Fluoride Action Network

Kyle’s Story

Fluoride Action Network | Bulletin | December 15, 2016

Below is a moving letter FAN received last year from Audrey Adams, a campaign leader in Washington State, about her son Kyle.  According to the promoters of fluoridation, people like her son – who are hypersensitive to fluoride – don’t exist. Unfortunately, the severe impact of fluoride on some individuals is all too real, as you’ll learn from the letter below.

We at FAN would like to thank Audrey for sharing with us this powerful and often painful story about her son.  In the 70 years of this unethical and reckless practice not one health agency in any of the countries that practice water fluoridation has called for, or financed, any scientific study to investigate the possibility that some citizens are particularly sensitive to fluoride’s toxic effects.  But in the minds of our government officials fluoride is different; it is the only drug in the world without side effects (other than dental fluorosis, which they claim is only a cosmetic effect) and to which no one is sensitive! The explanation for this unscientific and irresponsible attitude is very simple and disturbing: for those who promote fluoridation it is far more important to protect this practice than to protect the health of our citizens. And so Audrey suffers, Kyle suffers and many others. And thousands more will suffer needlessly until we rid the world of this irresponsible and reckless practice.

Just last week, Audrey appeared alongside Karen Spencer on the Womenpower Radio Show (see the link after Audrey’s moving letter) with host Dr. Richard Shames, M.D. They share their personal stories on fluoride’s side effects, and discuss the latest science showing other harms from fluoride and fluoridation, But first:

 An Update On Our Fundraiser

Our new totals are $70,380 from 242 donors.  Thanks to one of our super-angels donations are being doubled up until $72,000.  We will be updatinng our running totals on a daily basis on our home page www.FluorideACTION.net

Yet another super-angel has issued an exciting challenge. If we can reach $100,000 by midnight (PT) Christmas eve she will donate $4,000. We are hoping that others will add to this generous challenge because we know from previous years that the most difficult task we have had is going from $100,000 to $150,000 – in fact we have never reached $150,000! So our new mini-goal is $100,000 from 500 donors by midnight Christmas Eve. And remember that when we reach each donor milestone of 300, 400 and 500 donors we will receive $1,000 ($3000 in all). Again to get future foundation support the number of donors is crucial to us. Please consider making small donations for family members.

Every single donation – large or small – is very valuable to FAN and for our campaign to get the deliberate addition of fluoridation chemicals to the public drinking water banned by the US EPA in 2017 under provisions in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Your donation  will make you part of this historic effort.

PREMIUMS: See the exciting premiums we have available (with photos!) here.

To make a tax-deductible donation to the Fluoride Action Network, a project of the American Environmental Health Studies Project, you can either:

  • Donate online using our secure server.  If you should experience difficulty in donating at our secure server, please call Network For Good at 1-888-284-7978 and press option 3 to make your donation over the phone.
  • Or by check – please make checks payable to Fluoride Action Network and send to: FAN, c/o Connett, 104 Walnut Street, Binghamton NY 13905
Paul Connett, PhD
Member of FAN’s fundraising team for 2016

 
Kyle’s Story: What I Didn’t Know Hurt Him 

 

I have so much to be thankful for, in the holidays and year round, but today I’m talking about my Fluoride Action Network heroes, which include not just the core of FAN, but also those of you who support them and those who work in your own communities to get fluoride out of public water.

I’m the mom of a delightful young man with autism, Kyle, age 31, who is severely hypersensitive to fluoride.   Sadly, I didn’t know it for the first 14 years of his life and I didn’t even know of the countless other chemical sensitivities.  We’ve traveled a very long and painful road together, his pain physical (and profound), my pain emotional.

His speech is difficult, but he shows me his love and gratitude daily.  He trusts me unconditionally because, in his mind, I fixed him.  I got rid of the pain for Kyle, yes, but I could never have done it alone.  Kyle doesn’t know of the countless FAN workers and advocates who, through their expertise, helped me to figure out how to protect my son. Most of them have never met me, never talked to me, but their work lives through the fantastic FAN website (www.FluorideACTION.net ), newsletters and videos.

My eyes get wet and blurry just thinking about 1999, when Kyle was 13-14.  He was in pain constantly, all over, but especially the back of his neck and his extremities (hands, feet, lips, tongue).   The chronic pain had skyrocketed after what I’ll call a “toxicological event” at age 13 from a horrific reaction to a doctor prescribed “over the counter” (OTC) treatment  that is completely benign to most people.

He cried inconsolably when the pain in his fingers got so bad that he couldn’t play his beloved cello in the orchestra at school.  He had to quit playing piano, too, and he could barely hold a fork to eat.  There were mysterious pain “peaks”, especially in the middle of the night, but other times, too.  He screamed and raced around the house as if pursued by killer bees.  His school sent him home repeatedly with horrific headaches.  At night the house shook wildly with the leg-pounding on the bed that was more like a 4-hour grand mal seizure than “restless leg”.  His screaming was deafening. So little sleep….

We went to 8 medical specialists and not one of them could diagnose the source of the pain, let alone help relieve it. Tylenol guaranteed a full-blown migraine the next day so was useless, as were other pain-relievers.  He was completely intolerant of chemicals in the air and his food, so I changed his entire diet to organic, stopped using any cleaners or scented products and got the school to cooperate with a low-chemical environment.  He only drank water—nothing else.

With all of these changes, he improved, but still had pain every day, with screaming, racing, jumping, sweating, heart racing—gasping from the exertion…and crying, begging me to “Make it go away!”

A mom from Beaverton, OR with two autistic teenagers was the angel we needed.  She was the one who first told me in 2000 about toxic fluoride in tap water and instructed me to switch to reverse osmosis filtered water.  There was a profound improvement in 3 days!  Our lives changed dramatically for the better.

No, he was not (is not) completely free of all pain—sadly, unexpected chemicals lurk everywhere.   But by providing Kyle with fluoride-free water, chronic pain was no longer the 24/7 “norm”, so detecting the other chemical triggers was finally more achievable and allowed much greater success at avoidance.  Fluoride remains the worst, and most difficult, to avoid.  It took me many years to understand the many sources of fluoride (I will discuss these in part 2 of my letter–see link at end), and to fully realize the extent of Kyle’s sensitivity to it.

Thank God for FAN’s information that has been there for me time and time again.

It’s my hope that other children (and teens, and adults), who suffer as Kyle did, perhaps won’t suffer as long as he did. The problem is much greater for those with autism spectrum disorders.  Please help FAN inform mothers across the world of the very real harm that fluoride does to some of our most vulnerable people.

There is so much more to Kyle’s “Fluoride Story”, but you’re busy and I’m out of time. You can see parts 2 and 3 of Kyle’s story using the links below. Meanwhile, please help FAN put a stop to fluoridation with your generous donation.  I’ve already sent mine.

Audrey Adams
Washington Action for Safe Water

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