8 PROBLEMS YOU MAY ENCOUNTER ALONG THE WAY AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM
8.1 Why take supplements?
Being toxic causes symptoms. Symptoms are experiences and sensations that cause suffering and impair your life. Chelating mobilizes metals causing even more symptoms. The symptoms will slowly become fewer as the levels of metal in your body come down.
Chelation takes a long time, but in the meantime, there are things you can take to feel better.
Dietary supplements and prescription drugs are all chemicals. Neither are magically better than the other. We simply want you to use those chemicals that will make you feel better. Our experience has been that dietary supplements are more likely to be tolerated and are often as useful as drugs, although for certain conditions prescription drugs are necessary and do work better.
There are an enormous number of supplements to help you feel better while you detoxify. How many you use depends on the particulars of your health situation. It can also depend on your personal preferences, your finances, what kind of health insurance you have or other practical constraints. It is not necessary or appropriate to take everything we discuss.
How a person will react to a particular chemical—a medication or supplement—will depend on their constitution. While the tables in this chapter list different things you can try, there are many other options. Some are presented in Amalgam Illness, Diagnosis and Treatment as well as other books. Chemically sensitive or highly allergic people may have to experiment with brands and varieties to find products they can tolerate.
It can be difficult to identify what is causing a particular symptom. Poor liver function, adrenal fatigue, low thyroid or all of the above at once can cause fatigue. Poor liver function, yeast overgrowth, food allergies or all three at once can cause indigestion.
Try only one supplement at a time so you can figure out if something is helping you or causing a problem. For the same reason, we recommend that people not use most multi-vitamins or other multi-formulas as it is difficult to figure out which ingredient is having a particular effect. (Vitamin B complex is one exception and many adrenal combination supplements also work well.)
If you insist on starting several supplements at once, at least keep good records! Try to keep a notebook or supplement diary. Noting on your calendar when you start and stop each one can be helpful.
Keep in perspective that the most important thing you can do is chelate and detoxify. Don’t get preoccupied with fine-tuning your supplement regimen and forget your goal. Your goal is to get so healthy you won’t need pills anymore. Chelation is how you will get there.
8.2 Prescription medicines
Although medical doctors know next to nothing about mercury detoxification, they usually know a lot about prescription medicines and what those medications do. Don’t be rigid and decide you will only use “natural” substances. Prescription medicines can sometimes be much more effective than a supplement. At the same time, don’t assume medications are always more powerful and effective. Use what works for your problem.
If you have anxiety or depression, there is no shame in getting something to help. Sometimes this comes in the shape of a prescription pill. If you have seizures, you will almost certainly need prescription medicine. The early stages of chelating will increase your risk of getting seizures and there are very few nonprescription remedies that are effective.
8.2.1 A note about mental illness
If you are diagnosed with a mental illness, you should not stop your medications while chelating. We have found that staying on medication is important to success. There will be plenty of time to get off the medications once you are healthy. Chelating is what will make you not need them anymore—and have all your friends, family and doctors agree with you for once!
We appreciate that a lot of people who have been prescribed psychiatric medicines hate them. The medications can make you feel groggy, sedated, emotionally flat, spaced out, glassy eyed and not like yourself at all. They can make you gain weight, too. But part of what the medications do is to put you in a state where you can stick to things and chelation takes a lot of sticking to!
Another thing the psychiatric medicines do is modify your behavior, which makes other people happy. This may seem a cruel thing for doctors to use medication for, but it does have the benefit of getting other people to cooperate and help you. If you can stick to the program and get some help, you will be able to detoxify enough so eventually you may not need any medication. If you stop the medication too soon and aren’t stable enough to chelate, you are going to end up under tremendous pressure to take medications for the rest of your life.
If people insist you take medications you don’t like, insist they help you chelate. It’s a fair trade. You give them something (you take the pill), they give you something (they help you chelate).
Andy’s experience was that people who have been prescribed psychiatric medicines and take them are able to stick to chelation and get better. People who do not take their medications almost never stick to chelation long enough for it to do any good. We know the medications make a lot of people miserable and we certainly encourage you to get your doctor to adjust them so you are as comfortable possible!
8.3 Adrenals
Almost every mercury-toxic person has adrenal issues. Sometimes it is because the adrenal glands themselves have become poisoned and sometimes it is because the parts of the brain that control these glands are poisoned. All too often both the brain and the glands are poisoned.
Impaired adrenal glands usually make adrenaline just fine in the adrenal medulla, but do not make enough steroid hormones— cortisol being the main one—in the adrenal cortex. This discussion is about adrenal cortex problems.
Adrenaline is what your body uses when your prehistoric “fight or flight” reflex is set off or when you are having a lot of fun. Cortisol is what your body uses to help rest, digest, and recover. People with under-functioning adrenal glands have too much “fight or flight” and not enough “rest and digest”. They don’t have enough cortisol available, so when they are under stress they end up running on adrenaline. It takes them a long time to recover from stress.
As mercury builds up in the adrenal glands, their function slowly declines. First, your adrenal function will be a bit low and you’ll have a hard time keeping up with your healthy friends or former lifestyle. As time goes on and function declines even more, your fatigue and inability to recover from stress will get worse. In the early stages androgen output is preserved, so women retain their libido and, in fact, it may increase. As the adrenal glands become more impaired androgen falls. Women but not men, lose desire for sex.
When the part of the brain that regulates the adrenal glands gets poisoned, it loses track of when to make cortisol. You might not make enough cortisol to get up in the morning, but make plenty at bedtime and be unable to go to sleep. You might be doing fine with routine activity but any time something out of the ordinary happens, your brain forgets to tell your adrenal glands to react and you crash. At best, you feel horrible; at worst, you could wind up bed ridden for days. Even if the stress was fun, you will crash afterwards. When your brain doesn’t run things right it is difficult to compensate other than by avoiding stress and being very careful to keep regular hours.
While your adrenals can’t make adequate cortisol, they can still produce plenty of adrenaline. Some people, who feel exhausted all the time, will push through the fatigue and keep going on adrenaline. Don’t run on adrenaline! Don’t push through fatigue. Learn to recognize when to stop and rest.
Other people like the way adrenaline makes them feel. It is mood elevating, energizing and fun. They can surf a wave of adrenaline excitement for a while by experiencing urgency and drama. Don’t become addicted to drama! Don’t surf the adrenaline wave! When you run on adrenaline, you are borrowing energy against future cortisol production. That wave will eventually recede and leave you behind as a quivering pile of metabolic wreckage. Be careful, be aware and pace yourself! You’ll feel better on average and get more done in the long term if you stay away from that happy, wide-eyed roller-coaster-ride excitement.
For a more complete discussion of how to test for and treat underactive adrenals, see Amalgam Illness, pp. 118-122. To find out how to recognize an adrenal sign on a hair test, see Hair Test Interpretation pp. 112-113.
8.3.1 Symptoms
People with adrenal fatigue:
□ have a hard time getting up in the morning
□ are tired as soon as they get out of bed
□ struggle to keep up with life’s demands
□ are fatigued all the time
□ are weak
□ are extra sensitive to pain, smell and taste
□ may crave salt and need carbohydrates
Sometimes they are thin, anxious and shaky. They can eat a lot without gaining weight and have frequent nausea. Later in the progression of toxicity and adrenal fatigue they can be quite obese. They suffer from low motivation, depressed mood, lack of energy, listlessness and they feel weak and tired. They often stare blankly off into space. They have poor judgment. Other people find them obsessive (particularly about their health), incoherent and unfocused.
8.3.2 Adrenal support supplements
8.3.2.1 Adrenal cortex
The most likely supplement to help with adrenal stress is adrenal cortex
3 . Adrenal cortex is made from the freeze-dried adrenal glands of cows. It provides nutrients which help your own adrenals function normally. It does not contain hormones and will not cause adrenal suppression even if used for a long time and in high doses.
Some people have a paradoxical response when they first use adrenal cortex. They become agitated because the adrenal glands temporarily produce extra adrenaline. This reaction is temporary but you should start adrenal cortex at a low dose and build up to be sure you tolerate it.
Some products contain both the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla. You do not want to use these whole gland products as they will contain adrenaline. Just use the plain adrenal cortex.
8.3.2.2 Adaptogens
Licorice, Rhodiola rosea, ashwaganda, Schisandra and holy basil (also known as tulsi) are called adaptogens. All the adaptogens relieve anxiety and stress. They all help you to be more clear-headed and have better mental focus by modulate your immune system and helping it work better. They improve your energy, stamina and sense of well-being. They support liver health, help you fight off viruses and respiratory infections, improve chronic fatigue and reduce hot flashes in menopause. They relieve anxiety and obsessive feelings.
Licorice will perk you up immediately, give you a lift and some energy. It will relieve dry mouth and respiratory dryness. It soothes the digestive tract, helps retain sodium and may help with chemical sensitivity. It is mildly antiviral.
Rhodiola rosea improves sexual function in men and women, corrects heart arrhythmias and improves healing. It does not cause racing thoughts or giddiness, but some people need to avoid it in the evening.
Ashwaganda (also spelled ashwagandha) increases thyroid function modestly, improves sexual function in men and women and helps with menopause. It is a nightshade, which some people should avoid, e. g. those with arthritis. Ashwaganda has a higher side effect profile than the other herbs. It gives some people nausea and may cause vomiting, while others can get diarrhea. While calming and relaxing to most, it does make a few people edgy.
Schisandra is good for fibromyalgia and nerve pain, is good for your liver, improves allergy and asthma, reduces symptoms of menopause and helps normalize your circadian rhythm.
Holy basil will make you calm, peaceful, help with heart arrhythmias and increase your temperature and body heat. It is sometimes not tolerated by chemically sensitive people.
8.3.2.3 How to take adaptogens
Table 8.1
Supplements to help with adrenal support
Supplement
How to use it
adrenal cortex
• as much as you need
• from 2 to 10 or more capsules a day
ashgawanda
500 mg in the morning and afternoon
electrolytes
throughout the day as desired
holy basil/tulsi
500 mg of extract or 1 cup of tea once or twice a day
licorice
solid extract: one capsule or tablet two or three times a day, or as needed in any form
Table 8.1
Supplements to help with adrenal support
Supplement
How to use it
Rhodiola rosea
200-500 mg extract once or twice a day, not in the evening
Schisandra
Extract: 250 mg twice a day -OR- Fruit: 2 grams twice a day
Holy basil, Rhodiola rosea, Schisandra and ashwaganda should be taken on a schedule. For instance, many people take their holy basil as a tea made from 1 tsp of leaves twice a day. Start with the dose recommended on the bottles. Some people will find these adaptogens too stimulating if taken in the evening.
You can take licorice on a schedule or whenever you feel you need a boost. You can use licorice supplements or many licorice candies (that contain licorice solid extract) for this purpose.
8.3.2,4 Electrolytes
Some people have to supplement with a lot of electrolytes because the adrenal glands have got so sick that they do not regulate salt properly. If you are one of these people, it may be helpful to drink an “electrolyte cocktail” throughout the day. You can adjust the recipe to taste by varying the amounts of the different salts somewhat. If it tastes good, then you have got the recipe right and it is good for you.
Adrenal electrolyte cocktail
2 quarts* water (or orange juice)
1 tbsp Epsom salts 1 tbsp table salt
1/4 tsp potassium chloride (cream of tartar also works)**
1 tsp baking soda
Reduce the salt if you experience bloating.
Bicarbonate of soda will cause fizzing.
* One US quart equals 0.96 liters, so it’s ok to use two liters for this recipe.
** If the potassium chloride tastes bad, leave it out. See page 99 of
Amalgam Illness
for more information on potassium supplementation.
8.3.3 Help from your doctor
People with particularly bad adrenal problems may want to ask their doctor to prescribe hydrocortisone (which many doctors will be reluctant to do). The safe dose for long term daily use for an adult is 20 mg or less.
4 Using more can become dangerous in a few weeks. Do not double up or be innovative with this medicine. Hydrocortisone should be used in addition to the adrenal supplements you are already taking when these are clearly not doing enough for you. > > ####
8.4 Thyroid > > Thyroid hormone levels in the body are regulated by a complex feedback loop, which involves the thyroid itself and the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland monitor hormone levels in the blood. They then communicate with each other and the pituitary sends TSH to the thyroid gland which causes it to let out its two hormones, T3 and T4. These hormones are sent to every cell in the body via the bloodstream and direct the cells to run the chemical machinery which is the metabolism. > > The liver also gets involved by converting T4 to T3 in response to other body regulatory signals. T3 and T4 have similar but not identical effects throughout the body. There are receptor molecules with different affinities for each of them. For example, T4 makes your heart beat faster and harder, T3 does not. T3 elevates your mood, T4 does not. > >
Tables 8.2
Differences between the various adaptogens
SCHISANDRA
Rhodiola
Ashgawanda
Holy Basil
Licorice
Helps with insomnia
Yes*
Yes
Yes
Helps with diabetes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Lowers high cholesterol
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Blood pressure
Normalizes
Varies †
May lower
Increases
Relieves PMS‡
Yes
Yes
Relieves PCOS§
Yes
Yes
Relieves digestive distress
Yes
Yes
Yes
Expectorant
Yes
Yes
Improves thyroid status
Yes
Improves motivation
Yes
- May interfere with sleep if taken in the evening
† Depending on your dose and sensitivity, it may either raise or lower your blood pressure
‡ Pre-menstural syndrome
§ Polycistic ovary syndrome
Mercury can interfere at many stages in the brain-thyroid control loop. It can cause every variety of thyroid disease. It can interfere with how the brain puts out TSH to signal the thyroid to produce hormones. It can interfere with how T4 is transformed into T3. It can stop the hormones from getting into the cells where they do their job. It can make your thyroid vulnerable to attack by the immune system.
8.4.1 Symptoms
Thyroid hormones do many things but their main job can be described as ‘revving up your engine’ to make you warmer, more energetic, more active and leaner. Low thyroid hormones can make people slow moving, placid, sleepy and indifferent. They may tire easily, wearing out by late afternoon and evening. They tend to be forgetful and may be mildly depressed. They often have a low body temperature of 97°F (36°C) or less and prefer to dress very warmly. Their grip may be weak; they may have trouble with tasks like taking the lids off of jars.
Other common symptoms of low thyroid are:
□ puffy eyelids
□ dry, coarse skin even though it looks smooth and young
□ fine, dull, dry and brittle hair
□ loss of the outer half of the eyebrows
□ hoarse voice
□ snoring
□ little bits of light green residue in the eyes upon awakening
□ swollen tongue and biting the edges of the tongue by accident
□ high cholesterol
□ carpal tunnel syndrome
□ constipation
8.4.2 Supplements
There are a few thyroid support supplements that contain selenium
6 , 1-tyrosine, iodine
7 , and assorted herbs such as guggul, ashwaganda and forskolin (Coleus forskohlii)
8 . These supplements may also contain adrenal support herbs. In all but the mildest cases, however, you will need to use thyroid hormone itself, as thyroid support supplements are only modestly helpful. > > If you are relying on nutritional supplements to support your thyroid function, you will need to avoid raw foods: broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, turnips, peanuts, pine nuts and soy products. These contain compounds that interfere with thyroid function. Avoid them for a few months then reintroduce them in cooked form if you like them and don’t have problems with them otherwise. Cooking these foods well makes them safe for most people. > > ####
8.4.3 Help from your doctor
Thyroid hormones are prescription only in the USA. If you do get a prescription for this from your doctor you should ask for a product that is a combination of T3 and T4, like Armour Thyroid or Naturethroid which are made from dessicated animal thyroid.
Doctors will usually only want to prescribe T4, which is only one of the hormones that the thyroid produces. T4 was patented and is a brand name medicine, but it does not work as well as the natural dessicated thyroid medicines or pharmaceutical combinations of T3 and T4. The manufacturer of synthetic T4 spread the myth that T4 works better. After a court case in 2000, which they lost
10 , Andy received compensation as did everyone else whose doctor had put them on Synthroid brand T4. Unfortunately, many physicians are still not aware that a combination of T3 and T4 is the best way to treat the thyroid, so you have to advocate for yourself. > > You will have to advocate for yourself to get proper testing, too. Some doctors only test for TSH, which is just one step in the whole process of how the thyroid works. A proper thyroid test measures TSH, free T3 and free T4. Anything less is inadequate. > > The doctor may look at a normal TSH result and insist you are fine. If he says you have “subclinical” hypothyroidism, he’s wrong. Abnormal test results and symptoms to match
11 mean you have hypothyroidism. If he won’t prescribe, herbal supplements will occasionally work. If not, demand treatment or change doctors. > > Adrenal and thyroid function interact. Each places a burden on the other. If both your thyroid and adrenals are low due to mercury (which is common) then only helping your thyroid will stress your adrenals and vice versa. People with both adrenal and thyroid problems are better off starting to work on their adrenals first because pushing your adrenal function down is much more unpleasant and debilitating, and happens much more quickly, than pushing your thyroid function down. The adrenals can be supported with nutritional supplements, which can be bought over-the-counter. Thyroid support in all but the mildest cases requires prescription medicine. > > Often thyroid problems are recognized and treated first. If you’ve been treated for low thyroid and you feel worse instead of better, it may mean you need to resolve your adrenal problems. Supporting your adrenals will make you feel a lot better. It will also allow you to benefit from thyroid treatment. > > If you do take thyroid hormone you may need to increase your intake of magnesium and potassium, especially if you start to get muscle cramps. Potassium chloride is available in grocery stores as a salt substitute. > > Mercury sometimes causes the thyroid hormones to become too high. In this case, you will need to seek medical care. The nutritional supplement lemon balm may help alleviate mild symptoms. > > ####
8.5 Diabetes and blood sugar > > Diabetes is caused by your body’s inability to regulate blood sugar. There are three types of diabetes: type 1 (formerly called juvenile onset diabetes), type 2 (formerly called adult-onset diabetes) and gestational diabetes. We will be talking about type 1 and type 2 in this section. > > Type 1 diabetes is a form of autoimmune disease. Some environmental trigger (usually a virus) will cause your body to attack the insulin manufacturing cells in the pancreas. As a result, your body will no longer make insulin. Insulin is needed to get energy into your cells, and without it you would die. If you are a type 1 diabetic, you will need to take injected insulin daily to allow your body to function normally. > > Type 2 diabetes is part of a constellation of symptoms known as metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance syndrome. The symptoms of metabolic syndrome are obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol. If your doctor diagnoses you with metabolic syndrome, he will try to treat each of these symptoms individually. However, he is not treating the root cause. Chelating will help with all of these symptoms. > > When you have diabetes, your body will have a hard time handling carbohydrates. You can make it easier on your body by eating fewer carbohydrates. You will generally be given bad advice about this from health care providers. Ignore it. Don’t get half or more of your calories from carbohydrates. Make it a third or less. Much less if you can. Before there were diabetes drugs, doctors prescribed an Atkins or ketogenic style diet for diabetes with good success. Many people who try this today report that it still works well. > > If you are hungry and want to snack all the time whatever you are doing for blood sugar control is not adequate. You need to do more which may mean going to see your doctor to get extra medication. > > Using artificially sweetened products will sometimes cause difficulty with blood sugar regulation. Your brain can react to the fake sugar as though it were encountering real glucose. Your pancreas will then release insulin in to the blood which signals the cells to take up glucose. But there won’t be any real glucose in the intestines for the body to absorb to replace the glucose taken up into the cells. > > If you have prediabetes, which is a fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 mg/dl
12 , or a hemoglobin Ale between 5.8 and 6.4, the supplements in Table 8.3 will control your blood sugar, make you feel a lot better, and buy you time to chelate before you do turn diabetic. > > ####
8.5.1 Symptoms
Symptoms common to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are:
□ increased thirst
□ frequent urination
□ fatigue
□ blurred vision
□ slow healing cuts or sores
□ numbness or tingling in your hands or feet
□ dry, itchy skin
□ rapid weight loss or gain
□ yeast infections
8.5.2 Supplements
If you have type 2 diabetes, in the long term it is chelation that will allow your body to regulate blood sugar properly and get better. In the meantime, there are some supplements that will help. These supplements may allow you to cut back somewhat on your medications but please approach doing this with thought and care.
• berberine is as effective as standard diabetes drugs, and unlike them is good for your liver. You can use it if you need to add another agent or replace or reduce one you are on now. Berberine is roughly equivalent to metformin or lower doses of glipizide.
• bitter melon is also a nutritional supplement (and food) that reduces fasting blood sugar levels.
• chromium has been found to increase the effectiveness of diabetes drugs and reduce the associated weight gain.
• vitamin B complex as well as biotin plus thiamin are also helpful, but not as effective as medications, berberine or bitter melon.
• supplemental potassium and magnesium. The magnesium in the basic four supplements you are presumably already taking should be sufficient.
Table 8.3
Supplements to help with diabetes
Supplement
How to use it
B complex
B50 or B100 with meals and at bedtime
berberine
500 mg with meals
biotin and thiamin
• biotin: 5 to 10 mcg 1 with meals
• thiamin: 250 to 700 mg with meals
bitter melon
500-1000 mg with each meal
chromium
500 mcg, 2 or 3 times a day
1 The bottle may give this as 5,000 or 10,000 meg. 1 mg = 1,000 meg
WARNING!
We often hear stories about high dose alpha lipoic acid for treating diabetes symptoms. NEVER, EVER use alpha lipoic acid unless you are taking it according to the Andy Cutler chelation schedule. DO NOT take high dose alpha lipoic acid to treat your diabetes!
8.5.3 Help from your doctor
While you can somewhat control your blood sugar levels with diet and exercise, many people will require medication to keep their glucose levels low enough to prevent side effects.
The first thing you will want is a glucometer (a device to measure your blood sugar level) which your health insurance will most likely cover. But, if you don’t have health insurance, glucometers are not very expensive and will allow you to see how diet, exercise, stress and quality of sleep are affecting your blood sugar.
Your doctor will most likely want to put you on medication. Be careful. There are two older types of medications that are relatively safe. The newer medications, however, have many boxed warnings issued by the FDA. Boxed warning (also called black box warnings) are issued after a drug has been approved when serious or life-threatening side effects are discovered. You do not want to be one of the test cases for a black box warning.
The oldest and safest forms of diabetes drugs are sulfonylureas and biguanides. Sulfonylureas include:
• glipizide (brand names Glucotrol, Glucotrol XL, GlipiZIDE XL)
• glyburide (brand names DiaBeta, Glynase, PresTab)
• glimepiride (brand name Amaryl)
The only currently available biguanide is metformin (brand names Fortamet, Glucophage, Glumetza, Riomet)
Table 8.4
Diabetes
medications with black
box warnings
Brand name
Generic name
Warning
Actos
pioglitazone hydrochloride
congestive heart failure
Actoplus Met
pioglitazone/metformin
•lactic acidosis leading to death
• congestive heart failure
Avandia
rosiglitazone maleate
congestive heart failure
Bydureon
exenatide
risk of thyroid c-cell tumors
Duetact
glimepiride/pioglitazone
lactic acidosis leading to death
Invokana
canagliflozin / metformin
•lactic acidosis leading to death
•risk of lower-limb amputation
Kombiglyze
saxagliptin/metformin
lactic acidosis leading to death
Tanzeum
albiglutide
risk of thyroid c-cell tumors
Trulicity
dulaglutide
risk of thyroid c-cell tumors
Victoza
liraglutide
risk of thyroid c-cell tumors
1 > > See discussion in section 9.3 > >
2 > > Lead can also be chelated out of your child’s body, and the resulting better health and brain function is a wonderful gift to give them.
3 > > Some people call adrenal cortex “ACE” for adrenal cortex extract. This is actually a misnomer. Adrenal cortex extract is an entirely different product.
4 > > Do not use hydrocortisone for children. It can only be used after puberty.
5 > > In fact, low thyroid can make older women look younger by smoothing out wrinkles and filling in their bust line. Few people think of this as a sign of illness!
6 > > As selenomethionine, to help your liver convert the T4 form to T3.
7 > > Iodine intake should be limited to 500 mcg a day. Taking large amounts will cause your thyroid to be low.
8 > > Those prone to agitation may find forskolin bothers them.
10 > > Synthroid Marketing Litigation. MDL No. 1182. (United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division. 2000)
11 > > The doctor wouldn’t have ordered the test if you didn’t complain of relevant symptoms.
8.6 Allergies
IgE is the immune globulin in your bloodstream that, when activated by encountering an allergen to which it has been sensitized, makes your nose run, your eyes turn red, your stomach feel uncomfortable, your skin itch, and your lungs wheeze. IgG is the immune globulin in your blood that helps your white blood cells find, identify and kill pathogenic organisms. Some people talk about “delayed allergies” or IgG allergies, usually to food. We are limiting this discussion to classical allergies caused by IgE. Mercury causes your body to become allergic to ordinary environmental proteins that are benign by encouraging the formation of new types of IgE.
The most basic way to handle allergies is to stay away from allergens. When you are outdoors, wear long sleeves and a hat. Filter air or breathe through a dust mask. Avoid eating allergenic foods or their mimics 11 . Bathe, shower or at least wash your face and hands often. Pursue indoor activities during allergy season. Use an allergy (HEPA) filter on your furnace and get your heating ducts vacuumed out if you have them.
Adrenal support lets your adrenal glands do their job properly, which helps your body naturally control allergies and not develop more. See the section 8.3 on adrenal support.
8.6.1 Symptoms
Typical symptoms of allergies are:
□ stuffy or runny nose
□ itchy, red eyes
□ sneezing
□ coughing o asthma
□ itchy skin
□ hives
8.6.2 Supplements
When IgE binds to an allergen it sets off a biochemical cascade involving histamine that produces allergy symptoms. There are several places to intervene in this allergy cascade, but you will get the best results intervening at several points rather than trying to intervene very heavily at just one. Each of these agents helps the others work better. The table below gives you a set of synergistic suggestions that can be combined as needed.
Table 8.5
Supplements to help with allergy symptoms
Supplement
How to use it
adrenal support
see section 8.3
antihistamines
see discussion below
calcium and B complex
300 mg calcium and B100 with each meal
conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
2 grams (3 capsules) per day
Table 8.5
Supplements to help with allergy symptoms
Supplement
How to use it
digestive enzymes
use as directed on the bottle with meals
forskolin
10-30 mg 2 or 3 times a day
grape seed extract
250 mg each time you take vitamins
Antihistamines help control symptoms. There are many different kinds of over-the-counter antihistamines. The reason there are so many is because tolerance and response are individual. Some are supposedly non-sedating—but how you react to antihistamines is an individual matter. Some people will find them very sedating or depressive, others won’t. Some might even find one of the older ‘sedating’ antihistamines to be just fine. You may have to try each one to find out how you react. A dry mouth is a common side effect of all antihistamines.
Allegra, Claritin and Zyrtec are the new supposedly non-sedating antihistamines. Allegra works best if you take a bit more than they say. It is closely related to Seldane (which was withdrawn around 1998) so if that worked for you, try Allegra. Of these three, Claritin lasts the longest, Zyrtec gives the most rapid relief but lasts the shortest time. Allegra is in between on both counts.
Tavist is by far the best antihistamine if you itch a lot. It is moderately sedating. Benadryl is the most sedating of the lot and may even be depressive. Many people take it as a sleeping pill and it is given to agitated people in emergency rooms to calm them down. Many find Benadryl the best at controlling symptoms. Chlor-Trimeton and Dimetapp are fairly effective and somewhat sedating.
Table 8.6
Over-the-counter antihistamines
Brand name
Generic name
Allegra
fexofenadine
Benadryl
diphenhydramine
Chlor-Trimeton
chlorpheniramine maleate
Claritin
loratidine
Dimetapp
brompheniramine maleate
Tavist
clemastine fumarate
Zyrtec
cetirizine
8.6.3 Help from your doctor
Unless they are severe, allergies are something you can manage on your own. You should need little help from your doctor. If you aren’t sure if your symptoms are due to an allergy and are worried it is something else, serum IgE on a blood test can be informative.
8.7 Liver problems
The liver is the body’s central chemical factory. Mercury concentrates in the liver and can block the myriad enzymes it uses for its various metabolic processes. When the liver malfunctions the effects cascade into almost all the body’s other systems, so working on the liver will often clear up problems in other places. Mercury attached to alpha lipoic acid leaves your body via bile so liver support is always a good idea.
8.7.1 Symptoms
Symptoms that can be caused by poor liver function are:
□ fatigue
□ indigestion
□ pale stools
□ food sensitivities
□ itchy skin
A sick liver also causes brain fog, poor concentration and confusion. Finding some foods repulsive and not wanting to eat fatty foods are signs your liver needs help.
Many toxins and metabolic waste products are excreted in the bile. Helping your liver make bile may reduce symptoms. Symptoms your liver is not making or releasing enough bile are:
□ constipation
□ light colored or hard pebbly stools
□ nausea after eating fatty foods
□ feeling like avoiding fatty food
□ meals that sit in your stomach for hours on end like a baseball
8.7.2 Supplements
Below are some supplements you can use for supporting your liver and bile production.
Table 8.7
Supplements to help with liver support
Supplement
How to use it
Why to use it
glycine
1-3 grams with meals and at bedtime
increases bile flow
milk thistle extract
up to 730 mg with meals and at bedtime
good idea for everyone who is chelating
phosphatidylcholine
(lecithin)
1 to 2 grams with meals and at bedtime
increases bile flow and help dissolve cholesterol
taurine
500 to 1000 mg with meals and at bedtime
increases bile flow, reduces chlorine/bleach sensitivity
Coffee is now being recommended for people with liver disease. It may undo some forms of damage and help decrease the rate of damage due to toxins.
8.7.3 Help from your doctor
Generally, doctors will not diagnose liver problems unless you have flagrant symptoms such as jaundice. If you are concerned, you can ask your doctor for a blood test to check your AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) levels. These tests measure enzyme levels that rise when the liver is damaged.
One of Andy’s friends got chemical hepatitis from prescribed medication. The symptoms she had were fatigue so bad she couldn’t turn over in bed and panting (shortness of breath). She was pretty sure her medication was making her sick. Her primary care physician ignored her and instead sent her in for a cardiac stress test, which came back normal. It was only when her naturopath noticed the raised AST and ALT values that the problem was verified. She improved after she discontinued the medication.
8.8 Digestive tract problems
Digestive issues are an almost universal problem for people with mercury poisoning. Mercury deactivates many liver enzymes and prevents the pancreas from releasing digestive enzymes when needed. It directly poisons the immune system, causing it to stop killing yeast and parasites and go berserk attacking innocent bystanders like gluten or your own body. It can contribute to the factors that cause leaky gut with its attendant immune and allergy issues.
Many people are told they have acid reflux. Most don’t. Frank reflux that comes up and burns your esophagus can occur from too little acid. Too little acid causes delayed gastric emptying so there is still food in the stomach to reflux hours later when the esophageal sphincter gets tired. Betaine HC1 and other vitamins will do you a world of good.
Some people do have excess acid. Taking a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a half glass of water is helpful. Antacids are another choice.
8.8.1 Symptoms
People with digestive issues may experience:
□ fatigue after meals
□ pain in the belly
□ bad reactions to various foods and heartburn
□ undigested food may feel like stones in their gut
□ feeling full more than two hours after a meal
□ undigested food in the stool
□ constipation or diarrhea
Below we describe a few simple interventions anyone can use. There are many other things you can try. The most powerful is dietary modification. Diet is discussed in more detail in chapter 9 in this book.
Acupressure about 1 inch (2.5cm) up from your wrist on the inside is wonderfully helpful for nausea and sometimes an upset stomach. You can buy “motion sickness wrist bands” for this purpose.
Supporting the liver will increase bile flow and help with digestion, too. Your liver is part of your digestive system, supplying bile so you can digest fat. It also takes the toxins out of the food you absorb and turns them into substances your body can handle.
Lethargy and inability to focus or concentrate after meals may be improved by supporting liver health. Supporting bile production and release will keep food from sitting like an undigested lump in your stomach long after your meal.
8.8.2 Supplements
Table 8.8
Supplements to help with digestion
Supplement
How to use it
Why to use it
betaine HCL
with food. Increase the amount pill by pill until it gives you heartburn. From then on use that amount minus one pill.
improves digestion of protein
digestive enzymes
with food
use as directed on the bottle with meals
Table 8.8
Supplements to help with digestion
Supplement | How to use it | Why to use it | | ginger | use as needed or routinely as a spice in food. You can also eat crystallized ginger or take ginger pills. | improves overall digestion, promotes digestive comfort and relieves nausea | | ox bile | with food | improves fat absorption |
8.8.3 Help from your doctor
There are many medications available to deal with heartburn and indigestion. Some of them, like proton pump inhibitors, are coming under scrutiny for serious side effects such as increasing your risk for cancer. Your doctor may prescribe some of them. In general, it is safest to deal with your digestion problems with digestive supplements, antacids and bicarbonate of soda. Under NO circumstances should you ever take Pepto Bismol. It contains bismuth, which is toxic.
8.9 Yeast and dysbiosis
Yeast or other organisms misbehaving in the digestive tract are a common problem for toxic people. Mercury compromises the immune system and an impaired immune system can allow yeast and other harmful microorganisms to grow out of control. In addition to mercury, many food chemicals, additives and ingredients interfere with how the body regulates yeast and other organisms. Some of them can also act as a fertilizer. Chelating with DMSA can cause yeast overgrowth and is an issue for some people.
When enough chelation has been done and the immune system starts working properly again, yeast and dysbiosis will cease to be a problem. In the meantime, you will have to be constantly on the lookout to keep it under control.
One of the most effective remedies is dietary modification. Eliminating sugar is the most important thing you can do. Yeast loves sugar. You can avoid many of the problematic food additives that fertilize yeast by eating organic. Butter and coconut oil help control yeast. Use them liberally.
Probiotics are organisms that should be present in your digestive tract. You can take them directly or grow your own in cultured foods such as kefir, kimchi and yogurt. Don’t take yeast killers at the same time as you take the probiotics as they may kill off the good bacteria you are trying to nurture in your gut. Take your yeast killing remedy, with meals, for instance, and your probiotics at bedtime.
8.9.1 Symptoms
Yeast symptoms include:
□ thick white coating on the tongue
□ itchy skin
□ fatigue
□ insomnia
□ yeast elsewhere in the body
□ yellow stools
□ diarrhea or constipation
□ bloating
□ bad breath
□ body odor
8.9.2 Supplements
For yeast killing remedies, find one that works for you and stick with it until it stops working and then find something new. Don’t rotate remedies as this leads to resistance.
Table 8.9
Supplements to help with yeast and dysbiosis
Supplement
How to use it
Why to use it
biotin
5 to 10 mg 4 times a day
interferes with yeast s life cycle, improves blood sugar regulation which makes it easier to follow diets
emulsified oil of oregano (EOO)
1 to 3 drops several times a day
kills everything in your gut
grapefruit seed extract
1 to 3 drops several times a day
kills everything in your gut
probiotics: most useful are
Lactobacillus acidophilus
and
Bifidobacterium longum
at least 50 billion CFUs
replaces deficient species
thymus glandular such as Neutrophil Plus from Biotics Research
as directed
increases neutrophils which kill yeast and other pathogens
8.9.3 Help from your doctor
If you want your doctor to help with yeast, they can prescribe Nystatin 500,000 to 1,000,000 IU with each meal, or Fluconazole 100 mg daily. Both of these need to be continued indefinitely or the yeast will come back soon after you stop. Nystatin stays inside your intestines and doesn’t get into your body. Fluconazole gets into your body. Fluconazole seems also to be helpful for chemical sensitivity.
8.9.4 Die off when using yeast remedies
When first starting Nystatin you should use a very small amount for a few days, then twice as much for a few more, etc. until you are up to the prescribed dosage. If you don’t do this, you may experience a lot of malaise in the first few days as all the yeast in your digestive tract dies off and rots (called the Herxheimer reaction). Similarly, when starting oil of oregano (OOO) or grapefruit seed extract, start low (1 drop per day, 1/2 tablet per day) and work up over the course of 2 to 3 weeks.
8.10 Poor concentration and attention deficit
Poor memory, poor concentration, brain fog and difficulty paying attention to anything for very long usually lead people to think that there is something going wrong in their brain. A poorly functioning liver can cause many of these symptoms, however, by allowing chemicals that upset the brain chemistry to get into the brain. If the symptoms come and go, try more liver support first. If they are constant or more liver support does not fully resolve them, the table below gives you a set of synergistic suggestions to improve brain function. Each of these agents helps the others work better.
8.10.1 Symptoms
Symptoms of poor concentration and attention deficit disorder
□ inability to concentrate on one task
□ inability to switch tasks when necessary
□ inability to listen to others
□ interrupting others
□ procrastination
□ continually being late
□ emotional outbursts
□ inability to sit still
□ inability to prioritize tasks
□ disorganization
□ difficulty coping with details
8.10.2 Supplements
Table 8.10
Supplements to help with poor concentration and attention-deficit
Supplement
How to use it
caffeine
as needed
forskolin
30 to 50 mg in morning and afternoon
1-tyrosine
1,000 to 3,000 mg in the morning or when you need to concentrate
omega 3 oils: fish or flax
1 -3 Tbsp daily
phosphatidylcholine (lecithin)
5 grams per day
vitamin B50 or B100
3 or 4 times a day
vitamin B12
1 to 12 mg as needed
8.10.3 Help from your doctor
Clonidine, a prescription blood pressure medication, can also help reduce the scattering of attention and thought that often comes with attention deficit. It is available as pills and patches. It can’t be used with beta-blockers, but otherwise it is fairly benign. The similar drug Guanfacine is approved for hyperactivity in children under the trade name Intuniv and works fine in adults too. These will keep your thoughts from jumping all over the place but do not directly improve concentration.
8.11 Depression
If you are suffering from depression, make sure your thyroid is performing adequately. A poorly functioning thyroid can cause symptoms of depression. Low thyroid hormones can actually cause depression. Antidepressants won’t help if your thyroid is not working, because what you need is thyroid medicine. (See section 8.4)
A poorly functioning liver can cause depression, too. See the liver section (section 8.7) and make sure your liver is supported.
Anxiety along with depression means your adrenal glands are not doing their job. You can take all the antidepressants in the world and it wont help if your adrenals are not working. The adrenal section of this book tells you what to do. (Section 8.3)
Food sensitivities can also affect mood. Some toxic people react to food chemicals the way ordinary people react to dangerous drugs. Figure out if you are reacting to a chemical in your food. It can even be a natural chemical. A good third of toxic people, for instance, react to thiols in their food. If you are sensitive to thiols, eating them can make your emotions jump all over the place
2 .
8.11.1 Some different kinds of depression and what they feel like
Mercury interferes with the chemicals that the body uses to run the brain. There are several different kinds of depression that have to do with these chemicals. The symptoms differ according to which chemical is affected. You will need to read this section even if you are relying on a doctor to prescribe for this situation. Most doctors don’t understand these differences and prescribe randomly.
8.11.1.1 Obsessive, suffering depression
If you feel obsessive and compulsive and have trouble letting things go or moving on; if you feel lots of psychic distress, have bad thoughts about dying, suicide and think about hurting yourself, you may have low serotonin.
If you have the above WITH ANXIETY, the problem is your adrenal glands, and just doing something about serotonin isn’t all that helpful. You have to support your adrenals as described in the adrenal section (section 8.3).
8.11.1.2 Hopeless, helpless depression
If you feel sad, hopeless, helpless, powerless and like crying all the time, or if you have trouble keeping a normal sleep pattern or a regular schedule it may be due to catecholamine neurotransmitters being too low in the limbic system.
8.11-1.3 Sluggish, lethargic, no motivation depression
If you don’t have much motivation or energy, aren’t very emotional and spend your time sitting around like bump on a log, your brain may not have enough histamine.
8.11.2 Supplements
Table 8.11
Supplements to help with depression
Supplement
How to use it
What kind of depression to use it for
dl-phenylalanine
(DLPA)
1 gram several times a day
• chocolate cravings
• PMS
• pain
• irritability
• depressed phase of bipolar depression
forskolin
10 to 30 mg, 2 to 3 times a day
•hopeless, helpless depression
• sluggish, lethargic with no motivation depression
5-HTP*
30 to 300 mg per day
obsessive, suffering depression
inositol
1 to 3 tsp per day
all types of depression
l-histidine
1 to 3 grams per day
Do not use if you have problems with allergies or inflammation
sluggish, lethargic, no motivation depression
l-tyrosine
1 to 3 grams per day
hopeless, helpless depression
omega 3 oils: fish or flax
3 Tbs per day
all types of depression
phosphatidylcholine
(lecithin)
5 grams per day
all types of depression
vitamin B complex (B50 or B100)
3 times per day
all types of depression
vitamin B12
1 to 12 mg per day as needed
Hopeless, helpless depression
- This is a more potent and less expensive chemical relative of 1-tryptophan. If you have trouble with 5 HTP you can try 1 g of l-tryptophan on an empty stomach 1 -3 times a day.
8.11.3 Help from your doctor
Try the supplements listed above first. If these don’t help you may need prescription medicine. Using the supplements at the same time will make the prescription medicine work better and have fewer side effects. Using supplements may allow you to use less prescription medicines.
8.12 Anxiety
Mercury can cause anxiety in two ways. One is by inhibiting your adrenal glands. The other is by direct toxic action in your brain. It is important to control anxiety because it leads to poor decision making and putting off your main job, which is chelating.
Anxious people tend to behave in certain predictable patterns. First, they overanalyze a decision, going over and over and over and over the available information when all the useful analysis got done the first time through. They keep putting off taking positive action, in order to go over the original, adequate information yet another time. Then, when they’ve been over the subject a million times and have everyone tearing their hair out, they panic and try the first thing that comes to mind. This is usually a bad choice. The poor victim then becomes even more anxious and fearful and reverts back to over-analyzing everything all over again.
You need to do something to stay out of this cycle. Nutritional supplements are listed below. If those don’t work, get a doctor to prescribe medication to control your anxiety and fear.
8.12.1 Symptoms
Symptoms of anxiety are:
□ repetitive thoughts
□ inability to make decisions
□ over-analyzing decisions
□ racing pulse
8.12.2 Supplements
Table 8.12
Supplements
to help with anxiety
Supplement
How to use it
GABA
500 to 1,000 mg, 4 times a day or as needed
1-theanine
500 mg as needed
taurine
1000 mg, 4 times a day
Magnesium and taurine often help with spacey, almost disoriented anxiety and distress. These symptoms usually go along with rambling speech, a high heart rate and reduced sweating.
Any form of adrenal support will help with anxiety. Always use adrenal support in addition to whatever else you do.
The over-anxious person needs to understand how their behavior affects other people. Anxious people are terribly draining to be around because they are so self-involved, and obsessive and repetitive about their fears. Their self-involvement means they do not show an interest in other people. The only way normal people can react to this is to withdraw emotionally and become disconnected. This leads to failed relationships and not much goodwill being available when the anxious person needs help.
You may be willing to put up with some anxiety so that you don’t have to take so many pills, but nobody else will be able to bear being around you. Control your anxiety so you don’t drive away all the people in your life who are prepared to help you!
8.12.3 Help from your doctor
Most anti-anxiety medicines are substances whose use is controlled by the government. You may need one of these in order to cope with the stress of being sick and the extra stress chelating may cause. Some doctors will try to convince you to take SSRIs, which are not controlled substances, instead. These are useless for anxiety.
Situational anxiety (stage fright, or being very tense in crowds or with new people) is somewhat different from ordinary anxiety. Beta blockers, which are normally used to lower blood pressure are sometimes quite helpful for this. These control the symptoms of anxiety such as rapid heartbeat, shaking and blushing. These are ordinary medicines, not controlled substances. Few doctors think to use them for this purpose but many will prescribe if you ask.
Remember, you will not need prescription medicines for the rest of your life. They are to help you until you have chelated enough to stop being anxious. See your doctor if you need an anti-anxiety medicine. If you are already using one, it is better to stay on it until you have chelated enough to feel better—and your family and friends all agree with you that you no longer need it.
8.13 Insomnia
Mercury poisons the part of your brain that regulates sleep. It is not normal to wake up several times in the night to go to the bathroom, or to wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep. This is not happening because you are getting old. If you are a woman, it is not happening because of menopause. A healthy person sleeps well and wakes up in the morning refreshed. If you are not sleeping well, you may be toxic.
There are many ways your sleep cycle can be disturbed. One is when you can’t get up in the morning, take a long time to become coherent, then are energized and alert at bedtime. This happens because the timing of how your adrenal glands secrete hormones is not being regulated properly by your brain. This is difficult to fix. The best thing to do is be careful to start relaxing an hour or two before bedtime, keep regular hours, and reserve some extra time in the morning to get going.
You can also get so exhausted during the day that you have trouble sleeping at night. This is due to your body using too much adrenaline to keep going. Support your adrenals and don’t push yourself so hard!
More liver support may stop you getting up every night at 2 or 3 AM.
If you lie awake and worry, you need to use the same things you’d use for low serotonin as described in the depression section.
8.13.1 Symptoms
Symptoms of insomnia may include:
□ difficulty falling asleep at night
□ waking during the night
□ waking up too early
□ daytime tiredness
□ lack of attention
□ fatigue
8.13.2 Supplements
Below are some supplements you can try until you have detoxified enough to be able to sleep properly again.
Table 8.13
Supplements to help with insomnia
Supplement
Howto use it
Why to use it
GABA
500 to 1,000 mg at bedtime
• to relax and get tired
melatonin
3 to 50 mg in the evening one hour before bedtime
• to get tired and go to sleep
• to stay asleep
time-release melatonin
3-12 mg at bedtime
• to stay asleep during the night
• get back to sleep if you wake up
8.13.3 Help from your doctor:
Sleeping pills are typically ‘hypnotics’ like Ambien (zolpidem) and Lunesta (eszoplicone). Benadryl, the over the counter antihistamine, is similar in action and very sedating.
All anti-anxiety medications also promote sleep.
If you have a sleep disorder, neither sleeping pills nor anything we talk about here is going to fix it. You can ask your doctor to refer you for a sleep study as you will need proper medical therapy.
8.14 Chemical sensitivity
If you experience negative symptoms when you eat preservatives or smell fragrances, exhaust or candles, you are chemically sensitive. Exposures to chemicals disturb your brain and give you crazy symptoms—just as crazy as normal people would get if bad chemicals got into their brains. Anxiety, spaciness and confusion are common symptoms.
Mercury can cause some enzymes in your liver to be so hyperactive they make chemicals that act like neurotransmitters—but then other liver enzymes aren’t fast enough to get rid of them in the same way as with healthy people.
The hormones from your adrenal glands modulate many of the liver enzymes and receptors in your brain and mercury can make your adrenal glands too slow. You need your adrenal glands to work better to stop things from getting out of balance. Chemical sensitivity will worsen as your adrenal function declines. Focus on adrenal support, on avoiding the chemical exposures that set you off, and chelation, since that is the ultimate solution.
In the mean-time, a few things might help reduce your sensitivity. Avoid charbroiled, grilled, crispy-fried and smoked foods. Avoid carotenes and limit your intake of dark green leafy vegetables. Avoid going places where you will get exposed to chemicals that are your triggers. Shop for fragrance free
3 products.
8.14.1 Symptoms
Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) can cause symptoms like:
□ Headaches
□ Rashes
□ Fatigue
□ Muscle and joint pain
□ Memory loss
□ Confusion
□ Nausea
Q Changes in heart rhythm
□ Difficulty breathing
□ Mood changes
8.14.2 Supplements
Try the following, which may reduce chemical sensitivity by modulating liver metabolism:
Table 8.14
Supplements to help with multiple chemical sensitivity
Supplement
How to take it
Diflucan
as prescribed
grapefruit products
juice or fruit, as needed
oil of oregano (OOO)
1 to 3 drops several times a day
niacinamide
500 to 1,000 mg with meals and at bedtime
If you are chemically sensitive, you may be one of those people who have difficulty tolerating the basic nutritional supplements we recommend. You may have to spend time trying different brands and varieties of supplements before you can find ones you tolerate. Most vitamin C, for instance, is made from corn syrup, and if you are reactive to corn you may need to try a brand made from sago palm or cassava. Vitamin E is made from soy and if you are reactive to that, you can try tocotrienols or sunflower derived vitamin E instead.
8.14.3 Help from your doctor
Mainstream medicine does not recognize chemical sensitivity as a disease or syndrome. There has been no research done on the subject, nor has there been any drugs developed to treat chemical sensitivity. Chelation is your best option to deal with this problem.
Chemically sensitive people often have trouble with drugs. It is unlikely, for instance, that you will be able to tolerate most SSRIs, although lithium, gabapentin and anxiety medicines are usually well tolerated. If it’s appropriate to try an SSRI, use Lexapro or Zoloft.
8.15 Pain
Mercury can create miserable chronic pain situations in many ways. When your adrenals are not performing adequately, you are more sensitive to pain. When your magnesium is low, you are more sensitive to pain and often have muscle tension and cramps. Mercury can cause fibromyalgia. Mercury can cause multiple sclerosis, which often involves pain. Mercury can cause painful peripheral neuropathy.
Don’t use over-the-counter pain medicines other than aspirin. Acetaminophen (Tylenol), Ibuprophen (Advil, Motrin IB) and Naproxen (Aleve) are really hard on your already overtaxed liver. Use aspirin instead. Aspirin is well known to prevent heart attacks and strokes, as well as reducing the risk of colon and perhaps other cancers and is also safe for your liver. However, you will need to avoid aspirin if you have kidney problems.
An overtaxed liver can cause pain and is especially implicated if itching and skin sensitivity are involved. See section 8.7 on liver.
If you are having chronic pain, try adding in more adrenal support (section 8.3). Be heavy handed. Use a lot.
Some rheumatic pain syndromes respond well to excluding nightshade family plants from your diet. These are tomatoes, tomatillos, potatoes, chili and other peppers, eggplant (aubergine), goji berries, huckleberries, ground cherries and cape gooseberries (but not regular gooseberries) as well as the herb ashwaganda.
8.15.1 Symptoms
Pain itself is a symptom of problems with your body. However, there are different ways of describing how pain feels. Here is a list of some of the words can use to describe pain to your doctor:
□ Aching
□ Nauseating or sickening
□ Piercing
□ Pins and needles
□ Sharp
□ Shooting
□ Splitting
□ Stabbing
□ Pounding
□ Punishing or cruel
□ Tearing
□ Tender
□ Throbbing
□ Tiring or exhausting
8.15.2 Supplements
Below are some remedies for pain you can try:
• For neuropathic pain: Homeopathic remedy Hypericum perforatum 6X. Only use the 6X strength, don’t use anything else no matter what anyone says about what they sell being better, stronger or more potent.
• For traumatic or inflammatory pain: T-Relief pills, cream or gel. You can also try Arnica montana 6X or arnica as a gel.
• For all sorts of chronic pain: dextromethorphan about 50 mg. This is the same active ingredient as the DM in cough remedies like Robitussin-DM and Mucinex-DM. Those have an expectorant as well but you can find them in any grocery or drugstore. Take about two or three times the recommended dose. You can also find dextromethorphan by itself in brands like Delsym and Robafen. These may need to be ordered online.
• Dl-phenlyalanine may relieve pain in people who have agitated depression, PMS or crave chocolate in large amounts.
• Menthol is also analgesic. Smelly creams and patches, like Salonpas contain menthol.
• There are many remedies you can apply externally. Magnesium oil
4 or strong Epsom salt solutions relieve pain. You can use Aspercreme
5 , hydrocortisone cream
6 , lidocaine cream, or any mixture of these (the mixtures work particularly well). You can also use T-Relief cream or arnica gel though these have to be applied by themselves.
• These remedies work best if you combine them. For example, apply a mixture of Aspercreme, and hydrocortisone cream to a sore knee while taking three Robafen pills then a T-Relief tablet.
You can also alternate remedies. For instance Aspercreme mixed with hydrocortisone cream, then 2 hours later, some T-Relief.
8.15.3 Help from your doctor
If you need pain control so powerful that it requires narcotics or some other prescription medicine, you need to see a doctor and get those prescribed. Were not going to talk about that here. If you walk in and start telling your doctor what kind of narcotics you want they’ll probably refuse to prescribe anything anyway.
There are many prescription pain relievers that are bad for your liver. Make sure that you do not get any combination drugs like Percocet (a combination of oxycodone and acetaminophen). Tell your doctor you’d like something with aspirin, instead.