Pat Sullivan Blog

Reply to a Shoemaker Patient

Well, I know I haven't posted in like, FOREVER.  Fortunately for me I have felt really healthy for a long time and have moved on to other passions.  Like doing my 3rd CRM startup.  ACT! and SalesLogix were great but I think Contatta  is going to be the best and biggest thing I have ever done.  And for those of you interested, my supplement company Jigsaw Health is rocking!!

I was amazed when I just checked back into the blog here.  I still get several hundred readers per day with over 350,000 readers since I started years ago.  Pretty amazing to me.  I hope you all continue to find pieces to your health puzzle here.

I thought I would post an email from and my reply to someone who wrote to me.  Perhaps some of you would find it useful.  Here it is:

 

Dear Pat, 

I apologize in advance that this is so long, I tried to summarize but it is so hard to make this brief.  I have been wanting to write you for a while now for advice, since you and I have so much in common, with the exception that you have solved your health problems.  I am suffering poor health related to one, more or all of the following factors: mold exposure, candida, and amalgam fillings.  I am also a frustrated Shoemaker patient and have the dreaded multisusceptible genetic type.  I have never felt comfortable about ruling out lyme as a possible factor either as I live in an area where tick bytes are common.  The next four paragraphs are background information and then I want to ask you for some specific advice. 

I have been suffering with increasing symptoms since Feb 2010, when we had water damage in our home  I have all-over joint and muscle pain, burning sensations in my sinuses and skin (neck/back mostly), a feeling of pressure in my head, stiff neck, brain fog, fatigue, mold and chemical sensitivity, a fungal rash all over my groin and anus, and scoriasis.  I have also lost 65 pounds and have some serious gastrointestinal problems.  

I believe mold exposure is the primary cause of all this, and I am committed to getting into a mold-safe environment but its been very difficult to do.  We left the water-damaged home in August 2011 (after spending thousands trying to figure out where the mold was--and we never did) for a new home but made too many mistakes.  Not being a Shoemaker patient at the time and not knowing about ERMI, I hired someone to mold test our new house who declared the house mold-free.  But the house did have some issues in the basement and ductwork combined with not realizing how badly contaminated the things we brought with us really were, I have problems in the new house as well.  We are selling again and still looking for a clean place to buy or rent and are going to leave everything behind.  Thank God, my wife and two young daughters are not affected by mold.  But I am so sensitive to mold and chemicals that every place we look at I have some type of reaction to.  

I also am getting exposed to mold at work making things even worse.  Things are tough at work because my health has left me unable to perform like I did in the past, and they are not sympathetic to my problems.  I had to do a secret ERMI test because they would not allow me to do one and results show it is not a safe place (ERMI 8).  Shoemaker has advised I find a new job, but now I basically need to replace everything (except my family) in my life: my house, all my belongings, and my job.  Thank God I am still working at this time--it would be a disaster if I did lose my job because of all the money this is costing me to try to solve.  

Like a lot of people I'm at an impass with Shoemaker.  I have done cholestyramine for quite some time but could never tell if its was helping me or not.  He treated me for a MARCONS infection of the nose with Rifampin and oddly my head started to clear up, making me more suspicious of my lyme theory, but I've tested negative for lyme multiple times and he doesn't buy into this theory.  He wants to give me VIP but won't until my home is less than ERMI 2.  Its only an ERMI 2.08 but I've again spent thousands trying to lower the mold, wherever it may be, and have been unsuccessful.  Oddly most of the things he checks are all normal.  MSH, VIP, VEGF, cortisol, all normal, and I passed my VCS test.  The things that are abnormal are high TGF-B1 (ranging from 4,000 to 10,000), high C4A (ranging 4,000 to 8,000) and an abnormal mr spectroscopy.  This makes me suspicious that perhaps mold exposure was not my biggest issue and that fungal infection/amalgams are a bigger issue but he has no interest in the effects of amalgam fillings and candida/fungal infections.  I had six amalgam fillings in my mouth when this all started and had them removed in July 2011.  My fungal rash started sometime in 2010 and has gotten worse and worse, and I know that I'm receiving a "mold exposure" from inside of me as well. 

The specific advice I would like to ask:

1) I am so sensitive to mold, and becoming more sensitive, that so many places I go I can smell and react to mold.  Will this improve after I get my fungal issues under control?  Again I am committed to living (and working) in a mold-safe environment but so many places I go--friends and family houses, public places, restaurants, all smell so moldy to me and I hope this sensitivity will improve once I get everything under control.

2) I have tried every antifungal there is, natural (Pau D'Arco, Garlic, Oregano, Grapefruit Seed Extract, Caprylic Acid, etc.) and prescription (Nystatin, Diflucan, Lamisil, Ketoconazole, Sporanox).  Diflcuan worked the very first time I took it but I did not realize that I would need to stay on it a long time and when I went off of it the fungus came back with a vengance.  Do you have advice for fighting candida? My rash in my groin area has always been my test if my candida was improving or not.  Are there any tests that you know to quantify how bad a candida problem is?  Is there a link between mold exposure, fungal infection, and the mold/multisusceptible genotype?  

3) I had my amalgams removed but everytime I try to chelate with DMSA/Alpha Lipoic Acid, it flares my fungal problems so bad that I end up stopping.  Any advice?  Do you recommend any heavy metal tests to see how badly I need to chelate?  I do go to an infrared sauna once or twice a week so I am at least getting this type of detox.  I was also going for Vitamin C/glutathione IV's which always help but I had to cut back because of the cost.   

4) I have the ZRT Lab test in my possession but haven't done it yet.  I will be interested to see what it says considering most of things Shoemaker checked were normal.  I also see that Losartan can help with TGF-B1 and Intuniv can help with blood flow to the brain--do you have sources for these?  Do you know of any doctors in the Pennsylvania area that I could go to that might prescribe these?   

Any help you can give me I would appreciate, I'm so glad you were able to regain your health and your life and I would love to do the same for the sake of my family.  I have not ordered your book--but if it gives insight on any or all of these topics I will order it as well.  

Thanks,

XXXXX

 

My reply:

Dear XXXX,

It sucks being sick!  I know the feeling so well and empathize with you.  But you can get better!  I assume you have read my book?  And the 2 additional "chapters" on my blog?   

What strikes me when I read this is that as I look back on my own journey I realize that there were times that I ASSUMED I knew what was wrong with me but even after a long effort of treating it in a way that OUGHT to have helped me, I wasn't helped.  Whenever that happens one HAS to go back and assess whether or not the diagnosis is correct?  Could it be something else?  Is there a better approach?  Has there been some damage done that simply is permanent and nothing I do can fix it, but perhaps there is a way I could still feel better in spite of it?  Unfortunately, there are VERY few docs who do this for you or even have the time or interest to do so.  It pretty much is up to you.  Pretty scary to be your own doc at times but you really have little choice with chronic issues.  If you can find a doc who is good at this you are blessed!!

There are clues for sure in what you share.  The fact that Diflucan "worked" is certainly a clue.  And yes, I had to be on it a long time.  But at the end of the day Candida seemed to be a sub-issue. Getting my amalgams out was a big deal and I think detoxing Hg over the long haul helped too, but I am not certain about that.  On-going mold exposure is a big deal, but the fact that CSM does not seem to help at all is puzzling.  It should help some!  But you could be being exposed faster than you can detox so perhaps that is why it is no help.  I had the same issue of mold at home and work.  Fortunately, I was able to change both.  BUT you have to keep working and changing jobs probably is hard in this economy.  Shoemaker always just says change your job as though that is easy.  

You say Vit C and Glutathione IV's help but are expensive.  Indeed they are.  Jigsaw's sustained release Vit C can be somewhat like an IV in that you can take pretty high doses w/o side effects and is pretty cheap.  Transdermal Glutathione is also available from several places. 

Lyme?  If you have tested negative several times I would rule it out.  It would be hard to get the needed Rx antibiotics prescribed and paid for with a negative test anyway.  

Here are some thoughts: 

Have you ever tried spending most of your time when you are at home outside? Like when you sleep? And take CSM during that time?   Perhaps if you can shorten your time of exposure just enough you would see some results from CSM?  CSM helped me a lot.  And still does if I ever take a "hit" of mold from some place.  

How old are you?  Have you been tested for testosterone levels?  DHEA?  Thyroid? The ZRT lab test is going to test what?  All of these?  Cortisol levels 4 times during the day?  One blood test for cortisol is not conclusive of much.  And typical Thyroid testing (TSH) is virtually meaningless.  (See "stop the thyroid madness" book.)  If you have been sick a long time, damage to the hypothalamus is likely and is usually permanent.  This means that you would be hypo everything.  Supplementing cortisol, thyroid, testosterone, dhea could help a LOT!  But with your MSH, VIP and VEGF levels normal it suggests the opposite however I have found those tests to be iffy.  They go up and down a lot for no apparent reason. I would NOT take Shoemaker's VIP Rx if my level was normal.  Only 1 person out of about 10 that I talked with (plus myself) who took his VIP, felt better with his VIP and ALL of them had tested with essentially 0 VIP. IMO it just does NOT work.  Very expensive too.   I could be wrong and hope there are a lot of people he is helping with his VIP, I have just not heard from them.

Shoemaker's tests for and diagnoses from markers that are pretty esoteric so I am just not sure I believe him.  C4A and TGFb1 goes all over the place from people I have talked with and been tested repeatedly by Shoemaker.  I know people who felt the best when their levels were off the charts and terrible when they were low!  So I just don't know I trust his stuff.  Plus, there is essentially only 1 lab that tests for these and that is experimental.  Very unreliable in my opinion.  I even know two people who have the "dreaded genotype" who have no symptoms at all!!  So, I think Shoemaker definitely is seeing SOMETHING and has made some correct correlations, BUT I don't think he has unraveled this thing yet. Certainly from feedback I have from patients of his, he certainly does not make many of them feel better! Mostly they end up totally discouraged and some even just give up.   

Having said that, high TGFb1 levels are absolutely known to be a big problem.  Curcumin (http://www.epic4health.com/cuul500mgena.html) is proven to bring down TGFb1 levels dramatically as well as a host of other things that Shoemaker measures and talks about.  I take a gram per day.  My company Jigsawhealth is getting ready to intro a Curcumin product.  Losartan and Actos (both Rx but available internationally w/o an Rx) both can help a whole lot with most of the inflammatory issues from mold. Curcumin probably does just as much as both of them and certainly is safer and easier to obtain and is cheaper too (unless you can get an Rx for them and you have insurance.)  

Testing for Candida is tough but the best might be an OATS test http://www.metametrix.com/test-menu/profiles/organic-acids/organix-comprehensive can be insightful in many ways.  Arabinatol level is the key marker.  

Have you ever taken a blow to your head as in a car accident or anything?  Read my blog on that.  It turned out to be the MOST significant issue for me and I did not learn of it until after I wrote my book. What psyche problems do you have?  Depressed, anxiety, ADD-like, insomnia?  These are very typical and we usually write them off as "situational".  "If I could just get rid of Candida, Mold, Hg poisoning etc I would not feel so bad."  But they often are NOT situational at all.  

The fact you have low blood flow to the brain and are asking about Intuniv is interesting.  I take guanfacine compounded as sustained release because Intuniv just costs too much and is nothing more than very cheap quanfacine.  It is a very simple med and has helped me a lot.  I had proven from a SPECT scan that I had very low cerebral blood flow to the pre-frontal cortex.  Gingko helps here too.  I fought psyche problems for decades before I finally quit my resistance to treating them with Rx meds after I learned I had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a severe whiplash car accident I had back in college (37 years earlier). Once I got the mix right (not easy) I felt TONS better!!  Do immune system problems from Candida, Hg, mold, cause one to not sleep well, or does not sleeping well cause the symptoms?  Chicken or egg! 

Basically, a combination of my TBI, amalgams, mold etc ALL worked together to cause damage to my hypothalumus that I could do little about.  Certainly ALL the things I learned to do along the way definitely HELPED me, but they were mostly helping to control the issues, not CURE them.  So I have focused on doing many of those things (exercise, good food, supplements, detox, avoiding mold and lots of chemicals etc) but my main focus has been on supplementing ALL the things I learned I was hypo in AND I took a few Rx meds that helped me sleep much better, not feel depressed and anxious for no reason at all.  It seems once you have sustained some significant "hits" to your various systems, there is simply damage and nothing is going to "cure" it short of a miracle.  There is no miracle substance or med that will do it all.  It is a multi pronged effort it seems.  You certainly can get and FEEL a whole lot better!!!  And you should try to do BOTH!!!

At the end of the day you HAVE to have help managing symptoms as best you can WHILE you try to unravel the real puzzle pieces.  The 2 biggest things for me BEFORE I discovered my TBI was to take a med to almost totally relieve the weird anxiety I ALWAYS felt, and low dose hydrocortisone for my very low adrenal function.  They were HUGE.  Knowing I had some control over how I felt was liberating in and of itself. It gave me hope I could unravel more stuff.   Shoemaker won't do either one.  But you can find a doc who will if you look hard enough.   

I wish there was a magic bullet I could tell you but there just isn't one.  But there are bullets you can discover that can help you get better and feel better.  Hope this helps some.

 

This made me cry. Mom and Autistic son recovers.

I am not one to cry easily.  But I just read this letter.  This is why I started Jigsaw Health. Her son was autistic.

Dear Mr. Sullivan,
 
Many years ago, in the middle of the night, I e-mailed you regarding my son’s autism. You responded by telling me that although you couldn’t help my son, you might very well be able to help me. And good to your word, you did.

Jigsaw Health Foundation covered the expense of restoring my teeth, removing nearly a dozen amalgam fillings. The first thing I noticed was the ‘metal’ taste was gone.
 Headaches….gone.
Depression…gone.
My overall health has improved significantly since that time.
 
And so has something else…
I found a doctor who was willing to help my son. Long story short, a Urinary porphyrin profile along with blood work proved he was heavy metal toxic and glutathione deficient. Over the next 10 months, he received 300 mg. of DMSA, 3 times a day, 3 days on, the 4 days off. The sheer amount of metal in his body was astounding.

 About 2 months into treatment the director of Lab Corp in Louisville called to ask me if he had ‘an ongoing occupational exposure to arsenic’ I answered ‘well, he’s in the second grade, does that count’???

There was a measured silence on the line before he was able to stammer….’you’re kidding, right’?? ‘Ah, nope, second grader, look at his age’….
The poor man was so uncomfortable that it could be palpated from 200 miles away.
Cadmium, arsenic, nickel, mercury, tons of lead, though we never lived in a house with lead paint…so I have no idea there…. the arsenic was from chicken, shell fish, and I suspect our deck which was pressure treated lumber.
 
His transformation was nothing short of phenomenal. He went from performing single requested tasks to 4 and 5 step tasks practically overnight. He began to sleep, (thank you GOD), to eat, to play, to be…a kid.
 His receptive language skills improved in leaps and bounds, though he still has an expressive speech delay, most people don’t even notice.
He is now a happy, well adjusted 13 year old 8th grader.
 
 To think, 10 years ago we were told he’d never speak, this fall he met an adorable, green eyed girl, on the first day of school and 3 weeks later asked her to the county fair. I sat and watched them on the Ferris wheel, gazing into each others eyes, bashful smiles, the blush of youth in their cheeks, and I though back to you….you gave me hope at 2 am, in a bleak world filled with sleepless nights and endless days of longing….searching for the precocious blue eyed boy whom I’d watched regress into a tortuous world beyond my reach.
 
I sat at the county fair and cried, remembering how you reached out to me, in a time of desperation. You offered hope in a world where there was none, caring words in a life on the edge. You didn’t know it at the time, but the life line you tossed me all those years ago was the only thread I held to in a tenuous state of exhaustion and mental collapse.
 
In that moment of elation, watching my son, blond hair floating on a late summer breeze and puppy love etched in eyes, I knew I had to tell you ‘the rest of the story’…..
And to say ‘thank you’…. for being there, all those years ago…..
 
Name and address withheld on purpose.
Savannah Tn. 38372

Update 14 - Beginning to get well from Mold Illness- Updated 8/27/09

Thankfully this is my last "update" to my Mold and Brain Trauma chapters which you can find here.

I believe that most "fatiguing" illness is caused by mold toxins.  These include the obvious, Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia. But there are many other labels that are being put on people by doctors who have to quickly diagnose someone and try to do something to help them.  Epstein Barr, Cytomegalvirus, Depression, ADD, ADHD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Irritable Bowel, Migraines, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hypo-Thyroid, Candida, Mercury Poisoning, Allergies, MS, ALS, Lyme, Auto-immune conditions are labels that can be placed on you for a diagnosis when mostly, the real cause is actually mold toxins.  Mold toxins that affect people with genetically impaired immune systems that fail to recognize the toxin as a toxin.

Some of the conditions I mentioned above could actually ALSO be present.  Some of them were in me.  But it turned out with me that mold, and the systemic damage it caused was the big underlying cause.  I also believe that the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) I sustained as a Soph in college was a confounding, co-morbid condition that makes the mold illness worse or more difficult to treat.  I ALSO believe that it was a VERY good thing that I recognized in 1987 that having 12 mercury leaching dental amalgam fillings in my mouth probably was not a good thing.  My health definitely became better when I had them out.  But they were NOT my main problem.  I consistently talk to people who think Mercury is their main problem who end up having a severe mold problem.  They should still deal with the mercury but MOLD is the real problem.  The problem really is the total body burden of toxins, mold being a particularly bad one for certain genotypes.

In the last update, I gave you the basics on how to determine if you have a mold problem and how to learn where you are being exposed.  Now let's deal with some basics of how to get well.  I am not going to go into depth because to really get well requires a doctor who knows what he is doing.  Unfortunately there are not many right now.  The need is so great my next venture may well be to start a network of clinics to focus on nothing but this.  It has actually been something I have been thinking about for over 6 years.

This is NOT medical advice!  I am not a doctor.  I just play one on TV and I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express!

1. Get away from the mold!  Easier said than done!  If you work in a moldy building and cannot work from home you have a major problem.  If you live in a home that is moldy, it is not easy to move. Stay out as much as you can.  Sleep outside if you can.  Move if you can.  I know of people where most of the family was sick from a very moldy house where they simply left the house with not much else other than the clothes on their back. 

If you can gather enough medical data and are willing to spend the money you can sue your employer and the building owner but most of the time this is a total waste of time.  If a bunch of people where you work are sick, a class action suit, or the threat might get some attention to the problem.  You would have to have a medical expert on mold and there are only a few and they typically get involved only in big cases.  Mold is just not yet widely recognized in health and science circles as being something that serious.  This is due to the fact that 75% of people don't have a problem with any level of exposure to mold.

2, Re-mediate if possible.  If you have a severe problem with mold this can be impossible.  Mold is NOT killed by bleach as many believe. In fact, there is some science that suggests bleach can make things a lot worse!   Small amounts may be eradicated by the using highly concentrated fogging with hydrogen peroxide.  I have not proven this.  I am only trying it because my mold guy convinced me he has great success with it.  We will see when I redo an ERMI test in my home. (I don't have a big mold problem in the house.)  Read Leviticus 14.  If this isn't a description of a mold problem and what to do about it I don't know what is.  When mold takes over, it cannot be re-mediated.  It can only be torn to the ground and burned.  If you can find that it is isolated, you can tear out all the drywall, studs and replace them.  That is what I had to do in the home I lived in for 13 years in Scottsdale.  It cost a lot to do but fixed the problem.

3. Become a Mold Warrior.  Get Dr. Shoemaker's book called "The Mold Warriors" and read it. It is not an easy read and not very well written but the chapter on the Biotoxin Pathway is great.  There is a LOT of info there but you will get a much better picture of what you are dealing with.  It is somewhat outdated as Shoemaker is always learning many new things.  You will also find my book "Wellness Piece by Piece" useful even though I don't cover mold there.   I did not know about my mold problem when I wrote it.  But when I first worked with Dr. Shoemaker 4 years ago he said to me, "You have a very deranged physiology and you should be a whole lot sicker than you are."  He attributed it to all that I had learned about nutrition, exercise and other things that helped.  Recently he said to me, "The people that come in here who take 30 different supplements are always better than the ones who don't.  I just don't know which things help and which things don't."  I will make some suggestions on these below.

4. Take Cholestyramine (CSM).  This is an old med that is not used much anymore.  You should be able to find a doc who will give it to you even though they won't likely understand or agree with you about mold.  The type of toxin mold (and some other organisms) produces is fat soluble.  It is carried throughout the body and brain by cholesterol.  Cholesterol is considered very valuable so the body has a mechanism for reabsorbing it before it passes in feces.  So the toxin simply keeps being recirculated.  CSM will clear most, if not all of the toxin in 3-5 weeks. 

I don't like the standard Rx for CSM as it has aspartame in it. CSM can also be harsh on the GI and may even cause gallbladder problems so be very careful.  I use a compounded version of CSM from Hopkington Pharmacy at 508-435-4441.  Your doc can order it.  Often insurance won't cover the compounded version unless you make a big stink about it.  Tell them you are allergic to aspartame.  Since it is a neurotoxin you actually are! CSM is hard enough to tolerate compounded, but it is much better than the the off the shelf version.  Two side effects.  Constipation and Acid reflux.  Very important: Add psyllium husk to your CSM.  It will help dramatically with the side effects and studies show it actually dramatically improves the the effectiveness of CSM.  I also take extra  Jigsaw Magnesium and Tums if I get some acid reflux. That works for me but may not work for you. You need to try to get 3-4 doses down on a relatively empty stomach. If you have GI trouble take less fewer times and see if you can build up gradually.   It is possible to get a little worse for a few days before you start feeling better. Usually, 4-6 weeks is enough and you can retake the VCS test to see if CSM helped. If you get REALLY, REALLY worse STOP!  It could mean you really have Lyme disease.  Lyme produces the same kind of toxin but before you use CSM you need to use a med called Actos to bring your C3a levels down first.

5. Treat your worst symptoms.  This will go against the grain for a lot of people.  It did for me for many years.  But once I understood what was going on inside of me was physiological, and I was not crazy or in some weird spiritual battle, I felt better about doing something real about my symptoms.  It is far better to treat the underlying causes and if you stick with it, you can with most mold illnesses.  But in the meantime, you NEED some relief.  Very common in CFS+ mold illness is insomnia, weird anxiety, ADD and depression.  Get HELP for these.  If I break my leg I use a crutch until it heals. Until you fix the damage done by mold, especially if you have been sick a long time, you need help until repair can be accomplished, if it can. 

Sleep is critical.  You HAVE to know you can sleep without worrying about it.  You can try natural things like Valerian, 5HTP, melatonin etc.  They did nothing for me but may for you.  I like the recommendations of Dr. Paul Cheney.  Cheney talks about the benefits of Klonopin for CFS patients here.  Klonopin does many things for moldy people.  It protects the brain from much of the inflammation cascade. It blocks glutamate which gets released in high quantities with the cascade causing lots of symptoms and damage.  It helps you sleep.  It calms the weird, sense of doom and anxiety that is common.  For me it was a life saver! 

For sleep it is best to take small amounts of a few things rather than a lot of one thing.  It keeps side effects and dependency down.  I would recommend you use whatever it takes to get 8-10 hours of sleep. It is absolutely CRITICAL that you SLEEP every night no matter what it takes.   Klonopin, Trazadone, Ambien, Lunesta, Seroquel are some to try.  The 3 that worked for me are Klonopin 1mg, Trazadone 100-200mg and Seroquel 50-100mg. 

.5mg of Klonopin twice during the day was great for anxiety and I used Pristiq for depression.  It worked great too. Vyvanse is the new standard for ADD.  I don't take this currently but I liked it when I did.  I work with Dr. Charles Parker with my meds.  He uses NeuroScience testing to track progress.  He mixes Amino Acid therapy with meds which works much better than meds or amino acids alone.  There are a lot of advantages with this approach.  See his website here.

Basically, what I am saying is, don't limit yourself by suffering with these symptoms when you don't have to.  You can drop the meds as you get better.  Some people recover just from using CSM so you may not need the meds at all.  But most don't fully recover just from CSM.  The key is to get as FUNCTIONAL as you possibly can while you work to understand all the things mold has broken and find ways to fix them.

6. Fix your hormones - Because the immune and inflammation cascade hits the hypothalamus really hard your hormones will be off.  Check your sex hormones and supplement all of them to bring them to normal levels.  Creams and pellets work the best.  Check your cortisol, DHEA and ACTH.  They are probably all low.  For me this was a really big deal as I have written about before here.  I am hypo-adrenal.  I don't make enough cortisol.  So I supplement in very low doses. 20-30mg's of hydrocortisone (NOT Prednisone etc.) which is less than the body normally makes on it's own.  Thyroid is a biggie too.  Get the book "Stop the Thyroid Madness".  It does a great job of covering BOTH thyroid and adrenals.  They are tightly related.  This can help you big time!

7. Allergies - I hate allergies cause they are always something I like to eat.  For me, milk is the biggie.

8. Supplements that can help (short version. For more info on these use Google)  It's the inflammation stupid!  Since you are dealing with an inflammation cascade, supplements that help with controlling inflammation will help.  My favorites are Vitamin C 3-6 grams in a sustained release formula (soon available from Jigsaw Health!).  Broad spectrum Vitamin E with tocotrienols 400-800 IU.  Vitamin D3 5,000-15,000 IU.  This is actually a very biggie.  I use the higher amount because it is extremely anti-inflammatory and has many, many other systemic benefits.  It is NOT toxic.  Your body makes way more than this in an hour in the sun.  Geronova's Na RALA 600mg.  DHEA 20-40mgs.  High dose Fish Oil.  2-3 grams of concentrated, purified (from mercury) fish oil. I prefer high or even pure DHA for both brain and anti-inflammatory reasons.  I also like Borage Oil to get DGL. Jigsaw Magnesium with SRT.  Sustained release Mag is very calming to the muscles, to inflammation and to the brain. Ginkgo 200-300mg. Vinpocetine 20-40mg.  Pycnogenol 200mg.  These help many things in the brain and blood flow as well as being protective to the brain and blood vessels. Ubiquinol 100mg.  Jigsaw Activated B with SRT, Glycine Propionyl L-Carnitine (GlycoCarn) 2 grams.  BCM-95® Bio-Curcumin®. I don't take this because it messes up one of the meds I take.  Not sure which one.  But if you can take it is highly anti inflammatory.  Watch for this because some supplements will interfere with meds.  I seem to have run into all the interactions possible!

9. Exercise - A lot of people are so sick they can't even think about this.  But if you can, it will help you a lot.  I like to do intervals.  Jog, walk, sprint, walk, sprint, jog for about 30 minutes 3-5 times per week.  Walk slowly if that is all you can do.

10. Other Meds - Now it gets even more tricky.  To really deal totally with the effects of the immune and inflammation cascade there are a number of possible interventions that Dr. Shoemaker has studied.  I have talked about VIP which he is studying now.  VIP has many effects in the body. I take it and it helps but it is not a magic bullet for me unfortunately.  There are others like Procrit, Tadalafil, Cozaar, Actos.  All used off label.  I would not recommend any of these without working with a doc who is opened minded and will learn what you are trying to accomplish and why. The studies on the first two are on Shoemakers site.  Cozaar is a BP med that works minimally to bring down BP but it is GREAT at bringing down TGFb1 which is a killer cytokine.  Here is a summary I put together from research I did.   Download Benefits and Means of lowering TGFb1 and Endothelin

For the brave at heart, all these meds can be bought as either brand or generics without an Rx if you research them long and hard enough.  But I ain't telling you where.  I don't recommend you do it, I only wanted you to know you could.  It is legal in the US to import meds for your personal use.  If you are desperate and willing it is up to you.  Sometimes it simply is impossible to find a doc who will treat you.  Personally there are a number of things I don't agree with Shoemaker about regarding  his often painfully slow process that means you might suffer for many more months before you ever get to something that will actually help you.  He should not do this when he knows what he can do to help.  But it is his process and he refuses to vary from it.  Perhaps for most that is a good thing.  For me, sorry, I have suffered long enough to serve as a lab rat!  Hopefully, there will be good alternatives in the near future.

I fire a lot of bullets at my problem and it works for me.  My blood markers for mold illness are all improving.  I intend to keep at it till they are as normal as they can be.  Maybe then I will know what it is like to feel totally normal again.  I am close.  Very close.  You can be too.  Get after it!

Tide turning regarding possible links between Vaccines and Autism??

Two blog posts you should read both involving David Kirby, author of the book "Evidence of Harm".

Huffington Post and here.   More and more "real" scientists are reporting research and their own doubts about the mainstream "consensus" science that defends the vaccine industry etc.  The threat to the vaccine industry is very real if it is ever proven that there is a link to autism.  The lawsuits would be HUGE.  So if you were the vaccine industry, would you not be fighting the idea tooth and nail?  Well they are.  Follow the money...

Mercury Dental Amalgam is toxic to the brain. Duh!!

I ran across this summary of the work of Dr. Boyd Haley regarding mercury and ties to Alzheimer's disease.  It is rather technical but if you can wade through it, you will find pretty convincing evidence that we should NEVER put mercury in our mouth!!  And if you have it there you should consider getting it out. 

But only get it out if it is done properly by someone who knows what they are doing otherwise you could make matters FAR worse by getting a very large dose of mercury in the removal of your amalgams. 
'
I had mine out in 1987 and am glad I did.  I will never know how my health would be today if they were still there but based on the data, it is likely that my health would be worse and not better.

How can anyone support the idea that permanently placing the most neurotoxic metal known to man in your mouth where it is proven it leaches into the brain and body, not be bad for you in some way?  Well duh!!

Mercury and Vaccines

Here is a good and balanced view of the controversy over mercury, vaccines and autism.  Personally, I agree with his view in general.  Also, his view as a research neuroscientist that even small amounts of toxins can cause the brain to not function well is right on. 

Another thing I think important is to spread out the vaccination schedule for the child.  We used to vaccinate on a much slower schedule.  The rise in autism appears to coincide with an acceleration in that schedule beginning around 1991.  Challenging a childs immune system with so many vaccinations when their immune system (and most other systems) are not yet fully developed does not seem wise.  Here is a more user friendly recommended schedule from a doctor Miller.

"Dramatic hearing on Capitol Hill: Members of Congress demand to know why FDA refuses to do Environmental Impact Statement"

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

In my inbox from Charlie Brown of Consumers for Dental Choice:

Dramatic hearing on Capitol Hill:  Members of Congress demand to know why FDA refuses to do Environmental Impact Statement

FDA was called to the carpet at a dramatic hearing on Capitol Hill on Nov. 14.  Chairman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind.), and Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-Calif.) took turns insisting that FDA comply with the law by doing an Environmental Impact Statement on mercury amalgam.  A second panel of witnesses included mercury environmental expert Michael Bender, who quantified the colossal damage wrought by dental mercury on the environment, and National Environmental Policy Act expert Ray Clark, who explained why, without a doubt, FDA must do an environmental assessment of dental mercury.

Heavy Metal Mercury...Literally

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

In my inbox from Scott Shoemaker comes hardcore band bloodsimple's SUPER SICKO video:

That just gave me chills. 

I've never been a true metalhead, but I have enjoyed my fair share of it.  (In fact, 12 years ago I was at a metal show in Ft. Worth, TX where a piece of actual metal flew off the stage and bounced off my head.  It was awesomely ironic.)

UPDATE: I've never been a huge fan of "screamo" -- which is what this is called, for the older generation (ie. Dad) -- because you can't understand ANYTHING.  However, I do think I picked up a "1 IN 5 HAUNTED!!!!!!!!!!!!" in there.

Illness disappears by removing 14 mercury amalgams

This was left as a comment on our post regarding mercury.  I know it is a study of one person.  Rather - yet another person.  It is anecdotal evidence for those of us who have been chronically ill for a long time and that illness has resisted a quick fix.  And on top of that you have a mouthful of mercury in your mouth. 

It appears that everyone is not affected by mercury the same way.  Some seem to tolerate it pretty well.  At least it appears that way to them.  But others are affected severely and when they have their amalgams removed, numerous maladies simply disappear. Certainly helped me.  I post it unchanged as something to consider:

Comment:
I was extremely ill with depression and anxiety and fully recovered just after removing my 14 amalgams. I was better within the next 2-3 days and havnt had serious mood swings since. I think the mercury messes with your hormones and blood sugar and thyroid status adn cant be proven but you need to do what is right for you.

• Commenter name: James Leech

"Wall Street turns thumbs down to mercury fillings"

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

More bad news for the future of mercury amalgams.  (Which is good news for me, and anyone else against polluting the environment, harming humans, etc.)

A stunning report by Bank of America Securities advises that dental products company Dentsply, the #2 manufacturer of mercury fillings, realign its operations to sell only the resin and other filling materials.