By December 2008 Chris was in serious trouble, and I was no longer sleeping at night. We were right back to where it all started when Chris first went off to university six years earlier. His mind was slipping further into psychosis. I watched it all happen once again. How could I have let this happen? How could HE let this happen? Yes, I was glad earlier that he was becoming emotional for the first time ever, but he was also becoming a mess, losing his keys, his identification, forgetting his appointments, and singing, jumping and twirling in the streets.
He was spending inordinate amounts of time in the bathroom. More ominously, he was beginning to leave traces of fecal matter on the walls of the bathroom and on the parquet hall floors, just a hint here and there. He was also urinating in his pants. Ian and I had to re-examine Chris's need for an antipsychotic, something I especially felt never helped him to begin with and might not even prevent his further slide into psychosis.
His holistic psychiatrist discovered from talking with Chris that he had stopped taking his detox footpads months ago and had been rather careless about some of his other supplements. (Chris was becoming increasingly cryptic when asked straightforward questions, so we are not sure where the truth lay on adherence to his regime.) He was in a state of toxic build-up according to the psychiatrist, that contributed to the expression of anger, mania and depression that Ian and I had witnessed.
From a purely biochemical point of view, my view of Chris as going through a needed stage of emotional release looked rather naive. However, did his emotional state cause his biochemistry to go out of whack, or did his alleged careless use of supplements cause his emotional state? Whatever it was, we wanted it fixed right away. We could concentrate on his needed emotional release after we rebalanced his biochemistry.
Christmas 2008 was hell. Alex and Taylor were both back from university and unhappy at home. They barely gave Chris the time of day, except to be irritated by him. This pained me tremendously, but at the same time it was a reasonable response on their part. People who communicate appropriately with others get included. People who don't are shunned. Chris was behaving in his own particular psychotic way, crouching on the floor, speaking only the most banal thoughts (but ingeniously cloaked in aggression and sarcasm if you bothered to pay attention), taking long pauses in answer to simple questions, and continuing to urinate in his pants and decorate the bathroom with small flecks of feces. One night I woke up around 4 a.m. to find him in the darkened hallway. He said he was uncertain as to whether he was awake or asleep. I gently led him back to bed.
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Do you seriously believe those footpads work?
ReplyDeleteA little research into how the body detoxifies (the liver) will tell you that the whole idea of removing "toxins," "parasites," and even "cellulite" from the bottom of the feet is completely false. The surface of the pad picks up dead skin and dirt, and a chemical on the pad ensures the color. Repeated use of this pad will clean your feet, but nothing else. It is known that when water is applied to the pad, it will turn brown
Their website just cites testimonials, one of which references an article in the Journal of Immunity, which despite its name is not an actual medical journal, and is actually another compilation of testimonials.
And secondly, even the FTC has filed a complaint against the company:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/01/xacta.shtm
http://www.themockdock.com/category/kinoki-foot-pads/
No offense, but you're a marketers dream
Of course I'm a marketers' dream. I bought into the antipychotics, didn't I? The footpads were strongly recommended by my son's psychiatrist, who has years of medical training on top of her undergraduate science degree. I am saying that, but I also think that she can be convinced of things that may not necessarily be appropriate to my son's particular problems. Still, people have different experiences with supplements. I swear by the niacinamide and vitmain C supplements I take on a daily basis. If you read my other posts, you will see that I am skeptical of supplements in addition to antipsychotics. Yes, the vitamin and supplement industry is big business, so it is wise to be wary.
ReplyDeleteThen why are you willing to take advice from one doctor who has years of medical training and an undergraduate science degree who recommends a bogus product, but not another doctor who recommends medication?
ReplyDeleteVery simple. My son didn't improve under the medications. If you don't improve, you try something else. My son improved under the supplement regime, whereas all he did was get fat and act comotose under the meds. However, at a certain point, it all becomes suspect, meaning, the human mind can outmanipulate meds, supplements and psychology. When somone wants to change, they will change, and it won't really matter what they are on.
ReplyDelete