Saturday, January 17, 2015

HTMA test results

Raw numbers:
Calcium: 35 (good)
Magnesium: 5 (good)
Sodium: 111 (off the scale high)
Potassium: 21 (high)
Zinc: 14 (low)
Copper: 0.9 (very low)
Phosphorus: 14 (good)

Key ratios:
Blood sugar (Cal/Mag)= 35/5= 7.0
 Ideal is 6.67 so this is near perfect and when you consider rounding issues with Mag, you really can't do much better.  Even when I was running my best in 2012, this ratio was always very high with the Mag usually at 2.  Big improvements and I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, which is a 1:1 Cal/Mag ratio and if I am to favor one, it's the Mag.

Thyroid (Ca/K)= 35/21= 1.67
Ideal here is 4 so I am significantly below ideal.  In a hair test, a low ratio indicates an overactive thyroid.  Mine is in the moderate range and a nice improvement over the last test (0.86) but still well short of where it needs to be.  I'd like to see it at least 2.75 for symptoms to be minimal.

Adrenal (Na/Mg)= 111/5= 22.20
This has been the biggest thorn in my side.  I just can't seem to get this one down.  Ideal is 4 or 5 depending on the lab so that indicates that my adrenals are at least 4 times faster than ideal.  Very displeased with that one but it was better than the 29.8 that I had last time.

Vitality: (Na/K)= 111/21= 5.28
The ideal here is 2.5 but even a 4 is considered to be good and it's MUCH better to be on the high side than the low side.  With a number in this range, I will have tendency toward mild inflammation but that beats the hell out of adrenal exhaustion, which is what happens if it gets too low.  This ratio is essentially unchanged from last time and I'm not too worried about it.

Zinc/Copper= 14/0.9= 15.58
This one is the most baffling of all.  The liver pill contains lots of copper and little-no zinc and the blood test results show nice improvements in ceruloplasmin (bioavailable copper) yet the hair test shows that copper has tanked.  What the ----?

Calcium/Phosphorus- 35/14= 2.50
This ratio indicates sympathetic/parasympathetic dominance.  My ratio is a perfect 2.50.  100% just right.  Neither sympathetic nor parasympathetic.  I've leaned heavily towards sympathetic in the past so this is also a positive trend.

Toxic Metals:
Cadmium and aluminum were high on my last test.  Both have dropped significantly.  I'm actually a little concerned that they are too low because that may suggest poor elimination.

Overall impression:
The good news is that 4 out of 6 ratios improved significantly over last time with 1 unchanged while only the zinc/copper got worse.  2 ratios are either perfect or near perfect.

The bad news is that I am still a moderate-extreme fast oxidizer and I don't know why I had slow oxidation symptoms.  Perhaps there was another ingredient in the Liver Beef that I just can't tolerate that was causing those symptoms.  Vitamin A is a possible culprit.

The lesson that I have re-learned is that I need to be taking an adrenal suppressant regularly to have any chance of getting in balance.  When I was on the Liver Beef, I could not tolerate it, which likely caused my Na to shoot up.  I could not tolerate the adrenal suppressant either because of problems with copper and ceruloplasmin.  Catch-22.

It is true that copper often reads low in fast oxidizers but mine was so low that it is worrisome and the very low toxic metals suggest poor elimination.  I may need to do another detox but I don't know what impact that will have.  I may force copper and/or cadmium out of my liver and into my tissues, causing more fatigue.  I do know what to do about excess copper now so the elimination won't be as long or difficult this time around.  Is there any chance that a detox will allow me to tolerate the Liver Beef?  Another thought that I've had is that it really doesn't make sense for me to be a poor eliminator because the increased ceruloplasmin SHOULD be transporting copper out of my liver more effectively.

At the end of the day, this tells me that the Endodren is NOT the answer long-term and will lead to a collapse if I had kept taking it.  I'm back to the Thym-Adren now but still don't know why I could not tolerate it when on the Liver Beef.  In any event, next week, I'm going to go back to the Liver Beef for a few days just to see if it happens again.  If it does, I'll be okay taking it once a week, which will not produce significant symptoms and will keep my ceruloplasmin near the healthy range.  I AM NOT HAPPY!

EDIT:
  I have lowered the tissue sodium and potassium before.  In fact, it was all the down to 30/10 in early 2013 but I crashed because of my VERY low Magnesium and ceruloplasmin.  I see no reason why I cannot maintain those levels.  If I can get the Na back to 30, I'll have an adrenal ratio of 30/5= 6.00, which is in the healthy range.  Do I have a path to good health now or will I hit another roadblock?  I can't take another roadblock.

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