Re: menstrual changes during chelation

[Guest guest]

> >

> > I'd be interested in hearing more from other women about

> > menstrual changes that have occured during chelation.

>

> I've been chelating for about 20 months now. 63 rounds of DMSA, about

> half with ALA. Now 5 days into my 1st round of DMPS.

>

> I have not had a period in about 2 months. I'm 50. I had had a long,

> heavy period very regularly for pretty much my whole adult life. In

> September, with stress around the time of my father's death and

> starting Iodoral, I had a period start within 11 days of the previous

> one. Starting Armour made my periods much lighter and shorter and the

> discharge much brighter red. (Andy talks about this in AI.)

Hopefully this means I don't really need Armour (despite test

results that make me borderline hypo), since I have always

had fairly bright red menstrual blood. I always had one day of

(very) heavy bleeding and one or two days of light bleeding

until a couple of years ago when they got much lighter.

> I have never had much cramping. My major pre-menstrual symptom has

> been a dip in my immunity - much more likely to get boils,

> blepharitis, sinus infections, etc right before my period. I used to

I used to notice this, too. For me it was more minor, like sore

throats, mouth sores, cuts that didn't seem to heal. Then I would

get my period and everything would clear up.

> have a lot a sugar and chocolate cravings before my period, but I

> haven't indulged in those in quite a while.

I had *radical* food cravings - salt and sugar and, well, just about

anything. I was an overeater for many years, and I would eat

incredible amounts of food in the latter half of my cycle. And I

weighed about 15-20 pounds less than I do now. I should have weighed

about 300 pounds for the amount of food I ate back then.

I also had horrible, horrible breast pain, soreness, and swelling

and fibrocystic issues. I had a lump removed from my breast when

I was 20 (a cluster of cysts). Also had a lot of water retention.

My PMS was very bad. I believe now it would be diagnosed as

premenstrual dysphoric disorder. It was pretty frightening at

times. A little bit like having a split personality. I am still

a bit like this even though I seem to have stopped cycling, so

I guess it was not just hormones.

> My lack of PMS is surprising in light of my very high hair copper for

> at least 4 years.

Yes, it sure is. I seem to fit the copper toxicity picture

better than you do. But my hair copper is very normal, RBC

copper is low. Even looking at Dr. 's " hidden copper "

indicators, I don't fit.

> So, in summary, chelation never seemed to do much to my period.

> Armour and Iodoral made changes. Maybe chelation affected me long

> term though, since I seemingly now no longer have periods. Given my

> age it is hard to tell whether chelation or just normal menopause

> caused that. I've also lost maybe 40 lbs. over the time I've been

> chelating, so that might have affected things, too.

Have you had any hormone testing recently - such as FSH, estradiol?

> I am having very bothersome night sweats. I think my adrenals are

> still pretty stressed. My ASI in May showed me stage 7. Acetyl

> L-carnitine and Seriphos seem to help a little. I have had

> obstructive sleep apnea diagnosed and am in the process of starting

> treatment (probably CPAP). According to the drs. at the Stanford

> Sleep Disorders Clinic, treating sleep apnea might help a lot with

> adrenal problems. We'll see.

That seems like a good bet. A sleep disorder would keep you from

having restful sleep, and thus you would not have a healthy

sympathetic/parasympathetic balance - meaning inadequate rest for

the adrenals. It may not be all you need, but sounds like it

could be very helpful.

I am finding 5htp is helpful with nighttime hot flashes. I also

have taken an herbal product for a couple of years now - it has

black cohosh, dong quai, vitex, a couple other herbs. (Women's

Menocaps by Wise Woman Herbals). I'm about to start progesterone

cream again - another thing that tends to make me hyper, but I

think I have to give it another try.

Good luck with the CPAP!

--

[Guest guest]

> > >

> > > " I got mine three days after removal despite it not being due

> > > for two weeks. And my cycle is usually like clockwork. "

> > >

> > > Jan, was this after all your removals or after the last ones

> > (assuming you didn't get them all removed at once).

> > >

> > > Thanks,

> > > Olif

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

> > >

> > > " I got mine three days after removal despite it not being due

> > > for two weeks. And my cycle is usually like clockwork. "

> > >

> > > Jan, was this after all your removals or after the last ones

> > (assuming you didn't get them all removed at once).

> > >

> > > Thanks,

> > > Olif

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

>

> I added in ALA after 6 rounds. ALA made me feel absolutely great. I

> mean it was like heroin or something. This was possibly because I

> have borderline low plasma cysteine. I followed Andy's supplement and

> diet advice to try to reduce my hair copper, but it never really came

> down.

>

> HI ,

> Does ALA increase cistern levels?

> Could that be why some cysteine do better with ALA (Low cysteine)

and or worse with ALA (high cysteine)?

http://onibasu.com/archives/am/43505.html

> It also makes me feel great and I long for the day I can make it a

permanent supplement when my mercury is all out.

> I can see better (colours very bright and clear), smell better,

sleep better, concentrate better and digest better with ALA.

> Dean

[Guest guest]

>

> I added in ALA after 6 rounds. ALA made me feel absolutely great. I

> mean it was like heroin or something. This was possibly because I

> have borderline low plasma cysteine. I followed Andy's supplement and

> diet advice to try to reduce my hair copper, but it never really came

> down.

>

> HI ,

> Does ALA increase cistern levels?

> Could that be why some cysteine do better with ALA (Low cysteine)

and or worse with ALA (high cysteine)?

http://onibasu.com/archives/am/43505.html

> It also makes me feel great and I long for the day I can make it a

permanent supplement when my mercury is all out.

> I can see better (colours very bright and clear), smell better,

sleep better, concentrate better and digest better with ALA.

> Dean

[Guest guest]

>

> I added in ALA after 6 rounds. ALA made me feel absolutely great. I

> mean it was like heroin or something. This was possibly because I

> have borderline low plasma cysteine. I followed Andy's supplement and

> diet advice to try to reduce my hair copper, but it never really came

> down.

>

> HI ,

> Does ALA increase cistern levels?

> Could that be why some cysteine do better with ALA (Low cysteine)

and or worse with ALA (high cysteine)?

http://onibasu.com/archives/am/43505.html

> It also makes me feel great and I long for the day I can make it a

permanent supplement when my mercury is all out.

> I can see better (colours very bright and clear), smell better,

sleep better, concentrate better and digest better with ALA.

> Dean