Summer 2010, my son was finished with ALA chelation, anti-virals, and most other supplements. He could eat anything he wanted, and never had a yeast issue. He still was significantly delayed in language and seemed to have "something" that was holding him back.

He had a few teeth that had not become loose, and I knew that was primarily caused by hypothyroid issues. He had sufficient selenium, so I started giving him iodine and tyrosine, the other supplements that supported the thyroid. His teeth started to be loose and so far one has fallen out. So this was good.

I also had never used DMSA, so I bought 25mg capsules and started him with 1/2 capsule. This kicked up yeast again, which was not fun because he hadn't had a yeast issue in a while, but I thought it may be a good sign that it was doing something positive. I did notice that language was not as difficult as it had been in the past, and he did seem more interactive with others, seeking out others and wanting to be with them, rather than being content either alone or with others. So I have been doing rounds of DMSA [with GSE for the yeast, plus a probiotic that I found that finally agrees with him, plus the iodine and tyrosine, plus some potassium because he tends to crave bananas]. This has been going on for the past six months or so. I have been doing this for all four of my kids.

Every once in a while, I have tried giving 1/4 to 1/2 capsule Thorne Adrenal Cortex Extract [ACE]. It never really did anything positive or negative for three of my kids, and for #2 it always seemed to cause a regression. So I tried it on and off every few months, to see if it would do anything for any of my kids.

One weekend in March, on Saturday, I gave the above supplements, including a new round of DMSA, and I again tried 1/2 capsule of ACE in the morning. For dinner, we went to Taco Bell and #2 ate a burrito that he had never eaten before. That night, #2's lower face was swollen, red, and dry, like a sunburn, and one of his earlobes was really fat. I thought he must have been allergic to something in the burrito. I checked on him that night, to be sure the allergy wasn't progressing and worsening.

The next morning, Sunday, his face was swollen like before, only a little redder, and it had started becoming REALLY DRY. I thought that was a really nasty reaction to the burrito, so I gave him the supplements as the day before. "Coincidentally", #1 and #4 started getting sick [sneezing, major coughing] and #3's face broke out with three new whitehead pimples.

Sunday we had #2's 15th birthday party. Here is a photo that shows his facial swelling on the right side of his face and his ear, his chin is looking dry and brown and "dirty", and his lips are starting to get red and split. [And you can see his Aunty in the background, who gave him that chocolate bar for his birthday, because he LOVES chocolate!]

On Sunday evening, #2's face looked similar to the man in the link below, altho it was dry and red and peeling [not wet looking], and thankfully it stopped mid-face, and did not go as high as the eyes. But the lips had started to get black. I put vaseline all over his face, to relieve the dryness.

http://dermgunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/stevens-johnson-syndrome-51.jpg

At this point I figured out that it was an allergic reaction, not to the burrito, but probably to the ACE. I dropped all supplements [from all 4 kids] and checked on #2 several times that night.

On Monday morning, his lips were black, his skin was HORRIBLY dry and flaky [like cracked and dried mud], the skin was peeling off, but it stopped mid-face and did not go as high as the eyes. He started complaining that his lips hurt. I put vaseline all over his lower face and ears. He looked somewhat similar to this photo, altho his skin was VERY DRY, not wet, and only the lower face and ears were involved.

http://www.teambrendon.com/pics/14.jpg

On Tuesday morning, he was mostly the same as he was the night before. The skin blisters and peeling skin was the same, it had not worsened, the ear was not swollen as much. He was still complaining that his lips hurt. I was putting vaseline on him twice each day. "Coincidentally", #1 was still sneezing and coughing up mucus, #4 had a hard cough, and #3 still had a crop of whitehead pimples.

On Tuesday evening, I took #4 to her club meeting at church, and I brought #2 and spoke with the father of one of the boys in her club, who was an EMT. He told me that my son looked like he had moderate Steven Johnson Syndrome [SJS], but since it had been over 48 hours, and his breathing was fine, and his eyes were not involved, and he was not worse that day than he was the previous day, he said that I should monitor him for the next several days, but so long as he kept improving, he should be fine.

Wednesday and Thursday were improved, the blisters were almost gone by Friday, the lips were not as black, and he was developing whitehead acne all over his lower face. He had started coughing and sneezing a little.

I researched SJS and discovered that sometimes the more severe symptoms were preceeded by flu-like symptoms [fever, coughing, etc]. For #2, he started with the more severe symptoms, and then as he improved, developed the more mild symptoms.

#1 and #4 were improving, altho they were both still coughing, and #3's acne was improving. I can only guess that they had all started with the more mild symptoms, and may have progressed to the more severe symptoms if I had not removed the ACE when I did.

After about 10 days, most of #2's symptoms were gone. He had only three fissures in his lips, but not as deep as before, and he was no longer complaining that they hurt [I had continued with the vaseline]. The skin was no longer swollen or blistered, but still red and dry and flaky on his lower face. He only had 2 whiteheads left. He was sneezing a little, coughing a little.

At that point, I started adding back all of the supplements, one per day at low dose. No problems. I started another round of DMSA, at lower dose than I had given before, without problems. I bought him another burrito, no problems.

Here is a picture taken the following Thursday, 13 days after the first dose of the ACE, when he went to the Aquarium of the Pacific [he loves sharks!]. It is somewhat blurry, but if you look closely, it shows the three fissures still remaining on his lower lip. The skin on his face is still dry, but I am starting to use lotion instead of vaseline.

You couldn't pay me to try the ACE again, "just to verify if that was the problem". Not a chance. For some kids who have SJS, they are in the hospital for an entire month, and end up with scars. A percentage of people actually die. My son was very lucky, only the skin of the lower face and ears was involved, and after 2 weeks there were only a few remnants of the problem.

So from this experience, two important lessons that I have been recommending to other for years were reinforced for me by extreme personal experience: (1) intolerance symptoms can change manifestations as biomedical healing progresses, not always for the better, and (2) it is very very very very very important to always start one thing at a time at low dose and slowly work up, even if you have tried something in the past.