My hair test (temp file, Lou)

[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

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. I will give you as much info as I can and I am looking

forward to finally putting my health issues right. Thank you so very

much; I wish I'd asked for help with this before but as the hair test

came with its own analysis of a kind, I thought at the time that that

was enough (I don't believe now that it was).

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.

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

after having previously had none in my adult teeth. 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, let alone taking

time between rounds. 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.

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),

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 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

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.

.