My son, Luke, struggled with eating from the time he was born. Nursing was difficult from the start, so much so that we gave up on nursing altogether and switched him to formula. That’s when the formula roller coaster began. We tried a variety of formulas, mostly with no luck. It would take Luke an hour to eat a four ounce bottle, then he would almost immediately vomit the small amount he did eat. This continued for months, until we finally sought outside help.
We started our journey with a gastroenterologist, who conducted a swallow study with Luke that revealed no issues, yet the feeding difficulties continued.
When Luke was around 18 months old, his skin began looking scaly and flaking off. That’s about the time we found Christie Potter at Natural Choice Pediatrics. She took one look at his skin, listened to our struggles with feeding and conducted allergy testing for Luke. Sure enough, that was the root of part of his problem.
His allergy testing came back, and we discovered he was allergic to dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, among a slew of environmental allergies including cats and dogs. In addition to the allergies, Luke’s total IGE level came back around 1,000. That level was virtually unheard of, as children with lots of allergies generally fall around 100 IGE level.
Christie sent us to an allergist for further help, where Luke underwent a series of food challenges to help alleviate some of his food allergies. The allergist further tested Luke, and his IGE continued to climb over the next several years, topping the charts at 17,000 at one point. This allergist called specialists around the country to seek help for our son, but we quickly found out this is incredibly rare. Most specialists were unsure how to treat Luke, our allergist included. He continued to work on his food allergies and gave us an epi pen to carry around at all times just in case. Thankfully, we never had to use it!
After years of working with the allergist and Luke’s allergies worsening, Christie finally uncovered the main root of the problem. Due to Luke’s high amount of food allergies, the inflammation in his gut was astronomical. That inflammation was causing the hyper IGE level.
Once Christie discovered the root of the problem, she knew immediately how to help him. She placed Luke on a compounded turmeric daily for six months. At the six-month mark, she had his allergy labs drawn again. At that point, his IGE level had decreased from 17,000 to 13,000. After increasing rapidly for years, this was miraculous! Then six months later, he was tested again with another decrease down to 10,000. He continued to decrease over the years he was on the compounded turmeric formula.
After we tackled the IGE level, Christie started Luke on sublingual allergy therapy to aid in reducing his environmental allergies. We saw a drastic change in his congestion, sneezing and headaches over the two years he was on those drops.
We were never able to get his IGE level below 3,000 and he still struggles with some allergy issues. But at 15 years old, they are dramatically less than where we started the journey at birth. He is able to eat eggs, peanuts, dairy and soy with little to no effect on his body. His skin is clear and smooth. He plays multiple outdoor sports and spends time outdoors daily with little to no allergy intervention necessary for his environmental allergies. He is able to live a full, healthy life thanks to Christie Potter.
We are so thankful for her and Natural Choice Pediatrics!
Sincerely,
A grateful parent
Natural Choice Pediatrics humbly thanks this family for letting us share their story and we pray that others will find a path to successful health and healing. Thank you!
Natural Choice Pediatrics is located at 3535 Victory Group Way, Ste. 305, in Frisco. For more information, call 972-324-3480 or visit https://www.naturalchoicepediatrics.com/.
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