My Final Post ..... The Ending of a Journey

It is a very strange feeling to be writing this post.  It will be the last update that I post to this blog.  The blog itself will remain up for those who want to read it and find encouragement.  I have reached the 10 year post diagnosis and 5 years past my last treatment and I am doing very well.  My labs are completely balanced and cancer markers normal.  Best of all I feel well.  :)

It's time for me to begin the new chapter in my life.  I have started a new blog that will align itself with my future career.  In the next 1-2 years I will be graduating with my Naturopathic Doctorate.  This is my passion.  How do I teach others to heal and avoid the poor health I had to dig myself out of.  There are so many ideas that swirl around in my head as I read and read and read.  I needed a place to share them and this blog wasn't the place.  So if you want to come and visit me at my new *home*.  You can find me blogging at.....

LIVING HOLISTICALLY


To your health and may God bless you on your journey as much as He has mine. 

Stephanie

Doing Better

Thank you to all my friends who were concerned about my last post. It was very therapeutic for me to post my feelings about my journey but now the temper tantrum is done. I have been back on my hydrocortisone for my adrenals for 4 days and things have levelled off. I no longer have that weepy feeling and my energy is returning. The brain fog is gone and I am able to function like a normal person again.

I guess I need to pay attention to my adrenals and not feel like I need to be wonder woman. RAI damaged my adrenals and they are very vulnerable to stress. The holidays are a stressor for me. Looking back I had the same issues last year. So I will pamper them back to health and continue on my adrenal glandulars to support them after I wean off hydrocortisone.

Life is good. God is good.

Approaching the 10 year mark...

You would think that the milestone of 10 years would send me into celebration of the life I have been able to lead since my diagnosis of thyroid cancer. But if I am truthful, yes, there are things that have been blessings but the struggles have been great.

There are few places I feel free to share my true feelings. Unless you have travelled this path you will never understand. Even though desiccated thyroid has helped me with fatigue it has not cured me. I struggle daily with rationing. If I do A & B then I cannot do C. But if I do A & C then I can maybe do D. I am sick of it. I want my thyroid back. The words of the ENT that ripped my thyroid out echo in my head. "You will never know it's gone. You'll just take a little pill for the rest of your life and it will be fine." WELL IT ISN'T FINE!! The idiot endos that thought RAI after RAI treatment would help me make me so angry. In their attempt to remove the cancer from my body they destroyed many other parts - critical parts.

My adrenals and my ovaries: Both sent me spiralling out of control into fatigue, hot flashes, hair falling out, dry skin, intolerance to noise, change...... life. Under treated thyroid with T4 only medication taxed my adrenals - So much for Synthroid being the Cadillac of thyroid treatment hey Dr. N? RAI after RAI pushed both my adrenals and ovaries over the edge. They are now waiving the white flag. I will forever depend on hydrocortisone, adrenal glandulars, vitamin c and bioidentical hormones in an attempt to maintain some level of normalcy. But the fact of the matter is. I am in early menopause with adrenal fatigue. And it s&*$#. My libido is non-existent and no amount of hormones has changed that. I have chronic insomia too - thank heavens for Xanax or I would never sleep some weeks. Yeah - I never noticed it was gone......

My gut: I struggle with food intolerance's, flatulence, constipation, liver overload and malabsorption. I cannot eat gluten which is what a social life is built on - people eat. I don't want to invite anyone over since our food is "wierd". I can't easily go to any one's house because neither I nor my children can eat the "glutened" food. So each time we have family gatherings I am forced to replicate the food everyone else is eating - but gluten free. More stress. If it were just me I wouldn't care but I am trying to make a life that is relatively normal for my children who do not quite understand it all. Then there are the church events...... why bother? It's more work than it is worth.

My weight: I struggle and struggle and struggle to keep it under control. But anyone who understands the body knows that adrenal fatigue, unbalanced hormones and poor digestion is a recipe for disaster. So each day I get on the treadmill for 30-40 mins to burn off enough calories so that I can eat and not gain massive amounts of weight. It seems even a normal amount can send my body into orbit. I can gain 5-7 lbs overnight. I hate the way I look and avoid looking at my body in the mirror at all costs. I hide it well with clothing but "I" see the truth. This issue has only magnified since Forest Pharmaceuticals decision to destroy the best thyroid product on the market. They will not tell anyone why they did this and it has made life miserable for many trying to find a drug that works as well. This all takes its toll as the energy I expend exercising is a trade off for another activity of the day. So there are days where I have to fore go the exercise so that I can do something else. Yeah Doc - I never noticed my thyroid was gone.

I always struggle with fatigue and overload during the holidays. I am so jealous of my Jewish friend who each year departs over the Christmas holiday to a tropical location to bask in the sun. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas but the whole production that goes with it has taken its toll. We rush around to find gifts for family members who really need nothing. Eating food that isn't good for us only to put on weight that will take months to get back off. The stress of it all sends me into this downward spiral that I now am experiencing. I think I could celebrate Jesus' birth in a warm climate, relaxing. To top it off I live in the Midwest where we do not see the sun for months. Can you say seasonal effective disorder?

Todays agenda....Breakfast, Treadmill, Shower, Clean shower, Dry hair..... Exhausted. Take a rest. Mop floor.... Exhausted so I take another rest until lunch. Do lunch then drop for the day. What kind of life is this?

I am the care giver of the family. There are times I need to be the one that is taken care of but it never happens. I must maintain the vitamin regimen of my two hypo children along with studying and keeping house. The food preparation is enough to make anyone throw in the towel. We are gluten free, soy free, dye free and as one lady I know puts it "crap free". That means I cook from scratch. I bake my own baked goods as well.

My family cannot understand my outbursts of frustration over food stuck to the sides of the microwave, chocolate milk puddles on the counter and slippers left in the line of traffic. To them it seems like nothing but to me it is *one more thing* to deal with when I am already feeling at my limits. It's those darn adrenals I know.

This year while making cookies my 7 year old daughter told me that if I had died from my cancer "Daddy would have to shop for their gifts". Why does a 7 year old need to deal with this? I am frustrated and angry. I feel like a part of my life has been stolen from me. The more I learn about my body and how God intended to heal it, surgeries and radiation have no place in it. These doctors have to see that the people are getting sicker and sicker as they dole out more medications and "treatments". Do they care? Why do they accept this as normal and not seek other answers? It's maddening to say the least because I am a life that could have been different.

Today I want to run from my life. To lie on a sunny beach somewhere while someone takes care of me. No one to talk to. No one to demand things of me. No noise, no commotion. Nothing to think about but me. I hate that I feel vulnurable. I hate that I fear the possibility of cancer returning. I hate that this is what drives me to eat well and do the right things. But that is where I am. I am alive and will get through this time again with effort but it gets tiring. Mentally and emotionally.

If I had it to do again..... I wouldn't. I do miss my thyroid....... But that isn't an option so I plug on.

Green Smoothie Challenge

My local healthfood store is doing a green smoothie challenge. So yesterday I decided to pick up a big tub of spinach from CostCo and use the blueberries I got at the farmers market on Saturday to make a smoothie. It actually was really good - I had my doubts.

Here's what I put in it.

1 1/2 cups Filtered Water
1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup spinach (raw)
1 Tbs Agave Nectar

Blend and drink......

Here's a link to the challenge flyer - it's where I got my "recipe".

Stephanie

A little over 9 years later.....

I had my 6 mos check up with Dr. B last Tuesday. I no longer look forward to my check ups with fear and trepidation of what the lab tests will reveal. I know I am healthy and strong..... I can feel it.

Dr. B quickly looked over my labs as we entered the room (a little snafu in the lab made them not arrive before our appointment). He scanned them and said that he had never seen them look more balanced and my immune system looked very strong. My Tg was even down. It had been 13.7 in December and now it is 10.3. I am thrilled as there has been no RAI treatments for 4 years now as of May 23rd. Thank God (literally) I walked away from my endocrinologist when my Tg rose for the 3rd time and he recommended beginning to think about External Beam Radiation. I had a feeling to my very core that this was not the answer.

So today someone asked me what I think contributed to my healing without traditional treatment. This made me think about it. So I thought I would share. My glucose levels were also down from 101 (fasting) 3 years ago to 85 now. No more insulin resistance. Which leads me to my list.......

1) Gluten Free - I read a great book called Dangerous Grains which made a very good case for the connection of cancers to gluten. It also linked autoimmune thyroid disease to it. I am sure this is something I had because I had antibodies (Tg Ab) when diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

2) Limit Sugars / No HFCS - I do not eat sugar for the most part. Every once in a while I will have a gluten free cookie but even then I make some with stevia, agave and honey.

3) Eating Organic - I eat as much as I can find and afford that is organic and locally grown / raised. The chemicals and hormones are very bad for our bodies.

4) Balanced Sex Hormones (BHrt) / Balanced Vitamin & Mineral Levels - Your body is a machine that needs the right things going in at the proper balance to keep it running. Just think how your car runs when a spark plug goes bad. Not well. So how do we expect our body to run well with toxic chemicals and low nutrient foods. It stresses our body and makes us age faster - this stresses the adrenals which tanks the hormones..... and so it goes.

5) Detox, Detox, Detox - I have lost 30 lbs and this has caused a lot of toxins stored in my fat cells to be released. It was a huge relief to my body to eliminate this burden of weight and waste. I have pampered my liver with Metagenics Ultra Clear Plus and Dandelion Root Extract. I also take high doses of Iodine (Iodoral) which helps to push the toxic halides like bromide out of my body. Three years ago I removed my mercury filled amalgam fillings and chelated to remove the mercury from the tissues.

This is what I believe are my five steps to health. It really isn't that hard but it takes time, preparation and thought to accomplish it. But I am here to tell you that it feels so wonderful to be well.

To your health......

Stephanie

Let's Try Juicing

I am so tired of the inflammation and issues with fluctuating weight. I listened to a podcast the other day on http://www.talkshoe.com/ - Women4Balance broadcast with "The Juice Lady". (I should also add as a side note that I am one of the featured speakers on this podlist as well). I know I don't get enough fruits and veggies so this may help me get those vital enzymes.

Today's juice is:

4 Organic Carrots
1 Organic Cucumber
1/2 Organic Golden Beet with 1/2 of the greens
1 Organic Orange

It tasted pretty good too! This combo w/o the orange was labeled a body purifier. Here's hoping.

To your health!

Eye Appointment Improvements

I have not been to the eye doctor in about 2 years. It seems that it is just one more thing to put into an already packed schedule and after years of having several doctors appointments per week I resist making more now that I am well. But my contacts were drying out and my eye sight seemed to be worse when wearing them so I sought a new doctor because our insurance had changed - yet again.

I found a doctor and scheduled an appointment. He did the exam and then asked me if I knew what my previous prescription had been. I told him that the left eye was -.75 and the right eye was -1.25. He smiled and said well your eyes have improved. They are both -.50 so you are over correcting. YEAH!!! I thought my eyes were getting worse but they weren't. It was the contacts being the wrong prescription that made things worse.

Once I was home I began to contemplate what I had changed since my last appointment. There were two things. Well actually three.

1. I had removed my amalgam fills and chelated the mercury out.
2. I had increased my Iodoral from 50 mgs to 125 mgs
3. I had begun to take 25,000 iU Vit A (Kroeger Sunny A)

Knowing that Vit A was important to the eyes I began to wonder about the iodine. Well guess what? Iodine is concentrated in the ciliary body of the eye.

So I looked for what the ciliary body did:

One function of the ciliary body is the production of aqueous humor, the clear fluid that fills the front of the eye. It also controls accommodation by changing the shape of the crystalline lens. When the ciliary body contracts, the zonules relax. This allows the lens to thicken, increasing the eye's ability to focus up close. When looking at a distant object, the ciliary body relaxes, causing the zonules to contract. The lens becomes thinner, adjusting the eye's focus for distance vision.

It appears that not only is Iodoral saving my life from thyroid cancer but it is also improving my eyesight. I love this stuff!!

Weight Loss / Colon Cleansing and Feeling Great!

It's been a while since I updated. Life has been busy. The first week of November I attended the Weston A. Price Wise Traditions Conference in San Francisco. It was so much fun to be with over 3,000 holistic / natural / like minded people. There were not enough hours in the day and it seemed that many of the seminars I wanted to attend - like Sally Fallon's Eat Fat Lose Fat - were at the same time as another one that I wanted to attend. My highlight was to attend Dr McBride's all day seminar on the Gut & Psychology. Boy did this strike home for both myself and my children. I highly recommend listening to this clip from the conference. She discussed reasons for food allergies, behavior issues and how to heal the gut with diet.

My favorite doctor - Dr. David Brownstein - and friend spoke as well. He discussed the iodine & thyroid connection. He just released a new edition to his Iodine book where he discusses Iodine and children. My son's story is part of this topic as a case study. Lynne Farrow of Breast Cancer Choices gave a wonderful presentation on the history of Iodine uses in clinical practice and how it effects breast disease.

Now for me. I am doing very well. As I finished 2008 I began to reflect on the progress I have made again this year in restoring my own as well as my family's health. I have so much vitality and have been so healthy this year. I cannot think of a time that I was sick for the last 2 years. I have my bouts of headaches and feeling a bit fatigued but then I just take it easy and I am back up and running. I think it is detoxing related. This year I lost over 30 lbs bringing from almost 170 lbs to the 130's. I have not been this thin since the 8th grade. It feels so good. I get workouts done 3x / week at the YMCA too.

In November we took the kids gluten free. We have had to continually increase their thyroid medication and I was getting concerned about their behavior. When my son's teacher approached me about his ADD like issues I called my doctor and asked him his thoughts. Could it really be gluten? He told me if it where his child that he would try it. So I cleared the house of all gluten so there was no whining that they wanted something they could not have and took them both gluten free. I didn't think my daughter had much of an issue with gluten but it was easier to do both than one. My son had been having issues with GERD, Stomach aches and Constipation. My daughter was just very emotional.

One week into the gluten free diet my son's issues melted away. I asked him if he felt better and he said "My tummy doesn't hurt anymore". He has been very good about making sure his food is safe. It is now 2 months later and he is finally starting to eat more food. My ND says that it takes 6 weeks to heal 50% of the gut and then another year to heal the remaining 50%. My daughter's behavior got better too. The house became a calmer place and they became more attentive. I highly recommend reading Dangerous Grains - an eye opening book on why gluten is so dangerous. Also there is a great website for gluten issues info for kids from a Dr in New Zeeland that calls himself "Dr Gluten".

My daughter had an exposure to gluten 6 weeks after getting taken off of it. She was at her class Christmas party and she ate 2 Dixie cups full of pretzels. I picked her up from school not knowing this had happened. She was screaming in the car and hitting her brother. When we got home every little thing set her off and she would run out of the room crying. I wondered what was wrong with her. Then at lunch we were discussing her party and I asked what they had to eat (the teacher and I had gone over the "menu" to make sure she was safe but they changed the food grrrrrrr.....). She told me she had eaten pretzels. I said "OH that's gluten". She burst into tears and said she didn't know. Well that explained the behavior. But then 2 days later when she was taking a shower I went to dry her off with a towel and she had a rash all over her torso, buttocks and legs. The poor child was peppered with it. This can happen when there is a gluten exposure and you are sensitive. It was so itchy and she was clawing at it. There are still a few on her bottom - almost 4 weeks later. It takes so long to get this junk out of her. It has taken some time to detox her and get her attitude more level. So gluten is out of our home for good - see my Gluten Free Naturally blog for some great kid friendly recipes.

This week I am doing a 3 day fasting colon cleanse. My stools have been "off" lately and I am so constipated. I think this is due to the level of bromide I dumped when I was dieting. I did an Iodine loading test during this time and my bromide went to a 62 Ug/L when it had been 28 Ug/L when not dieting.

I will have my follow up appointment with Dr. B on Wednesday. He called me with my lab results last night and I am happy to report that my cancer markers were 13 - last one was 11.9 - so we are still hanging on with great markers. It's hard to believe that 3 years ago when I went to see him for the first time I was dying. They wanted to do external beam radiation for a recurrence of the cancer. My thyroglobulin markers were up to 24. I have gotten them down naturally. Praise God. I am glad I followed His leading in taking the road less travelled. Our bodies are amazing and can heal if given what they need and by caring for them as God intended.

So that's my update. Live well!

Stephanie

Detoxing, Detoxing........

I am still struggling with my latest increase from 100 to 125 mgs of Iodoral. I know it is due to detoxing. I am experiencing fatigue, weight gain, aching joints and headaches. To relieve the headaches I can take 1/2 tsp Celtic Salt in 4 oz OJ and within 1/2 hour it is gone. The rest of my symptoms are harder to deal with. I find myself not taking iodoral at all every few days just to give my body a break. It makes me wonder. What on earth am I detoxing and how much? We know that iodine moves, bromide, chloride, fluoride, mercury and lead out of the body.

I do have an interesting observation to share. A week ago I was drying off after my shower and went to put my bra on. I noticed that there were gray circles in the middle of the cups where my nipples would rest. How weird I thought. So I got out another clean bra from my drawer that was also white. What do you know? It had the same gray circles in it. I must be detoxing something from my breasts. I have not had this before. I do have a grayish paste that I can scrape off my chest on my breast bone - is this bromide? I have no idea. I am thankful whatever it is, is coming out.

I will schedule my thermography in the next week or so and am eager to see if there have been any changes. I have lost 2 of the 3 fibrous masses in my breast through iodine supplementation. Let's hope that the 3rd is gone. It was smaller last year.

I don't think we quite understand the level of exposure to toxins we are receiving on a daily basis. I know I had no idea that I was this bad and I work hard to stay clean. I cannot imagine how bad someone would be who does not concern themselves detoxing. It seems they are a ticking time bomb of ill health. We are in for a health care crisis in the future I believe. It makes me sad becuase it does not have to happen.

So that's my update. I will continue on 125 mgs and then retest with a loading / bromide level test the end of October.

Day 6 on 125 mgs Iodoral

Things were going quite well with my increase of Iodoral from 100 to 125 mgs until today. I was in my kitchen cutting up vegetables for dinner when all of the sudden I started to feel very anxious. I was baffled as to why this was happening since there was nothing for me to anxious about. Then it hit me. I have been on 125 mgs of Iodoral for 6 days. The last time I increased from 50 to 100 mgs it took 8 days for me to feel its effects. This time was shorter. It has to be the bromide coming out again. It makes me wonder exactly how toxic am I? I have been supplementing with what is considered to be very high doses of Iodine since 3/2006 (2 yrs 5 mos). I also noticed that I have a metallic taste.

Many websites will tell you that what I am experiencing is Iodism or an allergy to iodine however, this is obviously not the case since I have been taking iodine without issues for literally years. If you google bromide toxicity symptoms you will find that they mirror what is considered iodine toxicity. For me, I am lucky to have a doctor that tests my bromide levels when we check my iodine saturation level and I am still pumping out large amounts of bromide. It really gives me a window into one of the reasons why I probably got thyroid cancer. Between the bromide, mercury and low nutrient levels in my diet and stress of my job I was destined for it.

Increasing Iodoral Dosage Again to 125 mgs

I am on day 2 of 125 mgs of Iodoral / day. The decision was made to increase to this level from 100 mgs due to my continued large levels of bromide being dumped. Bromide is so toxic that it needs to come out! I started on 100 mgs in November last year and felt good until I hit day 8 and then I experienced some bad detox symptoms. Panic attacks, depression, fatigue, joint aches, abnormal menstruation and more. It was very hard and lasted for 5 weeks. I had to take it for 6 days and then take a day off. I am hoping that does not happen this time.


Here are my Iodine Loading Test results:


July 2008
Iodine Excreted 53%
Bromide Excreted 28.6 mgs/24 hr

Dosage history:
50 mgs March 06 - Sept '06
75 mgs Oct 06 - Nov 06
50 mgs Dec 06 - Mid Oct 07
100 mgs Mid Oct 07 - Mid Feb 08
Took a break from iodine from mid March 08 - end of April 08 for a detox protocol (off all supplements)
100 mgs April 08 - July 08
Currently on 100 mgs

Here are my past results:

November 2007
Iodine Excreted 66%
Bromide Excreted 34 mgs/24 hrs

Dosage history:
50 mgs March 06 - Sept '06
75 mgs Oct 06 - Nov 06
50 mgs Dec 06 - Mid Oct 07
100 mgs Mid Oct 07 - Mid Nov '07


August 2006
Iodine Excreted 60%
No Bromide done

Dosage History: I took 50 mgs Iodoral from March '06 to the time I took the test.


I am feeling great. My husband and I just returned from a 9 day trip to Alaska. It is wonderful to have a life again.

Here we are.

Just for grins I decided to get out a copy of the picture from our last cruise almost 10 years ago to the month. I was amazed at how much I have changed since then. I had not been diagnosed with cancer yet nor had I had my first child. My life was to change a whole lot after this. But you can see signs of the issues already in this photo.

I will try to keep up with my blog as I continue with the increased dose of Iodoral and retest my iodine and bromide levels.

Until next time....................

To your continued improvement in your health!

Stephanie

Update on me - Progress August 2008

I get continued requests to update my blog with information on how I am currently doing. GREAT!!! That is why I have not spent much time on the blog or caught it up with all the details since December's posting. But I will get to it eventually.

My health continues to improve and it amazes me that I can feel any better. But I do and it is a wonderful feeling to live an abundant life. Recently I lost 30 lbs and went from a size 12 to a 6. I have not been this small in as long as I can remember. I suspect that my thyroid was an issue for many years before thyroid cancer was diagnosed. I always had issues with weight and ate less and less as time went on and worked out harder and harder but nothing fixed it. I joined weight watchers 3 times only to gain all that I lost and then some back again. Eventually you just resolve to being overweight.

One thing that I have discovered that was effecting my weight is Gluten. Gluten sensitives are very common in people with thyroid issues. Especially hashimotos folks need to watch their consumption as it has been show to increase antibody levels. So I have for the most part given up gluten. Wheat is a big issue - after consuming it within a half hour I become very sleepy and feel horrible. It just isn't worth it. So I have gone back to my gluten free ways (was GF for over 1 year). I am getting very good at baking things that taste like gluten products. It just makes it very difficult to travel.

Speaking of travel, we recently took the kids to California and spent two days in Disneyland and one day at Legoland. There was a point in my life where I would have NEVER attempted this. Both for my own issues but with two hypo kids, it would have been a nightmare. We all did great and enjoyed our time - kids first flight as well.

In 4 weeks my husband and I will leave for a 7 day Alaskan Cruise and in November I will attend the National Weston Price conference. It feels so good to have a life full of adventure again and not sleep.

I have also had requests for what I currently take in the way of supplements so I will give an updated list. Keep in mind that these have been designed for my specific needs based on lab testing so please don't think that this is the answer to all your issues. It is a constant fine tuning process. We run labs about every 3 mos on my levels. Which I am happy to report - my cancer markers (Tg) were down again for my July visit with my doctor. I am so thankful!

DHEA 5 mgs (doctors brand)
Pregnenolone 25 mgs 1/day (Research Nutrition)
C-500 4/day (Optimox)
Iodoral 50 mgs 2/day (Optimox)
Multi Mins 2/day (Biotics Research)
BioMulti Plus 2/day (Biotics Research)
Cu-Zyme 1/day (Biotics Research)
MSM Forte 2/ day (doctors brand - 1,000 mgs MSM / tab)
B6 Complex 1/day (Pure Encapsulations)
Sunny A 1/day (Kroeger Herb Products)
Conjugated Linoleic Acid 1/day (Vitamin Research Products - 1 gr / tab)
BioPro 1/day (Vitamin Research Products)
DMG Complete 4/day (doctors brand contains Folinic Acid 400 mcg, B-12 Methycobalamin, DMG Dimethylglycine 150 mg, Choline 50 mg, Riboflavin 50 mg)
1/2 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
UltraClear Plus pH 1 scoop / day as needed (Metagenics)
Methycobalamin injections 1,000 mg 2x / week
Armour Thyroid 4 grains (240 mgs)

The DMG is for a recent discovery that I have a gene defect in the MTHFR pathway. I am only just beginning to understand what this means. You can google Amy Yasko for more info. Basically that is all I know now too. My Dr is finding that many of his thyroid patients have this defect. It is genetic and common in Western European descent people.

So that's the update on me. Living life to the fullest. So much for my endo telling me that if I took Armour my cancer would return and I would probably die. It is now 2 1/2 years later and I am doing better than ever.

To your health!

Stephanie

Issues with 100 mgs Iodoral

To some I have given the impression that my supplementing with iodine has been smooth sailing. This is not the case. I had issues with moving from 50 mgs to 100 mgs in October 2008. Here is my story.....

I did a 28 day detox with my ND in Dec '04. I had RAI (250 mCi's ) May 2005. I had to cleanse my body again from that. I spent the next year working on cleaning it up by eating only organic, off gluten and minimal sugars. Then in March '06 was when I started working with Dr. B. He started me off on 50 mgs from the start. I had no detox reactions either. So I was thinking "Hey this is great". Then in October of 2008 we decided to kick it up a notch and go to 100 mgs. Well I have to tell you that at times it was nothing short of hell. So those of you who think I don't understand how hard a bromide detox is, I do. But...... I pushed through because with a cancer diagnosis and measurable markers you just never know what is going on.

Here was my list of symptoms:

Body feels "shaky" like it is vibrating but you cannot see it - like when I hold out my hands.
Extreme anxiety to the point where I had to call someone to talk me down one morning.
Dropped temperature - one day it was 96.4 but most of the time it was around 97.1
Depression / "the blues"
Vertigo
Fatigue
Brain Fog
Aching joints
Acne
Breast Tenderness
Cloudy Urine
Heart pounding easily with little movement
Pain in thyroid bed ( I have no thyroid)
Painful lymph nodes in neck

So I took 2 days off and pumped in salt and Metagenics ultra clear plus pH. Then back on. I then did 6 days on of 100 mgs and 1 day off. It helped with the detox but my weeks were not great. I did not feel well but I knew that this was all part of the process. I will toughed it out at all costs. I had recently added 6,000 mg of MSM (at Dr. B's suggestion based on other Dr's experiences) to my protocol which helped the detox but this only made me feel sick to my stomach - but I still took it knowing that it was supposed to help me in the end. I also stress dose with Cortef to help with the shaky feeling and the anxiety. It helped. This went on for a month (since Oct 12).

So yes I understand and maybe that is why I "appear" to be less than sympathetic at times. I am a fighter. Even when things are rotten and I feel horrible I keep going because I know that in the end I will be glad. There are times when I am a bit freaked out over my symptoms but then I read the info on bromide toxicity and what it does and that lines up with what I am feeling so I continue.

So that is my story and now you know that it has not been smooth sailing for me with iodine either.

Keep plugging - the end of the road and better health is worth the journey!

Stephanie

Day 3 on Alpha Lipoic Acid

I am so achy and tired. I am glad this is the last day . I have a burning mouth and a metalic taste in my mouth. I woke up this morning with mucous coming out of my eyes. I decided to take a dead sea salt bath with epsom salts to try to increase the detoxing. It also helps with the aching. In this case it didn't do too much so I wonder what is happening. I also wonder how much longer this is going to continue. The ups and downs are so hard.

Tomorrow is my appt with Dr. B. We have a lot to discuss. I hope he has some options for how to deal with all this. I am eager to get my labs too. A bit aprehensive about it on a level as well.

Mom is coming to be with my daughter. I am glad I don't have to worry about her.

Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully better too!

Day 2 on ALA Chelation

December 5, 2006 - Today was day 2 of chelation with ALA. I started on Sunday night and have been taking 50 mgs every 3 hours. It has helped in some ways but in others I am feeling achy and tired. My eyes feel heavy and I have a headache. ALA is supposed to cross the blood / brain barrier so I am hoping it is moving the mercury out of my brain.

I was at my dentist's office today. My son had his checkup and cleaning. He also got his spacers put in for his expander which will be put in on Monday. Poor kid but he was a trooper and did well.

I am struggling with the feeling of a swelling tongue. I didn't take anything before I went to the dentist because it seems nothing works and I do not have any zeolite like the stuff the Dr. gave me last week when I was there. I'll have to decide if I want it the next time I go.

I have a metal taste in my mouth and it seems more saliva. There is also a burning sensation on the edges like what I had prior to removal of all my amalgams. How can the FDA think this is OK. I wonder this each and every day. This is costing me thousands of dollars to regain my health and it could have been prevented.

SAD!

My Second Hair Test from Genova

On Decmeber 1, 2006, I had my regular 2 week appointment with my Chiropractor / ND.
I have done a lot of research on heavy metal toxicity and more specifically those involving mercury. I had all my amalgams removed and my MD had been helping me chelate using DMSA / Chlorella / Cilantro drops and Mercurius Viv. My ND did not agree with this protocol so it was a subject that we tended to ignore. My ND likes to use Metal Free - www.metalfree.com to chelate mercury. There are a few positive testimonials but nothing that strikes me for its cost. I had read Andrew Cutler's Amalgam Illness book and it seemed to offer more reasons why people symptoms of toxicity but when testing is done they do not "show" toxic.

I was sure this was me. My hair tests consistently show no mercury. My DMPS challenge test showed zero mercury yet I had 11 amalgams in my mouth - that makes it virtually impossible for me to not have some toxicity. How possible would it be that I would NO mercury when it is in the environment? I didn't buy it. I showed symptoms and felt better when chelating.

I told my ND that I was experiencing eye pain behind my left eye. I told him that when I started chelating I felt better and the pain went away. He said that he suspected my pain was related to mold as was my fatigue. I asked, "But why is it that when I started chelating the pain went away and I felt better?" He said that mold is carried away by DMSA too. I had NEVER read this. That was my next mission to see if this was true. I was so skeptical of doctors - even those who had helped me because there had been many I trusted that about killed me.

We reviewed my hair test. I had one done through Great Smokies Diagnostics lab in February. It didn't show anything other than all my mineral levels were on the low side. My Uranium however, was in the red range. This time my mineral levels were low again and my uranium still high even after chelating with homeopathy for I-131 which is how I was poisoned. He stated that he was happy with the results but I was not. My nutrients needed to be at least midway according to Andy Cutler. Anything on the low end signals mineral transport issues. This is consistent with my low mercury reading as well. My ND knew nothing about Andy's mineral transport information and tried to blame my low levels on autoimmune issues. I was dx'd with cancer - my antibodies are now gone from the thyroid so I think that this is not the case. I was frustrated to say the least.

I had also done a hair test from my MD's office through King James Labs. It was taken at the same time as the Genova so I was eager to see how they would compare. I prayed that it would show more than the Genova test or that my MD would see something. This was getting annoying! Thankfully my MD did take me seriously and he did believe that I had uranium issues. He called Genova lab and talked with a technician and he said that I did have an issue. My ND said that he had called them as well and they had said that I did not have an issue with Uranium! He stated that the technician told him that it was on the "outside" of my hair and not in my tissue. This didn’t make sense to me. How was it getting to my hair if it isn't in my tissue? I made my mind up to continue the fight by myself if I had to.

Mercury Vapor & Zeolite

On November 29 I was feeling achy in my muscles and joints and had been since the previous week. I had no idea if it was related to low thyroid or metal toxicity. It was so frustrating dealing with this all the time. It seemed so complex. Which was it? The chelation got rid of the pain behind my eyes but it seems that when I would chelate I would require more thyroid hormone. I wondered if this was what was happening again. I decided to try adding ¼ grain that I had stopped. I had issues preivously with my BP being at 142/80 and 130/78. Then my BP went down to 110/70 two weeks ago.

I had gone to the dentist the previous day. Normally I loaded up on selenium and take my DMSA but this time I forgot to take it. My dentist looked at me while I was having my consultation with him and he asked what was wrong with my left eye. I didn’t tell him anything about my eye being the one that had been bothering me with pain and visual disturbances. I asked him what he meant. He said that my left eye was “smaller” than the other eye. Now this was just weird to me. My left eye had been giving me issues and now my dentist could see it! He got up and handed me a bottle and he said that almost immediately my eye looked better. Just from holding it! He muscle tested me and my arm was very strong while holding the bottle but weakened when I did not.

I asked him what it was that he had given me. It was something called “Natural Cellular Defense”. It was Zeolite. He instructed me to place a few drops under my tongue. I did and almost immediately felt a burning on my tongue. I was in his office for over 1 hour which normally causes issues for me when I did not take my chelation protocol to “protect” myself from the exposure to the mercury vapor in the air. My dentist is a mercury free dentist but some of his patients still have amalgam fillings and that causes vapor in the office. I was extremely sensitive to mercury after having my amalgams removed in May / June of that year.
As that evening wore on I kept waiting for the swollen tongue. It never happened. I never got it the next day either. I was intrigued by this product. The website for this product is zeolitebodydetox.com.

Gut Pain So Off For an Ultrasound.

In August we decided to do an Iodine Loading test to check my saturation levels. This required that I take a 50 mg tablet of Iodoral in the morning and then collect my urine for 24 hours subsequent to this. When my results returned I was at a 66% saturation. The goal is to reach 90% so I still had a ways to go but I was making progress.

I continued on the chelation protocol until October 23, 2006. On this day I experienced the worst pain in my abdominal area. The pain was on both sides of my body over where my ovaries were. I had not had a menstrual cycle since April or May so I had no idea if it was related to anything. I contacted Dr. B and asked him for advice. He suggested that I have a pelvic ultrasound. So on October 26 I was scheduled for the test.

This ultrasound definitely did not hold the excitement that my previous two had when expecting my children. The technician was very nice and allowed me to view the images she was taking. I had both a vaginal and an external ultrasound. She was able to view both ovaries. Neither showed cysts or any form of abnormalities. This was incredible because just a few months earlier my right ovary had a cyst that was so large that my naturopath could feel it through my abdomen. The results were good and bad news. The good news was that there was nothing seriously wrong. The bad news was that we did not know what was causing the pain.

Dr. B thought that since one of the follicles was enlarged that I may have been ovulating and that this was the reason for the pain. He suggested that I increase my Iodoral dosage from 50 mgs to 75 mgs to see if increased saturation levels would help with the pain. I was having some intestinal upset so we also decided to discontinue the chelation to give my gut a break.

Mercury Again X2

I was feeling better than I had in years and it felt so good. I was able to enjoy my family and do things with them. I continued to do well until late September when I returned to my dentist for a check up and cleaning. A few days after my visit my tongue swelled up so much that I could hardly keep it in my mouth. I told Dr. Brownstein that I felt like a puppy with my tongue hanging out. He believed that I had been affected by some form of bacterial infection so he sent some supplements to me overnight because I was leaving for Oregon in just 2 days. He suggested that I try taking Citricidal (grapefruit seed extract) and ADP (Biotics) which would both act as natural antibiotics. We did not want to add any prescriptions that would further stress my body out because I was still chelating as well.

I traveled to Oregon for 4 days and did quite well. The swollen tongue did not subside for several weeks. I had stopped the chelation while I was gone on vacation. I began to take the Heavy Detox a few weeks after I returned. It was only a matter of a day or two and my swollen tongue was gone. This made me suspect of the cause of it. Shortly after my son had an appointment at the dentist and when I returned home, later that evening my tongue swelled up once again. It was then that I determined that I must be reacting to the “mercury dust” in the office. Even though my dentist did not used mercury amalgams in his practice, patients that he saw had them in their mouth and when cleaned or worked on created vapor in the air. I had become extremely sensitive to mercury.

A week later my husband was replacing a fluorescent bulb in our laundry room when it broke. I had no idea that he had done this because he left for work before I got up. I spent some time preparing breakfast but felt funny. My head felt light and I began to have a feeling of a panic attack. I wondered where this feeling was coming from. It was a little later that my husband called home to tell me what had happened. It was then that the bells went off in my head. MERCURY! Fluorescent bulbs are filled with it. So I removed all the rugs from the laundry room and placed them on the back deck. I opened the doors and allowed the ventilation to push the remaining vapors out of the house. Just how toxic is this stuff I wondered? Why do we continue to use it in so many things when it is a known neuro-toxin? After taking some chelation and detoxification products the panic attack stopped.

Thyroid Cancer - My protocol

From July's appointment with Dr. B I stayed pretty stable until October. I had the following protocol to follow.

Metagenics LactoViden - 1 before breakfast
Metagenics BifoViden - 1 before breakfast
Pregnenolone 25 mgs - 1 before breakfast
DHEA 2 mgs - 1 before breakfast
Metagenics Multigenics - 3 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Metagenics Vit E - 1 with breakfast
Metagenics Calcium - 2 with dinner
Metagenics EPA/DHA - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Biotics Research Cytozyme AD - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Metagenics Meta I3C - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Metagenics ActiFolate - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Biotics Research - Bio-D-Mulsion (10,000 iU)
Optimox Iodoral - 25 mgs w/ breakfast & 25 mgs w/ dinner
Rhodiola Forte - 1 w/ Lunch
Ultra Clear Plus - 1 scoop AM / 1 scoop PM
Metagenics Renegan DTX - 2 / day
Biotics Research Sunflax Oil - 2 Tbs
Hanna's Mercurius Viv - 3 pellets AM / 3 pellets PM
Buffered C Powder - 2 sccops AM/ 2 scoops PM
Dragon River Herbals Cilantro - 3 drops AM/ 3 drops PM
Biotics Research Chlorella - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Heavy Detox (DMSA & Selenium) - 2 at bedtime
4 grains Armour Thyroid
BHrt Progesterone / Testosterone cream

It was a lot to remember and maintain. I felt like all I did was pop pills and make concoctions all day.