When Pamela Wirth’s six-year-old son Ryan began to developmentally regress, she did what any parent would do: she took him to the doctor. Unfortunately, several doctors could not adequately explain or treat his tics, anxiety, lethargy, or unusual vocalizations. Refusing to accept that her son was forever altered, Pamela went on a search for answers—and found the right people and right treatments at the right time to bring him back to health.
In her quest to help her son, Wirth ran the gamut of modern medicine. One of the early diagnoses from a simple blood test was that Ryan was low in vitamins B12 and D3, had a genetic marker MTHFR (approximately 50% of the population has this and can affect the absorption of vitamins and minerals), high inflammation levels and high strep titers (suggesting an active strep infection even though he was negative for strep throat) and had a virus called CMV (common among school age kids). Together, this caused his immune system to not function correctly which can cause some of the longer-term motor, vocal and mood symptoms he experienced.

Although antibiotics relieved some of the symptoms, Wirth could tell there still was something holding Ryan back. He didn’t have the same spark or humor he had before becoming ill. He also still had tics and the occasional headache.The doctor used a mixture of functional medicine and holistic medicine. In addition to the antibiotics, the doctor had prescribed a group of 15 probiotics, oregano, boswellia, olive leaf extract, a multivitamin with methylfolate (not folic acid) and Omega-3s.Wirth learned that one of the keys to his recovery was repairing his gut and finding ways to prop up Ryan’s immune system, to keep it strong as it fought off the various ailments.