I have Lupus and secondary AI of Sjogrëns. I decided years ago to treat it without meds and am improving. Slowly, but improving.
Everyone keeps pushing zinc as a wonder drug. I kept ignoring it, but coming into winter I thought ‘maybe we should be on a zinc supplement temporarily as a defensive against colds and flus this winter.’ So I bought my husband and I a zinc supplement. I started using it Monday Dec 18. I started feeling pressure in my kidneys off and on, clear urine, and back pain on my left side. Thursday amd Friday I had much better days, but Friday night I couldn’t sleep because of the pressure. Sat and Sunday I had slight chills and Saturday a brief spell of feeling suddenly nauseated.
No swelling in my face of ankles though. And I stopped taking the supplement 2 days ago. I’ve tried staying hydrated and have been using a heating pad on my back and abdomen off and on. Had another bad night sleeping last night, more due to anxiety over this.
Oh, yesterday morning I finally had a normal urine color but this morning it has lightened up a lot again, though, not completely clear yet.
Any suggestions on how to clear this out of my system faster and get relief? My husband’s on a 2 week vacation and I don’t want to waste this last week with this discomfort and urgent feeling I need to find a restroom. If I call my rheumatologist I fear she’ll want me to drive the hour into San Diego and I really don’t want to spend the day that way.
I don't think anyone here can answer your question, since it may be something you've ingested or been exposed to, or it could be a flare for another reason, or an infection. You probably need to go and see a doctor and have some tests.
On the supplement issue, sometimes one can react to fillers in things (I have lupus and react to all sorts of random things). But I can only give you my experience and I have no idea what your current problems are related to. So again, advise seeing a doctor.
Thank you. I’m simply looking for a homeopath approach. As I had mentioned, I think it’s simply the Zinc supplement and I stopped using it but wonder if there is a fast way to get it out of my system, besides drinking gallons of water.
But I appreciate your reply. Thank you and all my best.
I’m going to start by saying that my take on this is coloured by the fact that I have low kidney function as a result of lupus (I have lupus nephritis iv).
If this was me, I would phone the rheumatologist and do whatever s/he advised. I would never take a casual attitude to what is after all a vital organ.
Do you have any testing strips for protein in your urine? Maybe that would be a bit more scientific than just looking at the colour and you could decide what to do based on the result.
Best of luck with it. I hope it turns out to be nothing serious and that you recover quickly and fully.
I agree don't ignore kidney/urine issues. I was undiagnosed and uneducated in my 30s. Kept having back pain. Eventually rushed into accident and emergency with kidney stones and infection damage. I lost a kidney. Had I been diagnosed, regular rheumatology visits and meds I would have stood more chance of keeping my kidney. Test for uti and message your rheumy for advice. Don't ignore it when your body isn't right. You can store up a whole heap of trouble in the future. Our bodies struggle to fight infections and we need the extra help of meds sometimes to mitigate the risk or organ damage which is life changing and irreversible. Take care and keep well.
Thank you. I appreciate your message. I don’t do meds unless extremely necessary. I’ve seen too many people, including friends with Lupus, get in worse trouble because of meds. They say the average person with lupus is on an average of 8 meds. One for lupus, then more for side effects of the medication. And when your body gets use to your meds, it’s time for stronger ones. I’ve seen too much of that.
I’m sorry to hear about your kidney. That’s awful. I was simply wondering if anyone had the same experience with Zinc or knew of a natural way to detox it out of the system.
I guess how people want to approach their own health is up to them - we do have control of our own bodies - but do please take some time to listen to the messages you are getting here from people who experience the same health problems.
Lupus is a very unpredictable, serious illness. Before medication (which I agree isn't perfect) the average life span of someone diagnosed with lupus was five years.
Possibly hitherto your lupus has not been that serious, so that is why you have gotten away with not taking meds and just keeping yourself healthy with lifestyle changes. But that can change.
Your doctor can do some simple UTI tests and a blood test to test kidney function, and you can then see if there's an issue to worry about, and what you want to do about it. It doesn't commit you to anything, but does give you knowledge.
I think the life span for lupus was short because people didn’t know what was happening, and what they were ingesting and doing that made it worse? I know many with lupus (a few personally and many online) that think that because they are taking meds they don’t need to change their nutrition, stay out of the sun, change their daily living habits, etc. I see them, possibly improve quickly with meds at first, only to have other problems (side effects) and more meds. Then their bodies adjust to their original meds and they need stronger doses of stronger meds. Those help briefly but eventually they end up getting much sicker and it’s just a downhill cycle. Their bodies eventually are dependent on the meds and can’t function as well as they could pre-meds.
Changing my eating (absolutely no gluten, no dairy, no tomatoes or other nightshades. I didn’t drink coffee or alcohol anyhow- not a drop, only herb tea, included salmon serveral times a week. Added more fresh veggies and berries. Add pineapple core to my smoothies. Use a great collagen powder daily. Lowered my sugar intake a lot (chocolate was my one vice), and take great supplements. I lowered my stress by changing my life style, a lot. I make sure I get at least 7 hours of sleep, no less, but really push for 8-9.
I use great skin care and take biotin. I use copper compression bands when needed (knees, gloves, socks, and even have a copper compression tshirt), a weighted blanket for sleeping, and I use a great shampoo system for hair loss.
I’m very disciplined in my approach to my life. My family 100% understands and watches out for me.
The beach was the hardest to give up. I grew up with sun and sand. But, it makes me sick,
You mentioned that my lupus may not be that bad? Possibly, depending on what measure of judgement you are using. But all I know is that 4 years ago I had gotten to the point I was pretty much an invalid. Everything hurt to the point I couldn’t handle it. I was spending all my days thinking about how much I hurt, everywhere! No energy but to lay on the coach and sleep all day. I had been extremely active. Gym 6 days a week, volunteering at food pantries and trying to help with the homeless in our community. I raised 5 awesome kids and am married to a cop so I took a lot on my shoulders because his work schedule was always changing.
I went through years of doctors while my health declined. First (decades ago) it was ‘of course you are tired, you have 5 children’. I wasn’t being taken seriously as I went in when each symptom came up. Then, all of it hit me at once about 10-11 years ago. I went to a nutritionist, which helped a lot. He didn’t know I had lupus, but he removed a lot from my diet that people with lupus should consider poison.
My GP/doctor first recognized it was an AI. Sent me first to an allergist (19 food allergies, mostly everyday, common foods, and a lot that lupus sufferers should not eat).
Then on to a dermatologist who was a quack and a waste of time. Then to a rheumatologist. The first rhumy wasted years of my time and money. I never even saw her!!! I kept getting her NP who after the first 2 visits kept repeating the same questions and tests. I finally insisted on seeing the doctor (politely) and was told I would. I waited in the exam room 1 1/2 hours only to see her go into the room next door with people who had just arrived. I left, never to return to her.
I found another rheumatologist. A good one. The old one sent my records which had 3 falsehoods in them. One item in my previous record said I’m a smoker. I have never, ever been a smoker. But misinformation like that would waste time looking down the wrong path.
My rhumy agrees with me going holistic. She did the tests and gave me the diagnosis for lupus. Though my GP and previous doctors all thought it was probably lupus, my new rhumy, at first, thought it was ankylosing spondylitis (I have scoliosis and I think she was noticing my spine curvature in my posture), but when that came back negative, she started over with the lupus testing.
When I went to the holistic healer, she told me that I had more than 1 AI. Shortly afterwards my rhumy had me tested for Sjogrëns and I tested positive for that too.
It was a long road to diagnosis. Mostly because, at first, doctors weren’t taking me seriously decades ago. Then, I came across a couple bad doctors (the dermatologist and my first rheumatologist) who literally wasted years of my time and health.
I spent years of going to the lab too. XRays, and abt 12 vials of blood every other month, plus, all the running around to the doctors; all while feeling extremely weak, in pain, and ill. That’s not living. That’s suffering through.
Now that I have my diagnosis and can study things out and take hold of my disease, I am doing 90% better. Do I still have days? Yes, a couple per month at this point, but it use to be everyday. And when I start having a flare, I know what it is and to lay low. I’m able to nip it in the bud quickly.
The compression bands are rarely, if ever, needed now. My pain level is sooooo much better and if I do start feeling joint pain, again, I am able to stop it from getting awful.
And I did not get vaccinated. I did get Covid and it was only like a bad cold and flu mixed for about 4 days. A nothing burger. But, many who were vaccinated have ended up with health issues. We are discovering in the U.S. that many women who took the vaccine are suddenly dying quickly from breast cancer, though young and previously very healthy. My husband was vaccinated. In 41 years of marriage he had only been sick once before the vaccine. His immune system was stellar. i’d never seen anyone who avoided every flu, cold, etc., the way he did. Since the vaccine, he got the flu very bad twice, he got Covid when I did, and he’s had several annoying colds. Now he’s using Nattokinase, bromalain, and curcumin to reverse the clot shot and he is feeling like he’s getting his health back. He only took the shot because of my lupus and the fact he’s a cop and had to be out working during lock down. All the Covid hype made him worry about bringing something home to me.
I’m sorry this is so long, but I tried to be as transparent and yet concise with my first post. Reading the responses, it’s obvious that people thought my choice not to run to a doctor was not thought through. It was. I think things through very thoroughly. When the kidney problems started, my husband was the one to point out the timing with taking zinc. So, I studied it out. Not only does zinc cause kidney stones in some, if you look it up with people that have lupus, it can affect the kidneys. I won’t go into the how and why here, because you can look that up yourself. I am drinking a lot of water to flush it out and using a heating pad on my back and stomach, as suggested online. I’m about 80% better and getting better everyday. Somedays it doesn’t bother me at all. And mostly, now, just bothers me when I first get up as I am not hydrated.
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