*Year Two: Healing from Heavy Metals and Copper Toxicity.

Hello.  My name is Robin and I’ve decided to start writing about my healing process.  I am not a physician and do not dispense any advice here for the general public.  This is my story of healing.  I hope it is of some help or comfort to others who are struggling with health issues stemming from a metal toxicity.   Specifically copper toxicity.

I am not a writer and don’t expect this to be a perfect literary work.  I just want to tell my story so that others may know they are not alone in their very long and difficult recovery from metal toxicity.

About two years ago my body became toxic with copper.  I suffered from racing heart rate and metabolism to panic attacks, horrible memory problems and adrenal issues that rendered me physically unable to work or have any quality of life.  It’s a long story as to how I got there and this blog is a documentation of that story.

In June of 2009 I had decided to try an IUD for birth control.  Being the kind of person who prefers more natural ways of medicine etc.,  I opted for the copper IUD rather than the hormone emitting IUD.  In my mind I justified that copper was a natural mineral and synthetic hormones were not.  Therefore, copper must be better for me.

Even though I had a ton of anxiety about getting the copper IUD, I discounted it, telling myself  I was being  a “nervous nelly”.    I struggled with the decision to get it, but in the end, had it put in anyway.  Completely ignoring my intuition.

Four months later I was having full blown panic attacks, racing heart rate, obsessive compulsive behaviors, paranoia, memory issues, brain fog, insomnia, fear,  muscle pain, headaches, weight loss, diarrhea,  thyroid “storms”, excessive bleeding with my periods, extreme fatigue, inability to concentrate, feeling faint (one time while i was driving!), and a myriad of other horrible symptoms.

At first I didn’t know what was causing it.  It had occurred to me that this may be from the IUD but was assured by my female gynecologist that could not happen.  Whatever, it happened.  But before I figured that out I continued to see doctors and suffered greatly for months and months.   Many of the docs were less than empathetic and simply thought I needed a psycho-tropic drug to help level off my brain chemistry.  Which I was not interested in.  I knew it was something more complex than that.  I knew that brain chemistry doesn’t just GET imbalanced.  There had to be a bigger underlying issue as to why i was getting so sick.  I saw regular MDs as well as all the specialists (endocrinologist, hem0tologist, gasteroenterologist, liver specialist, cardiologist, etc.)  All of the visits resulting in no help to me.

Bloodwork was drawn and urine was tested over and over again to no avail.   Finally I had a  phone conversation with my mom one day.   I was asking her questions about my childhood  health thinking maybe there was something we had missed.  Somehow our conversation touched on that fact that we had copper in our drinking water for several years when I was younger. ( I remember our sinks had turned green but we didn’t really think anything of it.)    WAMMO!  It hit me that my IUD is copper and maybe there was a correlation!  I immediately got online and searched side effects from copper IUDs and sure enough, right there in black and white, were ALL of my symptoms! I couldn’t believe it,  every single one!  I called a close friend of mine and explained ” I figured it out!”  The very next day I had the IUD removed by a NEW gynecologist.  Leaving my old, inept, and uneducated  gynecologist in the dust.  But not without eventually giving her a piece of my mind.

After I got the IUD removed I somehow thought my symptoms would miraculously disappear.  I was severely mistaken.  My symptoms continued.  For quite some time.  I also continued to see docs looking for ways to recalibrate or bring balance back into my body.  Again to no avail.  I don’t  think the docs I met with even believed me about the IUD/copper problem.  My health was still failing and working was almost impossible.

I struggled deeply with my mental states from day to day.  I plunged in to deep despair often.  And then there were days were I was euphoric followed by deep depression.  Followed by complete fatigue and exhaustion.  This went on for days and weeks sometimes.  Eventually I would somehow start to feel a little bit better and would think ,oh, ok, i’m over the hump, I’m getting better, only to crash again after a few months of low grade normalcy.

I avoided foods high in copper and tried to be careful with myself.  But it was never enough.  Somehow I would always fall back into a panicked and weakened state of very poor health both mentally and physically.   It’s a given that I was an emotional wreck almost all the time for more than a year.

Through all of my days of sickness I was encouraged by my close friend to continue to research my own health and push for more and better health care from my practitioners.  Which i did slowly learn to do.  I became better at communicating my symptoms and telling my docs what I needed from them.  It was very difficult at first because of the panic attacks that would happen when I was trying to tell the docs about my symptoms, but eventually I was able to center myself enough to come across to them as a sane but very sick individual.

Even though I wasn’t getting any answers or direction from these docs I WAS learning a lot about my body and symptoms as time went on.  I became more willing to listen to my intuition.  More vocal and clear about what my body (and brain) was doing.  Eventually I started to see naturopaths and alternative practitioners (which is what I had always done when i was younger, but somehow had gotten out of the habit.)  This seemed like the right direction  but was very expensive.  (IS very expensive.)  And I had to be careful about how much testing and supplementing I could have done due to lack of finances.

I needed help. I needed and expert.  Someone who deals with copper toxicity all the time.  In Tucson, AZ there is no one.  Trust me.  I’ve seen them all and came up with nothing.  No one understands copper and how it works in the body.  At least no one in Tucson.  I was extremely frustrated and felt completely  defeated.  But friends continued to support me and give me hope that I just needed to keep persevering.  Keep researching, looking and learning.  That I could figure it out.

After more than two very long and difficult years, and much research, I discovered a doctor in Prescott, Az who happens to be an expert in the field of copper toxicity.  He and another fellow by the name of Dr. Paul Eck, (now deceased),  pretty much are the leading practitioners in this field. They specialize in Hair Mineral Analysis, which is the testing of human hair to see what minerals your body is processing/metabolizing out.   It is a little expensive but much more revealing than bloodwork.   (Metals tend to not show up in bloodwork because the body is such an efficient machine it doesn’t allow metals to be in the blood very long.  It gets it out of the blood by transporting it to organs where it could later be metabolized out.  Therefore, not showing up in the blood.)

I have recently had this hair test done and am currently embarking on a supplement and eating program that I am, for the first time in a very long time, hopeful will help me heal on a very deep level.  Purging my body of copper and other metals that are the underlying culprit of my health problems for quite some time.  The supplement program is a  recommendation by the practitioners I am dealing with currently.  I am happy to pass this information on to anyone who has struggled with the process of metal detoxing or  if they are in need of more information and are being ignored or discounted by the main stream medical community.   But buyer beware.  I am still experimenting with this program and do not know the outcome yet.  I can only go by my intuition at this point.  Which is getting stronger everyday.  Thank God.  I am grateful for that.

If you would like to share your experience with me  or if you have any questions about any part of this post please feel free to comment.  I wish you health, wellness and great joy in your life.

Ps:  I will continue to make posts on my journey back to health.

Sincerely,

Robin Eckert