Quail eggs versus Steroids. Steroid induced psychosis and Lyme disease.

 I'm updating and re-sharing this post, with a rant added for good measure.

Yesterday a mom contacted me about how to detox a teenage girl who has been in a steroid induced psychosis for the last 9 days, with no end in sight.

Apparently she had a sore throat and was feeling run down, and may have been exposed to strep. She tested negative for strep. So, the doctor gave her a steroid shot. You know, because, why not? It's just a little steroid shot. 

They called the doctor about the current situation. The doctor says to wait it out. It should get better in 10 days. TEN DAYS. It was day nine when her friend contacted me asking for help.

I wish I could say this is the first time I've heard of children going into a psychotic state after being given steroids for this or that...but it's not.

Worse, since I shared this post, I had multiple parents of PANDAS kids (brilliant moms, all of them) share how steroids often cause this type of psychotic break when there is underlying Lyme disease or parasites.

A few anonymous smart mom quotes: 

"The steroid shot caused a disseminated hyperinfection of whatever parasites were already present. Steroids cause them to literally explode in population. It sounds like strongyloides, I’d bet my life on it." 

"Steroid shots will do that when you have nuero Lyme disease."

"Steroids can be problematic if the child has lyme or its co-infections."

Then another mom shared this with me:

"I went to a dermatologist after Lyme manifested in my chest/skin and I was diagnosed with "morphea scleroderma". It was scary and painful. The dermatologist gave me a series of steroid shots in the chest to take away inflammation from the area to prevent its spread and after a few hours the localized steroids became systemic after they dispersed throughout my body and that night I was in the ER after a psychotic break. I couldn't remember my name, my address, and I kept pointing at my arm saying there was bugs in my body. I remember doing this, oddly, very clearly and I remember feeling so helpless as the doctors gathered around laughing. They sedated me and sent me home in wheelchair. I woke up the next day with a referral to a psychiatrist taped to my fridge that my mom obtained from the hospital."

I could continue my rant about how the "House of Representatives orders Pentagon to investigate whether ticks were once used as biological weapons" just broke in mainstream news this week. But when I took my daughter to the ER and asked about Lyme, the doctor dismissed me with "There are no confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Oklahoma, there's no need to do a tick panel...but let's do a all these other (expensive and invasive) tests and scans."

So, I'm resharing this post about quail eggs and the research that is being done regarding quail eggs as a replacement for steroids, because "Despite the fact that oral intake of topical steroids can be successful in restricting EoE-related inflammation, there are concerns with respect to the long term utilization of steroids, especially in kids." (No, really???) 

Some of those "concerns" are "for instance, oropharyngeal, oesophageal candidiasis, bone mineral density abnormalities, glaucoma, hyperglycaemia, and other antagonistic impacts^2,6,7,8. There is a pressing need to find and create novel and powerful anti-inflammatory drugs for EoE. (hmmmm antagonistic impacts..would that cover sending normal, healthy children into a psychotic state for weeks?)

"It was revealed in a previous study that quail egg is different from other bird eggs. The difference is particularly in its egg white, quail egg is richer in proteins that have anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects⁹. In vitro study found that quail egg contain ovomucoid and ovoinhibitor that can alleviate allergic reactions by blocking the binding of tryptase or any other trypsin homolog and protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2)¹⁰. Moreover, a patent on the role of quail egg in modulating the immune cell function, particularly eosinophils and neutrophils, in the treatment of allergy was issued in 2015 by the United States (patent number: US2015/0057232A1)¹¹," (of course someone got a patent on Quail Eggs...I'm going to have to patent donkey milk. Just as soon as I get these orders shipped....) "giving solid foundations of the special role of quail eggs."

"Treatment with quail egg inhibited antigen-prompted increments in mouse tryptase and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in serum and eosinophil in inflamed tissues like oesophagus, lung, and digestive system. Quail egg treatment resulted in decreased antibody specific IgE and IgG1 and a variety of inflammatory genes that were abnormally expressed in EoE. Other effects included increased IL-10, decreased PAR-2 activation and NF-kB p65 in inflamed tissues. Our results suggest that quail egg treatment may have therapeutic potential in attenuating the symptoms of food allergy induced EoE like disease through regulating PAR-2 downstream pathway by blocking the activation of the transcription factor NF-kB p65 activity." from this research on Quail eggs.

You should read the article. And the links to the other research. And the bit about the smarty pants who got the patent on quail eggs. Really. I need some patents. Patent pending Donkey Milk, here I come.

Now, back to my original, rant-free post.

Let’s just say WE LOVE OUR DONKEYS and WE LOVE OUR DONKEY MILK! (Immune modulating properties, high lysozyme and lactoferrin aka super antibacterial, and full of probiotics, in a nutshell.) We’re blessed, and thankful. But I’m that mom that can’t stop looking for ways to make us all healthier. And keep us healthy. So when a friend tells me I need to check out Quail Eggs, I check out Quail Eggs.

Apparently eating these humble little eggs is helping heal peoples allergies. And they work so well that it’s becoming big business, if you’re into that sort of thing… Ovogenics is based entirely on the benefits of Quail Eggs and their allergy fighting amazingness. To quote their site…”Quails’ eggs: a powerful weapon against allergies! Since time immemorial, quails’ eggs have been used for a variety of respiratory diseases, where the pharmacopoeia has been rather lacking. Working empirically, the ancients had noticed the therapeutic powers of this little egg. The latest technological advances and a better knowledge of the world of proteins explain and demonstrate how quails’ eggs work in different ways on respiratory diseases and the immune system. Quails’ eggs are the most dietetic eggs in the world. They are considered to be the product of animal origin with the most balanced content of proteins, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. They are five times smaller than hens’ eggs but contain 5 times more phosphorus (very good for the brain, phosphorus’ action in the organism is above all essential to the health of bones and teeth), 7 times more iron, 6 times more B1 vitamins (which play a crucial role in growth and the proper functioning of the cardio-vascular, digestive and nervous systems) and 15 times more B2 vitamins (which help to protect the nervous system and support growth and tissue repair). And above all, they contain no cholesterol!” This site has more info on quail eggs and their anti-inflammatory properties, benefits for asthma, eczema, and allergies. And this extremely interesting account of Mr. Driscoll, who suffered from miserable allergies after getting a harmless flu shot. (Read sarcasm here. If you’ve heard the accounts of PANS and PANDAS parents whose children got PANDAS after a flu shot or other harmless vaccine, you’d know why I’m dripping sarcasm over here.) But back to Mr. Driscoll…his flu shot induced allergies were cured by, you guessed it, quail eggs.

Oh yeah, and in Japan they give their kids a couple quail eggs every morning for breakfast to keep them healthy. Quail eggs are also Alkaline, where chicken eggs are acidic. Duck eggs are Alkaline as well, but Quail eggs are even more Alkaline than Duck eggs on the scale. Why does this matter? Most typical Americans have a highly acidic diet, so adding alkaline foods is a bonus. Plus, many people who are allergic to chicken eggs can tolerate quail eggs or duck eggs just fine.

And then there’s the whole Manna and Quail in the desert for the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering. That’s another post…Quail and Donkeys. Check out how many times they’re mentioned in the Bible. If God likes them so much, they’re going on my farm wish list.

So, here’s my point. PANDAS is an autoimmune disease. The immune system gets out of wack and goes into overdrive, attacking the brain.

Allergies are also autoimmune. The immune system goes into overdrive on pollen, dust, cat hair, whatever. So, what if we add some quail eggs to our PALEO diet? Couldn’t hurt, huh? And for most of the world, it’s easier to find quail eggs than donkey milk. So, if you want to start small (pardon my pun), go get some quail. You could probably put them on your apartment balcony and no one would notice. Plus they mature in 6 weeks! 6 weeks to having your own eggs!!! And it’s hilarious to fry a couple of tiny quail eggs and call your kids for breakfast. Priceless.

According to my super quail researching friend, “Quail eggs should only be consumed at a rate of 3-5 per day. They are high in Vitamin A, which is something we can overdose on if we’re not careful when taking other supplements along with Quail eggs….It is best to consume the eggs raw or lightly boiled, with the yolk still runny) to avoid cooking out the nutrients. Quail body temperatures are high, so the concern of salmonella with a raw egg is eliminated. Also, they contain a good dose of lysozyme, which is a bacteria killer, so again, raw is best.” (Donkey Milk is also high in lysozyme, amazing, huh?) I like to mix a couple of raw quail eggs into our smoothies in the morning…it's actually even yummier that way. 

These benefits are also one of the reasons our Quail Egg and Donkey Milk soap is one of our best seller. But, more on that later. 

But WHERE do you get quail eggs???? If you’re not up for your own Quail Balcony Farm, try Craigslist. Or Facebook. Turns out there are groups of quail enthusiasts out there, just waiting to be discovered and valued. Most of them probably don’t even know how amazing those little eggs are. BUT, here’s the BUT, I really can’t tell you if Quail Eggs help with PANDAS…because my girl was already doing so well with just Donkey Milk, so I don’t have a crazy awesome healing with quail eggs story. That said, I would love to hear from you if you try quail eggs, and see any improvements in your autoimmune disease or allegies. Anything it takes to get our health where it needs to be. Even peeling itty bitty boiled marbles. I mean, Quail Eggs. Now, if only I could convince my husband to build a quail set up on our farm. In the meantime, I just managed to convince half my farm-ey friends to get quail. At least I’ll have a source closer than 45 minutes away…if I can convince them to share the eggs!!!

If you’re in Oklahoma,

UPDATE: You can get quail eggs here:

Edmond / Luther area

Fawn: (4O5) 833-1273 

Audrey: (4O5) 641-3116

Guthrie area

Courtney: (4O5) 834-3251

Shawnee area

Gwen: (4O5) 9O5-O854

Kim Harris-Montgomery: contact via Facebook

Or join the facebook group “Quail of Oklahoma” and ask who’s selling near you. If outside Oklahoma, join the Facebook group “Quail Breeders Unite: A group for Enthusiasts, Breeders, and Producers” and ask for eggs near you.

You could also find them at your nearest Chinese grocery store. But I prefer farm raised, of course. (One PANDAS mom tried farrm raised and grocery store eggs, and the grocery store eggs didn't have the same effect as the farm eggs.)

(Read my disclaimer, not a doctor, just a mom, blah blah blah.)