Following my gut led to a bio-energetic scan of my 3-year-old alerting us to the fact that we have mold in our house.
I am basically obsessed with finding the right doctors for myself and my family – probably to the point where I should reel it in!! But what I am learning is there is no one perfect doctor to heal and optimize health in all scenarios. You need a village of doctors and options. And after my experience with my youngest daughter the last several months I am so glad to have a homeopathic practice as a part of my village. They found a diagnosis for me where no other doctor or blood test had been able to find anything. And thank god they did as now our whole family is benefitting.
Like many toddlers my youngest, Olivia, had recurrent ear infections when she was 1.5-2 years old. After 4 rounds of antibiotics in 6 months we ended up getting ear tubes. With my work, I am so conscious of how destructive repeated antibiotics can be for a kid so I accepted the invitation for tubes pretty darn immediately. Although I had a whisper that there were alternative options to help solve the root of the ear infections I ignored those whispers. I thought back to my sister who successfully cured one of her daughters of recurrent infections with a handful of chiropractic adjustments. But in all honesty I wanted the quick fix. Nothing wrong with that … but as it often does, the quick fix led to other issues.
Within about a month of Olivia getting the tubes, all of the sudden her sleep was completely disrupted and she was constantly with nasal congestion. Not a runny nose but sounded like someone had plugged her nose. So back to the ENT. Was not an adenoid or tonsil problem but instead very inflamed nasal passageway, chronic rhinitis was official diagnosis. Went on to do blood allergy tests (not the best way to test allergies but the best way to test allergies on a then 2 year-old). Long story short, she came back with no allergies. The ENT and my pediatrician both had no answer for me. Hopefully she’d old grow out of it they said.
But the only way that we could get Olivia to sleep through the night is with a daily dose of Zyrtec … but we had no idea why. And for me, someone who loves functional health and understanding the root of physical symptoms, I couldn’t just sit with that. My mind was going down the path of thinking she has autoimmune issues. I know that physical symptoms are ALWAYS the sign of some system in our body not working optimally. Our body is a well oiled machine – and it is always great at communication. But if we just Zyrtec away that feedback every day, who knows what other issues this would have led to down the road.
I knew of Longevity Health Center, as that is where my acupuncturist who helped with my fertility treatments to get pregnant with Olivia had previously worked. From my many days of sitting in the waiting room, I remembered learning about its decade-long reputation that had people travel in from all over the country as their last hope for curing something no one else had been able to pinpoint. It is naturopathic medicine that offers homeopathic healing. Basically it helps get to the root of what is causing symptoms and heals it naturally (ie without prescription medicine and as a whole body and health treatment).
So in I went with Olivia. She refers to it as the doctors office that is like a house. Unlike any other of the hundreds of doctors appointments I have taken my kids to, they didn’t look at her nose or throat or take her temperature. I filled out a questionnaire, went into more detail in conversation with Cristina, who is a mother of 4 and the go-to for pediatric patients, and she then put a little Velcro bracelet on Olivia that has electrodes on that was doing a scan of what Olivia’s body was presenting with. It came back with a handful of things but predominantly was MOLD TOXICITY. Ugh. My worst nightmare. My husband and I are both so sensitive to even the slightest musty or icky smell. We are those people who if we walk into a hotel room that has any hint of mildew we are back down at the front desk asking for a room change.
So skip ahead several steps, specialists and home exams, and indeed we had mold. It wasn’t like pack up your family and move into a hotel level of mold but it was mold. The mold company did air tests as well as found the actual physical mold in our basement – the unfinished rooms with the air handlers (it was then being projected throughout the house). It was remediated a couple weeks ago and it will take a couple months to see how the supplements we are giving Olivia are working to help her body calm down and heal its inflammation. More to come on that…
But the experience of this diagnosis gives me chills every time I think about it. The amazingness of homeopathy. It has led me down a rabbit hole of learning more. It is simple and complex all at the same time – but it is a wonderful option for us all to know about it.
Homeopathy, as well as the bio energetic evaluation, is based on the belief that the body has an energy system that can be influenced and restored for healing. Same basis as acupuncture and other Eastern healing modalities that have been around for thousands of years.
Bioenergetic testing is a method used to assess the body’s energy fields and health that involves using a device that measures electrical responses from the body, such as changes in resistance or conductivity. Practitioners believe that when the body is out of balance—whether due to stress, illness, or other factors—it shows up as disturbances in the energy fields. Bioenergetic evaluation is used to detect these imbalances and help guide treatment, which may include homeopathic remedies or other therapies aimed at restoring balance.
Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine based on the idea that “like cures like” that was founded in Germany over 200 years ago. In simple terms, it suggests that a substance that causes symptoms in a healthy person can be used in tiny doses to treat similar symptoms in someone who is sick. It is a system of medicine that truly looks at the whole being to determine the root cause of symptoms presenting.
Interestingly but not surprising that in Europe, up to one-third of physicians incorporate homeopathic medicines into their practices … and it is on the rise in the United States.
Our health is a puzzle. And we have to be the one responsible for putting the puzzle pieces together. Take a piece from this doctor, a piece from following your gut, a piece from your trainer, a piece from your health coach. But in the end always seek to understand why you or a loved one is experiencing the symptoms they are. There is always ALWAYS an explanation even though is often not obvious and clearly defined by your traditional doctor.
