Hi Jeanie,

You yourself look quite young for your age, judging from your picture

Thanks for sharing your story here. I've always wanted to see Alaska, it must be beautiful. But the dark winters would kill me. They are hard enough here in the UK. I'm glad I'm sorting things out for myself now because I've had 4 horrid winters of SAD and it starts getting to the point where you have a morbid fear of that time of year approaching. I used to love the autumn.

Sounds like you've really done a lot to try to get yourself well. I'm just looking back into mercury issues myself, and they are so complex. I've asked for my January hair test to be interpreted but apparently if you have poor mineral absorption (as I seem to), it's an indicator of mercury.

What's more, I said I'd had no reaction to the ALA I took, but I didn't realte it to the unusual panicky anxiety I was feeling yesterday and today. I thought it was from my last Armour raise. Then I decided to take 12.5mg of DMSA this morning and it appears to be helping. I'm going to do a round like this and then probably add ALA in. I've got all this stuff, I brought loads of DMSA back from the US last Christmas, so I may as well give it a try.

Any Cutler has told me on the frequent dose list that "foolish people" can make themselves worse with high chelation doses. Apparently the info in his book is 10 years out of date, and most people are saying they get by better on lower doses. I'm wondering why I was never told this and I'm also wondering what was happening to me during all those months of chelation, were they wasted? I don't know. Anyway, I'm going to go with this and probably end up on 25mg each of DMSA and ALA. I did feel better when I was taking them, and life has been much more of a struggle since then.

By the way, liquorice extract for adrenals . . . what it does is extend the "life" of cortisol in your body. I got a lot of help from it before I went on the serious meds. It needs to be the glycyrrhized kind though, as this is the substance that works on the cortisol, and you need to take occasional breaks from it (every 3 weeks I think) or it starts to lose its effect.

I've done all sorts of things for the depression, but I think what's going to help me most is continuing to support my adrenals and thyroid while I chelate. I got burned by that antidepressant and I want to stay well away from anything like that. St. John's wort made me feel spacey and gave me painful stomach cramps, and 5-HTP made me feel spacey and sleepy. Especially now that I've been on an AD, my serotonin receptors need to heal and I can't be taking anything else that's going to artificially perk them up.

And about the evo/creation site . . . it can be an interesting topic of discussion, and I've learned a lot from doing it. But it appears to be growing big and turning a bit nasty, especially with some new posters who seem to want to fight each other tooth and nail. Yes I've got my own health issues to address, and I've got that school work, as well as my daughter to look after. When you're ill it's easier to curl up into a shell and sit on the computer typing stuff. When I'm feeling better I'll probably be conspicuous by my absence there, LOL.

I don't doubt that childbirth contributed to my ill health. I wanted to do it all naturally. Didn't have a clue at the time about how to eat properly -- I didn't eat junk food, but I was pretty far away from the Paleolithic diet I aim for now. I had a failed induction and a caesarian. Dr. Peatfield said to me, "you women should never have babies. You're never 'right' after that." He was being tongue-in-cheek, but it's a testament to how many women see him with thyroid and adrenal problems after having babies.

Speaking of which, I ought to rest now and also spend some time with my little girl. Too much time on the computer is bad for the adrenals, and the DMSA is already taxing them today.

take care Jeanie,
Linda.