Help with Hair analysis

[cstevens16]

Hello, I don't normally post on this website due to the wealth information already available, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of relevant info regarding hair analysis's, so I was hoping to get some feedback on the results I just got back from Genova Diagnostics. Thanks to whomever takes the time to look throught this.

As far as Nutrient Elements go, most elements were within the Reference Range, however, Iron, Magnesium and Zinc were all slightly high, and Manganese was off the charts high. The commentary I was given said that hair iron levels do no reflect body stores the values for the other 3 are (Mg = 172, range 11-122), (Zn = 281, range 119-245) and (Mn = 15.12, range 0.04-1.93). So like I said, manganese is way out. I'm not sure what to think of this because I've never supplement manganese before. I'm really baffled about that one. I've read that for all 3 of these elements, generally high hair levels reflect low blood levels. Is this true?

Also, here is a list of the high toxic elements that I was tested for. Antimony (0.062, range <= 0.016), Cadmium (0.067, range <= 0.022), Gadolinium (0.0056, range <=>0005) and Uranium (0.1974, range<=0.0057) yikes. Obviously I'm a little concerned about my apparent Uranium toxcity. No idea why it would be so high, I live in Central Canada, and there are no mines or any other obvious sources of exposure, so i'm not sure what to think of that one. Who know, maybe i'll develope super power from the radiation...hahah. Anyways, I've done quite a few liver flushes (like 20-30) and other cleanses -- liver, heavy metal, kidney, parasite, ozone therapy...you name it...in fact, I might as well spell out exactly what health problems I've been dealing with up to this point. Maybe that would help with interpreting my results...I can be a little long winded at times, so this will probably ending being pretty long, so read only if you have the time.

Well, where to begin...growing up I was fairly healthy, no serious illness as a child besides the normal odd cold or flue. Come my teenage years I suffered from mild acne, nothing to serious, but a constant supply of unwanted guests on my face. I had always been active, played alot of sports, including University Football, but at the same time I always felt generally fatigued and at times spaced out. My acne persisted throughout my early twenties, and although now I know the reasons why.... (combination of a high calore diet, lots of overeating, late nights, stress, etc...) at the time I never. Before my last year of University I decided to get some medical help for worsening acne, which at the I time couldn't understand, I was always told my acne would clear after puberty was done with me. I went in search of antibotics and I talked some random family docotor into prescribing me some ( I read that this would help...worst mistake I've ever made). The doctor agreed that antibiotics could help so he sent me on my way with oral and topical antibotical treatments. I had almost used up what he had prescribed (which wasn't doing a whole lot by the way) and at about 4 months of use I bengin to feel what I characterized as a constant "bloated" feeling. I looke up reasons for being bloated on the internet and antibiotics was at the top up list, so I stoped talking them immediatiely. I thought this would fix my "bloated" feeling, but little did I realize that was only the beginning of nightmare I was about to go through the next few years.

I finished up my last semester of University, the whole time always feeling bloated, and growing increasing concerned about why this bloated feeling would not go away. I began researching the effects of long term antibiotic use, as well as acne and number of other related health topics. Of special intrest was what I was finding out about the human GI tract, digestive system and everything along those lines, and I became obvious to me that the antibiotics I had taken had left me with a serious case of of dysbosis. The bloating continued to get worse, after after about 6 months post antibiotics I had numerious other digestive aligment symtoms. To name a few, constipation, gas, I heavyness in my stomach after I ate, feeling tired shortly after I ate...in fact, it felt I developed a new symtom pretty much every day. I was also starting to feeling more tired then usual, couldn't concentrated, really spaced, which what I was reading called "brain fog". At this point I was convinced I had a serious case of Candida, probably systemic, as well as a Parasitic infection. It wasn't untill I found shelley's website that I realized what all of this was doing to my liver. However, for the next year, I mainly focused my time trying to fix my Candida problem, and at the time I thought this meant taking all the antifungals I could get my hands on. The antifungals seem to help a little, but the bloating never seemed to completly go away and would return as soon as I took a break from the whatever I was taking. I tried everything, herbs, threelac, collidal silver, you name it but nothing seemed to be working. I was growing increasingly depressed and was starting to lose alot of weight ( I was 215 when this started and my lowest weight, I was 160). I should also mention that I was on a low carb, high protein, high raw food diet for the longest time. I read that this type of diet might help. After about year of antifungals and the diet I just mentioned, things weren't getting any better, in fact things seemed to be getting worse and was starting to feel apathetic about anything and everything. I was cold all the time, tired (I would fall asleep in the middle of Action film at the theatre) and had a general sick feeling all over, which I compared to feeling hungover.....but in this case, lying around all day and a getting a good nights never seemed to get rid of the feeling. I was feeling so sick and depressed and my digestion was becoming so impareed, that I decided to move home and work two jobs to support the increasing number of supplements I was trying.

After about a year and half of all of this, my mom gave a book called the "Maker's Diet" by Dr. Rubin and I began reading about the importance of probiotics when it comes to inestinal health. I had read about probiotics before, but it just hadn't dawned on my how important it was for me to not only kill off the bad bacteria, but to get the good guys back in there at the same time. I started supplementing kefir and primal defense and went on Dr. Rubins Makers Diet, and after a month ( although for the first couple weeks I felt worse thatn I ever had), for the first time since I started to get sick, I felt better than I had the month before. At about this time I also came across Shelley's website. Shelley's Candida and Parasite advice helped me even further, but most imporatly, what I was reading about the liver and how to cleanse it, has made the biggest difference in my health. I've don't dozens of liver flushes and removed thousands of stones (before I started flushing my stools looked like white floating pieces of spagetti). Between what I was reading in Dr. Rubins books and on this website, I felt I had finally found the answers that were eventually going to heal me. I truly must say that it wasn't for Dr. Rubins books and what I've leanred from Shelley and the rest of you, I don't know what would have become of me. I know now that this my sickness was a blessing in disguise and truly has changed my life.....for the better. I'm in a deep debt of gratitude to you all. I've been following Shelley's and Dr. Rubins advice for about 2 years now, and although my Candida's long gone and I feel 100 times better than I did, I know I'm still not 100 percent. There are a few minor symtoms that just don't wanna go away. I sure it just a matter of a little more cleanseing, rebuilding my body and getting my minerals back into balance. I was hoping a hair analysis might help with this.

alright, I know that was long, but thanks to whoever took the time to read it and can give me some feedback regarding my hair analysis results.

[Monique]

Oh my, I can relate so much to what you say. I feel like I am also stuck in the hundred-supplements and strict diet, and still having problems. But I have never tried to really focus on probiotics, just did many different cleanses without replanting the probiotics. I think that I have ignored a big piece, afterall having candida means having too few of the good guys.

I just have some questions regarding your route to healing:

1. Did you follow the makers diet strictly?
2. Where you making your own kefir?
3. Are you doing any special bowel management after your liver flushes, like enemas, or EPSOM salts?
4. When did you realize that you were candida free?

Thanks in advance!

[shelley]

Can you post a copy of the hair analysis and give me a link to it? Then I can take a look and put it all together. Or e-mail a copy to lady_shelleycat@yahoo.com, that's the e-mail I check every day.

Also, a list of CURRENT symptoms, what you're currently dealing with, would be good. Also include whether your eyebrows are thinned out, body temp is low, slow wound healing, etc.

[cstevens16]

Thanx for the reply shelley, and I'll definetly map out my current symtoms as well as a copy of my results as soon as I find somewhere to scan them to a computer. I think i will also give you list of what supplements I was taking at the time and a month before I took the hair sample....maybe that will add insight.

And to answer your questions Monique:

1. No, not exactly. It was more the principles of health and healing (especially regarding the gut) that I took from Jordan Rubin's books. His books mad me realize that I should be focusing more on getting the good guys back inside my body and less on just killing the bad ones. As well, his books contain a list of foods and supplements (his Garden of Life Line of coarse) that I began eating and taking. I started drinking kefir twice a day and would take large amounts of Primal Defense Ultra (which contains more acidophilus along with the HSO's) for about two week to a month right after taking a bottle of Fungal defense... or a round of parasite herbs. I'd then back of Pd for a few months...like 1 or 2 a day....until my next bottle of FD. I aslo began eating Coconut oil, cod liver oil, Perfect fodd, sprouted grains, soaked not gluten grains, etc. Alot of the same the same things Shelley recommends. Rubin's book help me psycologically as well. His own amazing recover was the first time I had read or heard of someone actually overcoming something similar to what I was going through. I always had faith that one day I'd recover, but his books gave me the hope and motivation that I desperatly need at that time.

However, it wasn't until I randomly came across AskShelley.com that I really got to the root of my Candida problem. Probiotcs were the first step, but following everything Shelley has to say about defeating Candida and changing the environment of the body, was equally as important; ie. bowel, liver cleansing/mangaement, pungent therapy, becoming more oxygenated/alkaline, etc. It wasn't until i became less toxic, acidic, etc. that the Candida really lost it's grip on my body. Dr. Rubins books were helpfull, but they didn't have a whole lot to say about FULL body detoxification. Although I understand that he has recently come out with a book regarding detoxing...as well as bowel health.

2. Yes, I do make my own kefir. I was blessed to find a lady who made her own kefir and she gave me some grains so I could start making my own. I use raw goats milk if I can get my hands on it, but if not I use natural pastureized goats milk. Kefir grains grow like crazy...... I love eating the grains I don't need. They taste great!!

3. Well...ya...I guess. What I do is kind of a combination of a bunch of protocols and advice I've read and experimented with, plus a few ideas of my own.....I'm always experimenting. Before the flush I take the epson salts....then right before drinking the OO/lemon jucie I take a coffee enema with added magnesium (I read about this protocol in a book called "Your last Acne Solution") which is supposed to further dialate the liver ducts, causing a greater cleansing effect. Immediatly following the OO/lemon juice, I alternate massaging (kind of a pumping action) with deep breathing for about 2 hrs then go to sleep. In the morning I administer another coffee enema, without magnesium, then a couple hours later do a salt water flush. I hate the SS flush.....makes me wanna vomite just thinking bout it....blaahh. Once the water and other wonderfull stuff passes through me, I always make sure to replace lost electrolytes and take priobiotcs.....Emergen-C, calmagfizz, Primal Defense, kefir...etc. AFter doing all of this, I don't feel to bad for the rest of the day.

4. Hmmm....well it definetly took quite a while before I was absolute sure that worst of my Candida was behind me. It took a good year of probiotics, bowel cleansing (went through 3 or 4 bottles of colonix), liver cleansing, detox baths, enemas. etcs., before most of my Candida symtoms had cleared. I didn't have that " sick all over hungover feeling" anymore and my thrush, nail fungus, tooth pain (I blended almost everthing I ate my teeth hurt so bad) extreme weaknes, massive brain fog, etc., all gradually went away. Plus, I saw a naturopath every 3 or 4 month who uses biofeedback, and she started telling me that my Candida problom was getting better....which coincided with how I was feeling. Good riddance.

I think now I just need to fix all the left over damage the comes with have systemic Candida. And I still have parasites I need to get out of me, but even that problem is not as bad as it once was. I'm positive it's just a matter of time before I cross the "finish line" I feel I'm close to, and I feel better than I ever have.

[cstevens16]

Shelley, here's the link to my hair analysis results. If you click on it you can zoom in.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/cstevens16/scan00011.jpg

Like I said before, my most obvious concerns are about my extremely elevated Manganese and Uranium levels. Interestingly, the commentary provided by Genova Diagnastics states that, "Elevated hair Mn may be the result of excessive Mn exposure or ingestion, inadequate detoxication or excretion of Mn chemicals, or exposure to radioactivity". I can't help but think that there may be a connection here. What do you think? Alot of the symtoms of elevated Mn and Uranium that they give, I guess not suprisingly, I experience. They list headaches, depressed systolic pressure, insomnia, sexual imptotence and dementia for excessive hair Mn.....and fatiuge for both Mn, and Uranium. I've read that once deposited in the body, Uranium would primarly but excreted by the kidneys. So I'm a little scared of trying something to chelate Uranium, seen as I've read that Uranium can be really tough on the kidneys and I fear damaging them. I should probably just stick to sweating.


Anyways, here's a complete list of my current symtoms, I'm never really sure whether my symtoms or legitamate or just "healing crisis's" or maybe a combo of both.

Insomnia -- I ususally don't have trouble failing asleep, but I normally wake up a couple times per night and I almost always wake up between 4:30 and 5:30 and then don't get back to sleep. I've always suspected low seratonin/melatonin levels, mineral imbalances or the ammonia created by parasite as my problem, but I'm really not sure.

Headaches -- I have headaches most days, sometimes up front, or around the eyes, sometimes left right dominant and sometimes just all over. Cleansing reaction, mineral imbalances, toxins...probably just a little bit of everything I guess.

Chemical sensitivities -- Walking through grocery stores, pharmacies or be around a large group of people wearing perfumes and colognes makes me sick and tired. Probably just need to keep cleansing and rebuilding my liver for that one. But this problem is getting much better.

Sometimes after I eat I get this raw, scratchy, tight feeling that crawls up the back of my throat and a couple hours later half to burp. I know my digestion still needs improvement.



Here's some other symtoms that I still experinece from time to time, but are way, way less of a problem then they used to be. Very mild acne...much, much better than before, fatigue, odourless gas from time to time....can't seem to identify which foods cause it but it seem to orginate in my large intestines, mild body odour at times, problems recalling names and words, concentration problems, heavy/full fealing in my upper abdomen around my liver and spleen ( can't blame my liver for being sore... after all the abuse it's taken and all the stones that have been torn out of it...thank god it can rejuvinate itself), nighttime unrination, mild vertigo and dizziness if I stand up to quickly, sensitivity to light and a poor sense of smell. My appetite is pretty good but not great, but definetly alot bettter than it used to be. Might be some more but probably not all that significant.

My body temps normal, wound healing seems normal and my eyebrows have never shown signs of thinning. My nails are growing good but I get white specks every once in awhile. Recently my right ring finger nail develeped a dent in it. My tongue's a little pale. There's not much of a coat near the front but always a little bit at the back. Also, there's a few teeth marks on the side and i have a straight grove in the middle of my tongue that's about half and inch long that doesn't seem to want to go away no matter what I do. I can send you a pic if you want. I think it might be a problem with my spine/emotion seen as I'm not B12 deficient. My stools are usually brown/light brown and are fairly well formed, but once in a while they're a little loose and a bit greasy.....liver cleansing is helping with fat absorbtion because my stools are definetly not as bad as they used to be. My eyes still show signs of blood toxins, ie. dark eye circles, a little red/itchy, but are way, way, better than they used to be. I don't really have bags under my eyes, but the very top of my lower eyelids are a little puffy. I suspect lymph congestion. Also, my Iris's have a grey ring around the outside, which I read might be caused be skin/lymph congestion. I've been skin brushing, rebounding and taking detox bath regularily.

The last routine blood test I had indicated high cholesterol -- 6.25 mmol/L with HDL = 1.46, LDL = 4.47 and Triglyceride 0.70. My cholesterols been high since I started getting tests done a couple years ago. I have a fairly low WBC and RBC although my RBC's been getting better. My RDW was a bit low, 10.3 range 11.5 - 15.0 My liver panel was good but my GGT was a little low. 13, range 15-73 U/L. TSH is border line low at 0.43, so I guess I'm slightly Hyperthyroid. I figue my liver's not catching all the hormones my thyroid's throwing out. Hoping more liver cleansing will help with this. Also, my 2nd last blood test last fall showed low levels of Ferratin, I've been supplementing Iron, but my doc forgot to order it on my last blood test, so I'm not sure if it improved, but I think I still might need to supplement. I'm gonna go for another test right aways to make sure. My blood pressures good, systolic is sometimes a little low like 120/65-70.

I saw my naturopath about 2 months ago, and she was happy with how things are progressing, but agrees that there are stil things that need addressing. According to to her biofeedback i'm having problems with Ameoba and sugar regulation. It was also picking up minor problems with worms, still might have a problem with leaky gut, plus indl. poll, inseciticides, constipation and dairy all showed up. She also said I need to replenish my blood and they're were signs of liver and large intestinal stress. Plus, I was a little dehydrated and there was either def/xs for the following minerals. Zinc, Iron, Mg, Cal, Pot, and Cl. I don't think she said anything but manganese. Anyways, so that's why I went why for a hair analysis. But again, I'm really confused by the high manganese. I think I've seen you write that cleansing, liver flushing, etc. can temporarily cause deranged minerals. Could this be what's going on? I just finished a serious of about 4 liver flushes about a month, month and a half before I took the hair sample. And I'm probably going to do another couple in about a month or so.

Here's a list of the what I was supplementing with at the time of the hair analysis:

Coconut oil
cod liver oil
flax, hemp oil
primal defense ultra
Enzymes with every meal
HCL
lecithin
taurine
amino acid mix
yeast flakes
triaphala
vit C
apple cider vinegar
l-glutamine
aloe vera
B complex occasionly
vit E
zinc
magnesium
liver herbs -- I rotate between herbs that build and ones the cleanse and take a breaks from them once in awhile
super seed
perfect food
sea salt

Ok, I think that's about everything. Shelley, thank you very much for your time and help, I greatly appreciate it. I'm looking forward to what you have to say. Take care.

[cstevens16]

k, for some reason you can't click on the link directly, but if you copy and past the URL, you can access the results.

[shelley]

ah, excellent. It's very simple really. All of your symptoms speak to deficiencies that require the liver and bile to process: manganese, iron, A, essential fatty acids.

Manganese levels are regulated by the LIVER. So if its ending up in your hair, the liver is ignoring it. Like I always say, take care of your liver and your liver will take care of you. And it is a very very important, essential mineral, and when it's too high or too low, you get really sick in a myriad of ways: migraines, wonky menstruation, muscle tremors, dizziness, hypothyroid (which leads to umpteen other symtpoms), colitis.... any of that sound familiar?

It doesn't have to be way high to do this, just high in terms of Iron. So you're going to need to supplement iron, but don't ask your liver to do that yet. First protect it and cleanse it with Milk Thistle. Make sure you take either Planetary Formula's Bupleurum Liver Cleanse, it has a little MT in it, or Liv.52, which I think has more, if memory serves.

Now in the weird way of minerals you could actually be low in manganese, not high. In that case your symptoms are more likely to be high cholesterol (which you have), hypoglycemia, depression, fatigue, joint dislocations, asthma, migraines again, but then they'd be on the left side, so I think you're going back and forth.

Sometimes things end up in the hair becuase the body cannot use them properly. The synergists are missing. Synergists for manganese are salt, E, and choline. A lack of choline (which is in lecithin) leads to gallstones, which sets up a continual cycle of the liver's inability to manage minerals properly.

When you get a headache that is worse on the right side, take some calcium or cal-mag fizz. That will lower your manganese levels temporarily and should resove the problem. It also cures most insomnia, especially when combined with tryptophan.

So my advice to you is to concentrate on liver and lymph cleansing for a month. Take Taurine supplements for 3 days out of every week for that month, it's just protein, very safe, essential for forming bile. Follow the rest of my guidelines for slow liver cleansing in the FAQ, and plan on doing at least 4 major liver flushes, one every 2 weeks. DO NOT use a lot of magnesium when flushing like some other people recommend. 250 mg only.

You're right, sweating is essential for you. Salt detox baths (see FAQ) at least 2x weekly. Swallow activated charcoal before hand. Saunas would be good too.

If you've been limiting salt in your diet, don't.

After the month of liver cleansing, take the RDA for iron and manganese with your fat-rich meals, alternating each day and taking some days off to give your kidneys a break. Only take for about 8 times each, re-evaluate, repeat if necessary. Start taking cod liver oil on the days you don't eat carrots. Only take it 3-4x a week, and only half the bottle. Toss the rest. Best if alternated with wheat germ oil. Don't start this part of the protocol if you still have greasy stools, as that indicates inability to digest fats, which means inability to digest and assimilate minerals too, so that they just strain your kidneys.

Then you should be safe for a short, 3-day Cutler metals cleanse with ALA around the clock, selenium supplementation, sulphur-rich foods, be sure to resume taking Milk Thistle at this time, and drink kidney-friendly teas.

I think the thing really messing you up is that line on your tongue representing issues with the spine that are probably located where the spine/nervous system manages calcium. When calcium is wonky it leaves you very susceptible to metals issues, particularly when the liver is not clean, as adaquate calcium is essential to balancing all the other trace metals.

Sometimes you just can't cure it. I have a quarter inch line left after tons of body work because I fractured a vertebrae whilst sitting on the bow of a speedboat as it crashed into a wave and I took the full force of that in my spine. Ouch. I had to pretend to be all right the rest of that day so as to not ruin everybody's good time and spent the next two weeks sitting with an icepack.

Be sure to take in lecithin as often as possible, in the protein shake, or just eat it off the spoon. Since it's rich in phosphorus you should be taking calcium too. 3 tablespoons a day should be safe for you if you're taking calcium every-other day. This should regulate your cholesterol within 3 months, if not sooner. Be sure and check.

Hope that makes sense!

[cstevens16]

Everything makes sense for the most part, thanks! I've suspected that the rest of my symtoms and deficiencies were all liver related, but it's nice to hear it come directly from you. I guess I was just a little worried about why my manganese was so off compared to everything else, so thanks for clearing that up for me.

Like I said early, I've done between 20 to 30 liver flushes already and have removed thousands of stones. I stoped counting after the first 1000 or so. I'm definetly going to do another series of 4 right away.

I'm already done and am doing alot of slow liver and lymph cleansing, so after reading what you have advised, it doesn't sound like I need to change things all that much.....so that's good. I've been taking Milk thistle, taurine and about a tablespoon of lecithin every day, but by the sounds of it I should up my lecithin intake. I've taken a couple bottles of Planetary Formula's Bupleurum Liver Cleanse in the past, but I think I will order another bottle right away.

You don't seem to be to concerned about the elevated levels of Uranium in my hair, so I'll just assume you feel it's just a result of my body not being able to excrete it properly resulting in it ending up in my hair.

I'm glad you mentioned tryptophan for insomnia, I picked up a bottle of 5-htp about a week ago, so I'm hoping that helps.

And if you don't mind me asking, I have a couple of other question about what you've suggested.

First, ..it's kind of two part question, I'm currently already supplementing with cod liver oil, should I stop supplementing and continue after my next series of flushes? And also, why did you instruct taking half a bottle and throwing away the rest? Is cod liver oil unsafe to suppplement on a ongoing basis?

Second, why do you recommend NOT taking alot of magnesium before a flush? Is this something you're recommending for me specifically, or is this how you feel about the use of magnesium for liver flushing in general? I've used espon salts for all of my past flushes, but I guess I don't need to be. I just wanted to make sure that I was getting the most stones out as possible.

Third, is ALA something that should only be taken once the liver if free of stones? I ask this because I've cycled with it in the past, but maybe I shouldn't have. My liver's a lot cleaner than it used to be, but I'll stop with the ALA until my liver's stone free if that's what you suggest.

Fourth, are coffee enemas something I should be doing right now? I've done quite a few of them in the past and they seem to help. I've always wonder if they leach minerals from the body. Can they be done before, between, after liver flushes, so long as you take a break between enemas?

And lastly, do I need to be supplementing with Calcium if I'm drinking 2-3 cups of kefir daily?

With regards to the line on my tongue represting spine issues, I've never had a serisous spinal injury.....by the way, your speedboat mishap sounded really painful ...ouch.....but I have been part of some very violent collision playing football and I've had fairly poor posture for most of life, so maybe this has something to do with. My posture is one issue that I'm trying really hard to correct. It's tough training your body to do something it doesn't want to naturally.

Alright, hopefully I've made myself clear!

[Monique]

Thanks cstevens16! n/m

[cstevens16]

you're welcome Monique, hope you found it helpfull!!

[shelley]

Oh there this is! OKay, answered this in e-mail except I think I didn't answer the part about coffee enemas.

Coffee enemas in general are not recommended because we do soak up the caffeine and that exhausts the adrenals, which are usually already pretty exhausted. If you're certain-sure that your adrenals are fine, then 2 cups of coffee mixed in with a liter of water can be an excellent enema, increasing peristaltic action and exiting a lot of toxins. But if in doubt, stick with just regular slightly salted water, or a tablespoon or two of bentonite clay.