Sorry to hear of tough times - how did you determine you had copper toxicity?

First off I have heard about this phenomena a lot when trying to detox. At 4-5 months I got a little manic and had a tough time too, but not as bad as it sounds like for you.

My NP recommended I take ACZ zeolite spray, this stuff supposedly traps the copper and flushes it out by charged particles. I do not know if I believe it or not, this stuff just gave me the runs haha but look into it for yourself, its supposed to smooth out the copper detox process.

Also, copper detox can take longer than 6 months, but at about 6 months I started to turn the corner (at month 7/8 now).

The fact that your getting these symptoms is good because its confirming what the issue is. You could probably lose the NAC and ALA if you wanted to make your experience more pleasant, my protocal looks just like yours minus the ALA and NAC.

Good luck

Hello. I can feel for you. Been there myself.
And like you I don't do well on prescrip. anti-anxiety stuff.
But, I have and still do take now ( much less now) these three all natural anti-anxiety and Depression relief too.
Please give these a try. I feel they work just as well if not better than prescrips without the "Side effects." !
These suppl. can be taken during the day, as well as night. When my anxiety was 24/7 I took "1" NutraSleep in the AM, than "1" at noon, and "1" PM.

NutraSleep "by Source Naturals"

Advanced Sleep Formula
L-Theanine with inositol by "NOW"

Anxiety Control by "The Pain and Stress Center"

( you can get 3 of these through "The Vitamin Shoppe or VitaCost) or even at your local health food store.

Paulette

Try a combination of the amino acids l-lysine and l-arginine. It acts just like a benzo but without the nasty side effects, it literally changed my life and has allowed me to get my copper level to the lowest point it has ever been. I wrote a post on this a couple of months ago if you want to take a look

I'm doing the copper detox as well. My copper is sky high in hair analysis.

A few things that have been helping me for over 1-year with anxiety.

Lots and lots of meditation.

"Slow Breathing" and Buteyko Breathing.

Energy medicine is a big help as well. Reiki, Healing Codes.

Earthing is a huge help as well.

It`s not all about the supplements folks ! ;)

Be aware that NAC will stirr up LEAD out of bones and connective tissues. As long as you are not using DMSA while taking NAC you will get serve lead toxic and anxiety is one of the main symptoms for lead poisoning.

Of course unbound copper will create similar symptoms of anxiety but there is now at least the possibility that you stirred up lead, too.

I'm surprised no one mentioned the possibility of mercury (Hg) as the underlying or an underlying factor. It can cause all of those symptoms.

Hg has a negative effect on copper-zinc balance. It also has negative effects on the liver and this can negatively affect excretion of Copper.

Hg affects the body's stress response system in many ways! This is very common in the chelation groups, especially among women. Hg affects pituitary stress hormones, hormone receptors, adrenals, etc.

Hg also has a negative effect on magnesium (Mg) levels. Mg is used to make maybe the most important antianxiety chemical in the body, GABA. Mg is also used to make one of the body's antidepressants, serotonin. The effects on Mg might also produce tendencies towards constipation, muscle problems, etc!

When a person has an untreated Hg problem the use of NAC and especially ALA can exacerbate the Hg problem, including anxiety.

Sadly this recently happened to a very close female friend. She had been doing so well after silver-mercury Amalgam filling removal and several months of low-frequent dose oral DMPS (Cutler protocol).

Then she accidentally took ALA twice per day in a new formulation of her multivitamin that she had been using for over a year. In a week on the new formulation with ALA she lost 6 months of gains! My friend & I posted more of the details in another group.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/86406

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/86214

My friends hair tests are #368 here.
http://livingnetwork.co.za/chelationnetwork/hairtest/hairtest22/

According to A. Cutler's theory about Hg's effects on the movement of essential elements into hair, her older test suggests the involvement of Hg. The second is only suspicious.

I've read many other reports from people who innocently used ALA infrequently or with Amalgam fillings still present. There are several reports below. Some actually had gains in some areas initially but then realized damage was being done, usually to the brain, as Hg levels there likely increased.

-300 mg ALA, 2x/day. "...improvements in peripheral neuropathy ...then developed worse neurological symptoms…”
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/42684


-ALA 300mg. Teen in psych hospital w/ suicidal thoughts. Cutler comments on how the inappropriate use might be causing or contributing to the problem. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Autism-Mercury/message/294111


-300mg ALA 2x/day, while I still had amalgams....from really-sick-but-functioning to completely disabled, in just 6 months http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/24221


I can provide more information for you as to why the use of ALA just once or twice per day can produce these adverse effects in people who have a mercury problem.

This is a discussion between Cutler and Dr Dan Pompa, both of whom had Hg related illnesses. They discussed their symptoms and how they struggled to get diagnosed and treated.
http://www.healthcentersofthefuture.com/DrCutler/


Be careful!

Joe

Hi

I was reading the post and curious why you think you are copper toxic? If you have a high level of copper on a hair mineral analysis, that could quite possibly be due to your bodys inability to absorb copper or your body is going through a detox of copper potentially provoked by having an antagonist like zinc or iron or vitamin c.

Since you are taking large amounts of vitamin c every week I suspect that being a cause. vitamin c enhances your bodies ablity to absorb iron and can more likely stir up anger issues. The balance of zinc/iron/copper is a fine one. Too much of one will upset the other and the symptoms of copper excess are the same as copper deficiency. If you are holding down your anger and afraid to express your feelings no doubt this can exacerbate the anxiety.

If you are trying lots of things and you feel like you aren't making any progress or struggling to see the improvements, then I can only suggest reducing as many supplements as possible. Keep a food diary and restrict your diet to the bare minimum of foods. Make a note of your feelings in your diary. Be aware of anger stimulating foods like garlic, spices, red meats, and be aware of dampening foods like pure vegetable juices.

8am: Emotion: Feeling tired still
Food: apple, boiled egg, glass water
9am: Emotion: Felt anxious the moment my colleage asked me about bla bla.

When its all complicated, simplify

best of luck

Your problem is probably the NAC and alpha lipoic acid. They create glutathione, which is good, but they burn up your methylation factors, which are already really low in cfs patients.

Alpha Lipoic acid is especially dangerous because it creates intracellular glutathione (with an intracellular methyl trap), and can redistribute mercury via chelation. A severe methylation deficiency makes your symptoms worse and can damage brain cells if continued.

Skip NAC and ALA, cause they could cause serious damage, and instead supplement with methyl folate, methyl b12, and a b complex to increase your methylation factors.