Why we think this allergy treatment will help Kaylee

The immune system is an extremely underappreciated entity. We take this very complex system for granted everyday, until it fails us and doesn't perform the way we expect it to. Our immune systems are so powerful it can kill through a hyperresponse (anaphylaxis) or a hyporesponse (e.g. AIDS). There is a spectrum of reactions ranging in between these responses. Kaylee suffers from (and so do most, if not all ASD kids) both sides of reactions. She is hyporesponsive to viruses, bacteria, and yeasts and hyperresponsive to everything else. This is the earmark of immune system dysfunction.

When Kaylee was tested for what she would react to, we were surprised that she reacted to almost everything, some things more than others. This is significant because it gives us a clue into how her immune system is functioning (or better said dysfunctioning) at this time. Her mild reactions to everything shows us that her immune system is in overdrive. So when I say "allergies" for Kaylee's reaction, it's because I don't have a better term. Kaylee is reacting to everything but it isn't always an allergenic response: it's an inflammatory one.

These allergies aren't just a nuisance for Kaylee, they are causing her body to be in a chronic inflammatory state (and by the way...yeast loves inflammation). Now her immune system doesn't know what it's doing anymore, its just firing off everywhere at everything. This makes for a not-so-happy-Kaylee. I am guessing she's not feeling so well. She's extra sleepy, crabby, defiant, and more when like most kids are when they don't feel their best.

So why didn't I just use antihistamines for her allergies? I tried and they didn't work. The antihistamine drugs only took the edge off because they only eliminate one chemical pathway in this inflammatory process. In an immune system reaction there are so many pathways that are triggered by chemical messengers, such as histamines, prostaglandins, cytokines (there are lots and lots of these!), and many others. In other words, the reaction is still occuring, and the immune system is still "cued up". Neutralization treatment is the best one because it stops the whole reaction in it's tracks, therefore completely halting the inflammatory cycle.

What I love about this allergy testing is that there is no disputing that your child reacts to something; this cannot be said about blood tests. Sometimes our kids' bloodwork will not show any antibodies to an antigen, but they will still be reactive to it. P/N treatment not only accurately identifies a person's triggers, but it also gives you a way to reverse them immediately, without drugs. I think that is the best outcome I can imagine.

With all of this said, we are hoping to press the "reset button" on Kaylee's immune system by cooling it down to where it doesn't react to everything. Eventually, we hope that Kaylee will soon stop reacting on her own, without her bi-weekly injections.

*These are the treatment vials with the antigens we inject Kaylee with every four days*