Re: Can someone give me ideas for the possible underlying cause of all this? Thanks!

== I'm sorry to hear about your difficult case but in some ways I can identify with your situation. I struggled for roughly 20 yrs with a long list of symptoms that doctors could not resolve until recently. You are fortunate that the Science is now available so you can get better now; however it generally is a long process.

== I'm glad to hear that you realize you have a heavy metal problem. Your symptoms and test results SCREAM heavy metals, especially mercury. I wish I could sit with your for an hour or two to explain it. It would make so much sense to se how Hg fouls up the body chemistry and causes so many of your problems! We see it so many times in the chelation and autism groups. Thankfully so many of us are improving but it is a long process.

== Your story reminds me quite a bit of one of the teen members of a chelation group I've been in for a couple of years. He is still an active member so you could contact him if you like. These are two of his many updates to the group.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/64260

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/52916


TAURINE 7 mg/L Reference range: 10-27

== Don't skimp on magnesium!! Cutler explains in his books--noamalgam.com

TRIPTOPHAN 8.77 mg/L Reference range: 7 - 23.5

== Body make serotonin--vs sadness depression, etc & melatonin--sleep related from it. People often take 5htp which is the next step away from it, including a close female friend who is now sleeping for the first time in her adult life. She is doing many other things too--Cutler Protocol chelation, etc.

Neutrophils 51% Range 45-70

== Mercury has a negative impact on neutrophils and candida so we are wise to stay on top of the situation. My impression is that we should not expect to fully resolve the problem without chelaiton. At the bottom of this page is a video clip of a neutrophil having some candida for lunch :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrophil_granulocyte


Vitamin B12 1204 pg/mL Range: 300-805

== Be careful. Too much B12 can make some people irritable. Doctors love the $ from giving IVs--beware.

VITAMIN D25-hydroxy-Vitamin D 16 ng/mL Range 30-60

== No brainer here.

It seems like I have several acids ****ed in the body

== Sorry I don't know the chemistry here but remember reading about it in Andy Cutler's book, Amalgam Illness.

Gluthatione reduced 54 mg% G. R. Range 56-84

== You'll want to learn about this. It is the big gun antioxidant and detox chemical in the body. It is virtually always low when HMs heavy metals are involved. Be careful though. Just taking it as a supplement can cause problems, especially if you don't tolerate high sulfur/thiol foods. Also we don't want to just kick up Hg/mercury like dusting your living room with a leaf blower. Much more on this concept and how to increase glutathione in sane ways if requested.

Coenzyme Q10 334 ng/dL Range 670-990

== Antioxidant and helps the body/mitochondria make energy more efficiently. Nice supplement if you can afford it.

Pregnenolone 3.87 ng/mL Range 3.90- 13.50

== This is the mother adrenal hormone. One of the places where Hg fouls up adrenals is fairly close to where the body makes pregnenolone. I really like the effect of low doses so does a friend. It think it is a no brainer that everyone with an Hg problem take at least small doses of it. It is never a cure-all but it is less expensive than many alternatives--adrenal meds, creams, etc. However you should get the issue resolved with the "sex hormones" before taking too much--maybe zinc? More here --note DHEA is not abbreviated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steroidogenesis.svg


DHEA sulfate 206 ng/dL Range 200- 610

== Sulfation is very commonly a problem with Hg. We often have trouble with transsulfuration and production of taurine and sulfate which are at the end of the production line. This is very complex but when you start treating this, many things improve! More on these in Cutler's book and in the Links of the yahoo chelation groups 10,000+ members and 2000 posts per month. Have you tried Epsom Salt foot baths--magnesium sulfate in the evening?

Sodium 91 mEq/24h Range 100-220

== Not uncommon with adrenal problems. One of the adrenal hormones is aldosterone which handles sodium and potassium regulation. Beware of your potassium too--learn about the sfx of too high and too low.

Androsterone 3.38 mg/24h Range: 2.10-6.30
11-OH-Androsterone 0.52 mg/24h Range: 1.20-2.60
DHEA 3.12 mg/24h Range: 0.05-1.40

== You can see in the wikipedia image above how DHEA gets converted to the various sex hormones. Hg fouls up so many enzymes so you can expect that we who are Hg toxic don't make some conversions well. I'm fairly sure that zinc is very important and may indeed be the missing link. I remember that BillyMadison--from the story above--reported that his low T symptoms improved somewhat on zinc. Cutler explains that Zn and Hg are similar. They are close to each other on the periodic chart. Hg displaces Zn in various body chemicals and thus disables that chemical's positive benefits. This could be why Zn is okay on your tests; however it does not mean that you have adequate Zn where it is needed.

IgG Specifics ( food allergies )

== I've heard so many stories from members of the chelation groups that they can only eat a few foods without problems. This gets so much better when you learn what is going on and how to mitigate against it. As chelation removes the Hg it gets better too. Hg fouls up production of certain enzymes. Learn about DPP-IV. However you also should do some testing to determine if you are a high or low plasma cysteine. An exclusion diet can be useful here too. It is complex so I'll get into it if you request.

"Zinc is pretty good yeah, Ive taken it some time ago and felt like it increased mildy my testosterone, and it is good for leaky gut too."

== Cutler thinks it is one of the most important things to take when Hg is involved but it is not always well tolerated in the beginning as you read in BillyMadisons's story.

== Get your iron/ferritin levels checked too.

== Many in the chelation groups start with a simple hair test. There are 600 posted here with symptoms so members can discuss.
http://livingnetwork.co.za/chelationnetwork/hairtest/hairtest3/


Re comment about root cause at the mental/ emotional/ spiritual level:

== In a way this is true. You need the determination to keep looking for clues and better answeres. Sadly I did not do this for the first 10 yrs of my illness. However over the past 10 yrs I have been doing it and my health is now back in the normal range for my age. It has been such a long struggle but it has been worth it. Hang in there. You are on the right track. Medicine now has answers for you that they did not have when I got sick 20 yrs ago! Go for it. You are still so young and have so much ahead of you to enjoy!!!

== Best regards,

== Joe, 1.75 yrs Cutler Protocol and improving nicely. My bone density that had not been responding to traditional treatments and medicine from my doctor improved an impressive 8% in just a couple of years on chelation. I had work exposure to Cd and Pb which are nasty when present with Hg.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/message/50190

Japanese mass cadmium poisoning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itai-itai_disease

Note: it seems that Cd + Hg result in catecholamine problems. Tweet