Holistic Therapy: Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) - Ted's Q&A

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Supplements Needed in Lupus

Posted by Kate on 09/11/2006

Ted, I've been reading your responses to peoples' questions about lupus online and and I have one of my own. Was my doctor's diagnosis of lupus correct?

I was diagnosed almost six years ago at the age of seventeen with "mild lupus." Apparently, I had enough symptoms (fatigue, missed menstrual cycles, indigestion, tooth decay, some joint pain) and a few of the blood markers (low white cell count, positive ANA, low compliments, etc.)

I was immediately put on Plaquenil and at the time I thought perhaps it made me feel better. I've been on it ever since.

The reason I ask if I actually have lupus is because the following changes have nearly eradicated my lupus symptoms.

1.) After researching thyroid problems, I pursued investigation of my thyroid and found that it was quite low (nearly out of range). Thyroid medication has been incredible. I got my doctor to treat both T3 and T4.

2.) I had allergy testing completed and found out that I am allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, potato, almonds, cashews (to name a few). I feel tremendously better on a diet of buckwheat, quinoa, vegetables, fruit and meat. My bloating is almost gone. My tendency to become lethargic after meals is gone.

My doctor had me tested for celiac disease but my blood tests came back negative. I'm fairly positive that I must have the disease. I think the fact that I have been not eating wheat for the last year has contributed to the negative blood test. I have experienced far too many symptoms that are in line with celiac disease: thyroid issues, dental problems (four root canals and over 37 cavities by the age of 20), menstrual problems, IBS, vomiting (no connection with dental problems which started at the age of 13), many allergies, constipation (excruciating stomach cramps), diagnosis of lupus, etc. I also used to be ravenously hungry all the time--a low blood sugar feeling if I didn't eat every two hours.

My lupus "symptoms" were never extreme in the first place. At seventeen, my main complaints were indigestion, tooth decay, brain fog, and tiredness. Nearly all of those are gone with my current lifestyle and a great homeopathic doctor who managed to get my menstrual cycle back with some herbal remedies. At the moment, I'm the healthiest I've ever been and I think it should keep on getting better. I still struggle with fine tuning my diet. I don't digest food well enough and I'm pretty convinced this is due to all the allergies and the resulting leaking gut syndrome. Hopefully, a allergen free diet will help to heal my intestines. Every time my doctor ups my thyroid medication, I feel better. My quality of life is quite good. I workout four days a week. The only times I find myself having problems is when I accidentally eat something I'm allergic to.

So, how do I get myself off Plaquenil? Did I really have lupus in the first place or was it misdiagnosed gluten intolerance? Is it possible all of this started with gluten intolerance that built into lupus? What is Plaquenil doing to me right now? Is it helping, hindering? Should I stop cold turkey or gradually taper it off?

Honestly, I'm really curious to see if my bloodwork can be changed. I'm willing try and see if I can be "cured." You've listed a variety of supplements in other responses to emails. Would you be willing to fine tune your list of supplements and dosages to my specific case? I've already changed my diet so now I just need to start addressing the supplement issue.

Thank you for your time and patience with my lengthy email. And thank you for putting information out on the web about lupus. It makes a lot of logical sense to me.

Replied by Ted
Bangkok, Thailand
392 posts

Dear Kate: Before fine tuning your conditions, let me list your "mild lupus condition" first:

fatigue, missed menstrual cycles,indigestion, tooth decay, some joint pain and a few of the blood markers low white cell count, positive ANA, low compliments, etc.

Missed menstrual cycles is often an imbalance of the fatty acids or oils. I have had a friend who have been missing her menstrual cycles for ages. It stopped with supplementation of evening primrose oil, flax seed oil, and fish oils. You need omega 3, gamma linoleic acid in your diets. These oils are needed for normal cellular metabolism.

Tooth decay? A tooth decay is a severe form of molybdenum deficiency. I have seen people with lupus completely cured of lupus just taking molybdenum. Molybdenum is an important element in protection of cavities, not fluoride. The best form is sodium molybdate, about 50 mg - 100 mg. It NOT ONLY controls your body's pH from acid to alkaline in your mouth, but also prevents cavities. Why? Bacterial growth eats up your teeth by producing acid. So taking this should stop the problem. But the fact that your body is already acid means your lupus is unique. The body's bicarbonate which buffers your pH against acidity is depleted.

A common symptom for bicarbonate deficiency often matches certain symptoms of lupus too. It is therefore quite possible that you maybe misdiagnosed. If your body's bicarbonate is lacking, I have seen tooth decay, constipation, and fatigue. When your body is acid, your tooth decays faster, the body have problems with constipation, and since your body is already acid, the body holds less oxygen and therefore, become fatigued easily.

Low white blood cell counts? Try zinc acetate, magnesium citrate. These two will help normalized the number of white blood cells since both of these minerals alone is responsible for most of the biochemical synthesis in your body. Zinc is an important nutrient especially for the white blood cells. Magnesium works best with vitamin B6. So you can never ignore that.

I pursued investigation of my thyroid and found that it was quite low (nearly out of range). Thyroid medication has been incredible.

Most problems with low energy and a majority of people are now suffering from subnormal form hypothyroidism . Where the thyroid work is in subnormal range, but not necessarily considered sick. In this case, I prefer to find nutrition which will allow the body to produce normal amounts of thyroid itself. So where do I start? Thyroid functions often get suppressed because research has shown that a majority of Americans have below normal iodine consumption. The best form of iodine SHOULD NOT come from salt, it should come from non-salt sources. The best source is eating seaweed and kelp regularly, which is an organic and bioavailable form of iodine. Japanese eat them regularly. During my last visit in Japan I was surprised that the such "fatigue syndromes" are almost nonexistent, until I found that they eat seaweed almost everyday.

However you must also understand that thyroid, adrenal and many glands in your body are quite sensitive to chemical toxins and especially heavy metals. You would be surprised to learn that they come from your everyday cooking! For example, I recently visited a very clean restaurant and they had turned on a deep fryer all day without frying. I asked them why the vegetable oils looked gray yellow, they said, that it was probably the metals coming off the deep fryer.

When I do heavy metal test preparation, I always added a chemical which turns into various color spectrum whenever your urine is tested positive. In order to get the color more "concentrated" I always add vegetable oils so that the heavy metals or the urine gets collected into it and the colors become more concentrated. This is why using cooking oils for your food whether it is a deep fryer or something as innocent as frying an egg is dangerous. These heavy metals accumulate in your body and destroys your glandular function.

A remarkably simple way to rid of heavy metals is to take lecithin, cod liver oil, and fish oil. Both of these allow body to rid the heavy metals much quicker, which I prefer to call non-chelation therapy for heavy metals removal. Right now I am investigating the use of flavorings to remove heavy metals, which works just the same.

The other issue of fatigue is pathogens. I was once had a virus attack that I was so weak I can barely lift a finger. To cure myself of it I asked my friend to apply clove oil to my arms and feet. I was so weak I could barely move this is why it had to be done that way. Within 30 minutes, I was normal, but to maintain that I had to apply clove oil and take it internally throughout the day and frequent enough to kill them completely. I was normal the next day. For some reason, certain viruses eats up your energy so much that this was the cause. Of course, I later found out that raising your immune system would also eliminate this problem also, which is taking about 50 mg of zinc acetate would also help. Apple cider vinegar with its malic acid content also helps out with the body's metabolic process too through as a nutrient in the Kreb's cycle.

So, how do I get myself off Plaquenil?

Take plenty of vitamin B complex 3-4 times per day. Where B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 are at 100 mg. per tablet and B12 are 100 mcg. Other vitamin Bs are also important, choline barbitrate, inositol, etc. you can get them easily by just taking plenty of brewer's yeast. Take plenty of garlic oil (Kyolic), selenium 200 mcg, zinc acetate 200 mg, magnesium citrate 250 mg, and it is very likely your lupus would not be acting up. However, you need to be aware that you need to take some 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda plus 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid in 1/2 glass of water twice, once before bedtime and once in the morning to raise your body's buffer.

Did I really have lupus in the first place or was it misdiagnosed gluten intolerance?

It might be misdiagnosed as lupus AND gluten intolerance too. Sometimes it is a comedy of errors. For example, I have seen one child who was allergic to everything. So what the parents did was to avoid everything he was allergic too, to such an extreme case that the only thing he can eat was three different kinds of food. I told them that this kind of recommendation by the doctors were similar to curing allergies by malnutrition. So what I did was recommend that the parents simply give the child some baking soda and citric acid two times a day, some zinc supplements, magnesium and vitamin B complex. Within a month, the child was able to eat most of the food they were told to avoid. The problem was when the child was diagnosed as "allergy" was a symptom of that the body's immune system was suppressed and this reaction, was in fact a zinc deficiency. So raising up the body's immune system with magnesium and zinc, while killing the anaerobic organisms by raising the child's pH to semi alkaline, killed most of the organism. Vitamin B, in particular B1, was actually a cure for certain children who are allergic to sulfites since sulfites reduced the body's vitamin B1, causing a body to react in presence of sulfites, but perhaps other type of food as well that we don't know of as yet. Still, common sense dictate that we slowly add the more food as he becomes well when we raise nutrition rather than to eat everything all at once.

Is it possible all of this started with gluten intolerance that built into lupus?

It is more like your body's immune system is suppressed an unable to take the gluten anymore. Raising the body's immune system and vitamin B complex, as well as taking anti-pseudoestrogen or dioxin like compounds out of your body, such as indole 3 carbinol should help the body reduce the allergy and intolerance.

What is Plaquenil doing to me right now?

Whatever it is doing, this is not a long term solution and your body probably doesn't need it since it is not found in your body anyway. We are simply ignoring the cause and covering up the symptoms. It is like taking a speedometer off your car to avoid knowing that you are in fact going beyond the speed limit.

Is it helping, hindering?

Hindering. I have never seen anyone cured of plaquenil, but I there are so many people cured of lupus through proper nutrition and raising the immune system as being the best approach.

Should I stop cold turkey or gradually taper it off?

I have seen one case of a boy stopping cold turkey despite the fact that his lupus is still active. So when he took garlic, selenium, zinc, vitamin B complex, lemon juice + baking soda (he didn't have citric acid), and also took some sunflower seeds (magnesium source), the lupus (or red spots on his face) never came back.

I suggest you do this: just take the supplements and if you feel better you can just space them out further and further apart until you feel there is no need for it. The boy that went off cold turkey can do cold turkey because he contact me regularly so I can monitor his progress. To be honest with you he need not be monitored anyway. It simply just disappeared overnight when he started taking supplements the very first time!

Would you be willing to fine tune your list of supplements and dosages to my specific case?

I just did. With evidence that your tooth decay, the body's or your mouth is peculiarly acid. Acid is the only medium that can cause tooth decay. Molybdenum controls the body's pH, as well as taking baking soda and citric acid regularly. Just remember when your body is acid, you will get constipated. It is obvious that you have a buffer deficiency, and the body is obviously acid. You need to alkalize.

Your thyroid may not be the only thing that is not working. You have also adrenal issues, where vitamin B5, inositol and niacinamide would help you greatly and give you lots more energy.

Haven't you every wondered why those energy drinks always contain niacinamide, vitamin B5, and inositol. The big secret from these energy drinks companies(along with caffeine to get you addicted!), is that these specific vitamin Bs increase your body's energy levels.

I couldn't possibly answer all aspects of your question, but what I do know is lupus is quite simply treatable and often these meds people been taking just delay the body's natural healing process. I have given you as an example of a boy who just went cold turkey off plaquenil and medrol who had been taking it for years without a cure in sight. So I guess the body is still and amazing mechanism provided we don't throw a wrench into the delicate machinery too often. All the body needs is just a good oil for the squeaking wheels and cogs.


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