Heavy metal poisoning chapter 1!

Heavy metal poisoning chapter 1!
Hi all, My name is Karlien Muller, I am a 34 year old woman consulting in the agricultural industry, with a passion for integrated pest and disease management. I have quite a unique story to tell, which all started October 2015… I do hope to reach as many people as possible, with the aim to assist other people caught up in the exact same situation, or similar. Ultimately, I want to use the tragedy I have to endure, for the greater good by creating more awareness about heavy metal poisoning obtained in agriculture, so that others do not suffer as long as I did before getting to the right answers and solutions….
I am a qualified plant pathologist, and nearly finished with my phD in Entomology, (working with plant pests and diseases in agriculture, advising growers on how to control pests sustainably using integrated methods such as biological control, physical practices, and chemical control). I grew up on a farm in Levubu, Limpopo province, South Africa. I was home schooled and never attended an ordinary school… however I did study at the University of Pretoria for a BSc degree in Plant Pathology. I graduated my MSc degree in Plant Pathology in 2015. I started working as a quality manager and plant pathologist with entomology as the focus in the citrus industry in March 2014. This entailed several hours in orchards scouting for pests and diseases, determining the distribution and infestation level of the pests, and figuring out which control option will be most practical, economical, and sustainable while also complying to the South African Export standards, AND the Importing country’s legislations regarding phytosanitary pests and diseases, or residue levels of chemicals used on the crops. This is not just an ordinary job for me, this is my passion I am living, and I enjoy every single moment of the learning curve in the industry.
Nevertheless… I started feeling ill October 2015, with high fever, severe pain all over my body, fainting, anxiety attacks, pins and needles in limbs, depression, tiredness and fatigue, (out of breath while walking only a few 100m), night sweats, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, brain fog, memory loss, abdominal aches and pains, food intolerance, bloating, and did I mention the CONSTANT pain all over my whole body!!! The symptoms kept on piling up….. doctor and test after test, having hope for answers just to find out nothing has been detected to be wrong. January 2016 I was diagnosed with a possibility of Brucellosis. I was on severe antibiotics for 3 months… however after that… there was still no improvement in my condition. At a time, I was so weak that I was booked off from work for 1 month in which I was hospitalised with even more tests, scans, and x-rays…. with no luck of any cause. I continued visiting different doctors, but ending back in hospital time and again when my body just collapses and give in due to severe pain attacks… I eventually learnt how to deal with the pain and additional symptoms… I finally lost all hope and attempted suicide as the doctors kept on telling me there is nothing wrong, its only work stress and that I must see a psychologist as it might be all in my head…. but this pain is never ending!!!! Obviously I did not succeed in my attempt… but this is a story for another post ;) So stay tuned!
I started my phD in Entomology in 2019, with a project that intrigued my whole being! I studied part time while working and I think this kept me going on autopilot…. something to keep my mind off of the pain. Doctors kept on telling me that my condition is due to severe stress at work and studies… so I started seeing a business psychologist, who helped me greatly in dealing with the work life balance and stress of such high position I had in the company. I felt I’ve dealt with the stress management, but my condition still hasn’t improved.
One evening in October 2022 I was transported by ambulance to the nearest hospital (at that time 120km away) due to my heart rate not stabilizing and I kept on having anxiety/seizure attacks and finally struggled to remain consciousness. When I woke up in hospital, I decided to resign my job to focus on my health to determine the cause and how to further deal with the pain, which had gotten even worse over the years…. I was so weak that I was not capable of driving anymore, barely able to walk… I lived on pain medication, anti-depressants, anti-acids, asthma meds, allergy, sleeping medication, anti-anxiety meds, nausea and you name it… My friends started joking that I had more stock than the local pharmacy… I am a very focused and driven person in my career and take my responsibilities serious therefore I used these medications to treat the symptoms so that I can continue my work. At times, my condition improved, and I was able to exercise again, but not for long (I was very fit before and loved exercising, gymnastics, gym, swimming, contemporary dancing, jogging and mountain biking). But in general, my fitness level decreased with time as my condition worsened…
I started looking for doctors in bigger cities (Pretoria, Gauteng) that had an integrative approach to medicine that might figure out what is wrong in my body… Anyway, finally in December 2022 they detected that I had high levels of Manganese, Arsenic and Lead in my body that accumulated over the years due to exposure of selected chemicals having a heavy metal component. I was shocked, as I did not realize the heavy metals occur in some pesticides, and that it can be taken up by your skin/hands AFTER chemical deposition has dried out. Normally the safety regulations are to wear protective clothing during mixing and applications of chemicals. (Which I was not involved with) and if entering orchards while still wet. We normally entered orchards once the re-entry period stated on the labels had passed. I learnt that these metals can be taken up through your fingers/hands especially being in orchards the whole day, touching fruit, climbing into trees to look for pest presence…. it was quite a hot province (reaching 45 degrees at times during summer, with high relative humidity). Therefore, skin pores are open and able to take up the chemicals and metals when hands are sweaty. I never thought this would happen!!
PLEASE ALSO NOTE: NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED LIKE I AM — IF YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM IS STRONG, YOUR BODY WILL BE ABLE TO GET RID OF THE METALS EASILY, WE ARE DESIGNED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE BODY HEALS AND PROTECT ITSELF. I HAD A BIT OF WEAK IMMUNITY TO START OFF WITH. CHEMICALS ARE NOT ALL BAD, IT IS A CRUCIAL COMPONENT IN THE PRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS AND FOOD SECURITY. I AM STILL RECOMMENDING CHEMICALS TO GROWERS, AS WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT IT, HOWEVER I AM A BIT MORE CAUTIOUS AND LIMITING MY EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS– AS I KNOW MY BODY IS A MAGNET FOR METALS! I WILL WRITE MORE ABOUT THIS LATER ON IN MY BLOG, SO PLEASE FOLLOW ME 😊
After resignation, I moved back to the family farms in Levubu (Limpopo) for moral and physical support. Anyway, so my treatments started on the 3rd of January 2023. This entailed EDTA Chelation therapy — (globally recognised heavy metal poisoning treatment). Once a week, every Monday afternoon I had to be in Pretoria (Gauteng) for the 3–4 hour drip treatments. This chelation, works on the principle of binding to heavy metals (apparently due to the build up over the years — it has been absorbed into my bones and bone marrow, muscles, cells, proteins, and even DNA!) After drip treatments, I was even worse… My family took turns to drive me to Pretoria (+-450km from Levubu) as I was still too weak. After chelation, I would be in bed for about 3 to 4 days reliving all the above stated symptoms. The majority being nausea, vomiting, tiredness, severe nerve pain attacks, anxiety, and seizures… The weekly treatments would be for 10 weeks straight, 4 weeks “off” and another 10 sessions. I finished my 30 sessions end of November 2023. However, the follow up tests, showed slight progress… Apparently due to the long exposure, and the strong bondages the metals have with the proteins, enzymes and chemicals still in my body, it is more difficult to remove the metals, therefore my case is not as expected like the normal heavy metal poisoning candidates… normally after 30 treatments all metals will be out of the system. I was able to “rest” from EDTA treatments for 3 months so that my body and organs can recover (however with the years, my organs and bodily systems/functions was also badly affected). I must clock back in on the EDTA treatments on the 26th of February 2024… Currently, I need to rest as much as possible to reserve my energy for the next treatment and long drive, and the weeks consulting work thereafter. (I got back on my feet end of May/June 2023 — and able to consult again, however, I need to manage energy levels on a tight schedule!) Next post will be more on my current situation and how I’m managing my condition and balancing…. LIFE like we all are trying to 😊 Keep well!!