There is something about reaching round 60 with A/C chelation that is supposed to mark an accomplishment. Many people report a reduction in the need for anti-fungal support, making this a much anticipated round to reach! So, when we were rounding the corner to round 60, we were expecting more improvement. Much to our dismay, the past handful of rounds have been incredibly difficult. We had a period of calm for a while, then we got hit by these rough rounds full of anger, negative and argumentative attitude. He's been bossy, self-centered, loud, mouthy, saying "what" a lot, but there are no tics, no sensory symptoms, nothing that reminds me of pathogenic overgrowth. He's on the Alinia which kills anaerobic bacteria like Clostridia and e.coli, plus it addresses parasites, we have quite a few natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial herbs on board in high doses to keep things under control. It feels more like it could be symptoms associated with whatever metals we are pulling at this time. We know that heavy metals pull in particular orders, so could it be the heavy metal in line for excretion at this time?
This brings me to our updated hair tests. They frightened me to say the least. Certainly not what I was expecting. In one sense, it appears that the way they have met the counting rules is mild, which is an improvement for Grayson and a confirmation for Gavin, but their arsenic is OFF THE CHARTS high! It has us wracking our brains to find the source, why would they BOTH have it the same otherwise? They are a year apart in their chelation rounds, so it wouldn't make sense that they just happen to be excreting it at this level, at the same time.
Scary stuff, I can't stand knowing that there is possibly a source of arsenic around us and I can't find it! OR, ironically, BOTH boys are excreting it at the same time for some reason, in unGodly amounts, OR their shampoo with sea kelp is an external culprit. A lot of my research of kelp brought me to the conclusion that many kelp sources are contaminated with arsenic. If supplements intended to be ingested are tainted with arsenic, I would imagine a shampoo is even more likely to be effected.
We are going to retest as soon as they need another hair cut. I need to see, if things are different now that the shampoo is out of the picture. We also changed our epsom salts to a pharmaceutical grade brand, just in case....and no more walking on the deck barefoot....and NO non-organic rice ingredients whatsoever...goodness, our limited lifestyle just got a heck of lot more limited. I will post these updated hair tests, along with my own from pre-chelation, in the tab (above) with our hair tests. This will be the third hair test for Grayson and second for Gavin. It was only my first.....it was a lot of hair to remove from my scalp!! lol It wasn't noticeable or anything and it's growing back undetected since it's taken from so low on the scalp, but if I did multiple tests, I might start resembling one of those highlighting caps!!
Showing posts with label hair test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hair test. Show all posts
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Protect them from their beds!
At 7:30 this morning when I opened my eyes, to the sound of Gavin rustling around in his bed, it hit me. He didn't sneeze? Not once?! For as long as I can remember, Gavin has been sneezing the minute he opens his eyes. His consecutive sneezy salute was always my cue that he was awake for the day, so when I heard him talking and rolling around, I was surprised that he was actually awake for the day without his usual routine. Then something else hit me, last night was his first night on a new allergen-free pillow! IT WAS THE PILLOW!!
I knew we needed new pillows, and I had waited too long after buying all the necessary things to protect them from their chemical-laden mattresses, but I couldn't find anything suitable. A child's pillow needs to be washable and finding a natural, allergen-free alternative that could be washed wasn't easy. Then one day recently, I received a daily deal newsletter from Mamapedia and it highlighted a company called CleanRest that was created by the father of a child with severe allergies, I was relieved to not only finally find pillows for our kids, but to get them at half price!! And heck, I didn't even have to step foot outside for this purchase, it was ushered right to my computer and eventually to my front door! For $22 (their full price) these pillows are washable, water resistant, breathable, allergen and chemical free and they carry a lifetime warranty! How can you beat that?
So last night was our first night using them and clearly Gavin was effected by his old pillow, which I am embarrassed to say, I hadn't even thought of!
Antimony in our mattresses
When both kids had elevated antimony on their hair tests (Gavin also had very high phosphorus) I immediately knew it was their mattresses, because I already knew not to put pajamas on them that had been treated with fire retardant (AKA - antimony)....well, for all of Gavin's life anyway. We learned from Grayson's experiences. When Grayson's first hair test came back with elevated antimony, I stopped using those pajamas immediately, but didn't know much about the toxins in his bed. And of all places to not address toxins, we spend nearly one third of our lives there, and infants over 50% of their lives!!
How exactly DO we protect ourselves from our beds?
If you don't have enough money to go out and buy yourself a nice cushy all natural latex mattress, and I would assume that most of us can't afford to go out and replace all the beds in our homes, then there are much less expensive ways to protect yourself from the multitude of chemicals in your mattresses. Antimony isn't the only danger lurking in your peaceful place. Included in the list of chemicals you are encountering nightly are: adhesives, petroleum based foams, plastics, vinyls, fungicides and pesticides.
Here is a link sharing multiple stories of people who came down with sudden ailments after buying new mattresses. Just click on "health problems from mattresses" on the left to see the stories.
In other countries like New Zealand, they have even gone as far as to prove that SIDS is the result of a baby inhaling all of these chemicals. You can read about it and buy crib mattress wraps here. We use this mattress cover on Gavin's crib mattress.
This is taken directly from their website
Interestingly, three of the elevated heavy metals in our kids' hair tests were antimony, phosphorus and arsenic! Not all of them were over the safe range, but they were on the high side of safe and for both, antimony was over safe! I am not one to wait for things to get really bad to react. I prefer to choose prevention. This was a warning sign that my children were being poisoned by their beds.
For $28 you can encapsulate a twin mattress with food grade polyethylene just like the crib mattress covers above. They also carry larger sizes.
Once we covered their mattresses, we needed something to put over the plastic so they wouldn't feel the crunching below them and of course, those water resistant mattress covers you buy in the stores are also treated with chemicals as well as containing many harmful materials such as PVC, pthalates and and more. I found an organic 100% cotton mattress cover for each other their beds and topped that with 100% organic cotton sheets. Remember that each child needs at least two of the mattress pads and sheets, in case of the inevitable midnight accident. When one is in the wash, the other is on the bed.
In closing, just imagine this, the average child is surrounded in a chemical-laden haven every night with their mattresses, mattress pads, sheets, pillows and pajamas....for much of their life. I see no better way to spend my money than to eliminate these toxins from my child's life!
And just for the record, since replacing Grayson's bedding and chelating with DMSA (which removes antimony in addition to mercury and lead), his Antimony levels have not only come down to the normal range, but they have come down even below that!
I knew we needed new pillows, and I had waited too long after buying all the necessary things to protect them from their chemical-laden mattresses, but I couldn't find anything suitable. A child's pillow needs to be washable and finding a natural, allergen-free alternative that could be washed wasn't easy. Then one day recently, I received a daily deal newsletter from Mamapedia and it highlighted a company called CleanRest that was created by the father of a child with severe allergies, I was relieved to not only finally find pillows for our kids, but to get them at half price!! And heck, I didn't even have to step foot outside for this purchase, it was ushered right to my computer and eventually to my front door! For $22 (their full price) these pillows are washable, water resistant, breathable, allergen and chemical free and they carry a lifetime warranty! How can you beat that?
So last night was our first night using them and clearly Gavin was effected by his old pillow, which I am embarrassed to say, I hadn't even thought of!
Antimony in our mattresses
When both kids had elevated antimony on their hair tests (Gavin also had very high phosphorus) I immediately knew it was their mattresses, because I already knew not to put pajamas on them that had been treated with fire retardant (AKA - antimony)....well, for all of Gavin's life anyway. We learned from Grayson's experiences. When Grayson's first hair test came back with elevated antimony, I stopped using those pajamas immediately, but didn't know much about the toxins in his bed. And of all places to not address toxins, we spend nearly one third of our lives there, and infants over 50% of their lives!!
How exactly DO we protect ourselves from our beds?
If you don't have enough money to go out and buy yourself a nice cushy all natural latex mattress, and I would assume that most of us can't afford to go out and replace all the beds in our homes, then there are much less expensive ways to protect yourself from the multitude of chemicals in your mattresses. Antimony isn't the only danger lurking in your peaceful place. Included in the list of chemicals you are encountering nightly are: adhesives, petroleum based foams, plastics, vinyls, fungicides and pesticides.
Here is a link sharing multiple stories of people who came down with sudden ailments after buying new mattresses. Just click on "health problems from mattresses" on the left to see the stories.
In other countries like New Zealand, they have even gone as far as to prove that SIDS is the result of a baby inhaling all of these chemicals. You can read about it and buy crib mattress wraps here. We use this mattress cover on Gavin's crib mattress.
This is taken directly from their website
Household fungi become established in nearly every mattress which is slept on, and in underbedding (sheets/blankets slept on) which is washed infrequently. The risk of crib death can be virtually eliminated by ensuring that babies sleep on mattresses (and other bedding) known to be free from the above elements. The BabeSafe range of bassinet and crib mattresses complies with this specification. All other types of crib mattress should be enclosed in a BabeSafe slip-on mattress cover. BabeSafe is made from a thick polythene material that is 125 microns thick, it is a type of plastic but does not cause sweating. Not just any plastic will do, only polythene (125 microns +) will prevent gases from escaping into a baby's bed. Any other plastic is permeable to these gases and is therefore useless in preventing crib death. |
For $28 you can encapsulate a twin mattress with food grade polyethylene just like the crib mattress covers above. They also carry larger sizes.
Once we covered their mattresses, we needed something to put over the plastic so they wouldn't feel the crunching below them and of course, those water resistant mattress covers you buy in the stores are also treated with chemicals as well as containing many harmful materials such as PVC, pthalates and and more. I found an organic 100% cotton mattress cover for each other their beds and topped that with 100% organic cotton sheets. Remember that each child needs at least two of the mattress pads and sheets, in case of the inevitable midnight accident. When one is in the wash, the other is on the bed.
In closing, just imagine this, the average child is surrounded in a chemical-laden haven every night with their mattresses, mattress pads, sheets, pillows and pajamas....for much of their life. I see no better way to spend my money than to eliminate these toxins from my child's life!
And just for the record, since replacing Grayson's bedding and chelating with DMSA (which removes antimony in addition to mercury and lead), his Antimony levels have not only come down to the normal range, but they have come down even below that!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Preparation for my dental revision
I had written in a previous message about how I made an appointment to have my fillings replaced by a mercury-free dentist in the area. Well, I canceled that appointment and made another appointment with a different dentist, also in PA, but a good hour and a half away.
I had begun some research about a week before my appointment, to be sure I was doing all the right things pre-removal, like taking the right supplements to build up my immune system and avoiding the right supplements the day of the procedure (vit C interferes with Novacaine), etc. Boy am I glad I did that, because in much of my reading, I kept seeing reference to something called the "Huggins protocol". What people were saying is that they were following the Huggins protocol for safe removal of the fillings and the Cutler protocol for chelation. So in reading more about this protocol, it appeared that I was using a dentist that omitted the MOST important part of the protocol. It's a process in which the dentist uses a meter to do galvanic readings of the teeth with fillings (they are mini batteries with charges, positive and negative) and then they remove the teeth in sequential order, by quadrant, taking out the teeth with the highest negative reading first, working in order to the teeth/quadrant with the lowest positive reading. I did a lot of reading about why this is done and regarding the blood chemistry of it all, it just makes sense. The basic gist of it is that if you remove them out of order, you trigger degeneration in the body (causing the body to attack itself, ahem - autoimmue disease), by removing the highest positive first, you actually encourage RE-generation - AKA - healing! There is a very technical set of reasons behind it all. Those who have done it improperly have often experienced a worsening of symptoms and this process can very quickly throw the body into autoimmune disease or worse.
I finished my research the Friday before my appointment, which was a Monday! Talk about short notice! My gut was telling me not to go through with it, that it wouldn't be worth the risk. But I had to balance these thoughts with what my alternative was, so I called the Huggins Alliance and spoke with Stephan Cairns who shed some light on the situation for me. I was then convinced that I needed to go with my gut and cancel my appointments. I knew this would mean spending a lot more money and having to travel further for my procedure. The good news though was that Stephan advised me that THE best Huggins Alliance dentist in the nation was right here in PA, Scranton PA to be exact! In fact, Stephan himself flew to PA to use her for his own dental revision! That is encouraging! Stephan so graciously shared his story with me. He was a fit young man all his life, working out 6 days a week, he was active and did things like sky diving, scuba diving, etc. One day he fell going up a flight of stairs and knocked his front teeth out. So like any unknowing and trusting person, he went to his local dentist and had 4 root canals and 5 crowns in order to repair the devastating damage. Within 6 months, he was developing numbness, tingling in his limbs and eventually, he couldn't even walk up that same flight of stairs he fell face down on. The doctor broke it to him, he had MS, multiple sclerosis. If anyone is familiar with MS, it's a known disease of heavy metal toxicity (but of course, not in mainstream medicine)! At the time, he didn't know this, the doctor told him it was incurable and that he needed to just get on his meds ASAP. He refused to believe it! He still suffered for ten long years, before finding Dr. Huggins, who he now works for! He flew to Dr. Grube's office, had his own revision done three years ago and in his mid-fifties, he can now do push ups with one hand and he is MS- free! There are hundreds of stories like this involving cancer, MS and other autoimmune diseases with the Huggins clinic resulting in an 86% recovery rate of those with serious illnesses when they arrive! Dr. Grube herself was a cancer patient 18 years ago when she had her own revision done by Dr. Huggins himself!
So is my health worth it, even with the extra cost, you betcha!! We pay for health insurance, hundreds and sometimes thousands a month, and what do we really gain from that? Not much, unless you experience a catastrophic emergency or give birth to a child, or two, lol. My mindset on this is that I will charge it on a credit card and pay it monthly, just like my health insurance, only I will immediately benefit from the experience now, rather than later! I'm worth it. I believe in prevention and what better prevention than to remove the most toxic metal on this planet from my mouth BEFORE I get sick?!
I am now preparing for my first appointment, which is just an exam. During this appointment the Dr. will review the results of my hair test and blood work (all of which I have to have done before my appointment, of course), she will measure the mercury vapors in my mouth twice, once when I arrive and once after chewing gum for ten minutes to simulate eating, which will increase the reading. She will measure the electrical charge of each tooth that contains a filling, she will check for cavitations (where teeth were removed and contain pockets of bacteria) with a cavitat machine and we will discuss our plans for the actual procedure which will be done in one visit under conscious sedation, allowing her to safely cross the midline. We will need to stay in Scranton overnight so that the vibration from the long car ride isn't right after my appointment which can cause dry sockets among other things. I must say, I am slightly relieved to know that I will be out of it for this procedure and I will only need to go once rather than for multiple torturous visits!
I've already done my hair test, sent it in yesterday. Let me show you exactly how much hair I needed to remove from the nape of my neck, it was slightly unnerving! For the last 4-5 snips of random pieces of hair at the root, I began sweating profusely and shaking, because the darn little scale was NOT tipping and it felt like a LOT of hair. What you see here is the whole strand, of which I had to remove the first inch, closest to the scalp and that portion is in the baggie to the right. The blue thing on the left is the little scale they send you with the test kit. It is designed to tip when it's received enough hair for the test, 0.25grams of hair. Luckily, my hair falls over the spots I had to cut out for the test and I am sure they will grow back uneventfully without much attention. Either way, it's not fun to look at this bulk of my hair on the plate, good thing I have thick hair!
The next step, tomorrow morning after 12 hours of fasting, is my bloodwork, waaaaah! I am just glad to be getting this all over with. February 16th is my exam and then I will make the appointment for the actual replacement. I can't wait!!
UPDATE - See my blog entry for my dental revision exam here - Dental exam for yours' truly.
I had begun some research about a week before my appointment, to be sure I was doing all the right things pre-removal, like taking the right supplements to build up my immune system and avoiding the right supplements the day of the procedure (vit C interferes with Novacaine), etc. Boy am I glad I did that, because in much of my reading, I kept seeing reference to something called the "Huggins protocol". What people were saying is that they were following the Huggins protocol for safe removal of the fillings and the Cutler protocol for chelation. So in reading more about this protocol, it appeared that I was using a dentist that omitted the MOST important part of the protocol. It's a process in which the dentist uses a meter to do galvanic readings of the teeth with fillings (they are mini batteries with charges, positive and negative) and then they remove the teeth in sequential order, by quadrant, taking out the teeth with the highest negative reading first, working in order to the teeth/quadrant with the lowest positive reading. I did a lot of reading about why this is done and regarding the blood chemistry of it all, it just makes sense. The basic gist of it is that if you remove them out of order, you trigger degeneration in the body (causing the body to attack itself, ahem - autoimmue disease), by removing the highest positive first, you actually encourage RE-generation - AKA - healing! There is a very technical set of reasons behind it all. Those who have done it improperly have often experienced a worsening of symptoms and this process can very quickly throw the body into autoimmune disease or worse.
I finished my research the Friday before my appointment, which was a Monday! Talk about short notice! My gut was telling me not to go through with it, that it wouldn't be worth the risk. But I had to balance these thoughts with what my alternative was, so I called the Huggins Alliance and spoke with Stephan Cairns who shed some light on the situation for me. I was then convinced that I needed to go with my gut and cancel my appointments. I knew this would mean spending a lot more money and having to travel further for my procedure. The good news though was that Stephan advised me that THE best Huggins Alliance dentist in the nation was right here in PA, Scranton PA to be exact! In fact, Stephan himself flew to PA to use her for his own dental revision! That is encouraging! Stephan so graciously shared his story with me. He was a fit young man all his life, working out 6 days a week, he was active and did things like sky diving, scuba diving, etc. One day he fell going up a flight of stairs and knocked his front teeth out. So like any unknowing and trusting person, he went to his local dentist and had 4 root canals and 5 crowns in order to repair the devastating damage. Within 6 months, he was developing numbness, tingling in his limbs and eventually, he couldn't even walk up that same flight of stairs he fell face down on. The doctor broke it to him, he had MS, multiple sclerosis. If anyone is familiar with MS, it's a known disease of heavy metal toxicity (but of course, not in mainstream medicine)! At the time, he didn't know this, the doctor told him it was incurable and that he needed to just get on his meds ASAP. He refused to believe it! He still suffered for ten long years, before finding Dr. Huggins, who he now works for! He flew to Dr. Grube's office, had his own revision done three years ago and in his mid-fifties, he can now do push ups with one hand and he is MS- free! There are hundreds of stories like this involving cancer, MS and other autoimmune diseases with the Huggins clinic resulting in an 86% recovery rate of those with serious illnesses when they arrive! Dr. Grube herself was a cancer patient 18 years ago when she had her own revision done by Dr. Huggins himself!
So is my health worth it, even with the extra cost, you betcha!! We pay for health insurance, hundreds and sometimes thousands a month, and what do we really gain from that? Not much, unless you experience a catastrophic emergency or give birth to a child, or two, lol. My mindset on this is that I will charge it on a credit card and pay it monthly, just like my health insurance, only I will immediately benefit from the experience now, rather than later! I'm worth it. I believe in prevention and what better prevention than to remove the most toxic metal on this planet from my mouth BEFORE I get sick?!
I am now preparing for my first appointment, which is just an exam. During this appointment the Dr. will review the results of my hair test and blood work (all of which I have to have done before my appointment, of course), she will measure the mercury vapors in my mouth twice, once when I arrive and once after chewing gum for ten minutes to simulate eating, which will increase the reading. She will measure the electrical charge of each tooth that contains a filling, she will check for cavitations (where teeth were removed and contain pockets of bacteria) with a cavitat machine and we will discuss our plans for the actual procedure which will be done in one visit under conscious sedation, allowing her to safely cross the midline. We will need to stay in Scranton overnight so that the vibration from the long car ride isn't right after my appointment which can cause dry sockets among other things. I must say, I am slightly relieved to know that I will be out of it for this procedure and I will only need to go once rather than for multiple torturous visits!
I've already done my hair test, sent it in yesterday. Let me show you exactly how much hair I needed to remove from the nape of my neck, it was slightly unnerving! For the last 4-5 snips of random pieces of hair at the root, I began sweating profusely and shaking, because the darn little scale was NOT tipping and it felt like a LOT of hair. What you see here is the whole strand, of which I had to remove the first inch, closest to the scalp and that portion is in the baggie to the right. The blue thing on the left is the little scale they send you with the test kit. It is designed to tip when it's received enough hair for the test, 0.25grams of hair. Luckily, my hair falls over the spots I had to cut out for the test and I am sure they will grow back uneventfully without much attention. Either way, it's not fun to look at this bulk of my hair on the plate, good thing I have thick hair!
The next step, tomorrow morning after 12 hours of fasting, is my bloodwork, waaaaah! I am just glad to be getting this all over with. February 16th is my exam and then I will make the appointment for the actual replacement. I can't wait!!
UPDATE - See my blog entry for my dental revision exam here - Dental exam for yours' truly.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A new chapter in our lives and in this blog
So on to a new chapter in our lives in this household. We have always focused on treating Grayson's health concerns and tried to prevent with Gavin although some genetic things are inevitable, I am sure. With my mouth full of amalgams, I expect some of that to effect him, at minimum. He is completely unvaccinated with the exception of the vitamin K shot at the hospital. We made the educated decision to allow that considering he would be circumcised.
Little signs that things weren't completely right showed themselves over the past 22 months of his life. He has always caught illnesses with such ease that it has made it hard for us to enjoy trips that include any number of people all getting together, one of the illnesses even resulted in a febrile seizure when he hadn't even had a high temp, in fact, he was at the end of his illness. It was Grayson's 4th birthday and I will never forget that day! A ride in an ambulance resulted in a two day stay at the hospital with tubes and tests galore. The happy ending was us going home with a healthy child who had no underlying conditions to set this incident off, yet another reason to consider the possibility that genetics, immune function and heavy metals factored into his inability to stay healthy.
We decided to have Gavin's hair tested for toxic and essential elements based on some concerns we have had with mood swings, aggression, bloating, problems with chronic yeast and bacteria, slow growth, and what seems like a slowing in his developmental progression. It's so hard to assess this age, since there are normal variances in development, pains associated with teething and changes in growth patterns. There was a sale on the Doctor's Data, Inc. hair test which pushed me just over the edge of the fence I was sitting on. Getting 2 grams of hair from his fine wispy head of hair (only below the ears in back) was no easy task. I kept cutting and snipping and trying to place my scissors in locations far enough away from where I took other chunks so it wouldn't be noticeable. I just wasn't ready to snip off his wispy baby curls yet.
Results.....drum roll please....yes, mercury is at play here, along with a few other co-contenders, namely antimony, tin, phosphorus and titanium. He also had a slew of low essential elements like calcium, magnesium, potassium, and strontium. It's never quite that simple though, since there is a whole host of factors at play. The end result it still the same, so we chose chelation. We are old pros at it by now and his supplements are already on par with one who needs chelation, so we just dove right in. His first round was nothing short of remarkable. It started with the expected and the usual increased irritation then slowly progressed into improvements that just could have not developed overnight. His speech improved by leaps and bounds, his cognitive clarity was completely unreal, even his physical development jumped in a matter of one day. He has always been afraid to explore steps while standing. He is comfortable on steps, as long as he is sitting. On his third day of chelation, Grayson yelled to me, "MOM!!! Mom, Gavin just went down the stairs without holding on". I turned to find him coming down the three steps at the bottom plateau of our kitchen stairwell, standing up and not holding onto anything. He was so impressed with himself that he continued to repeat this feat over and over with ease! It looked as if he had been walking down huge steps with his tiny self for ages, when in fact, his body was able to allow him to process the event normally, without fear, for the very first time. Children with toxic metal overload tend to be delayed in fine and gross motor skills as well as harboring inappropriate fears, so this comes as no surprise to me. Something else we noticed while on this round is a connectedness that I would never have known he lacked in without seeing what he was capable of! You just don't know how unwell your child is until you see the comparison of well v.s. unwell in that same little person. Gavin has always been social, makes great eye contact when he is being social and loves people, so I never really gave this area much thought. I didn't think there was anything lacking, he was doing all the right things, but what I didn't realize, is how much more he is capable of! Dave couldn't believe his eyes and ears the minute he came through the door after work. He was promptly greeted with a wave of a little hand and a resounding, "Hi daddyyyyyy!" And every moment of the evening included direct and purposeful connections between Gavin and us. He smiled with delight and playfully interacted with each and every one of us. He showed his sense of humor, he waited more patiently, he goofed around with Grayson, he glowed with enjoyment fromt he world around him. It made us realize that he is often in his own world, tantruming about having to share with his brother, running off in a tirade of anger just to come back and start it all over again. Terrible twos seems to give us the rite of passage that entitles our kids to unruliness, but is this really a stage that deserves so much leniency? I learned otherwise this weekend!
To wrap up the round and finalize the proof that chelation is a smart step with Gavin, he is acting as would be expected post-round.....irritable, aggressive, emotional, clingy, hungry, tired and just plain difficult, along with some new activities like standing with his head on the floor and flapping his hands when distressed. Some of this is due to the redistribution of mercury/heavy metals, and some of it is directly related to the yeast overgrowth that comes with the joys of mobilizing mercury in the blood stream. So we now have to clean up the disaster left behind by the metals, increasing his yeast protocol, letting him rest more than usual and keeping his moods as level as is possible as he goes through this inevitable phase of the process. Reminds me of cancer chemotherapy in a way. We stir things up in the body to ward off the ickies, then have to deal with the ugly ramifications left behind.
In addition to starting chelation, we bought a multitude of products to help us reduce the kid's exposure to antimony, arsenic and phosphorus. While Gavin's arsenic levels were not out of range, they were on the high end of the normal range (along with a few others), which is again no surprise, since these metals, in addition to being part of the elevations caused by mercury, are also found in mattresses, carpet and furniture like couches, basically anything that is flame retardant, even their cute little jammies that aren't labeled otherwise!! Did you know that companies are not obligated to label products that are treated with these hazardous products?! We spent a small fortune on polyethylene mattress covers, one inch thick organic cotton mattress pads and organic sheets for the boys. My next step is going to be to purchase a cleaner/sealant for the wall to wall carpeting that covers more than half of our home, but I need to find a dealer for that product. One day at a time.
Grayson has started asking questions about biomedicine and why we do the things we do. I welcome questions, because with it comes the opportunity educate him and share information that will ultimately create the building blocks to ensure that they will have their own ability to continue the lifestyle on their own some day. The fact that he is asking questions also means that he is ready to hear the answers. I never want to push him so that he shuts down. He is very inquisitive and I love when he reiterates his knowledge back to us, surprising us with his level of understanding. So today, he wanted to know why he had to take two DMG tablets instead of one. In my explanation of how the the body works, I was trying to help him grasp the idea of us helping his body until his body can do this work on it's own. I explained that mercury is hindering some of the functions of his body, one in particular being methylation, so until we remove decent amounts of mercury from his body, we have to help the body function properly by giving him the DMG which is a methylator. Then, I told him that it is similar to driving. His head cocked to one side and he said, "Huh?!". I told him that until he gets his license, he still has to get around so in the meantime, we will drive him where he needs to go...until he is able to do it himself, some day in the future. We are helping him function until he can successfully function on his own without help. After some thought, his response was, "I get it." and I am sure he did.
Little signs that things weren't completely right showed themselves over the past 22 months of his life. He has always caught illnesses with such ease that it has made it hard for us to enjoy trips that include any number of people all getting together, one of the illnesses even resulted in a febrile seizure when he hadn't even had a high temp, in fact, he was at the end of his illness. It was Grayson's 4th birthday and I will never forget that day! A ride in an ambulance resulted in a two day stay at the hospital with tubes and tests galore. The happy ending was us going home with a healthy child who had no underlying conditions to set this incident off, yet another reason to consider the possibility that genetics, immune function and heavy metals factored into his inability to stay healthy.
We decided to have Gavin's hair tested for toxic and essential elements based on some concerns we have had with mood swings, aggression, bloating, problems with chronic yeast and bacteria, slow growth, and what seems like a slowing in his developmental progression. It's so hard to assess this age, since there are normal variances in development, pains associated with teething and changes in growth patterns. There was a sale on the Doctor's Data, Inc. hair test which pushed me just over the edge of the fence I was sitting on. Getting 2 grams of hair from his fine wispy head of hair (only below the ears in back) was no easy task. I kept cutting and snipping and trying to place my scissors in locations far enough away from where I took other chunks so it wouldn't be noticeable. I just wasn't ready to snip off his wispy baby curls yet.
Results.....drum roll please....yes, mercury is at play here, along with a few other co-contenders, namely antimony, tin, phosphorus and titanium. He also had a slew of low essential elements like calcium, magnesium, potassium, and strontium. It's never quite that simple though, since there is a whole host of factors at play. The end result it still the same, so we chose chelation. We are old pros at it by now and his supplements are already on par with one who needs chelation, so we just dove right in. His first round was nothing short of remarkable. It started with the expected and the usual increased irritation then slowly progressed into improvements that just could have not developed overnight. His speech improved by leaps and bounds, his cognitive clarity was completely unreal, even his physical development jumped in a matter of one day. He has always been afraid to explore steps while standing. He is comfortable on steps, as long as he is sitting. On his third day of chelation, Grayson yelled to me, "MOM!!! Mom, Gavin just went down the stairs without holding on". I turned to find him coming down the three steps at the bottom plateau of our kitchen stairwell, standing up and not holding onto anything. He was so impressed with himself that he continued to repeat this feat over and over with ease! It looked as if he had been walking down huge steps with his tiny self for ages, when in fact, his body was able to allow him to process the event normally, without fear, for the very first time. Children with toxic metal overload tend to be delayed in fine and gross motor skills as well as harboring inappropriate fears, so this comes as no surprise to me. Something else we noticed while on this round is a connectedness that I would never have known he lacked in without seeing what he was capable of! You just don't know how unwell your child is until you see the comparison of well v.s. unwell in that same little person. Gavin has always been social, makes great eye contact when he is being social and loves people, so I never really gave this area much thought. I didn't think there was anything lacking, he was doing all the right things, but what I didn't realize, is how much more he is capable of! Dave couldn't believe his eyes and ears the minute he came through the door after work. He was promptly greeted with a wave of a little hand and a resounding, "Hi daddyyyyyy!" And every moment of the evening included direct and purposeful connections between Gavin and us. He smiled with delight and playfully interacted with each and every one of us. He showed his sense of humor, he waited more patiently, he goofed around with Grayson, he glowed with enjoyment fromt he world around him. It made us realize that he is often in his own world, tantruming about having to share with his brother, running off in a tirade of anger just to come back and start it all over again. Terrible twos seems to give us the rite of passage that entitles our kids to unruliness, but is this really a stage that deserves so much leniency? I learned otherwise this weekend!
To wrap up the round and finalize the proof that chelation is a smart step with Gavin, he is acting as would be expected post-round.....irritable, aggressive, emotional, clingy, hungry, tired and just plain difficult, along with some new activities like standing with his head on the floor and flapping his hands when distressed. Some of this is due to the redistribution of mercury/heavy metals, and some of it is directly related to the yeast overgrowth that comes with the joys of mobilizing mercury in the blood stream. So we now have to clean up the disaster left behind by the metals, increasing his yeast protocol, letting him rest more than usual and keeping his moods as level as is possible as he goes through this inevitable phase of the process. Reminds me of cancer chemotherapy in a way. We stir things up in the body to ward off the ickies, then have to deal with the ugly ramifications left behind.
In addition to starting chelation, we bought a multitude of products to help us reduce the kid's exposure to antimony, arsenic and phosphorus. While Gavin's arsenic levels were not out of range, they were on the high end of the normal range (along with a few others), which is again no surprise, since these metals, in addition to being part of the elevations caused by mercury, are also found in mattresses, carpet and furniture like couches, basically anything that is flame retardant, even their cute little jammies that aren't labeled otherwise!! Did you know that companies are not obligated to label products that are treated with these hazardous products?! We spent a small fortune on polyethylene mattress covers, one inch thick organic cotton mattress pads and organic sheets for the boys. My next step is going to be to purchase a cleaner/sealant for the wall to wall carpeting that covers more than half of our home, but I need to find a dealer for that product. One day at a time.
Grayson has started asking questions about biomedicine and why we do the things we do. I welcome questions, because with it comes the opportunity educate him and share information that will ultimately create the building blocks to ensure that they will have their own ability to continue the lifestyle on their own some day. The fact that he is asking questions also means that he is ready to hear the answers. I never want to push him so that he shuts down. He is very inquisitive and I love when he reiterates his knowledge back to us, surprising us with his level of understanding. So today, he wanted to know why he had to take two DMG tablets instead of one. In my explanation of how the the body works, I was trying to help him grasp the idea of us helping his body until his body can do this work on it's own. I explained that mercury is hindering some of the functions of his body, one in particular being methylation, so until we remove decent amounts of mercury from his body, we have to help the body function properly by giving him the DMG which is a methylator. Then, I told him that it is similar to driving. His head cocked to one side and he said, "Huh?!". I told him that until he gets his license, he still has to get around so in the meantime, we will drive him where he needs to go...until he is able to do it himself, some day in the future. We are helping him function until he can successfully function on his own without help. After some thought, his response was, "I get it." and I am sure he did.
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