Monday, May 28, 2012

My BIE Story

I have thought about this post more than any other. I have re-written passages in my head about fifty times, and have sat down to write it more times that I can remember. So, what's my problem? Well...I seem to all of a sudden not have allergies anymore. You'd think that I would be happy to share this news with you, but, as it turns out, this is very difficult to write about.

My allergies have been cleared by BIE. This is so difficult to write about because I don't fully understand the process of BIE. I have been seeing a holistic allergist and undergoing BIE allergy elimination treatments since last August. Faithfully, every two weeks. I have been skeptical this whole time, because I had tried BIE with my naturopath before and it hadn't helped me. With my new allergist I was seeing some improvement, but it was slow. Since I started to see my allergist I have not taken an Epi-Pen (which I had been taking a LOT last year), I had seen an improvement in my migraines, and my mood, and I had been able to re-introduce some foods that had been giving me problems. Not bad, but that's sort of as far as I expected to go.

I was still taking Benadryl frequently, making all of my food myself, staying at home a lot, unable to go to the grocery store or restaurants. But now, all of this has changed!

In my last post I mentioned how my allergist cleared me for wheat and the smell of wheat, and since then I had begun to feel different. I had more energy, my sleeping habits were improving, and overall I felt more like myself again. I actually started to feel like I didn't have allergies any more. I couldn't explain what the feeling was, exactly...just that I was sure that simply being around food would not harm me.

My husband and I went to visit a friend in Toronto who lives in Little Italy, and accidentally took the route that forced us to walk past countless restaurants. I was terrified. I expected to take Benadryl, but I never needed to. During that trip a few things happened that would normally give me a reaction - I was on the subway and people were carrying food close to me, I walked by a restaurant and got a mouth-full of their exhaust air....nothing happened. I felt so positive on the way home that I decided to go to the local grocery store. I smelled food cooking, and something baking, and still, nothing happened. Since then, I have gradually been testing the waters, and am happy to say that I can now go to grocery stores, I can now go to restaurants, and I have even eaten at a few restaurants (although I order very carefully).

I am not crazy. I am not brainwashed. I assure you that this is not a "mind over matter" thing - you cannot simply think your way out of allergies. I don't know how BIE works, but I am telling you it does.

I have read so many allergy message boards where people bash the idea of BIE. They say they will stick with what is recommended by their conventional allergists. Basically it sounds like they are afraid of BIE. The thing that people seem afraid of is that they don't want to re-introduce foods that are potentially life threatening. That is a legitimate fear! Here is what my allergist has told me about that; if I am concerned about a food then wait six months after she has cleared it, and have blood tests and scratch tests done again. If my doctor or I are still uncertain, then I can introduce the food in a safe setting, like an oral challenge.

Something else that people seem concerned about is that if BIE can rid your body of allergies, then why hasn't conventional medicine caught on to it? Why are people all over the place suffering with, and dying from allergies? I don't know. The only reason that know of is that it takes time for things like that to happen. My allergist uses the comparison of acupuncture, or massage therapy - it was not too long ago that conventional doctors sneered at the mention of them, and now they are commonplace.

I realized that I didn't have to be scared of BIE. The actual treatment couldn't hurt me - all I had to lose was money (which is a huge deal for us, but if I could get well enough that I could work again then the money we spent would be worth it).  So I did it. But, it has taken a long time. When I first met my allergist, I asked her if she had ever treated anyone who was allergic to as many things as me. She had, but it took about a year before this person could eat everything. I have heard stories where people just go once and their anaphylactic allergies are gone! This wasn't the case for me, perhaps because I had so many allergies and health issues that were affecting each other. It was like peeling back the layers of my health and fixing them one-by-one.

Aside from the money and time, this process hasn't been easy on me. For about the first four months I felt really crappy after my treatments, and went through "healing crises". This is essentially a detox that your body undergoes, as it is "reprogramming" your cells to not attack your allergens. If you've ever done a detox then you know the feeling that I'm talking about. As my body got used to the process, my healing crises got easier to handle. Now, I maybe feel a little sick for a day or two, but other than that I'm fine. If you are having issues with healing crises, then try to help your body detox faster by; drinking lemon in warm water first thing in the morning, drinking a lot of water throughout the day, having hot epsom salt baths or a sauna, and eating foods that aid your body in detoxification like turmeric, beets, onions, garlic, and anything from the cabbage family.


I have been trying to explain BIE to my family and friends, and keep getting strange looks. This is partially because it sounds ridiculous, and partially because I do not fully understand it and so I'm bad at explaining it. Because of this, I'm not going to try to explain BIE to you. All I can say is that it worked for me, and that is all the proof that I need. It sounds like I'm part of an infomercial - that I'm trying to sell you something. But, I'm just a person with allergies, trying to get better, and I have found that THIS WORKS! I thought I would be spending the rest of my life cooped up, unable to go places and socialize, changing my dreams and plans to revolve around my allergies. I'm telling you, just think about it. What if your allergies and sensitivities don't have to be forever? That one day, you could be allergy-free? It sounds impossible, but what if allergies didn't have to be your life anymore? WHAT IF?

I still have many foods to re-introduce, and I haven't decided if I am going to do some of them on my own, or with a doctor. I do know that I am no longer allergic to many foods that I ingest, and I am no longer allergic to airborne foods. For now, this will do, and I will start to live my life again!

*Please Note* The information on this blog is from my personal experience and is not intended to diagnose or treat. If you have questions about information on this blog, and how it pertains to you, please contact your doctor.

8 comments:

  1. Hooray! I'm so glad you found something that worked for you! I will have to research BIE since I've never heard of it.. :-) But HOORAY!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much! I honestly can`t believe it has worked, but am so happy that it has. Please let me know if you have any questions about BIE, I may be able to help. Good luck with your own research!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good post Sheena, this is really interesting. I still don't get how it works, but anyone can see the change in you. And like you said, that's true of many conventional medicines and treatments - we don't really understand how or why they work but we just trust them. Do they do BIE for environmental allergies as well as food?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Leah, thanks for your comment! Trusting BIE is something that I struggled with - I wanted to be open to new treatment, but it is very difficult to trust something that is not common practice. I`m glad that I stuck with it though, because I have noticed such a drastic improvement. Yes, BIE can clear you for environmental allergies like pollen, mold, pets etc. My allergist actually lets me bring in samples of anything that I would like to be cleared for (foods, cosmetics, dirt from my vacuum and dust from my purifier...) but I understand that not everyone does this, and they rely on the vials of allergens that are provided by the BIE company. I should also mention that you can be cleared for emotional issues, geopathic stresses, vitamins and minerals, organ systems that are not functioning properly - really it can help balance any number of things that your body may need help with.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I tried BIE for the first time a few weeks ago but I didn't notice any difference. I have a lot of allergies so I just assumed that it was going to take a lot of time (and money). The most disconcerting part was that I did not have any healing crises'. One thing I noticed was that he only left the laser on a specific spot for a few seconds before moving on. Everything I read says it should be applied for 1 t 3 minutes. Soooooo........I took matters into my own hands (literally). I went on eBay and bought a 5 mw cold laser and started doing BIE treatments myself. I just looked up some key pressure points for allergies on the web and started holding different foods in one hand while pointing the laser using the other. A funny thing happened to me the next day. I felt like crap! I have a sore throat, stuffed nose, I'm tired, and even nervous. Its either a healing crisis or a cold. Either way its something.

    Thanks for sharing your experience.

    Joe

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Joe,
    Thanks for your comment and I'm sorry I didn't respond to you sooner. Unfortunately I have spent a lot of time, and lot of money for BIE, but my health has become much, much better because of it. I haven't had a healing crisis every time, so if I were you I would not be discouraged by that. I did not have success with my first BIE treatments either, we are not sure why, but I tried another practitioner and that made all the difference. I'm not sure how long they are supposed to place the BIE instrument on the acupuncture points, but I would estimate that my allergist keeps it there for 30 seconds to 1 minute. I hope that you have had success treating yourself with the laser that you bought, I would be very interested in hearing more about that. I wish you luck with your health!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for posting this. I live in North Carolina USA. I have been doing BIE for severe across the board food allergies / intolerance that put me into a narcoleptic sleep with severe brain swelling every time I eat - seriously..... only steak, peas, green beans and broccoli were non-offenders. I've had chronic fatigue for 13 years, allergies for 36 years & used to have asthma before an accupuncturist took care of that in 5 visits. My immune system has been struggling for a long time & the last 3 years I've become debilitated - not being able to work. I've spent around $15,000 on high quality supplements, M.D.'s, Alternative M.D.'s, accupuncture, traditional cranial sacral (which saved my life when I was born premature in the 60's) and literally years of research to try to figure this thing out & get help. I worked for 10 yrs in a health food store in my 20's & for a vitamin company for 2 years - so not being able to help myself or find help has been frustrating beyond belief. As of now (April 2013) I have done four treatments & I am seeing improvements which is a miracle. I drank a cup of black tea last week which would usually send me to bed within 15 minutes or less and I had no reaction. Same with berries, pasta, bread, veggies & just discovered this week I can take supplement without instantly falling asleep. It's all getting better - not perfect yet, but improvement every week or so as BIE takes the burden off my immune system. Instead of being in bed all day, sleeping 12 hours a night and having to take 2 two hour naps during the day only to feel completely exhausted when 'awake' to seeing improvement & being able to eat more and more foods & take supplements - that's a miracle. I do still have to take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, but I know that will pass, too, as my sleep cycle becomes normalized. Two and a half years ago I went to an alternative M.D. who did thousands of dollars of blood / hair testing & there were nutrients that were severely low because I was avoiding food to try to drag myself out of bed for a few hours to get something done around the house. My vit C was so low the doc said I was on the verge of getting scurvy. At that point I couldn't consume supplements - they'd put me to sleep. A lot of vit C comes from corn & that was a huge offender. When my BIE therapist told me after muscle testing that I wasn't absorbing anythiing it made total sense to me from my blood work. He didn't know about the blood work at all. I have so much to clear that it's probably going to take around 6 more treatments on top of the 4 I've already had. To be able to eat food again is fabulous. It's going to take a while for my body to get the nutrients it needs from food & high quality supplements to fully function, but this is the miracle I've been waiting for. My BIE therapist leaves it on each point for around a minute or so. Turns out my BIE therapist started doing this after having a friend of his tell him about his wife having her allergies cured through BIE. My therapist then went to a BIE practitioner & it cured his allergies. My therapist was retired, he went to school to be a nutritionist, got BIE training and is helping other people. After I get better & my brain starts to be able to function again properly I want to go to college for nutrition, take the BIE training & open my own practice to help people get the relief I did. What a blessing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for posting this. I live in Baltimore. Have been seeing a BIE specialist for a month or so. I have suffered from allergies most of my life (though not as severe as you, Sheena), and while I have no way to prove it, I have a hunch it's led to a slew of other issues (absorptions issues, thyroid, etc.). I had the "prick test" done a few years ago and was 4+ (highest level) to 27/29 allergens. The woman testing said she'd never seen someone so high. I did BIE at the behest of a friend a year or so ago. I was staying w/ her and was very allergic to her cat--couldn't even be near the cat without needing an inhaler. Within 2 sessions, allergies were cleared. I had an endoscopy a few weeks ago and was diagnosed with this weird condition where foods are apparently causing me to get hives in my esophagus (ugh!) and that food feels like it gets stuck, so I'm now working with this BIE specialist in Baltimore on food allergies. I've been stunned at how many foods I'm allergic to--I was allergic to every, single nut except chestnuts! Anyway, I don't really have the money for this, but if it will help me, I'm open to it. Joe, I'm curious how it worked for you doing it on yourself?

    Many thanks for posting this! Hope you are all feeling well (Sheena, I notice this is an older post--how are you feeling now, three years later? Have you had any recurrence of the allergies?

    All the best, beth

    ReplyDelete