The Journey Continues...

Here is My story-Part 3!

All eight amalgams were removed in September '08 and I began to chelate with low dose DMSA following Dr. Cutler's frequent dose protocol. I didn't realize that EDTA, cilantro, challenge tests and chlorella were dangerous before. I no longer recommend them to anyone. My hair started to grow back within a few days of chelating with DMSA.

Unfortunately during my 8th round of chelation in October '08 I crashed. I don't know if it was the chelation, a mercury dump or it was just destined to happen. I began to get very itchy. It started off with hives and then led to skin itchiness, which completely controlled my life. This went on for 2-3 months. Finally I started to lose weight/night sweats and went to a PCP in the area. She told me I had swollen lymph nodes near my collar bone and was quite concerned about me. She did the standard basic blood work and my TSH came back undetectable. The PCP was convinced I had a hyperthyroid and sent me for testing. However I refused to undergo the radioactive scan/uptake test. I did the ultrasound which came back completely normal. More blood work actually suggested secondary hypothyroid because I had low FT3/FT4. She completely dismissed this and thinks TSH is the know all for the thyroid. Worthless, useless doctor and she didn't really want to hear about it anymore and just referred me to an endo. Yes she was a DO btw. Some people think these types of docs are wonderful... Well in my experience they are terrible too.

Dr. Goldstein wasn't sure about all of this and he told me to see an endo as well. During this time, the itching was just so bad. It would make me shake. Some blood work showed an elevated ALT , low neutrophils and WBC's. This is when I completely discontinued chelation and decided my body needed to rest.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the itchiness got better on its own. I developed severe chest pains in the middle of December which were terrible too. At first it was quite sharp, but then became this dull ache that last for several weeks. A trip to the ER did not reveal much of anything. They told me I pulled my chest wall. I just recently got the labs from that ER visit and it shows my potassium was low, which can cause heart problems and my ALT was elevated again. None of this was ever mentioned to me when I was there. Apparently they didn't think it was important... The lesson here to ALWAYS GET COPIES OF YOUR BLOOD WORK!

While waiting for the endo appointment to arrive, I started looking online for more answers. I needed help and knew the endo would be a waste of my time. I just wanted to be as prepared as possible for the appointment with a stack of labs in hand, so I didn't have to come back again. Thankfully I found a few yahoo groups and a hormone support group with other people suffering from the same symptoms as me! They were able to tell me which labs needed checked especially since I was dx with diabetes insipidus. During all of this, I was recommended a doctor about 5 hours from me and after some thinking decided to go see him.

It was the best decision I ever made in my life. After all of this craziness, I think I might actually get some help. No offense to Dr. G but he never helped me in the entire year's time I saw him and wasted that entire year chasing bullshit. I was never given florinef even though he saw my low aldosterone numbers. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. The new doctor questions whether I really have Diabetes Insipidus and that it may only be low aldosterone symptoms. He has diagnosed me with adrenal insufficiency (the cause we are still investigating), low aldosterone, and hypothyroid.

I just started on florinef and will slowly raise it over the next few weeks. I can't wait to see what it does for me! Maybe I can handle the hot weather again. Once I reach 1 tab of Florinef, I will begin 30mg of HC. After I am stable on Florinef and HC, then we will be rechecking my thyroid numbers to see if I will need Armour too. I have a feeling that I will but, who knows?

Things I am still investigating and will be battling:
--Why has my ALT been elevated?
--Why does my TSH fluctuate so much?
--HC/Florinef dosing--trial and error
--What is causing the adrenal insufficiency? Enzyme deficiency? pituitary?
--Can I cure all of this with chelation?