Every detox journey is individual but I hope our experience offers a ball park idea of what to expect. Detox was more difficult and costly, and further prolonged than I ever expected. Yet it was far more healing and curative than I ever comprehended. So, if you’re ready to dig in, this honest, raw rundown may help pave the road.
Do you need Detox? We had substantial symptoms we were dealing with. If you have even one of these and you are looking to heal, possibly cure, then detox may be your answer. The sooner the better. Walking was difficult and getting out of bed wasn’t always possible. Going outside to play for ten minutes would cause exhaustion that lasted for days. We could not poop, had severe food allergies, hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue, leaky gut, and severe eczema. The kidneys and liver were not working and the blood was full of bacteria. We had headbanging from auto-immune encephalitis, PANS, severe ASD symptoms, non-verbal, and incontinence. Four years with an MD/PhD MAPS doctor left us sicker than when we started and yielded a pitiful 20 points off our ATEC score. We also dealt with PANDAS symptoms like rage, aggression, debilitating OCD usurping hours of the day, and auditory hallucinations. Flares would come out of nowhere, multiple times a week, and we ‘tip-toed on egg-shells” attempting to fend off triggers. We had metal toxicity, retro-viral infections and Lyme plus many co-infections. After our ordeal, I believe most disease is rooted in toxins and retro-viruses and detox is the way to heal.
Detox is Hard. This is a relative statement and compared to all that we were dealing with, detox was better than helplessly standing by. If you are not severe or chronic, detox will still be difficult because of die off or herxing. You will have die off whether you use artificial drugs (antibiotics) or herbs, but artificial drugs will further the damage you already have because the body doesn’t recognize synthesized ingredients as healing and your control is limited. You can’t start an antibiotic, pull back if needed, and titrate back up because you would build up a resistance. That is not a problem for herbs making them more flexible to work with. And from the experiences I read, it seems many doctors prescribing antibiotics for say, strep infections, have little knowledge about detox, required nutrition, organ support, or binders necessary to bring on a level of comfort through detox in the first place. In my opinion, this is the key reason that those treating PANDAS with synthetic antibiotics are suffering so bad: you are killing pathogens but not mopping up the toxins they leave behind causing a horrible increase in symptoms. This reflects poorly on the doctors who simply don’t know better.
Detox Requires the Right Doctor. The standard, conventional doctor is going to be outside of his pharma box on this one. Let’s face it, they are trained to sell drugs which toxify us. Why would we go there to detox? It doesn’t even make sense. Find a functional doctor, a holistic doctor – we see a chiro/kinesiologist who is very skilled at detox and Lyme literate as well. You’re not really looking for someone who wants to just kill parasites, although that is part of it, you want someone who understands healing, supporting, and regenerating the organs, the immune system, and cleaning up the entire bodily environment as parts of detoxing. It all needs to go together in a careful balance.
Detox is a Commitment. Depending on the severity of infections and toxins, this process could take several months to years. While that may seem discouraging try to understand that parasites, biotoxins, retro-viruses, and other pathogens have taken up residence, built their own ecosystem inside you, and intertwined their existence with yours. If you have debilitating symptoms, then they are most likely systemic meaning they could be everywhere in your body. The structure they live and function in is called ‘biofilm’ which will all need to be torn down and removed. Parasites employ other parasites, they network with other pathogens, they feed off the metals in your body, they manipulate the yeast overgrowth that you can’t get rid of and retro-virus infections can switch genes off and on, undermining the entire detox process. Undoing this microcosm is not going to happen over the proverbial moon phase. As much as we want to, we can’t go after these things with a blow torch. First of all, the body is accustomed to working, however improperly, amidst the infections. Obviously you can’t go on like this, but it will take time to turn this dysfunctional ship around. Second, chronic and systemic infections mean the immune system is already compromised beyond the ability to handle die off and the blow back from the parasites would be unbearable. You’re working for balance here, not total annihilation. Think of nature. Good weeds live side by side with bad weeds all the time in our yards. There is balance. Just the same, while an herbal detox does kill pathogens, the real goal is to heal the environment so that the immune system can keep the pathogens in check on it’s own. That’s what occurs in healthy people. Third, since infections are extreme, the organs must be healed, strengthened, and supported. Without them working, you can’t detox. You can try, but you’ll have a hot mess. When you’re this far down, there will be times where focus is on strengthening the organs and you’re barely detoxing, but that is the careful dance that the right doctor can orchestrate.
Detox is an Investment. For a severe state, detox will run about $4000 per patient the first year. This is approximate, but this is the average across patients at our house. The second year should be considerably less, and so forth since functional doctors actually heal their patients and send them off to live life instead of making them patients for life. Further reducing cost over time is that less supplements are needed as healing occurs. Sounds expensive, and it is, at first, but considering we now have PANS, PANDAS, ASD, Lyme and co’s, and tons of auto-immune problems either healed or almost healed, it’s worth every penny. You get what you pay for. I believe the cost of healing those with ASD, PANS, PANDAS, Lyme, etc is a tremendous savings over the cost of life-long care. For example, one of my family members was incontinent well past the years he should be. Healing has allowed him to be potty-trained saving me about $200/month in diapers. That’s $2400/year and will probably pay for his second year of detox. See how my investment paid off?
Detox Requires Diet Changes. You cannot detox without changing your diet otherwise you’re flushing money straight down the toilet. Detox is hard and expensive work getting the yuck out, why put more in through our mouths? Diet is really not rocket science, thankfully. Eat organic meats, lower glycemic vegetables, fruits sparingly, and filtered water. Ditch everything else. A convenient guide is the AIP alongside removal of food allergens. You’ll be shutting off the supply of sugar, yeast, gluten, dairy, soy, and the glyphosate feeding those hungry parasites. You’ll stop the inflammation that is making you miserable and these foods will help you detox faster plus you’ll shed pounds (if needed), effortlessly.
Detox Requires Research. Talk to your doctor about resources, authors, and subjects related to what the two of you are trying to accomplish. You are a team. Our doctor has offered fresh ideas, mind-blowing perspective, and a strong confidence to fall back on when the going gets tough. He takes the time to educate and equip me with the tools I need to be successful. You will be the one putting in all the hard work at home and of course the hard earned cash so get in the know as much as you can. Ask questions. Doctors don’t know the answers to everything, but a good doctor is always seeking and will be happy to learn and teach. Resources I like are: our own doctor, Dr. Moore, Dr. Klinghardt, Dr. Judy Mikovits, Stephen H. Buhner, and Dr. Jay Davidson. There are so many others. I’ll add them as I think of them.
Don’t Detox Alone. The infections are worse than you know, herxing will be harder than you imagined, and detox will take longer than you planned. Please see a functional doctor educated in detox to guide you. I had long suspected a parasite issue and tried killing them via internet research, but herx happened, leaving me in a stupor. Was I doing the right thing? Should I continue? Should I stop? Is this reaction from allergies, a cold, or herx? The moon phase is over, are we done? See, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. But our doctor did and he’s walked with us all along the way. We’ve used dosages I would’ve never tried on my own, used top quality products I never knew existed, and his kinesiology has been able to tell me exactly what is happening in our bodies, even that of someone who is non-verbal. I understand my kids, their behaviors, and how to help them so much better now.
What are the Gains? No more thyroid meds, adding back in previous food allergens, regular bowel movements, control of PANS flares, potty training, huge increase in cognitive ability, huge increase in non-verbal communication, attempts at speaking, eczema dramatically improved, 75 point drop in ATEC score (after 1 year), regular sleep for everyone, no more PANDAS flares and triggers are all gone, auditory hallucinations are gone. I’ll add more as they happen. We are 18 months in and we are still detoxing. Currently we are working on retro-viruses and detoxing some co-infections of Lyme.
The Detox Depot 