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Hello,
I have been in treatment with Matia since February of 2006. She has done so much for me. although I have been a terrible patient. As you all know, IC is not something we would ever wish on our own enemy. Unfortunately, it happens that many times someone else in the family has either IC or a related illness. My own worst nightmare came true when my 6 year old son developed the beginnings of IC right at his birthday this year. Now, my son, daughter and I are all in treatment. My son is doing so much better. As a kindergartner, he was running to the restroom 7-8 times in a 3 hour period. He would play alone on the playground, had some attention issues (no wonder!) Since he has started treating with Matia, he is doing so much better. Everyone in the family says his color is so much better, he has thinned out (he had the IC belly) It is so isolating to have this illness, especially as a child with parties at school, nosey parents, etc. Just wondering if anyone had any stories or words of encouragement to share.
Thanks,
Jeanette
Words of encouragement
My daughter Amanda, started developing symptoms of IC when she was 4 years old, she was having chronic bladder pain, blood in her urine and was in so much pain. She had no energy and spent days on end in bed, not wanting to even be touched because her body hurt so much. Since treatment with Matia she is now a thriving 7 year old. She is in a competition dance team, (who would have ever thought she would be able to do this) and in gymnastics. She is so active and full of life. Hang in there, she's proof miracles happen and Matia was her miracle!!! Feel free to email me if you ever need to talk!~
kids just starting treatment
Had you asked me this question even 1 month ago, I would have answered no. Then I read a book about the new childhood epidemics of autism, ADHD, allergies and asthma and I had an aha moment. I had never thought that my IC was in any way related to what my son had been diagnosed with in 2005 (Aspergers) - I had never even thought to mention it to Matia. I have been in treatment with Matia since early 2005 and my son has been progressively improving on his own because of what I learned from Matia, especially the probiotics and eating healthy. Matia confirmed my new found connection and just last week I brought my son and daughter in to see Matia. I have full confidence in her ability to help both of my kids. I could go on and on here, I am so happy to see your post and hope that others will join in. I too am looking for words of encouragement and any helpful tips you might want to share. Thanks so much!
ADHD too...or so we were told
Hi, thanks for your post. People in my family and his teachers would always make insinuations about my son's ability to focus/concentrate. They would say, "maybe you should check if he has ADHD" The boy knew all of his shapes, letters, colors, numbers, days of the week in order by 2.5 He could play a full blown adult game of chess by the time he was 4.5. This year he finished kindergarten and he was reading at a 2nd grade level. Hardly a picture of what I thought ADHD was. It just seemed that it is the "in vogue" thing to do... throw a label and a pill. Still, because he seemed "distracted" people would try and pin a label on him, which I really resented especially being a teacher myself. When my son developed IC like me, I thought... there is your answer.. poor child is distracted by his darn bladder. He also always looked so puffy and unwell. He developed horrible eczema and at one point we considered having his tonsils out b/c for 3 weeks, they became so inflammed, he could hardly swallow water. Thank God I decided to get him on board with Matia too. Since treatment, his bladder has calmed down, he has lost 5-6 pounds (he was a bit on the heavy side because of his toxicity) his color is better and he seems more "focused". I really appreciate you sharing. I have a friend who's son has Down's AND Autism and their doctor recommends a diet similar to Matia's. Keep us up to date on all of your progresses!
concentrating. . .
Wow, I totally understand about your son not being able to concentrate. I am an adult with ic and I lose focus and concentration from bladder pain and urgency, I can't imagine what it is like for a child! Makes perfect sense to me. I am so glad you found out what it was instead of the ADHD label and pill like you talked about.
As far as family members with ic, well I thought I was the only one. Just found out that one of my family members (wishes to remain anonymous) has been struggling with it for years. A cousin of mine with thyroid issues and frequent bladder infections was recently tested also but it came back negative, at least for now is what I think! I also have an aunt with a lot of bowel problems and recurring bladder infections. Sounds like they are headed down the road I recently traveled, I hate to say.
I am terrified of passing such a thing onto any children I may have.
icnot4me
IC in the family
I was wondering what kind of treatment Matia uses with children. I have a 7 year old daughter who has had yeast, bladder, bowel and vaginitis issues most of her life. I recently started IC symptoms for the first time in my life and have been hooked into this site since I found it. That was about 7 weeks ago. I am very worried about my daughter. I know that the diet would be almost impossible for her to live by.
kid's diet
My children both stated treatment with Matia just a few weeks ago. My son who is 8 definitely has some yeast issues. When he told me in May that he just wanted his brain fog to go away it hit me that I needed to bring him in to see Matia. I too was fairly concerned that it was going to be very difficult to have my kids stick to the diet and that it was going to cause a major change in our routines. We were all pleasantly surprised at how few changes we needed to make and things are going very well. I think peanut butter was the hardest thing for them to let go. Matia was very reassuring in that she understands it's impossible to control every single thing that kids eat. My kids know the guidelines and they know it's OK to have a special treat every now and then. They have taken to heart what Matia has taught me all along to "make the healthiest choice". I feel it is a real gift for them to learn at a young age how to make healthy choices and how their food choices affect how they feel. Once kids make that connection the rest becomes a lot easier. I would highly recommend Matia to both you and your daughter.
kid's diet
Thanks for the encouragement. I started working on getting both my daughter and myself an appointment to see Matia. I made the phone call to find out what I need to do. Now looking into flights. I'm really looking forward to meeting Matia. She just seems like such a great person. I still have some questions about what kind of herbs she gives the kids. Teas? Pills?
I'm so glad you are going!
I'm so glad you are going to be seeing Matia, she is wonderful. Right now, my kids are on probiotics only, I open up the capsules and mix the powder into their milk or water. Super easy. We haven't gotten into any herbs yet. Good luck!
You can do this!
My son came down with IC on his birthday, but had some symptoms before that. For us, he was running to the bathroom 7 times in 3 hours while at school and he was getting worse every day, so we HAD to do the diet. He definitely had symptoms the year before that affected him emotionally/physically, but we just thought that was funky kids stuff. I think the easiest thing to do is to tell yourself that this is not an option and just dive in. My kids were WAY WAY addicted to carby, sugary things. They would have juice a couple of times a day, crackers, cookies, etc. Veggies were only eaten at dinner. Usually if I fed my kids eggs, they would gag. Now, only 5-6 months on the diet, my kids only eat eggs, smoothies made with fruit and almond milk for breakfast. My son now asks for artichokes as a special snack at the store and an adult complemented him on his healthy choice! He is getting a lot of positive feedback from his community. If your daughter is in sports, you can tell her it will help her performance. It is difficult at first, but gets easy. Do yourself a favor and raid your cabinets and throw out everything you all cannot eat. I talked a lot with his teachers and had a bag of snacks in the room so that when there were parties, he could have his own snacks which included: almond milk ( in small containers like the horizon organic milk), potato chips, and fabes cookies. If people ask him why he can't have the other food, I tell him to say he has many allergies, which is not far from the truth since his immune system is all crazy from IC. My 3 year old daughter is on Matia's protocol as well. She is a total junkie, but getting better. That girl holds her poop for 3-4 days straight and Matia has given her some pretty strong stuff. Now though, she is starting to go to the bathroom more regularly. My son has improved tremendously in only 5 months or so. Today, he ate 2 bowls of salad at lunch. I wish you could have known him 6 months prior. He is only 6 years old! The only thing I can say is I am so glad that I did not get full blown IC as a child. It would have devastated me. I am not even sure that I would have graduated high school let alone attended college b/c of the pain/distraction. Since my son has treated, his whole person has changed... I am so excited because he will be so much better than I ever was and so will my daughter. I say that b/c I am sure that I had many symptoms of IC including absent mindedness/spaciness/ADHD. I actually graduated with a decent GPA and went on to a wonderful university from which I graduated, but I can't help think that had I been on a good diet how much more I could have accomplished. Hang in there and keep us up to date! If you do start her, probably be better to start in the summer so that you are not starting right when school starts. That might be too much for her!