Last summer I met a beautiful and vibrant young lady at the ice rink where my daughters practice. She had a maturity beyond her years. When we talked about life being too short to dwell on petty things, we discovered that we both had IgA Nephropathy. She was blown away because she had never met anyone who had it. This woman, who was only 26, had received a kidney transplant several years earlier. As we talked and I shared with her my experience with IgAN, it struck us both that I had to write this article for Network News.

This is long overdue. Part of the reason I put off writing about my experience came from my initial reluctance to face my diagnosis. The Network was a painful reminder to me of my new constant companion. Because of IgAN, I had to take months off from work. I felt useless as a wife and mother, for my non-existent energy and malaise kept me in bed most of the time.

When I was diagnosed, I asked the kidney specialist what he thought of alternative medicine, since many concerned friends had told me about it when I became ill. He confided that "none of that stuff works." Well, I am writing today to let you know "that stuff" can't be beat! I want to share with you what has worked for me.

Pycnogenol, a powerful antioxidant extracted from the bark of maritime pine trees in France, has been my saving grace. This is the one thing that I could really feel making a difference. Within two days of taking this for the first time, I immediately felt my energy return. Without pycnogenol, all my symptoms of extreme fatigue and nausea returned, as I discovered once when I ran out while on vacation: it was like hitting a wall; I had to crawl back into bed for several days. I was advised to take an amount in milligrams equivalent to my weight. For example, if you weight 120 pounds, you would take 120 mgs. of pycnogenol daily. I was instructed to take this amount for a few days, then reduce the dosage. My body, however, turned out to need the higher amount for a long time, although I am now down to a daily dose of 90 mg. Pycnogenol should be taken with meals and together with Vitamin C, another anti-oxidant.

Fish oil capsules containing the Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA took care of a severe hot, bruised pain that developed in my right hip shortly after biopsy. This resembled an inflammation of the hip that can occur with systemic lupus erythematosus, and I've been told it also is like rheumatoid arthritis, which used to be treated with cod liver oil. I took one 1,000 mg capsule three times a day with meals for one month. [Ed. Note: This is one-quarter the dosage commonly used to reduce renal inflammation in IgAN patients.] I continue to take this amount because my hip starts to flare up when I forget to take fish oil for a few days. I was told to take the fish oil with Vitamin E so as not to compromise my immune system. (A friend of mine who has arthritis has had great success taking shark oil capsules.)

As you know, for IgAN patients a common cold becomes "uncommon" because of the episodes of bleeding from the kidneys we suffer. Colloidal silver, a natural antibiotic of ionic silver suspended in water, has kept me from catching colds and the flu. One winter, when our family was to spend a few days in snow country, my oldest daughter started to vomit the morning we were to leave. I coaxed her into taking a teaspoonful of colloidal silver, and by the next day she was playing out in the snow. My husband, who refused to try it, got the worst flu he could remember. But here we were, isolated in this little cabin for 4 days, and I never caught that flu! My last episode of gross hematuria was three years ago. I use colloidal silver that is 25 ppm strength and flavored, otherwise it tastes metallic. I take it only when I feel something coming on, or if many people at work have colds or the flu.

These three supplements -- pycnogenol, fish oil, and colloidal silver -- are essential to my healthy state. In addition, I take a multivitamin, high doses of a Vitamin B-complex, and a coral calcium supplement. My naturopathic physician began by putting me on a cleansing regimen to purge my liver of toxins; he also treated me for the yeast infections I'd developed after numerous antibiotics. And he gave me valuable dietary guidelines, such as avoiding animal products and cutting way back on sugar. I have become a vegetarian who eats fish about once a week. Perhaps most important of all, he introduced me to daily meditation, which made a terrific difference in my attitude and allowed me to cope better with the stress of a life turned upside down by illness.

Now I feel just like I did before contracting IgAN. I used to call in sick so much that my job was at risk; now my attendance record is better than that of the supervisor who once wrote me up for all my absences.

[Reprinted from Network News, No. 8 (December 1998)]