Allergies: How we do it… – Dr Jim Bob Haggerton

No one wants to be (or have) the kid who is sneezing all the time and has watery, itchy eyes. It’s terrible for them and a mess for you!

Well, Harper, our oldest (currently 12 yo as of the writing of this) suffers from seasonal allergies every single year. The second the trees around here start blooming we know because homeboy starts clawing his face off and starts sneezing.

But we’ve never done meds for him….ever….

The reason is that we have found some really amazing natural alternatives to give him in the form of therapies, supplements, diet changes, and essential oils that make a huge difference without the scary side effects.

Medically the only solution they have for allergies is to be on allergy shots or meds forever really. If they get really bad they also will suggest for you to take or give your child an immune blocker to just basically tell their immune system to “Shut up” so that even though it’s still reacting to everything…they just don’t feel it as much. Stellar.

I watched my mom go in for allergy shots over and over again and still deal with hayfever and be miserable so we didn’t want to put our own son in that situation so with our knowledge and tools that we have we went to work helping him.

Step 1: DIET CHANGE (Make this a title break)

The first thing that we do when Harper starts sneezing is really dial in his diet and nutrition. Our family is mostly gluten free (little boys are 100%, Ellie and Harper about 90%, same with Cindy and I) and we don’t eat a lot of junk and don’t eat fast food often, BUT we still get too much sugar at times and get out of balance on our eating.

Too much sugar makes inflammation worse and decreases the immune system so it’s the first to go for Harper during this season.

Other foods or ingredients that we get super strict on: Gluten, Dairy, Wheat period, dies, processed foods, fast food

So for him during this season he goes on pretty much strict Paleo and stays on that within reason while his symptoms are going back and forth. NOW, just like anything with kids you have to be flexible so there are some times we give on this. We don’t have an issue with him doing this because it helps him so much….he will almost start altering his diet himself. He’s 12, so he’s getting older and truly gets how diet affects your health, but you can make it fun for your younger kids too so they will join in.

Things we are huge on adding in during this season: Dark green veggies, WATER, healthy fats and more protein.

Fats are HUGE for healthy cholesterol levels. With him being in school and using his brain so much and working out at CrossFit 3-4 days a week, he can get low pretty quick so we load his diet with good healthy fats.

Step 2: SUPPLEMENTS WE LOVE FOR HIM

We have some great relationships with different supplement companies that we have used for almost 2 decades in practice. We have found some supplements that are our go-to’s for supporting ourselves and our kids like Harper when the allergies attack.

He is swallowing pills now so that makes this super easy honestly (first allergy season for that so HUGE WIN!) but even when he was younger we just crushed up some of the supplements.

From Young Living we use:

Ningxia Red: This is huge for immune support for him and also helps to balance blood sugar and support his gut. If your blood sugar gets off your immune system will go down so that’s important.

Mighty Pro: Gut support is CRUCIAL and this little powder probiotic is MONEY. Harper loves it.

Sulfurzyme: Harper asks for this one specifically daily. Has MSM and Ningxia Wolfberry to help with supporting inflammation.

Super D: Kids need Vitamin D too and it’s a big immune supporter so with Harper we give him 1 of these.

Super C: Our kids love this one because it flat out works AND it tastes good so we give them all this one.

From Standard Process we give him:

Allerplex: Helps with the histamine response. Harper says he breathes better with this one.

Congaplex: Helps to break up the mucus

Antronex: This is the second step in the protocol along with Allerplex to fully support his system.

Thymex: major immune booster

There are a couple more from a couple other companies but this is the bulk of them. He gets 1-2 of them (each) morning and night. Now, you can regulate amounts depending on severity and what your kid (or you) can do. Harper just does great with this routine right now.

Remember to really look at the dosing and go less than you think. Usually the dosing for kids around Harper’s age (12) is pretty much an adult dose, but we always start with less and work up. With younger kids (5-10) you want to do 1/2 the adult dose and with kids younger than that you want to do 1/4 an adult dose or less. You never want to give them too much and upset their stomach. The great thing about using good quality supplements from companies you can trust is that you aren’t going to hurt them with them at all but if you do too much of anything it can upset their stomach. (Disclaimer: you need to have a primary natural doc working with you on these things. I’m glad to do a consult to help you but these are all just examples and not me telling you how to treat YOUR kid)

Step 3: Therapies that are a must for Harper

So to go the next level with Harper we incorporate a couple different therapies that have really really helped him.

BioMat

One of our family’s favorites is our BioMats. We have one running at all times on our couch or bed so someone is on it pretty much all day! It is an infrared mat with amethyst crystals in it.

It (among a list of other things) helps with inflammation, immune boosting, digestion, circulation, and pain. With the crystals in the mat it releases negative ions which help to reduce the stress response as well.

These can be purchased to use at home. IF you would like more info on one and would like to order email us here

Cold Laser Therapy

This is an incredible therapy we have used on patients for almost 20 years. It is safe and it’s #1 job is to boost the function of the cells in the body that you program it for so it helps with FUNCTION.

This is one we use on Harper as his sinuses start to bother him and he gets congested. We also use it on his lungs to boost function as well.

This is a therapy that is most often used with a practitioner so ask yours if they have one and find one near you! We have the Avant Shedlight laser and love it and also recommend Chattanooga and Erchonia!

Acupuncture

This is a new addition to our toolbox for Harper and he seriously loves it. It has helped him tremendously. His congestion gets better, his breathing improves and he doesn’t react to nearly as many things after a treatment.

Sinu-Rinse

This is one I was honestly surprised that Harper would use at all because it’s not comfortable and definitely a bit of a hassle but it is super effective.

You can get this at Wal-Mart in the pharmacy section and it comes with saline packets to put in the bottle. You put that in, fill up to the fill line with water and then lean over the sink as you press on the bottle to force water up through one side of your nose and sinus and out the other side.

We add a tablespoon of Colloidal Silver from Silver Biotics to it for Harper and he loves it. He asks for it and goes and does it all himself! I mean…he flushes his sinuses better than he cleans his room! LOL

Consistency is the Key

With all of this, the key is to be consistent and to stay ahead of the symptoms. When Harper is at his worst we just really focus on letting him rest and feeling better but if we can stay ahead of him having flare-ups then he does so so much better.

Hope these tips were helpful!