Our exposure to toxins is now likely greater than it has ever been. Humans produce many chemicals every day for use in agriculture, construction, cleaning, transport and packaging. 

We are still learning how these chemicals affect our bodies and our environment both in isolation as well as in combination. However, what we do know more about is the effect of toxic or ‘heavy’ metals on our bodies as these have been around for a lot longer and therefore studied more. Even though we understand that heavy metals can be very damaging to the human body, that does not mean we are able to avoid them completely. Many patients are still exposed to toxic metals and chemicals through the air they breathe, in their homes, and in some workplaces, such as in the mining industry. For many of our patients, these toxic chemicals and metals wreak havoc on their systems and may be the underlying cause of their symptoms.

Initial Consultation

A 51-year-old male presented with a 2-week history of fatigue, muscular aches and pains, nausea, a feeling of ‘vagueing out’, and spells of memory loss accompanied by perspiration and loss of colour to his face and lips. His memory was usually very good, however lately he experienced some patches of poor short term memory. The patient presented in a very intense and excited manner and rated his stress levels as 20/10 although he felt he dealt with stress very well. His energy was rated at 4/10 (usually 10/10), his bowel movements were daily, but felt slower than usual and more difficult to pass, and he experienced some daily bloating. He reported symptoms which were present prior to this feeling of fatigue including:

• Mood swings which he thought were a reaction to certain foods, including low mood in response to monosodium glutamate (MSG) ingestion;
• Temporal headaches once monthly in response to fatigue and dehydration;
• Sugar cravings when tired;
• Waking once to urinate at nights and then again at 3am most nights and remaining awake for the rest of the night;
• Restless legs.

He skipped breakfast most days, and his diet could be described as a standard Australian diet containing several serves of wheat most days, but appreciable quantities of fruit and vegetables. He would drink 3 cups of black tea on weekdays and up to 20 cups daily on the weekends. He consumed almost no water aside from in his tea. He was not taking any medication. Differential diagnoses included viral infection, transient ischaemic attacks and adrenal fatigue/dysfunction. 

Initial Prescription

At this appointment, treatment was aimed at supporting his immune system, providing anti-viral activity, calming his nervous system and promoting a restful sleep to assist convalescence.

Treatment consisted of:

• A herbal liquid containing astragalus (Astragalus membranaceous), cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa), St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), propolis (Propolis), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) to be taken 7.5mL twice daily;
• A medicinal mushroom powder containing cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis) 4.0g, coriolus/kawaratake (Trametes versicolor) 4.0g, reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) 4.0g and shiitake (Lentinula edodes) 4.0g to be taken 3 times daily;
• A herbal tablet containing valerian (Valeriana officinalis) 2.5g and hops (Humulus lupulus) 720mg to be taken 1-2 tablets ½ hour before bed;
• A magnesium and B vitamin powder containing 310mg magnesium as a blend of phosphate, citrate and orotate and supportive vitamins and minerals to be taken once daily;
• A referral to his GP for assessment and blood testing;
• Dietary advice included:
  • avoid wheat and dairy in the interim
  • rolled oats or muesli for breakfast daily
  • 2 cups of water upon rising
  • reduce weekend tea intake – replace with chamomile, licorice or rooibos tea
  • include 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic daily

2-Week Follow-Up

The patient reported feeling much better and reported no ‘vague feelings’. His energy had improved to 7/10, he was sleeping better – now waking at 6 am instead of 3 am. His stress levels reduced to 3/10 and he was no longer getting feelings of low blood sugar (he reported that he used to get snappy, short-tempered and nauseous). His libido was improving and his bowel habits returned to normal – easy to pass, with no bloating.  He had included muesli for breakfast and was now consuming 3 cups of tea on the weekends and 1 glass of water upon rising. Blood results revealed:

• slightly elevated ALT 49 U/L (range 0-45);
• low-normal ferritin 26 mcg/L (range 25-320);
• elevated transferrin iron binding capacity 73 mcmol/L (range 45-70);

His low ferritin seemed unusual to me (I have rarely seen low ferritin in male patients) and prompted further questions about his history. He revealed that he had previously worked in an aluminium smelter and an underground mine site. I ordered a hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) to gain an understanding of his toxic metal exposure.

His prescription remained the same as the initial prescription, with the exception of the following changes:

• A nutritional capsule containing iron (as glycinate) 24mg and ascorbic acid (as calcium ascorbate) 120mg to be taken 2 capsules before bed;
• I switched the magnesium powder to a tablet as I was concerned that he may have been reacting to the glutamine in the previous magnesium powder. The tablet contained magnesium (as citrate) 150mg and co-factors to be taken 2 tablets twice daily;
• A herbal and nutritional tablet for blood glucose support containing chromium (as chloride and nicotinate) 215mcg, gymnema (Gymnema sylvestre) 3.2g and cofactors to be taken 1 tablet 3 times daily with meals.

10-Week Follow-Up

The patient continued to feel well, he reported less reactions to foods, was very clear in his mind, no aches and pains in his body and no restless legs. He had been sleeping until 6 am without using the herbal tablet for insomnia and was no longer waking to urinate at night time. His energy was 9/10 and stress levels 2/10. He reported feeling the best he had felt for 15 years. The results of his HTMA revealed high aluminium (7.8 mcg/g range <7.0), lead (0.82 mcg/g, range <0.8), and silver (0.12 mcg/g, range <0.8).

His herbal liquid was changed to support the liver, adrenal glands, and nervous system, and included a metal detoxification protocol to deal with the toxic metals in his system. His prescription included:

• A liquid herbal formula containing St Mary’s thistle (Silybum marianum), bacopa (Bacopa monniera), St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) and lavender (Lavandula officinalis) to be taken 7.5mL twice daily with breakfast and lunch;
• A herbal detoxification tablet containing parsley (Petroselinum crispum) 60mg, broccoli (Brassica oleracea) 500mg, garlic (Allium sativum) 60mg, grape seed (Vitis Vinifera) 1000mg, pine bark (Pinus pinaster) 600mg, bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) 60mg, and additional nutrients to be taken 1 tablet before bed;
• A capsule containing 400mg modified and activated natural clinoptilolite to be taken 3 capsules twice daily;
• Continue with current iron and magnesium supplements;
• Dietary advice was aimed at supporting the detoxification process and included:
  • Drink a minimum of 5 glasses of water daily;
  • Consume one apple daily;
  • Include fresh coriander, parsley and raw garlic daily.

13-Week Follow-Up

The patient was not feeling as well as he had previously done, reporting that he had lost his appetite, was forgetting things, and was passing black coloured stools. He had increased his water intake to 1-2 glasses per day. It appeared that he was experiencing an exacerbation of his symptoms as a result of the detox program and so additional support was added. His prescription remained the same, with the addition of:

• A nutrition and herbal detoxification powder containing broccoli (Brassica oleracea) 7g, turmeric (Curcuma longa) 2.13g, and cofactors for detoxification to be taken once daily;
• Consume more water and replace black tea with green tea.

16-Week Follow-Up

The patient reported that he was now feeling even better than he was prior to the detoxification program. He was no longer reacting to foods and his mood was the most stable that it had ever been – this was confirmed by his wife. His memory and focus was dramatically improved, energy 10/10 and he was mostly sleeping through the night. He was now drinking over 1 litre of water daily. He was instructed to increase the herbal detoxification tablet to 2 tablets before bed and was prescribed a repeat of all supplements. The total detoxification time was 12 weeks.  I saw the patient once at the completion of his program and he continued to report feeling amazing and was even handling the most stressful time of his year with ease.

Conclusion

This case demonstrates the classic ‘layers of an onion’ path to healing. Once the patient’s primary symptoms had been addressed, it was clear there was something else negatively affecting his physiology. In this case, asking the right questions certainly uncovered the patient’s underlying toxicity and allowed for a thorough healing process and resolution of many long-standing symptoms. The patient had been exposed to many toxins over his lifetime and it seemed that his body was unable to remove these without support. Once the correct ingredients were provided, his body could process some of these toxins, allowing his normal physiological function to return.