Melissa Heath's Profile

[Melissa Beth Heath]

Here’s my profile. This stuff is still very new to me, but I’m learning. J I love watching each puzzle piece fit into place.

History

-35 y.o. w/environmental allergies all my life- nothing severe but annoying nonetheless

-mercury fillings: lots (had a really bad dentist growing up)

-hyperthyroid (Graves) developed after birth of 1^st son (‘99) but resolved when became pregnant with second son (’01) and has not returned

-developed adrenal symptoms after birth of second son (’01) from severe emotional stress (husband had affair and walked out on marriage during end of pregnancy).

-been seeing Naturopath for 8 years for treatment of adrenal issues (insomnia, anxiety, exhaustion, painful muscles, brain fog, period issues, hormonal imbalances)

-supplements I take:

*Miladregen  (1 tab contains: Vit. C- 250 mg, Vit B6 50mg., Pantothenic acid 60 mg, Zinc 10 mg, Citrus bioflavanoids 25 mg, Raw adrenal, spleen, and thymus concentrates). I take one 3x a day for adrenal support

*Seriphos (phosphorylated serine, 1000mg.) I take these as needed when I feel like the hypothyroid-pituitary axis is out of whack… in other words when the adrenals are being over-stimulated. (Used to take 5-6 a day when I was miserably nervous, anxious, tachy, etc.) I still have to occasionally pop one before bed when I’m having trouble turning off my brain.

*Pro-C (started taking this when naturopath said it may help ward off flu… not sure if I will keep taking this long term or not) Recommended to take 2 caps/2x a day, daily dosage will give me… Vit C-2,000mg, B2- 4mg, B6- 4 mg, Mag- 100mg, Zinc- 8mg, Selenium- 40 mcg, OPC extract, Green tea extract, Glutathione 80mg.

*Also take Pregnenolone 30mg. for hormone balance issues (libido was realllllly low and estrogen, dominant)

*Cod liver oil daily (Blue Ice)

Digestion
- Just started fermented veggies this week. (Note to self… go s-l-o-w. Had horrible gas, bloating for hours the other night and even had a small amount! Does this mean I have ugliness in my gut? LOL)

- Always fail the beet test

-Once in a while, when life gets really stressful, I get sharp pains & aches in my stomach whenever I eat anything and it lasts for a while. Usually resolves itself after a day or so.

Absorption
- I’m suspecting I have leaky gut because 18 month-old has gut issues (frequent poops that make butt cheeks excoriated, bloating, severe irritability, sensitive to dairy, colicky as an infant, wakes at night, eczema, undigested food particles)???

Detoxification
-Glutathione – lately I’m finding that I can’t really handle coffee like I used to. Find it makes me extremely irritable, nervous and later I come down exhausted. Know that my adrenal state probably compounds this issue (and my ND would be slapping me anyway if he knew I still drank it!).  I just noticed it in this link about high bilirubin levels as it relates to impaired glutathione conjugation. So interesting as I have had high ‘normal’ bili my whole life (so does my dad and siblings…). http://books.google.com/books?id=ZG9glNfif5YC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=sulfa+allergy+epsom+salts&source=bl&ots=15x9PuSqS-&sig=nO72xcjN9_qreVEjNuLA51pI7Es&hl=en&ei=5yugSYCVAcyatweZy7yQDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#v=onepage&q=&f=false

-Methylation- think I may be under-methylated? 18 month old son has midline issues (tongue tie, tight anal sphincter)… my older kids are fine though.

-Think dopamine may be low since I have trouble concentrating, can daydream easily, etc.

-I also crave chocolate all the time!

Sulfation – not sure about this one. Garlic and onions affect me at times, but I can eat eggs no problem. Then again, I get terrible flush when I drink wine.

- My biggest health issues continue to be the adrenal issues which I’m still seeing my naturopath for. Good news is I am nowhere NEAR as bad as I used to be but after the birth of youngest I think I regressed a bit. I still struggle mainly with fatigue in the morning, brain fog, and muscle soreness/pain. I’d LOVE to get off supplements completely if I could. I’m certain that most of my detox pathways are VERY messed up. Looking at my baby's current status, I'm very aware that things are not right with ME. Want to change things.

 

My Goals:

- keep trying fermented foods

- water kefir (doing my first batch now) -epsom salt baths

- green smoothies… need to find some good recipes for these.

- bone broths (have yet to make my own yet… don’t know why this is so daunting to me, lol)

 

 Anything else I can be doing right now?

 

Melissa

[Pat Robinson]

Gosh, you are a mess. :-)

I bet I have more mercury fillings than you do.


Pat

[Pat Robinson]

Start here: http://heal-thyself.ning.com/forum/topics/healing-leaky-gut-with-food
And here: http://heal-thyself.ning.com/forum/topics/hello-help-with-increasing?xg_source=activity (read links in my first reply, also.)

Have you considered Bach Flower remedies or flower essences? I'd highly recommend Elisabeth for flower essence or homeopathy consulation. That has saved my sanity and I don't do any adrenal supplements. http://taylorhomeopathy.com/

Many nutrients seem to need bolstering: zinc, MAGNESIUM, B12, FOLATE, molybdenum. more B6?

I'd consider some Evening primrose oil for mood stabilization and Epsom salt baths definitely for the sulfate.

How much clo per day? I do a tablespoon about daily.

Slow down on the fermented veggies. I'd do some cabbage, it improves stomach acid. Juice it, smoothie it, drink the cabbage juice, or a forkful of sauerkraut with each meal, not more.

I'd increase hydration and limit caffeine. :-) Increase sodium, using sea salt?

To bed by 10pm; sunlight by 10am, outside, walk in am, if you can! Protein in the am -all help adrenal issues.

Bone broth is tossing a whole chicken in water. Simmer. ;-)

Or you can roast and debone and just add carcass to water.

I'd add lemon in water to improve body ph.

check the links in the first post. We are all in the same boat.


Pat

[Melissa Beth Heath]

I AM a mess :D

I had to go count. Half of my teeth have some sort of filling, some big, some small. Sigh...

Thanks for the suggestions.

I do sea salt w/cooking/meals. Should I add to my water and drink too?

I take 1 Tbsp of CLO... I'm not sure if it's the fermented kind though. I'm guessing not if it doesn't mention it. Is this ok?

Melissa



Pat Robinson said:

Gosh, you are a mess. :-)

I bet I have more mercury fillings than you do.


Pat

[Melissa Beth Heath]

Lovin' the water kefir, Pat. :) Thanks so much for sharing. Just found out my husband's been downing a little bit of it every morning before he heads off to work, hehe.

Question... once my kefir's done fermenting can I put it in the fridge until I'm ready to rinse grains and re-use? I'm finding that I just don't have the time to keep making fresh kefir every 2 days. Also, how long do you keep your kefir, in other words- can it go bad?

[Pat Robinson]

Just put it in the refrigerator. I leave my whole jar with the lemon and dates and all in the fridge for up to a week. Then strain and remake. We keep using the kefir for another several days, then I have a new batch. I'll use the 'old' kefir as a liquid when cooking also. That kills the microbial benefits, but there are still nutrients.

Btw, watch the vit A in CLO. It is possible to get too much synthetic vit A, from some brands.

I do add a pinch of sea salt to my water for the adrenal benefits and minerals.



Pat

[Melissa Beth Heath]

Sigh... I talked to my ND (yearly checkup) and he wants me to start taking Florastor (Saccro. B.) to increase my SigA. I voiced concerns about my mouthful of mercury and how I'm not crazy about mobilizing mercury with my detox pathways not completely optimal yet. He said that it's rare for his patients to have a problem with die-off w/this or any other probiotic. He says starting it slowly makes it more tolerable and it carries very little risk, if any, of mobilizing mercury.

Pat, do you have any sources you've found concerning Saccro. B. mobilizing yeast? I can't seem to find any right now. Are my concerns unfounded?

[Pat Robinson]

I'd have to do some hunting. But, s. boulardii kills off candida. Candida binds with mercury to store it out of circulation, and is released when the candida is killed off. That is what many folks "die-off" symptoms are: circulating mercury in the blood stream redepositing into brain, organs and gut.

I would not do S. boulardii with candida and a mouthful of mercury. (Actually, I did and didn't know better and about made myself very, very sick.)

I'd focus on improving digestion starting with adequate stomach acid, adding nutrients to open detox pathways, avoiding the most common inflammatory foods: dairy, soy, wheat (grains, gluten), and corn, and including many strains of whole food probiotics.

This is where it all started for me: Please comment on Susun Weed letter titled "Candida is a helper. It...


Pat

[Melissa Beth Heath]

Thanks, Pat. I so appreciate all of your sage advice.

For some reason I couldn't get the link to work. Maybe I'll try googling Susan Weed and see what I come up with...

[Pat Robinson]

Sorry about the link. Try this: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=952566&hi...


Pat

[Melissa Beth Heath]

I spoke to my ND again today about mobilizing a mouthful of mercury by taking Florastor. He told me...

"The Saccro b. is fairly gentle at just crowding out the yeast. Any Mercury mobilized is generally just bound up in the gut. As long as your stools remain regular and you are consuming adequate fiber, you should be fine."

So, according to him I should not be worried about mobilizing mercury. But, I still am because I've heard so many first hand accounts from people. I'm so confused...

[Pat Robinson]

I'll tell ya' about the killer two day headache I caused myself. Despite taking a lot of vit C and selenium and magnesium to counter it. The brain-fog, insomnia and nausea. I know all that mercury had to circulate around in my blood and redeposit quickly into where??? (brain, organs, gut, fortunately no fetus, no breastmilk at the time) I don't need more circulating mercury to deal with. I just want to improve the detoxification of the mercury I have stored. I don't want more sitting in my brain.

But, it is your body and I trust you to listen to your body. If you listen to your body, it is the best guide, ime.


Pat

Melissa Beth Heath said:

I spoke to my ND again today about mobilizing a mouthful of mercury by taking Florastor. He told me...

"The Saccro b. is fairly gentle at just crowding out the yeast. Any Mercury mobilized is generally just bound up in the gut. As long as your stools remain regular and you are consuming adequate fiber, you should be fine."

So, according to him I should not be worried about mobilizing mercury. But, I still am because I've heard so many first hand accounts from people. I'm so confused...

[Melissa Beth Heath]

Ugh... need advice desperately on how to deal with what I've just done.

I was talked into an emergency root canal for a cracked tooth (had amalgam filling in it), because I couldn't afford a bio dentist. It was a small tooth, but I've been reeling with I think is mercury exposure (they had to drill through a small part of to get to root), and they put on a temporary filling until I can get a crown. I'm trying to NOT let my negative emotions about this rule, but it's hard. I was in severe pain and made the best decision with what I was given at the time. I'm really, really regretting things now...

So this was a week ago today... I've had the worst headache of my entire life for a whole week. I'm so fuzzy-brained, sometimes exhausted, irritable, and my symptoms feel as though they originate from my neurological system. My eyes are also just wanting to close all the time, and have trouble focusing. I'm taking selenium (200mcgs), B-complex, magnesium, milk thistle, vitamin c, sea salt in water. Somebody on another board suggested I try chlorella to mop up mercury? I have to take motrin (which I don't like) just to be functional. Hot water showers help take the edge off slightly, so does sleep.

The other aggravating factor is that I started (a few days prior) to take iodine for hypothyroid/fibrocystic breast issues. So... I could also possibly have bromide detox symptoms intertwined with this. Who knows? Ugh. Someone suggested I keep up with the iodine supplementation but it doesn't feel right in my gut, knowing what I know about the body's ability to detox. I'm pretty sure my pathways are not ideal right now. Oh, and I also have a mouthful more of mercury fillings so I don't want any supportive therapies to be releasing more problems! Am I right to think these things?

 What more should I be doing to help my body right now? Thank you... so grateful.