Topic: symptom-free after chelation (and long treatment of course)
MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
Hi Folks,
I've been posting periodically that I've been making great progress in my treatment using the Buhner protocol for the past year and a half (my whole story is in 'success stories' as I was symptom-free entirely for several months).
This winter I had a setback when I got pregnant (I no longer am). It made me exhausted which I thought at first was a Lyme relapse, and maybe it was, or maybe it was not Lyme.
I started taking doxy before I realized I was pregnant and before I realized that my tiredness symptoms might have just been hormonal (my completely healthy roommate is now newly pregnant and she seems to be going through the same thing, so I now think it could have been either).
Anyway, the doxy didn't seem to make any difference- I didn't see anything like a herx or any improvement either, which is unusual for me on antibiotics. I stopped the doxy after a month and a half and was still pretty tired for a few weeks afterwards (though nothing like when I was actively sick in the past).
I finally decided to try chelation again- I test high in mercury and my LLMD thinks that's at the root of all my Lyme problems. in the past chelation has been a nightmare for me, and has caused all my Lyme to come back full-force.
This time it worked really well, and once I recovered from remaining side effects a few days after chelation, I became truly symptom-free again, which is an amazing feeling.
Chelation: I took DMSA for three days, along with TONS , and I really mean LOTS, of binders to go with it- I was drinking, several times a day, these ugly smoothies made of chlorella, bentonite (tip: Sonne's Detoxificant brand is better tasting than Great Plains Bentonite), acidophilus liquid, and psyllium (I used juice to make the smoothies palatable), took a product called Metachel and a form of sodium alginate made by Solaray (their cheap "Detox" formula), and also taking liver support herbs like milk thistle and dandelion (not under doctor supervision, so I'm not 100% sure if dandelion was appropriate), drinking a lot of nettle and red clover tea for it's food-grade mineral content (think spinach- drinking nettle tea is more or less the same thing, only less tasty than spinach).
I had a bad experience in the past with chelation bringing back my Lyme symptoms, and I think the difference this time is just that I'm a lot healthier than I was a year ago. However, I have also added Metachel, which I didn't use the other time, and had spent a few weeks using injectible B-12 (but not during chelation itself).
I didn't take any other supplements during that time because chelation can be a serious strain on your body according to my LLMD. This time around I didn't even eat properly- my appetite was heavily affected and I just ate what tasted good. My LLMD had told me to eat low-fat and high fiber during the process so as to lower the stress on the liver and help with elimination.
I didn't have a sauna available, so I just tried to make sure I was warm all the time, with the theory being that a) sweating is good for elimination of mercury, supposedly and b) higher body temperature does slightly speed up elimination processes and immune activity, not that immunity had much to do with chelation. I slept in two pairs of pajamas, took hot showers twice a day, for instance.
I drank gallons of water, it felt like, and the whole process definitely had me going to the bathroom way more than I'm used to. The psyllium seemed like a good thing for all this. I'm glad I got to just sit around the house for the most part for a few days. I was shocked at how much one can poop without eating very much (sorry, I know this is way "too much information", but this is supposedly a key component of how chelation works- eliminating the chelating compound/mercury combo in the stool).
After the chelation treatment was over I started taking large amounts of multivitamins to try to regain whatever minerals the chelator leached out of my body, and I went back on the Buhner herbs. It took a few days to get over residual side effects.
Right now I'm visiting the SF area again (I've been living on the East Coast for a few months) and working out in martial arts very, very intensively every single day, and leading a very busy social and work life while 'couchsurfing' friends' houses. There's no way I could do all of this while at all sick. I feel enormously lucky that the treatment worked so well that time.
I'm going to do it again in a few weeks when I get home, my LLMD made it sound like it would be a few treatments spaced every few weeks apart.
CD57
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11749
posted
Wow, how inspiring. Are you still seeing Dr B in Santa Rosa?
How on earth did you know how to combine all the stuff, bentonites, etc? I'd love to know how to do all the binders, etc., but I don't have anyone to tell me how to do it. Who/what did you use?
I'll have to go back and look at your story, but quickly, were you Lyme and co-infections or just Lyme? I seem to recall you were just Lyme.
Posts: 3528 | From US | Registered: Apr 2007
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MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
Yep, I saw Dr. B, and I'm just following his recommendations, for the most part, with a few variations based on my trial and error. I've read quite a bit of Lymenet stuff on mercury, and some of the info summarized at planetthrive.com and though some of it is very contradictory information, I was able to figure out a few things I could have been doing wrong the first time.
Primarily I assume I had a better time of it because I've gotten a lot healthier in the past year, which I attribute to the Buhner herbs and maybe to the recent antibiotics (?). I assume my liver and other eliminatory organs are working better. I haven't tested anything other than liver enzymes (they are normal after a year of Buhner herbs) but I'd successfully gotten rid of stomach ulcer during this time and think that my digestive system is working well. Generally, it's the typical Lyme dilemma- if you're sick, it's hard to take some of the treatment. If you're not sick, it's not as hard. Keep plugging away at all the pieces of the puzzle.
I have had plenty of trial and error with the chelatoin though- a bad experience last time (I tried chelating a year ago, got horribly sick, and have also gotten sick two other times due to mercury- once during the DMPS challenge test that found the mercury (it's like a chelation basically but sometimes makes people quite sick) and once from a mercury filling removal.
Dr B thought that based on how I responded to the first chelation that I have a glutathione deficiency (I hope I'm reporting this correctly). He recommended that I take undenatured whey, a glutathione precursor, and also prescribed me some methylcobalamine B-12 that I've been taking on and off for the past year.
Apparently there are several different ways that people have trouble with eliminating mercury, and glutathione problems is one of them. B-12 and undenatured whey are both glutathione precursors if I understnad right (I stopped taking the whey a few months ago because I do better with pills than with remembering to make special drinks).
I know that there is some testing available that can help a good doctor figure out what other factors are at play with metals toxicity, but since I'm not on insurance, I just did the 'trial and error' route under some supervision from the doctor.
Dr B up in Santa Rosa works with a naturopath in the same office, a Dr A I think, who's been working with various patients for metals toxicity for something like 15 years. So it sounds like Dr A has worked out some experience-based ideas on chelation, and everyone in that office (several LLMD's , an herbalist, and a naturopath, along with maybe a Chinese herbalist/accupuncturist?) seem to collaborate and share information, so I feel extremely lucky to have been a patient there.
For instance, Dr A's findings are that he successfully chelates patients who have amalgam fillings, which is one of the things that people sometimes disagree on (you sometimes read on the internet that yo'ure supposed to get them removed prior to chelation).
I think I didn't have coinfections though we suspected bartonella. I test negative via IGenex for bart, though. I treated for it via Buhner's herbal protocol (core protocol for Lyme plus boneset tea and red root) and the minor bart-like symptoms went away, but all of those herbs help Lyme as well so there's no way to tell whether I really had Bart or not. Dr B wanted me to try levaqin but I got the symptoms under control before having to resort to that.
Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
Thank you for sharing. I tested high for mercury and will start chelation in August.
My LLMD wants me to detox for a while first, including taking 3 months of nasal glutathione due to a genetic test showing I have difficulty detoxing. Since I've been taking drugs I now know I can't detox, I need that time to prepare my body.
Since I'm taking the bar exam the end of July, I'll wait another couple months for chelation.
I have a question, my LLMD said I should expect to lose hair during chelation. Did that happen to you? I'll be doing oral, not IV.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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what type of pill are you taking in place of the whey? I am on the whey right now as a glutatione precursor.
Diana
Posts: 202 | From vancouver, canada | Registered: Jun 2005
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MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
Sorry, I was unclear. I stopped taking the whey and didn't replace it with anything because I just can't keep up with anything that doesn't come in a pill.
but- I'm doing a lot better from treating this sucker for the past year and a half, and that's probably helped make the detoxification go easier.
quote:Originally posted by diana: Maria,
what type of pill are you taking in place of the whey? I am on the whey right now as a glutatione precursor.
Diana
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
quote:Originally posted by Alias24: MariaA:
Was Dr. B in Santa Rosa the only LLMD who helped you with the chelation or did you also see an LLMD on the east coast?
Thanks for the info.
Nope, I moved to the East Coast but I don't have a doctor there as I still visit California a lot and I haven't needed to see a doctor other than via phone consultations or email.
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
Anniek,
I don't think I"ve lost hair yet. I'm only on round two of this treatment, and supposedly it'll continue for a few weeks at least if not months, so I don't know.
I took more of the stuff the last couple of days and I seem to be doing well still, which is great.
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
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