dlp252

April, I'm taking some of the Cowden stuff and I DO think it has been helping! They have (or at least did a few weeks ago) a spreadsheet on the website that tells what to take with what and suggested "dosages" I think.

I had ART and BioSET to help me adjust those dosages, but at least you'd have a starting place.

Okay, they responded to my email and I was able to find and take the test...my score: 99.99997%...confirming what I already know...I'm toxic.

Sherry, I don't know either, but the last two years my lymphocytes were very low (lower than the lowest number in the range), and this year my neutrophils were high. Last year I did some searching for low lymphocytes and came up with the same thing you did...inflamation, virus, etc. So, I don't know if it's connected to the lyme, but I have an intestinal thing going on now, lol.

Well, I ordered the test too and nothing is showing up anywhere, so I haven't taken it yet. I emailed them to see what's up. I got a confirmation email from PayPal, but nothing from the testing place.

Wow, thanks for that link...that's a great site! Confirms what I've known for years, lol, that gas is way more expensive close to where I work as opposed to where I live.

Okay, I'll take the test too, lol. I just registered, but I probably won't take it until tomorrow morning when there are less people around and I'm on my own time.

April, it's the VCS test (found on the mold page):

Open Original Shared Link

One testing mechanism that Ritchie C. Shoemaker, MD utilizes is called the VCS (visual contrast sensitivity) test. This test can be done online or in a doctors office and measures exposure to biotoxins. It does not matter whether the toxin came from mold, Lyme disease or other sources such as algae, dinoflagellates, or other spirochetes. The test may be a useful indicator for diagnosis and treatment of biotoxin-mediated illness. I have taken the test three times and it can be done online at Open Original Shared Link or Open Original Shared Link. It is definitely worth consideration.

There are many of us around with similar problems. My best answer is "sometimes". Hopefully once your gut heals you'll be able to eat more. In my case that wasn't the final answer, but I believe it can be. Sometimes there are other issues involved which keep the digestive tract from operating optimally. After two years I still can't just eat anything I want, but I CAN eat more than I could just a year ago and that is encouraging.

PLus im thinking maybe the humaworm would be beneficial, but im afraid of feeeling bad for 30 days lol

I don't think you'd feel bad the whole time...I felt off for the first week, but relatively okay the rest of the time. I did have some issues I think were connected with it, mostly excess gas, etc. If you look at their website, they list all the ingredients...if you see something on that list that you KNOW causes you bad reaction they can leave it out. I had them leave out sage...that has shown up bad on every kind of testing I've ever had, lol.

Opps i eat pork all the time, should I stop doing that lol. We eat lots of pork in chili, pork chops, pork ribs, sausage, bacon and ham lol.

Well, you might want to give it a trial period to see if you feel better. I've always heard that pork is one of the harder meats to digest, but certainly not for everyone.

I think I've read about this from Scott's newsletter before but I forget. Is it the test that tells you your genetic susceptibility to classes of things (like viruses, metals etc)?

I think it measures how much biotoxins are affecting you...could be wrong though because it's been a long time since I looked at it.

What are everyone's thoughts on eaing pork??

I eat some bacon I get at Whole Foods, but other than that, I stay away from it. I used to eat it more frequently, but it was on my list of things from my BioSET appointment that were not good for me. I try to not have it every day though.

My only words of wisdom about Questran is that first of all it causes constipation. So if you have problems with constipation, you will NEED to take something. The second thing is since it is prescription strength, it's harsh. My LLMD had me stop taking it because he felt that it was too much for my body to handle.

There are other toxin binders you can take though...charcoal, modified citrus pectin, chlorella, etc. I used to take charcoal 2x/day, but my LLMD's Naturopath said I could stop and only take it when I was feeling toxic in my GI tract. I rarely take it anymore though because it's difficult to be able to take it 2 hours away from everything else.

My LLMD won't even give me Questran, lol. I wanted to take it because of my mold exposure, but he won't give it to me.

Toxin binders...I take modified citrus pectin (Pectasol) and chlorella.

Has anyone done the vcs test on biotoxins. I was looking around on betterheatlhguy and found that test to check on how high you might be infected with biotoxins. So I figured for 15 bucks I will do it. I really felt that my test would not be high at all. But guess what it was:

Your overall Biotoxin Illness Risk Score is 99.99399%

Should I put any faith into this, or just go on with my life lol

Paula, I'm pretty sure Scott (betterhealthguy) is familiar with the test. I believe he wrote an article on biotoxins in a past newsletter. You might want to ask him what his thoughts are. Thats probably what I would do. You can contact him from his site. He's a great guy...and he'd probably be the best person to ask.

I second that Scott is a great guy. He's the one who has done my ART testing. I've seen this test and ALMOST did it, but backed out lol. Maybe one morning when I get here early I'll do it.

and yeah...I'm sure I'd be racheling bacon if only I could tolerate it!

I'm almost racheling it for you.

I know it's silly I still doubt it, but I do sometimes.

Yeah, I still do ocassionally myself, lol.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Has anyone else fell in love with a cetain foundation color and used it all up and re-ordered the same color? But when you use it, the color is nothing like it was the first time. I was in love with buttered tan and it matched perfect. Well yesterday I put on the new one I got and it mademe look orange and it was so ugly. I didnt notice til hours later tho. Since i got up early to go yard saling and to the park and i figured there was no reason to check in outside light lol. I am so upset over this.

Well, I haven't reordered full sizes yet, but the full sizes I ordered of my favorite samples seem to be the same color so far. I HAVE had that happen with blush though...and not necessarily from different jars either. One time I'll put it on and it looks one way, then the next time it will look different. I haven't fully figured out yet why that is. I thought it was because of the foundation shade I was wearing, but I don't think it is.

Dad's helping me go through my finances tonight! Apparently they're just a bit too much for my lymie brain to handle. So I'll be able to buy more makeup soon!

Yeah, for a while there I could only handle the basic stuff...but I've got no one to help me, lol. Yay on more makeup!

Cheri,

I'm trying to experiment with silk dust and concealor as a primer when it's really hot. So far I've had varying degree of success with that--it DOES seem to help a little, but we had several days near 100 degrees recently and it didn't do so well. IN fairness though, NO foundation I've ever tried held up in really hot weather. My skin is "normal" I think with oily tendencies, so the heat really brings out the oiliness and things just slip right off my face.

Well, I'm back to not sleeping well. I didn't sleep well last night or the night before. I can't wait to ask Dr. S about this. I'm hoping to test this out at least once more, lol. I'm experimenting with my morning supplements but nothing I did either day seemed to make any difference. So, I'm left with the IV or the prayer, lol. I DID say a prayer last night though.

any thoughts on that lot LOL

I see you got another answer...good, cuz this was my one and only thought!

Tomorrow starts my second week of Doxy, and it's going very well. I didn't herx much, probably because now's the time I typically feel fantastic, and today I was able to start and finish a sewing project as well as go to church for the first time in over a month!

YAY!!!! That's great news!!!

I'm really bummed...I was getting all ready for a class at the gym tomorrow morning and got my swim suit all packed, and towel ready, clothes planned out, then I realized...It's Memorial Day...they're CLOSED!

Sorry, but that just struck me funny!

Im back to havind weird BM's again. I had almost convinced myself to start humaworm, but starting tommorow i have so much i have to do for the next 8 weeks with the kids and sports lol. Does anyones know of an parasite or even colon cleanse that is safe and only last like 3 days lol.

Sorry, don't know of any. The reason Humaworm is so long is so that all the little eggs that hatch get taken care of. I'm not sure any that lasted 3 days could do that, but if you find any, let me know, lol. I have 5 days left on my killer regimen, and I have to say that I'm not seeing as much stuff. Yay, for no stuff.

I am still working 10 to 12 hours every day and I am doing better all the time, my stamina has returned and I am feeling fine.

Wow, this is really great!!!!

I actually haven't had my thyroid checked lately but I know it's for sure bothered right now. My LLMD agreed but said that it was just the lyme bugs bothering it and he said it was probably still functioning. I don't know though, my neck is SO painful somedays...and I get so dizzy...

He has me rubbing iodine tincture on my arm once a day. Just a little dot.

This is exactly what's happening to me. My ART testing showed that the lyme was really affecting my thyroid, and in addition to that I have the heavy metals and mold issue working their magic on it too. My neck is VERY sore almost all the time.

Well, this morning I was lying in bed and woke up to a marching band going by ... we live on the same block as main street. Small town America can be fun. I threw on some clothes and ran out there .... missed the band, of course, LOL.

HOw fun though!

I did have something a few years ago for allergy where they get you to hold a metal stick thing and pots of substances and measure some energy (dont know what it was called) which said I should avoid Aspartame, MSG and dairy.

Sounds like BioSET. That was pretty accurate for me on the foods. I tried doing an elimination diet, but couldn't finish because I never got to a point where I wasn't reacting, so I had the BioSET done which gave me a starting point. Turns out that the based foods on the elimination diet were mostly foods that showed up in BioSET as reactive. Once I cut those out, I had my base diet, then I started introducing stuff in a little at a time using the BioSET results as a guideline for which foods to add when.

ecoffee question.

Can't help you with this one, but I don't remember anyone here saying they felt nauseated...

when i'm feeling ok, pretty much my diet consists of chicken, rice, rice pasta, cucumber, bananas, lettuce, tuna, rice cakes, water, sometimes a little soya in tea, cocacola, I was feeling really good this morning, I just had some sainsburys freefrom gluten free sausages with potato croquettes and eggs (the potato things and eggs seem ok with usually) and now getting cracking headache and feeling really irritable and angry with everything!!!

The two things that really stand out for me are the soya and the sausages. The soya in general just isn't good, and the sausages may contain spices and even though they are gluten free, the spices can still bother. I react to some spice, but not all. The other thing is potato croquettes...how are they made...does it have dairy in it? That could be another issue. The other thing you might look into is grains in general...I have a hard time with most grains, but I can do a little bit of rice if I don't have too much.

Ahhhh, massage! Wonderful invention!

So she's working on me and asks if I want my stomach done. Yeah, I think it's probably a good idea, but I didn't say anything about why. So she's moving stuff around and says "oh"...so I say, "is that my liver?" She confirms and I say, yeah it's probably a little overburdened right now. Then she hits another spot and says "oh, your stomach too". I hadn't mentioned my stomach but then told her about Thursday night. Pretty amazing, lol Anyway, had a great massage, a nice long epsom/baking soda bath and am now about to chow down on some chicken. Life is good!

I definately think your sleep problems could be caused by the metals. Hmmmm....maybe you have high copper....copper can cause insomnia the same as mercury....and DMPS pulls out copper first.

I just looked at my hair elements and copper was above the 50th percentile...he had it highlighted on my sheet, but we've never discussed it. I'll ask about it when I see him--I also want to ask about the RBC too.

The metals would make sense for me...the timing is about right for when it all started. If chelating the metals would allow my neurotransmitters to get back to more normal levels I'd bet a LOT of things would clear up for me, lol.

I'm pretty sure this would be last on your list though.

Ohhh sooooo looooow on that list.

He mostly uses DMPS.....he does use DMSA....or other stuff like NDF. If you need the chelation he'll probably let you choose the method. I think he likes Transdermal DMPS (cream) because its slower and more gentle than IV. For me it was worse because it contains glutathione.

They all have their pros and cons....oral, IV or transdermal...its hard to know which chelator (or method of transmission) will be most effective..I just picked what I thought would work out best for me. You can always switch if something is not working for you.

I do really well with glutathione (at least the liposomal oral kind)...when Anna tested me DMPS was actually the best. I think he's worried about my gut more than anything so he'll probably want IV or cream.

I cant believe I havent done this yet...yeah....apparantly I've lost focus again.

Heres my update.

Cool about the minerals!!!!

I LOVE Great America but haven't been there in ages. My traveling friend and I used to get season passes and go many times during the summers. Yeah, I'm a huge kid at heart and I LOVE the big roller coasters...the bigger and spinnier the better.

ohhhhhhhhh you guys i am having a really tough time .the meds i was taking that were helping me so much seem to not be doing the trick and i just have no idea what to do. Anything i eat makes me absolutley miserable I have beyond no appetite. God I just really dont know what to do. Sorry for the rant

Mia, I am soooo sorry!

YAY! I'm betting on the chelation. I'm telling you, there was a night and day difference back when I was chelating between my four days on and the three days off. I couldn't wait to get back on, and it wasn't because I liked using the suppositories!!!

Wow, wouldn't that be great if chelating helped me sleep?! Wow. My doctor mentioned something about a cream...I'm hoping I can use that instead of IVs or suppositories. Suppositories are right up there with enemas in my book. I can't wait to talk to him! I definitely had no ill effects except maybe a little bit of a headache, but not sure that's from the chelation, but I've had it since yesterday afternoon. It's minor though.

Does Colorado not know that it's almost summer!?!?

...

That would make sense to me. Any plans on carpet removal this summer/fall?

...

Now I'm a little concerned about the "dust" they put spray in between the walls and if it will have any negative effects on us. I know one of the kids already had an LED that included insecticides.

It is SOOOO cold here today!!! It's amazing, lol. I had to wear my winter coat out shopping!

Yeah, some of my "problems" may be related to previous relocation attemps wherein I'd use a can of spray on the little pesty things.

Hiya I have been reading this thread for a while and i've gotten some really good ideas from it. I feel exactlythe same as you a lot of the time, I am frightened to eat cos I feel awful. I have started not to say anything to people now as i am sure they think i'm making it up, and I just feel so bad and oftern sit and cry, thinking there must be something really wrong with me because people shouldnt feel ill all teh time, and food is meant to fuel you, not make you sick! I think I am going to do the caveman diet, and have been reading the 'Eat right for your blood type' diet book, which seems to have a few good pointers too. I am also going to see someone about alergies, but I am not sure which way to turn for that as yet. It is really depressing feeling like c**P all the time isnt it!

Lynne you should post more often! Sorry you are having problems. Some of us have seen improvement in the varieties of food we can eat...I'm hoping the same for you and for Miamia!

I was happy they are giving George a second chance too.

Hum, I didn't watch the trailer...I wonder if I've recorded over that part yet, lol.

Yeah, sometimes I don't tap, lol. For me it's just lazyness, lol, I'm just too darned lazy to tap!

I haven't gone back to my old stuff because that really did cause breakouts for me, but I use all my old lipgloss plus a ton of new ones I keep buying.

OMG OMG OMG OMG !!!

I slept! I slept all night!! I think I slept so well I didn't move!!! I woke up in the same position that I went to sleep. I don't remember waking up at all, not even a little. Girls (and guys), that's 7.5 hours!!! Now, I don't know if that's from the bugs being expelled, the DMPS treatment or the prayer I said before I went to bed, but whatever, I'll take it. I also dropped almost two pounds since yesterday! I think I can safely say that was due to my morning cleanout, lol!

I am interested in hearing that all of you have the ringing...(tinnitus?). I don't but my hubby does; I don't think I'd convince him to consider if he has lyme though, LOL.

It could be a symptom of metals too. I get ringing once in awhile. I don't know if occasionaly is normal or not.

Yeah, I was just thinking last night that it sucks to have so many major issues because I honestly don't know which thing is causing which symptoms, lol. I know I have metals issues, I just don't know how bad they are. My ART testing showed that Lyme was the major stressor on my body but I think the symptoms are coming from the metals and mold.

Hey Donna! Do you want to come up and do some pest relocation duties?

OMGOSH, a full night's sleep and the prospect of pest relocation duties! It's too much to think about!!! :lol: I was just thinking it's been a long time since I've had any serious relocation efforts!

I don't have much input on the meds other than it sure could be stirring things up, both bugs and metals. Maybe you should get some more of the pectin and use it?

I actually ordered some last week...it hasn't come yet. I decided to take chlorella again too so took some last night. I'm getting a massage today, so think I'll also do an epsom salt bath.

There, all done. Orange jug contents shipped and now I can relax for the rest of the day.

What's everyone's weather like? It was raining and thundering (that's right, right Carla? ) yesterday! It was 100 degrees 3 days ago! It's crazy!

Yesterday was downright cold! This morning was cold and overcast...we've got some wildfires in the mountains not too far from here so it's casting a pretty good haze. Today is trying to be sunny so it's a bit warmer to me than yesterday, but still a HUGE difference from last week!

Donna, the chelators may make you feel a little better. Early in treatment, on days I chelated I felt better. The chelators seem to mop up the metals the bugs release. It might be a good time for you to be doing the challenge because you're probably stirring up bugs/metals with the meds.

Yeah, I've been on the meds for a week now, so they probably have stirred things up. I get the ringing too...mine is actually ringing. I get the sea shell thing to, but I also hear a ringing tone sort of like on a hearing test. I've had that for years.

LOL, yesterday Kassandra verified with me that the stuff that makes noise in a rainstorm is called thunder! :lol: Only someone who lives in a desert would ask that! LA = the desert with sprinkler systems.

Welcome Miki

Thanks Kassandra...I'm at home today so am on a SLOOOOOOWWWWW dial up connection and the thought of going over there to get the actual weights was too much for me today.

Birdy, I'm so sorry!!!!! I want everyone to have fun with this!

I think Meredith and Derek will get back together and stay together this time. I have read/seen too many interviews with him saying that they will stay together. Which is good, because I was getting sick and tired of them being so on and off!

Well, THAT's good, lol. Then definitely Rose is going to become some kind of thorn in their side.

I felt the same way at the end. Either A, she will get pg, or completely go crazy lol

OMGosh....too funny, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking...either she is pg or she will turn into a killer stalker type, lol.