Madisongrrl's update - Heavy Metals
 

I had a follow up appointment with my Lyme clinicians today. We talked about my symptoms, changed around my antibiotics, and talked about some new lab results.

I had a cortisol panel done and it was one of the worst ones they had ever seen. So I'm actually going to be getting some prescription medication for this in the short term and some supplementation for the longer term to see if this can be corrected. This is one of the reasons why I'm always so tired.

I also had a toxic metal screen. They did a pre and post provocative challenge, which means that they tested my urine first. Then I was given EDTA and my urine was collected for the next several hours. The results were interesting to say the least. I was above the normal ranges for aluminum, gadolinium, lead, nickel, cesium and uranium. The cesium was the most perplexing and concerning. There is not a good reason for it, nor do I know the source.

There are many ways to get rid of heavy metals, but I've elected for chelation. I had my first IV today. They are taking some baseline mineral labs because chelation can also pull those out of your body as well. I will be adding in a mineral supplement to protect against this loss.

This may be useful:

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...vKLctw&cad=rja

Madisongrrl, that is a very weird combination of metal ions present at abnormally high levels.

I spent some time wracking my brains looking for something in common (not that there need be of course) with no joy.

I hope that the chelation treatment works well.

Dear Madisongrrl,

I so understand your desire for treatment, but this is a public forum and I just wish to share information about the dubious nature and possible fatal (and other deleterious) consequences of chelation therapy for anything other than known instances of toxic exposure (such as verified lead poisoning in children).

I first learned about this in reference to autism (If you look this up in the Autism thread here onNeurotalk, you can find many warnings about it) -- but much is also written warning about its use for for cardiac ailments, etc. I've not heard of it as a treatment for PN.

True metal toxicity can apparently only be determined through hair samples: citations note metal readings from urine are highly suspect, and never should be done after the administration of a chelating agent. We all have metals in our bodies, and these will be excreted out (as you note -- including necessary metals) in what appear to be high numbers after such an infusion.

It seems a very broad jump from Lyme to this was made in your case....I'm wondering who is doing this treatment, and whether you had considered a second opinion.

Sorry these citations are not copying well... but actually, if you just look up "Chelation," in Wikipedia, there is a good summary as well as many sources.

I wish you the best.



United States Food and Drug Administration (2010). FDA issues warnings to marketers of unapproved ‘chelation’ products. Retrieved
October 26, 2010 at
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsro.../ucm229320.htm

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/.../q..

articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/07/health/he-themd7
http://www.healing-arts.org/children/holmes.htm

PS

Never mind what I wrote about hair analysis for detection of heavy metals...apparently testing can include tissue analysis, but also CBC, and renal and liver function tests. Urinalysis is also used.....but apparently testing for each heavy metal has its own protocol. The articles I read stress the presence of heavy metals does not necessarily indicate health effects.

S

I have bumped up the original post to emphasize the first sentence (bolded by me). The OP has consulted with healthcare professionals, and the choice of treatment is between a patient and their doctors. Info on pros and cons of treatments are freely discussed here, but we do ask that members respect the healthcare choices others make. Thanks

Cesium:
 

I found this today about where cesium is coming from in the testing of US patients:

http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/...ed-levels.html

I find this link alarming, myself.:(

The medical professionals who are treating my Lyme, have clinical experience with this approach and recommend it because they see it help their patient popluation. So I'm going to work with them on this and trust their clinical judgment. And if it's too much for my body, then I'll take a different approach. My turn to be the guinea pig. :) They are doing a full CBC panel and mineral testing at baseline and I will retest everything again at the end.

In terms of heavy metals and Lyme, a good resource for that is Chapter 8 in the Dr. Horowitz book, "Why Can't I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Chronic Lyme and Disease".

I was a chemist for over 13 years and was directly exposed to many of the things on my testing panel; I've had way more exposure to a wide variety of chemicals and radiation compared to an average person. We were going to run another panel that tested for more obscure chemicals that I had directly worked with, but there is no point in wasting my money on that since I opted for chelation. I've had both acute and chronic exposures during my time in the lab....

I don't think chelation is right for the majority of people and there are many safe natural ways to detox. I put a fair amount of thought into deciding to do this. I've had another medical opinion on this topic beforehand. They had the same concerns with my prior profession and were going to take the same approach.

The reference ranges on that test I took were based the knowledge that people will have metals in their system. It's an unfortunate fact of modern life - especially if you are a woman. My results mean that I was above the average person's exposure level. What is interesting is that I was taking ALA, NAC, green algae tabs plus eating well for a long time, so my attempts at naturally removing these substances has not moved the needle much.

One note of interest, I had a MRI with contrast early in 2014. It's almost 2 years later and it is still in my system. I had not expected this to be the case.

If get a chance, I'll try to post a few pub med articles later.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4144270/

Dear Madisongrrl,

I'm sorry I came on so strong in my post. You clearly have a unique history and have carefully thought out your treatment.

My situation is that I'm just suffering terribly with dysautonomia and sensory neuropathy that may be iatrogenic in origin (although I'm still seeking other underlying causes). My experience has led me to be very unsure about both conventional and alternative medicine, and I am constantly reading about each in the hope I can identify something to at least slow the progression of my symptoms. This, of course, is why I'm such a frequent visitor to NT.

I'm glad you shared more about your situation here, and I'm eager to hear how it goes for you. Thank you for being patient with my comments and offering the details of your decision-making.

I sincerely hope this brings you much closer to wellness.


Sylvie

Cortisol Panel
 

I too had a panel (although it may not be the same type) and I was wondering how mine compared to yours. I was put on a supplement, not a prescription medication, that had quite a bad effect on me and I had to stop. Basically my brain was switched on and I couldn't sleep and I was so morose I didn't want to be around anyone or go anywhere. Although I am quite sure you will be well versed in any side effects I felt it would be remiss to not mention this. I had blamed my reactions on other things and it took me awhile to figure it out.