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Detecting Symptoms of Toxic Exposure and Detoxing

by Cheriel Jensen
CherielJ@aol.com
May 1998

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Practically speaking, detoxing involves not only getting the toxic contamination out of the body but also stopping the contamination sources as much as possible. Restoration requires much more and while much is possible, complete restoration following toxic exposure is not. Toxins kill cells of the body and those cell lines killed will not come back to life. Toxins also alter cellular DNA. Detoxification can remove much of the toxins and bring a halt to the continuing destruction those toxins would be doing.

The following are instructions based on my own experience as a poisoned person. I am not a doctor and do not give medical advice.

If you feel sick there is a reason. Most doctors don't know much about toxic exposure. Most doctors never get even one class on effects of toxins on the body, probably one reason they are so free with their toxic drugs. Do not expect to randomly encounter a doctor who knows how to help you. I am aware of only a few in the whole country. Thus, for most reading this, much of the work of detoxing will be a job you must do yourself.

Medical care for specific testing is very important but will not be available to most reading this post.

What follows is very brief and leaves out much detail but should point the way to getting started.

Discovering the Cause:

Keep a diary of symptoms. Note specific symptoms together with the time they occur. Note where you are when symptoms begin. Document what you ate and the source of drinking water. You are looking for a pattern. From the pattern you may be able to discover both the place making you sick and perhaps the foods, things and places to which you have become allergic.

(Allergies to foods develop when you are poisoned as, unable to discriminate between toxins and the foods mixed with the toxins, the immune system learns to reject the contents present when toxins are present. As the body itself absorbs toxins and stores them in the body substance, the immune system turns on the contaminated body substance and the body becomes allergic to it's contaminated self becoming autoimmune.)

You may have to examine records to discover the past timing of your symptoms. Look at time sheets, records of time lost from school or work due to illness, emergency room visits, records of doctor visits and time off due to fatigue (non-travel vacation time, etc.). Even canceled checks and phone records can jog your memory of where you were when you got sick. Look particularly for over-the-counter or prescription medication purchases, phone calls to a friend with whom you can talk about how you feel, as well as the place of misc. check writing.

Some Symptoms Come On Right Away When Exposed:

Muscle spasms and cramps from pesticide exposure may be immediate but may be a delayed reaction by as much as 3 days up to 6 weeks.

Diarrhea generally begins within ten minutes to half an hour of an exposure and lasts several hours, but may begin as much as 2-3 hours later if the exposure is not severe. It is often followed a day or more later with constipation and light colored, smelly bowels, among other symptoms, if the toxins have killed the bowel flora.

Toxins may be obvious but often are not obvious. Toxins may be such things as pesticides, natural gas or gasoline leaks, carbon monoxide, or industrial effluent. Even very small amounts of these can have an enormous impact, particularly if you are exposed repeatedly or for a long time. Toxins may be less obvious, hidden in perfume, carpets or carpet glue, shampoo, shaving cream, aftershave lotion, lotion, cosmetics, detergents, soaps, cleaning chemicals, dry-cleaned clothes, turpentine, various other solvents, as formaldehyde treatment on bedding or carpet, photographic chemicals, unseen mold, etc.

Most of the poisoned people I know personally (several hundred) were first poisoned by repeated incidents of pesticide exposure experiencing acute but passing flu-like symptoms (fatigue, sore throat, upset stomach, fever, earache, headache), but then gradually they became cumulatively ill and less and less able to recover. With repeated exposure a time comes when the taste of the chemicals hang on the tongue, pervade the sinuses and won't go away. Brain fog, dizziness, muscle pain and spasms, joint pain, bone pain and density loss, back pain, wrist pain, foot pain, numb extremities, desensitized hands and feet, fatigue, rock hard body, twitching eye lids, peripheral vision losses, night vision losses, black under eyes, earache, swollen inner ears, ear discharge, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, swollen belly, swollen head, swollen gums, tooth enamel erosion and weakening, irregular heart beat, rhinitis, hair loss, deformed nails, rash of several types, hives, loss of libido, impotence, coldness, cold hands and feet, inability to adjust ones internal thermostat, excess menstrual bleeding, amenorrhoea, endomentriosis, sleep disturbance, failure to sweat, failure to moisturize skin, failure to moisturize eyes alternating with excessive tearing, failure to moisturize mouth and throat, failure to absorb nutrients from ones food, constipation and smelly gas, anaphylaxis--these are some of the various symptoms of acute and cumulative pesticide exposure.

In short every part of the body is affected by toxic pesticide exposure. At first a few of these symptoms will be noticed but as exposures go on without intervention many will present themselves. Many other toxins have similar effects. Many prescription drugs are the same chemicals or very similar to pesticides and cause similar effects.

Utilization of Hormones:

Hormone function is measured by urine tests, NOT blood tests. Interference with hormone function is a common problem for poisoned people as pesticides and many other toxins dock on the hormone docking sites preventing the docking of circulating hormones. The circulating hormones in the blood could show normal or even high in blood tests, but hormone metabolism is low or very low. Hormone metabolism is tested by the Broda Barns test. The average doctor may or may not be willing to perform even blood tests for hormones. One may not be able to afford the Broda Barns test which costs about $400 (which measures many of the hormones, not just the thyroid). Most doctors don't know of this test. Measuring one's temperature in the morning for several days just BEFORE rising can identify a consistently low temperature and indicate thyroid functional loss.

Trial and error is the only method I know to adjust the level of thyroid supplements necessary. Patent thyroid medicine such as Synthroid will probably not be very helpful. Thyroid supplements may need to include T3, either as naturally in Armour thyroid or the addition of T3 because many poisoned people can no longer convert T4 to T3. Without adequate thyroid and other hormone supplements it will be very difficult to detox as the body cannot keep warm enough to do the job.

The Heat:

Detoxing requires heat, both internal and external.

Don't enter the sauna alone if you are in an acute condition.
Access to a sauna is the ideal way to begin the process of detoxification.

In addition to the access to the sauna you will need:

The Process:

A series of saunas over days, weeks, months or years depending on your length, types, and amounts of exposure. The longer the period of exposure the longer will be the need for an active detox program due to the deep toxicity buildup:

Except for your nutritional supplements, it is far more effective if you fast at least 8 hours before and during the sauna the days you sauna. If you have a hard time fasting, you might want to time your saunas for first thing in the morning before breakfast. People who find it tolerable to fast will benefit by a longer fasting period before and after the saunas and hot baths, even up to 3-5 days IF you take nutritional supplements which include L- Carnitine.

  1. About 2 hours before take all your morning nutritional supplements. About an hour and a half before the sauna down three 1000 mg. timed release Vit. C and one 250 mg timed release niacin, and your hormones if you did not already take them. Down one of the Vitamin C drinks about half an hour before beginning the first shower.

  2. Start with an all over brisk rub down shower using the diluted hydrogen peroxide wash.

  3. Begin with 20 minutes in the sauna at medium heat. Adjust upward a little if you can stand it.

  4. Halfway through take about 600-700 mg of charcoal (about two capsules) and 12 oz of water.

  5. After the first 20 minutes in the sauna, shower and rub down again and wash the whole head and hair with the hydrogen peroxide wash.

  6. After the shower take 3 capsules of acidophilus/bifidous with plenty of water.

  7. Go back into the sauna for 25 minutes.

  8. At the end of this second period take the second Vitamin C drink and 100 mg of not-timed-release-niacin.

  9. Shower again including washing entire head and hair with an all over rub down shower.

  10. If you have a niacin flush halt it after about a minute by taking the third Vit C drink.

  11. Rest if you need to for 5-30 minutes. Rub down all over if you can during the second part of the rest period.

  12. Go back into the sauna for 30 minutes, raising the temperature if you can stand it. Halfway through take another 300-800 mg of charcoal in 12 oz of water. Gauge the amount of charcoal by how you feel. If you are smelling or tasting chemicals you need more charcoal ASAP.

  13. At the end of this third sauna period take 3 capsules acidophilus/bifidous again.

  14. Shower again, including washing hair using the hydrogen peroxide wash.

  15. Take at least 300 mg of magnesium after this shower.

Repeat steps 7. through 14. two more times the first day if you can, raising the sauna heat a little each time.

You may have to work up to this intensive level of detoxing. Set aside several days to a week of saunas in the beginning following all the steps above. If you can only do two week end days at least do that much followed the next week end by two more and then two more. As you proceed you can lengthen out the time in the sauna and raise the heat.

Don't be discouraged if you can only follow the first two sauna rounds the first time out. The sicker you are the more you have to work up to this program.

Hot Baths:

Having access to a sauna is ideal but you do not need a sauna if you have a big enough bathtub and heated water to do long hot soaks. You can alternate using baths and saunas. If you primarily use the sauna, hot baths should also be used at least every 3-4 days.

You need the items from The Heat, above:

as well as:

The Process:

Follow steps above as for the sauna, except where the 20 minute and longer saunas are specified bathe in very hot water instead, making sure each part of the body, including your hair and whole head, right up to the end of your nose, has at least the same amount of time immersed as specified for the sauna above. You will probably have to limit the time in the bath overall to about one hour and a half. This means you cannot begin as intensively and it will take longer.

You will need at least one round of charcoal, one round of acidophilus/bifidous follow up and the niacin followed by Vit C. At the end take the magnesium.

With Either Saunas or the Baths:

You want to work up a major sweat.

At first do the sauna or bath routine once a day. After the first 5-8 days you can lengthen out the time between hot baths and saunas. By this time your body's internal heat should be stoked and the detox process continues on auto pilot without such frequent intensive heat work.

Stages of Detoxification:

If done right and actually working, detoxification proceeds in layers. If you became toxic in stages, detox as described here proceeds backwards faster and in reverse sequence. You will notice re-arising and brief passing of symptoms you had while getting poisoned as you detox deeper and deeper. Rashes will come up and vanish. Muscle cramps will briefly resurface and vanish. Backaches will remanifest and then go away. Headaches will return for minutes or hours and then fade away. Old insect bites you thought gone will rise to the skin surface and then vanish. You may briefly get an upset stomach at times throughout. You may notice sinuses stuffing up a lot. (Keep a box of tissues nearby.) With the charcoal the reexperiencing of toxic symptoms can be kept very brief.

Every 2-3 hot sessions take a little oil such as olive oil, your oil based supplements or EPA at the end of the hot bath or sauna sessions to help clean up and carry out released oil-based toxins.

Every 5-6 days eat hot salsa as salad dressing, dip, etc. or take a few hot pepper capsules to kill the parasite that causes clogged arteries. You want to detox and dump that fatty stuff as well.

Fasting:

Once the body's heat-up has begun, and restoked in frequent intervals, you can continue to detox with periods of 3-5 day fasting. On the days you fast you will be recirculating toxic fat. Thus the need for charcoal. The most efficient process I know is to take 2-3 capsules of charcoal first thing in the morning. Wait one to 2 hours and take your morning supplements. Then eat an apple. Two to three hours later take some more charcoal, water and then take more in another 4-5 hours. Always take at least 12 oz of water for every two charcoal capsules. ALWAYS follow in about 20 minutes with 2-4 acidophilus/bifidous supplement capsules. Drink water throughout the day because part of the detox byproduct will exit through the kidneys. This is water. Tea, juice, or any other drinks do not substitute for the need for plain water while you detox. Drink it hot if you prefer.

You can detox daily without fasting but it will be a much slower and less efficient process. For this follow only the morning routine in the above paragraph and then eat regular meals beginning at least an hour after the morning charcoal/acidophilus/bifidus.

Deficiencies:

You will have deficiencies because of the damage toxins do to the intestinal walls. No matter what you take it will probably not make up the whole difference due to a degree of loss of the ability of the intestines to absorb. Many of the signs and symptoms of toxic exposure are identical to serious nutritional deficiencies and probably are nutritional deficiencies such as pellagra and scurvy, not necessarily due to intake but to absorption losses. What follows are general guidelines about supplements:

An apple or two every day, yes, even when fasting.

Vit C (to bowel tolerance), Vit E (1200 I.U. at first), Vit B6 (in AM), niacin, Glutathione (at least 250 mg.), extra magnesium and selenium, multi-minerals (without iron), lecithin, L-Carnitine and L-Lysine.

Hypericum can help repair your brain and restore the myelin sheath around your nerves. How badly your brain and nerves have been damaged, and how well your body responds to the detox process will determine how long you will need Hypericum. After you have taken Hypericum for several months test to see if you are getting too much by pressing with your hand against a wall with your arm perpendicular to the wall. If you notice stiff resistance or pain to that position stop the Hypericum for a while and don't start again till you can do this with no resistance or pain. Periodically retest. You can stop this supplement when your nerves and brain have undergone substantial repair. This may be months or years depending on how badly you were injured. You may want to use it periodically, for example for 2-3 weeks every 6 months to a year after that to overcome the effects of the random exposures we are subjected to when we begin to go out and about.

To boost your brain power while your brain is healing Ginkgo first thing in the morning can be a great help.

Chromium Picolinate and vanadium (the smallest amount) can help prevent the development of chemically caused diabetes and can sometimes reverse it. These give an energy boost.

Also important in the detox process are Alpha Lipoic Acid, well rounded B vitamins, Co Q 10, and Vit B12. Flax seeds for munching also provide important nutrients. Gamma linolic acid also helps.

Most poisoned people I have seen need hormone supplements but it is very difficult to get doctors to properly test for functional hormone deficiencies. Don't give up trying to get the proper tests. DHEA is now available over the counter and is the precursor to many hormones. It may help a great deal in addition to thyroid and other specific hormone supplements. It is especially important if you cannot get the proper tests and supplements for specific hormone metabolism deficiencies.

Nutritional needs are individual and your needs will vary. Begin to introduce supplements one at a time and gage how you feel. You could have allergies or sensitivities to any supplement just as any food. Always test new things by holding them for a few moments before taking them. If you start to react (sneeze, itch, swell, fog up, etc.) don't take the supplement. You might try another brand in case it is the covering, filler or additives.

A compounding pharmacy can make some of your hormones and supplements without fillers or additives but it is very expensive.

Most poisoned people quickly develop fungal and other parasite problems. These parasites can seem like the source of the problem, especially if you do not know the toxic source, but are generally just part of the problem of being poisoned and immune system damaged as a result.

Poisoned people also have trouble with parasites because the good intestinal bacteria is killed when the poisoning takes place and also as toxic byproducts continually recirculate between the blood, liver, and intestines in the bile. The bowel problems in poisoned people are generally complex and can involve invaded bad bacteria, amoeba, mold, fungus such as candida albicans or aspergillus fumigatus, tape worms, flat worms, viruses, etc. Bowel disturbance may also result from chemical sensitivities and allergies, and from celiac disease. The bowel problems must be taken care of by dealing with allergies (identification, avoidance, NAET, etc.) and possible celiac conditions (avoiding gluten containing foods), by periodically zapping the invaders (with electricity, grapefruit seed extract, etc.), and most important by supplementing with the basic friendly bacteria. Bowel flora die-off problems require attention until circulating toxins are reduced enough to stop killing essential bowel bacteria.

The Zapper:

The simplified zapper consists of a 9 volt battery, copper wires, two 6" long 1" diameter copper pipe handholds with single layer of wet paper towels around each. Hook it up with 8 alligator clips as follows:

Hand hold #1--->wire--->battery--->wire--->hand hold #2.

Using a timer, grasp one hand hold and then tap the other hand hold with your other hand 8-10 times per second for 10 minutes, stop for 20 minutes, tap again for 10 minutes, stop again for 20 minutes and then zap again 10 minutes. This way you are killing the parasites and parasites of parasites. VERY IMPORTANT: Follow up immediately after the third zap with an acidophilus/bifidous supplement (about 3-4 capsules). This should zap parasites and with them resolve the odors they generate, the gas, and the discomfort.

You may also try grapefruit seed extract treatment for 3-4 weeks if you are having fungal or other parasite problems.

Look in the archives for more specific help with these issues.

See the Hulda Clark book Cure for All Diseases for description of a more complex electric zapper. See the archives for Claire's zapper description.

Chelation:

If you can stand it, chelation therapy can make a difference and has helped many people I know. I only tried this once. I was not strong enough for it when I tried it. I also tried acupuncture but was not strong enough for it either at the time. I was acutely poisoned at that time and in a very fragile condition.

Chelation is especially useful if you have heavy metal poisoning. This is the subject of other posts from others with more experience.

Conclusion:

After my last poisoning, I tried a health club and a sauna/hot tub commercial place at first and had to endure the other stuff there (perfumes, hair spray, chlorine) for about a month and a half. The charcoal got me through this first period making the commercial places barely endurable. After that I started relying mostly on very hot immersion H202 baths which I take at home. The danger of this is that you tend not to make the bath water hot enough to detox your brain. It takes real serious heat to detox your brain.

If you don't already know the source of your toxic exposure, you will need to find out. Toxic conditions MUST be avoided or cleaned up. There are ways of cleaning things up in many cases: stripping furnishings and base board and even replacing the wall board, carpeting, washing with hydrogen peroxide, steam cleaning (i.e. Stanley Steamer, etc.), ozone treatment, zeolite absorbers, HEPA and other types of filtered air, and combinations of these.

Get rid of shoes, clothes, handbags, papers, food, plastic and other items which were in, used in, or taken into a pesticided environment. Do not recycle these items or give them to charity. Simply throw them away where you know there will not be scavengers collecting them. Get rid of all perfume and perfumed products, and all products with solvents, ammonia, or alcohol. You will probably never be able to use these kinds of products again. Get rid of all newspapers.

There are ways of obtaining records without alerting people so they cover up what they have done. It is important to see warrant lists, speak to the janitor on the bottom rung, or other detective work because you must find out the source of your toxic exposure so you will know what to avoid, stop it, escape from it or clean it up.

As you gradually detox expect brain fog to clear, pain to resolve, energy to return, strength to return, vision to improve, sleep to improve, sensitivities to lessen, etc.


Copyright 1998, Cheriel Jensen. All rights reserved. No posting elsewhere or reproduction of any kind is allowed without specific permission of the author. For more general statement about copyright permissions

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