Iron and Acne

What an obnoxious winter so far! We've had about 60" of snow in just over a month. It's been a blizzard almost every Monday! Between the snow blowing, shoveling, roof raking, salting, being unable to leave the driveway for days waiting for snow plows to free our street, and trying to get hours in at work... you get the picture, between all of this I've been rather burnt out and exhausted. It's been actually very hard for me to even move some days due to the burn out. Instead of working on Part 3 of my mattress series, which I'll finish up soonish, I'm going to write about something a little easier: iron and acne.

My naturopathic doctor had me start taking pasture raised liver capsules 3x a day about a month ago. He wanted me to simply try eating liver first, but my tongue couldn't handle it and it made my stomach churn a bit. If you can tolerate liver, more power to you! The reason for the liver is to raise my iron level. Without telling him, I tried taking Black Strap Molasses with 29 mg of elemental iron. I've tried taking iron in the past during my teen years and it did help me feel way more stable and in control, so I decided to try it again to see what would happen. What happened was that I didn't feel any different at all (except for a little sugar high at times, and my yeast issues increased), but my lab values showed much better numbers:

End of 2015, Iron at 66:



If you go by Stop The Thyroid Madness's book/ support group, I was too low:




So after one month on those iron pills, my iron and CBC looked better than ever (almost everything was actually in range for the first time in years):



According to Stop the Thyroid Madness, my labs still are not optimal here, but they look much better.

My doctor received this lab and sounded a bit confused, and I told him I was on the iron. He wasn't happy with me. And THIS is why you listen to your doctor! He explained that I was "pushing" my iron without all the co-factors, which I understand to mean is disruptive to other minerals and nutrients in my body. He said if I'm going to push my iron I need to do it with all the co-factors, and the best way to do that is to take pasture-raised liver.

I've been on the liver for a little more than a month, but I have not had new labs drawn yet. I would like to do so soon so I can see what is happening. What I can tell you is that it's working. Taking the iron pills did not change how I felt. Taking the liver is changing how I feel. I haven't felt anemic and faint since taking them! I've felt weak from not being able to breathe well, low blood sugar, and maybe even low blood volume, but not the anemia-like weakness. I feel strong even while fatigued and exhausted. I'm not used to feeling strength below the tired.

There have been plenty of side effects, though. The liver pills are certainly stirring up my liver, which is not in great condition. I've had lots of rashes, acne, nasty prolonged PMS, and a much heavier period. This makes sense considering the liver does help make sex hormones. It also is the first detoxer in the body. My stirred up liver is pushing toxins out through my skin, causing the rashes and acne. Add hormone issues to acne issues and I get super acne issues. It's not been fun. The majority of this acne has been under my jaw near lymph nodes, which also makes sense to me.

So what do I do about acne? What helps?

STOP EATING SUGAR! Sugar does nothing positive for the body, only negative. It's highly acidic, makes the pancreas and liver work overtime, feeds bad bacteria and yeasts, feeds infections, penetrates a weak gut lining, usually goes right into fat storage, causes hormonal imbalances... and the body tries to detox it through the skin.

Figure out your food intolerances. For me, dairy and grains both gave me acne and I didn't figure that out until I first went gluten free for a year, then dairy free for a while. My skin improved so much. Then I met my doctor, who had me cut all starches, grains, dairy, sugar, moldy foods, and nightshades.  I stopped getting acne except around my period, and it cleared up very quickly after my period started.

Okay, got those down? Good, now what to do about acne that defies preventative causes:

Aztec Indian Healing Clay mixed with Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar as a mask:

The darker areas are where it went on heavier. I simply pour about a quarter sized amount of clay in to my palm then pour just enough vinegar in my palm to make it fizz and turn into paste. Then I rub the paste in my hands and spread it all over my face and neck. I let it sit for 20 minutes, then typically shower to wash it off, but a wet warm cloth to scrub it off will do. It pulses my skin in the process, and after I wash it off it feels like my skin is breathing. The vinegar leaves my skin pink/ red for about 20 minutes, then my skin looks so refreshed! This stuff sucks junk out of pours with a magnetic bond. It feels amazing. The vinegar feeds the skin nutrients and kills bad bacteria. I love this stuff.

Note: French Green Clay is supposed to be the best kind of clay for acne, but I haven't tried it.

Desert Essence Blemish Stick

This is one that I reserve for bigger, more painful acne that I want to get rid of faster. It does work well, but it's a bit drying and irritating to my skin. It features tea tree (and this brand makes a high quality trustworth tea tree, it's not a knock-off or low quality version that other brands use.) Tea Tree is antibacterial and it does help clear up rashes and acne for me. I use this brand's tea tree soap for rashes. It does work, I just have to be careful not to over do it.

Badger Balm Beauty Balm

I'm a huuuuugggeeee fan of Badger Balm products in general. They're mostly organic and use safe low doses of extracts and essential oils that are strictly for a purpose, not a fragrance. I can't tolerate their orange oils, but I've done very well with all their other aromatherapy products, when I don't tolerate many essential oils in general. I typically stick to their unscented line anyway since I don't care for fragrances anymore, even when I don't react to them.

This beauty balm is ultra moisturizing, but doesn't clog pores. It has seabuckthorn, an oil known for healing skin blemishes. I find that this balm is anti-itch, soothing, cooling, very moisturizing, and noticeably healing. I when I'm broken out I use it as my face moisturizer, let it soak in for 15 minutes, then apply my Lauren Brookes Cosmetiques or Mineral Fusion make up.


Organic India's Amalaki
Make sure you're getting enough real whole food vitamin C. I really like Organic India's Amalaki, which is rick in vitamin C and has the ability to pull out oestrogens. Basic abscorbic acid (what's used for "vitamin C" in synthetics) is often made from mold, yeast, or with high VOC chemicals like formaldehyde. It's also incomplete - it needs bioflavanoids to complete the vitamin C, so why not just take a whole food version that doesn't have to be reconstructed?

I keep reading about Camu Camu being a great source of vitamin C too, but I like the alma berry (Amalaki) better because it has the oestrogen balancing effect.


Additionally:

• Eat your fats: drink bone broth, eat coconut oil, drink collagen, eat gelatin, eat the fattiest cut of steak, eat avocados, use real butter, etc. Your skin and brain need good healthy fats in order to function. Make sure you're feeding yourself what your skin needs.
• Drink organic fair trade green tea (certifications are important since non-organic green tea can contain high amounts of fluoride, aluminum, and pesticides.) It's a natural antioxidant. Then press the used wet green tea bag against your acne!
• Get chiropractic adjustments. Freeing up nerves that can't communicate well due to a spine that's out of alignment can significantly increase circulation in your body, and better blood flow means faster healing.
• Use a pimple popping tool for the ones that are ready to pop. In my experience, popping the ones that are ready with this tool doesn't leave scarring or bleeding.

Let me know in the comments if you have more good advice!

Latex Mattress Review Part 1: Addressing the Need for a Non-Toxic Bed

This is part one of a two part blog review on the new natural latex bed in our bedroom. Part one is about the need for a non-toxic mattress. Part two will be the review of the mattress we chose.

Did you know we spend, on average, a quarter of our lives sleeping? That's around 25 years in bed. When we spend such a significant amount of time in one place, shouldn't we make sure it's a healthy safe place to be? Then you should think about your bed.

4 years ago, when my husband and I moved to North Dakota, we needed a new bed. An old spring mattress was left for us to use, but it was giving us backaches that made it too unhealthy to keep using. So we did what any other poor young couple would do: we went searching for the most affordable new bed. We ended up deciding on a Paula Deen 12" thick memory foam mattress that was on sale at Big Lots. The mattress, foundation, and plush upholstered frame cost us a combine total of $500, which is relatively very affordable. The bed was very comfortable. It was firm in all the right areas, but let pressure points sink in comfortably. No more backaches!

... And then we fast forward a couple of years. Every time I laid in the bed at night to fall asleep my heart rate would slowly increase more and more. If I didn't manage to fall asleep before my heart rate got too high, my heart rate would be the reason I couldn't sleep. I started tossing and turning more and more. I would experience more fibromyalgia pain in that bed than anywhere else. My health was deteriorating enough that it was difficult to know if the bed was causing the problems or if other health problems were causing my problems. I eventually had to quit my job due to chronic illness. I was in chronic pain, fought severe chronic fatigue, and lost a good amount of brain function. I ended up spending most of my time in bed, where I could not improve.

I have a condition called "Multiple Chemical Sensitives," or MCS for short. It's also known as Environmental Illness (EI) or 20th Century Illness. It can also be a part of Sick Building Syndrome, which generally refers to mold (but I do have mold illness too - that's another story.)  What this means is that when I encounter synthetic chemicals in the air, such as perfumes, cleaners, paint, cigarette smoke, car exhaust, flame retardants, and so on, my body has an allergic-like reaction. I have several types of reactions: heartburn, headache, severe sudden fatigue, gut ache, skin rashes, fibromyalgia flare (widespread pain in my muscles and joints), blurred vision (sometimes vertigo), rapid heart rate, difficultly breathing, sinus infections, tinnitus, nerve pain, and more. I react more strongly to synthetic chemicals than most other people, but that does not imply that healthy people are not affected by the synthetic chemicals. Many people with this condition refer to themselves as "canaries," referring to the Canary in the Coal Mine. We get hurt by these toxins before other people do, and we see our reactions as warning signs to those who are healthier. The implication is that even healthy people who are exposed to too much of these synthetic (and sometimes natural) toxins will eventually have health problems from the exposure.

Our memory foam mattress, as comfortable as it was, was made from 100% synthetic chemicals. We purchased this mattress before I developed full MCS, and I question if it was part of the reason that I developed MCS. Something to consider is what the University of Rochester found in a sleep study. They found that the body clears out toxins from the brain during sleep. If our body uses sleep as at time to clear out toxins, isn't it counter productive to be sleeping on a bed that is full of toxins? In my case, after many dollars and tests later, we've discovered that my body's normal detox pathways do not function well. I do not make or use gluathione well, the body's master antioxidant (which binds to things the body considers toxic and pulls them out through our bowel). Imagine the scenario in which my body is unable to process toxins normally, and then I sleep on a mattress full of toxins for years. The toxins would build up in my body because it can't keep up, right? That would cause health problems, right? Yes, my thoughts exactly. I can't prove anything, but I have good scientific reasons to believe this was the case. Now imagine you, a hopefully healthy person with a normally functioning detox pathways in your body, regularly polluting your body with toxins. You eat artificial ingredients in your food, apply synthetic ingredients to your skin and hair (your skin absorbs most of what you put on it into your blood stream,) you wear clothes treated with formaldehyde and flame retardants and made from synthetic polyester, you breath in car exhaust and cigarette smoke while in public, you encounter artificial fragrances on other people and in the stores you shop in, you're surrounded by synthetic cleaning products in your work place... and then you go to sleep on a synthetic mattress. How much do you expect your body to take until all of these regular daily exposures wear out your body and cause health problems? What if you could sleep on a non-toxic bed that allowed your body to actually detox during sleep, like it is meant to, instead of fighting more foreign toxins?

"Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist at Duke University, says there's simply not enough data to determine whether low levels of these chemicals will eventually make people sick. "It's the dose that makes the poison," she says. "If they're not getting out, maybe it's not a problem—but we don't know. There are plenty of lab studies that show that these compounds are harmful. It's just a question of what levels people are exposed to.""

What is memory foam made of and do we really have proof of its toxicity? Due to the fact that I could easily write a whole book on this topic, I'm going to point you in the direction of people who have already written on this topic:

1. http://www.sleepjunkie.org/are-memory-foam-mattresses-safe/

"Memory Foam & Polyurethane Foam Components

• Polyols – the binder/bulk ingredient. Usually composed of petroleum oil-derived ingredients, but may also include botanical sources like soy or castor beans.
• Diisocyanates – the reactive ingredient. Reacts with the polyols and blowing agent to produce a flexible polyurethane foam. The most commonly used sources are MDI and TDI, which alone in raw forms can cause respiratory and dermal sensitization and may be carcinogenic. MDI is regarded as the safer and less toxic option, and is known to be the least hazardous organic isocyanate. The primary hazard with these compounds is during manufacturing; after reacting they are inert but can offgas.
• Blowing Agents – introduces carbon to create the foam. Used to use CFCs, though today manufacturers may use water, HFC or other agents."

2. https://savvyrest.com/info/does-memory-foam-contain-toxic-chemicals
"So what are those “additional chemicals”? What do we know about memory foam?

1. There have been legal consequences for memory foam companies which claimed their products are free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
2. Some memory foam mattresses contain toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, and naphthalene.
3. Memory foam contains isocyanates which (according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin.
4. Exposure to isocyanates can lead to chest tightness and asthma. According to Yale University, continued exposure to isocyanates can lead to “regular asthma, and asthma attacks that are triggered in many environments, not just by isocyanate exposure.”
5. Isocyanates contain compounds classified as potential human carcinogens (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)."

3.  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/12/30/mattress-toxic-chemicals.aspx

"Why Flame Retardant Chemicals in Your Mattress Could Be Dangerous

The primary filling material used in most conventional mattresses is polyurethane foam — a highly flammable petroleum-based material. Because of its high flammability, polyurethane foam must be treated or wrapped with fire retardant chemicals.
Flame-retardant chemicals have been linked to serious health risks, including infertility, birth defects, neurodevelopmental delays, reduced IQ scores and behavioral problems in children, hormone disruptions, and various forms of cancer.
The risks may be especially dangerous to children, as research revealed that children born to women who were exposed to high levels of PBDEs during pregnancy had, on average, a 4.5 point decrease in IQ.⁴ Such children are also more prone to hyperactivity disorders.
Remember, these chemicals don't "stay put" in the mattress. They migrate out and collect in house dust. As a result, an estimated 90 percent of Americans have some level of flame-retardant chemicals in their bodies.
Long-term residents of California, which was the first state to use flame retardant chemicals, tend to have far higher levels.
This is no small concern. Flame retardant chemicals have even been identified as one of 17 "high priority" chemical groups that should be avoided to reduce your risk of breast cancer.⁵
Adding to the conundrum of using flame retardant chemicals, when on fire, objects doused in flame retardants (yes, they can still catch fire) give off higher levels of carbon monoxide, soot, and smoke than untreated objects.
These three things are more likely to kill a person in a fire than burns, which means flame retardant chemicals may actually make fires more deadly."

It's a lot to consider, and a lot of this probably sounds like a conspiracy theory. Companies can't make products that are harmful, right? There's regulations to prevent toxic products from being sold, right? It's not that simple or easy. We live in a consumerist society where synthetic chemicals are considered safe until proven harmful, and who is going to take the time, resources, and energy to test all the new chemicals being invented?

So, knowing what you know now, do you think it's a good idea to consider purchasing a non-toxic mattress? That leads us to the next question: what does non-toxic mean? For me, in my condition, it means one specific thing: made from natural materials without any added synthetic chemicals. In my case natural materials do not cause me to react (I am allergic to many natural things, but that's an entirely different issue.)

There are several different options of non-toxic bedding: organic or natural cotton, wool, down, dunlop latex, or talalay latex. Each option has a different price point, comfort level, and function. Each option has different advantages and disadvantages. For instance, organic cotton mattresses tend to wear out quickly, even though they're the least allergenic. Wool mattresses tend to last longest, but they're most expensive when you want one that offers good support. Talalay latex is known as a softer latex than Dunlop, but it generally goes through a more synthetic processing to make, making Dunlop more natural.

I chose to go with a natural dunlop latex mattress for several reasons. First, my naturopathic doctor introduced me to the latex pillow and it worked very well for me, so I knew I'd be safe with a full latex mattress. Second, it's the most similar to memory foam, which is what we were used to sleeping on. Third, it's the most economical for our needs. Most importantly, Robert from Sleep On Mattress in Bismarck, ND gave me an offer I couldn't refuse on a natural dunlop latex mattress. His offer was the best I'll ever get and it came at the right time.

I will review Sleep On Mattress and the pillow and mattress I bought from them in Part Two, but here's a sneak peak of the process of setting it up (we were able to get a natural cotton allergen cover on it, which is always a good sign of a good mattress):





For further information, I highly recommend these detailed and scientific documentaries:

Stink!

Toxic Hot Seat

Stink! Movie Review and Link to Watch it for Free

https://stinkmovie.com/

I've been looking forward to watching Stink! for at least a year now, but I haven't had access to it on any of my streaming accounts. For the month of October, 2016 it's streaming for free. Just click the link above and watch it right on the website for free.

Why are they streaming it for free? Because it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and nothing says you support breast cancer better than Susan G. Komen, right? After all, the "charity" raises money by selling perfumes, lotions, clothing, shoes, hair products, and more all containing known human carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, known to cause breast cancer. Yes, you read that right. Susan G. Komen raises money and support to find a cure for breast cancer through products that cause breast cancer... with whatever is money is left after salary. This movie is meant to educate you on how to avoid getting breast cancer by avoiding those ingredients that are known human carcinogens.

Stink! is another in a line of documentaries about the actual science and politics behind using untested, unregulated synthetic chemicals in the majority of the products in our country today. I can't say "in our world today" because most other countries actually regulate these same synthetic chemicals and refuse to allow them to be used in their countries. Because they're not proven safe. Two great documentaries that came before Stink! are The Human Experiment (by Sean Penn) and Toxic Hot Seat. The Human Experiment was a very basic, not hard hitting introduction to the problem of untested, unregulated synthetic chemicals that are not proven safe being in most of our everyday products. I was happy it was made, but it won't convert any skeptics. Toxic Hot Seat focuses on the rate of sickness and death in firefighters since flame retardant chemicals have been added to all of our furniture. It was a bit too long and too dense, as if it were an actual PubMed study in film version, but it goes to show how much there is to say on the matter and how complicated the politics are. Even if you just watch the first 30 minutes of it you'll have enough information to make better furniture choices - it's that hard-hitting.

But Stink! is easily my favorite of them all so far. It's by a father and husband who lost his wife to breast cancer and wants to protect his two daughters from developing cancer too. He bought his children pajamas from the store Justice for Christmas, but when they opened the pajamas they were assaulted with a powerful smell. He wanted to know what the synthetic smell was, so he made many phone calls to Justice and they refused to tell him what ingredients are added to the clothing or for what purpose. So he sent the pajamas to a lab to be tested, and the results showed synthetic chemicals that are known human carcinogens and actually banned. The movie goes from there, exploring the dangers in perfumes, cleaners, body care products, car wash, clothing, furniture, etc. He shows interviews from C-Span in which John Kerry and other well known politicians grill people in the chemical industry. He personally interviews politicians and those working in the chemical industry. He personally interviews the CEO of Justice who refuses to apologize or acknowledge any dangers in his clothing line. You'll come to understand the politics very well. He did an excellent job in this film!

So please, for your own health and for the health of everyone around you, please watch this film. It's FREE for the month of October. You can't tell me you're too busy to find time for this movie in an entire month. You can't tell me you're not interested, because if you're alive you need to be interested in this massive assault on human health. Why am I so passionate? Because cancer isn't the only illness that these unsafe synthetic chemicals cause. I personally have been affected. I have a disease called Multiple Chemical Sensitives that's at the heart of my chronic illnesses. I have a difficult time going in public without getting sick due to all the toxins people wear and are in most buildings, meaning I can't just go on living my life normally. It's impossible.

Book Reveiw: Tox-Sick by Suzanne Somers

Several months ago my parents showed up at my place of work and handed me a book: Tox-Sick by Suzanne Somers. Yes, the author is the creator of the Thigh Master and was on Three's Company. She has become one of my favorite celebrities because of her work on educating the public about mold toxicity, multiple chemical sensitives and environmental illness, poor thyroid health, and the importance of eating organic.

It took me months to read this book. Between the brain fog, fatigue, inflammation, and generally feeling unwell, I've been finding it very difficult to read at all over the past couple of years. I read this book faster than any others since I've become sick. It was very engaging for a book on health, and my brain was hungry to learn more about how to heal. I read a couple of chapters about 3 times before I understood what they said, but it was worth struggling through processing the words. Understanding this, I hope you forgive me if I forget something or misrepresent something in this review.

I highly recommend that everyone reads this book, even if you're not sick. It will open your eyes to how you can protect not only your health, but the health of those around you. If you care about and respect humans, you'll want to read this book. It's certainly not the only book with this type of information, but it might be the easiest to read and understand. The entire message of the book boils down to the dangers of environmental toxicity common in our every day lives, how toxins are the root cause of most chronic illnesses (even affecting genes that cause illness), and how to protect yourself in this toxic world we've created. It sounds like a conspiracy theory until you read about the actual science behind it - there's actually quite a bit of research, much of which even the CDC and WHO acknowledge.

As I first started reading I was a bit worried it wouldn't be anything new, other than her personal stories of mold and toxin exposure causing her cancer and bloating. She spends many many pages slowly prepping the reader for what's to come later in the book, gently asking you health questions and lifestyle questions to motivate you to want to change your habits in order to become healthier. Because so much of this long introduction wasn't new to me since I've already been living in an environmental health nightmare, I ended up skimming over the rest of it.

What was helpful to me in this introduction was her granddaughter's story. Her 14-year-old granddaughter went to a clinic in Florida that I had been curious about. I quickly found out that only celebrities can afford the clinic, but the way they treat patients is something I hope other clinics can learn from. Her granddaughter's story was heartbreaking, but she was able to recover because of this clinic.

The majority of the book is long interviews with doctors. She interviews Nick Gonzalez, M.D. (may he RIP); Sherry Rogers, M.D.; Stephen Sinatra, M.D.; Gary Gorden, M.D.; Ritchie Shoemaker, M.D.; and Walter Crinnion, N.D. While the topic of each interview might not be new to people with environmental illness, many of the details were. I learned quite a bit from each of these doctors, even though I've read up on some of them before reading this book. Each of these doctors explains some root causes they've found in patients as well as offering advice for recovery. I'll include a photo of a page from most of the interviews, so you can get a taste of what the doctors have to offer in these interviews.

Dr. Nick Gonzalez's interview made me want to see him as a patient, but sadly, he's one of the over 50 holistic doctors that have been murdered in the past year (you can read more about this on the link in the last paragraph.) As a cancer doctor, he talked quite a bit about organ health. He digs into gut health, especially the role of bacteria in fighting and preventing cancer. He explains how environmental toxins, especially mercury, messes with our gut bacteria and stem cells that we need to sustain our life, which promotes the growth of cancer cells. He digs into the concept of "leaky brain," which is an issue of a compromised blood-brain barrier. His suggestions for healing are mostly focused on liver cleanses, and so he's a big fan of bentonite clay and coffee enemas. I was a bit skeptical of these suggestions at first, mainly due to assumptions about lead in the clay and coffee enemas being harsh on the colon, but it inspired me to do further reading on the subject. I'm much less skeptical the more I read up on these treatments, but I think that's for another post.



After his interview she digs into the rising issue of gluten sensitivities, borrowing research from some of the leaders such as Dr. Perlmutter (author of Grain Brain.)

This leads into an interview with Dr. Sherry Rogers on Environmental Illness. Her back story is very interesting. She went into Environmental Heath after formaldehyde poisoning from working on cadavers in medical school. She later was told that as a 35-year-old her bones looked like those of a 78-year-old's. She found out that the only way to manage her chronic pain was to eliminate all nightshades from her diet, even the spices like paprika. She had been through a lot, and it lead her to writing the book Detoxify or Die, which I'm interested in reading. She digs into Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, thyroid lab tests showing normal results when the thyroid is sick, nutrition problems such as with magnesium, and more.


Next, she moves into a chapter on the heart. This is the chapter that many people are going to feel most resistant to because it gives advice that's opposite of what our government's nutritional advice says. She digs into the necessity of eating saturated fats and the role of cholesterol. But don't just take her word for it or the word of the research she borrows from, read her interview with Cardiologist and Psychotherapist Dr. Stephen Sinatra. He explains how the low-fat craze all started when President Eisenhower had a heart attack. Ansel Keys conducted his Seven Countries Study and found that people who consumed the lowest amount of fat and the least heart disease, and that Eisnenhower ate a high fat diet. Dr. Sinatra then explains that Ansel Keys cherry picked his data to draw this conclusion, not being fully honest in the study, in order to prove his hypothesis. George McGovern was the secretary of health at the time and decided to set into motion the low-fat craze across the nation, based solely on Ansel Key's "research." This is when margarine was invented and "heart healthy" oils like corn oils took over the market. Then the Framingham study came out, showing correlation between high cholesterol and cardiovascular events. The correlation caused a mass assumption that cholesterol was a risk factor in heart disease. Dr. Sinatra then explains that this is when drug companies first started making statins to lower cholesterol. Dr. Sinatra was a spokesperson for statins, being paid very very well to promote their use. He said after a few years of promoting them, he started to see problems.

"Well, after a few years, we were realizing that something was wrong; we made all these changes to our diets, yet the incidence of heart disease was skyrocketing... Because of the food. Corn oil, margarine, and all the other new foods that were trans fats; we had not realized that these fake foods and poor quality oils were dangerous. What an irony; we gave up butter and steaks and got sicker and fatter! Then I had an epiphany relative to statins; I realized I was barking up the wrong tree. It was in 1993 when I read an article showing that statin drugs diminished CoQ10, which is a vital nutrient made in every cell in the body and is a major nutrient for the production of cellular energy. Also CoQ10 is critically important for the strong pumping action of the heart. I had started using CoQ10 with my patients a decade before, in the early 80's, and was very impressed; I was able to avert a heart transplant with a patient I put on CoQ10. So I had to ask myself this question: How can a statin drug that's supposed to be so good for the heart deplete it of CoQ10, the most vital nutrient for the heart to survive? It didn't make sense! Then I discovered that Merck Pharmaceuticals had a patent on CoQ10 in the same pill called Lovastatin or Mevacor, meaning they knew that statins would deplete the heart of CoQ10 but kept it hidden from the public. So I had to wonder, if Merck knows about this situation, why don't they exercise the patient? ...Probably because the drugs were selling so well, and the doctors had been convinced to believe they were so safe. ...Why alert people to a problem when the drug is the darling of the industry? ...Statin drugs are some of the top selling drugs in the world."

He then goes into much more detail on how to naturally treat heart disease and how fat is actually necessary to keep the heart healthy. VERY eye-opening interview!

Next, Suzanne explores the thyroid, digging into hormone replacement drugs too. This prompts an interview with Dr. Garry Gordon, a functional medicine doctor recognized for his expertise in chelation therapy and antiaging medicine. This interview, for me, was the weakest of them all because I've already done so much research into synthetic chemicals that are endocrine dispruptors (act like hormones in the body.) This is a fantastic interview for people who have not read up on this subject.


She then moves onto Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. If you have been diagnosed with mold toxicity, I would be surprised if you haven't heard his name. He is behind the Shoemaker Protocol, and he is the world's leading researcher on mold toxicity. This interview made me angry, but more than anything it made me feel overwhelmed. The amount of energy and MONEY it takes to do follow his protocol is beyond what I can afford. Even if I had the money, how could I possibly do all the the work? What's going to prevent me from getting mold toxic all over again, when I'd then have to redo the entire program? Even though this interview left me feeling scared due to the reality check, I think it's one of the most important chapters in the entire book. Mold is a reality that every person faces today, and mold is not the same problem it was even 50 years ago. This is the first thing he says in the interview:

"Thank you, Suzanne. Well, that's a series of questions. The Leviticus discussion about indoor mold is one that people always will talk about, but we know that there were some rather dramatic changes in fungi (mold) beginning early in the '70's. The Pittsburgh Paint Company started adding a fungicide to paint so that it was easier to clean and therefore easier to maintain. The particular compound created mutations in fungi, and just about all the players that make people ill indoors now come out of this mutated line. The toxic compounds made by these mutated fungi I worry about having a different shape compared to the same compounds made my earlier generations of fungi. Our immune systems recognize this compound as foreign and create a much greater immune response to them than they did in the unmutatd form. So the simplest answer is no, the fungi we had then are not the same as they are now."

This interview is dense - very dense. He goes onto explain that 25% of the population have certain HLA genes that cause those people (of which I am one) to have a harder time detoxing from mold. He digs into how so many chronic illnesses are diagnosed as other diseases, like Parkinson's, but are actually caused by mold. There's so much information here that I can't possibly cover it well enough in this review. If nothing else, go to the library, find this book, and read this chapter.

Finally, she interviews Walter Crinnion, N.D. This interview focuses on how to clean up your home environment in order to heal. I read this chapter last night and I honestly can't remember enough of it, except that he's the scientific researcher for a certain enzyme brand that we sell at the store I work at. What really stood out to me in this interview is how he advocates colonic irrigations. Colinics have been my favorite therapy of all because they give me immediate relief and help my MCS more than anything else. I'm less reactive after a few colonics, until I accumulate more toxins in my colon. He really digs into the effect of toxins on gut health, the methodology of Natuopathy vs Western trained doctors, and how toxins affect the immune system. He explains the role of air purifiers, such as which types are worth it and which ones are not. He made a strong case against carpets:


The last pages of her book focuses on supplements she personally recommends, an appendix, bibliography and citations, and index. I skimmed over most of this since my doctor already has me on the supplements that are working for me, and I was very tired at that point.

I strongly encourage you to buy this book and read it. STRONGLY. There are some fantastic books out there that explain this information in better detail, but this book is so easy to digest and understand. It's so easy to share information from it with family members and friends. It's not daunting, and it's so packed with lots of valuable information.

Overall this book left me feeling depressed about the state of our world. What have we done to our world? It's horrifying! It feels like a 50's sci-fi movie in which humanity slowly dies off from a chemical invasion, except that it's actually happening. We're allowing it to happen. In fact, so many of us have bought into the idea that we're better off and healthier because of all the synthetics in our world today! Follow the money trail, and you'll find nothing but greed, not respect for humanity.

The book is also so important because it gives us this reality check. We need to understand the assault on human health so that we can protect ourselves from it. We need to learn the tools to recover our health, which is very hard to do when our environments are so poisonous. It all sounds like a conspiracy theory until you fall sick to chronic illness and no MD can treat you. I'm just one of too many people suffering poor health due to toxicity.

Have you read it? Please share your thoughts below!

Mycotoxins and Mold

My naturopathic doctor recently had me do a mycotoxin test through BiotrekLabs.com. The reason for this is because the lab gave him a test for free, and I got to be the guinea pig and try the test out. If the test was not free, I highly doubt I would have had a mycotoxin test done. As it turns out the test showed I have "alarmingly" high levels of all mycotoxins in my body:



I was given my actual numbers over the phone, and I can tell you they up to 3x higher than the top of the range. This is alarming - I was really surprised. Many thoughts ran through my head: Why isn't the mold killing me? Since aflatoxin is one of the most carcinogenic toxins known to man, why don't I have cancer when my body is full of it? Why am I not suffering a daily bloody nose, which is my typical allergic reaction to mold (I tested very high in allergies to most molds many years ago.) Wouldn't my symptoms be A LOT worse than this? Sure, I can hardly move some days, but I'd expect to be completely bed ridden with results like these!

Let's back up a little bit. The company who makes the test is not the most reputable, and accuracy is a concern here. For a $650 test I would expect highly reliable results. These results could be very accurate, but there's reason to question it. That said, it's no surprise that mold is a major player in my illness, and I do believe I am high in the mycotoxins for several reasons.

I've had some awful mold exposures in my life. I've always been so sensitive that coming into contact with mold would give me an immediate bloody nose with mild flu-like symptoms, while people around me were just fine. I lived on the coast in Oregon for my teenage years, a place that was naturally moldy due to constant high humidity. I could never visit the city of Bend, Oregon without getting very sick. Every single time I stayed the night in Bend, which was at least once a summer, I would end up with the flu after several bloody noses. I think a big part of the problem was that I am also allergic to trees that grow in that area, so it was a double whammy. When we moved to North Dakota from Oregon, we lived in a guest house for 3 months that was not in good condition. My mom and I disrupted a big bush of black mold on a sliding glass door in that house (I call it a bush because it was at least a few inches by a few inches.) Next thing I knew, both nostrils were pouring blood and blood was flowing down my throat. Mom grabbed a mixing bowl to collect all my blood and I filled it at least half full. I wanted to go to the ER, and I was sick with flu like symptoms after that exposure. Years later my husband and I moved into an old house in Boise, Idaho. At first it was hard to tell if there was mold or not - it was old, needed repair work done, but nothing obvious as far as mold. I was getting bloody noses at least weekly, but I tend to get them in Boise anyway due to the dry air. It was in that house that I started gaining weight rapidly, developed arthritis, started to rely on coffee and energy drinks, and felt my physical decline. One day the wall of the shower fell into the tub, revealing lots of mildew. I was very stupid at the time, assuming it was just mildew and as long as the lining of the shower got resealed onto the wall it wouldn't affect us. We lived in that house for 2 years. We moved back to North Dakota into my parent's house (my parents moved out as we moved in.) The skylight in the main bathroom was occasionally leaking, thankfully into the toilet itself, ha! One day it wasn't just a drip, it was an actual stream of water and a larger hole opened up in the ceiling. The repairman said he couldn't find any mold, but when we replaced the skylight we found that the roof board below the skylight was heavily rotted. The bathroom was renovated and sealed up, and the roof was repaired. Shortly after that, we had our windows replaced, and mold was found in the window frames. Thankfully, replacing the windows took care of the mold!

(The mold test kit's results for the main bathroom when the skylight was leaking into our toilet.)

I have a history with mold, as you can read. The question today is this: Am I still living in a moldy environment? My dad hired a company to test our house for mold. The results showed that the upstairs, where my husband and I live, had half the amount of mold as the outside of our house had (which is the base range.) The downstairs, where another family member lives, had double the mold as outside of our house. They called it "slightly elevated." For me personally, "slightly elevated" can mean "not at all safe."

Another clue as my biotoxin illness was taking the VCS Test (Visual Contract Sensitivity Test.) The idea with this test is that mycotoxins build up in our eyes, making it difficult to see contrasting colors. It seems very simplistic, and I'm not going to explain it well, so I encourage you to read about on this site. Dr. Richie Shoemaker (the leader in mold illnesses) highly recommends the test. I tested positive for biotoxins based on this test (the test was free):


We had a new washer and dryer installed this week, and when the guys from Best Buy removed the old washer we saw a couple issues. The backside of the washer looked mildewy, something I couldn't have seen before. The valve for cold water was corroded and leaking, something I couldn't have seen before. They were unable to install our washer because of that valve, so they shut it off so it stopped dripping, at least. We have no way of knowing if it was dripping behind the sheet rock, but it's very possible. But that's when it dawned on me: was I washing my clothes in a moldy washing machine? It was about 30 years old, had a leak, and probably wasn't cleaned properly for years. Are ALL of my clothes contaminated with mold from that machine?

So... knowing my history, you can see why it's no surprise that mold is an issue in my health.

Normal people who get sick from mold tend to get over it and regain their health after leaving the moldy environment. This is probably the least moldy environment I've been in for most of my life. You'd think that I should be improving, but my level was still very high on that test! It was that high after 2 1/2 years of a perfect anti-candida diet (no sugar, no moldy foods, nothing to feed mold), and a 6 month long Candida cleanse (which should have killed mold too.) Either my levels were even higher and they have come down with all this work, or what I'm doing isn't working and isn't killing the mold in my body. (Or the test isn't accurate, but I don't think that's a big factor.)

When I've looked into why my body doesn't recover from mold, I keep seeing research and articles talking about the HLA genes. Apparently, only 25% of the population have these genes, and those that do are highly prone to mycotoxin illness. I've been told that the gene makes it so the body recycles mold back into the body instead of excreting it out like in normal people. I have the genes. *IF* this is true, then how can I possible fight it? I could be recycling mold from when I was a little kid, right? So what hope do I possibly have? If I do mange to kill all the mold in my body, wouldn't I just get sick all over again from new mold accumulation in my body? Mold is impossible to escape!

So I looked at mold treatment options. The first thing that came to my attention is Ozone therapy. Apparently ozone IVs can cause mold in the body to implode, killing the biofilm and the mold itself. It's impossible for mold to survive in ozone. Sounds like a miracle cure that's easy, right? Nope! Ozone is HIGHLY toxic to humans. It's so risky that it's actually illegal, but there are doctors administering it. Strong people can survive ozone IVs, but someone like me? It's extremely risky. You will find many doctors who swear by ozone and its safety, but I am very cautious. Alternatively, I get treatments in a hyperbaric chamber at my Naturopathic Doctor's clinic. This chamber is oxygen therapy, which can do the same thing as ozone, only much much much more safely. The problem is that I don't live near my doctor's clinic, and I'm unable to get treatments more than a few times a year. I have yet to find a hyperbaric chamber anywhere in the city I live in. I've been told to drink food grade 35% hydrogen peroxide, which is essentially the same thing as ozone, but supposedly more gentle. This is not something I'm willing to try without my doctor's support, especially based on what 3% hydrogen peroxide did to my mouth (check out my black hairy tongue post.)

The next option that was made aware of is the Shoemaker Protocol. I had several people tell me it's the ONLY option for treating mold, and all the mold support groups I've looked into treat this protocol like the Holy Bible of mold toxicity. It's so popular you'd think it has a high success rate, but I keep digging and digging through the internet and can't actually find much about the success rate, just people claiming to feel better and people claiming they can't tolerate the protocol. The protocol seems to be a mixed bag. From what I'm reading, there are plenty of people who do not do well on this protocol specifically because of the main prescription medication: Cholestyramine (CSM). It's a cholesterol drug. This raises red flags for me. First and foremost, my cholesterol should not be lowered! Secondly, I don't tolerate medication well - my body readily rejects most medications I've tried. Thirdly, negative reviews of this drug for mold toxicity are very negative. It causes severe constipation, and you must take it with a laxative, causing a great deal of distress for many patients. It also absorbs nutrition from your food and supplements, so you must be really careful about how to take the drug so that you don't malnourish and dehydrate yourself. I hope you can understand my hesitancy to consider this protocol! I understand that when it works for someone it works very well in that it makes them feel better. But what I don't understand is why this prescription drug could possibly be more effective than natural binders like Zeolite, Activated Charcoal, or clay?  Dr. Shoemaker claims that they don't bind to the same toxins, but why not? I plan to do a lot more reading up on this protocol since it's pushed so hard by mold patients, but I think I need to remain skeptical. Listen to or read this really wonderful interview on this protocol by Dr. Shoemaker himself.

The other option I was made aware of is a protocol by Dr. Nick Gonzalez, may he R.I.P., as outlined in Suzanne Sommer's book Tox-Sick. (I will write a separate post on this book once I finish reading it, but so far I highly recommend it.) He advocates for regular coffee enemas and far infrared sauna treatments in addition to taking food-grade bentonite clay daily. He claims that the clay's magnetic charge and honeycomb structure makes it an excellent binder to absorb mold and carry it out of the body. I'm intrigued by this, especially since I know how much better I feel when I take activated charcoal regularly. I also found this study about the effectiveness of clay on aflatoxins in humans. I see problems with this plan, though: dehydration and heavy metal toxicity. Apparently there is less lead in the clay than in some nuts and vegetables, and apparently it's not a bioavailable lead. I'm linking to Wellness Mama on this one simply because I'm having a very difficult time finding actual studies on the risks of the heavy metals in clay - even the FDA approves bentonite clay as a safe food additive. Maybe my hesitation about food grade clay isn't well founded afterall? I have been using bentonite clay on my skin and as a toothpaste for a couple of years now and absolutely love it. As for the coffee enemas, I'm interesting in trying. I get colonic irrigations a few times a year at my doctor's clinic and they are exceptionally helpful! Enemas won't be nearly as good, but I'm curious because I can do them at home. I already use my far infrared sauna many times a week at home (I haven't written a post on this - what's wrong with me!?)

I'm glad my naturopathic doctor had another option for me. He put me on a homeopathic nasal spray with oils designed to kill mold in my sinuses. This is not a full solution, but we just want to see what happens. Mold loves the sinuses because they're a dark humid place, so starting by killing the mold in my sinuses makes sense. The spray is also designed to desensitize me to mold homeopathically.  It's a bit intimidating spraying trace amounts of black mold into my sinuses, but I'm not foreign to the concept and have had good results with this type of treatment in the past. For now, I'm content to address my mold issue with this nasal spray while I work on making my house as mold-free as possible. Ideally I'd be able to do a hyperbaric chamber regularly too, but at least I can stick with my diet and my sauna to continue to kill off and sweat out the mold in my body. I might even consider the food grade bentonite clay, after a lot more research and talking about it with my doctor. I need to go slowly, and I like that this is a very gentle start to killing off the mold in my body.

Toxic Consumerism: Is Voting With Your Dollars Enough?

I am gradually meeting more and more people in person who tell me they suffer reactions from certain synthetic products. I know of someone who only reacts to candles, even unlit candles, and it's enough to give her a migraine and agitation. A stranger told me she can't smell perfume without getting queasy, and she told me this without knowing I have sensitives too. Another man chose me to complain to about cigarette smoke making him feel awful. Someone else even showed me their rash and told me it started after using a cheap heavily scented laundry detergent. I'm happy to be meeting these people, because what it is telling me is that people who don't have MCS are experiencing reactions to many common synthetic products on the market - and they're complaining about it! They're fully aware of which products hurt them.

We are in need of a major cultural change. More and more consumers are choosing non-toxic products for several reasons: their own health, the health of the workers who made the products, fair trade/ ethics, avoiding worsening global warming, or even out of distrust for questionable ingredients in products. Non-toxic products are boasting that they're safer, more sustainable, create less waste, do not pollute our air, and they're more sturdy (better value)... all for only a slightly higher price tag. I see the tide turning, and there are more and more brands producing non-toxic options. The majority of consumers, however, are not conscientious shoppers. Most people are still going to buy cheap plastic disposables made in a sweat shop with child labor, not because they don't care, but because it's normal and most affordable.

Here is where I struggle. As a sales person who is very passionate about and deeply believes in everyone switching to non-toxic products, I have no problem educating customers to convince them to spend the extra money on something safer and more sustainable. I get very irritated when customers are educated and STILL choose to buy the toxic option - what will it take to convince them that they're not just hurting themselves with that choice, but they're hurting the people around them? When I'm not at work, I can quickly and easily become the annoying idealist who comes across as being very judgmental about other people's choices. I struggle with this, because I see it as a moral dilemma. I feel morally obligated to warn people against using toxic products, because I know from personal experience and from reading the scientific studies that and from meeting MANY other people who have been hurt those products hurt people. I fear for the health of my fellow human beings - am I wrong to try and protect others? Well, I can't control other people's choices, and I don't want to. I believe in free choice. I don't blame the consumers. I blame the terrible health regulations in this country and many other countries around the world.

The problem is that companies are allowed to use untested unregulated synthetic (not found in nature) chemicals in their products and then sell them to people who trust that these companies aren't allowed to produce products that hurt people. How do you convince consumers that these products aren't actually safe? They have to want to be convinced - they have to be open to making a change in their own life. Most people don't have the time or energy to research and learn about consumer product safety, if they even know it's an issue. Many consumers who have heard warnings against certain products might fall prey to marketing schemes that make them think they're making a safer, healthier purchase (when in reality that product is not safe.) This is a major issue with BPA-free plastic water bottles. The "BPA-free" sticker makes it sound like it's safe, but the problem is that the BPA alternative in plastic hasn't been proven safe. In fact, there's been studies to show that the alternative is just as endocrine disruptive as the BPA! No, consumers are not to blame.

One comment I see very often on Facebook is, "Vote with your dollars!" This means that consumers demonstrate what kind of culture, environment, and standards we want in our country based on what we choose to buy. There's plenty of truth in this statement. This sentiment is why there are more and more companies choosing to produce organic food products. For instance, Hormel saw the success of Applegate (natural and organic packaged meat brand) and choose to buy them. Hormel is seeing that a very large portion of consumers prefer organic and natural products, so they wanted in on the market.

I don't believe that the "Vote with your dollars!" plan is enough. It's tackling the issue from only one side, and the other side of the issue is a bigger problem. The other side of the issue is the total lack of safety regulations and standards for consumer products. Until that changes, too many consumers will keep buying the cheap, toxic products (knowing or unknowingly) - and these people are voting with their dollars too. As it is, more people are voting with their dollars that toxic products are acceptable. We need to fight for better safety regulations, demand third party testing on synthetic chemicals, and demand that companies stop using overseas child labor. We do this by voting, writing our senators and congressmen, and funding more research projects.

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a great example of something that needs to be voted on. It's being discussed and voted on in many countries, but have you noticed that the media here in the USA is refusing to talk about it? The idea is that is allows faster, more direct trade between countries in order to boost the economy and create better trade relations with these other countries. The problems? It means LESS product safety regulation and fewer products being made in the USA (meaning less jobs too). In a time when China has been caught bleaching garlic that goes for sale in the USA, making fake rice from plastic and mixing it with real rice that gets sold in the USA, processing meat with carbon dioxide so it looks fresh when it's already rotten, and more... why in the world would anyone trust China to ship us more products through the TPP that are SAFE? If anything, it will allow them to get away with even more safety risks since there would be LESS oversight! To my knowledge, Mike Huckabee was the only presidential candidate that actively protested the TPP. He is no longer in the race. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is a major supporter of the TPP. This is NOT a democrat/ republican issue - this is a moral human issue.

I believe in Capitalism. I believe in the right to make any business you want that's legal. I believe in the right of consumers to have free choice on what products and services they buy. I used to believe that less government involvement allowed for a better Capitalistic system. Then I started to learn that people cannot be trusted to make decisions that do not hurt people. I learned that businesses would choose to use toxic products just to make a dollar. I learned that businesses would move overseas, avoiding hiring USA citizens, just to improve income. I learned that businesses don't mind being ethically and morally ambiguous by using child labor in sweat camps and paying them next to nothing. If business leaders could be trusted to have the health, safety, and welfare of humanity at heart, I would still prefer a smaller government with less regulations. But I lost my trust. The only way I can see to hold businesses accountable is through  government regulations. ...But what happens when our government can't be trusted to regulate? That's our current problem. The last amendment to the chemical safety law in this country actually made the law worse - we now have FEWER protections. The government is no different from the business. Our leaders are supporting immoral, unethical, poor trade agreements with businesses so they make maximum profits. Let me be clear: I am NOT against corporations. They're not evil, in fact, I think they're a fantastic way to build a business economy. I support many corporations with my dollars, because I like their mission, values, and how they conduct business. This is a matter of trust.

(This is not an endorsement of Bernie Sanders either - yes, he's the only candidate talking about these issues, which I really truly appreciate and respect, but I don't believe in his solutions. I fully understand if you vote for him based on his environmental values.)

If I had the energy, I would love to get into much more detail and give specifics. My energy is running low very quickly.

My dream is for the USA to be thriving on a safe, sustainable, non-toxic, democratic, capitalistic economy. I would love to see the elimination of child labor, sweat camps, meat factories, poor subsidized farming techniques that rely on GMOs and synthetic toxic chemicals, etc. I'm dreaming WAY too big, I know. My idealism is too grand. But as someone with "21st Century Syndrome" who is "allergic" to our modern lifestyle... I think I have very legit reasons to be this idealistic and to dream. I can't participate in this culture without getting sick.

I'd like to acknowledge a business who is actually concerned with product safety and sustainability: Lego! Yes, the plastic toy company! I'm a huge fan of Legos, and it broke my heart when I realized they're made from toxic non-biodegradable petroleum plastic. Apparently, it's bothering them too. They've vowed to switch to a new kind of non-toxic sustainable plastic! Thanks Lego! Continue to be a great example for other businesses and for consumers!

If you would like to do further research on the issue of the toxic consumer products, I encourage you to check out:

- Stink! Documentary

- The Human Experiment

- Toxic Hot Seat

- The Sensitives

- Tox-Sick by Suzanne Somers

- 12,000 Canaries Can't be Wrong by Dr. John Molot



Next time you go shopping, keep in mind that plastic is endocrine-disruptive (estrogen mimicking, insulin producing, and other hormone suppressing), is linked to obesity and diabetes, is not biodegradable, and has much safer alternatives. Consider buying the glass water bottle instead, and pass on the meat wrapped in plastic in favor of paper-wrapped meat from you butcher. Your water and meat will also taste so much better if you do this!

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702426/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279464/

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/chemicals-plastic-linked-health-problems-study-article-1.2285790

The CBS genes

I am certainly no expert on the subject of epigenetics - it's a very complicated and very new field with incomplete scientific research. What I share with you here is only my own reasoning based on the research I have done and personal experience. I may not dig into the issue as deep as you want me to - I could try, but because I simply am not educated on the subject, I'd prefer not to speculate too much and lead you to false conclusions. That said, I hope that what I have learned is helpful: I hope it helps you decide on getting DNA testing or helps you understand your results.


I'd like to start this post with a screen shot of something I just discovered on my Livewello.com report. The reason I'm sharing this is because this could go hand-in-hand with the CBS gene issue I want to talk about - but this is only speculation. I don't know how to really talk about this at this point in time, but wanted to point it out to you readers. This screen shot shows that I am either heterozygous or homozygous for main genes associated with fibromyaliga, chronic fatigue, and gut issues. Gee, sounds familiar! I have all of these diagnoses! But, genes ONLY point to lab tests you should get. They don't prove you have anything. Since I already have the diagnoses, maybe the DNA testing just backs them up?


CBS Genes




Here's my situation:


I know that my CBS genes are expressing without the use of lab tests because it's simply obvious. I was having trouble with sulfurous foods for at least a year before having this test done, but the trouble was I didn't know it was sulfur causing the problems. DNA testing helped me figure that out. My Vitamin B6 level was extremely high a few months ago (I don't know if it still is since I'm actively working to lower it, but I need to have it retested soon.) I also suffer mild - moderate multiple chemical sensitives, which I can control by taking enough glutathione. I haven't been officially tested, but based on all the clues, I'm probably deficient in glutathione. CBS genes are primarily responsible for processing sulfur in the body, but they also greatly affect B6 and glutathione production.

Before digging into CBS more, let me tell you a story to explain why it's so important to understand:

Two days ago I decided to do something that was probably very stupid. I decided to make an almond and coconut flour flat bread for myself. I made up the recipe as I went, thinking I would need enough egg to help it stick together and rise. The problem is that eggs are very sulfurous, and I've had to avoid them for at least a year because they gave me terrible stomach pain. I used 2 eggs in the mix, and ate the whole flat bread (it turned out okay - nothing special.) I figured it had been long enough since I had egg, so I wanted to see what would happen. (That's not entirely true - I've had some almond flour muffins with a tiny bit of egg in them and in small portions I was okay with them, which is what made me think it might be safe to try a large portion of eggs again.)  What happened was a hellaciously horrible <insert swear word here> stomach ache that I never want to repeat ever again! It took me hours to reduce the pain down enough to tolerate it. I was bloated to my limit through my entire stomach, not just the lower gut area. I had cramping pains  through my entire stomach area, as if I had horrible gas, but there was no gas. I was on the verge of vomiting for a while, but that didn't happen because I don't vomit easily (I wish I could have.) I had a hard time bending over because the cramps would get worse. I felt like a balloon that might pop, and I was praying to God that I wouldn't end up in the ER with some sort of burst organ. I had to drink ginger tea, put a heating pad on my stomach, do stomach massage, take tons of DG Licorice, take some extra activated charcoal, and take some extra glutathione. When I finally got some relief in the bathroom, it was obvious my food wasn't well digested. Because I NEVER want to repeat this again, and I know this is an issue other people suffer with, it's important to understand how to prevent this kind of pain.

Coffee, broccoli, cabbage, chocolate, and other sulfurous foods had been giving me the same problems, to a lesser degree. I just didn't know sulfur was the problem until I read up on what CBS mutations mean, then I easily drew the connection to sulfur in those foods.

My conclusion? Sure, MTHFR is an aptly named gene if it's mutated and expressing, but "CBS" looks like a swear word to me too.



What does CBS do?

"CBS (cystathionine beta synthase) is a gene that converts homocysteine into cystathionine. 
The CBS pathway is the gateway into a number of essential biochemical processes. 
The biochemical pathways that follow and are linked to CBS are Transsulfuration and Glutathionine Synthesis.

 It is essential to address that Glutathione (GSH) is among the most important endogenously-produced antioxidants in every cell of the body. Glutathione activity in cells is critical for normal detoxification and defense mechanisms in every cell."http://drjockers.com/cbs-mutation-low-sulfur-diet/

"This is which is an enzyme responsible for converting serine and homocysteine into cystothionine.  This is the first step of the transsulfuration pathway and it is B6 dependent and a key part of glutathione production. CBS defects are upregulations where the enzyme works too fast which results in low levels of cystathionine and homocysteine and high taurine and ammonia. If there is an NOS mutation along with the CBS it can dramatically elevate ammonia levels.  
Individuals with a CBS mutation will produce more sulfur end products from the methylation cycle. Those with a homozygous variant will most likely need to limit their intake of sulfur containing foods as they will elevate ammonia levels.
This mutation can also affect a key enzyme called G6PDH in an indirect manner.   This leads to altered blood sugar metabolism, red blood cell formation and blood vessel stability. This can contribute to easy brusing, bleeding and broken blood vessels. Nutrigenomic expert Dr Amy Yasko recommends that one support their CBS enzyme for at least six weeks before starting methylation supplements. Without normalized transsulfuration the body is unable to produce adequate glutathione."http://drjockers.com/genetic-testing/

"CBS (cystathionine beta synthase) catalyzes the first step of the transsulfuration pathway, from homocysteine to cystathionine. CBS defects are actually an upregulation of the CBS enzyme. This means the enzyme works too fast. In these patients, it's common to see low levels of cystathionine and homocysteine since there is a rapid conversion to taurine. This leads to high levels of taurine and ammonia. The CBS upregulation has been clinically observed to result in sulfur intolerance in some patients. It has also been observed that BH4 can also become depleted with a CBS upregulation. BH4 helps regulate neurotransmitters and mood."http://geneticgenie.org/all-mutations/

Got that? Yeah, I agree - it's over my head too, sort of. I can't explain the technicalities, but I understand the point enough to address it. From this point on, I'm only going to talk about CBS C699T because it's the mutation I'm homozygous for. While I'm heterozygous for CBS A13637G, I have not researched it at all yet.


CBS C699T, The "Hole in the Bucket"
"A major problem with CBS up-regulations besides the inhibition of normal GSH activity, is that there may be a very high loss of methyl groups because they are drawn down through the up-regulated CBS pathway. In this way, CBS up-regulations behave like a toilet that is broken: the water does not refill, and instead flows down the drain continuously.

This is a potentially catastophic scenario, because methyl groups are essential for other methylation reactions at other critical junctions. 
Not only would someone with a CBS up-regulation be losing methyl groups, as well as the primary antioxidant defense in every cell (glutathione),
 any additional methyl groups from diet or supplementation could cause a potential surge in CBS up-regulations. The result of this situation is a potential toxic overload of many substances, such as ammonia, sulfite, sulfate and hydrogen sulfide, and whatever else that comes along for the ride."
http://metabolichealing.com/metabolic-gateways-cbs-gene-mutations-glutathione/
My understanding, and I really do not understand the complexities, is that a mutated CBS C699T boils down to a drain in the body's nutrition. It's a "hole in the bucket." Instead of processing nutrition like it's supposed to, the mutation causes a hole in the cycle that ends up dumping nutrition. This is why many doctors associate CBS with B vitamin deficiency, except for taurine, which gets over produced in this situation. Read more about this here.
I, and several others I have met on a B6 Toxicity Facebook group, have the opposite problem - we have elevated b6! Many of us also have this mutation. So how could this be? Is the mutation dumping B6 or not? This is a question I see brought up in many forums, but I don't know of any official research that explains this, except that this page does say you might see elevated b6 on an OAT test in people with CBS mutations. It doesn't elaborate. We know there must be a correlation, because B6 IS what supports CBS mutations in the problems they cause. B6 is CBS's co-factor.

But, b6 aside, I think it's easy to understand that a "hole in the bucket" causes a domino effect of problems in one's health. Losing nutrition at this particular "cog in the wheel" of the methylization process means that other cogs (genes) may end up not getting the nutrients they need to work properly. I wish I knew more details, such as specific problems to look for in other genes, but I don't.


CBS: Sulfur and Glutathione
CBS processes sulfur. When this process is broken, sulfur turns into ammonia. Too much ammonia in the body causes all sorts of discomforts. Ammonia is a toxin, and our body is supposed to be equipped to handle it. After all, bacteria in our gut does release a little bit of ammonia too. CBS is the body's way of handling ammonia, and when CBS is broken... well, we have a problem!

"Ammonia - high levels act as an irritant and may cause excess cortisol and contribute to the downward spiral of adrenal fatigue and hormone problems that is common in so many (euphemism for "virtually all") people."http://blog.modernpaleo.com/2013/01/homocysteine-mutations-and-sulfur.html

Yes, I have major (to me) adrenal fatigue issues. It's a constant battle. I hope this helps you see that there are layers and layers to these chronic health issues. Adrenal fatigue isn't it's own issue, and it's not just connected to thyroid issues.

Personally, I've found that avoiding all sulfurous foods prevents this problem. For healthy people, sulfur is a necessary nutrient and vital to many processes in the body. I do worry that avoiding sulfur will eventually lead to other issues, but if I eat sulfur now, I get too sick to carry on. What choice do I have?

Interestingly, gluathione, the body's primary antioxidant (extremely important), is a sulfur. CBS mutations block the creation of glutathione, so it means we're deficient. But, shouldn't supplementing it with cause sulfur reactions in the body? For me, supplementing with L-Glutathione and NAC (an amino acid precursor to glutathione production) are absolutely necessary. They don't cause harm, only help me substantially. Before my doctor put me on them, my Multiple Chemical Sensitives were debilitating. I didn't really understand that I was constantly sick due to chemical intolerance until I healed enough to notice that I only felt sick after being exposed to certain things, like artificial fragrances, air fresheners, new clothing, etc. Once my doctor put me on the l-glutathione and NAC, I slowly improved more and more. Now, as long as I stay on high doses, I can often tolerate going out into public without getting too sick - depending on where I go. I still can't go into the mall without getting too sick, but I can go to work at my safe enough job - although too much time there can really set me back. I have to be careful.

I think a fair question to ask is: Are my CBS mutations causing my Chemical Sensitives? I think it's very possible, just looking at the evidence. I also have an immediate family member with MCS that was made much better by L-glutathione too - so it's in our genes. Could it be the CBS gene? This is unlikely the cause of MCS in every person with it - there are other ways to get MCS, such as chemical poisoning.

So why do I do really well with gluathione and NAC, but eggs make me want to go to the ER? I don't have that answer either. Again, this is a very new science, and it's highly complicated. I'm guessing it will be many many more years before doctors, scientists, and researchers have a good understanding of our genome.


CBS and Other Genes

Here's where I start to get really fuzzy. I do know from all the reading I've done that other gene mutations can make CBS mutations even worse. I'm too tired to really understand, so I tend to skim those parts while reading. Instead, I'd like to share a few links that dig into the issue (some of these are repeats from earlier in the post:)

http://blog.modernpaleo.com/2013/01/homocysteine-mutations-and-sulfur.html

http://resqua.com/100001600189727/what-is-a-cbs-c699t-gene-mutation

http://snpedia.com/index.php/Yasko_Methylation#CBS_Gene

http://mthfrsupport.weebly.com/articles/other-gene-mutations-that-must-be-addressed-before-starting-an-mthfr-protocol

And finally, possibly the mot helpful resource of this post, Dr. Ben Lynch's (of MTHFR.net - he's a leading researcher) Webinar on CBS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZxjLxnByco&app=desktop


Conclusion

How helpful is knowing this information about my CBS mutation? What does it change? This is just the way my body is, right? Well, for me, knowledge is peace of mind. If I can stop wondering and accept the root cause for my issues, I'm at peace with having the issues. If I don't know why something is wrong, I won't stop researching until I understand. That's just me. It also explains WHY I don't tolerate sulfur, and what the true consequences of eating too much sulfur are. I know that sulfur doesn't just cause discomfort that I can occasionally deal with, it actually does harm my body because of the ammonia build up. I know that MCS is somewhat within my control by taking L-glutathione, which gives me hope. I know that by B6 toxicity isn't a fluke or an accident, I actually do have an internal problem with B6.

It's an answer. Not a complete answer, but a helpful answer. Finding my CBS mutations alone were worth the cost of the 23andme.com testing!

Whew! I'm too tired to carry on. I'm going to go space out in bed for a while.  Please comment with any additional information you can add!

Lab Tests and Gene Mutations

I've been stalling on this post because I've been debating on how to write it, but I think it's time to tackle it. I learned a lot last month when I visited my naturopathic doctor, some of which I'm going to share with you here.

First, I think it needs to be explained that health is complicated. Very complicated. I get very frustrated when people ask me why it's been 2 years and I still don't have everything with my health figured out. This question ignores how much progress I've made. It ignores that I do understand a lot about my health. It doesn't allow for the slow, long process of healing years and years of damage to my body. In my situation, I have done a lot of healing in some ways, and in other ways I haven't done enough healing. Because of the healing that I have done, it's a lot easier to see where I still have work to do. There's layers upon layers of symptoms, all of which can have various root causes. Considering the complexity of health, especially my hyper sensitive body, I'm very impressed with how much my doctor has done for me. I'm not taking any drugs, not going through any harsh treatments like chemo, I'm not bed ridden with multiple idiopathic diagnoses, and I'm not hopeless. Supplements, diet, therapies, and exercise are repairing my body. It's incredible! It's truly amazing how the body wants to heal with the support of these natural solutions.

It started with getting several labs: Vitamin B6, Calcium, and Parathyroid. (The calcium lab was the same price as a comprehensive metabolic lab, which includes calcium, so I bought that instead - I'll say something about the results of that later on.)

Quick tangent: I went through RequestATest.com and WalkInLab.com, not a hospital, and had the blood drawn at Labcorp. My labs were significantly cheaper. For instance, my B6 cost me $67 as opposed to $200 at my local hospital. The only problem is that some states do not have a Labcorp or Quest Diagnostics - North Dakota is one of the the states that does not. I was thankful to be able to get these labs cheaply in New Hampshire.
What I found out is that my parathyroid, 4 glands on the thyroid that control calcium in the body, was on the low end of the "normal range" at 16, and should be fine. If the parathyroid is too low, it's apparently potentially deadly. Hypoparathyriod is rare. If too high, which is much more common, it causes a wide range of painful symptoms, but usually means there's a tumor on one of the glands that needs to be surgically removed. I was preparing for the result of being too high and needing to go to Florida for a surgeon - it's never bad to be mentally prepared, right? I wasn't expecting the possibility of it being too low, but thankfully it's probably okay. Calcium is critical to the entire body, so the gland that controls it is just as critical. My calcium is good, at 9.4. While I enjoyed learning about what the parathyroid does, I'm thankful that it's probably not causing my issues.

The vitamin b6 lab, however, was very revealing! Vitamin B6 is a water soluble vitamin, meaning the body should flush out any extra that it doesn't need. This is why I never see warnings about getting too much, but there's all sorts of information explaining why it's dangerous to have too little. The normal range for B6 of someone of my age and weight is 2-32.8. My number was 136.1. I received a letter with my results warning me to seek care immediately for the high level, which made me laugh. Finally, a lab test that shows something useful!!! (An MD told me that I was the "golden image of health" after I had several hundred dollars worth of labs done, that's after insurance, back in 2013, even though I was hardly capable of functioning. She said this because my blood work looked great - so to have a lab that actually reveals something is wrong is a miracle to me! I'm sure a lot of you have been though this too.)


So what does this mean? Was I taking too much B6? I was on a fair amount between a B Complex and a two small sleeping pills that had a little B6 in them, but I wasn't on enough to cause my number to get this high. I didn't take any pills with B6 in it for over 24 hours before the lab anyway. Again, B6 is water soluble - my body should flush out the excess. Something else is going on.

So my doctor brought up MTHFR. I'd heard a little about it. I knew it is a gene mutation that is one possible cause of MCS, but that's all I knew. I had no idea that gene mutations cause metabolic problems in some people, making it so these people cannot eat certain food and can't supplement with certain vitamins. It can also mean these people need to take certain supplements to stay well. There are lots of gene mutations and each mutation has several variants, meaning that there are all sorts of complicated issues with each gene mutation.

The problem with addressing gene mutations is that they were only very recently discovered. The science began with the Human Genome Project about 12 years ago. Because the science is so new, there's so much more research to be done. There's enough information on a couple of the known mutations to help people with them manage their health. For instance, we know that women with a variation of MTHFR can have infertility issues because of it. We know that we can improve fertility by having them supplement with methylfolate, whereas folic acid (what pregnant women are advised to take) can cause major health problems in these women.

What I understand MTHFR to mean is that particular gene cannot process certain B vitamins correctly. Its job is to convert one form of a B vitamin into another form, and when it can't do that, the body can't use the vitamin anymore, and the body can't get enough of the form of the vitamin it needs. This can cause the body to have many minor and major metabolic problems, such as blocking the ability to create enough glutathione (the body's natural antioxidant.) Not enough glutathione means an inability to detox - are you connecting the dots to MCS yet? Back to the gene: This inability to process the B vitamins causes the vitamin to get stored in the body since it isn't being used. This could easily explain my very high B6 level. The problem, is that high B6 in the body can cause a lot of pain. Over time it causes nerve damage, which is very painful. This could explain the electric dull aching pain in my feet (which, for the record, hasn't bothered me in about a week - could it be because I'm addressing the B6 issue?)

What I'm doing to get my B6 levels down is avoidance of B6 and a lot of sweating. I'm trying to exercise more, but I'm either using my sauna or taking a hot bath daily. I'm sweating daily, as much as I can. My doctor also put me on a multivitamin and a B12 vitamin that are MTHFR friendly, meaning I'm taking a form of the vitamins that have been methylated (processed) so the gene doesn't have to process them.

Whew, this is complicated!! I clearly don't understand it all either. I don't need to.

But wait... do we know for absolute certain that I have MTHFR? No, not yet. I'm also having my DNA tested - most of it, not just the MTHFR. The problem is, it might take up to 12 weeks to get my results. I am not having it tested through a hospital or lab, which would be much more expensive and wouldn't test all of my DNA. I'm testing through 23andMe.com. They sent me a little box with a kit in the mail. I spit into the kit, sealed it, and sent it back to them. Very easy!



Yes, 23andme.com is an ancestry company... sort of? It's what they feature, but it's not at the core of their mission. There's a lot of controversy about the company, but none of it affects their ability to give me what I need to know. The FDA shut down their "health results" feature 2 years ago, but just last week, the FDA gave them permission to give health results again through a new feature. To be clear: I DID NOT choose them to get health results. I'm very curious to see what they'll say about my health, but I'm not going to rely on those results. I chose them because they test most of my DNA for only $99, then sends me the raw data. The FDA won't let them interpret it, so I need to get it interpreted. I plan to use GeneticGenie.Org. This is incredibly cheap! I'm also excited to go through 23andMe because they're collecting DNA for research. They're trying to revolutionize how to accumulate enough DNA to learn about it on a mass scale. This will hopefully make huge advancements in our medical knowledge and ability to make medications. I'm really excited to participate in this project! No, I'm not worried about privacy issues - I'm happy to be used for research to advance health care.

If you want to learn more about gene mutations, I encourage you to do some research. There's a lot of misinformation on the internet about it, as with anything, so I recommend starting with Dr. Ben Lynch's website for information, as he's a leading researcher: MTHFR.net

Once I get the results, have them interpreted, and change my life accordingly (which I've already begun doing, just in case,) I'll write a follow up.





...Okay, I want to get back to lab results I mentioned earlier. I bought the Comprehensive Metabolic Panel. Click on the link to see everything it tests for. I had one thing that was low and another that was high, simply showing my kidneys have some trouble (which I already knew), but it's nothing we're going to worry about. Everything else was good. What I want to point is that my protein level is great:

I eat mostly animal protein in my diet and have 2 protein shakes a day. Meat is my primary food, everything else I eat in small quantities. (I've made this clear in past posts, but I'll say it again: I strictly eat grass-fed, pasture raised, clean meat from good farming practices.) I've been eating this way for 2 years. If my meat diet wasn't working for me, this result wouldn't be so good. I AM NOT advocating this diet for you. My doctor is having me eat this way because he got to know what my body needs, and he's working closely with me to make sure it's working for me. You might have very different dietary needs than me. We're all unique. I can't go vegan without getting very sick, whereas some people I know feel their absolute best on a vegan diet. The reason I'm pointing this out is because I've received a lot of criticism about my diet, mostly from people I know personally who have watched me eat this way.

Was this post too long for you? Sorry. I didn't even say half of what I could have said. :) I'm done now! Thanks for reading!