Pat Sullivan Blog

Hey, where have you been Pat?

It has been a long time since I posted.  My apologies but I have been very busy working on my new software startup.  Plus I have been feeling really great so I just don't think about my health much, KNOCK ON WOOD!!  It always amazes me when I check back in here and see that so many people are still reading some of the stuff I have written.  I can't think of anything that I would change here based on my experiences the past few years.

But I do have some new things I want to share that I think could be really important for those of us who suffer or have suffered with chronic conditions.  So I will just list them.

1.  Iodine - I recently came across a book call "The Iodine Crisis."  It is not particularly well written and is loosely a how to of a book on Iodine written by a Dr. Brownstein.  I had no idea the info this book contains. I have been taking Armour Thyroid for years without much thought.  There is nothing wrong with Armour but if you are deficient in Iodine that is more likely to be the cause of your thyroid problems.  Women's issues like Fibroid tumors, Cysts in the breast and breast cancer all probably can be tied to a lack of iodine. Men can have issues with the prostate. Iodized salt doesn't even come close to doing it.  It is tied to the toxins bromine and flouride as well since they mimic iodine and fit the receptors for iodine.  High dose iodine will detox these toxins.  I have been taking 50mg of Iodoral for about a month or so and feel even better.  Energy very high.  Sleep better. It is almost a CERTAINTY that you are deficient.  Iodine is used in every cell in the body so is critical. Check it out. 

2.  Wheat.  Not to be confused with gluten.  Gluten is only the beginning and best known issue.  I read "Wheat Belly".  You can read it but you can watch videos by the author here for free.  Basically the wheat we eat today is not the wheat eaten just 60-70 years ago.  I won't get it exactly right but wheat used to have about 14 chromosomes and now it is like 60.  This from memory so don't hold me to this exact please.  It is just a totally different food with frankenstein proteins like gluten and gliadin, lectins that wreck havoc in our bodies.  The genetic hybrid wheat was devoloped to solved World Hunger.  And was effective.  An acre today yields about 10 times more wheat that it used to.  A good thing.  But with huge unintended consequences. Wheat can wreck your intestines (leaky gut).  It's proteins bind to the opiod receptors in the brain causing us to overeat.  People who eat wheat eat about 20% more food.  Schizophrenics who were taken off wheat got much better and then regressed when put back on wheat.  The Doc who wrote the book is a cardiologist.  He was diabetic.  Got off wheat and he is no longer diabetic.  If he gets his patients off wheat their cardio numbers all normalize.  If they are dieting and can't break through a plateau, they drop lots after getting off wheat.  I stopped all wheat and my weight totally normalized. I eat everything else I want but my weight totally stays the same.  I think I feel better too. (or is it the iodine? :)  ).  Overall the whole thing makes a ton of sense.  

3.  Hydration.  I usually walk when I play golf and I get sore for the walking and swinging of the club.  I find if I focus on hydration with electolytes I don't get sore much at all.  It is a BIG help as I would really feel bad after 2 or 3 rounds.  I use 2 things.  Every morn I drink a very big glass of water first thing in the morning with ZipFizz in it.  I know, it has some crap in it that some of you won't like but I like both the taste and the slight buzz instread of my morning cup of Joe.  I also use Alacer's Electro Mix.  It is like Gatorade without the sugar.  I drink it when I play golf in the heat. Most of us are simply dehydrated with serious consequences.  If you are thirsty you are already dehydrated.

4.  Curcumin - Just go on PubMed and type in Curcumin.  5,693 studies!!  Curcumin has so many amazing effects on our bodies.  Inflammatory responses.  Genetic expression of lots of bad stuff.  Cancer, Alzheimers, Depression etc. etc.  It is totally amazing.  I have been taking curcumin for well over a year. I love it.  Other than Magnesium and Vitamin C this would be the one supplement I would take if I could only take one.  It is just totally amazing the breadth of positive effects.  My company Jigsaw makes a really good one but there are a few good ones out there.  Other than Jigsaw's I like anything with the BCM-95 ingredient.  Absorption is total problem unless you take a good one.  Naturally, you ought to be taking Mg and Vit C too for all the reasons I have written about before.  Lot's of them!  Check out GotMag.org.

Like Forrest said, "and that's all I have to say about that."  Cheers!

This email was sent to me as a comment to my last post. There are some very good points in it. Also, XXXX turned out to finally get a positive Lyme test from Igenix.

Hey Pat,

I ran across your web page surfing the net. I'm a 50 year old lyme sufferer who ultimately realized supplementing anything I can into the normal range helps me feel more normal. The search for the magic bullet (Shoemaker's VIP ect.) has always been a dead end. I think you gave Shoemaker's patient very sound advice.

I had amalgam problems without knowing it when I was bitten by a tick in 2003. I got the lyme rash didn't know what it was and went untreated for 12 months. By the time I received a diagnosis, I'd been told by several ID docs that I couldn't have lyme because my Western Blot was negative and I lived in "safe" state North Carolina. Ahh wrong. I was aggressively treated, improved with IM penicillin and IV zithromax. I did the cholestyramine protocol which helped a lot yet I still wasn't normal. After doing some research I realized a had reverse T3 that was sky high and a heavy metals problem. I supplemented with cortisol and florinef for my shot adrenals. I did Andy Cutler's protocol of low dose chelators with much improvement. Taking zinc and using supplements to dissolve biofilms is critically important and why many have chelated endlessly without significant improvement.

Dr. Shoemaker objects to anyone adding an outside treatment to his biotoxin based therapies. I think that may help him as a researcher but is not in the best interests of his patients. He is on video saying never to take a steroid (cortef) and never to treat reverse t3. That is lousy advice. I'm not surprised he is unwilling to engage in a discussion of heavy metal toxicity.

My remaining digestive issues/leaky gut have improved with low dose naltrexone. Getting the mercury out is the only way to get rid of the fungi. As my body has been telling me for the last 5 years, you chelate the mercury that stirs up the candida. The copper your body needs to control it is present but not bioavailable. You must supplement with vitamin C (not take more copper!) as this assists the body in utilizing the copper that is already there. In the early stages of chelation when the candida is at its worst, use of the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) is very helpful as is Candex (an enzyme formula for dissolving systemic yeast).

If you think you have lyme but aren't sure, test your CD-57 (Stricker NK Panel) with Labcorp. If over 100, you likely aren't suffering from lyme. A lot of people in New England have read so much about lyme they just assume they have it.

Reply to a Shoemaker Patient

Well, I know I haven't posted in like, FOREVER.  Fortunately for me I have felt really healthy for a long time and have moved on to other passions.  Like doing my 3rd CRM startup.  ACT! and SalesLogix were great but I think Contatta  is going to be the best and biggest thing I have ever done.  And for those of you interested, my supplement company Jigsaw Health is rocking!!

I was amazed when I just checked back into the blog here.  I still get several hundred readers per day with over 350,000 readers since I started years ago.  Pretty amazing to me.  I hope you all continue to find pieces to your health puzzle here.

I thought I would post an email from and my reply to someone who wrote to me.  Perhaps some of you would find it useful.  Here it is:

 

Dear Pat, 

I apologize in advance that this is so long, I tried to summarize but it is so hard to make this brief.  I have been wanting to write you for a while now for advice, since you and I have so much in common, with the exception that you have solved your health problems.  I am suffering poor health related to one, more or all of the following factors: mold exposure, candida, and amalgam fillings.  I am also a frustrated Shoemaker patient and have the dreaded multisusceptible genetic type.  I have never felt comfortable about ruling out lyme as a possible factor either as I live in an area where tick bytes are common.  The next four paragraphs are background information and then I want to ask you for some specific advice. 

I have been suffering with increasing symptoms since Feb 2010, when we had water damage in our home  I have all-over joint and muscle pain, burning sensations in my sinuses and skin (neck/back mostly), a feeling of pressure in my head, stiff neck, brain fog, fatigue, mold and chemical sensitivity, a fungal rash all over my groin and anus, and scoriasis.  I have also lost 65 pounds and have some serious gastrointestinal problems.  

I believe mold exposure is the primary cause of all this, and I am committed to getting into a mold-safe environment but its been very difficult to do.  We left the water-damaged home in August 2011 (after spending thousands trying to figure out where the mold was--and we never did) for a new home but made too many mistakes.  Not being a Shoemaker patient at the time and not knowing about ERMI, I hired someone to mold test our new house who declared the house mold-free.  But the house did have some issues in the basement and ductwork combined with not realizing how badly contaminated the things we brought with us really were, I have problems in the new house as well.  We are selling again and still looking for a clean place to buy or rent and are going to leave everything behind.  Thank God, my wife and two young daughters are not affected by mold.  But I am so sensitive to mold and chemicals that every place we look at I have some type of reaction to.  

I also am getting exposed to mold at work making things even worse.  Things are tough at work because my health has left me unable to perform like I did in the past, and they are not sympathetic to my problems.  I had to do a secret ERMI test because they would not allow me to do one and results show it is not a safe place (ERMI 8).  Shoemaker has advised I find a new job, but now I basically need to replace everything (except my family) in my life: my house, all my belongings, and my job.  Thank God I am still working at this time--it would be a disaster if I did lose my job because of all the money this is costing me to try to solve.  

Like a lot of people I'm at an impass with Shoemaker.  I have done cholestyramine for quite some time but could never tell if its was helping me or not.  He treated me for a MARCONS infection of the nose with Rifampin and oddly my head started to clear up, making me more suspicious of my lyme theory, but I've tested negative for lyme multiple times and he doesn't buy into this theory.  He wants to give me VIP but won't until my home is less than ERMI 2.  Its only an ERMI 2.08 but I've again spent thousands trying to lower the mold, wherever it may be, and have been unsuccessful.  Oddly most of the things he checks are all normal.  MSH, VIP, VEGF, cortisol, all normal, and I passed my VCS test.  The things that are abnormal are high TGF-B1 (ranging from 4,000 to 10,000), high C4A (ranging 4,000 to 8,000) and an abnormal mr spectroscopy.  This makes me suspicious that perhaps mold exposure was not my biggest issue and that fungal infection/amalgams are a bigger issue but he has no interest in the effects of amalgam fillings and candida/fungal infections.  I had six amalgam fillings in my mouth when this all started and had them removed in July 2011.  My fungal rash started sometime in 2010 and has gotten worse and worse, and I know that I'm receiving a "mold exposure" from inside of me as well. 

The specific advice I would like to ask:

1) I am so sensitive to mold, and becoming more sensitive, that so many places I go I can smell and react to mold.  Will this improve after I get my fungal issues under control?  Again I am committed to living (and working) in a mold-safe environment but so many places I go--friends and family houses, public places, restaurants, all smell so moldy to me and I hope this sensitivity will improve once I get everything under control.

2) I have tried every antifungal there is, natural (Pau D'Arco, Garlic, Oregano, Grapefruit Seed Extract, Caprylic Acid, etc.) and prescription (Nystatin, Diflucan, Lamisil, Ketoconazole, Sporanox).  Diflcuan worked the very first time I took it but I did not realize that I would need to stay on it a long time and when I went off of it the fungus came back with a vengance.  Do you have advice for fighting candida? My rash in my groin area has always been my test if my candida was improving or not.  Are there any tests that you know to quantify how bad a candida problem is?  Is there a link between mold exposure, fungal infection, and the mold/multisusceptible genotype?  

3) I had my amalgams removed but everytime I try to chelate with DMSA/Alpha Lipoic Acid, it flares my fungal problems so bad that I end up stopping.  Any advice?  Do you recommend any heavy metal tests to see how badly I need to chelate?  I do go to an infrared sauna once or twice a week so I am at least getting this type of detox.  I was also going for Vitamin C/glutathione IV's which always help but I had to cut back because of the cost.   

4) I have the ZRT Lab test in my possession but haven't done it yet.  I will be interested to see what it says considering most of things Shoemaker checked were normal.  I also see that Losartan can help with TGF-B1 and Intuniv can help with blood flow to the brain--do you have sources for these?  Do you know of any doctors in the Pennsylvania area that I could go to that might prescribe these?   

Any help you can give me I would appreciate, I'm so glad you were able to regain your health and your life and I would love to do the same for the sake of my family.  I have not ordered your book--but if it gives insight on any or all of these topics I will order it as well.  

Thanks,

XXXXX

 

My reply:

Dear XXXX,

It sucks being sick!  I know the feeling so well and empathize with you.  But you can get better!  I assume you have read my book?  And the 2 additional "chapters" on my blog?   

What strikes me when I read this is that as I look back on my own journey I realize that there were times that I ASSUMED I knew what was wrong with me but even after a long effort of treating it in a way that OUGHT to have helped me, I wasn't helped.  Whenever that happens one HAS to go back and assess whether or not the diagnosis is correct?  Could it be something else?  Is there a better approach?  Has there been some damage done that simply is permanent and nothing I do can fix it, but perhaps there is a way I could still feel better in spite of it?  Unfortunately, there are VERY few docs who do this for you or even have the time or interest to do so.  It pretty much is up to you.  Pretty scary to be your own doc at times but you really have little choice with chronic issues.  If you can find a doc who is good at this you are blessed!!

There are clues for sure in what you share.  The fact that Diflucan "worked" is certainly a clue.  And yes, I had to be on it a long time.  But at the end of the day Candida seemed to be a sub-issue. Getting my amalgams out was a big deal and I think detoxing Hg over the long haul helped too, but I am not certain about that.  On-going mold exposure is a big deal, but the fact that CSM does not seem to help at all is puzzling.  It should help some!  But you could be being exposed faster than you can detox so perhaps that is why it is no help.  I had the same issue of mold at home and work.  Fortunately, I was able to change both.  BUT you have to keep working and changing jobs probably is hard in this economy.  Shoemaker always just says change your job as though that is easy.  

You say Vit C and Glutathione IV's help but are expensive.  Indeed they are.  Jigsaw's sustained release Vit C can be somewhat like an IV in that you can take pretty high doses w/o side effects and is pretty cheap.  Transdermal Glutathione is also available from several places. 

Lyme?  If you have tested negative several times I would rule it out.  It would be hard to get the needed Rx antibiotics prescribed and paid for with a negative test anyway.  

Here are some thoughts: 

Have you ever tried spending most of your time when you are at home outside? Like when you sleep? And take CSM during that time?   Perhaps if you can shorten your time of exposure just enough you would see some results from CSM?  CSM helped me a lot.  And still does if I ever take a "hit" of mold from some place.  

How old are you?  Have you been tested for testosterone levels?  DHEA?  Thyroid? The ZRT lab test is going to test what?  All of these?  Cortisol levels 4 times during the day?  One blood test for cortisol is not conclusive of much.  And typical Thyroid testing (TSH) is virtually meaningless.  (See "stop the thyroid madness" book.)  If you have been sick a long time, damage to the hypothalamus is likely and is usually permanent.  This means that you would be hypo everything.  Supplementing cortisol, thyroid, testosterone, dhea could help a LOT!  But with your MSH, VIP and VEGF levels normal it suggests the opposite however I have found those tests to be iffy.  They go up and down a lot for no apparent reason. I would NOT take Shoemaker's VIP Rx if my level was normal.  Only 1 person out of about 10 that I talked with (plus myself) who took his VIP, felt better with his VIP and ALL of them had tested with essentially 0 VIP. IMO it just does NOT work.  Very expensive too.   I could be wrong and hope there are a lot of people he is helping with his VIP, I have just not heard from them.

Shoemaker's tests for and diagnoses from markers that are pretty esoteric so I am just not sure I believe him.  C4A and TGFb1 goes all over the place from people I have talked with and been tested repeatedly by Shoemaker.  I know people who felt the best when their levels were off the charts and terrible when they were low!  So I just don't know I trust his stuff.  Plus, there is essentially only 1 lab that tests for these and that is experimental.  Very unreliable in my opinion.  I even know two people who have the "dreaded genotype" who have no symptoms at all!!  So, I think Shoemaker definitely is seeing SOMETHING and has made some correct correlations, BUT I don't think he has unraveled this thing yet. Certainly from feedback I have from patients of his, he certainly does not make many of them feel better! Mostly they end up totally discouraged and some even just give up.   

Having said that, high TGFb1 levels are absolutely known to be a big problem.  Curcumin (http://www.epic4health.com/cuul500mgena.html) is proven to bring down TGFb1 levels dramatically as well as a host of other things that Shoemaker measures and talks about.  I take a gram per day.  My company Jigsawhealth is getting ready to intro a Curcumin product.  Losartan and Actos (both Rx but available internationally w/o an Rx) both can help a whole lot with most of the inflammatory issues from mold. Curcumin probably does just as much as both of them and certainly is safer and easier to obtain and is cheaper too (unless you can get an Rx for them and you have insurance.)  

Testing for Candida is tough but the best might be an OATS test http://www.metametrix.com/test-menu/profiles/organic-acids/organix-comprehensive can be insightful in many ways.  Arabinatol level is the key marker.  

Have you ever taken a blow to your head as in a car accident or anything?  Read my blog on that.  It turned out to be the MOST significant issue for me and I did not learn of it until after I wrote my book. What psyche problems do you have?  Depressed, anxiety, ADD-like, insomnia?  These are very typical and we usually write them off as "situational".  "If I could just get rid of Candida, Mold, Hg poisoning etc I would not feel so bad."  But they often are NOT situational at all.  

The fact you have low blood flow to the brain and are asking about Intuniv is interesting.  I take guanfacine compounded as sustained release because Intuniv just costs too much and is nothing more than very cheap quanfacine.  It is a very simple med and has helped me a lot.  I had proven from a SPECT scan that I had very low cerebral blood flow to the pre-frontal cortex.  Gingko helps here too.  I fought psyche problems for decades before I finally quit my resistance to treating them with Rx meds after I learned I had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a severe whiplash car accident I had back in college (37 years earlier). Once I got the mix right (not easy) I felt TONS better!!  Do immune system problems from Candida, Hg, mold, cause one to not sleep well, or does not sleeping well cause the symptoms?  Chicken or egg! 

Basically, a combination of my TBI, amalgams, mold etc ALL worked together to cause damage to my hypothalumus that I could do little about.  Certainly ALL the things I learned to do along the way definitely HELPED me, but they were mostly helping to control the issues, not CURE them.  So I have focused on doing many of those things (exercise, good food, supplements, detox, avoiding mold and lots of chemicals etc) but my main focus has been on supplementing ALL the things I learned I was hypo in AND I took a few Rx meds that helped me sleep much better, not feel depressed and anxious for no reason at all.  It seems once you have sustained some significant "hits" to your various systems, there is simply damage and nothing is going to "cure" it short of a miracle.  There is no miracle substance or med that will do it all.  It is a multi pronged effort it seems.  You certainly can get and FEEL a whole lot better!!!  And you should try to do BOTH!!!

At the end of the day you HAVE to have help managing symptoms as best you can WHILE you try to unravel the real puzzle pieces.  The 2 biggest things for me BEFORE I discovered my TBI was to take a med to almost totally relieve the weird anxiety I ALWAYS felt, and low dose hydrocortisone for my very low adrenal function.  They were HUGE.  Knowing I had some control over how I felt was liberating in and of itself. It gave me hope I could unravel more stuff.   Shoemaker won't do either one.  But you can find a doc who will if you look hard enough.   

I wish there was a magic bullet I could tell you but there just isn't one.  But there are bullets you can discover that can help you get better and feel better.  Hope this helps some.

 

What I do to get and stay well from mold damage.

It has been way too long since I added to my blog here.  I am sorry I haven't but my interests are elsewhere AND for the most part I feel great!  So I don't research as much.   I still get lots of hits on the blog and am glad people find the info useful in their recovery from chronic illness.  I recently received an email that asked great questions and my answer to it seemed blog worthy.  The two emails are long so you have to wade through them. I have changed some things in the email to me just to hide the identity.  Hope you learn something useful!   I am sorry that Typepad for some reason simply will not take my paragraph breaks in my reply.  

 

Hi Pat,

I was reading your blog last night but couldn't not find any recent entries (past 09'). Are there any? I'm also a patient a Shoemakers (started in ) and have been on the CSM for 2  1/2 weeks.  I would totally agree with your remarks on his bedside manner (which doesn't exist).  It is most certainly his way or the highway. I have the dreaded genotype 11/3/52B  and low msh-6 (I sleep OK, but it's a very non-restorative sleep), low vip-7, and ADH and Osmo are out of sync causing the constant dehydration. My TGF-B1 is slightly elevated @ 3320 but my C4a and C3a are good-as are VEGF and MMP-9. Shoemaker mentioned patients buying MSH and taking it. Are you aware of this or have you had any experience with it?

The CSM was starting to work pretty well but then I went back to drinking a couple cups of coffee per day and today feel most of my symptoms back. Of course I will stop the coffee pronto but I think I would feel a lot better if I could raise my MSH level which Shoemaker said will not happen with my genotype. Guess he doesn't believe in a positive attitude.

I got the ERMI test back on my house and it's at 7.21-not so good. I just moved last Oct and do not want to move again. I've been dealing with these symptoms for years but only recently put it all together.  Do you know if infrared saunas help to detox the biotoxins?  I wanted to see if you had any personal experience with the infrared saunas.  

I exercise as much as possible as I think it can only help. I 'm in pretty good shape.  Shoemaker thinks that has helped me otherwise he said I would be worse. Thanks for all the helpful info you have posted and if you have any more recent updates or answers to my questions I would really appreciate any and all help and info.  Did you find VIP helpful? I don't know if Shoemaker will perscribe that for me before I get house remediated. All the best...

 

 

Dear ________,

No I have not added anything since then to the blog.  I basically got tired of writing for it and had other things to do.  I have thought about it though so that should count for something!  :-)

I am aware that some are taking MSH under the name Melanotan 1 and 2.  Not sure which they take.  I took Melonotan 1 for awhile a few years back and all I got was very tan.  My moles all turned black and my dermatologist had a fit!  I wonder if Shoe knows what people are taking and if he thinks it helps? There are a few threads on the Melanotan forum about Shoes stuff but nobody says it helped them.

With you constantly being exposed to mold with a very high ERMI you definitely are in a tough spot.  The number one thing you can do is get away from the mold!  Can it be remediated?  The other thing is to invest in great air filters.  I use the IQAir.  Costs $899.  I have 3 of them in the house.  That would help lower the load!  But as long as you are being exposed to the mold it is a serious problem!

I have used Far Infrared Saunas and have one in my house. It is a great detox for lots of things including heavy metals. Not sure if it gets rid of mold toxins though.

Exercise is BIG help for lots of reasons!  Good that you are doing that!

The things I do though are some things that Shoe occasionally recommends and some other things I just think help a lot.   I take losartan 50mg and pioglitazone 30mg everyday.  I am not recommending these as I am not a doctor.  I am just telling you what I do.  I get them through PharmacyEscrow.com w/o an Rx.  They are very potent anti-inflammatories for most of the markers Shoe tracks and a few he doesn't track.  Losartan will lower TGFb1.  It will lower Blood Pressure a bit and that is a problem as most mold/CFS/FM people have low BP already.  Sometimes you can take Licorice Root to raise the BP back to normal.  You have to figure out your right dose though so you have to have a BP monitor. Anyone who has low BP ought to do what is needed to get their BP to normal as they will feel better with normal BP.

 

I believe the most significant thing you can do for BP and many other conditions is to make sure you are making enough cortisol. Most people think cortisol is bad but without enough of it we would die! Many people with chronic illness have low cortisol. It is called hypoadrenal or adrenal insufficiency.  On a good day without much stress your adrenals make around 40 mgs.  On very stressful days they can make over a 100 mgs.  If you don't make enough you will suffer because of it.  Here are two good articles on it.  ADrenal insufficiency  and Dr. Doyle.  Hypoadrenal is the main reason people with mold illness (and many other illnesses too) have low blood pressure, are fatigued, dizzy, depressed etc.  Their body simply does not make enough cortisol. I take low dose hydrocortisone 20-30mg per day in 4 doses which mimics the way the body produces it.  I take more if I feel I am coming down with the flu or a cold or something.  Or if I am under a lot of stress.    Don't be confused, I am NOT talking about prednisone or anything like that.  Hydrocortisone is the exact same hormone the body makes.  If you are hypoadrenal you will feel a LOT better taking cortisol!  We are talking about taking physiological doses NOT pharmacological doses.  It is the later which can become very dangerous!

The Hypothalamus in most moldy patients does not work well and the HPA axis simply has lost control of a lot of hormones ala your issues with ADH.  I would check ALL your hormones using the ZRT Labs full kit.  If I was low on anything I would supplement it!  You basically have to try to compensate for a hormone system that is out of whack, probably permanently.  Most mold patients are Hypo everything!

  

Regarding Losartan and Pioglitazone,  both of these have helped me feel better.  They removed a ton of soreness when I exercise.  Go to PubMed and just do searches on both and you will see all the amazing properties they possess for many systems in the body MAINLY because they STOP much of the inflammation cascade that Shoe talks about.

I also use BCM Curcumin 500mg twice per day.  It also is an extremely potent inflammatory.  CoQ10 from Life Extension and of course Jigsaw Magnesium and Vitamin C in as high a doses I can take without getting the runs.

The other thing I do is to address the very common symptoms of depression, anxiety and insomnia.  Sometimes natural means can help a lot with these.  Things like l-Theanine, 5-HTP, St. John's Wort, SAMe etc can help    I used to just tough it out.  But I finally realized real damage had been done to my neurotransmitter systems and it was stupid to try to just tolerate it.   Google Dr. Cheney and read his stuff. 

Basically I take the approach of trying to feel as good as I possibly can given the circumstances that basically are out of control due to damage mold has done.  I take 3mg of Intuniv which greatly increases blood flow to the pre-frontal cortex which almost is ALWAYS needed for mold patients who consistently show low blood flow to this critical region of the brain.  It is the Executive Center of the Brain!  

I run about 5 miles every 3-4 days.  That is a great stress reliever and produces endorphins.  

Another thing to research and decide if it sounds useful is to google LDN (low dose naltrexone).  I have tried it but it interfered with my sleep.  I hope to do it at a lower dose later on.  Autoimmune conditions often co-exist with mold issues.  LDN seems a promising thing to consider.

And to your final question, no, VIP did not help me or about 8 other of Shoe's patients who took it.  He claims it is fantastic but I have only talked to one person who believes it helped them somewhat but it was hard to tell.  So it is no miracle cure as yet unfortunately.

I hope this helps.

 

Pat

This made me cry. Mom and Autistic son recovers.

I am not one to cry easily.  But I just read this letter.  This is why I started Jigsaw Health. Her son was autistic.

Dear Mr. Sullivan,
 
Many years ago, in the middle of the night, I e-mailed you regarding my son’s autism. You responded by telling me that although you couldn’t help my son, you might very well be able to help me. And good to your word, you did.

Jigsaw Health Foundation covered the expense of restoring my teeth, removing nearly a dozen amalgam fillings. The first thing I noticed was the ‘metal’ taste was gone.
 Headaches….gone.
Depression…gone.
My overall health has improved significantly since that time.
 
And so has something else…
I found a doctor who was willing to help my son. Long story short, a Urinary porphyrin profile along with blood work proved he was heavy metal toxic and glutathione deficient. Over the next 10 months, he received 300 mg. of DMSA, 3 times a day, 3 days on, the 4 days off. The sheer amount of metal in his body was astounding.

 About 2 months into treatment the director of Lab Corp in Louisville called to ask me if he had ‘an ongoing occupational exposure to arsenic’ I answered ‘well, he’s in the second grade, does that count’???

There was a measured silence on the line before he was able to stammer….’you’re kidding, right’?? ‘Ah, nope, second grader, look at his age’….
The poor man was so uncomfortable that it could be palpated from 200 miles away.
Cadmium, arsenic, nickel, mercury, tons of lead, though we never lived in a house with lead paint…so I have no idea there…. the arsenic was from chicken, shell fish, and I suspect our deck which was pressure treated lumber.
 
His transformation was nothing short of phenomenal. He went from performing single requested tasks to 4 and 5 step tasks practically overnight. He began to sleep, (thank you GOD), to eat, to play, to be…a kid.
 His receptive language skills improved in leaps and bounds, though he still has an expressive speech delay, most people don’t even notice.
He is now a happy, well adjusted 13 year old 8th grader.
 
 To think, 10 years ago we were told he’d never speak, this fall he met an adorable, green eyed girl, on the first day of school and 3 weeks later asked her to the county fair. I sat and watched them on the Ferris wheel, gazing into each others eyes, bashful smiles, the blush of youth in their cheeks, and I though back to you….you gave me hope at 2 am, in a bleak world filled with sleepless nights and endless days of longing….searching for the precocious blue eyed boy whom I’d watched regress into a tortuous world beyond my reach.
 
I sat at the county fair and cried, remembering how you reached out to me, in a time of desperation. You offered hope in a world where there was none, caring words in a life on the edge. You didn’t know it at the time, but the life line you tossed me all those years ago was the only thread I held to in a tenuous state of exhaustion and mental collapse.
 
In that moment of elation, watching my son, blond hair floating on a late summer breeze and puppy love etched in eyes, I knew I had to tell you ‘the rest of the story’…..
And to say ‘thank you’…. for being there, all those years ago…..
 
Name and address withheld on purpose.
Savannah Tn. 38372

A very good magazine and resource on mold illness.

http://www.habitatquarterly.com/summer2010/

Governor Jan Brewer called me!!

First let me apologize for not blogging more here about health.  I have actually been planning an update on getting well from chronic conditions.  My favorite topic.  But I have had a LOT going on in my life.  Some good.  Some not so good.  But my health is excellent I am happy to say.  And I want to share some things I have learned and I will soon.

Today though I wanted to say how honored I am to have been asked to serve on the newly formed Arizona Commerce Authority.  Basically it is an effort for public and private sectors to join together to help Arizona foster job growth here in this state.  It actually replaces the States Commerce Department.

Not only that, I was asked to Chair the Entrepreneurship Sector Group.  I was totally surprised 2 mornings ago when I got a call from Governor Jan Brewer and she personally asked me to do this.  It was cool getting a call direct from the Governor and unlike me, I was at a loss for words.  I couldn't decide whether to call her Governor or Madam Governor, so stupidly I called her Jan.  Later though, I gathered my wits and called her Governor.  It was also amazing that she called personally.  I would have thought her assistant or someone else would call.  But she said that this group is so important to her she wanted to call personally to recruit the people to head up the 4 key groups.  I got to meet her today. 

Needless to say I was honored.  The whole group is co-chaired by Jerry Colangelo.  He is very serious about making this work.  As for me, I feel a bit overwhelmed with having to figure out how I can make a difference and do something worthwhile for AZ.  I have lived here for 17 years now and love the state.

Here is the press release:  Download 2010-9-23 ACA Board Meeting NR

Brain Injury more prevalent.

The military has done a great job of recognizing that soldiers surviving concussive injuries are very prone to long term effects.  A TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) often begins to show up in terms of symptoms within 6 - 8 weeks after an event.  Symptoms most often observed early on are insomnia, anxiety, depression, ADD like symptoms (inattention, emotional outbursts like quick anger, boredom).

This is true in the non-military as well.  Falls and car accidents can also damage the brain.  That proved true for me when after a severe whiplash car accident in college I began to experience symptoms about 6-8 weeks after the accident. 

Here is a good article talking about TBI's and how they are more prevalent than we ever thought.

The Canadian Press: 'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

The Canadian Press: 'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

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Entrepreneur: Being one and raising money

Here are links to 2 talks I have given the past 2 years.  The first one is about things I have learned the hard way being an entrepreneur.  Things you have not read in a book! 

The second is about raising money for a new venture where I reveal a few secrets I have learned along the way. 

I thought these might be useful in these days where people are either trying to find work or are trying to start a business so they can work.  And perhaps create jobs.  Hope you enjoy.

Being an Entrepreneur.

Raising money.