more he drank the drink hoping it would help him and nothing I could say could get him to stop taking them.I had to call this quack chiropractor and tell him HE was going to tell my son he had to quit taking them, so off we went to the Chiropractor's office. By this time...no meds where helping Jeff...so I started him on some pretty potent natural stuff to start cleansing him of the histamine and I stripped his diet down to a drink mix that contained supplements that lowered the histamine levels. It was starting to help but we still had to take him into the hospital because he was so delusional. So as I type this he is in the hospital and thankfully they are willing to work with me again and are giving him his drink mix and supplements along with the meds. I'm hoping we caught this fast enough and it does not take 2 years again to get him straightened around. But what I find very interesting is when Jeff's son was born..he had the same symptoms Jeff did as a baby.I had them take my grandson to a specialist at the Children's hospital to be tested and sure enough..my grandson could not handle dairy or soy and his intestines where all inflamed. They put him on a special formula and diet as he got older and the symptoms went away.I have often wondered had I known the same thing about my son when he was a baby if he would have not developed Schizeffective disorder as an adult. My son and his wife are split up because of Jeff's illness and I can only pray she keeps my grandson on his diet. But sadly I do not think she will as she was one of the biggest determents I faced in trying to keep Jeff on his diet when they where together. Sorry this was so long but I hope that someone that has a son that is dealing with high histamines also may find some hope in my son's story. I know in my son's case if I can keep the vultures away from him he will get better as I have seen him improve overtime with the correct diet and supplements. I also on purpose left out what we followed for supplements because not everyone with Schizophreniaas high histamine levels and if someone was to follow the same supplement program it could possibly make them worse. You are your own best doctor and the internet is your best friend. Research, research and then do everything in your power from being derailed and from people that would make a buck off other people's suffering.
Update on my JosephIm happy to report that Joseph is doing well. He has been working now for over 5 months consistantly. He is driving again and playing his guitar more than ever. He is also seeing a counselor once a week through a pastoral program suggested by his Church. He pursued that one all on his own. Im very proud of him and we bless each day that we are in healing. I love you, Joseph and may the angels always surround you and protect you!
I would love to hear from you. if you would like to submit your story, feel free to email me at angelicstrands@aol.com
Be sure to visit my meditation forest at http://www.anamcaraforest.com/
Angel Art by Linda Hodgson Ironside
Photos by Victoria DOttavio
Disclaimer: The stories, advise, and content of this newsletter are not a replacement for medical evaluations, therapies, or treatments.
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