Earlier today I shared this blog on G+. This is an amazing blog written by a mother whose two children developed autism. She had to rise above the standard medical system, which has no cure for autism, to save her two children from a life long tether to prescriptions.
This mother, Jessica, successfully treated her two boys. I bet you have never even heard of anything like this! She was able to completely reverse autism in both of her children, using natural methods.
You have to check this out. Not everyone understands the cause of autism, or that it can be reversed when treated correctly. She goes deep into the cause of their cases, which included heavy metal toxicity and food allergies.
The reason I am sharing this with you is because the natural treatment of autism is fairly similar to how lyme disease is treated.
The point is to remove what is blocking your body from healing, heavy metals, allergic foods, toxic foods, etc.
When you take away the reason your body cannot heal, it can begin to repair itself. That is when we can achieve optimum health. On paper it is that simple, by removing the cause, the symptom will also be removed. Its practicing your own specific protocol that will lead to healing. We are all toxic from different pollutants, everyone is their own individual when it comes to health.
Their treatment involved parasite cleanses, hair tests for heavy metals, stool tests to check gut bacteria, and herbs along with vitamins to help their bodies heal.
I have done all of this actually for my lyme treatment! I have already posted about my chelation journey, Jessica is where is learned about the method I used.
At some point in the future I will post some of the other tests I have done along with nearly all of the supplements I have taken up to this point. I have had neurotransmitter tests, stool tests, liver and kidney, genetic tests, allergy panels, etc.
She used all of these same things on her children. Another thing that worked well for both of us was homeopathy. I had great results when I was taking ledum palustre, it just didn't last for me and I couldn't find an alternative. One day I will get back into this.
Jessica also had her children tested for lyme disease, which has been found to be fairly common in autistic people. She writes about this on her blog, I guess you will just have to read it to find out more...
Showing posts with label tests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tests. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2015
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
How I was Diagnosed
Lyme disease is a tricky organism to find. Easy to contract...but a pain in the rear to locate. The tests are insensitive, and the symptoms can be hard to narrow down. I mean really, do you know how many ailments fatigue and joint pain is associated with? Its not a small number!! Fatigue can be caused by anything, insomnia, the flu, mono, hypothyroidism, a cold, cytomegalovirus, exercise, etc.
Joint pain is not as common as fatigue. Joint is usually only associated with osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, which is lyme is misdiagnosed as often.
PCR, Western Blot, and ELISA are the most common tests utilized for diagnosing lyme disease.
Usually a doctor will order an ELISA (enyme linked immunosorbent assay) first, according to ILADS it misses 35% of culture proven lyme disease. That's a big number to just ignore. 35 out of every 100 people are told they tested negative for lyme disease, even though they are infected.
The western blot for lyme disease is the most favorable test in the lyme community. This test detects proteins in the blood which are measured as bands. Some of these bands are extremely specific to the lyme bacteria, here is a breakdown of each individual band meanings.
Some of these single bands can prove the presence of borrelia (band 18), while most are indirect i.e. band 41.
The western blot is so popular because it can show the level of infection. Igenix specifically shows how positive each band reacted, some are low + and some are higher +++. The more + the higher the immune response towards the band. One thing Igenix does that is unique is that they show equivocal results. Equivocal is the fine line between positive and negative, something showed up on the test but not enough to call it a for sure positive.
The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test is also popular. PCR is very accurate but not sensitive. The infection has to be high for it to be detected, but a positive result of this test has an almost 0% occurrence of false positives. The ELISA can have false positives (though rare) and the western blot bands can be reactive to other pathogens. The PCR is not as popular as the ELISA and WB because it is more expensive and can miss new infections.
Personally, the only thing I ever tested positive for was rocky mountain spotted fever through Quest. I was also tested through Quest for lyme (ELISA) and ehrlichia, but they always came back negative.
When I started to do my own treatment I ordered a kit through Igenix. Those tests all returned negative for babesia, bartonella, and anaplasma. A lyme EIA was equivocal and the western blot had band 41+ (ill post the results if I can find them). The EIA could be considered positive by some LLMD's, I don't think much of it.
One of the best methods, however, is clinical diagnosis. This is when a doctor matches your symptoms to the illness, ignoring negative test results. This is also how I diagnosed myself long before any doctor told me what I did or did not have. Most people in the Lyme community will tell you to find a doctor who is capable of a clinical diagnosis. I agree with that, no blood test is 100% accurate. Doesn't matter what its looking for, mistakes can be made.
After the Igenix results is when I returned to the ND. The ND I go to utilizes a SCIO biofeedback device. I like this device because it detects the body's reaction to so many things at once. It will also show stresses towards pathogens. My body was stressed towards RMSF, Lyme, malaria, ebv, cmv, and some parasites. Ill be darned...something actually showed up! The malaria could be a cross react with babesia, which is a cousin to malaria. That's what I am calling it anyway.
Before this, I had received 3 consecutive negative tests for RMSF, yet it showed up as a high stress right of the bat on the machine. Imagine that, my body knew it was there, my immune system just wasn't reacting anymore.
ND's cannot officially diagnose me with anything, only MD's and DO's are legally allowed to do that. They can advise for and against supplements, but they cannot tell me I have to do something.
So they advised me to take several supplements to bring my body back into balance. This went well, but none of my symptoms ever actually ceased.
I still go to the ND. The machine can also test reactivity to supplements (like muscle testing) and if they are causing my body stress. Since I have to treat using supplements entirely, this can be an invaluable resource. I also like to see how my stresses change from month to month. I went today in fact, that will be my next post.
I hope this post offered you some clarity towards how lyme can be tested for!
Joint pain is not as common as fatigue. Joint is usually only associated with osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, which is lyme is misdiagnosed as often.
PCR, Western Blot, and ELISA are the most common tests utilized for diagnosing lyme disease.
Usually a doctor will order an ELISA (enyme linked immunosorbent assay) first, according to ILADS it misses 35% of culture proven lyme disease. That's a big number to just ignore. 35 out of every 100 people are told they tested negative for lyme disease, even though they are infected.
The western blot for lyme disease is the most favorable test in the lyme community. This test detects proteins in the blood which are measured as bands. Some of these bands are extremely specific to the lyme bacteria, here is a breakdown of each individual band meanings.
Some of these single bands can prove the presence of borrelia (band 18), while most are indirect i.e. band 41.
The western blot is so popular because it can show the level of infection. Igenix specifically shows how positive each band reacted, some are low + and some are higher +++. The more + the higher the immune response towards the band. One thing Igenix does that is unique is that they show equivocal results. Equivocal is the fine line between positive and negative, something showed up on the test but not enough to call it a for sure positive.
The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test is also popular. PCR is very accurate but not sensitive. The infection has to be high for it to be detected, but a positive result of this test has an almost 0% occurrence of false positives. The ELISA can have false positives (though rare) and the western blot bands can be reactive to other pathogens. The PCR is not as popular as the ELISA and WB because it is more expensive and can miss new infections.
Personally, the only thing I ever tested positive for was rocky mountain spotted fever through Quest. I was also tested through Quest for lyme (ELISA) and ehrlichia, but they always came back negative.
When I started to do my own treatment I ordered a kit through Igenix. Those tests all returned negative for babesia, bartonella, and anaplasma. A lyme EIA was equivocal and the western blot had band 41+ (ill post the results if I can find them). The EIA could be considered positive by some LLMD's, I don't think much of it.
One of the best methods, however, is clinical diagnosis. This is when a doctor matches your symptoms to the illness, ignoring negative test results. This is also how I diagnosed myself long before any doctor told me what I did or did not have. Most people in the Lyme community will tell you to find a doctor who is capable of a clinical diagnosis. I agree with that, no blood test is 100% accurate. Doesn't matter what its looking for, mistakes can be made.
After the Igenix results is when I returned to the ND. The ND I go to utilizes a SCIO biofeedback device. I like this device because it detects the body's reaction to so many things at once. It will also show stresses towards pathogens. My body was stressed towards RMSF, Lyme, malaria, ebv, cmv, and some parasites. Ill be darned...something actually showed up! The malaria could be a cross react with babesia, which is a cousin to malaria. That's what I am calling it anyway.
Before this, I had received 3 consecutive negative tests for RMSF, yet it showed up as a high stress right of the bat on the machine. Imagine that, my body knew it was there, my immune system just wasn't reacting anymore.
ND's cannot officially diagnose me with anything, only MD's and DO's are legally allowed to do that. They can advise for and against supplements, but they cannot tell me I have to do something.
So they advised me to take several supplements to bring my body back into balance. This went well, but none of my symptoms ever actually ceased.
I still go to the ND. The machine can also test reactivity to supplements (like muscle testing) and if they are causing my body stress. Since I have to treat using supplements entirely, this can be an invaluable resource. I also like to see how my stresses change from month to month. I went today in fact, that will be my next post.
I hope this post offered you some clarity towards how lyme can be tested for!
Friday, October 23, 2015
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.
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