Diary of a Naturopathic Mom and Two Boys with PANDAS
Chapter 1 – My life By Accident
Chapter 4 – The Key to PANDAS Treatment and Recovery
My intention last year was to continue sharing our family PANDAS treatment journey and provide details on the step by step approach we discovered to reverse the symptoms caused by microbes like streptococcus.
Here is what really happened…
It has been almost a year since I have posted a chapter about our family’s journey with PANDAS treatment. Rowan and I participated in the documentary Stolen Childhood and after we shared our story in the documentary, I wrote the first chapter of this diary. In the years that followed, our clinic has helped thousands of children with PANDAS using natural treatment.
One family’s story became 2 and then 10 and then hundreds and after months of hearing the trauma that these families have endured, I couldn’t continue to write about our boys. I was, quite simply, drowning in guilt. I will, hopefully, one day finish out the chapters and tell the remainder of our story but for now I want to share the most important part.
The most important part of our PANDAS journey is how we were able to use natural PANDAS treatment following the research of Dr. Derrick MacFabe to save Rowan’s life. After recovering Rowan, we then lost our youngest son in massive regression into autism. Years later we would discover chronic infection played a significant role in our son’s autism. The details are important. When we thought we were only dealing with autism, our family shared our story.
Magnus – A biomedical treatment journey
We will tell he whole story one day. For now, my guilt over not sharing that recovering from PANDAS is not only possible but probable keeps me from going back in time. We were able to use the research of Dr. MacFabe to recover our older son from PANDAS. We used the same approach to help recover our youngest son but needed the extra power of the information discovered by Dr. Claudia Morris.
This diary will focus on starting point of treatment. The hardest but most important step to treat PANDAS naturally and recovery your children from PANDAS. Step by step, you can recovery children from chronic infections that cause developmental problems like PANDAS, autism, ADHD, anxiety, tics, OCD and even seizures.
Where to start?
Today I woke up and asked our youngest what he wanted for breakfast. He asked if I could help him make an omelette. A kid who had such severe ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Feeding Disorder) that he would only eat cashews or cashew butter for YEARS!!!
Today I am thankful. During this time in quarantine, I have had a chance to see more of my kids and they are doing so well. After years and years of biomedical treatment, our kids are thriving.
So today, we are sharing the first step in a step by step approach to PANDAS TREATMENT with the goal of RECOVERY. We hope that any family who is struggling can benefit from what we learned about PANDAS treatment from our two sons.
One of the most important things that we learned that PANDAS treatment and recovery required hard-work and persistence. We learned that recovery is not only a reality for our boys but for the hundreds and hundreds of patients that we support. The biggest clinical pearl I will every share is that PANDAS treatment and recovery depends on removing biofilm that is stuck to the intestinal wall.
So… let’s talk biofilm. Why do chronic infections persist? Let’s ask a world-renowned expert in biofilm to explain…
Dr. Garth Ehrlich – Twenty Years of Biofilm Research
What is a biofilm and why is it essential to understand for PANDAS treatment?
Biofilms are formed when microbes change shape and connect. Biofilms have two protective layers. The outside layer is a sticky substance called EPS. The inner layer is made up of minerals and metals. Some of these metals are toxic heavy metals that can come from environmental exposure.
Moms pass their toxic metals onto children during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Transgenerational accumulation of heavy metals means inheriting heavy metals from previous generations (great great grand-mother, to great grandmother to grandmother to mother to child).
Biofilms allow microbes to hide and evade both the immune system and anti-microbial agents (both botanical medicines and pharmaceutical medicines like antibiotics).
The microbial members of biofilms come from multiple kingdoms including fungi, bacteria, parasites and viruses. Viruses have addition protection from their own virome which can exist within a biofilm or on its own. This is why viruses are so hard to treat and contribute to significant shifts in immune functioning.
PANDAS Treatment includes supporting natural killer cells with vitamin A:
Natural Killer Cells require vitamin A to function. Their job is to kill microbes from all kingdoms. Viruses deplete vitamin A which is why one of the most important treatments to eradicate biofilms is cod liver oil. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and needs to be given with a healthy fat to ensure absorption.
PANDAS RECOVERY – STEP ONE
Biofilm is “sticky”. Think about what happens when people have chronic sinus infections. The mucous is stick and gets stuck in the sinuses and it is hard to get out. The mucous can and does stick to the mucous membranes in the sinuses.
So where is the biofilm in PANDAS? It is in the largest reservoir in the body… the gut. The first step in PANS treatment is to identify the severity of FECAL LOADING which is basically like having clogged pipes.
Fecal loading is the amount of fecal matter that is stuck in the gut. The retained stool allows biofilms to persist and proliferate. Biofilms will attach and infiltrate the bowel wall. The immune system in the gut is directly related to the immune system in the brain and microbial chemicals very quickly travel from gut to brain causing the intense and overwhelming symptoms of PANS.
The good news is, fecal matter and biofilm is EASY to treat with safe, effective laxative therapies following by supplements to heal the damaged gut tissue. Any microbes that survive the removal of biofilm are easily treated with antimicrobial herbs and/or probiotics.
Your child and your family DO NOT have to live with the debilitating symptoms caused by PANS.