Just received my metal and minerals levels: advice for a beginner?

[gm286]

Hello, brilliant people of PE. Been a while since my last update. I've taken some micro steps forward. The good: the "rheumatologist" I intended to see due to my elevated CRP turned out to be more like a functional medicine doctor. After an hour or two, he said that I probably have a leaky gut syndrome and asked me to check this by avoiding gluten, dairy. I had a very good reaction to this. My cognitive functioning, neck/connective tissue/CCI symptoms such as inflammation, weakness, sensitivity and fragility all improve.

Then he prescribed a heavy metal/minerals test which I sent to Germany (urine sample). My IBD has been perhaps the longest lived symptom (over a decade of reactive gut, diarrhea etc) so I know I am onto something when I've had no diarrhea for a good month or two now. I still get very reactive and very frequent bowel movements when I go back to dairy or gluten.

My minerals/heavy metals results are below. I heard that accumulating toxicity might explain leaky gut. I'm trying to understand how everything works "somato-psychically" (and not the other way around) because cognitive/neuro and fibromyalgia symptoms reduce when my gut is under control. This is a promising direction... The only thing that has not turned around is my dry eye syndrome (all the regular exams plus a fluorescent angiography and nothing whatsoever turned up on those tests). I get spotty gray blindspots in the center of my vision in both eyes and it is so, so distressing and inconvenient.

From just looking at the levels below, can anyone offer advice or point to a resource for chelating toxins or balancing minerals? Will be seeing my dr again to discuss this as well. French (for below): cuivre means copper, fer means iron, and plomb means lead. @Learner1

I am in a 14 month study/practicum program and am still sometimes struggling with cognition (I'd still like to be sharper, less foggy, and less nervous/anxious) but I'm managing a lot of the ME/CFS + fibromyalgia symptoms through what I am putting into my system/gut.

Additional things I've noticed:
- Moved my vitamin D levels from insufficient to low-normal lately (was 19, now 35, ref: 30-60)
- My CRP was previously elevated, now within normal range (this apparently happened after hypotoxic diet)
- Non-restorative sleep still big culprit for a bad day. It's like my brain hasn't properly cleaned itself.
- One night out of 7, an ibuprofen will do the trick and I will have incredible energy the next day. Why is this and how does it relate to neuro-inflammation?
- I am negative for HLA-B27 and negative for ANA and ANCA
- If my gut is porous, does this mean that my blood brain barrier is porous and thus might explain neuro-inflammation? Explanation: I've had lower back issues (minor degeneration in disc, inflammation, pain etc) as well as pressure/tightness in the bladder area. When I reduce toxins (gluten, dairy, smoking etc) this all fades. In fact lower back pain is practically gone when I'm on a hypotoxic diet. What's to say that other tissue in other areas including cervicals/brain/blood brain barrier doesn't react the same way? I've very often had stiff neck and compression which I have to manually "decompress" with a gentle yet intensive flexion/manual traction of the neck.
- If the inflammation isn't auto-immune, then what is it? Is it micro-nutrient/toxins interaction? Do the levels below suggest this or do many have levels like mine? What other sources of inflammation are at play if my earliest coinciding symptoms with fatigue/brain fog were IBD/leaky gut?

 

[LINE]

Selenium deficiency - selenium is critical for immune and detoxification. I see some high metals such as mercury and near elevated levels of lead (pb). I see others but those would not be as critical. Selenium activates glutathione which is a natural chelator. I have seen some good results with clays such as Pascalite or Zeolite for heavy metals.

I also see low Zinc. Those are the critical issues I see.

Leaky gut accelerates inflammation which causes a whole host of issues including brain fog, fatigue, pain etc. Leaky gut is caused by immune activation in the gut which usually points to some type of infection in the gut, inflammation begets inflammation meaning it triggers and taxes resources. Reducing inflammatory things such as certain foods and supporting nutritional needs (including anti-oxidants and one of my favorites, adaptogenic herbs) will keep in you in better balance.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

If my gut is porous, does this mean that my blood brain barrier is porous and thus might explain neuro-inflammation?

That would be my opinion....BOTH become more permeable.

But thats just an opinion...

 

[ljimbo423]

I'm trying to understand how everything works "somato-psychically" (and not the other way around) because cognitive/neuro and fibromyalgia symptoms reduce when my gut is under control.

If my gut is porous, does this mean that my blood brain barrier is porous and thus might explain neuro-inflammation?

From what I have heard from many functional medicine doctors, having watched and listened to many functional medicine webinars over the last several years. Is that a leaky gut often causes a compromised or leaky blood brain barrier, from the inflammation and oxidative stress a leaky gut causes.

If the inflammation isn't auto-immune, then what is it?

After years of researching, I believe it's a toxin found in gram negative bacteria in the gut called Lipopolysacchride (LPS), that gets into the bloodstream through a leaky gut, causing an immune system up-regulation and inflammation.

Here is a study that found high levels of LPS in the blood of ME/CFS patients, compared to healthy controls, for 72 hours or 3 days, after an exercise challenge.

I don't believe it's a coincidence that most of us experience our worst PEM during the first 3 days after we over-do it physically. This is the same time frame of the elevated LPS found in the blood of ME/CFS patients, after an exercise challenge, from a leaky gut.......

There was also a significant difference in clearance of specific bacterial phyla from blood following exercise with high levels of bacterial sequences maintained at 72 hours post-exercise in ME/CFS patients versus clearance in the controls.

These results provide evidence for a systemic effect of an altered gut microbiome in ME/CFS patients compared to controls.

Upon exercise challenge, there were significant changes in the abundance of major bacterial phyla in the gut in ME/CFS patients not observed in healthy controls. In addition, compared to controls clearance of bacteria from the blood was delayed in ME/CFS patients following exercise.

These findings suggest a role for an altered gut microbiome and increased bacterial translocation following exercise in ME/CFS patients that may account for the profound post-exertional malaise experienced by ME/CFS patients.

Source

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I don't believe it's a coincidence that most of us experience our worst PEM during the first 3 days after we over-do it physically. This is the same time frame of the elevated LPS found in the blood of ME/CFS patients, after an exercise challenge, from a leaky gut.......

I agree: this is VERY likely the source of the Poisoning. Could some pill that- SEQUESTERS LPS...save us somehow from our worst symptom?

So LPS is going to come out of my lymph system. I didnt' have to move. Needles moved Qi. Qi moved lymph. Lymph contains these waste products as well. So I contend the gut is NOT the only source...or the leak from gut- allows accumulations in lymph system.

And the weakening of collagen processes...observed here (no fingerprints left)...the gut is more permeable and the BBrain barrier is likely more permeable.

Wonder if anyone has found LPS in lymph. or Cerebral spinal fluid

 

[Rufous McKinney]

After years of researching, I believe it's a toxin found in gram negative bacteria in the gut called Lipopolysacchride (LPS), that gets into the bloodstream through a leaky gut, causing an immune system up-regulation and inflammation.

Here is some interesting research on LPS...emerging from the lymphatic system via the spleen...which is filtering all this......

https://www.jimmunol.org/content/184/8/4547

 

[ljimbo423]

I agree: this is VERY likely the source of the Poisoning. Could some pill that- SEQUESTERS LPS...save us somehow from our worst symptom?

I don't know of anything that can sequester LPS but I don't have a lot of knowledge in that area. This is why sepsis has such a very high mortality rate, I think.

So LPS is going to come out of my lymph system. I didnt' have to move. Needles moved Qi. Qi moved lymph. Lymph contains these waste products as well. So I contend the gut is NOT the only source...or the leak from gut- allows accumulations in lymph system.

I have a friend that has mild ME/CFS and Fibromyaglia. She use to get messages and the next few days, suffer from really bad flares of fibro, fatigue and misery. I think it probably got her lymph flowing and that brought out a lot of toxins, LPS probably being one of them.

Wonder if anyone has found LPS in lymph.

That's a good question. It sure seems like there are some toxins in the lymph that get moved around, through message, acupunture, etc. The releasing of toxins from the lymph, from just walking, might also contribute to or cause PEM in some of us.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

That's a good question. It sure seems like there are some toxins in the lymph that get moved around, through message, acupunture, etc. The releasing of toxins from the lymph, from just walking, might also contribute to or cause PEM in some of us.

I get PEM listening to a conversation silently.

I seem to have gotten PEM from laughing over Babies Who Hate Grass. I had no idea- they hated it that much!
And its seems nearly universal and genetic.

So I don't get massages cause they make me sick. All the same reasons.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Could some pill that- SEQUESTERS LPS...save us somehow from our worst symptom?

not to change the subject ...but I assume LPS is NOT the something in the blood.

 

[ljimbo423]

not to change the subject ...but I assume LPS is NOT the something in the blood.

We won't know until they have isolated whatever that something is. LPS are the right size. Ron Davis said whatever it is, was bigger than 10,000 molecular weight and LPS are bigger than that.