Minerals, Metals, and Why You Can’t Stop Worrying
How minerals and metals can create obsessive and ruminating thoughts
A Moment with Dr. Stillman
His OCD developed overnight. He went from a happy, healthy boy to pressured speech and an inability to shut off his mind.
We see this all the time. Usually, kids develop this and then struggle with it for decades before they come to see us as adults.
Fortunately, his mother was already a patient and so we got to tackle this right away.
Mom is almost always the first patient at our practice. If we do a good job, the husband and kids start next. I know we’re doing good work when patients make us their “family” practice.
This is one of those stories.
Where He Started
Here’s what he was struggling with:
OCD that “came out of nowhere” last Spring
He became fixated on certain ideas
He felt like he had to share every thought that came into his head
He could not sleep through the night.
When I hear things like this, my first thought is minerals and metals.
Many mineral and metal imbalances can cause this, but there are two that stand out - aluminum and copper.
What We Did Differently
Most kids with sudden OCD get a psychiatric diagnosis and a prescription.
I think that’s tragic. These children always have some kind of mineral and metal imbalance.
His hair tissue mineral analysis told the story.
He had
We started with a hair tissue mineral analysis. It showed high copper and high aluminum, a burden most doctors never test for at all.
Here’s his first test (minerals):
Here’s his first heavy metal panel:
These tests are exactly what I expect - I would describe them as boring.
But if you know how to read these tests, there’s obviously something lurking beneath the surface.
Hidden copper and aluminum were my top suspects.
We started:
Vitamin D, 5,000 IU daily
Our Vitality + chewables (store.stillmanwellness.com), two twice daily
Magnesium + at bedtime (also at store.stillmanwellness.com)
Dr. Stillman’s Detox Powder (recipe over at our community)
You can find these supplements at our store and you can get a discount by becoming a member of our practice (book an evaluation here) or joining our online community (join here).
His mother also started inositol on her own initiative, which had a profound effect. I’m glad to learn about and share this with you (I love when patients teach me new things).
We did formulate a personalized mineral balancing protocol for him, but it proved too much for him, so we switched for our Vitality + chewables.
Where He Is Now
Over about two to three months, things shifted.
His mother says his OCD is “10% of what it was.”
He is able to sleep through the night
He still has some intrusive thoughts, but they are “not even of the same nature as they were”
His body has also started sweating again.
Why do so many people struggle to sweat?
Toxic metals, particularly aluminum, destroy our sweat glands.
Here’s what happened in his hair tests.
He went through massive copper and aluminum eliminations.
Here’s his second mineral panel:
And his second metal panel:
These are massive eliminations of copper and aluminum, coinciding with his improvement in symptoms.
I like to repeat these tests when we see eliminations like this, just to make sure we’re not looking at a lab error or contamination due to a product (like a copper-peptide-containing shampoo).
Here’s his repeat mineral panel:
And his metal panel:
What do these panels teach us?
Minerals and metals are dynamic. We often see them coming out of the body in significant quantities one week, and they are gone from the hair the next.
This is why we test hair quarterly - it changes. You’ll miss your heavy metal and mineral eliminations if you don’t do this.
Things to Think About
High copper is linked to a specific kind of anxious, obsessive worry pattern, the kind where a person cannot stop fixating on something they should not be worried about.
Aluminum is always hiding in children who have had any of their routine childhood vaccines, and typically their clinical improvement follows elimination seen in the hair.
When people start sweating again, it’s because their toxic metal load has finally been reduced to something the body can manage.
Kids like this go to a psychiatrist. They wind up on medications for life that have horrible side effects.
This is what’s possible with mineral balancing. This is why we’re so enthusiastic about hair mineral testing, particularly in children.
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Until next time, be well,
Dr. Stillman
Educational content only. Not medical advice. See full disclaimers.