justinekno

We have just had our house inspected and found mold in our basement crawlspace. The air count was ridiculously high for aspergillus which ironically is what came back on my son's sensitivity testing 2 years ago. We had no idea it was in our house. I feel somewhat ignorant. Now the fun stuff of remediation begins. We also have to find the source of the water in our basement hatchway which must be the foundation because we have an addition built over the hatchway so it can't be from water coming in the doors from the outside. I'm also trying to understand if the mold in the basement can cause problems on the 1st floor if the air readings on the 1st floor came back acceptable. I'm hoping Shoemaker's book might help with that question.

Just wondering if anyone has any feedback on the books by Dr. S. regarding mold. I am trying to decide which to buy -"Mold Warriors" or "Surviving Mold"

I'm so sorry that happened. What is the futhan method? Ok...thanks. I'll have to call and see what test they feel needs fasting. My daughter does better with food in her stomach. Here are the tests checked off on the Shoemaker Physician Order Sheet: HLA DR by PCR, VIP, MSH, ACTH, CRP, TGF-B1 ,MMP-9, PAl-1, Lipid with Phenotype, B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP), C3a & C4a "jewish lab". I just had a doctor sign off on the sheet with all the labcorps test marked. Is anyone running all of these tests? If anyone is running any of the Shoemaker labs, you do NOT need to use the Futhan method. I printed instructions off his website for collection of the C3a & C34 for LabCorp (which says to use the futhan method). It was a huge 1 1/2 hour ordeal. When I got home I received an email from Surviving Mold website (emailed them last thursday for some guidance) saying not to use the Futhan method. arrgh! There is no way my daughter will ever step foot in labcorp again.

Dr. J. has also said that elevated ALT enzymes are common in children going through puberty. It can be related to bone growth so if only those numbers are elevated, he is not concerned unless the other numbers on the panel are elevated also. Comprehensive Metabolic Panel w/eGFR or Hepatic Panel checks the ALT & AST. If it is slighty elevated they will just keep an check on it. If it is extremely elevated they might advise an antibiotic change or to stop them completely. In most cases, I would think the problems would be reversed. Lyme can also raise ALT & AST. I was told it is seen commomly with patients who have lyme and should resolve with treatment. My daughter's AST has been slighty elevated since Nov 2009. Ironically, when she went off of abxs last summer for 8 weeks she had her highest elevated AST & ALT result...though she did take Flagyl right before stopping abx, so it may have been from that. I also received a positive Igenex Lyme result in December. I looked at all my blood tests I had done over the years, and my ALT/AST has been elevated ever since my daughter was born in 2001 but never before. I was rarely ever on antibiotics. Anyway, at this time none of my daughter's doctors seem overly concerned with her elevated levels. I'm keeping a close eye on it though.

We had these symptoms after starting Bactrim. It lasted for about 2-3 days and never happened again. We attributed it to a herx. I'm not familiar enough with Steven Johnson to comment. I am sure others will chime in.

We also had the following tests, besides the ones I listed earlier, done: Urinalysis Gross Exam ADH MMP-9 T4 TSH Antigliadin IgA and IgG t-TG Stachybotrys charter Hope that helps! Ok...thanks. I'll have to call and see what test they feel needs fasting. My daughter does better with food in her stomach. Here are the tests checked off on the Shoemaker Physician Order Sheet: HLA DR by PCR, VIP, MSH, ACTH, CRP, TGF-B1 ,MMP-9, PAl-1, Lipid with Phenotype, B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP), C3a & C4a "jewish lab". I just had a doctor sign off on the sheet with all the labcorps test marked. Is anyone running all of these tests? Justine- did you notice if any of the other tests were ordered? Thanks!

I don't think we had all of those tests done but I will check and let you know. I know we did HLA, VIP, MSH and the C3a & C4a done. We also had a VEGF done. Ok...thanks. I'll have to call and see what test they feel needs fasting. My daughter does better with food in her stomach. Here are the tests checked off on the Shoemaker Physician Order Sheet: HLA DR by PCR, VIP, MSH, ACTH, CRP, TGF-B1 ,MMP-9, PAl-1, Lipid with Phenotype, B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP), C3a & C4a "jewish lab". I just had a doctor sign off on the sheet with all the labcorps test marked. Is anyone running all of these tests?

Yes, we are. It's not bad. We put it in water with a little bit of lemon and drink it quickly!

No, we did not need to fast. Just went in, gave our slip and had the blood drawn and left a urine sample.

We are only taking it once a day although our dr's instructions were to take it 2x a day. It is a struggle just to get my son to take it once a day and since it caused some constipation for him, we are staying at once a day for now. Laura (LLM) posted a link in this thread to some good information regarding clays. We are following the suggestion in the article of doing a few days on and then a few days off until I hear back from our dr. We have also stepped up the Tru-Fiber and lots of water to help keep things moving. We use the Bio-Pure brand and have been spacing it at least an hour away from supplements. I'm not sure if that is necessary but we're doing it just to be safe and because we have a good window after school to take it. Aidan'smom - How is your son doing now? Justine, Do you take it just one time per day?

My son had a rash on his cheeks and arms while taking bactrim. Our LLMD saw it and said it looked more like die off - we were having some constipation issues so the dr felt the toxins were the issue. Once we got the constipation taken care of, the rash subsided. As the treatment has progressed, the rash has gone away. Perhaps the difference with my son's rash was that it never faded throughout the day and going outside didn't change it either.

Yes, it helps with die off. In our case, we are using it for mold toxification. My ds (11) and I are both taking 1 tsp with 8 oz of water.

My son hit his head on the driveway when he was 5 and the next day he was groggy and vomiting. We took him to the ER to have him checked and was told it was head trauma. Not to scare you but you might want to put the Lyme/herxing/reaction aside and consider the vomiting, sleepiness as a somewhat unrelated issue that should be evaluated.

Yea but my house is a mess and I have tons of laundry that needs to be done Oh sure - serve up a little guilt for breakfast this morning! Congratulations!!

Thank you for this link. Although I found some info last night about clay and constipation, this article is a good guide to the use of clays. I think we will stop for a few days and then resume along with drinking lots of water. As a side note, I have started the clay also and have been feeling so much better - even ran 4 miles yesterday!

Can bentonite clay cause constipation? My son has been on it for 5 days with no issues until today. He was also outside all day and probably didn't drink as much water as he usually does but just wondering if this is a side effect.

With the recent discussion about metals and titanium dioxide, it got me wondering if anyone has suggestions for a "clean" sunscreen. I usually buy Alba but I think that has titanium dioxide in it. I stood at the Whole Foods suncreen shelf and was totally overwhelmed reading the ingredients. I know our dermatologist says the titanium dioxide is recommended to protect the skin. It's as if you protect one thing, and risk hurting another part of the body. So frustrating!

I'm just curious, did you stop the clay because it wasn't helpful?

Good questions. We will be starting the clay this week although I was under the impression the clay acts as a binder so we wouldn't need chlorella too? I am assuming if it works the same way as the Cholestyramine then you would need to give it at least 1 hour from supplements or antibiotics.

Instead of a multi, I give my son individual vitamins that he has either tested low in or that will help for a specific issue. We give vit d (immune system), b-complex, zinc (tested low - sensitivity with eyes), and magnesium (tested low). I read somewhere that a multi can't get all of the necessary requirements into one little capsule and since my son eats pretty well and I could never find a "clean" multi, we took this approach instead.

How do you do Epsom salt showers?

We started krill oil three weeks ago and have had nothing but emotional meltdowns and moodiness ever since. The only other thing we did at the same time was change probiotics. I'm going to stop the krill oil for a few days and see how we do. Ironically, I am taking it too and have been very anxious and uptight. I chalked it up to PMS but now I'm starting to wonder if it's the krill oil. That would be a shame because I had such high hopes for it to help with focus and brain fog. Did you see improvement when you stopped the krill oil?

My son and I both had the mold panel done and even though our numbers looked like mold toxicity, our LLMD did not confirm it until the C3a and C4a were back. I believe these inflammation markers indicate bacteria (C3a) and mold (C4a). Our LLMD, after discussing with Dr's K & S. suggested either Cholestyramine, clay or chlorella (20 pills daily). We are going with the clay and hoping it isn't too gritty tasting.

Would you say your son became more emotional while on the krill oil?

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