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Report your Gadolinium-related problems to the FDA.
If you suspect that your unexplained symptoms were caused by the contrast agent you received for your MRI or MRA, you need to file a MedWatch Adverse Event report with the FDA. You don’t have to be able to prove anything – you only need to suspect that your health problems were caused by the Gadolinium-based Contrast Agent that you received. (more…)
One man’s struggle with Chelation
(A PDF of this Viewpoint is available for download.)
This is a re-written version of some emails that I have sent on the subject, so please read it with that in mind. They were addressed to several people in the MRI-Gadolinium Toxicity Support Group.
A word before you read this. I usually do not post this kind of thinking on the support group because many people hold out chelation as their only hope. I do not want to squelch their hope and I do not just want to be negative on it. As you will see below, I have tried it and decided that it is not for me. So I just tell my story. Everyone has to make their own decisions.
Let me provide some background. My last contrast MRI (of 8 in total) was in October 2009 when I had three contrast MRIs within a two-week period. (more…)
High Early Urine Test Result
While a test result of 36 mcg Gd/24-hours would be indeed one of the highest we have seen, it is not out of line with the other results reported on in the Retention Study. Look at the graphs and you will see that it is in line for tests in the 5 weeks after contrast infusion. The reason we may be surprised is that it is rare for someone to have a Urine test for Gd only a month after having the contrast MRI. The reason may be that the symptoms are slow to develop or just that they do not figure out the connection between the symptoms and the MRI for along time period.
The small number of test results that We have in that time frame are of roughly the same magnitude. And the other test results indicate that the number will come down very quickly. None of this means that the result of 36 mcg Gd/24-hours is not serious and high. It is, and the patient should take the action that they feel most comfortable with. Unfortunately there are no pat answers or we would not be still looking. The prime reason we collected and reported on the urine tests is so that we would have some factual test results by time-frame after the contrast MRI that people could compare with their results in their decision-making process.
To make this personal, I did not find out about my high Gd levels until 10 months after last contrast MRI and the result was about 1.0. I expect that I would have had a result at least as high as 36 if I had a urine test one month after the MRI.
Pain – what kind of pain.
Let me describe three different types of pain I have experienced.
The first is the common muscle pain we all get the day after we overuse some muscles. It is sort of a dull pain and usually associated with trying to use the muscle we overused. This is not the type pain I got from my herniated disc or the pain I associate with my Gadolinium Toxicity.
The second is the pain that was associated with my herniated lumbar (L4-L5) disc. The was an excruciating pain that was all down my left leg. It was so strong that I went to the emergency room twice for the pain that woke me up in the middle of the night. I could not walk without crutches when it was at it’s worst. This occurred 4 times with varying intensities and length of incapacitation. When the non-contrast MRI showed disc material the size of the end of my little finger bulging out the left side of my spine, the doctor said it was time for surgery. The day after the surgery, the pain was gone ant it has not returned. I am working to strengthening the muscles in my back so that it does not reoccur at another disc.
The third type of pain is caused by Small Fiber Neuropathy (SFN) which I have been diagnosed with. All of the easily diagnosed potential causes of my SFN have tested negative twice. But it can be caused by metal toxicity. So although there is no way to prove this, I am certain it is caused by the Gadolinium Toxicity. In SFN, something causes the very ends of the nerves to die. As they die, the symptoms can be pins and needles, numbness, tingling, and sharp, burning pain. I have sharp burning pain in my feet, my ankles, my right flank, and quite frankly the worst, in my mouth. I take some mild medications to help relieve the pain, but it is there nonetheless. I have just decided to go on with life in spite of the pain, since it will never go away, and likely get worse. So I am very active playing golf, doing my exercises, going to the fitness center, biking, kayaking, painting my house, and anything else that needs done, because I may not be able to do these things someday.
So that is my pain story
Gadolinium Toxicity 