Mineral Deficiencies Exaggerated While Detoxing

My mineral deficiencies are coming back full force. I guess it must be because the mercury is pulling good minerals out with it.

My muscles are trembling. If I sit my leg up, it beings to shake erratically. It looks like Parkinson's...So I am betting it is my potassium levels. They are ALWAYS low. When I was 18, I went to the ER for lower back pain. Well I found out I had a possible kidney stone and kidney infection. While I was there they did a bunch of blood work and my potassium was very low. I'll never forget what the nurse told me, "Your potassium levels are about as low as we'd expect a 90 year olds to be." I was shocked and asked her what type of symptoms this would cause and she said weakness in the muscles and tremors. I thought to myself...wow I do have that sometimes! I was a young PUNK though with a terrible diet and sleeping schedule. Working 40 hours a week and school for 20 hours a week. I was an insanely busy person.

My potassium has been low forever. As long as I can remember when I've had blood work done. The last time I had a BMP (basic metabolic panel) drawn was 2 months ago and once again, low potassium serum of 3.4 This week I've been doing more research and it keeps coming back to my pituitary. Maybe I can nudge Dr. Goldstein to do a CMP (complete metabolic panel) to see what else is going on with my blood cell count. My white blood cells have been chronically low for about 3 years. I think if I mention the fact I'm using DMSA, he'll agree to it.

Anyway back to the potassium. Low potassium can be a sign of secondary-adrenal insufficiency. I actually read this on page 119 of Dr. Cutler's book, Amalgam Illness: Diagnosis and Treatment. Well I started this blog with the notion that I had primary adrenal insufficiency. This week I'm starting to wonder if it is secondary caused by my under performing pituitary. If my pituitary is not telling my adrenals to make cortisol what other organs and glands are suffering?

We know it isn't making ADH (antidiuretic hormone), which is why I was diagnosed with Diabetes Insipidus. Your pituitary is one of the powerhouses of your body's hormone.

The Anterior side of the pituitary controls ACTH (adrenals), TSH(thyroid), PRL(lactation while pregnant), GH (growth hormone, endoriphins, FSH(reproductive system), and LH(triggers ovulation in women).
The Posterior side of the pituitary controls, ADH(tells your body to conserver water) and Oxytocin(allows for body to begin labor in childbirth).

I am definitely oversimpling but it gives you an idea how important it is. Mine is FULL of mercury, which is what's screwing it up. I wonder how many other people with weird idiopathic pituitary problems are just mercury poisoned...

Hives Are Gone!

YAY The hives are gone now! I have no idea what they were from, but since this reaction occurred, I am going to stick with the 15mg for now. I ordered the 25 mg from VRP, but I will do at least another round with the 15 just to make sure everything is okay.

I feel really bad for people who get hives on a regularly basis. I had no idea how irritating they are! haha Those of you who get them a lot, you have my sympathy.

I am 33 minutes away from my next pill and I am definitely feeling antsy, a little hyper and have a cold sweat. The hearing out of my right ear is a little clogged. I think I may just go ahead and take my next pill. These are definitely mercury redistribution symptoms... My left hand and arm is feeling numb too. That is probably the vitamin b-12 deficiency making another appearance. I'll have to get a shot to alleviate the numbness because the pills do NOTHING for me. It's quite difficult and painful to type when it feels like this, so I'll have to keep this short.

Just to keep this documented. It is Day 1 of Round 5 of my frequent oral DMSA detox. Things are certainly starting to pick up now...I can feel it inside.

More Hives Developing

This small allergic reaction I thought I was having has turned into a major ordeal. I don't know what to do at the moment. I feel terrible. My head hurts. I am very shaky. The lymph node on the back of my neck is really hurting. I noticed today I couldn't look straight up in the air at a plane because it hurt so bad. Oh man, I just feel like everything is falling apart.

I HATE THE DMSA BREAKS!

Now that I got that out of my system, I need to get the hives under control. However I really can't stand taking Benadryl. It knocks me out and makes me feel like I'm drugged. At this point though, I don't think I have a choice. As I was writing this, no joke I went into the bathroom and there is a hive developing above my eyelid...*immediately pops a Benadryl* What was I saying? LOL I love Benadryl.

This is why I am blogging about my detoxing experience...It's unbelievable what the mercury is doing to me on its way out.

AHHHHH I'M SO ITCHY

Oh my goodness. I am so damn itchy. It appears that I have hives of some sort, but I have no idea what from. My one bald spot is extremely itchy. I feel like I need to jump up and down just to keep myself from scratching at it. I have no idea what is happening to me, but this is terrible. Itchiness is one of those things that you can't just forget about. The longer you try to forget about it the more intense it becomes.

When I go to lay down in a few hours, I will be taking Benadryl. There is no way I can sleep like this. I hate using medications like that to artificially calm my body down, but this is insanity.

I have a dentist visit tomorrow to get my nightguard. I will be happy to have it (as long as it fits okay) because I've been grinding at night. I hate that feeling.

Survived Another Round

Well I completed another round of DMSA. This time I decided to go 5 days rather than 4. Other than the interruption of sleep, everything went well. I had no kidney pain, no headaches and no dizziness! Now that I have been off of them, let's hope that my other symptoms don't come back.

The breaks are always much worse than the actual detox. I cannot stress that enough.

I am having some sort of allergic reaction today. I have no idea why or what from, but it's strange. Of all places it is on my jawline and on the back of my right leg near my butt. It's so itchy, but have been trying to focus on something else so I don't scratch it. I'm not a very "allergic person", so this is unusual for me.

Since the DMSA is so expensive going through the pharmacy, I think I'll be bumping myself up a bit to save some cash. The company, Vitamin Research Products (Vrp) sells a lower dose DMSA with 25 mg for $29 for 120 capsules! Going with this company I get more capsules and more DMSA for WAY less than what I'm paying (currently $74) WITHOUT a prescription! From everything I've read from Dr. Cutler, if you want to begin upping your dose, you should go through 4 rounds. Then increase it by half of what you are taking. Half of 15 is 7.5+15=23.5mg I think taking a 25mg capsule is well within the "OK" allowance.

If I go ahead with the larger dose, I will certainly blog about it here. =)

Round 4, Day 3 Mercury Detox

Well I started up again on the DMSA and I feel great. It is like night and day. When I am on the DMSA I feel really good, but as soon as I take my breaks I feel like crap.

I added a new picture to the hair timeline, so feel free to check it out. My hair is doing really well. There might be a new spot, but I still feel very optimistic. I know I'm going to have ups and downs with the detox.

My mind has been more clear. I've been more productive with work too. You know sometimes I'd just have a hard time thinking what words to write. Now I'm not having that trouble as much as I used too. Some may call it writer's block, then I guess that means I had permanent writer's block most of my life. It would take so much energy, nail biting and time to write 1 sentence...

My speaking has been better too. Quite often while speaking I would switch words up too. For example, rather than saying "hit the nail on the head" I'd say hit the head on the nail . This was a common occurrence for me, but it's happening less and less.

Since I am having such positive effects with the DMSA, I can't wait to see how well the ALA will work!

The Dizziness Takes Over

Today I am having periods of dizziness so bad that I am afraid to stand up. It is really really bad. I had my husband help me up the stairs so I didn't fall down.

Hopefully my next prescription of DMSA will be ready in a few days because I need it NOW. When I am on the pills I feel great, but when I go off of them, my body begins to get worse and worse. I guess this is what mercury redistribution is like and from what I've been experiencing it is HELL. No wonder not many people get better with the other mercury detoxes such as chlorella and cilantro. My goodness. If I had to deal with this every day for the rest of the detox I'd go insane.

I don't think I've ever been this dizzy in my life. Maybe once after riding a roller coaster 10 times in a row...but that's to be expected! Somehow I am not nauseated, but definitely not complaining!

The Good And The Bad

Sigh...I have been feeling really terrible these past few days. Just weird aches, dizziness, sudden nausea and headaches. I'm not sure why.

I decided to start up again on the DMSA since I accidentally missed a dose the other night. Hopefully I can get rid of some of the mercury that got stuck in my body since I didn't do the full 4 days.

I finally had my hair cut and it looks great! I just got the ends trimmed and a few layers put in, so it adds more volume. It was even cut parted to the side, so I can hide the hair loss even easier now!

The bad news is that I lost more hair in these past few days. There is a tiny spot near my ear that is bald again. UGH...I just hope it doesn't spread to other areas.

I even took my desmopressin today. It's just a bad day all around.

No I Missed A Dose!!!

NOO!!! I missed a dose in the middle of the night, so that means I have to stop completely. I was so exhausted that I must have turned the timer off and went back to bed. I don't even remember doing this.

I will start up again in 2 days.

Pictures of Alopecia Areata Hair Loss (What Supplemental Iodine Did to Me)

Here is a timeline of the hair loss I experienced in late 2007-2009. I had almost no hair on the left side of my head for a good year.  I thought it would be a good idea to document this in case someone else with alopecia areata finds their way to this site.

How Did It Start?
Supplemental iodine (Iodoral) is what triggered this autoimmune attack. I have no idea why, but that's the only thing I had changed during this time. I don't think natural doctors take iodine seriously enough at all. It's also important to note, I do NOT have Hashimoto's and there is NO family history.

None of these pictures are to be reposted on any other websites without my express permission.

I woke up one morning and had this spot. This is from Nov 21, 2007

Then it started to get a lot worse. This is from December 28, 2007

Continues to progress. It wasn't growing back. This is from February 3, 2008.

It got so bad in these next few months, I was afraid to take a picture. This next picture is from July 11, 2008. This is my hair at its worst. My doctor told me that I may never have hair here again or if I did it would be white. I was devastated. 

I started to get my amalgams out and things were looking better. In this picture I was amalgam free for 7 days and was on day 3 of my detox. This picture is from Sept 16, 2008.

 
Round 4, Day 3 of detoxing. This is from October 19, 2008. There was a new small spot of hair loss just above my ear, but also some more fuzzy hair growth. Approx. Round 7 of detoxing. 

This is from November 15, 2008. Look at all the growth!!

This is from January 14, 2009. Look at the growth. All of the loss that used to extend much higher up and back behind my ear has filled in. The only spot that remains is what I originally lost at the end of '07. I haven't been chelating due to severe reactions, but it is nice to see the other spots growing in.

This is from June 29, 2009! My hair is almost completely grown back. The new growth was about 4-5 inches long and was close to blending in with the rest of my hair.

By 2010, all of my hair had grown back and my hair is extremely full and there are no signs of alopecia areata. This post is a nice warning that even "natural" supplements may give one severe side effects. Just because you can buy it online or at a store doesn't mean it comes without potential consequences.

Round 3, Day 1 Mercury Detox

Well I am on my last round for my trial of DMSA. The doctor only gave me 84 pills and I noticed the pill bottle is getting low.

I am not sure what I'm going to do. I know I will be continuing with the DMSA, but perhaps I should have the dose increased slightly? Or maybe I should just keep going with what I have been?

These are some things I will need to decide upon this week. The insurance company may or may not be covering the DMSA, which was supposed to be covered. Let's just hope it all works out because it is NOT CHEAP. I'd still rather support a local apothecary than some big company that makes preformulated DMSA. This guy was kind enough to create these personally for me.

Aside from the annoying technicalities of detoxing, the incredible thing is that my hair is growing back! YES I KNEW IT! I knew it would even when the dermatologist said it was not possible for mercury poisoning to cause Alopecia Areata. She was full of ...crap and I am glad that I can say that. It's not really worth my money, but I'd love to go back and see her when my hair is completely filled in.

Mentally I've been a disaster, but it's not from the detox. I've been working on a large project that needs to be completed under a strict deadline that is out of my control. The amount of stress I am feeling at the moment is really not healthy, but I have to keep going.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I just feel blah right now.