Week of February 13, 2023
1. Treatment, initial improvement followed by relapse.
QUESTION: I was diagnosed with a biotoxin illness several years ago following initiation of a teaching job at a new school. I have been taking a variety of medications that initially helped but I relapsed with re-exposure. I now have multiple health symptoms. I was treated with cholestyramine and losartan beginning a few days ago and have been feeling worse.
ANSWER: The approach to treatment begins with establishing what are your potential(s) for exposure. I would encourage QPCR testing (either ERMI or HERTSMI-2) to be done in your home and in your workplace. Given the symptoms that you have, it would be reasonable to also have a visual contrast sensitivity test (can be done on this website).
Proper laboratory testing is needed to confirm the illness. Treatment begins with one single step at a time for reasons such as what you have described. When anyone begins two therapies simultaneously, and problems arise, which intervention is the culprit? Is it cholestyramine? Is it Losartan? Is it both? Is it neither? All these are questions that are answered better when one treatment is issued at a time.
The Protocol strategically implements one step, one prescription, at a time as applicable. Please refer your physician to the Protocol and testing materials on the site, or find a Shoemaker Practitioner to work with you.
2. VIP, as relapse prevention
QUESTION: Does the use of VIP mean I can go into buildings that I know are water-damaged and that have high ERMI scores without suffering ill effects or is it still necessary to avoid exposures?
ANSWER: Use of VIP is confined solely to people who have followed the strict treatment and VIP use protocols. These protocols are available in the VIP module (on this site) but to summarize, patients must have followed the first 10 steps of the sequential treatment intervention; they must not have exposure to buildings with ERMI >2 or HERTSMI >10; they must have negative nasal cultures and VCS must no longer be positive.
VIP is not a replacement for any of the prior 10 steps in the protocol. VIP is helping people return to normal life but as long as they are genetically susceptible and/or low MSH, they must be careful to avoid re-exposures.
Should such exposure occur, VIP use would markedly decrease the reactivity of patients and will essentially eliminate “sicker, quicker,” but we can not say the patient has been cured. The use of the term “cure” is always in quotes and needs to be recognized that patients are returning to normal functioning with symptoms equal to controls, labs equal to controls and genomics equal to controls. What we have not done is proven that patients with prior illness can ever let down their vigilance regarding prevention of re-exposure.
3. VIP, availability
QUESTION: Is it possible for individuals to purchase VIP?
ANSWER: Pharmacies can purchase VIP in bulk for compounding in the U.S. As your question appears to be coming from Sweden I do not know what the regulations are for your country. VIP is available by prescription to private patients.
4. VIP, tinnitus connection?
QUESTION: I started VIP 1/100 dilution with side effects of worsened pain, tinnitus, worsening otalgia and phonophobia on 1-2 sprays a day x few weeks. I stopped the VIP one week ago. Tinnitus improved, still present. No otalgia, no phonophobia.
We have not seen side effects of ear pain and phonophobia from VIP.
ANSWER: Tinnitus of course is a condition that no one understands. While I cannot agree with you that VIP caused your problem, I certainly feel it reasonable that a hearing test would be the first step. We also know that TGF beta-1 can impair the organ of Corti which may be part of your problem.
