Hello, I'm new...

[Polly]

Celia,

Mornin'! If you want to delete your second post, just click on the blue "X" in the upper right hand corner of the post.

Love,

Polly

[tex]

Hi Celia,

That's kind of an ususual problem with viewing the posts, but nothing surprises me any more. Discussion boards based on php code are highly dependent on cookies for their navigation, and permissions. It's possible that your computer has a corrupt cookie in storage that caused the problem. You might try clearing the cookie cache in your browser, (delete all the cookies). In fact, it's a good idea to do that once in a while, just as regular preventive maintenance.

As Polly pointed out, you can delete any post that you've made, if you want, as long as no one has responded to it, just by clicking on the "X" icon, in the upper right-hand corner of the post window. Moderators, of course, can delete or modify a post at any time.

I'm sorry about the post visability problem. If it happens again, please let me know.

Thanks for pointing out that problem.

All my best,
Wayne

[celia]

Thanks Polly and Wayne. I cleared the cache and that did the trick! And thanks for the tip on deleting a post.

One other question: if I would like to respond to a question someone posed in their welcome response, should I simply reply within the same topic (hello, I'm new) or is it better to start a new topic?

Thanks so much for your help! Celia

[tex]

You can do whichever you prefer, depending on what you have to say. Most of us usually just respond in the same thread, (topic), but if we feel that the subject deserves it's own topic, then we start a new thread. It's really up to you.

You're very welcome. I'm glad the cookie maneuver worked.

Wayne

[celia]

Thanks for the welcome Maggie!

In response to your curiosity about my minerals and vitamin regime from my naturopath, I actually had an RBC (red blood cell) Nutrient Analysis done by Metametrix Lab (www.metametrix.com). The results revealed that I am very low in several minerals especially the ones that have to do with glucose metabolism like chromium.

Based on the results, I am taking extra chromium, zinc, selenium, and vanadium in addition to what I get in my daily supplement. The doses are quite high (like 600 mg total of chormium per day), but they are safe on the short run. I will have the test done again in 3 or 4 months (the turnover time for red blood cells) and adjust as the test results indicate.

At the moment, I am taking a simple course of vitamins as to not irriate the GI tract. That includes a daily supplement called Invite (which I got from my previous doctor). It is 3 pills that includes 40+ vitamins and mineral.

I also take:
-chlorella & alpa lipoic acid for heavy metal detox
-Sea Cure for healing the GI tract (just started since the LC diagnosis)
-magnesium and calcium (for bones)
-Seriphos (brand name for an amino acid that supports the adrenal glands.
- 4 - 5 grams of Vit C

The tests from metametrix lab have to be ordered by a doctor and most traditional doctors are not familiar with these cutting edge labs. Insurance also does not cover the cost of the test, but the price is not too bad. My naturopath is able to order the test through the medical director of her Center who is a MD but an integrative medicine physican thank goodness.

This program is tailored to me, as you can see, so I don't know if it will be of any relevance to you. However, just starting on a good daily vitamin many moons ago, helped me so much.

Thanks again for your warm welcome.

All the best,
Celia

[celia]

BTW, Sandra is my formal name and Celia is my playful nickname. From time to time I will space out and use Sandra, so please don't be confused! I think the heavy metals are affecting my memory!

[moremuscle]

Hi Sandra - and welcome

It is really great to see a new face here. Thank you for posting.
It is also very interesting to read how you've found that food and diet makes a big difference in your symptoms. I how found that diet is the key to my own successful management of the symptoms of MC - if you would like to read more about me I have a thread going in one of the other rooms - I think it is the one that is called "My experiences with diet".

I am impressed with how much you've been able to figure out by yourself - WOW!

I had just a small comment after reading your last post about all the "heavy metals" HAHAHAHA!!
It has been my experience that some/many supplements have ingredients that are contraindicated as per my diet - corn derivatives, some gluten containing items etc.
There are supplements on the market that are free of most/many of the common allergens - just thought I would point to this as a potential problem for you in terms of reaching full remission with your diet.

Gotta run!

Love,
Karen

[tex]

Celia,

Incidentally, in case you're wondering how some of us come up with all those smilies, if you will click on the View more Emoticons link, just below the smilies that you see to the left of the message window, a large pop-up window will open, with smilies for various purposes, (assuming that you don't have pop-ups blocked on your computer.

All you have to do is click on the smilie or smilies you want, and it/they will appear in your messge, wherever you stopped writing. You can move them around anywhere you want in your message, by cutting and pasting. Just be sure to leave at least one blank space to the left of the colon, (:), at the left end of the code. Without the space, the smilie will not execute, and the post will display the code, instead.

If you already knew this, I apologize for wasting your time reading this.

Wayne

[Polly]

Hiya Sandra/Celia!

Your post describing your regimen for mineral/vitamin supplementation is interesting and raises a question in my mind.

First, let me qualify my remarks by saying that I am trained as a physician, so right off the bat you KNOW I have received little if any formal training in diet/nutrition. LOL! It's true! All I have learned I have researched on my own, especially after finding out about my multiple food intolerances. I consider myself to be open-minded and am very interested in alternative medicine. I also am interested in meditation, like you.

Anyway, here is my question. You are taking some heavy metal supplementation (zinc, vanadium, selenium) but also taking some supplements that are for the purpose of heavy metal detox. Could they be "cancelling each other out" so to speak?

Also, I'd like to echo Karen's comment about making sure that your vitamin/supplementation preps do not contain any of your food intolerances. I had a very difficult time finding vitamins without gluten, dairy, corn, soy, etc. So many of them have "starch" as a filler (inert ingredient), usually made from corn or wheat and sometimes containing lactose. Usually it is necessary to call the manufacturer directly to get the most accurate info. I found that Freeda Vitamins seem to be the most pure. They have a website and I order them online.

It is great to hear from you.......I am enjoying your posts thoroughly and learning at the same time.

Love,

Polly

[celia]

Hey Wayne,

Wow, that's fun. I had no idea! Thanks. Celia

[celia]

Hi Polly,

It's so encouraging to hear how your aches and pains went away with your diet changes! Thanks for sharing that.

What I meant by whole classes of food is that like Matthew I am pretty much carbohydrate intolerance. I cannot eat:

Starches that includes all grains including whole grains, legumes, starchy vegetables (potatoes, yams, parsnips, winter squash, and the like.) It also includes potatoe starch, corn starch, and pretty much any type of process food.

Sugar in any form from table sugar to molasses to maltodextrin and fruit too. I will get mild neuropathy symptoms from eating half a pear. Garlic too. Did you know that garlic has 10 different types of sugar in it including glucose as well as a starch called inulin? I can't even handle a clove.

I think I am gluten intolerant and probably lactose intolerant too, but then they are included in the starch and sugar category so it's hard to know for certain.

For a long time, I thought I had specific food intolerances myself. I got a few books on food intolerance and the elimination diet. I learned about the different food families, etc. And for awhile, I thought it was sulfites. But in the end, I found it was all fruit not just citrus fruit, for example. I wish I were wrong about this!

I did do allergy testing with an MD. I don't have any real allergies, but I did have very mild reactions in the skin testing to some specific foods (bananas, pecans, mushrooms, coconut, and corn). But it's hard to say if it's the specific food or the starch content of the food. All of those items are on the no list of the London AS no starch diet. Bananas for example have a high level of inulin.

As you can see, I have been around the block a few times with the food thing not that I am an expert by any means! Like you and others in the forum, I just know that avoiding certain foods (in my case lots of them) reduces symptoms dramatically.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

Warmly,
Celia

[celia]

Hi Polly,

How great you are trained as a physician! That must really come in handy.


In my understanding, zinc, vanadium, and selenium are minerals. Heavy metals are mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and so on. Selenium is esepcially recommended for mercury detox. Zinc specifically displaces cadmium (and vice versa, which can mess things up!) Vanadium is needed for cellular metabolism and has also been shown to improve glucose intolerance; it does not necessarily have a role in heavy metal detox that I am aware of. My naturopath is treating me first and foremost for heavy metals, so I trust her recommendations and they are backed up by the reading I've done.

I did the heavy metal testing through an MD (a urine provocation test) and the lab used was Doctor's Data in Chicago. I do have some radically high heavy metals. I think it might be difficult to fully heal without reducing my toxic load.

One alternative resource I find very handy is Prescription for Natural Healing. It covers almost every illness and has a good section that explains all the functions of different vitamins, minerals, amino acids. It also has sections on how to detox from the main heavy metals.

I also learned a lot about heavy metal detox from books by Dr. Sherry Rogers. She is a rather unconventional doctor, but she has treated hundreds of people successfully for environmental illness, cancer and so on and her books are backed up with references to many medical studies.

Thanks for the suggestion about caution in selecting supplements. I took one supplement with corn starch by mistake for 10 days and over that period many symptoms retured in full force !!! I appreciate the reminder. thanks for the tip on Freeda vitamins.

All the best,
Celia

[Lucy]

Celia and gang,

Now, you've got my wheels turning, Celia!

Gang, do you think that Celia's test results would be of interest to Dr. Fine?

I'm a it confused as to whether she's dealing with the chicken or the egg with these results.

Aren't sugar intolerances due to damage to the gut? If so, perhaps getting rid of whatever she needs to get rid of will make it possible for her to reintroduce some of the
sugars eventually. I suppose that it's very possible to have permanent damage from certain toxins, but perhaps in time, she'll be like knew.

It surely does look as though these minerals play a big part in things like diabetes -- remember the Chromium thing, which Celia does take. It looks as though intercellular transport is a big issue with so many of these conditions -- just have to find the right environment for the cells, as that appears to be helpful or maybe raw materials would be another way to look at it.

Celia, would you mind writing up a succinct little summary of your findings thus far, and seeing what Dr. Fine thinks of it. I'm sure that the lady helping him now would give it to him right away since yours doesn't look like the typical amount of information we present him with. Just think, you might have a missing link that he's would be eager to do his next big study on. (Wow, good thing that prepositions are allowed at the end of sentences nowadays! Whew!)

Anyway, if you wanted to, you could just e-mail him, and see what HE thinks you should do. He doesn't charge for e-mails, so that's why I say, make it short, and try to only ask in the form of one question per e-mail. That's what works for me. You would probably have to use the enterolab's e-mail address that's in that website as he eventually will get those if they aren't standard questions.

Yours, Luce

[celia]

Thanks for the welcome!

I am very interested in looking at your page on your experience with food. Many thanks for pointing it out and for the heads up on contraindicated vitamins.

Wamrly,
Sandra

[celia]

Luce,

That's an interesting idea Luce. I am thinking about getting the gluten testing done by Dr. Fine's lab and I heard he has a questionairre that goes along with that. You are right, my situation is complex. Heavy metals are ubiquitous and they can cause damage in all systems of your body. They can displace good minerals and thus interfere with vital enzymatic functions. On the other hand, the sugar thing could be damage to the gut by gluten. Or maybe there's a pancreatic involvement or some level of chronic hypoglycemia. Or more than one thing! I don't care about eating sugar so much per se, but it would be so nice to be able t have some fruit. I did have a celiac test (March 05) that was negative, but I guess the standard tests don't always show it from what I've read on Dr. F's site. I will see if I can write something up for Dr. Fine although I am pretty overwhelmed at the moment. Thanks for the idea.

Warmly,
Sandra