How am I doing?
My last health update was a little over a year ago. Since then, I began Andy Cutler’s Chelation protocol for heavy metal removal, tested the progress of suspected Bartonella, and added/removed some supplements along the way.
Compared to even a year ago, I’ve made huge progress in how I feel. Am I at 100%? No, but I can confidently say for sure that the scale has tipped in my favor, and that I feel more normal these days than not.
I continue to work a full time job (construction) — 8+ hours a day — lift heavy weights at the gym at least 4 days a week (even after work), am well enough to rekindle, strengthen, maintain, and even create new relationships, and even started traveling again.
I used to bed ridden because of this condition.
If you’ve followed me for some time, you’d know that stomach issues plagued me for the longest time — likely Candida, which resulted in going extreme for my diet by adopting Carnivore.
Now, I don’t want to say I can eat anything and not have a reaction, but I can definitely eat so many more foods and take supplements that used to give me horrible reactions the following day.
Without further ado, let me get into the nitty gritty of what got/is getting me to who I am today.
My Current Treatment
- Molybdenum (1-4 100mg capsules 1x a day): Removes excess sulfur and yeast byproducts
- Modified Citrus Pectin (2 500mg capsules 1x a day): Removes biotoxins
- SF722 (6 capsules 2x a day): Controls excess yeast
- Quercetin (1 250mg capsule 1x a day): Reduces Mast Cell Activation symptoms
- Grass Fed Beef Liver Capsules (3 500mg capsules 1x a day): Multivitamin
- Beyond Balance MC-BAR-1 (25 drops 2x a day): Bartonella provocation
- Vitamin C (2,000mg 1x a day): Reduces heavy metal redistribution symptoms and die off reactions
- Alpha Lipoic Acid (1 50mg capsule every 3 hours for 3 days every couple of weeks): Removes mercury as per Andy Cutler’s Chelation Protocol
The SF722 helps keep yeast in control, while the molybdenum removes the yeast toxin acetaldehyde and excess sulfur compounds that cause heavy metal redistribution.
Modified Citrus Pectin I take primarily for biotoxin removal, and is also beneficial for feeding good gut bacteria.
The Quercetin has really helped calm my overreactive immune system, likely from excess yeast.
I started Beyond Balance’s MC-BAR-1 about a week ago to see if Bartonella is an issue as per Dr. Neil Nathan, M.D., but getting up to 25 drops 2x a day within a week without symptoms suggests Bartonella is likely not an issue.
I do rounds of Alpha Lipoic Acid to remove mercury as per Andy Cutler’s Chelation Protocol, along with Vitamin C to feel better. This alone has been the biggest catalyst for feeling better as of late and deserves its own section below.
Andy Cutler’s Chelation Protocol for Heavy Metal Removal
I always suspected heavy metals may have been holding my health back ever since a naturopath ran a hair analysis around 2010, which showed elevated levels of both mercury and lead.
I was treated for the heavy metals at the time, but in retrospect, the protocol that was used did nothing. I thought it did at the time, so I foolishly crossed heavy metals off my list until 5 or 6 years later when stumbling upon Andy Cutler’s research surrounding heavy metals explained a lot of my continued symptoms.
For the longest time, I had trouble getting and keeping yeast in my gut under control, but it wasn’t until I learned that heavy metals may need to be removed first before any anti-fungal treatment can have a lasting effect.
The heavy metals, to my understanding and oversimplification, hamper the immune system, but once the metals are removed, the immune system can now function properly to not only keep yeast at bay, but potentially other infections that seem so stubborn.
As time went on, I eventually took the plunge and started Andy Cutler’s Chelation early last year, which consists of taking Alpha Lipoid Acid, DMSA, and/or DMPS in rounds, typically every 3 or 4 hours for 3 days consecutively.
The beauty of Andy Cuter’s method is that not only is it effective, it was designed to be safe in the removal of heavy metals from the body.
Yes, you could purchase supplements from his store, but he also recommended other brands, so it wasn’t entirely about the money for him.
While you could and probably should purchase his book if you plan to use his protocol, his Facebook group is a wealth of knowledge delivered by extremely helpful people and is enough alone to get you started.
The smoking gun for me that heavy metals were stillnan issue was that I was reacting to foods high in sulfur or high thiol foods (e.g., Brussel sprouts, eggs, garlic, onions, etc).
These high thiol foods have a molecular chemistry that move the heavy metals around your body, but not enough of one to effectively bind and remove, thus causing redistribution symptoms.
By completely cutting out high thiol foods, I began to feel better within a week’s time. I knew then and there I had to go after heavy metals.
Long story short, I’m currently on round 21 of 50mg of Alpha Lipoid Acid for mercury and round 19 of 12.5mg of DMSA for lead.
I simply can not state enough how much better and more normal I feel since removing these heavy metals. I still have more to chelate, but the results are what I’ve been looking for.
Additionally, I’d like to point out that I may have shot myself in the foot around 2016 in treating Lyme die off by taking high dosages of a high sulfur supplement, glutathione.
I now suspect that doing this — unknowingly to me at the time — redistributed the heavy metals around my body causing a serious decline in my health. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that I made myself worse by trying to make myself better.
Lesson learned.
What am I eating these days?
From there, I’m still very meat-centric, but have added in grains along the way since I lift pretty heavy at the gym now.
My everyday diet consist of 80% grass-fed ground beef, ground turkey, salmon, avocados, brown rice, millet, coconut butter, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, sea salt, black pepper, zucchini, and the occasional Spindrift.
I keep my diet controlled so if I feel off, I’ll know it’s not from my diet.
When I go out to eat, I’ve had to learn to loosen up and introduce new foods in my diet, which is an important progress gauge, but even going out to eat, I still will only eat clean and wholesome foods.
No alcohol.
There was a time after taking antibiotics for 3 months for Babesia in 2016 that my stomach was nuked so bad, that beef alone was the only food I didn’t seem to react to.
But working on the gut, treating MCAS, getting restorative sleep, and exercising all seemed to play a part in healing it enough to where I can eat almost anything now, with reactions occurring far less frequently and are far less severe when they do.
What are my current symptoms?
Chronic Lyme disease is VERY taxing on the mind, and it made sense, that in order to survive the traumatic, life-altering ordeal, the mind induced a dissociation with the real world until normality could return.
I suspect this will be one of the very last symptoms to go.
I do notice some slight and very much tolerable pain in some muscles and joints, but that could just be me lifting too heavy.
The occasional heart palpitation.
Some fatigue here and there, but a very far cry from what I used to be.
I find myself not wanting to be around most people, but I think that’s just me as I get older.
I do still sometimes have an inflammatory reaction after a shower or working out too hard, but this happens less frequently these days.
Still some clean up to do, but I’m hopeful I can continue to make additional improvements.
Honestly, I could stop all my treatment right now and be content with my health, but I know that I can still do more and will continue to.
What do I recommend to those new to Chronic Lyme disease?
They may run tests to check for MS, allergies, nutrient deficiencies, metabolic conditions, and even Lyme if your symptoms fit the bill enough. It’s important to rule out all of these other conditions before committing to just the world of chronic Lyme.
After your doctor no longer has answers for you, this is where you need to become your own health advocate.
If all of my symptoms started today, and I had all of the knowledge I gained over the past 16 years in treating this condition, I would surely first start with having my GP run a Lyme and co-infection panel if they have yet to.
If these results yield anything, fantastic, if not, I would run another Lyme and co-infection panel through IGeneX this time. Again, if these results yield anything, great, if not, consider provocation as an additional diagnosis.
The Beyond Balance and Byron White formulas can be used to help confirm a diagnosis of Lyme and its co-infections. Dr. Neil Nathan, M.D. talks about this provocation test in his book.
Once you have confirmed or ruled out any pathogens, consider treating those pathogens to see how your body responds to the treatment.
If you’re not tolerating treatment well, you may then need to consider gene mutations, such as MTHFR that needs to be addressed first, and/or a biotoxin illness.
In addition, heavy metals may be an issue for you and might need to be addressed first or simultaneously with your pathogen treatment, depending on your sensitivity.
You also need to think outside the box, because not all the answers are the same for this condition. There are people who had chronic Lyme disease, but it was a leaking breast implant that was an unseen roadblock for healing.
For me, I remember not only eating a lot of tuna fish when I was younger, but I also drank the liquid in the can because the mercury tasted so good!
Think about your body, what you’ve been through, what you’ve done to it, and what could explain why you’re feeling the way you are. You really are the detective for finding your missing health. You’re going to HAVE to think outside the box on this one.
LISTEN to your symptoms, their locations, their patterns, their intensities. This is your body’s way of communicating what’s wrong to you.
IMPORTANT: I should have mentioned this from there start, but make sure you first set a healing foundation by fixing your sleep quality, reducing your stress as much as possible, cleaning up your diet, and exercise if you can.
You'd be surprised that by fixing even just one of the aforementioned may be enough to get you feeling better, but that by not fixing any of these factors, any treatment you pursue will not be as effective, if at all.
The Current State of Treating Chronic Lyme disease
I’m seeing Stephen Buhner’s protocol topping the list as almost the go-to treatment for chronic Lyme and co-infections, along with Dr. Cowden’s protocol, the Beyond Balance formulas, the Byron White Formula, and Dr. Zhang’s supplements.
This doesn’t surprise me at all since, though just an anecdote, the majority of my healing thus far has come from some of the aforementioned.
I think it’s very important to mention that, at the moment, there is no “cure” for chronic Lyme disease in the sense that a single and simple pill will resolve all symptoms.
I think Dr. Richard Horowitz, M.D. has it right when he relabels the condition from chronic Lyme disease to MSIDS (Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome).
Basically the condition isn’t always caused by just chronic Lyme, but rather a compounding of issues (e.g., biotoxins, heavy metals, stress, co-infections, diet, etc) that need to be addressed individually in order for a person to begin feeling better.
The introduction of Lyme to the body may have simply just been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
One Last Brain Dropping
I love this one from Dr. Neil Nathan, M.D. He mentions that you have to keep trying new treatments, regardless of how many failures you’ve encountered because you’re bound to stumble upon something that works.
I can attest to this whole-heartedly.
It’s okay to not want to talk to anyone and isolate yourself when you’re not feeling good. The energy and drive is just not there to be a normal human being and I get that. I lived it.
I know there are times where it feels like nothing is working and you’ll never get better. Again, this is normal to think and I say let yourself bask in these thoughts for a period of time.
It IS healthy to do so.
But, nothing lasts forever, including these thoughts, and you’re going to eventually be met with another attempt or drive by your body to figure this out.
Figure it out!
This cycle will continue many many many times. Let it be and don’t fight it.
You really do have to be the change you wish to see, Gandhi brilliantly said.
I also love, “what you’re not changing, you’re choosing.” Simply put, this is in your control, and if not to the degree you like, do what you need to do to take control of this.
Being ill for so long with chronic Lyme will surely breed complacency to the point where you blindly accept that how you feel is normal, even though you know inside it’s not.
This could be a defense mechanism, and it can be helpful for enduring the condition, but do remind yourself on occasion that how you feel is NOT HOW YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO FEEL.
It is NOT NORMAL to feel the way you do. Use those words to create a bridge in your mind that allows you to see yourself as normal and healthy; that it’s not so far away and hard to achieve once those answers are found.
Because you can and should be that healthy and normal person.
How will you know you’re healing and getting better? I will tell you very simply that once you’ve found what your body needs to get back to good and desirable health, your symptoms will occur less frequently, and when they do, they’ll be less severe.
I am now witnessing this.