Thank you for getting my boy back from the brink of his OCD journey this year. We were slow to spot the signs of his initial descent as our usually engaged, happy child became slowly drawn into illness; unable to get to sleep bedtimes became a battleground, with a reduced appetite he became an even more fussy eater, he became increasingly irritable and anxious, refused playdates and parties, stopped playing lego or drawing, struggled with focusing on homework and was impacted with violent meltdowns after school. This descent continued over several months with trouble getting dressed, out of the house, getting to school, coupled with hand washing, contamination fears, sensory issues spiralling out of control with smell, touch and sounds bothering him to such a degree that he became incredibly distressed. All these symptoms took hold over the course of about 9 months but we didn’t see clearly at the time as our lives slowly reduced to holding it together from one day to the next. We are forever grateful that you were able to offer us solutions at a time when we didn’t know there were any. Luckily thanks to your intervention with thorough testing and a bespoke treatment plan, you were able to turn him around and within 6 weeks we were seeing an improvement in his symptoms lessening their grip. Within 3 months he could rebuff the intrusive thoughts and start to eat again, and after 6 months he was totally free - free from all of the symptoms that had shackled and plagued him - it was an absolute delight to have our son back to full health. (We had a CAMHS referral made at the beginning of the year but by the time they rang to offer us an appointment he had recovered!) We can’t thank you enough for saving him from what would have been a very difficult future had we not benefited from your incredible expertise and understanding of the gut-brain links. Thank you!

Without your help our teenage son would still be grappling with Anorexia. I still can’t quite fathom how our healthy, active, vibrant child (he was our best eater!) fell into having Anorexic thoughts, other than that it followed a period of tummy aches and cramps that lingered on after he had a vomiting and diarrhoea bug last year. He was not putting on weight despite eating well. At some point the anorexic thoughts kicked in (CAMHS Eating Disorder unit told us about the Minnesota Starvation Study which explains that weight loss creates this onset) and then it became obvious to us that he was very ill when he lost a lot of weight in a short space of time. Needless to say this was a frightening time for any parent. Incredibly you were able to tap into his gut issues straight away with a range of different tests that helped right his tummy and the rest is history. His recovery was so swift that I wouldn’t hesitate to call it miraculous. He didn’t look back once your treatment plan was underway, and he was able to put weight on at a steady pace again, regaining his health and being free of the intrusive thoughts within 6 months. Your knowledgable guidance and support throughout has been a life raft for us all.

I arrived in Tokyo on August 1 , 2010 directly from Singapore to take up my second assignment here in Japan.  Unfortunately, whilst I was full of energy and enthusiasm for my new responsibility, my body was positively in a state of much disrepair.  For the past 2 months I had been suffering from a multitude of ailments which comprised to name but a few:

• Bronchitis
• Impaired voice box
• Allergic Rhinitis
• Chronic sore throats

A good friend of mine suggested I visit Susie Rucker for a consultation.  During these visits, Susie patiently asked questions regarding my eating habits/lifestyle and ailments and I vividly recall her look of horror as I progressed to list my various ailments and eating habits.  A plan of action was required along with various tests to establish if I was allergic to certain solids or liquids and to see if I had the required minimum levels of minerals in my body.  Yes, you guessed it.  I am allergic to Chicken and eggs and my Iron and Zinc counts along with other key minerals were very low.

What to do next ?

Susie suggested I embark on a course of:

• Daily intake of Zinc/Iron and a multivitamin.
• Chicken and Eggs are out
• Wheat has been replaced by Rye
• Coffee is out and a wide variety of Herbal teas are in

Changing lifetime habits are tough and I guess I stick to the plan 80% of the time.  Mine is a hectic lifestyle involving lots of travel and a merry go round of business lunches and dinners, so I guess 80% compliance is acceptable.  But education is a wonderful thing and it’s obvious to me that Susie is both a knowledgeable person/professional and caring person when it comes to her clients.

Whilst I still have a long way to go before I make a complete recovery, I am on my way and that is due to the best part to Susie’s intervention and therapy.

Good luck to others with similar ailments who decide to take advantage of Rucker Nutrition.

I first made contact with Susie in September 2011 as my 4 year old son was suffering from digestive problems that was causing him to endure 24 hour cycles of severe vomiting every couple of weeks.  His behaviour had also become increasingly erratic.  Although the doctors I had consulted regarding this as normal, I certainly didn’t.  Susie recommended that my son was tested – the food intolerance test and hair mineral analysis.  These revealed high intolerances to certain foods and high toxicity in his blood and low mineral levels.  Susie was able to explain the meaning of all these tests so I could understand what was happening to him and recommended a diet (including supplements) which would repair his digestive system.  My son’s vomiting stopped pretty much as soon as we made the changes to his diet and after a year, his intolerances had gone.

My daughter and second son also suffered from eczema and again through the same testing, Susie was able to identify a similar pattern of food intolerances, high toxicity in their blood and low mineral levels.  They were also then put on a similar diet to my son and within months their eczema was gone.

Susie has a profound knowledge of nutrition and particularly in terms of children – she has always gone to great efforts to explain in layman terms what has been happening.  She has always been extremely professional and been very supportive.  Although the changes Susie recommended were daunting for a mother of three young children, she was proactive in suggesting meal plans, recipes and has wonderful ideas to enhance their diet.

Susie opened up the world of nutrition to me and I have never looked back.  Although none of the children have any health issues now, I would never go back to the way we used to eat.  My children have never been healthier, enjoy the food I prepare for them and it has given me great satisfaction to be able to help them in this way.  I genuinely feel indebted to Susie for her advice and support over the last couple of years.

I put Matthew on the full protocol you recommended in August, as well as L-glutamine. We have seen a remarkable difference in terms of his mood, which is now completely stable - even after a whole day at school without eating. We are rarely having meltdowns anymore and he is so much more emotionally resilient than he was. His appetite has been slightly less straight forward. Despite my best efforts to remove gluten from his diet, it crept in without me realizing on a number of occasions, and we are still struggling with his eating and weight gain. That said, he is no longer holding food in his mouth, no longer gagging, vomiting has become infrequent, and when we are at home he will eat without resistance, Those are big steps given where we were a few months ago. We are still struggling with him eating at school, and all of his lunch comes back on most days. He tends to lose weight during the week, and then puts it back on again over weekends and holidays. Given that he will eat at home, however, I suspect it is more of a problem of the school context, rather than a physiological issue as before.

In terms of the gluten - he was off for a good amount of time, and then I reintroduced to see how he would respond. The first time he had it, he seemed fine, but 2 days later lost his appetite again. The second time I introduced it, he vomited 3 hours later. The third time he had it, he also vomited a few hours later, so I think it is safe to conclude that gluten doesn't agree with him?

I have spoken to his GP about the elevated levels of Calprotectin in his stool, and he has kindly run another stool test for calprotectin through the NHS. We are awaiting the result and I will let you know what we find.

I would like to apply to the school to get him gluten-free school lunches, but they require a formal application signed by a doctor or dietician for this. I have attached the form - would you mind filling out page 2 for us? This would mean the school would be able to monitor his intake slightly better, and he might at least get a little bit of food in during the day.

Many thanks for your help - I feel like we have a completely different child and the stress on our family has significantly reduced.