Erythema Nodosum More Pics

As this progresses, the red hot, painful nodules are now becoming large, bruised nodules. Unfortunately right when I thought I was getting better, new ones formed the other day. Tonight I am feeling better again, but who is to say that a new crop of them won't form tonight.

The main symptoms associated with Erythema Nodosum is pain, swelling, joint pain, an overall sick feeling, pain, pain, pain and more pain. I have not been able to wear shoes for at least a week and have been sporting my lovely slippers everywhere I go. Sleeping is not easy either. If the sheets touch the spots, it hurts like hell.

I have been researching and these painful lumps may very well give me the answers I have been looking for for the past 11 years of my life. I almost feel like crying in a way. Lately my husband and I have been praying a lot for healing, guidance, hope and strength to get through these times. I asked God to show me anything that may help me to find out what is really going on. I kid you not, but just a few days later these bumps showed up. When I realized what they were, it was like a brick of information struck me upside the head (haha). Maybe I won't get all of the answers I am looking for, but it very well is leading me down a new path. For a very long time I have not had any new leads and have been just chugging along doing mostly nothing new.

Tomorrow I may find out what is going on, or not. Two diseases that can cause these bumps are two diseases that can also cause POTS. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. For once in the past 3 years I am actually feeling a bit of hope of finding some answers. Then in another 5-6 weeks I will have the genetic test results back as well. It is exciting times for me.

Just to note. My heart is skipping beats left and right and I'm getting a lot of shortness of breath today as well. Not fun.

Erythema Nodosum: Confirmed

I managed to get in to see a dermatologist really fast. If you tell them you have a very painful nodule on your skin, they think it's shingles and will see you right away! Well I did not have shingles, but he was glad to see me any way. He said this is definitely erythema nodosum (yay for google!) and that he had only seen it a few times in his years as a dermatologist. Online it states he has been practicing for over 30 years...

Erythema Nodosum: Yet another "skin" ailment

Well this is my first health update in a long time, but I feel I need to come out of my break and document this here.

I have developed what I believe is erythema nodosum. Here's the most sensible description I have found on it.

Erythema nodosum is a type of panniculitis that affects subcutaneous fat in the skin, usually first evident as an outcropping of erythematous nodules that are highly sensitive to touch.1 Most nodules are located symmetrically on the ventral aspect of the lower extremities. (Source)

I will be calling the docs tomorrow or Tuesday.. I want to get an official diagnosis and then get the followup labs/xrays done to make sure there aren't any more serious underlying issues.

How did all of this come about?

It came out of no where. I am not chelating or do anything special for my health at the moment.

Yesterday morning I woke up with a terrible pain in my ankles and in my wrist. It's been really cold, so I thought that maybe I was shivering in the middle of the night and I had strained a muscle. All day I was thinking, "wow my ankles are killing me", but I didn't even take a good look at them...

Right before bed, they were hurting so bad, I finally had enough of it and took my socks off and saw what looked like bruises. I pushed on them a bit because I'm apparently sadistic and I nearly jump through the ceiling. I ran into the other room to turn the light on to take a closer look. The areas on my feet/ankles that were sore, were bright red, swollen and hot to the touch. My husband immediately thought of gout and I went to bed thinking maybe that was it. I was too tired to do any research.

I woke up and started my journey. I ruled out gout pretty much right away because what I had was symmetrical on both sides of my feet. I had 2 red, swollen, hot, lumps just under the skin on the tops of my feet and on the side near my ankle bone. I also have one on my shin. Gout just does not present itself like that at all.

Eventually after some more reading I found Erythema Nodosum and I believe with great certainty that is exactly what I have now. Why? Who the hell knows? lol This is what happens when your body is falling apart and no one knows what is wrong. You start to manifest more problems as your body desparate tries to communicate to you that something is seriously wrong.

I know something is wrong, but I need help here!

The prognosis for this isn't bad. It's just a lot of pain, swelling and uncomfortable days ahead. Once it is out of the pain stage, these spots will turn dark like a bruise and stay like that for months. It is a slow healing condition and I hope I don't get them again. This is awful!

Some serious conditions can be an underlying result of the EN, so it's important to have everything ruled out and that's why I need to go to the docs for this one.

Causes

Common
Idiopathic (up to 55 percent)
Infections: streptococcal pharyngitis (28 to 48 percent), Yersinia spp. (in Europe), mycoplasma, chlamydia, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, mycobacteria
Sarcoidosis (11 to 25 percent) with bilateral hilar adenopathy
Drugs (3 to 10 percent): antibiotics (e.g., sulfonamides, amoxicillin), oral contraceptives
Pregnancy (2 to 5 percent)
Enteropathies (1 to 4 percent): regional enteritis, ulcerative colitis
Rare (less than 1 percent)
Infections
	Viral: herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, human immunodeficiency virus
	Bacterial: Campylobacter spp., rickettsiae, Salmonella spp., psittacosis, Bartonella spp., syphilis
	Parasitic: amoebiasis, giardiasis
Miscellaneous: lymphoma, other malignancies

Mine will likely turn out to be Epstein Barr virus (because I had a flareup with that nasty bronchitis I had around Christmas) or nothing at all. But I just have to make sure and rule out some of the others like strep, sarcoidosis, lupus or anything else like that. It's never dull!

23andMe Genetic Testing

For Christmas I asked for 23andMe's genetic testing available for $99 plus a 12 year subscription to their service. I was so happy to see my mom handed me the money to get it done and today I collected my saliva sample and have shipped it out.

The results will take 6-8 weeks, but I hope it gets here sooner. I am soo damn excited it is not even funny. This test will let me know A TON of things. It will take me weeks, if not months to sort through all of the raw data included, but that's ok. I have a lot of time on my hands. One really good test now available in the latest (V3) chip of 23andMe is APO E. They now test to see if you have APO e3/e4. This shows your body's ability to detox and those with APO E4 have an increased risk of Alzheimer's and it has also been found in children with Autism.

Looking around online, it also tests a lot of Amy Yasko's methylation pathway SNP's as well as DBH SNP for genetic POTS.

Finding out my APO E is well worth the $99 and I'll get so much more out of it.

Could I get your help? UJAM Singing Contest!

It's been a long time since my last post and it's because I have been busy singing. I am constantly learning new things and trying to challenge myself to sing better and better. POTS certainly sets me back at times because breath control assumes you have a normal functioning autonomic system. hehe!

After a lot of soulsearching, crying and days of feeling lost and hopeless, I have decided that singing is what I need to do with my life. Even if I am not successful and make no money at it, it does not matter. I need to sing because it makes me feel whole and happy.

I have entered a contest and I desparately need your help in order to keep my entry in the Top 10 until February 5th. For this entry I remixed the instrumental, wrote and sang the lyrics.

You can listen to and vote for my song at this link.
http://www.ujam.com/songs/cTzD7kg6ptWk

To vote for it, just click on the Facebook like button on that page. If for some reason you do not have a facebook page, then please consider sharing it on other forums, blogs, on your facebook wall and on twitter. I cannot do this without you guys!

I have almost a full 2 months to keep the competition from taking over my spot. This will not be easy at all, but I have to try to do this. Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe, who are both award winning composers, will be judging the entries!

And with all of this singing stuff, I am finally showing my face too. Please check out my video and it's nice to be able to show you a more personable side of me. Text can only do much.

Goodbye:Taking a break

I'm taking a break and focusing on other things like singing. I need to just get away from all of this and do something of real value. I will continue to do what I do with my health, but as far as this blog and stuff I'm sick of it all.

Good luck to everyone.

Round 7: DMPS Ends! Also Another Rant

This round was a little more interesting than the others. I added in 1000mg of EDTA once in the morning. I did feel a little blah at times, but no hives so I am happy right now. I went a full 6 days and quit half way through today to give my body some rest. My minerals were definitely low a few days ago so I upped my normal doses of minerals. This made the cramping in my feet go away, but I will continue on this higher dose for a while.

We will see what happens in the next few days. Will the hives make an appearance this time around? That is the million dollar question...

Stopping Beta 1,3D Glucan

I have never had a supplement effect me so much before. Beta 1,3D Glucan is supposed to boost the immune system. I am always a little leery of things that do this, but wanted to give it a try.

Beta 1,3D Glucan is supposed to do the following:

Beta-1,3D Glucan works by activating immune cells known as macrophages, neutrophils and natural killer (NK) cells. These are your immune system’s first line of innate defense. They are responsible for finding, identifying, and consuming foreign substances in the body.  Macrophages also control the activities of other important cells in the immune system.

To maximize the benefits of Beta Glucan, you should always take it on an empty stomach. Wait at least 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything. A small amount of pure water should be used to swallow the capsule. (No coffee, tea, juice, etc.).

The amount of anxiety and revving of my system was horrific. I actually had to take a beta blocker yesterday and I'm done with this supplement now. I think I took it for about a 8 or 9 days. Whatever arm of my immune system it boosted, directly impacts my POTS and anxiety, hyper feelings. It really makes me think my POTS is autoimmune in origin.

Round 7: DMPS Begins

Today I started round 7 of DMPS. I am taking 10mg of DMPS, 3 times a day. I don't get too focused on taking it every 8 hours because I like to be able to sleep at night. Last round I also took EDTA in the morning and I am doing this again since I didn't get hives last time.

Forgetting HC Doses

Ever since this last round of DMPS, I have been completely forgetting HC doses. I woke up today and I have no idea if I took it or not. I don't think I did, but then I don't feel like I did not. Hmmm Is this is a good sign or am I just getting more forgetful? haha

I think I could probably go down to 12.5mg without any consequences. Something has changed for sure. One day I only took 5mg and did not realize it until 11pm. I am cautiously optimistic. I'm not sure what this means for me right now and I'm just playing it by hear.

Also I should start up on DMPS again here real soon. I never got any hives! I had some skin dermatographia, but I can handle that without any issues.

I should also note that I have been trying a few other things lately. Right now I am taking Body Biotics probiotics. It has definitely slowed my bowels. Maybe a little too much. I am also taking something called Beta-1,3D Glucan. This is supposed to help the immune system. It's all things my husband researched and told me to take. haha!! I am so thankful my spouse cares this much.

Singing Is Not POTS Friendly, But I Don't Care Anymore

Those with POTS know that controlling your breath for what is needed to sing properly, can be really bad for the heart. Well I do not care anymore and I am once again getting more serious into my singing and vocals. If you haven't been following me for long, then back in 2008 while I was chelating for the first time I started taking some local vocal lessons. They were really pretty awful. In some ways I think I was better than the teacher and all she talked about was breathing. /sigh That's really the only thing these teachers talk about and I can get that type of advice on Youtube. There are hundreds of vocal coaches on Youtube making videos...

NO HIVES!

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to make this post because I did not want to jinx myself. Well I think I can now officially say I did not get hives with this latest round. This is really good news to me! I will continue at 10mg DMPS from here on out until I am brave enough to raise it again. :)

Round 6: DMPS Ends

I went a full 5 days and decided it as time to call it quits for now. No reason in pushing this too far. So far, I have no hives but that means nothing. They can literally pop up out of no where, so I am just getting ready. I have been taking my hives regimen throughout this entire chelation round to see if that makes a difference.

My vision is definitely changing. The glasses I wear are pretty old. I've had my contacts prescription changed several times since I got the glasses. Glasses just get so expensive to replace, so I've kept these as my lounging eye wear. Well now I am not seeing the same out of them. I think in my right eye I am seeing better. My left eye still seems quite blurry. When I put my contacts in, I am also not seeing the same out of both eyes. This one is significantly harder to figure out, so I'm going to be heading to the eye docs soon enough. I am due for more contacts and my eye exam is over a year old so I have to get a new exam to get new contacts. I am curious to see what has happened with my eyes. They have been getting worse every year. In the past 3-5 years, my eyes have gotten quite bad. My right eye is -5.75, left eye is -5.25. If anything, I think my right eye is about the same and my left eye is catching up to the right. haha The left eye has the "we think it's a torn vitreous but we aren't sure" and something called "white without pressure". However most places say both are benign. Still makes me wonder about it all at times with my other health issues.


The heat has just been terrible. This is a bad summer for all POTS sufferers out there. I definitely had heat exhaustion the other day and my temps have been well over 99. Earlier today I was pushing 99.2 and that was after getting a cold bath.

I just keep chugging along here. Lately I've been putting almost all of my energy into singing. I want to get really good and possibly make some music. That's been my life's dream for many years now. Now that I am feeling a little better, I am motivated. I think my voice sounds a lot like Sharon Den Adel from the band Within Temptation. She's more comfortable with her head tone, but I'm working on it. My singing has come a long ways over the years, which is mostly self-trained. Those few lessons I took years back were nothing.

Heat Intolerance Is My Top POTS Symptom

There was an interesting post on dinet.org the other day. A poster asked us to list our top 5 POTS symptoms that cause problems for us on a daily basis. I was certain everyone would have tachycardia on their list, but that was not the case. How can you have POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and NOT have tachycardia or heart symptoms on your top 5 list... Am I missing something here?

If you were to list your top 5 symptoms, what would they be? Fatigue? Pain? Gastrointestinal issues? Let me know what all of you are going through. I am very curious to see how different yet how similar we are too.

My top 5 symptoms are as followed:

• Heat intolerance
• tachycardia with shortness of breath (when standing of course)
  
• anxiety, "crazy" wired feelings
• shakiness/tremors
• exercise intolerance

I do not know why the heat is such a problem for me, but cooler weather or air conditioning makes all the difference. In the winter I feel pretty normal and most of the other symptoms listed go away. I still have tachycardia but the heart rates are not nearly as high and the anxiety is never as bad either. Unfortunately exercising is bad because that makes your body temperature increase, so it goes back to the heat intolerance.

Now many people would insist that I have adrenal fatigue and need to go on "adrenal support". No you are wrong. I will continue to repeat this as many times as I need to until I am blue in the face.

POTS is not adrenal fatigue. POTS is not adrenal fatigue. POTS is not adrenal fatigue. POTS is not adrenal fatigue. POTS is not adrenal fatigue.

/Rant on

Do some POTS patients have symptoms that mimic those with adrenal issues? Absolutely, but it does not mean we all have adrenal problems and need hydrocortisone, florinef or "adrenal support". It is simply a THEORY that has been repeated so many times, that people have started to believe it as truth. Those who perpetuate the THEORY usually have never ever had POTS, yet they speak about it as if they are an authoritative source of information. Ugh! :( Believe me when I say it does not go away with some salt, florinef, and hydrocortisone. If it did I would not be here anymore writing on my blog.

/Rant off

Heat Intolerance is a major problem for me in the summer.

Now that it is summer, I really have to be careful outside or even in the house. I get heat exhaustion so very easily compared to most normal people. Today I believe I woke up with the beginning stages of heat exhaustion simply because we did not have the A/C turned on in our bedroom last night. I woke up with a mild fever, headache and nausea. This is one of the reasons why I do not pay any attention to basal temperatures or even daytime temperatures. For me it varies according to the room temperature. Have any of you ever noticed an increase in temps during the summer? If so you likely have body temperature regulation issues too.

When I wake up in this crisis state, it is very difficult to pull myself out of it without intervening with ways to cool my body down as quickly as possible. Cold baths, ice cold water and air conditioning is the only thing that helps. Once my body finally cools down I am good. I feel completely normal and can go about my day. I know that sounds really weird and perhaps I am an usual case, but I always tell people I really do just have POTS. I do not have chronic fatigue syndrome or hypothyroid. If I fixed my POTS, I'd be nearly 100% better.

This summer has been better than previous years, so I am thankful for that. However I still have a long way to go until I will consider myself recovered or cured.

Update 8AM July 4: Things did not go as well as I had originally thought when I made this post. I continued down the heat exhaustion path for most of the night. At one point I was shaking, had goosebumps, throbbing headache and felt terrible. My temperature was running 99.6. I got an ice cold bath, drank lots of ice water and I still was having trouble getting my temperature down. Finally now after many hours after becoming increasingly worried, I got my temperature down to the low 99's, then high 98's and now it is about 98.4. I still have an awful throbbing headache and that likely will not go away until I sleep for the day. I hope I staved off an ER trip. That would be 2 holidays where I made an appearance. Let's hope all of this corrects itself today. Yes we are running the AC tonight too!

Here's a few other posts I've made on this subject.
2012- Heat Intolerance: It's Too Darn Hot!
2011- Getting Through the Heat Intolerance

Round 6: DMPS Begins

I started ~9mg of DMPS yesterday afternoon. So far no hives at all and I am doing great. I have no idea how long I'm going on this round and will just play it by ear. I have enough pills made up for 7 days, but I don't believe I will do that. There were some warning signs of hives beginning to form at the end of day 6 last time, so I think maybe 5-6 days is where I'm aiming.

One thing I've noticed while taking any type of chelator is that it tends to make my bladder hurt. It feels like a UTI or bladder infection, but there is nothing there. At least nothing that my strips can catch. I used to have this many many moons ago. I think before I even started my blog and to this day I don't even know what stopped it from happening. It may have been Vitalzym? The one time I did have an infection, so I will have to keep an eye on that and go get tested if it gets bad.

I am trying to drink enough water to make myself pee at least every 2-3 hours to flush everything out. In the summer there are times where I don't pee much, but I'm going to make myself keep drinking until I do.

Oh I am also taking 1 pill of EDTA (calcium form) in the AM this round to see if that helps or makes anything worse. Our bathtub is testing for lead AGAIN, so that's fun.

Hope: Keeping up with my Nephew!

For the last 2 days my sister needed me to watch her son for a few hours. I used to cringe when she'd ask me because I was always concerned if I could get through the day. My nephew is really behaved quite well for a 5 year old and he is very laid back and easygoing. Any time I watched him and did not feel good he was very understanding. I know adults who are less understanding than my nephew! HA!

It has been very warm lately and of course I was concerned about my heat intolerance. Can I even stand up outside let alone play with him? Yikes. On bad days just walking to the car would make me feel as if I were going to die.

Well it turned out that I not only could stand up outside, but we were playing tag! We sprinted, yes SPRINTED around the yard playing tag for about 30 minutes or so. I'm happy to report he got tired before me and wanted to go in for a drink of water. :) You can not even believe how excited and happy I am about all of this. It was 83 degrees with very high humidity outside so something is going on with me. Am I cured? Nope, but there is a big enough difference that I have noticed. I have a long ways to go, but this is giving me so much hope and optimism. It is actually a little scary! I was afraid to hit POST on this one. Will I jinx it?!

Last night (after watching my nephew for two days and going on walks at the park afterward, cleaning, making dinner, any other normal duties that need done in my house etc) I did have a headache, but it was gone when I woke up this morning. YAY! I have no post exertional malaise today, although that has never been a big issue for me in the past. It is not quite as warm today, but the humidity is very high. That's usually all I need to feel sick and I am doing well.

Like I said, I am NOT cured by any means, but this is very interesting. I just hope I keep getting better and it doesn't stop here.

Making Progress with DMPS

I am convinced now that DMPS is what people need to use to feel better. I have talked about it before, but the few people who were "following" Dr. Cutler's FDC who got significantly better ALL used DMPS at some point or another.

Only a few members of FDC even use DMPS because so many of them are fearful of the drug even though Dr. Cutler says it is safe and recommended here, here and here. They refuse to find a doctor to prescribe it, which makes me believe you can't really be that sick! They are afraid it is not FDA approved, which is once again just another excuse to stay sick. (Alert: Amalgams were FDA approved!) Those who use DMPS have less side effects and symptoms and actually seem to legitimately feel better much faster.

Others using DMPS not strictly following FDC who got better as well:
MercuryLife Blog. Read the entire story!
MS - Ten years bedridden - cured by Amalgam removal
Woman was bedridden with CFS
Another person with CFS Cured
Another woman with CFS finally getting better with chelation

DMPS is the common link in all of these stories. Some of them have done other things alongside it too. However these people should not be considered "lucky" or less toxic. When you start looking at stories of those who got truly better, they all used DMPS in some form or another (oral or IV) at some point in time during their journey.

I'm not really following FDC and taking DMPS every 8 hours. I take it when I get up in the AM, mid-day and then at bedtime, so I don't have to interrupt my sleep at all. With an odd circadian rhythm, even at every 8 hours sometimes the doses would fall while I was sleeping. I had enough of that and just decided to take it at bedtime regardless of what time it was. Sometimes it was at 10 or 11 hours out from my previous dose. I don't think it really matters at all and you could probably take it on any schedule and still see some improvements (my opinion only not based on any scientific evidence).

If you are following Dr. Cutler's protocol and have completed double digit rounds of DMSA or ALA and not feeling or seeing improvements, then consider finding a doctor who will prescribe DMPS. It may be the difference of getting your life back. Isn't that the most important?!

The doctor who prescribed me DMPS NEVER PRESCRIBED IT BEFORE TO ANYONE. I am his FIRST patient and my husband is his SECOND, so please do not try to use "well I don't know if my doctor would do that" as an excuse to keep staying sick. If you really want to use DMPS, then you will find a doctor or beg a doctor who is open-minded enough to use it. I actually had to fax my doctor some information that talked about using oral DMPS and after reading it all he had no issues with me trying it out.

In 5 rounds of DMPS I am feeling the best I've felt in 11 years. I am not over exaggerating or making this up at all. Some people may say that it is placebo, but how could a POTS patient make their heart rates not climb as high while standing? ... How could I have less heat intolerance? ...

Is it all good? NO! The hives are still problematic as evident from my last post and I am concerned about it and SJS. The latest set of hives were focused more around my joints (knees, elbows, wrists and ankles) and thankfully I did not have any hives on my neck at all. This made me very happy because I knew I was not going to have any issues with my throat swelling up.

Outside of the hives I have zero symptoms on and off round. Not many can say that about ALA or DMSA and I really don't understand why someone would continue to take something that is terrible at chelating metals... Dr. Buttar says that it is dangerous to use DMSA. Dr. Cutler's followers had a discussion about this in 2009 and rather than scientifically disproving it is dangerous, they just called the doctor an idiot, he doesn't know what he's talking about and he is promoting his own chelation protocol. Um..And how is Dr. Cutler any different? Dr. Cutler sells consultations too...

And to put it into further perspective at least 2 people in this thread are still sick on FDC. I guess your own irrational fear and advice is not working out for you. Stop drinking the Cutler kool aid!

Many people have become fearful of DMPS due to the fearmongering website, DMPSbackfire. For years I thought it was the devil and was harmful because "Dr. Cutler says so". However since DMSA did not do anything for me at all and may even be dangerous itself, I started to question all of that. Now that I'm taking DMPS and feeling better I realize how stupid it was to have an irrational fear of it. The stories on that website really should just be called "when stupid doctors strike" because they were doing terribly stupid things with DMPS like chelating people WITH amalgams STILL in their mouths! How could any doctor even think that would be a good idea?

If DMPS IV's are too scary for you, then you can use it orally too just like DMSA. That's what I am doing for the time being.

I gave my doctor a PDF from this website. I have no idea what this doctor recommends with chelation, but I found the clinical trial of interest and that is what I showed my doctor.

If you are following FDC, let me know what you think about this theory that DMPS is the key!

Disclaimer: As always these are my opinions on things. I am not a doctor and are simply telling you of my experiences and relaying data/materials I have found online over the years. Everyone with a chronic illness should be following up with a doctor and if you are not, then start today.

Mercury Hives: What Can I Do?

When I started chelating in 2008 with DMSA, I got hives and did not understand at that time what was going on. I thought I had just developed food allergies or something because they lasted for so long. I stopped chelating for about 2 years because I felt really sick and eventually the hives went away on their own. I had changed my diet and part of me thought that was why the hives went away.

Then I decided I needed to start back up on chelation and the hives came back full force. 

I knew this was no a coincidence and the hives are indeed directly caused by chelation. In a desperate attempt, I decided to try DMPS to see if it was caused specifically by the DMSA. Much to my dismay, after 3 rounds of DMPS the hives started to show up once I went off-round. This time even more severe than before if you can even imagine that looking at some of the old pictures. In yet another  desperate attempt to stop them, I went on Diflucan and took probiotics, but neither of those did anything to stop the hives. In my case they are NOT caused by a yeast flare up or anything like that.

What does this mean? What am I to do?

Hives caused by chelation

I sit here tonight with hives galore. They are so very itchy it is hard to concentrate on anything. Taking benedryl barely touches them and the only thing I feel is deliriousness and completely drugged out of my mind. The last time I had to get a dexamethasone injection and take prednisone for them to stop. Even still, the hives continued on for days while on 60mg of prednisone. This is a serious allergic reaction and I do not know where to go from here. I cannot keep doing this.

With DMPS there is a risk of developing a potentially fatal condition called, Stevens Johnson Syndrome.


"Signs and symptoms of Stevens-Johnson syndrome include:

• Facial swelling
• Tongue swelling
• Hives
• Skin pain
• A red or purple skin rash that spreads within hours to days
• Blisters on your skin and mucous membranes, especially in your mouth, nose and eyes
• Shedding (sloughing) of your skin"

Now to be fair, any medication can cause this it seems if the body reacts in such a way, but there have been a handful of cases people have come down with it specifically with DMPS. I guess I am concerned that I may be setting myself up for this because it is an autoimmune disorder and clearly my immune system is confused. I have no other symptoms of SJS, so please do not freak out in the comments!

My next step is to take EDTA and see what happens. The Cutler folk will have you believe that I'm going to kill myself with EDTA, but at this point I need to see if the hives happen on EDTA as well. If they do, then I seriously have no idea what I'm going to do. With the amalgam tattoo gone, I thought this would stop. No such luck in my case.

I may start the EDTA tonight and see how I do.

Update On Tooth

Well the weird pain I am getting is not from the tooth with the metal post. It seems that either 1)I have brushed my gums so hard in the past 2 months that I have caused gum recession or 2) getting the amalgam tattoo removed did indeed cause some gum recession or 3) chelation is doing something to the gums.

I guess it could be a combination of all of those things. I just find it SOO strange that my dentist used to say how GREAT my gums looked and now I have severe recession in the exact same area where the gray tooth and amalgam tattoo was removed.

I still have a metal post in that tooth that needs taken care of and that can only be resolved with a crown. That's $1200 I don't have.

I just keep on going I guess. I have hives tonight and it is NOT looking good. I feel no need to put more pictures of the hives on here because there's more than enough already. haha

Heavy Metal Chelation Round 5: DMPS Ends

I went a little longer this time, (~6.5 days) but as soon as I noticed a hive, I stopped. I immediately started my "here comes the hives" supplement/medicine regime. I took a benedryl, zyrtec, 3 grams of Vitamin C and 2 grams of Quercetin before bed. I woke up and I was good. No hives and so far I haven't had any more develop. Last night I took more zyrtec, vitamin C, quercetin and half a benedryl. So far so good. I think I have a few mosquito bites though and it is hard to tell the difference between them and hives. haha

The good:
I think I am already seeing improvements on the DMPS. I hate even say this or type this because I don't think I've said these words on my blog, ever?

• My heat intolerance seems a tad better. 5% better
• My heart seems less aggravated at times. 3% better
• My vision is getting clearer again. 

The bad:

• Obviously the hives are bad. Hopefully they stay away.
• I think the DMPS is reacting with a metal post in one of my teeth.

I just keep chugging along here and see what happens. I am off to the dentist to see what they can do about this metal post in my tooth I forgot about it. Of course they are supposed to be "inert", but I'm not so sure about that...