John Manley, "The Lord of the Liver" | Thursday, February 16, 2012
11:37pm: 5-Year Old Screaming With Digestive Pain
It’s going onto 12:40am as I type this. (Please forgive any typos.)
I was sound asleep by 9:30pm.
At 11:37pm my wife, Nicole, woke me up.
“Jonah’s been up since 10:30pm. His tummy hurts. He has lots of gas.”
My first thought was that this was a dream. But my wife continued…
“I think it’s that bread we bought from Pazzo’s.”
Pazzo’s is an Italian bakery in town. “Pazzo” in Italian means “crazy man.”
Word of wisdom: Don’t buy bread from a crazy man.
We rarely give Jonah yeast bread. Same goes for me. Most people don’t realize how much
of a problem yeast can be for those with weak digestion. Both Jonah and I have genetically weak digestion (inherited from my father).
I reluctantly got out of bed to go and examine the patient.
Jonah’s stomach was swollen up. And he was half-awake.
“I’ll start brewing some of Dr. Helen’s 911 Vata Indigestion Rescue Tea,” I said.
Off to kitchen to get the water boiling and the “secret” ingredient.
It’s been literally years since we’ve had a night like this.
But back when Jonah first went on solid food… every night was like this and worse.
We didn’t know much about how to deal with his sensitive digestion back then. And most doctors we went to had bad advice.
It wasn’t until we found Dr. Helen Mary Thomas — an Ayurvedic doctor – that we started sleeping again.
Following her “Colon Karma” rules, Jonah sleeps relatively soundly every night. He has regular bowel movements. And is in very good health.
Anyway, while the tea was brewing (it takes 10 minutes… this isn’t a tea bag operation) I warmed a specific oil recommended in Ayurveda (another gem from Dr. Helen).
Then I whiped up a quick “Ginger Treatment” recipe of Dr. Helen’s. One sweet spoonful. Jonah ate it happily.
We then massaged the warm oil into his stomach. Then we positioned his legs into the ”wind removing pose” recommended in the world of yoga.
Explosions of “hard” gas. Lots of complaints from the “patient.”
Next, I cooled down the 911 Vata Indigestion Tea in the fridge. Not so it was cold. Still quite warm. But not hot.
Cold is the worst thing for digestive problems. Giving kids a cold drink of water at night is a recipe for digestive unrest.
Jonah drank the tea down. And is currently sleeping soundly.
Like I said… this isn’t common. We gave him some food we knew was on his “do not eat” list.
Plus, the weather right now is really bad for people with digestive problems. It keeps on wavering between dry and freezing and damp and cold. Weird winter this year. Very stressful on the body.
Otherwise, most nights he goes to sleep and we don’t hear from him until the warning. Sometimes, he’ll wake up once just to let us know we’re still parents.
We’ve been following Dr. Thomas’ “Colon Karma Program” for many years now. I vouch for it 100%. It’s saved us from many sleepless nights.
While other parents are bringing their young ones to the emergency room with
digestive unrest… we’ve handled it better at home. All they do at the ER is give them drugs.
Drugs are not the answer.
Simple dietary and lifestyle changes are.
Whether for your kids or for yourself, I strongly encourage you to check out Dr. Helen’s Colon Karma Cure newsletter and program:
http://liversnacking.com/colonkarma
Time for me to get some sleep.
- John “Lord of the Liver” Manley
P.S. You can read my wife’s take on the above late night digestive drama here.