Good B-Complex vitamin for Candida?

[J F]

Can anyone recommend a yeast fee B-complex to take for candida? I had some food allergy blood testing done and came up with no food allergies, but definitely a very strong indication of allergy to brewer's yeast. So odd. I assumed it was a reading for presence of Candida. I don't plan on drinking beer or alcohol any time soon, but I want to be safe with my B Vit's as well, just in case. And, I'll be baking my own breads from alternate grains with no yeast.

I have been to see a specialist who works with Andy Cutler (Mercury poisoning guy), and whaddya know. After testing, it turns out I'm severely Mercury toxic to the point that my mineral transports have been deranged. So, one of my protocols is to take B-vitamins at regular intervals throughout the day, and I want to take something that won't make worse any candida that develops as a result of the mercury poisoning. Oy vey.

[chickpea]

Hi JF,
I can't recommend a B supplement but I'm sure someone in the US will recommend a good one for you. You could also try 'nutritional yeast' which is completely different from brewers yeast, but still packed full of B vits and amino acids. Shelley recommends the brand KAL which you can get in the US. She posted about it in the 'Purchases' forum. I'm still looking for one in the UK which doesn't come in an aluminium container!

OOPS SORRY I JUST REALISED IT WAS YOU WHO MENTIONED THE KAL! Presumably nutritional yeast wouldn't be strong enough then?

Did you see the nurse TK recommends? She sounds very good. I had a hair analysis done recently and Andy said it indicated mercury toxicity due to 'deranged' mineral transport too! Makes it sounds like a psychiatric illness, lol! But then mercury does make you mad doesn't it!

What else did she suggest? Andy suggested an adrenal glandular for me. I haven't decided what I'm taking for chelation yet.

Anne

[Troy McClure]

i have a question for you guys. On the hair analysis, what in particular tells you that you have "deranged mineral transport"? Is it the levels of Calcium, sodium and potassium?

Now how does this indicate mercury toxicity? Surely mercury toxicity would show up as high levels of mercury?

[chickpea]

Hi Troy,

No, not necessarily. According to Andy Cutler, if someone is suffering from mercury toxicity the levels of mercury might not be apparent in a hair analysis.....so it could be high or low/no level. Yes it affects how the nutrient minerals behave.

- high level of mercury meaning someone has been exposed or is currently exposed to mercury and it's 'circulating' eg after amalgam removal, or new amalgams, or eating a lot of fish that contain mercury.

- low meaning either there has been no exposure, OR there has been exposure in the past and for some reason that person has not been able to deal with it so the toxicity has become chronic (mercury is hiding in the cells).

Mineral Check who I went through for my test, also said the same thing, that high mercury levels on a hair test means the mercury is *in *circulation.....it doesn't give a picture of how much mercury is hiding in tissues and cells.

So, according to Cutler, you have to look at what mercury DOES. One way of doing this is to look at the levels of the major minerals in a hair test (the 'counting rules', see website below). He claims that there are few things that cause poor mineral transport and one of them is mercury toxicity. This IS usually reflected in the hair test...so the classic mercury picture is high calcium, and possibily high magnesium, PLUS low potassium and sodium as mercury affects the sodium/potassium pump (ie poor or 'deranged' mineral transport).

Also type of symptoms and particularly those reflecting weak adrenal, thyroid etc function. He lists symptoms which are usual to mercury problems, though of course they can also be reflective of other conditions/diseases and they might be present for some people but not for others.

If you have high mercury plus high levels of minerals in the hair test plus no symptoms, it does mean that you have been exposed to too much mercury but your body is coping with it to an extent. You will still need to do something about it though. If someone has a chronic illness and has skewed minerals (like high cal, low pot and sod), this is 'deranged' mineral transport, it doesn't mean anything if mercury doesn't show on the test, you could still have merc toxicity. He argues that 'normal' people have a fairly normal level of minerals, but people who are mercury toxic will have very levels of some minerals and very low levels of others.....giving a quite *abnormal* reading. Also generally if a lot of the minerals are below the ref range this is deranged mineral transport.

Again you look at the whole pictue and decide if mercury toxicity is the *likely* (or not) explanation. For example if they have a sensitivity to sulphur foods aswell as a suspicious hair test. Other tests can give indications and increase the likelihood eg high blood cysteine. A lot of it is about probabilities and it takes a lot of thinking and analysis (which doesn't come easy if you are mercury toxic!) and weighing up the probabilities and likelihood of mercury causing the problem. You can obviously also start to chelate (frequent, small doses with so many days on then off, is the safest way according to Cutler) and see how you feel and if your health improves. It really is an enigma trying to sort it all out!

If you go to www.noamalgam.com he explains all this better. This site is basically a summary of his book on the subject...."Amalgam Illness. Diagnosis and Treatment"

Hope this makes things a little clearer and I haven't confused you too much!
Anne

[Troy McClure]

Thanks chickpea, great answer!
I ask because I have a classic deranged mineral transport profile - (very) high calcium, low potassium and low sodium.

I also have weak thyroid, and probably weak adrenals too.

I don't have any sensitivity to sulphur foods - in fact I eat a *lot* of sulphur foods.

I just wanted to know if he looked at other criteria than just mineral profile because I don't have mercury problems (just candida).

I'd be interested to know more about deranged mineral trasport. One of my syptoms is low saliva (and possibly low hcl), both of which I suspect are related to poor mineral absorption.

Another thing is that I find it almost impossible to sweat.

[J F]

Hi, Chickpea!

Yep, I went to see the RN he recommended.

Well, my blood tests for food allergies came back negative. My liver tests for handling sulphur foods came back as okay, but I'm incredibly low in sulphur which meant to the RN that I was either using an exhorbitant amount of it to clear toxins out of my body or that I was not getting enough sulphur foods or both. So, I'm increasing my sulphur foods intake and also taking Glucosamine Sulfate to help. I have to stay away from phenol/salicylate foods for a bit (berries, tomato, peppers, vinegars) because I'm too overburdened with them.

I am showing up as severe enough Mercury that my mineral transport is deranged, like yours. My adrenals are very stressed and the RN recommends I do a tapered dose of cortisol for the next 20 days to give the adrenals a rest so they might heal. We will find out after the taper if they can come back on their own or if they have been permanently damaged in any way. She also has me going on Cytozyme AD as an adrenal supplement.

My thyroid is out of balance making me a bit hypoglycemic, and while she did not suggest I take Armour Thyroid, she is having me supplement with selenium to help restore the T4/T3 balance.

I am also taking Hepagenesis for my liver.

I am taking extra Molybdenum for my Uric Acid output since it is on the low side of normal.

I am taking UltraClear Plus, 1 scoop 4 times per day. I'm taking a B-Complex as well as extra Biotin. I am taking Digestin and Immuni-T, will likely take some extra C and am taking Magnalevures in the evenings before bed. She wants me to do Epsom salt baths and castor oil packs on my adbomen. To take in an electrolyte drink or take in a little epsom salts in water each day as tolerated. To include flax oil and cod liver oil and vitamin e as some other tests showed I needed their acids. She recommends EMDR therapy and she herself does Rolfing. And regular exercise as tolerated.

In about a month, when I'm more balanced out, she wants to start on very low doses of DMPS, then work up to DMSA and eventually ALA. ALA at the start is too strong for mercury toxic people as you've likely read in Andy's book. I tried ALA as a supplement a couple of months back and can attest to this. I didn't know why it made me feel bad, but now after reading in the book what I had already experienced, I believe.

I can send you a scan of my hair test results if you want. You can send me yours if you like. We can compare the atrocities.

[J F]

Troy, low saliva is usually indicative, I believe, of adrenal stress. You can have an adrenal saliva test done to see what it reads. I had one done a few months back and it read as a malfunction of my adrenals. I can't remember what lab administered the test, but the results came back as low cortisol output.

[chickpea]

Hi Troy, that is the classic mineral picture (according to Cutler) of a mercury toxic person, high calcium, low potassium and sodium. I quote...

"The most suggestive result for mercury intoxication is hair calcium > 1,150ppm with hair lithium below 0.004 ppm. Mercury intoxication is possible even at very low hair MERCURY levels. Reasonably high silver, tin and nickel confirm that amalgam is the mercury source" (p.178)

You've had a hair analysis done right? What were your other minerals like?

He does have a check list of 50 things in his book based on symptoms, a physical examination and various tests you can have done. I'll list some here....

anhydrosis (not sweating), though some people sweat a lot
body temperature on waking <97.5 F (so weak thyroid)
tiredness after showering
chronic fatigue
metallic taste
anxiety
irritability
long arms and legs (!!)
very dry skin
frequent urination
low testosterone (in men),
low serum DHEA-S or DHEA or salivery DHEA,
low serum iron in men,
hypoglycaemia,
low serum or 24 hour urine cortisol,
IGE > 292
low total T cells
ALT elevated more than 4 units above cutoff
and many more!

You say you don't have any mercury symptoms but you have candida, weak thyroid and possibly weak adrenals. Mercury is usually linked to these problems. Cutler lists chronic candidiasis and endocrine problems as problems that can be caused by mercury. Perhaps his approach is too simple as emotional stress etc also play a part but it might be worth you investigating further. I was reading a website yesterday written by a guy who'd been ill for 11 yrs with chronic candidiasis....then he had his fillings taken out, chelated for a year and has completely recovered I will try and find the link again for you. Do you have amalgam fillings?

He also says that people with mercury toxicity may have NO symptoms at all!!
Also you don't have to be sensitive to sulphur foods, that applies to some people, not all.
He says that merc can cause excessive salivation but I'm sure that doesn't apply to all. He does suggest taking hydrochloric acid and that will certainly improve mineral eg iron absorption.

His book lists many many symptoms that merc toxicity can cause but you needn't have all of them. When I read it though, I identified with many (but that often happens when you read any medical text book!!!). It's not a very accessible read as it's written in the form of an academic text but it might be worth you getting.

Anne

[chickpea]

Hi JF,

Wow she sounds very thorough. It sounds like you're definitely in the right hands
Surely adrenals can repair, I know they shrink but can they be permanently damaged....that's scary!
I went to my doc the other day to ask for an other thyroid test and also for adrenals. He said the only test that is representative of adrenal function is injecting a strong chemical into someone and see how they react I'll have to find someone to get a saliva cortisol test.

I put my hair test results on a webpage...if you're interested in reading it's
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boronia

Scan000006.jpg is the old test I had done 3 and 1/2 yrs ago showing poor mineral profile and mercury did show up then.
Scan000007.jpg is the test I had done a couple of weeks agom merc didn't show this time.

Andy said they both suggest high probability of mercury toxicity, though the second initially looks like an improvement.

I'd be interested in seeing your results can you upload them on a webpage?

Bye for now!
Anne

[dianna]

I just had some test done that indicate metal toxicity. I don't know if it is specifically mercury.

Besides dental fillings (I have never had a cavity), what causes high metal toxicitiy?

Thank you!

Dianna

[chickpea]

Hi Dianna, other sources are...

thimerosal in certain vaccines (a mercury derivative)
fish
topical antiseptics
thermometers
fluorescent lighting
contact lens solutions
various cleaners, soaps (see link below)

www.tacanow.com/containingmercury.htm

Anne

[J F]

I used most of those cleaning products listed all the time. In fact, I had some leftover Sunlight dishwashing liquid that I was using up until a couple of months ago, and I noticed that whenever I breathed in the furmes during the wash, I'd feel so sick. I knew something in it was wrong for me and I switched to BioKleen dish powder. Much better now!

And, here's the really scary part. You can get mercury poisoning in the womb if your mother had amalgams in her mouth before and during pregnancy. My mother had a mouthful, and when I listed some of my childhood health issues that I've always had, the RN said it was very likely that I was born with mercury. And, not being an excretor, I could have picked up additional mercury from lots of sources, including childhood vaccinations, and just held onto most of it through the years. I KNEW I should have taken up sports when I was a kid. I'd have had a much better time of it if I'd spent more time sweating growing up. I know I got really ill last Fall when they started giving me allergy vaccines, and that is what sent me over the edge into full blown adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue, etc. And, you can pick it up from so many things in our daily environment. We used to keep that red tincture merthiolate (or whatever it's called) around the house for cuts and scrapes when I was growing up. Mercury! Yeesh.

Also, I was an oil painter for many years, and any cadmium or lead or solvents I breathed in through the air would deposit in me and act synergistically with the mercury, making my symptoms far worse. Hence my slow physical breakdown over the past few years that lead me to where I am, today.

If a doctor tries to give you a urine test for metal toxicity, DO NOT TAKE IT. I was recovering so well from my candida issues (brought on by metal poisoning) when my doc had me do DMSA urine challenge. I lost all that I had gained in my health, and all my symptoms returned and worsened. I had to go in for an ultrasound on my abdomen even to check for gall/liver stones. None were found, but that's not to say I don't have some sludge in there. Good thing I didn't develop gall stones, though......at least not yet.

If a doctor tries to inject you with something to test your adrenals, don't do it. There is a saliva test out there. If you would like, I can call my doc up and get the name of the lab that tested mine. Let me know. Always go with the non-invasive procedures and find a support group who can help guide you with their experience.

Chickpea, it ain't cheap talking to the RN, but it's clear she really does care, and she speaks from experience through her patients and as she herself has chelated and is going to continue to chelate. She says she was actually worse off than me and has had so much improvement from following the protocol. That gives me hope.

Here's my hair elements test. I just slapped it up on my website. I never thought about doing that until you told me you put yours on your webpage, Chickpea. Duh. :
http://www.jpfstudio.com/dd.jpg

[chickpea]

Thanks JF! Had a look at your results, it's different to TEI who I went with but I get the picture!

No I would never take any sort of injection....I've been a chemical and drug-free zone for years now, thankfully! I'll find a nutritionist to get a cortisol test I think as my adrenals are just about bearing up. The lab you mention, is it on-line?

Yes it's scary where mercury turns up. I've asked my mum about the mercury and I don't think she had any whilst pregnant but will check again as I asked her a while ago and can't completely remember. I did ask her recently about me getting fillings when I was young as I rememeber getting 7 all at once at one point but she tells me they were baby fillings with no mercury. She could be wrong though. I didn't actually have many amalgam fillings, just 4 which I had out 5 yrs ago, with no obvious improvement or decline

I did get Hep B vaccines though which contain theromersal and also I went on a low protein diet a few years back which really set me back years which is very unfortunate as I was well on the way to recovery(protein helps the body cope with mercury).

I had a DMSA mercury challenge test several years and don't remember it making me ill (though the result was positive).

The RN sounds great, I'm sure she'll help you get better How long does she think you should chelate for...years? Is cortisol safe to take, I'm always wary of taking anything like that. It's OK you dont' have to get back to me rightaway with the answer, leave it till another day.

Take care
Anne

[Troy McClure]

Chickpea,
my mineral check hair analysis revealed the following:

I didn't register any tin (it was below the callibration limit of .01).

My mercury was 0.07

My calcium was 237

Lithium below calibration (.001)

I also had low molybdenum (.001) which is indicative of candida, as molybdenum is involved in detoxifying acetaldehyde.

The only other thing of note was high titanium (.41)

My background is that I had a few amalgam fillings growing up, which were replaced mostly by white fillings. For the last 10 years or so I've only had 1 amalgam filling. Then last year (after the hair test) I had my final amalgam filling replaced. My health didn't improve.

My point is that whilst I share the "deranged mineral profile", for me mercury is highly unlikely to be a factor.

The problem is that candida causes hypothyroidism, adrenal exhaustion, endocrine problems and a deranged mineral profile. And whilst its true many people with candida have mercury issues, most don't.

I never suffered any (known) health issues from mercury fillings, but I developed candida after a particularly bad bout of glandular fever which left me utterly exhausted.

[shelley]

Wow, Great discussion, everyone!

To get B's regularly without overdoing them (which is quite easy to do) I always recommend a combination of Emergen-C and Cal-Mag Fizz. Both have good amounts of B vits and both are essential for people who are chelating metals or suffering the weird mineral imbalances from mercury toxicity. By taking one packet of Emergen-C, and one scoop of Cal-Mag Fizz 2x a day, you're getting 3 med-low doses of B vits! It works out great! And both C and calcium are essential to help the body chelate metals.

The other solution, if you're not sensitive to wheat, is a cold-pressed Wheat Germ Oil. Spectrum has a good one. I add it to all my protein shakes. You can add it to your salad dressings too. It has to be eaten raw.

I don't recommend a synthetic B vitamin complex in this case, it's tough to find one that wasn't created from yeast for one, and secondly, they are always manufactured to give you 300% more than you need so you can't take it multiple times a day.

Hope that helps!