Calcium Shell, nope we aren’t switching gears totally and going back to my Marine Biology roots to learn all about shellfish!

Following on from my last blog about Copper Toxicity, I thought a good progression is to talk about Calcium Shell.

Why?

Because of copper’s effect on sodium and potassium, the body’s primary solvents. A progression of copper build-up in the body, can lead to this condition, where calcium is pushed into the body’s soft tissue.

You can imagine this is not good seen as we want 99% of our calcium in our teeth and bones if we want them to be strong!

The calcium then sort of floats around body in precipitates and builds up in areas of the body forming a kind of shell around the cells in places like your muscles, brain, joints, and arteries.

This ‘protective shell’ if you will, can cause a person to experience emotional numbness and spaciness among many other symptoms, which I will go through below!

Copper Toxicity is not the only cause of Calcium Shell so be sure to read on.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CALCIUM SHELL?

Often symptoms of Calcium Shell can overlap with other conditions including the symptoms of:

Slow Oxidation (fatigue, sugar cravings, low blood sugar, constipation, weight in hips and thighs insomnia, postural hypotension, poor ability to sweat, low blood pressure)

Copper Toxicity (mood swings, PMS, racing thoughts, panic attacks, depression, feelings of despair, eating disorders, brain fog, frontal headaches/migraines, heart palpitations, social withdrawal, problems concentrating, problems with memory, infertility, miscarriages, endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, oestrogen imbalances, low libido, and candida) , and

Hypothyroid (weight gain, cold hands and feet, lack of sweating, fatigue, dry skin and hair, constipation).

Other symptoms include:

Joint and muscle pain, cramps, spasms, and or twitches
Arthritis, osteoporosis, bone spurs
Premature greying of your hair
Arteriosclerosis
Kidney stones
Low vitamin D
Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Impaired circulation or reduced spine movement
Poor dental health and tooth decay (Ca pulled out of teeth into tissues)
Tinnitus
Sensitivity to EMFs (calcium is very conductive)
Apathy, brain fog
Feeling of being disconnected, apathetic
Emotional numbness, psychological withdrawal
Feeling out of touch with reality, depression, brain fog
Anxiety, irritability, emotional outbursts
Anger, and a racing mind if copper toxicity is driving the pattern

WHAT CAUSES CALCIUM SHELL?

So, having said ‘Yes’ to the symptoms relating to Calcium Shell, you are likely asking the question, ‘What causes Calcium Shell?’

We mentioned right at the start the link to copper toxicity and how copper’s affect on sodium and potassium can lead to calcium precipitating and being pushes into the soft tissues of the body.

In fact, calcium needs the proper cofactors to direct it and keep it in the bones and teeth.

Imbalances of minerals can mean calcium builds up which is very common with people that have a very slow oxidation rate.

Remember over 80% of people are slow oxidisers nowadays, so this is a prevalent issue.

Calcium shell can also occur due to an emotional trauma or chronic stress as the body uses calcium to protect the cell from a stress response. This is why we can often feel emotionally dead inside when we have Calcium Shell.

Iodine deficiency is another cause of Calcium Shell as this makes it hard to hold on to potassium causing calcium to build up in tissues. Iodine also decalcifies hence if low, we generally have high calcium. This means Calcium Shell is also often associated with Hypothyroid or Hashimotos’s.

Excessive calcium supplementation is another cause (especially when there isn’t adequate magnesium, sodium and boron to use it properly),

Hard drinking water (limestone, calcium containing stone area where water supply comes from) is another.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE CALCIUM SHELL?

Unfortunately this is not likely a condition your GP may recognise and so it is important to work with a Functional Health Practitioner trained in preventative, holistic, alternative (or what I like to call ‘original’) health care, that focuses on finding the root cause of dysfunctions using patient symptoms and functional lab testing as a guide.

A full health inventory should be taken to assess symptoms and, when considering Calcium Shell, because calcium can build up in different areas of the body, one often being the hair, a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, HTMA, can help us determine if you have this condition.

Because of the link with thyroid health it’s often a good idea to also run a full thyroid panel including total T3 and rT3.

In fact, when we see discrepancies with testing, for example the results of the HTMA show  Hypothyroid whereas the blood test results show Hyperthyroid, this shows there is decreased cellular permeability, which can be due to calcium shell, low sodium and low potassium.

HOW DO I BREAK UP MY CALCIUM SHELL?

As a crab can shed its shell, you can break down your Calcium Shell!

In fact, doing just a little work to break down your calcium can get you feeling dramatically better

It is important to work with a practitioner that will help you go slow and steady when your body is ready. It is important that you are able to manage stress and past trauma as Calcium Shell detox can leave you feeling emotional and you may re-experience past trauma as the shell broken down.

You can even sometimes feel the calcium moving from the joints and soft tissues as it moves back into bone, so can experience more joint, and muscle pain (calcium is a sharp mineral and it’s moving so you may feel it!).

Other Calcium Shell detox symptoms include migraines, increased awareness, and improved mood.

You will likely need vitamin K2 in the MK-7 form, which helps to direct calcium back into the bone,

Vitamin A and iodine (care must be taken and you must seek practitioner help when using iodine) as these help to break down calcium…

…and you may need extra thyroid support.

Of course if Copper Toxicity is associated then this also need to be addressed.

Because Calcium Shell is often associated with emotional trauma release, therapies like EMDR, talk therapy, acupuncture, and EFT may be required as part of your healing.

So here’s where I slip in and let you know that my Functional Health Coaching includes life coaching, NLP, and EFT services within my packages along with latest in Functional Lab Testing, like the HTMA testing and thyroid panel mentioned above. I am here should you want to investigate whether Calcium Shell is what’s causing your health struggles, or if you have any further questions.