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757137 tn?1347196453

Gulf War Syndrome?

I know someone who returned home after almost six year in Iraq (as a civilian) with perplexing symptoms of toxicity. Since Iraq is contaminated with depleted plutonium (ain't war grand?), I am thinking low-level, chronic radiation poisoning, since some of the symptoms fit. If so, does anyone have any suggestions for treatment? (Chelation works, but is dangerous because it can destroy the kidneys.)
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757137 tn?1347196453
Whenever the doctor cannot make a diagnoses, or doesn't want you to know what it is, he will say it is all in your head. Obviously you don't fall for that. You can go outside the military's health system and have a private MD test you for the metals associated with radiation poisoning. An alternative medicine MD had me tested for heavy metals (not related to your problem). My regular insurance would not agree to the test. I tested positive for mercury and lead.
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Avatar universal
Depleted Uranium attaches to the bone, replacing the important magnesium and manganese minerals needed by the body. I have yet to try these, but am seeking them out considering my symptoms:

I served four years in the Marines from 2000-2004, deployed to Iraq twice, once during the invasion and once to Fallujah. Ten years later I am experiencing a shoulder, neck, and back pain on my right side starting almost at the base of my skull, running down the right side of my neck and shoulder with both having tight knots or lumps that continuously spasm. The pain runs down the armpit and creates a numbing sensation in the right arm. It also goes down my spine, through my right groin area and down my right leg. All the bones on my entire right side of my body continue to pop when I do certain stretches or poses. The popping provides some relief, seemingly getting oxygen into the tense areas, but the muscles keep tensing up causing more pain in my bones. Just last week I went to the VA emergency room because these pains were getting more intense and were coupled with severe stomach and chest pains/burning sensations. I couldn't hold anything down and was vomiting red, possible blood, but very thin.

The doctors checked my heart. Said it was good. Took blood and urine samples. Said the urine was good for everything they tested for. I was given a shot of morphine which worked right away on the pain and then given a fluid drip for dehydration which made the burning sensation in my chest and stomach go away immediately. I told the doc that I had looked up symptoms of DU exposure and thought my symptoms were consistent. The doc became very aggressive, but when I pushed him on this, explaining that I had just moved from Hawaii which is in the path of much of the heavy metal and radioactive fallout from Fukushima (we had the highest levels of Strontium-90 in our milk than any other place in the U.S. right after the disaster occurred. No other testing was done even though TEPCO continues to announce further releases of radioactive materials into the ground, sea, and atmosphere. Not to mention after I moved back to New Mexico we had a radioactive leak at the WIPP site in the south of the state. I live in Albuquerque, home of the nuclear command at KAFB and Sandia Labs, a nuclear research laboratory which reportedly dumps radioactive materials into the wastewater. We've also had a jet fuel leak from the base which has possibly entered the water table). At any rate, the doc ordered a heavy metals test. All he told me was that I will be tested for arsenic and lead. Hopefully they will test for DU, U-235/238, Strontium-90, and Cobalt-60. If not I've learned some of these can be tested in urine samples and I may seek a lab/facility that will do this test for cheap if possible.

Currently the burning in my stomach and chest are gone, but the pain in my neck, shoulder, and back (spine and lower) are still ongoing, but not intense. The popping and spasms continue. The muscle tissue tightening and spasms may also be consistent with cesium exposure. If so, Hawaii is screwed as the NOAA simulation model of the cesium and iodine distribution paths from the INITIAL Fukushima releases have already hit California and are on their way to Hawaii where they will circle the island chain and just kind of sit around, possibly building up in concentration and causing a bio-accumulative effect in the lifeforms these materials come in contact with.

At this point nobody knows whats wrong with me. The docs keep suggesting it's psychogenic, however there are real symptoms and I'm not a hypochondriac so I doubt that. I'll try and post more here if I find out what the hell is going on. In the meantime I'd love to hear from anybody else with similar symptoms and if they've been diagnosed or treated. I am also a freelance journalist and will write a lengthy article of my experiences after the testing is complete. Thanks.
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757137 tn?1347196453
Correction to above. I should have said "uranium," not "plutonium."
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