Trying to problem-solve ill after attending school

[JuliaFaith]

ds13 was holding steady doing great until he returned to school. Went 2 1/2 days to school and then had a 'flare-up' for the next 2 1/2 days. Thought it could be the Alinia he was on and since it was near the end, thought it might be the 28 cyle on some of spiro.

 

Then went to school 3 days the next week and had 3 days feeling ill again. Thought it might be the excessive exercise because he was biking to school, running in p.e. and started soccer again.

 

Now, he injured his calf muscle last Sunday, went to school Mon/Tues. (on crutches) and was home feeling ill again the next 3 days. Now I believe it is not the exercise, but am starting to think it may be the school. Posssibly mold?

 

He seems to be enjoying school quite a bit and has several new friends etc.

 

Have a doctor phone consult on Tues. (She is out with a new baby.)

 

Any ideas would be welcomed?

[SSS]

If you are looking for an objective guess, I'll give you one ;-)

 

What stands out to me is all the new exercise- by the way, is it still hot there? It has been here, and it is a wipe out.

But the new biking to school, running in PE (and they REALLY run my 13 year old son in his PE: Hard.) And starting up soccer again- might be too much? Perhaps he needs to go a little slower building up his muscles. Hope his calf is better soon---

 

 

ETA: Sorry, I see he is not exercising anymore, and still not feeling well...

I'm not sure. I do know when my DS13 (healthy) started 8th grade, he was wiped out for the first 2 weeks- after being off all summer, sleeping in- the whole new, changing classes, social life, school work- he was pretty darn tired, took a good 2-3 weeks to get better with it all.

Edited September 24, 2011 by S & S

[LNN]

Do the symptoms match what you saw when mold was an issue in your own home? Does the school have carpets in the classroom? Any water stained ceiling tiles? You'd probably be hard pressed to get them to tell you if there were any leak/water problems, unless you befriended the janitors or teachers and found out in a round about way. But what to do about it?

 

Did you use chlorella or clay for mold treatment? Maybe add some or increase the dose/frequency if you're using any now. Definitely keep track of it all on a calendar. Also take note of the weather every day and write down if there was rain, humidity etc.

[smartyjones]

i've been wondering lately about the role of the BBB in symptoms. at the OCDF conference last year, there was mention of stress being a factor in the premeability of it. so, it seems that stress could affect the BBB, making it more permeable and antibodies that may still circulate in the body but not affect the brain could then get into the brain and cause trouble. stress not necessarily being from traumatic events but simply changes in schedule or increases in responsibilities, etc.

 

the other thing being new exposures to things that could ramp up the immune system to protect him, thus causing symptoms but him not necessarily being sick. my kids have been in school 5 weeks -- there's already 2, if not 3, cases of strep i've been notified of and some other communicable infection. unfortunately, i think schools are big pools of infections.

[JuliaFaith]

ETA: Sorry, I see he is not exercising anymore, and still not feeling well...

I'm not sure. I do know when my DS13 (healthy) started 8th grade, he was wiped out for the first 2 weeks- after being off all summer, sleeping in- the whole new, changing classes, social life, school work- he was pretty darn tired, took a good 2-3 weeks to get better with it all.

He did say that he is really tired the day before he started feeling worse. He did school all summer thru an on-line school but being in a junior high (after 1 yr. homeschooling) is new. Thanks for the input.

[JuliaFaith]

Do the symptoms match what you saw when mold was an issue in your own home? Does the school have carpets in the classroom? Any water stained ceiling tiles? You'd probably be hard pressed to get them to tell you if there were any leak/water problems, unless you befriended the janitors or teachers and found out in a round about way. But what to do about it?

 

Did you use chlorella or clay for mold treatment? Maybe add some or increase the dose/frequency if you're using any now. Definitely keep track of it all on a calendar. Also take note of the weather every day and write down if there was rain, humidity etc.

LLM: These are good ideas. His symptoms are typically like when he 'flares' with new meds (flu-like symptoms) except he has not been on any for 2 1/2 weeks that are new. He has 6 classrooms and 2 of them are portables with carpeting. The other 4 do have carpeting as well. I have been in the building for over 8 yrs. and never seen any water problems.

 

He is still on 60 chlorella/6 salmon oil a day but one thought was that his first dosage is 7 am. and the next is 3 pm. Was not sure if this is part of the problem. So difficult for them to take even vitamins at school.

 

Why do you mention weather? Will start noting that. It was really sunny the first 2 weeks but the 3rd was cooler and cloudy.

 

Thank you so much for the ideas.

Edited September 24, 2011 by JuliaFaith

[JuliaFaith]

i've been wondering lately about the role of the BBB in symptoms. at the OCDF conference last year, there was mention of stress being a factor in the premeability of it. so, it seems that stress could affect the BBB, making it more permeable and antibodies that may still circulate in the body but not affect the brain could then get into the brain and cause trouble. stress not necessarily being from traumatic events but simply changes in schedule or increases in responsibilities, etc.

 

the other thing being new exposures to things that could ramp up the immune system to protect him, thus causing symptoms but him not necessarily being sick. my kids have been in school 5 weeks -- there's already 2, if not 3, cases of strep i've been notified of and some other communicable infection. unfortunately, i think schools are big pools of infections.

Interesting information about the BBB. He has never had strep before and tonsils are out. He definitely may have stress from the new environment/homework etc. I have to say that he seems to enjoy it all a bit too much. Also, he has stated that several kids have gotten sick and not showed up for classes. That was one of the variables (along with mold/EMF explosure) we were not sure about - his immune system and its' ability to deal with all of that. In the last 11 mos. he has not been around a lot of people and only had a stomach flu for 2 days so he has been lucky there. He is still using a nebulizer with iodine (once at night) and dr. added liquid garlic drops (Allimax) to it as well to ward off illness.

 

Love this forum and great thinking in the posts. Thank you!

[LNN]

Why do you mention weather? Will start noting that. It was really sunny the first 2 weeks but the 3rd was cooler and cloudy.

 

Thank you so much for the ideas.

I ask about weather only because mold loves moisture. So if he were feeling worse after a spell of rain or high humidity, it would make me think mold was "blooming" vs. if he felt worse on dry, sunny days. So tracking mold-friendly conditions might show you a pattern.

 

The trailers introduce a whole host of possibilities. Trailers aren't well ventilated, could be great incubators for germs or mold or formaldehyde or other toxins. I hate carpeted classrooms. My son was much healthier once he "graduated" from our elementary school (all carpeting) and moved into the intermediate school (grades 3-6), where all the rooms are tile. Of course, we also started treating for lyme etc then, so that had a lot to do with it, but he stayed much healthier, far fewer colds, when he got away from the carpets - I think they must be great little nurseries for germs.

 

It's a tough call, because if he's enjoying the social aspects and growing in that respect, pulling him from school isn't the first thing you'd want to consider. In a perfect world, you could have him just go to classes in the building and not in the trailers for a few days and see how he did. But I can't see how a school would go along with that. If all of his trailer classes were in one half of the day, say in the morning, you could make excuses for a few days and bring him in late, see how he did when he only went to classes in the building. But I doubt it would be that easy. Just tossing out ideas.

[JuliaFaith]

I ask about weather only because mold loves moisture. So if he were feeling worse after a spell of rain or high humidity, it would make me think mold was "blooming" vs. if he felt worse on dry, sunny days. So tracking mold-friendly conditions might show you a pattern.

 

The trailers introduce a whole host of possibilities. Trailers aren't well ventilated, could be great incubators for germs or mold or formaldehyde or other toxins. I hate carpeted classrooms. My son was much healthier once he "graduated" from our elementary school (all carpeting) and moved into the intermediate school (grades 3-6), where all the rooms are tile. Of course, we also started treating for lyme etc then, so that had a lot to do with it, but he stayed much healthier, far fewer colds, when he got away from the carpets - I think they must be great little nurseries for germs.

 

It's a tough call, because if he's enjoying the social aspects and growing in that respect, pulling him from school isn't the first thing you'd want to consider. In a perfect world, you could have him just go to classes in the building and not in the trailers for a few days and see how he did. But I can't see how a school would go along with that. If all of his trailer classes were in one half of the day, say in the morning, you could make excuses for a few days and bring him in late, see how he did when he only went to classes in the building. But I doubt it would be that easy. Just tossing out ideas.

Hello again LLM:

 

Interesting you what you mention about trailers. He was in several for 6 yrs. before he got ill. Some were temporary and are still there after 12 yrs.

 

His 1st period is in one of the portables, so may be able to not attend that class for a few days and see if that helps. Great idea.

 

Thank you so much for the suggestions!

Edited September 25, 2011 by JuliaFaith