Date:   5/13/2002 1:58:54 PM ( 22 y ago)
Hits:   1,576
URL:   https://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=26014

From:

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sshapiro/Pemphigus/TableOfContents.html

Update November, 2001: It has now been over three years since I last took Prednisone or any other medical treatment for pemphigus. I have been choosing my foods according to my blood type for about 4 and 1/2 years.

When I was first diagnosed in 1995, I set a goal to be Pemphigus free by 2003 (seven years). It looks like I'm going to reach that goal well ahead of schedule. What I have found that works for me should produce repeatable results, meaning that others who try it should experience the same results. It doesn't cost anything, there are no products, potions or lotions to purchase. It's all completely free. The choice is yours.

Please join me on the web site of Peter D'Adamo, the author of Eat Right 4 Your Type. From there, you can link to my Eat Right 4 Your Type webpage, or just hop over and take a look. I stand ready to support anybody who wishes to join me in remission.


By Steve Shapiro:

from:
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sshapiro/Pemphigus/AboutSteve.html


==================
I was born in 1958, a male of East-European Jewish descent. I grew up in Brooklyn NY, and received a BS in Engineering from Cornell University. I have been employed as a computer professional for over 15 years.I became a vegetarian in 1990, and became interested in alternative medicine shortly thereafter. I published three Vegetarian/Holistic Health/Environmental guidebooks to the Houston area between 1993 and 1996. I have served as a Co-Director and a member of the Board of Directors of the Vegetarian Society of Houston

I married my wife, Sharon, in 1995. We don't have any children. I have lived in Ithaca NY, Houston TX, and now reside with our four dogs in Eugene, Oregon.

Pemphigus History: Symptoms first appeared in January, 1995 as blisters forming on the roof of my mouth while eating. There did not appear to be any pattern to the formation, or reason for its occurrence. The blisters started appearing approximately 3 weeks after a significant emotional trauma in my life. In July of 1995, white, thrush looking pieces of skin began forming while eating, and would peel away. At the end of July, I came down with a fever of 103° and my mouth filled with thrush like white nodules. I incorrectly assumed that what ever had been going on in my body was burning itself out. The fever broke, but my mouth was in continual pain. By September, my mouth was in too much pain to eat, and I had tried many modalities of healing, including acupuncture, colonics, homeopathy juice fast and traditional medicine. I was incorrectly diagnosed as having many ailments. No treatment produced any benefit. I also had chronic fatigue symptoms, which had started on and off almost 6 years ago.

Raw red blisters began to form on my body, most noticeably on my lips. They cultured positive for candida, so I began a massive anti-candida program including drugs (nystatin), herbs and diet. I continued to get worse. By mid November, the blisters were all over my back, legs, feet, arms, fingers, and trunk. Eating was so painful that the only nutrient I could eat was a puree of vegetables and rice. I lost over 40 pounds.

In late November, 1995 I decided to go to a hospital, where PV was diagnosed and corticosteroid drugs were started (Prednisonal IV) at 180mg per day. I responded to the treatment, and was released from the hospital nine days later at a dose of 100 mg daily of oral Prednisone.

I followed a regime of decreasing Prednisone by 10mg every 3 weeks. I started acupuncture treatments again, this time with the goal of keeping the Prednisone side effects to a minimum. I also began to look for information about PV, noting that there is very little research available.

As the drug dosage dropped, oral lesions began to appear again in my mouth while eating. As the lesions were not debilitating, I decided not to increase drug dosages.

One evening, while my wife and I were eating dinner, Mexican style food, the lesions appeared as normal. Then, when I started to eat hot salsa, they started receding. Normally, the lesions would withdraw within two to three hours after eating. This was my first clue that specific compounds within foods influenced Pemphigus.

When my Prednisone dosage dropped to 30mg every other day, the symptoms in my mouth started to get worse. By the time I reached 20mg every other day ( I was dropping 3mg per week), the pain was almost unbearable. Rather than increasing the Prednisone, I choose to experiment with the herb Curcumin, thought by some Naturopathic Doctors to be a Prednisone alternative. Within 3 days, the pain in my mouth had subsided to the point were I could eat again, and I was able to continue to wean off the Prednisone.

I began to notice some general food reactions during this time. For example, I noticed that eating fried foods made me feel brain-foggy. The reaction would start about one hour after ingestion and would last for up to 36 hours.

In July I visited the Northwest Healing Arts Center in Seattle, Washington, office of the author of the book, "Natural Alternatives to Over-the-Counter and Prescription Drugs." It was in this book that I learned of Curcumin. I took a food allergy test, an amino acid test, and a DHEA test. While waiting for the results of these tests, I weaned off Prednisone completely. During this time, I continued to have outbreaks on the roof of my mouth at 9 out of 10 meals. I decided that a few outbreaks were better than Prednisone. I also developed a psoriasis-like condition on part of my scalp.

As the state of natural health care is significantly advanced in the Pacific Northwest, and for other reasons, my wife and I had decided to move there. We originally settled in Portland, where I became associated with an ND/Acupuncturist who is very familiar with auto-immune conditions. At this time, I also got the results of the above mentioned drug tests:

My DHEA level was dangerously low, as it is in most people with auto-immune and serious chronic illness.

My amino acid profile was way out of balance, with very high levels of tryptophan and very low levels of taurine, histidine and methionine. This may explain some of the chronic fatigue symptoms, as tryptophan is well known for its sleep inducing properties.

The biggest surprise of all was that I showed a very high IgG immune reaction to foods that I was eating all of the time, including rice, soy, lettuce, potatoes and carrots. This might be ascribed as a form of super allergy. We are all used to thinking about allergies in terms of pollen, runny noses, and skin scratch tests, so this took a while to understand. Basically, when I eat a substance to which I am sensitive, my immune system goes crazy. Some people get a runny nose, others get itchy skin. In my case, my skin dissolves. Indeed, the very first meal that I tried which had none of my tested reactive foods, I experienced zero blisters in my mouth!

The next step was to establish the common components of the foods I was reacting too. That lead to phenolics, or molecules of food that provide taste, aroma, color and immuno-protection to plants. Through various methods, it was determined that I am reacting to at least 6 if not more chemical compounds in foods, including malvin, which is the purple color in foods such as eggplant.

Having established what I am reacting to, the next step is to figure out how to neutralize the reactions and heal my body. Toward that end, I became interested in the theories of Dr. Peter D'Adamo. He proposes that foods react with our bodies differently, based on our blood type. I started to choose my foods based on Dr. D'Adamo's recommendations in June, 1997. From that point, my health started to improve within two months, and has continued to do so. I was able to withdraw completely from Prednisone in October, 1998, and now have very few signs and symptoms of illness.

During this time, I have noticed that if I eat foods that are listed to be avoided by someone of my blood type, the pemphigus symptoms will briefly reappear. Based on these experiences, I have found that I can continue to enjoy vibrant health by choosing my foods accordingly. People with autoimmune illnesses as serious as or worse than pemphigus are enjoying the benefits of this food choice plan. I invite you to join me as well.

Symptoms I have experienced
Blisters forming on the roof of my mouth while eating
Gums and cheeks peeling a white thrushlike substance while eating
Extreme oral pain
Inability to open mouth wider than 1 cm.
Inability to chew food
Swollen tongue
Scars on lips
Difficulty breathing
Difficulty talking, laryngitis
Open, weeping blisters over 30% of skin surface
Swollen fingers, resulting in loss of nail bed
Painful bowel movements
Extreme fatigue
Redeye
Treatment Modalities I have used:
Prednisone
Curcumin/Bromolain combination
Aloe Vera
Homeopathy
Acupuncture
Chinese Herbs
Phenolic Desensitization
Auto Urine Therapy
Vitamin C Mega dosing
Vitamin and Mineral supplementation
Vitamin and Mineral IV Infusion
Spiritual healing & energy work
Yoga
Blue Green Algae*
Colloidal Minerals
Digestive Enzymes
FOS/acidophilus
Auto Urine Ingestion* *

* Warning: Blue Green Algae may be toxic and is not recommended. It is included here for informational purposes only.

* * Warning: Not to be attempted while taking prescription medication and without the direct supervision of a knowledgeable practitioner.

Treatment Modalities I currently use:

Blood Type Diet Plan * * *
I also exercise regularly, do yoga, and maintain a playful attitude toward life and all of it's problems and challenges.

* * * Of all the modalities I have tried, choosing foods this way has given me the most benefit. My health has remarkably improved in the one year I have choosen my foods this way.


 

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