Recurring Strep Throat and Other Symptoms

[Mrs.Driver]

Hello everyone, I am new here but I am so very happy that I come across this on your Google search so here’s a little bit of our backstory. My son is 14 years old and last year he got sick and of course I took him to the doctor doctor did a rapid strep test, and it came back that he was positive for strep and after this, he continued to get strep on a regular basis missing up to two weeks of school each time and this was just throughout the school year in which our doctor told us, the strep test were not very reliable that they often cause a false positive. She did a few small tests on him. I can’t remember exactly what, but they all come back good well about January of this year he started getting bodyaches he said that the body aches feel the flu body aches I’m sure most of you have experience those horrible bodyaches that come with the flu anyway so he has had these bodyaches since probably at least January and they come and they go but he almost has them all the time they might be mild and other days he’s in bed for a couple days with these bodyaches feeling like he has the flu, so I finally switch doctors and the doctor we are seeing now ran a whole slew of tests on him everything came back positive except for he was low in vitamin D, we found out he had a gluten and a dairy allergy and his white blood cell count was super low. He’s been on vitamin D four I think five weeks now, and he actually started feeling a little better as far as the bodyaches go for like a week but then suddenly over the weekend he started having these horrible bodyaches again that’s not the only thing that happens. I mean with the bodyaches he usually has like a headache and stomach aches really bad which obviously I know that’s probably from the gluten and dairy allergy now that we know, but if these bodyaches are really, really worrying me I don’t know, if that’s normal when you have low white blood count or low vitamin D, but I feel like after five weeks of being on vitamin D they should’ve at least either subsided altogether or I would think they would at least be mild, but this is affecting his mental state as far as he gets irritable he gets emotional it has been a roller coaster I just want to know what’s wrong with my son, but no one is taking this seriously I feel like well. I can’t say that because the doctor that we are seeing now has done more for us than any other doctor but she tells me his white blood cell count is low and that that means he’s fighting something viral so I asked the nurse is there a way we can test to see what it is and the nurse tells me yes but then the doctor doesn’t want to test for it. She just wants to take the vitamin D and see him back in three months I think and that just seems like a really long time for him to be suffering like this it is affecting his school he was straight a student and now he has D’s and F’s because he can’t even concentrate in school. He feels so bad and I feel like a horrible mother even sending him to school, but I can’t get a doctors excuse every single time he has these symptoms and I know how school works if he doesn’t go to school and misses so many days then we’re gonna end up in court so I have no choice but to send him to school and then with the school sent him home I’m just so confused about this and I’m honestly tired of seeing my normally smart witty, vibrant, funny, jokester Son who loves to hunt fish and be outdoors at all times become a emotional sad roller coaster, who is in so much pain and who wants to do nothing besides lay in bed. This has affected him all the way around the board and there’s nothing I can do for him I feel helpless, so I’m just wondering has anyone else experienced this or experienced low blood count with a gluten or dairy allergy if he goes on a gluten dairy free diet will his white was account improve or I’m just looking for any insight, and if you can give, and I thank you guys so much in advance!

[Tracy414]

48 minutes ago, Mrs.Driver said:

Hello everyone, I am new here but I am so very happy that I come across this on your Google search so here’s a little bit of our backstory. My son is 14 years old and last year he got sick and of course I took him to the doctor doctor did a rapid strep test, and it came back that he was positive for strep and after this, he continued to get strep on a regular basis missing up to two weeks of school each time and this was just throughout the school year in which our doctor told us, the strep test were not very reliable that they often cause a false positive. She did a few small tests on him. I can’t remember exactly what, but they all come back good well about January of this year he started getting bodyaches he said that the body aches feel the flu body aches I’m sure most of you have experience those horrible bodyaches that come with the flu anyway so he has had these bodyaches since probably at least January and they come and they go but he almost has them all the time they might be mild and other days he’s in bed for a couple days with these bodyaches feeling like he has the flu, so I finally switch doctors and the doctor we are seeing now ran a whole slew of tests on him everything came back positive except for he was low in vitamin D, we found out he had a gluten and a dairy allergy and his white blood cell count was super low. He’s been on vitamin D four I think five weeks now, and he actually started feeling a little better as far as the bodyaches go for like a week but then suddenly over the weekend he started having these horrible bodyaches again that’s not the only thing that happens. I mean with the bodyaches he usually has like a headache and stomach aches really bad which obviously I know that’s probably from the gluten and dairy allergy now that we know, but if these bodyaches are really, really worrying me I don’t know, if that’s normal when you have low white blood count or low vitamin D, but I feel like after five weeks of being on vitamin D they should’ve at least either subsided altogether or I would think they would at least be mild, but this is affecting his mental state as far as he gets irritable he gets emotional it has been a roller coaster I just want to know what’s wrong with my son, but no one is taking this seriously I feel like well. I can’t say that because the doctor that we are seeing now has done more for us than any other doctor but she tells me his white blood cell count is low and that that means he’s fighting something viral so I asked the nurse is there a way we can test to see what it is and the nurse tells me yes but then the doctor doesn’t want to test for it. She just wants to take the vitamin D and see him back in three months I think and that just seems like a really long time for him to be suffering like this it is affecting his school he was straight a student and now he has D’s and F’s because he can’t even concentrate in school. He feels so bad and I feel like a horrible mother even sending him to school, but I can’t get a doctors excuse every single time he has these symptoms and I know how school works if he doesn’t go to school and misses so many days then we’re gonna end up in court so I have no choice but to send him to school and then with the school sent him home I’m just so confused about this and I’m honestly tired of seeing my normally smart witty, vibrant, funny, jokester Son who loves to hunt fish and be outdoors at all times become a emotional sad roller coaster, who is in so much pain and who wants to do nothing besides lay in bed. This has affected him all the way around the board and there’s nothing I can do for him I feel helpless, so I’m just wondering has anyone else experienced this or experienced low blood count with a gluten or dairy allergy if he goes on a gluten dairy free diet will his white was account improve or I’m just looking for any insight, and if you can give, and I thank you guys so much in advance!

Are all of his other blood counts normal? He’s not anemic and platelets are normal? Would you be able to provide his results with the lab reference ranges? 

[knitty kitty]

It's rare to have a deficiency in just one vitamin or mineral.  A good B Complex, Vitamin C, and magnesium and extra thiamine in the form of benfotiamine would be beneficial along with the Vitamin D.  

Thiamine has anti-viral properties!  Thiamine is used to fight Covid.  Recurring infections are indicative of Thiamine deficiency.  Benfotiamine is a form that can get inside cells easily.  The mitochondria need extra thiamine and thiamine derived enzymes to fight infections plus do all their regular stuff.  

Our bodies cannot make the Eight Essential B vitamins, so we must get them from foods and supplements.  We cannot store B vitamins very long, so we can become depleted over a period of months to weeks.  We can become depleted of Thiamine in nine days.  Early Thiamine deficiency symptoms include feeling like you have the flu, fatigue, no energy.  Beriberi translates to "I can't, I can't".  Gastrointestinal beriberi causes stomach aches.  Thiamine is essential for energy production.  Thiamine needs magnesium to work properly.  Magnesium deficiency symptoms include muscle aches.  Emotional lability, irritability, inability to concentrate and focus and think are all symptoms of Thiamine deficiency called Wernicke's Encephalopathy.  Symptoms may wax and wane mysteriously depending on how much Thiamine is absorbed from the diet.  

I have experienced thiamine deficiency myself.  Most doctors don't recognize vitamin deficiency symptoms anymore.  

The World Health Organization says a diagnosis of thiamine deficiency can be made if high dose thiamine hydrochloride (500-2000mg/day) is given and improvement is seen.  Some see improvements within hours, like me.  Other forms of Thiamine like Benfotiamine and Thiamax, or Allithiamine can be used (lower doses can be used because these forms enter cells easily).

The B vitamins are safe, nontoxic, have no upper limit, are water soluble so excess is excreted in urine, and available without a prescription.  

Please discuss with your doctor (or a new one) the benefits of supplementing with high dose Thiamine to reverse your son's symptoms quickly.  Thiamine can be given intravenously by medical professionals.  Oral Thiamine supplementation works just as well.  High dose Thiamine is a cheap, harmless remedy to try.  If no improvement is seen, no harm is done.  However, delayed correction of Thiamine deficiency can cause permanent damage.  I wouldn't let my son suffer for three more months.  Read my blog for my story.

[Mrs.Driver]

On 11/3/2022 at 12:27 PM, Tracy414 said:

Are all of his other blood counts normal? He’s not anemic and platelets are normal? Would you be able to provide his results with the lab reference ranges? 

Yes everything else was normal only WBC & Vitamin D