Glutathione Testing

I found this short video related to easy and inexpensive means to see if you are mercury toxic. In it testing glutathione levels is recommended. I've not been tested for this myself but have had significant shifts in energy levels since starting to take glutathione. The link is: http://www.mercuryexposure.info/consumers/testing-for-mercury/glutathione/item/457-testing-glutathione-to-determine-mercury-toxicity

Reclaiming Your Internal Environment- Part 6- The Progress, Challenges, and Stumbles

Though we seldom talk about it, when it comes to health in America we are conditioned to believe almost always a simple pill will make things right. If there was a pill to take away Morgellons, I'm certain many would opt to take it (and it would make about 95% of the medical world happier...not to mention the drug companies). Morgellons or HyperToxicity Syndrome or NeuroCutaneous Syndrome is truly systemic. My experience has been that the only real way to get well and eliminate symptoms (some which you may presently think have nothing to do with Morgellons) is to go after the beast and detox, detox, detox!

We have to be careful though. If you loosen mercury or other heavy metals from their molecular bind where they are currently and you overtax your detox system (such as kidney or liver), you may find yourself dealing with other health issues. Such toxins have to be removed with care and patience. It will take time.

I know in my efforts over the past 4+ years, I've had some major...feeling better, feeling better, feeling better...then suddenly oh, I'm feeling bad again. The best example of this would be my endocrine system challenges over the past year.

Obviously I wouldn't have gone over to Tanzania to teach if I though my health would be an issue. I had been feeling at the top of the world having taken up rock climbing and started some serious trail running again. I though all of my health issues were in the past and then stress overtook me. The students I would be teaching were from wealth and, having been raised on a farm with little, this certainly brought out some of my insecurities. While most of the staff were good people, there were enough game-playing coworkers to make my life difficult. I felt I had stress upon stress upon stress. Without reliving this extremely dysfunctional setting where the American male did not fit in, I will simply state I started to have some serious symptoms. Piecing it all together over time, I realized I was dealing with endocrine issues. It was a major stumble!

Still with 6 months of feeling like crap and getting no answers from the various doctors I'd visited, I needed to go through this challenge. I made it through another course of crappy symptoms and found my way back to health.

The thing about Morgellons and even related endocrine challenges is they are deep core issues of health. As someone who relies heavily on my mind working proper to teach and to write, I have felt completely broken at times (and these are the times I'm most likely to seek a closer connection to God); maybe this is for the best.

Given all of the challenges and stumbles, you may wonder is it worth it? I've got to say absolutely! I love life and living! If you've visited my main website (jwkeleher.com) and looked through some of my travels, you've seen a glimpse of my life after Morgellons. You can get through Morgellons. You can reclaim your internal environment and you can live a life more full than you have ever dreamed! It is out there. Reach for it! Enough of the exclamation points (my editor hates them)and enough on reclaiming your internal environment. Saint George fought the dragon and you can fight this! Carpe diem, Joe

Comparing Tribes: HIV/AIDS and Morgellons Part 1

If you follow my blog, then you know I've spent much of this school year in Africa and returned to the US after becoming ill. I've struggled through some bad symptoms which seem to come in waves.

Two weeks ago I remembered an incident which took place in Arusha, Tanzania. I had purchased a hair trimmer from a street vendor and, after finding it didn't work, went back to get my money returned. I got angry and started shouting at the man and, as seems to be common in Africa, a crowd circled around. One of the men told me he would get me to a barber (though it sounds strange, I believe he had "bewitched" or hypnotized me. I cannot remember has face...only his hand gestures and voice). I ended up at the local market which is as dirty a setting as you can imagine. Knowing one in six is estimated as infected with HIV in Tanzania (which is actually lower than much of Africa), I would never have freely chosen to go to such a setting where blood could easily be transferred.

Anyhow, the memory of this incident flooded my mind as my health recently worsened and had symptoms characteristic of HIV. Once again, I felt I would have to confront a condition considered incurable. I set up a date to get tested and assumed the worst. I won't leave you hanging. I was tested yesterday and, thank God, I do not have HIV!

One of the HIV/Aids online support groups uses "Welcome to the Tribe" as their motto. I like the idea of a tribe. It is a comfort to those suffering, I am certain. A Morgellons tribe needs to form. In my next entry, I plan to compare the tribes; I think we could learn much from understanding each other.

Morgellons Spectrum

I believe the primary cause of Morgellons's symptoms is mercury as a neurotoxin. As the levels of mercury increases beyond the blood/brain barrier so too do the symptoms. When I consider my own case it is like an onion with layers (increase the layers and additional symptoms occur, decrease the layers and symptoms disappear).

I had many unexplained medical symptoms prior to the crawling sensations of Morgellons; these include panic attacks/ depression (these symptoms go hand in hand), racing/irregular heart beats, severe loss of energy (went from 20 miles+ of mountainous trail running to barely being able to walk a single mile), bloating, irritable bowel syndrome, "chronic prostatitis", E. D. (hope I don't have to spell it out). These symptoms started as early as 1988 (graduate school)and carry through the present. Since I had my dental work replaced and began chelation, most of these symptoms have not occurred (although I still have some degree of bloating). In short, I do feel there is a connection between past symptoms and issues of toxicity. The cleaner my body, the better I am.

I will mention having had five emergency room visits over the last six years. The symptoms for each were similar--I felt disoriented, had difficulty breathing, got irregular heart beats, and was certain I was about to die. I was told they were severe panic attacks. There was also something going on with my blood sugar levels. I haven't had anything like this in over a year and think they could relate to high levels of mercury in the air from the power plants in the Four Corners (I do not live there any more because of these).

I have to mention in my many years of suffering from this mix of various symptoms no medical professional ever made mention of them possibly related to mercury poisoning. The medical world needs to better understand mercury's effects!

So, if my case is typical of the effects of increased mercury levels, then Morgellons as a condition related to mercury levels is occurring in a spectrum. The reason documented cases do not appear the same is due to 1) levels of toxin, and 2) individual reaction to toxin.

If this spectrum is proven true, consider the drugs being given to cover up or manage symptoms. The drug industry makes more money if we stay sick.

While I am concerned about those suffering, I think the unborn may be the "canaries in the coal mine" as mercury is passed from mother to child at ten times the rate! It is awful to think about. Again, the drug industry profits by children being born with autism, ADD and ADHD.

The hope I give in this entry is that we can see the patterns and understand the implication. Removing primary toxins (dental and etc.) along with aggressive detoxing can lead to elimination of symptoms. Clean up our bodies,our families, our towns, our countries... then we can clean up the world.

Detox- The No or Little Cost Start

I have done a great deal to clean my body out of toxins. If you've read my account of symptoms and recovery, you know I took drastic and expensive measures to clean out my body (removal/replacement of dental materials and chelation being the primary costs); these I will get to. Today though, I want to try to give sufferers a start that will cost little or nothing; the focus is attitude, exercise, and intake.

The first step to my recover was to change my perspective (and believe me it was hard!). Instead of saying "bugs, bugs, bugs!" when the crawling came...I started to say "symptoms, symptoms, symptoms"! Being terrified of bugs crawling on or under my skin seemed to cause the symptoms to get worse. I started to make note of when the symptoms would start up (towards evening, changes in temperature, and thinking/scanning my body for crawling). The more I told myself, "These are only symptoms", the better I felt and the less the symptoms occurred (of course, the dental detox as documented made symptoms lesson...and eventually subside. I do still get twitching, which is nothing like the crawling, at the base of my feet after long hikes or other physical activities).

Exercise was essential even when I was deep in symptoms (every day I went walking and found it helpful). Exercise like walking, yoga and stretching can be combined with prayer and meditation. Work up to cardiovascular workouts (I run now...but started by bouncing on a mini-trampoline). Experiment with exercise. You may be surprised by discovering a new passion (such as my mid-life discovery of rock climbing).

A key piece to detoxing is to not put toxins in your system to begin with. I think of my body as a sack of mostly water; I need to take out toxins and keep toxins from going in. I do my best to eat organic. I also try to take in high amounts of greens. I avoid anything with heavy metal content (such as tortillas...some have aluminum. I now read every label). Air quality and water quality need to also be considered. Filters for drinking and showering water are necessary (and worth every penny). Air quality needs to also be considered (I recently moved from a location near power plants that were polluting with mercury among other things (as I believe in a mercury connection, I decided my life depended on cleaner air)); hopefully, you are not in a situation where you are regularly exposed to toxins.

This start should cost little to nothing, but will make a difference. As stated, I do believe any approach should be done with a trusted medical professional.