My Medical History

I realized that while I tend to think of myself as “generally healthy”, I do have a rather long medical history. And because I talk about supplements a lot, I feel that my own medical history may showcase reasons why I may have a bias towards certain supplements like copper, that might not be shared by others. I have long thought about the pros and cons of publishing this. Generally, medical information is seen as private. I also tend to think that, “It’s about the science and truth, not about me”. However, I recently am taking more niacin due to the influence of Abram Hoffer. And I have second guessed following him fully with niacin, because niacin can lower neurotransmitters. That may be beneficial for Hoffer, who, I read at wikipedia, experimented with LSD! And so, my desire for transparency and full disclosure, for the possible benefit of those who follow me, seems to be more important than any personal embarrassment.

So… I have been diagnosed with the following, at the following ages: Note, I may or may not have these problems to this day. For example, while I have found nutritional strategies to keep them in check, they return if I do not follow my own protocols, for example, nosebleeds returned while I was in rehab, because they took away my “pills” of vitamin C, cayenne pepper, and other herbs, and gave me pain killers that deplete copper and cause bleeding.

Born April, 1970. 9 pounds, 3 weeks overdue. Mother had “gestational diabetes”. She took supplements with 1 mg of iodine during her pregnancy. I believe I received a normal round of vaccinations for kids of my era, except for the measles vaccine, which was new at the time.

Age 5, recurring nosebleeds –from type II bleeding disorder, diagnosed later.

Age 6, I first notice excessive sweating hands in school.

Age 9 or 10. I had two teeth pulled in my lower jaw to “help make room” for all my teeth. An orthodontist later said the decision to pull those teeth was a big mistake.

Age 10, allergy to yellow Dye #5. –from consumption of too much candy “Jelly Belly” jellybeans.

Age 10, Asthma –possibly related to the bleeding disorder, possibly from being vaccinated.

Age 10, very rare Type II bleeding disorder, genetic, in my family. I believe there are about 13 people in my family who have this, and about 40 people in the USA who have it. Fixed with my own stop bleeding program.

Age 11-46, recurring suicidal thoughts. Predated alcohol consumption, fixed with iodine at age 46.

Age 11, 6th grade, I started wearing glasses.

Age 13, recurring foot rash, type and origin unknown, likely from hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating), and fungal infections. I was prescribed hydrocortizone, which I used for 5 years, but the drug causes infections and tissue destruction.

Age 13, A curved onion slice stuck in my throat, from eating a hamburger way too fast, requiring full anesthesia knocking me out, and tilting my head way back and taking a tool to reach down my throat to remove it.

Age 13, I wore braces on my teeth from ages 13 – 18.

Age 15, broken right ankle though the growth plate, from a ski racing crash.

Age 17, junior year, flat feet and “bone stress fractures” requiring orthodics as the solution. (no nutritional solutions were offered)

Age 17, summer ski camp between junior and senior year, I ran a mile in 5 minutes, 17 seconds.

Age 18, broken bone in my right hand from a football tackle

Age 18, days after graduating from High School, osteomyelitis, which was a MRSA infection in the lower back. The bacteria literally created a cyst, through the bone and muscle, shaped like a small egg, that corroded the bone away leaving a curved hole through the backbone. I was hospitalized for a month, and lay flat on my back for 30 days, and I dropped weight from 168 to 145 pounds. It was likely caused by use of hydrocortizone for the previous 5 years, which I then stopped using. Next, I used a prescription strength aluminum based antiperspirant on my feet and armpits for the next 5 years. Osteomyelitis treatment consisted of 2 months of antibiotics, which I’m now “permanently allergic to” all “penecillin and cillin” based antibiotics, specifically, I took nafcillin and methcillin and another cillin until I developed allergic reactions, and then they would switch.

Age 18, arthritis, both osteo and rhumatoid in lower back, said to be permanent, and progressive, fused calcified ligament connecting two vertebrates in the lower back, from the osteomyelitis infection. I was told I would have the lower back of a 90 year old man for the rest of my life.

Age 18, Because of the antibiotics, I was said that I would also be susceptible to recurring fungal infections, and that the osteomyelitis could literally return at any time without warning, “once osteomyelitis, always osteomyelitis”.

Age 19, Bicycle crash from a car hitting me, resulted in an infection spreading from my left palm close to my heart, nearly missing killing me by a few hours, had I not gone to the campus emergency room.

Age 20, I gained significant muscle from weight training, and significantly improved my national ranking in slalom alpine ski racing to about top 50 in the nation. I preferred leg press, and avoided squats, due to my lower back pain.

Age 21, broken collarbone from a bicycle crash from a car hitting me. I stopped riding my bike as a means of transportation/exercise after that.

Age 21, self diagnosed bone spurs in my feet. This frequently happens to Alpine ski racers, from “boot bang”. I fixed this over one summer, by taking magnesium, zinc, and copper and herbal supplements. I learned about bone healing from my broken collarbone, and applied it to the bone spurs with great success.

Age 22, I learned to control my nosebleeds with vitamin C and cayenne pepper.

Age 24, fungal infections and alcoholism. I was advised they likely happened because I stopped training, and stopped cardio, because my ski racing career ended. (Also related to the osteomyelitis and overuse of antibiotics)

Age 26, hyperhydrosis, excessive sweating. –this actually went back to about first grade. Dripping hands causes social anxiety, and/or anxiety is also a cause of the excessive sweating. Also a cause of foot fungal infections. I had surgery to partially cut the nerves going to my arms. This required collapsing the lungs one at a time during surgery.

Age 27, I received a “mandatory flu shot” to keep my job as a lowly restaurant manager. I only mildly protested, and gave in, not knowing any better. Soon after, I gained weight and started drinking more.

Age 30, started lifting weights again, because my body weight dropped to 180 pounds.

Age 33, self diagnosed, torn left tricep from excessive weight lifting, and improper technique, and lifting too heavy. Had been sober for 3 years.

Age 34, started drinking alcohol again, and got married. I felt like I was starting a second career of drinking, and I tried to resist it, but failed.

Age 35, self-diagnosed allergies. Fixed with Chelation EDTA suppositories which were later banned by the FDA.

Age 35 to 42, athritis symptoms began to manifest getting worse.

Age 40, fungal infections on my skin on my back. Fixed by taking up to ten antifungal herbal capsules twice a day.

Age 41, alcoholism. Rehab. Betty Ford Center. Successfully sober until today, July 24th, 2020, nearly 9 years sober now at age 50.

Age 42, I had extreme 10 out of 10 arthritic lower back pain, so bad, it was causing suicidal thoughts, while I was strapping my son into his car seat outside McDonald’s. I was wondering how I would even survive life. I realized that stopping alcohol was not enough, and I needed to do something more just to survive, especially for my kids. I started with what I knew, and to try to avoid other things bad for me. I realized I can’t take pain meds, nor any mints or mentholatums because they all cause bleeding. A month later, without those two tools to keep back pain in check, back inflammation and cramping hit me worse than ever, and I could barely walk again. Soon after that, I started green smoothies.

Age 43. I finally cured myself of 25 years of arthritis back pain through green smoothies and isometric stretching.

Age 43, self diagnosis of a recurring neuropathy in my left hand. At first, I thought it was from bodybuilding, and getting larger upper arms, restricting blood circulation. But my veins collapsed in my left arm at age 18 due to overuse of antibiotics for the osteomyelitis. I slowly learned over the next few years, to keep this in check through B12, copper, calcium, and B complex vitamins. It’s like a super power that reminds me to take certain vitamins/minerals. I may also have been mineral deficient from excessive greens.

Age 44, I started taking minerals because I could tell the greens left me mineral deficient with constipation, muscle cramping and muscle weakness that all went away with a simple multi mineral supplement. I then added magnesium, and occasional zinc and copper, 2-3 times a week.

Age 45. I was persistently tired from workouts. I was diagnosed low zinc and low copper low testosterone, high glutithione, high selenium, high iron by a naturopath.

Age 46. I finally cured myself of recurring fungal foot rashes though iodine and boron mineral supplementation.

Age 46, PTSD from IRS abuse, starting at age 43. Additional recent trauma from extreme business difficulties at age 40 and divorce at age 41.

Age 47, I finally cured myself of hyperhydrosis after 4 days of sufficient copper supplementation, at 20-30mg/day, (2-3 times the “tolerable upper human limit”). Iodine had been making sweating worse than ever. Copper also prevented DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness, and I got up to 223 lbs from lifting weights.

Age 49, self diagnosed peanut allergy, as the cause of an occasionally recurring fungal infection. Peanuts are a high fungal food.

While my medical history can show some of my biases against the medical establishment, and in favor of vitamins and minerals, my views have been enhanced by tremendous research and reading of scientific articles, and much personal experimentation, and discussions with others.