What is Lead Poisoning
Lead poisoning is a medical condition, also known as saturnism, plumbism or painter's colic, caused by increased blood serum lead levels. The symptoms of lead poisoning include neu...
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My youngest may have lead poisoning
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I am just so scared as to what this may all mean for my poor baby. Her finger prick test at her 1 year check-up came back 15. They just did a arm vein blood draw, but that has to be sent out, so I won't know for several more days...
I am just so sad... and mad at myself. And, of course, trying to think of all the possible sources of lead. We live in a really old (over 100 years) house. Moved here 3 years ago. None of my other children have tested +. My baby is quite the everything-in-the-mouth baby, though, where my last one was not. She used to regularly get at some old books, which I have been told could be a source, so those have been put out of reach. We did clean and paint some chimney bricks upstairs, so maybe some dust was in the bricks. They are painted and sealed now. She also gets a hold of and chews on things outside. Sidewalk chalk, rocks, even sand and dirt go in her mouth! Of course I try not to let her put things in her mouth, but with 6 children, I get distracted from time to time. I feel like a horrible mother! I read about how she'll have low IQ, problems at school, and all these other problems, and I just cry and cry. Is this a for sure thing? Once she test +, she's already damaged, right? It just breaks my heart. She is such a happy and smart girl... walking and talking up a storm. I would love to hear from others who have been down this path. Posted on 07/29/08, 02:07 pm |
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Her arm vein test came back 11. All my other children had blood draws yesterday; we should have the results of those next week.
In the meantime, I am trying to keep any nonfood items out of my loves-to-mouth-everything baby. 
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There is great hope that your babys lead can be completely removed. Research Chelation Therapy.
For some reason, traditional doctors are less likely to pursue this but alternative medicine doctors and the military do it all the time. My son and daughter both had chelation therapy and we saw a huge change in behaviors and school work etc.... Many traditional docotrs monitor the lead levels and then if they go down they assume that the lead is gone but it could be absorbed into the tissues of the body which is why the levels in the blood are lower. not thet the levels in the body are lower.
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I'm glad her level is down to 11. My son's started at 22. At his last check (a year ago) it was down to 4. We have annual checks at his annual exam. The CDC actually recommends annual checks until age 6. His came through breast milk from plates I was earing off of. Talk about feeling like a horrible mother.
Julie and I differ significantly on the idea of chelation therapy. I was reading about the scientist who lead the fight to lower the "safe" lead limits, he said there are problems with chelation therapy because it can damage kidneys and weaken bones. Julie's children benefited greatly, but my son is a normal 3 year old so we haven't gone that route. Yes, the lead stays in the body, but it is sequestered into bone and other tissues. It will be gradually eliminated. The main concern is lead being deposited into the nervous tissue as it tends to be done in children. Once the circulating levels are low, it's less likely to happen. It is depressing to not know what the effect is. DH has a PhD, I have a Master's degree, we both teach at colleges. What could our son have been? Will we know what IQ points he was cost? Is he hyper because he's 3 and spoiled or is he starting to show signs of ADHD because of the lead? There is always the lingering doubt. On the positive side, my son is bright and acting like a normal 3 year old. He knows more dinosaurs than I knew existed. I feel strongly that since your girl is not showing signs that she will be a healthy smart girl. I hope this helps. Make sure to have yourself tested if you plan on having any more children. It will probably show nothing though because adults are much better at sequestering than kids (one of the reasons kids have such a problem with lead). Good luck!
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Another thing I was told to do to help... high calcium diet. Including dark leafy green vegetables, if you can get her to eat kale of collards or spinach. Good luck!
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My children were older (8 and 10) when we did chelation so maybe that is part of why chelation worked so well for them. But eithor way we have 2 examples of children who have improved so there is great hope that she will be fine especially with a parent who is on top of things.
I had also heard about the leafy greens. A good way to get them in a kid is to get a juicer. A little kale or collards run through a juicer with fresh apples is considered a treat. ( I served them in plastic cups with lids so that they would not balk at the color) You can also hide in other good stuff in small amounts. SHHHH dont tell my kids. LOL
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Just to follow up, all my other children's levels came back ok (between 1 and 3).
We had our home tested, and the suspect was window sills (some peeling paint there.) I repainted the windows as soon as we found that out. Her 15 month lead check came back below 3! So her levels are back to normal. It doesn't seem to have affected her much at all, thank God!
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