The Pediatrician said she was fine.

First, I have to come clean and admit it took 17 years before I actually decided there really might be something “going on” with my daughter (I know, I’m still waiting for my “World’s Best Mother” trophy).

Colic

First, she had been a colicky baby. She was my first baby so as far as I knew, she was just like all other babies. There was some projectile vomiting, again, seemed normal to me. She didn’t sleep laying flat for 3 years. I will admit, that did seem a bit extreme but again, no one told us any different.

Once she was old enough to talk and really articulate how she was feeling, she did complain of stomach aches/heartburn type stuff. We visited the pediatrician, often. He said she was fine, which is exactly what he said for all the years she didn’t sleep. Why should we question him? He was the expert. She certainly looked fine and for the most part acted fine.

Antacids

When he suggested antacids I did think it was weird to put a little kid on antacids but everyone takes antacids, right? I guess I just never realized that everyone on antacids started when they were little, who knew. I loved our pediatrician, he knew everything. If he said she was fine then she was fine. Antacids for the win! Wrong.

As the years went on, the heartburn stuff never went away, the antacids didn’t really help. It was typical for us to go out to a restaurant and have my daughter leave the table halfway through dinner so she could go outside and get some air. She always thought she was going to throw-up. We stopped going out to dinner, it just wasn’t fun for her or the rest of us.

The Expert.

Jump ahead, she’s now 17 years old and getting ready to head to college. She’s still complaining about the pressure in her chest and not feeling well. Just to be clear, she didn’t complain that much, she’s very stoic, too stoic. Anyway, I started to worry about her being away and not feeling her best so I decided we needed to get this figured out once and for all, get an expert involved. Off to the Gastroenterologist we went.

Antacids, again

First thing the doc did was put my daughter on a prescription antacid and told us to check back in a month. We checked in, no real change. I suggested a scope, you know, let’s just do it, once and for all, get to the bottom of things.

Endoscopy

The scope, it’s invasive, anesthesia is involved so it’s also scary, basically not fun. We didn’t learn much from my daughter’s scope. One thing we did learn was that her esophagus looked great, no signs of acid reflux, that was good since she’d had reflux since she was a baby (or so we were told). The doc said she was fine but would probably need the antacid her whole life. Then, as an after thought while she was walking away, she said her small intestine was red and inflamed but nothing to worry about. That was it, the end of the whole procedure/meeting. My daughter was fine, at the age of 17 she would need prescription antacids for the rest of her life and her small intestine was red and inflamed but nothing to worry about.

She’s fine. Really?

Three things, first, my daughter wasn’t fine when we went in for the scope and NOTHING had changed between entering the hospital and having the scope so “fine” seemed odd. Second, antacids for the rest of her life, what?! They don’t even help and she’s only 17, again what?! Third, “red and inflamed” even to me, who, at the time knew nothing about gastroenterology, celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity thought that didn’t seem “fine” and it did seem like something I should worry about.

No answers and a dead end.

Now what? We had no answers and we had just seen the expert. DEAD END. I had no idea what to do or how to help my daughter. I was feeling really frustrated, and a little scared. One of my friends suggested a nutritionist. I didn’t even know what a nutritionist was, didn’t matter, I made an appointment. That appointment was the first step to where I am today. I don’t feel like I can say thank you enough, thank you to everyone and everything that guided us to that appointment.

It’s all about food.

As it turned out, my daughter had some food sensitivities, not food allergies. Food sensitivities are much more subtle and often overlooked. Certain foods were interacting with her body in a negative way, causing all kinds of inflammation and dysfunction. Stuff we never even considered as dysfunction. The biggest, most obvious and most debilitating for my daughter was the chest pressure. Once we identified the foods that were causing this and eliminated them the chest pressure went away, so did her dandruff, intestinal gas, skin issues, excess weight, smelly feet. It was crazy. I was hooked. I needed to know everything I could about food and the body.

Update: Food sensitivities cause leaky gut. A leaky gut or gut permeability has also been associated with ‘leaky brain’ or rather a leaky blood-brain barrier. While the most obvious issues with food sensitivities and gluten particularly is gastro-intestinal distress both upper (heartburn/reflux) and lower (IBS, gas, bloating, constipation/diarrhea) other symptoms are depression, anxiety, ADHD and other neurological issues.

My daughter was always the “Eeyore” of the family. We didn’t think much of it. It was just who she was and we loved her and everything about her. She’s no longer our little Eeyore. It took longer for us to notice this positive change but it’s clear now that she’s a happier and more engaged person since we eliminated the foods that were causing her trouble.

Start with simple solutions first.

This is getting long and there is a lot more to this story but I’ll end with what actually pushed me to look into getting a degree. I met a women in one of those boot camp exercise classes. We started talking and somehow she started telling me about her 8 year old son and how he was depressed. I have no idea how this conversation started, I’d never met the women before and I have never seen her again. Anyway, she told me her pediatrician was putting her son on antidepressants. This shocked me, he was 8 years old. I mentioned that she might want to meet with the nutritionist I had just met, perhaps there was something else she could do before trying antidepressants (there has been a LOT of research about food intolerances and neurological dysfunction – see above). She didn’t have any interest, she liked her doctor and believed he knew best. Just remembering this conversation shakes me. Antidepressants seems pretty extreme for an 8 year old. Now, I don’t really know anything about these people and maybe antidepressants were their best option. I only wish the best for them and hope all is well.

I was defeated.

When I was having that very brief conversation all I could offer was “you might want to see a nutritionist”. It was defeating. I couldn’t explain why I thought it might be a good idea, all  I knew was how a nutritionist had helped my daughter. I really didn’t “know” anything. I didn’t like that feeling. I wanted to help or at least be a resource to point her toward options that could eventually help.

Now I’m empowered.

So, here I am today. I think in a better position to help. Most medical doctors are wonderful, caring people. They treat disease and in many emergency situations save lives. A nutritionist is NOT a medical doctor and as a nutritionist I have no interest in replacing your medical doctor. I want to help you figure out how to make your body function at its best. If you don’t feel your best, if you feel unwell, your body could be on a path toward disease. Adjusting diet and lifestyle factors is a simple first step away from disease, toward wellness. If you don’t think you can do that on your own, find a holistic nutritionist that you feel comfortable with and work on it together. You’ll be surprised how simple changes can be life altering.

One more thing, Antacids or Protein Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)

Let me just say one more thing about antacids, prescription antacids to be specific. This drug or family of drugs was never intended as a long-term solution. They were intended for 3 months of treatment at most. Studies have now shown that long-term use (used chronically) results in bone loss and vitamin B12 deficiency.

I won’t go into the details about why PPIs are so bad except to say, they eliminate stomach acid. Guess what, your body makes stomach acid for a reason, it’s important! If you are on prescription antacids you might want to think about working your way off the drug.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. If you think I could be of service to you please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Be well.