Re: DDI hair test - help! (Dean, , Jackie, Andy, anyone)

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Has anyone reviewed this test yet? (I haven't gone through archives

to check). Anyway, below find my comments....

>

> Here are my DDI hair test results. I'm hair test # 209:

>

> http://www.livingnetwork.co.za/healingnetwork/hairtest2.html

>

> Do I meet counting rule #1?

>

Yes!

Also, I believe arsenic in the yellow zone is a concern. ALA chelates

arsenic, and it may be one reason to consider using DMPS during chelation.

> Also, symptoms and history below. *Any and all* thoughts/advice

> welcome!

>

>

>

>

> **********************************************************************

>

> 1) What are your current symptoms and health history?

>

> Health history:

>

> Current age: 35

>

So young! You are fortunate to have found Andy's chelation protocol

now so that you can chelate and have a good chance of getting better

and enjoying a healthy life.

> Anxious as a child, but other than that, was a reasonably healthy and

> normal kid. (BTW, had 8 amalgams placed at around age 8, and had all

> the standard baby/childhood vaccinations)

>

> As a teen, started to develop depression, mood swings, and anxiety.

> Also, the first signs of immune dysfunction: got colds very easily

> and very frequently, and they were pretty bad at times. I went on to

> develop a chronic (daily!) sore throat and low-grade fever that

> persists to this day! (although seems a notch better since starting

> chelation about 2 weeks ago). Not sure if this chronic (daily)

> throat/fever thing started in the teens or early 20's.

>

> At age 18, moved to NYC to start college, and then the depression and

> anxiety spun out of control (and started to get panic attacks). This

> persisted throughout my 20's, and gradually lessened in my early

> 30's.

>

> In mid-20's, the first signs of adrenal fatigue: significantly lower

> libido, the beginning signs of hypoglycemia, and jitteriness.

>

> By the early 30's, hypoglycemia had really come to a head (b/c had

> not addressed it earlier). Jitteriness a major problem.

>

> Also during early 30's, started to get annual flu shots, for a period

> of maybe 3 or 4 years (one year, I got 2 within a week's time). I

> believe I was already mercury-toxic to begin with (primarily due to 8

> amalgams, and to a lesser extent, vaccinations and some fish

> consumption), and then the flu shots " put me over the edge " -- b/c I

> started to develop new, " unexplainable " symptoms then that I'd never

> had before -- eg. GI issues (chronic burning stomach, and food

> allergies/sensitivities)

>

Yes, agreed, and you likely have a genetic predisposition (less

ability to clear toxins than some). Once the quantity of mercury in

the body reaches a critical point the mercury itself interferes with

the clearance of metals and at that point chelation is the only way to

get any metals out.

> At age 34 (last fall), took a long course of antibiotics for an upper

> respiratory infection (the aforementioned chronic sore throat and low-

> grade fever). The after-effects of that were very elevated Candida

> yeast and bad (anaerobic) bacteria (b/c the antibiotics decimated my

> good bacteria). (In addition, the sore throat and fever remained!).

>

> A few months after this antibiotic use, I started to get NEW

> problems -- eg. brain fog started up around Nov./Dec. (and got

> steadily worse over the next several months); in Jan., started

> getting mild pressure in heart area (and rarely, subtle " pangs "

> there), which also persists til now; and a lot more GI problems (look

> at list below).

>

> I can understand how high levels of Candida (and bad bacteria) can

> cause brain fog and GI problems, but not sure if they're related to

> the heart problem (tests done for heart in Jan. all came back

> normal... so I suspect either the heart itself, or possible magnesium

> deficiency, or possible acid reflux?, or the Candida)

>

>

> Current symptoms:

>

> Brain/mental:

>

> -- occasional dysthymia, and rarely, depression

> -- mood swings

> -- anxiety

> -- mild OCD tendencies

> -- brain fog (and concomitant lethargy/sluggishness)

>

See Andy's depression post, it may be helpful

http://www.livingnetwork.co.za/healingnetwork/depression.html

> Endocrine/hormonal:

>

> -- adrenal fatigue/hypoadrenalism (low levels of adrenal hormones on

> blood tests. Will do saliva hormone testing soon to confirm)

> -- sluggish and inconsistent libido (due to hypoadrenalism -- low

> level of sex hormones)

> -- hypoglycemia

> -- somewhat irregular periods (esp. during and post amalgam removal)

>

I can't remember what supplements you have tried so far. There are

some good posts from Sunshine (search archives using Sunshine and ACE

as keywords) about how he managed adrenal and thyroid problems with

supplements. If the adrenal problem has reached a critical point you

may need replacement cortisol at physiological doses.

For the hypoglycemia consider chromium picolinate with meals plus the

diet suggestions Andy gives in the adrenal section of AI.

Consider DHEA and pregnenolone.

At some point a standard hormone panel may reveal that you need

testosterone cream (will do wonders for libido) and progesterone cream

(helps with lots of things).

> Hormonal +/or " neurological " :

>

> -- chronic jitteriness / exagerrated startle response / noise

> sensitivity

> -- rarely, brief tremor of head (when " startled " -- refer above)

> -- " uncoordination " feeling / stiff movement feeling (again, related

> to above)

>

> Gastrointestinal:

>

> -- chronic burning stomach

> -- food allergies/sensitivities

>

> (the following symptoms are recent -- only had for the last 6 - 8

> months, post antibiotic use...)

>

> -- inconsistent, and rather infrequent, BM's

> -- very high levels of Candida yeast (dysbiosis)

> -- high levels of bad (anaerobic) bacteria (dysbiosis)

> -- malabsorption? (not enough stomach acid +/or digestive

> enzymes?) (malabsorption suspected b/c lately cholesterol and

> triglycerides always low, and also lost 5 lb.s in 2 weeks, about 2

> months ago)

> -- rarely (once a month), mild anal (bile?) leakage (steatorrhea?)

> (NOT fecal matter/diarrhea, but I suspect bile -- color is green,

> oily, and smells different. Also, during BM's during this time,

> little green oily " droplets " floating on surface of toilet water. --

> Anyone know what this is??)

I don't.

> -- occasionally, gas

>

The gas is from things that aren't digested and absorbed properly

moving further down and getting digested anaerobically by the

organisms that are there.

See Andy's file in the files section " Diet - How to pick the right

one for your kid.txt " It takes time to sort out diet issues, and

people find that they have individual needs. There are some common

factors.

> Immune system:

>

> -- chronic sore throat and low-grade fever (w/ nasal congestion)

> -- chronic sour taste in mouth (seems unrelated to oral hygiene -- I

> believe comes from the sore throat infection -- ie. bacteria from the

> infection)

>

> Heart:

>

> -- chronic mild pressure in heart area (and rarely, mild " pangs "

> there)

>

> Other:

>

> -- frequent urination

>

With frequent urination a person has a tendency to drink less, hoping

that will lead to less trips to the loo. It is best to drink more,

and it won't change the number of trips.

> 2) Dental history (wisdom teeth removed? First root canal placed?

> Braces? First amalgam etc...)

>

> 8 amalgams placed as kid (not sure exact age, but around 8 or so).

>

> No other dental work done (no root canals or braces, and wisdom teeth

> intact).

>

> 3) What dental work do you currently have in place? What part of the

> dental cleanup have you completed?

>

> Completed amalgam removal in early July, and now have non-toxic glass-

> type inlays in their place.

>

Soon you will hit the 3 month point. It would be good to have a

chelation plan in place, supplements and medications for support, to

help you through what Andy has called the " roller coaster ride " that

starts at about the 3 month point.

> 4) What dentistry did your mother have at any time before or during

> pregnancy?

>

> She doesn't think she had any dental work done during pregnancy. She

> did have a couple fillings put in, but doesn't remember if it were

> before the pregnancy, or a few years later. (Also, this was done in

> S. Korea, but I'm assuming they use mercury in their amalgams too)

>

> 5) What vaccinations have you had and when (including flu and

> especially travel shots)?

>

> All standard baby/childhood vaccinations (eg. chicken pox, polio,

> mumps, etc) -- mom thinks from around ages 6 months old to 3 years

> old or so. (This was done in S. Korea in the early/mid 70's, so not

> sure if they were any different than those given in the US, but

> probably not). Got a tetanus booster shot sometime in 20's (and

> probably before then too).

>

> No travel shots (that I'm aware), but had annual flu shots in early

> 30's, for about 3 or 4 years straight.

>

> 6) Supplements and medications (including dosages) taken at time of

> hair test, or for the 3-6 months before the sample was taken.

>

> No meds.

>

> Supplements:

>

> -- Solgar Antioxidant Complex (vit. A, C, E, glutathione, cysteine,

> etc)

The glutathione and cysteine may be bothersome if you are sulfur food

intolerant. You would need to do a sulfur food exclusion diet to

test. See the links and files sections, and AI, for details.

> -- Ester C, about 2000 mg/day

> -- Vit. D, 1600 IU/day

> -- Tocotrienols (vit. E), 70 mg/day

>

> -- OmegaBrite Omega 3 fish oil caps, 10 caps/day (5000 mg/day)

>

> -- L-tyrosine, 500 - 1000 mg/day

> -- SamE, 800 mg/day

>

SamE may be a problem if sulfur food intolerant.

> -- Adrenal Support Formula (RLC Labs) (adrenal tissue, ashwagandha,

> rhodiola root extract, ginseng, licorice, ginger, etc)

> -- Adrenalyze (DaVinci Labs) (all B vit.s, ginseng, ashwangandha,

> phosphatidylserine, licorice)

>

> -- Ulcetrol (NOW) (calcium, zinc, zinc-l-carnosine complex, mastic

> gum, slippery elm)

>

You will need to review you supplements to insure that you have the

major ones in place. I don't see magnesium above, and that is one of

the major essential ones that we need in fairly high doses. Ensure

that you have adequate zinc (see AI for doses). I don't know how to

convert mg vit E to IU, you might want to check on that too.

Some of the other ones to consider are chromium picolinate with meals

for blood sugar regulation, increasing vit C, adequate B vitamins,

milk thistle for liver and bile flow, more omega 3, inositol, molybdenum.

The water soluble things need to be taken about 4x per day (usually

with meals and at bedtime). Oil soluble things can be taken once per

day (oils and vit E).

(I didn't have time to review my comments for mistakes and typos)

Hope this helps in some way. I know that it all seems so overwhelming

at first! You are doing a great job of investigating and doing what

you can to help yourself.

J

> 7) Other information you feel may be relevant? no

>

> 8) What is your location - city & country (so that we can learn where

> certain toxins are more prevalent).

>

> New York, NY (and occasionally Chicago, IL area)

>