Sam’s Case: Using Heilkunst to Treat Timeline Traumas in Autism
The patient is a little man, born in February, 1993. His mother (a registered nurse) decided to seek homeopathic treatment on the advice of her chiropractor, whose family I had been treating for some time. Because they were very concerned about the negative effects of the medical intervention their son had already undergone, including drugs and vaccinations, they specifically requested that he be treated for these using a sequential causal approach to removing the traumas.
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He has been treated for just over two years now. His improvement in the first year (indeed, the first few months) was already so significant that I thought it would be a good case to demonstrate how positive change can occur in a short period of time in a serious situation. It illustrates how just starting to remove the immediate traumas can already produce significant improvement in the case. Also, children’s cases are shorter, and easier to present in full!
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Sam’s (not his real name) chief complaint was recurrent viral infections. He had chronic gastro-esophageal reflux, which was worse in Spring, and severe asthma with strider. The reflux began when he was one year old, about the same time he was weaned and solid food was introduced. The physicians advised that he would outgrow it, so they didn’t treat it at that time. He then began projectile vomiting and was diagnosed with many food allergies.
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He presented with asthma in the Fall of 1994, which initially was treated with Benadryl. He had used an epinephrine pen at that time because soon after his vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) at 18 months he developed breathing difficulties with “strider,” a high-pitched crowing sound of his airway closing off when trying to breathe. The strider began with a head cold. His breathing was so bad he developed sternal retraction. The first diagnosis was reactive airway with bronchial spasms, until they later diagnosed asthma. He was placed on Pediapred and oral Ventalin, and was also sent home with a Ventalin nebulizer. Benadryl was used as an emergency palliative at that time, and he responded well initially.
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Three to four weeks later, however, he was back in the hospital, diagnosed with severe asthma. He had several more episodes with strider. If he so much as touched a food to which he was allergic he would vomit clear mucous and his airways would begin to close. He still suffered with reflux through to January 1995, causing chronic sinus infections from the force of the vomiting which in turn irritated his bronchials.
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During a visit to a pediatric specialist he was tested for celiac disease and cystic fibrosis. He was given a barium swallow, plus a scope and biopsy of his duodenum to see what bacteria it contained. The results were positive for cystic fibrosis in every aspect except the sweat test. Ultimately they diagnosed severe and acute esophagitis. Zantac palliated his symptoms somewhat, by decreasing the acid burning so the reflux wouldn’t damage the esophagus as badly. Propulsid was given to empty his stomach more quickly so there would be less food in his stomach in case he had a reflux reaction.
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In June 1994, he had undergone allergy testing. It was found he was highly allergic to rye grass. Spring mowing would cause him to produce so much mucous that he would vomit. Damp, wet nights were worse and they found he was also allergic to molds, milk, eggs and peanuts.
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When I met him in late 1995, he had just spent an Autumn with recurrent viral infections, including one where he vomited bile for seven days. After that infection he was fine for one week. Then he developed the symptoms of a head cold which progressed into vomiting, then to reflux, then back to a head cold, and finally into his ears. He started getting symptoms of asthma in the second and third week. The pediatric specialists gave him Intal prophylactically to make him less sensitive to allergic triggers (Intal interferes with body’s response to allergies, blocking the histamine reaction) so his lung tissue wouldn’t become inflamed.
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That helped him somewhat, although he had to carry a mild “puffer” if he went outside in the cold weather. He used that twice a day and the Ventalin puffer as needed. His weight went from 39.5 pounds to 32 pounds with the repeated episodes of vomiting, reflux and illnesses. His mother had suspected a sensitivity to soy, but the physicians told her that wouldn’t have any effect on his symptoms. She decided to take him off soy products anyway, and it helped slightly with the mucous and reflux. Rice milk was the only “dairy” he could tolerate, and he could have nothing containing eggs, dairy, or soy.
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His mother was by now totally disillusioned with the allopathic merry-go-round in which she seemed to have become caught up, and she was distressed that things had gone so badly for so long. She said she knew, as a registered nurse, that her son wasn’t improving and at best was being palliated. She was afraid of what might lie ahead for him, with such a dramatic start to his life. At this point she decided to consult both a nutritionist and a homeopath. Sam could only eat pureed food and liquids, because of the severe reflux. He vomited meat, couldn’t eat any solid foods and his esophagitis was severe.
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