Heavy Metal Toxicity and Mineral Levels

     When I started researching detoxification and which toxicities cause what symptoms, heavy metals stood out to me.
In this day in age people are more toxic with heavy metals than ever before. Fracking has contaminated our water systems, mercury is found in amalgam fillings and energy efficient light bulbs, lead is still found in paint (lead paint is legal for outdoor use) and many other sources, and aluminum is used extensively in the kitchen. Nearly everyone has had mercury fillings at some point, everyone uses metal cookware, and we have all inhaled contaminated air (think cigarette smoke), metal is not easy to avoid.
    The symptoms of mercury poisoning are extremely similar to the symptoms of tick borne diseases. Common mercury poisoning symptoms are-neuropathy, fatigue, memory loss, brain fog, depression, tremors, and food sensitivities, just to name a few. Sound familiar? All of these are hallmark lyme disease symptoms.
     Heavy metal detoxification is a part of several lyme treatment protocols, including but not limited to those used by Dr.Burrascano and Dr.Horowitz. So, I went online and ordered myself a hair minerals and toxic metals test.

These are my results.

High-Mercury, lead, silver, nickel, copper, and barium.

The high lead was a shock to me. Mercury and copper are found in dental amalgams ( I had 4 when I took this test) so this was expected. What about the lead? Where did the it come from? Lead isn't found in amalgams, shouldn't be in cookware, the kitchen somewhere maybe?

The water pipes...the lead soldering that attaches the copper water pipes. Bingo, that must be it. My water must be contaminated with lead. My ND advised me to start on EDTA as soon as possible to chelate lead. I used a product called Total Chelate, a mixture of minerals and Ca-EDTA. I started at 1 pill 2x a day to 2 pills 3x daily.

Within a few days of starting this protocol, brain fog and fatigue improved. Finally a breathrough!

 Ca-EDTA mainly, if not only, chelates lead. So the copper, mercury, etc were still untouched left to ravage my system with their toxic affects.

To chelate mercury I wanted to follow the Cutler protocol. To do this correctly I had to have those darn mercury fillings removed.

 I only had 4 so it wasn't too bad. I found a mercury free dentist who followed the correct safety procedures for removing and disposing of the metal. In two visits plus a consult, they were out.

 

A few days after the last two were removed, I started DMSA chelation. Following the Cutler protocol, I started on 12.5mg. I would take DMSA every 4 hours, 3 days a week. This also helped my symptoms to reduce further. I started this protocol in June of this year.

Three months after starting the DMSA and being amalgam free, it is safe to add another chelator called alpha lipoic acid. Alpha lipoic acid (ALA for short) is naturally produced in the body as a precursor to glutathione. ALA and glutathione are used by the body (especially the liver) to remove toxins from the cells. A three month wait is needed so the DMSA can clear mercury and other metals from the tissues. According to the protocol, DMSA should be used to chelate the body and ALA should be used to chelate the brain.

I began ALA  in September, at a 100mg dose. In the beginning I had a strong herx reaction that knocked me down for several days. I would cut the 300mg pill into 4 pieces and take 2 each day slowly working up to 100mg 3x a day.

 

Later on in September, I repeated the test. Here are the results.

 

The results improved

in only a few months! Test #1 was taken in March, #2 in September, only 6 months.

The lead is way down. Nickel and copper also decreased. Mercury increased, possibly from detoxification- the mercury leaving can go out through the hair. No worry there.

Tin jumping up I thought was interesting. I don't have an explanation for that. It could also be detoxification.

 

Then looking at the changes in minerals, you can see that magnesium and iodine are high. I have been taking magnesium for years. I first started on calm magnesium the first visit with Dr,L., this spike was a surprise to me. I don't even take it religiously anymore, just a spoonful every few days. On the first test I had nearly no lithium whatsoever. So my ND advised me to start supplementing that, now it is nearly in range. Another little victory :) I read this book called "Feel Good Nutrigenomics" By Dr.Amy Yasko. She stated lithium was often found low in Lyme patients. No reason given, just that its typical. I wonder if a certain toxin from the bacteria displaces it.

The biggest surprise to me was the iodine. I didn't start taking iodine until after taking test #2, but before I received the results. I don't even eat an iodine rich diet. Its a mystery to me. Personally I do not believe my iodine is actually that high. I believe one of the toxins, whether it be a halogen or metal, is displacing it, into my hair. Chlorine, bromine, and fluoride, the halogens, are known to displace iodine. Halogens have the ability to displace each other in our bodies. Bromine, for example, is know to block iodine from the thyroid. I believe my iodine is being displaced. There is no way it could jump over 70 points without supplementation. It will be interesting to see what its at on test #3 next year.

 

Calcium and phosphorus levels also improved, possibly as a side effect of removing mercury. Another little victory :)

 

This has been the journey of detoxifying heavy metals from my body. Unlike my lyme protocol, this one changes very little. I only take ALA now, the DMSA just stopped giving me results.

 

This was a fun post to write, I think so many of our common diseases today are caused primarily by toxins. I feel like these tests back up this opinion at least to some degree.

 

Until tomorrow, God bless.

 

 

 

 

 

My Views on Lyme Treatment

     I have to be honest, I am not a fan of conventional lyme treatment. I do not believe finding a doctor to prescribe antibiotics will lead to everyone being cured or reach remission from lyme disease. The literal meaning of antibiotic is "anti-life". It doesn't make sense to me, kill bacteria and be healed...Too good to be true??

     I believe the best way to treat any disease is holistically. Holistic healing is when all systems of the body are addressed. Usually diet modification is one of the first steps. Avoiding all processed sugars, synthetic chemicals, GMO foods, and hydrogenated fat is paramount. Our bodies have to work extra hard to process these "foods" because they were not designed to break down and remove such loads of toxins.

    How can our bodies fight an infection if it is too busy trying to process a massive sugar overload? The answer is-not well. I know, I know, we all know that person who can eat whatever they want and do whatever they want without ever getting fat, sick, or bogged down. Don't assume you are one of those people. If you have lyme disease like me, you aren't one of those people (you wouldn't be sick).

     According to Medicine.net each American consumes 29 pounds of ADDED sugar each year. This is not counting the natural sugar from fruits and vegetables, only the processed, refined sugar. That is huge! Refined sugar lowers our immune system. Therefore eliminating it, in theory, would boost the immune system right?  Shouldn't this be step one of the first-line treatments for illness? It is fairly simple in my book. LLMD's are not easy to come by, and remember it is the treatment they provide that assist in healing the body. The act of visiting a doctor and sitting in his/her presence will not cure a disease or put it in remission.

     My philosophy is to boost the body's' natural ability to heal itself. Our bodies are built from vitamins, proteins and minerals, not antibiotics, pain relievers, or synthetic chemicals. To boost the immune system our bodies need to have the natural building blocks to create immune cells and repair damaged cells.
Without proper nutrition from a healthy diet, the body cannot rebuild itself. Building blocks cannot be pulled out of thin air, they must be consumed in some way.
No synthetic chemical-MSG, aspartame, antibiotics, synthetic vitamins, sodium benzoate, etc will build your immune system or rebuild the body.

     So why do so many of us go straight to a chemical for a fix? If you get a headache what do you reach for? Man made chemical most likely. There is a cause for the headache, and it isn't your body crying out for a synthetic pain reliever. Headaches, from a conventional viewpoint, have several known causes but few known cures. On the other hand, a holistic doctor is going to look for a cause. If the irritant is found and removed, the headaches will be gone. When the cause is taken away, the symptom cannot not happen. It really is that simple.

     When I started researching self-treatment of Lyme Disease, a few things jumped out at me. One was that many people decide to go gluten free, and another was the wide use of herbs. Both of these have an impressive track record for improving symptoms. It turns out gluten is pro-inflammatory, just like borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. Inflammation is what causes our joints to hurt (just to name one symptom). By consuming gluten we are adding insult to injury. Literally!

     When the pro-inflammatory gluten is removed from our diet, inflammation will decrease. Less inflammation will equal less pain. Imagine that. Removing one simple food item can change the expression of symptoms. Imagine how our bodies would react to removing all synthetic chemicals, processed/nutrient lacking food, and heavy metals that poison our bodies. The immune system would be able to work correctly.
Remember that next time you take a pill.

    Then there are the herbs. Several of the most popular herbs for treating tick borne infection are anti-inflammatory. Resveratrol is an example of a strong anti-inflammatory. These herbs remove some of the inflammation our stressed bodies produce, how many antibiotics do that? On top of being anti-inflammatory herbs can also be immune modulating. Immune modulating herbs change which immune cells are created. Our immune systems create immune cells for acute infections and chronic infections. The immune system will quickly become overloaded  if it tries to kill a chronic infection with acute immune cells. The immune modulating herbs help our bodies adjust to the correct expression.

     Single herbs have more than single benefits. The herb resveratrol, for example, is used as an anti-inflammatory, immune booster, and strong anti-oxidant. I don't know of any single antibiotic that can do all of that. Anti-biotics are made to kill bacteria. They cannot help the body rebuild damaged tissue or re-balance the sleep/wake cycle. By default, however, symptoms will improve when the bacteria are killed (the cause is depleted). In Lyme disease patients, myself included, go through months of antibiotic treatment and experience an increase in symptoms. When the bacteria are killed they release neuro-toxins that, if allowed to build up in the system, increase the symptoms. This is referred to as a herxenheimer reaction.

     There is no prescription drug for a herx reaction. Natural therapies actually provide dozens of remedies. N-Acetyl-cysteine, alpha lipoic acid, and glutathione reduce toxic build up in the liver, for an example.
The liver has to process everything that goes through our bodies, food, drugs, herbs, everything. If the liver cannot keep up, the organs before and after it become stressed. This would be the stomach, kidneys, gallbladder, and skin(primarily). Taking a look at chronically ill people it is common to find patients who no longer have a gallbladder. Instead of preventing the organ from becoming over stressed and toxic in the first place, it was just surgically removed after it was too late.

     Holistic methods treat all of the body systems. When used correctly, the detox organs are supported to aid in removing wastes, the immune system is aided by adding herbs that assist in killing bacteria, and diet is changed to provide maximum nutrition. Once the body is able to "catch up" the immune system will be able to adequately kill bacteria once again. I personally do not know of any conventional treatment method that can provide this type of restorative therapy.

Anyway, this is my rant about why we shouldn't rely on one method to achieve relief from Lyme disease. In the future I will post more on my diet and the reasons I eat the foods I eat.