Heavy Metal and I'm Not Talking 80s Hair Bands

image from vulture.com

Wow! I cannot believe it is already August. What a whirlwind Spring and Summer it has been. I suspect I will be very grateful once Fall is upon us. It is my favorite season. Things are finally settling down somewhat. Elsa is stable and she will be on Prednisone for another 5 months. By then she will be almost 14 mos old. We're discovering that she isn't going to be a very large dog despite being a cross between German Shepard and Bernese Mountain dog, which is fine by us. She still experiences pain, but not near the pain she had back in June. I look forward to titrating the Prednisone down and eventually getitng her off of it so that we can really strengthen her immune system, but in the mean time we are adding fermented fish stock and raw goats milk to her food, which seems to be helping both our dogs and they love it. Stinky, but good!

On the job front I have a little breathing room for now as some things have shifted and I'm able to keep my full time hours. Thank goodness. I don't do well with financial stress. That said, this has been a time of reflection and figuring out what my purpose on this planet is for this phase of my life. The truth is I actually know what that is I just need to make some steps toward that. The recent upheaval at work also meant that I had to drop my classes that I was going to take this Fall. My classes would be starting in a couple weeks, but alas that is no more. It is on hold for now or until I can find a relatively good online program. I'm really looking forward to being a Wellness Coach and helping people who are chronically ill or who want to try to prevent chronic illness, those who are motivated to be well, but just need the guidance. I will make this a possibility because it is something I'm faced with every day and I constantly have people asking me for advice and I'm passionate about helping. It makes my soul happy and that is how I know that I cannot ignore this call from the universe. 

My health is finally on the right track, but I still have much progress to make. My new doc is really great. I finally got over the herxheimer that lasted almost 3 weeks. I'm feeling pretty good, yet I know I'm going to feel even better in the future. My new doc started me on a regimen that focuses on opening up my methylathion pathways, which seems to be quite effective in my case due to the specific Genetic SNPS that I have. I am on a multitude of separate B Vitamins, as she said it, I'm being marinated in B Vitamins and not just any. They are specific clinical grade from Thorne that take into consideration my MTHFR mutation discussed in previous blogs. In addition I'm on Iron, Vitamin A (as Palmitate) because my body cannot use other forms of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Citramins (a multi-mineral), Magnesium CitraMal, Curaphen (for inflammation)... this one makes a huge difference, seveal probiotics that I rotate and several herbal/mineral remedies that are natural antibiotics against the Lyme. In addition I am on a low/no Amylose diet, which is great for individuals with biotoxin illnesses. My workouts are more geared toward resistance training as more aerobic activity in my case can actually be counterproductive for my needs. This one is a difficult one to get used to, but so far, so good. 

In addition to the new protocol I've had several labs run over the past 1 1/2 months. I've been through hormone testing, additional biotoxin testing and a heavy metal challenge with I.V. drip. I've learned that I'm likely in peri-menopause and so I will be starting supplementation with some progesterone over the next few months because I am estrogen dominant and my estrogen to progesterone ratio is out of whack. I was never in to 80s hair bands, but I also found out that I have heavy metal toxicity that is mostly attributed to Lead and Mercury, but there are others, so I will be starting oral chelation with DMSA. This type of chelation will take quite some time, but I should begin to see a noticeable impact in a positive way with my symptoms. These are both road blocks that need to be removed and will help all other efforts to become much more effective. This is not to say that there won't be another herx or other set backs along the way, but I look forward to overall improvement and moving forward with progress.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. Fall will be here before we know it. Cheers!