Re: My hair test (temp file, Lou)

[Guest guest]

Lou:

Cutler has written a book about interpreting hair tests. If

you multiply your essential mineral results by ten (to put them in

the same units as the Doctor's Data hair tests) and the use the

reference ranges from the Doctor's Data tests, it looks like you may

have mercury toxicity. This is just my rough estimate, but it looks

like your results meet two of Andy's criteria:

The number of results above the 50th percentile is five or fewer; and

The number of results between the 16th and the 84th percentile is

eleven or fewer.

Meeting either one of these criteria indicates deranged mineral

transport, with 97.5% confidence. Mercury is the most likely cause of

deranged mineral transport.

I don't know whether my assumptions are valid about comparing your

test results to Doctor's Data test results, but perhaps mercury is a

factor, after all.

>

> Hello,

>

> Dean has got back to me about my hair test and he says that

because

> it is not a DDI test and because it is a big file, he will put it

up

> for a week. He told me to link to it here and to post the history

I'd

> sent to him, so I will do this now. Any help would be very much

> appreciated, thanks.

>

> http://www.livingnetwork.co.za/files/temp1.pdf

>

> This hair test was done last February. The first thing I saw on it

> was very low mercury, and I took this as an indication that

mercury

> was not my problem, so I stopped the chelation I was doing. I can

see

> now that the results actually seem to indicate that I DO have

mercury

> poisoning. ...

>

> .

>

[Guest guest]

>

> Lou:

> Cutler has written a book about interpreting hair tests. If

> you multiply your essential mineral results by ten (to put them in

> the same units as the Doctor's Data hair tests) and the use the

> reference ranges from the Doctor's Data tests, it looks like you

may

> have mercury toxicity. This is just my rough estimate, but it looks

> like your results meet two of Andy's criteria:

> The number of results above the 50th percentile is five or fewer;

and

> The number of results between the 16th and the 84th percentile is

> eleven or fewer.

>

> Meeting either one of these criteria indicates deranged mineral

> transport, with 97.5% confidence. Mercury is the most likely cause

of

> deranged mineral transport.

>

> I don't know whether my assumptions are valid about comparing your

> test results to Doctor's Data test results, but perhaps mercury is

a

> factor, after all.

That's quite a confidence factor.

Yes, I did these counts and was thinking the same thing. I'm

wondering if any people here who are experts with this, who have seen

many hair tests, can give me an idea of how mine compares. If I'm

really lucky, maybe even some insight into what I can do (apart from

chelate) to get better.

Thanks for having a look

[Guest guest]

>

> Hello,

>

> Dean has got back to me about my hair test and he says that because

> it is not a DDI test and because it is a big file, he will put it up

> for a week. He told me to link to it here and to post the history I'd

> sent to him, so I will do this now. Any help would be very much

> appreciated, thanks.

>

> http://www.livingnetwork.co.za/files/temp1.pdf

According to the fine print on the first page of the results, the

analysis was performed by Trace Elements, Inc. This is one of the

labs Andy tells us is reliable and we can apply counting rules to

the results.

It easily meets the " all low " rule with only 3 above the midline.

This indicates mineral transport is deranged. Proper chelation

should help.

People with this type of hair test typically need something to improve

their digestion and absorption of nutrients. Supplemental stomach acid

and digestive enzymes are the usual starting points.

The undetectable lithium suggests a need for supplementation.

> I am 36 years old and was in good health until autumn of 2004, when I

> suddenly experienced the symptoms of SAD. The SAD never cleared up in

> the summers but it did improve during those months. Main symptoms

> were depression, fatigue, suddenly heavy menstrual periods, brain

> fog, coldness at night, getting sleepy early/waking early, and

> carbohydrate cravings. I took an antidepressant for 6 months which

> unfortunately exacerbated the problem and left me with lasting new

> symptoms even after discontinuation: emotional numbness, sexual

> dysfunction, sensitivity to light and sound, inability to exercise,

> severe reaction to hot weather.

Some of your symptoms suggest imbalances in progesterone and estrogen.

Don't forget to address any deficiencies in these hormones as they can

contribute to depression as well.

> 2 months before the illness began, I had 4 amalgam fillings put in,

> after having previously had none in my adult teeth.

This is the likely cause or trigger for your depression.

In June of 2007 I

> had these removed without precautions. I chelated with DMSA for 2

> months and added ALA; continued hard chelation for 5 more months

> until I stopped in February 2008. I ended up on a dose of 100mg ALA

> and 50mg DMSA 7x in 24 hours, without any breaks in chelation. I felt

> too awful to function when I missed a single dose,

Are you aware that you need to end the round when you miss a dose?

let alone taking

> time between rounds.

It is normal to have some redistribution when you end a round. If the

symptoms you have at this time are not tolerable or if they last more

than a day or so, you need to reduce the dose. The lower dose will

move less metals during the round, so you will experience less

redistribution when you stop.

I didn't understand this and thought maybe the

> chelators were doing nothing but propping up exhausted adrenals. By

> this time I'd had a saliva cortisol test which showed adrenal

> exhaustion and low DHEA, and a urine test which measured thyroid

> metabolites showing that I had poor T4-T3 conversion. At that point I

> decided to rule out mercury as a problem and worked on adrenal and

> thyroid treatment. Currently I am taking 9mg methylprednisolone a day

> for adrenal support, and have worked up to 2 grains of Armour. But

> neither is clearing my symptoms and I've had to look again at mercury

> as a possible problem.

>

> I have never had any health problems until this happened. I had been

> feeling good, was going to the gym and was fitter than I'd ever been

> in my life, and had no reason to feel depressed. I wasn't on any

> medications and had never had major surgery (apart from a C-section a

> year and a half previously).

>

> I had quite a few amalgams as a child, and had all my wisdom teeth

> removed when I was about 16. I was always prone to depression and low

> self-esteem when I was young, as well as being generally lethargic.

So you had prior problems with depression and when new amalgams were

placed in adulthood this added a large new dose of exposure and

triggered a new depression.

> My adult teeth had had no work on them apart from a small white

> filling until the amalgams were put in. I had them replaced with

> white fillings. I felt awful until I started the DMSA and had some

> initial symptoms that went away, such as occasional ringing in my

> ears, digestive upset, and deep brain fog.

>

> I haven't had any vaccines since I was a child and I had the normal

> ones then, which would have amounted to a lot less than what children

> get today.

>

> Supplements taken at the time of the hair test: the DMSA and ALA. A

> food-based multivitamin, 9g vitamin C per day, 800mg magnesium, 400mg

> calcium, 50mg zinc (I have since discontinued the calcium and zinc),

The zinc in particular is a very important supplement for people with

mercury problems. It is one of the minimal set of supplements that

Andy recommends.

> 400mg vitamin E, 2000mg vitamin D3, a colloidal mineral supplement,

> 3g fish oil, ginkgo biloba and ashwagandha. I have to say that with

> the mineral supplementation, I was surprised to see my low mineral

> levels, and

I suggest you check your supplement doses against Andy's advice in

Amalgam Illness (see p. 133-134). You might want to try higher doses

of some of these, for example fish oil, vitamin E, and minerals. You

are completely missing some supps, such as milk thistle.

I think that actually indicates that mercury could be a

> problem for me. I am now also taking 1500mg vitamin B5, an iron

> supplement (for low ferritin), and 100mg CoQ10, as well as the

> adrenal and thyroid meds. I have just started taking a Siberian

> ginseng tincture and have some HCL betaine on order. I think I will

> switch to epsom salts for magnesium and increase my intake of that

> mineral.

>

> The main symptom I want to be free from is depression. It never stops

Have you looked at Andy's advice for depression? I think you said you

had a bad experience with antidepressants, and I did too. Sometimes

these problems occur because you are given a drug that is

inappropriate for the type of neurotransmitter imbalance you have.

Sometimes it is because your liver can't metabolize the drugs

properly.

I found Andy's advice much more helpful than the " help " I got from

psychiatrists. I encourage you to look at this to see where you fit

and what treatments he suggests:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/15287

Keep working on hormone issues. Imbalances of progesterone and

estrogen can also contribute to depression. If you haven't done any

testing of these hormones, it is a good idea. Hormones interact in

various ways. Providing lots of adrenal supportive measures may not

fully address your adrenal symptoms until you treat other hormone

deficiencies.

> and I haven't been " myself " for years. I thought the T3 in the Armour

> would help but nothing seems to. I have started a proper round of

> DMSA at 6mg today and have hopes that this is what I need to get

> better.

It's a good dose for getting started again. How is it going? Have

you ended the round?

--

> .

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Thanks for having a look at my hair test. I'll continue with chelation,

and I've had other indicators that my cortisol wasn't optimised, so

I've increased that -- should help, since I was getting low cortisol

problems even on 6mg DMSA. I've also got some betaine HCL coming my

way. Here's hoping!

.