Hi there. I'm also a first-time caller to this station (and a verbose one, as you will see).
In reference to the topic-du-jour, how would I even know if I have contacted a parasite (should I ever muster the courage to try raw-meat)? First I'll watch some of the DVD's and hopefully receive the booklet of where to obtain the raw food sources (that I also shelled out money for two weeks ago from Vonderplanitz enterprises).
But these guys I met in NY City's Union Square farmers-market were extolling the diet and recommending it for people who have heavy-metal poisoning-caused Candida overgrowth problems (as I assumedly do). Before I met them, I had no idea that the so-called Stone Age Diet could also be followed for people in my quandary.
I say assumedly since $20,000 has been spent in this year of abject suffering, but all these doctors-- even "functional medicine" practicioners and other less stiff-necked GP's-- and I still am basically guessing about what caused my health to get so much worse.
Some rely on this high-tech DNA adjunct blood analysis of my cell decomposition from Acumen Labs in England (which shows Antimony as the main cause, with Cadmium, Benzene and other sensitizing influences).
But I got a Tetanus vaccine in November-- that this doctor gave me with Thimerosal in it, and without warning, despite hearing that I was ailing from what I then thought was only a "yeast overgrowth" problem-- and I have also gotten a MELISA test that showed aluminum as another stressor.
There's this doctor named Haley who did a 25-year study with the NIH that tracked patients with metals exposure. It concluded that exposure to one metal can have a lethal synergistic effect that makes one many times more susceptible to others.
And right before I got sick in May of 2009, I had used these e-cigarettes to quit smoking the real thing. Since then I read some internet speculation that the polyester filter in these faux-cigs creates antimony (so, even though I only puffed on the vapor of these unregulated rechargeable things about 200 times, I assume that this is what tipped the balance of my health).
But I am trying this cutting-edge IV infusion therapy of Phosphatidylcholine pushes with Leukovorin (Folinic acid); Procrit (off-label use of an anemia drug) Glutathione and Lipostable (from a Swiss Lab that makes it in a concentrated form).
They cost $800 each and the creator of this protocol, Dr. Patricia Kane, claims that I only need 20 more to finish methylating out the toxins (which are supposedly keeping my body from overcoming the yeast situation). I am becoming increasingly doubtful that this can remove metals that may be lodged within my brain and other organs, but she feels that it all will work on the cellular level (and that's all I need be concerned with along with the supplements and dietary changes-- like no grains and more fats, proteins, seeds, nuts and low-carb veggies and fruits-- that she advises)
Phew. That's the short-version. I'll probably hear that my body isn't designed to digest cooked vegetables and cooked meat from ya'al. And, if it meant getting back my health, I'd be willing to do anything to remove the metals damage that is likely ruining my life.
I say "likely", since proving this damage-- like the secondary yeast-overgrowth itself-- is an inexact or unprovable task. So, in the meantime, I'm trying to see if doing things like removing my two amalgams from my teeth or finishing these I/V.'s can get me to the promised land of restored health.
But, in two or three months, I'll know if that has worked (and, although I am not suffering as much as before-- when I even had to take Diflucan to deal with a second case of Thrush-- I am doubting how much more progress can be made).
I already avoid all grains, anything processed, any meats with anti-biotics fed to it, vinegars, refined sugars and all the rest of the usual anti-candida-overgrowth diet (and, yes, I know that everyone's body naturally has Candida present).
I just would be heartened to hear from anyone in a similar situation who found that adherence to the raw diet got them past a lifetime of ad-hoc supplements and epson-salt foot-baths, chlorella, Pau D'arco, anti-fungals, chelation and other seemingly-endless and expensive methods of restoring the body's proper balance.
I'd also like to know if anyone can suggest a phone number for me to find out where my booklet-- about how to contact farms that sell unpasteurized butters and such-- has gone?
I introduce all that because I wonder why no one seems to mention this P/K I.V. treatment online if its so simple and effective (and, at least, obviously healthier than chelating or even testing for metals in the usual DMSA or DMPS methods that involve a small exposure)?
Can someone here suggest any sub-group of the raw paleo forum discussion to address my situation to? I know from reading the Vondedplanitz interview with Dr. Stanley Bass how adherents of his method would react to this (and I already heard from the guy selling me grass-fed steaks at Union Square-- who swears that Aajonous' practices caused him to remove the radiation he received as a child growing up near Chernobyl).
He also occasionally eats rotten meat and, like Aajonous, sees no distinction between good and bad bacteria (and, even though I only met him once, he certainly looked as healthy as can be).
So I only know the most introductory aspects of the diet (as garnered from this guy and the interview with Vonderplanitz). And I get that there are variations of the diet as well.
Sorry if my message is multi-pronged and too long. But I didn't even get into how I only went through puberty at age 17-- and suffered a severe growth-disorder that kept me at the same height and weight from age 13-to-17-- due to what my endocrinologist's then said was a problem digesting lactose.
It had apparently worn away the lining of my small-intestine-- a key absorption point for naturally-produced growth hormones-- and until I was removed from dairy entirely did it begin to heal(and did I begin to grow).
I'm now 43 and I mention it because I'm being urged to have dairy again (whether pasteurized or unpasteurized). This Dr. Kane scoffs at what I always assumed was the truth and instead alleges that an early exposure to Antimony stunted my growth. She has no evidence for this, but declares it nonetheless.
So, if there's anyone in a similar situation-- with metals-caused Candida overgrowth symptoms-- who also recovered on the raw paleo diet, BUT WITHOUT DAIRY BEING INCLUDED, I'd appreciate hearing your tales.
Sometimes I wonder if everyone's differing experiences can be attributed to some of us lacking the gene required to detoxify metals (or the ability to digest milk). Maybe that's why I read recently of a well-known, over-40 female film producer of the new John Lennon bio-pic "Nowhere Boy" who had one form of Cancer removed and then developed breast cancer a few years later. This time, she ignored advice to take radiation treatments and simply stopped consuming milk (in the theory that the hormones in it were responsible). She apparently has a clean bill of health and is marrying the 25-year-old star of the picture (according to some "Vanity Fair" or other magazine article I recently perused).
Then, last night, I read about this medical-researcher whose son has severe autism and wouldn't say "Mommy" or look anyone in the eyes. Every doctor said differently, but they took their son off dairy at age 2 or 3 and, within one year, his symptoms improved dramatically and resolved themselves so much that the earlier doctors gave a mea-culpa upon viewing the evidence for themselves.
There's just so much we don't know, yet a one-size-fits-all approach is trumpeted by those who feel a bit healthier after switching to whatever diet they attribute to improving their health. I get that not everyone here follow the same parameters regarding dairy and even what role fruits or veggies play in their diet construction.
So I'm sorry for going off in many directions. I'm just losing faith with my regular doctor, now that I've deduced that he is too lazy to research this stuff for himself (and, instead, is simply parroting what the controversial Dr. Kane is suggesting). He even told me that there is no chelating agent for Antimony and is dodging my calls today that followed my reading of a report that directly contradicted that.
So Dr.Kane and this Dr. Maurice Beer are focused primarily on how my cell-lipids are 76% lower than they should be and how my immunity is impaired as a result.
I just wish there was a doctor in the NY City area that subscribes to the raw primal diet's underlying assumptions (since I am afraid to make decisions by myself on such a consequential problem that I have consistently relied upon the wrong people to manage).
I'll stop here, but if anyone knows of anyone in a similar boat and what advice-- or names of doctors-- I would benefit from being informed about, I'd appreciate it. It feels like I'm not going to be able to postpone the raw-meat vs. chelation question for too much longer.