Many of you know that I was sick for about about a decade, very sick for a few years of that.  This is the story of my illness.  At this point I am 100% back to normal.   

It probably all started when I had a sinus infection for a couple years that wasn’t treated properly.  I was in an HMO; they wouldn’t let me see a specialist, and I was too dumb to pay out of my own pocket.  For a long period of time, I was taking 6-10 Tylenol per day, which is terrible for your liver.  It depletes glutathione which is needed for your liver to do it’s job of detoxification.   (It doesn’t just detoxify external toxins, but internal toxins which are generated every day by your own body.) 

 I also got cytomegalovirus (CMV) during this time, which may have been a trigger for my subsequent immune problems.  But CMV typically only occurs in immunocompromised people (primarily people with AIDS).  So it’s not clear what caused what.

As a result of the glutathione depletion, my mercury levels were building up.  The mercury was coming from my fillings, and my liver could not detox it so that it could leave the body.

My immune system became ineffective, and I had constant systemic infections (viral and bacterial).  At this time I had been sick long enough that based on my symptoms, they said I had “Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome.”  Note that it is a syndrome, a collection of symptoms.  Most people believe it is not a single illness but a catch-all for a variety of other undiagnosed illnesses. 

The infections, combined with a genetic propensity to hypercoagulate (lp(a), caused my blood to thicken, making it more difficult to treat the infections.  (The fibrous blood blocked antibiotics and antivirals from reaching the infections.)  Blood thinners (heparin) helped the drugs work better, but they still didn’t work that great. 

Also somewhat related to the thick blood, I developed orthostatic hypotension.  This meant that my blood pressure was extremely low (often in the 80/50 range), and I couldn’t stand up for more than a few seconds. 

By this time I understood the liver problems, and started taking supplements to build my glutathione back up.  With the help of anti-virals, antibiotics and immune system enhancers, my immune system was improving and the infections were less strong.  I didn’t feel like I had the flu all the time.  And I was taking a blood pressure regulating medication to raise my blood pressure; this improved the orthostatic hypotension. 

At this time, I had my fillings removed, thinking that would reduce some of the work my liver had to do, and help my immune system.  Instead, the mercury which had been relatively safely stored in my body, moved to my brain.  This caused severe cognitive impairment; my IQ and functional capabilities dropped significantly, and for a time it was so bad that I couldn’t remember things like my own phone number or the names of objects.) 

During this time I stayed in bed a lot.  It was difficult to talk to others, and any exertion caused fatigue and caused me to become more ill.  Eventually I was able to get the mercury out of my brain.  I had also become hypothyroid, a common situation in many people with chronic illness and mercury illness, and thyroid pills helped the fatigue. 

But my liver still wasn’t going it’s job, and I became very chemically sensitive.  I couldn’t go out much, even to go shopping, because the out-gassing chemicals from all the new products made me so sick.  We began to suspect there might be an issue with chemical toxins in my environment.  I found that in certain locations I was quite well.  (Not all locations.  For example I was very sick in Maui, but very good on the Big Island just a few months later.)  I found out that I lived a couple miles downwind of the worse polluter in the county.  So we decided to move.

I really started to improve while our house was for sale and we were looking for a new house in Reno.  Then once we moved, I was significantly improved.  Actually, probably “cured” in a sense, but after years of deconditioning and so many of my body’s systems being out of whack, the rest of me had to catch up.  At this point it was found that I have a genetic quirk that prevents my liver from detoxing mycotoxins (and who knows what else.)  Mycotoxins are chemical toxins which are produced from mold.  As it turned out, my lasting improvement began when I packed up the pottery studio in order to put our house in California up for sale.  (It is well known that clay contains a lot of mold.  In fact, for throwing on the wheel, the moldier the better because it gives the clay plasticity and makes it easy to work!)  Not ALL my issues started after I began doing pottery; I did have the initial sinus problems and a viral infection that was evidence of a weakened immune system before I started working with clay.  But I was doing it for a significant number of the years I was sick.  Interestingly, once I was not exposed to mold any more, my chemical sensitivities disappeared, and my body was able to fight infections on its own.