If you haven’t noticed, there is no real care for this condition in the traditional medical field. You might have really been expecting some REAL HELP when you got that diagnosis and FINALLY figured out what was wrong with your child. Then suddenly at that next appointment or even that appointment you realized, THE DIAGNOSIS CHANGED NOTHING. They told you what was going on and then sent you on your way back home to deal with it all the same way you did before.
To be very blunt and bold on this – there IS NO current PFAPA care in conventional medicine. Sure you can get a prescription for prednisone, but all that does is treat the end result of the the actual cause of the condition (treats just one symptom and can have some side effects over time itself). Sure you can go get a tonsillectomy and hope it works (when you don’t need surgery for any other reason) but again – it is just a treatment for a symptom, not the root cause. Tonsils are an accessory piece to immunity, the majority of the immune system (between 80-85%) is INSIDE THE DIGESTIVE TRACT. That portion working properly controls the issues going on in those tonsils. Better tonsil health comes from better digestion and therefore stronger immunity.
Want to learn more about digestion and PFAPA? Check this post out.
If you are TIRED of trying to figure out how to make this stop yourself – I KNOW THAT FEELING! I did that for many years before completing my degrees and finding the solution to controlling this condition. There is no cure as this is a chronic condition (and will return without doing what I teach my clients), however, you can make the episodes stop as long as you go at the root cause and learn how to properly live to control that root cause!
1- Fix the digestive imbalance
This is THE THING that I do with clients. We look at what is out of balance in the digestive tract. We fix that with POWERFUL nutrition (food) and with supplements to support that nutrition and food. Each person’s imbalance is different. Any type of imbalance in the digestive tract will result in an improperly functioning immune system, and for your child that is PFAPA or PFS (and maybe other conditions they have as well). There are plenty of other child hood and adult chronic conditions tied to this same type of thing, such as asthma, diabetes, IBS, Crohn’s, lupus, MS, autoimmunity and more.
We do this with whole food support that is targeted at the specific imbalance, we do this with supplementing (which should only be done by a professional), and lifestyle changes.
2- Remove irritants to the body
We start with food. Even if you think your child has NO issues with food, if they cycle through fevers monthly they DO! The open area of their body to the outside and where all nutrition comes from is their food. If there is digestive imbalance (which if the immune system isn’t working properly – there is) there are irritants. These are usually processed foods, as most families rely on these today. However, it is also possible there are WHOLE FOOD irritants. This is HIGHLY individual and takes a skilled practitioner to help you sort through.
The first place to start is by removing all packaged and processed foods from your child’s diet. Just whole foods only. Then from there you can look at other things that might be irritants whether it be whole foods or environmental. Which there are plenty of environmental irritants in our daily lives as well. However, FOOD is the NUMBER ONE THING that is causing a break down and dysfunction in your child’s system.
3- Focus our nutrient support to balance the whole body
This is where it gets very individual and very practitioner based. When we remove a lot of foods from the child’s diet, we need powerhouse nutrient foods to replace those irritating foods. We need, not just power packed nutrient foods, but a very targeted food and supplement system that focuses on the highest needs first, and then general support following a rebalance of the system.
The greatest part of this is I am JUST YOUR GUIDE. You can do this at home yourself. You work with me to identify all these needs, and to determine the best foods and supplements to balance those needs, and then you go to work at home. I help you fine tune this process with follow up visits.
Again – YOU NOW HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE again! You aren’t all alone hoping it stops with no interventions to help you. This process is intense, it is NOT introductory. But think of it like this – is your child’s condition slight? Is it NOT intense each month? Does it seem like an easy introductory fix? If you say oh h*ll no this is intense monthly and this is hard, and there is so much suffering, and no matter what I do I haven’t been able to make this stop – then YOU CAN do this. If you aren’t sure about changing your food, or adding supplements, or getting support – then this would NOT be for you. And unfortunately there is no other way other than continuing to treat the symptoms during episodes and hoping for the best.
If you would like the introductory starter piece please grab my book – it helps you get started at home now and gets you a base understanding of what is going on with this condition and some things we may work on together in nutritional therapy.
I have helped many families fix the root cause of their child’s imbalances. Over and over. Within a few months – life begins to feel normal again. Their children aren’t cycling anymore, and they are GROWING again! That is right. Primarily most of the children I see are failing to thrive in addition to PFAPA. When we get powerhouse nutrients in these kids – they THRIVE!
Not sure what to do? Let’s do a free 15 minute consult and see what might work for you and your family!
