Lugnut's journey

[lugnut]

Great!!! The Dr. called and left me a message that my lead levels were high but when I called him back they were gone for the day! Now I have to wait till Monday! He said they have to report this with the state too.... WTF?

[lugnut]

Well... I posted something in the WHAT I HATE section but it's part of my journey too I guess. My first BLL came in at 56. Yeah outright depressing. Dr. ordered another test to validate (or not I hope!) my level. I can only assume that I'll be doing no more indoor shooting for a while and I'll likely stop everything for a month or so. The irony is I usually don't shoot more than twice a week so I'm puzzled. This really hurts bad. Not the symptoms or anything as I don't have any, but it's a sport I really love and now I'm forced to put things on hold. I can't explain how I feel really. If I can't get this squared away and continue shooting I'd be devastated... but I don't want to get down on things just yet. I went my club to meet some friends before practice to exchange somethings... it was hard to just leave. Ugghhhh!!

[Calmwater]

I had a high level a few years ago with small kids at home. Kinda scary. I was working full time at an indoor range. We switched to lead free ammo and my level kept going up. Come to find out the parts tank we used for cleaning hadn't been cleaned or had the fluid changed in years (who knew the solvent was clear not black???) Once we started changing that on a regular basis my level came down and stayed down. I read an article that claimed the solvent aided in the absorption of lead. Hang in there, it will get better.

[lugnut]

2nd test came in today... 49. I have appointment tomorrow with Dr. Looks like I will REALLY have an off season now. I am really going to limit my indoor shooting going forward that's for sure. Not sure if I should still do the Indoor Nats in Feb. I guess the good thing is I caught it now vs. 10 years from now when there may have been more symptoms/damage.

Please everyone- check your levels and be careful!

Edited January 6, 2010 by lugnut

[SA Friday]

Become a dry-firing maniac!

[lugnut]

Become a dry-firing maniac!

Yep... looks like I'll be embracing the suck for a while! I may need to buy myself something to keep me happy... maybe a Benelli Super Nova just for fun... oh well...

Edited January 7, 2010 by lugnut

[kimmie]

Become a dry-firing maniac!

Yep... looks like I'll be embrassing the suck for a while! I may need to buy myself something to keep me happy... maybe a Benelli Super Nova just for fun... oh well...

Wow Lugnut! That just plain........well.........stinks!

Donna

[Dan Sierpina]

Become a dry-firing maniac!

Yep... looks like I'll be embracing the suck for a while! I may need to buy myself something to keep me happy... maybe a Benelli Super Nova just for fun... oh well...

Dave,

A lot of guys that shoot a lot of Bullseye use respirators when shooting indoors.

[lugnut]

Become a dry-firing maniac!

Yep... looks like I'll be embracing the suck for a while! I may need to buy myself something to keep me happy... maybe a Benelli Super Nova just for fun... oh well...

Dave,

A lot of guys that shoot a lot of Bullseye use respirators when shooting indoors.

Yeah- being obsessive and all I already bought one. I think I'll use it primarily for sifting/sorting/tumbling though. I can't see myself running around a COF with a condom on my face. Not because I'm worried about what I look like but I wouldn't enjoy it as much.

Here is a copy of my strategy I plan on doing/continue doing:

Indoor Range (and outdoor)

-Remove clothes, separate from regular laundry, shower right away after (new)

-Reduce indoor range time (new)

-Wash hands frequently (D-lead wipes/soap), no eating/drinking before washing

-Don't let anyone sweep the brass on the floor! (enforce it more harshly)

-Be careful picking up brass from the floor of an indoor range- lots of range dust! (new)

-Drop off range brass bags in reloading room, not into house after practice/matches (new)

Tumbling media dust

-Get respirator/ while handling media OUTSIDE! (new)

-Use dryer sheets in tumbler (new)

-Use nitrile gloves (new)

-D-lead wipes/soap after handling media/cases

Reloading

-HEPA air purifier in room (New)

-Wash hands after(D-lead wipes/soap)

-Use nitrile gloves (new)

Cleaning firearm

-Use nitrile gloves (new)

Dry firing

-Clean mags/gun beforehand (new)

-Wash hands after(D-lead wipes/soap) (new)

Eat/drink more:

-Vitamin C/Juice (new)

-Metal Detox supplements? (new)

[pmd]

My first BLL came in at 56. Yeah outright depressing...

Dave - Wow!

Mine came back last month at 18.

Good Luck with your new Strategy Plan!

[lugnut]

Met with the Dr yesterday. He was very concerned that my levels were so high still. We agreed that I should totally stop shooting indoors and most everything for a month to see if it comes down a bunch. No treatment needed as I show no obvious symptoms. Maybe it's a good to thing to do- I'll be more invigorated when I start up again. I still may sneak in an outdoor match if I can... but if it's too cold outside and I miss it I won't feel bad. I just hope it drops a good amount as I really want to make it to the Indoor Nats at S&W in late Feb. I guess I can use this time to dry fire, plan and maybe get some airsoft in- airsoft would be new for me (maybe my son will want to do it with me!). I think shooting is a desease worse than the lead poisoning- I'm having serious withdrawals!

[PistolPete]

Maybe it's time to buy a snowmobile Dave. Now you'll have something to do during the winter months and get obsessed over it like I am. HAHA Now is the time to revise that Shooting Document we put together last year and find your strengths and weaknesses and put a plan together to maximize you're training this year.

[lugnut]

Well... I missed 2 matches this weekend because of the "cool down" period. It's cold as heck out so I didn't miss the outdoor match but my friend keeps sending me videos of the match today! Bastid he is. The thing that sucks is my kids sleep so damn late that I would almost have been done with each before they even got up... teenagers. Well I get to play more tennis so that is good. But I'm also online looking for more things to buy as well! Dry firing is going to start tonight on a more regular basis- my garage is about 30 degrees so it's tough to get motivated.

Super Nova is on order.

[Dan Sierpina]

Super Nova is on order.

Is multigun on the horizon???

Also, to rub salt into the wound... BUAS had a great match today.

Who's this Pistol Pete guy???

Edited January 10, 2010 by Dan Sierpina

[lugnut]

Super Nova is on order.

Is multigun on the horizon???

Also, to rub salt into the wound... BUAS had a great match today.

Who's this Pistol Pete guy???

Dan- not sure about multigun in my future- but at least I'll have what I need. I just always wanted a pump and I handled one at KTP and just liked it a lot... plus... it matched my Glocks. LOL

I expect to see you at the top of the list for today's match!! I'm sure you had a great time they do a good job there. I'll appreciate this more when I comeback for sure. Never take your health for granted.. as I'm sure you know as well.

Pete... not sure who that guy is. He needs to realize there are no documents that descibe my weaknesses- they were destroyed...

[Dan Sierpina]

I expect to see you at the top of the list for today's match!! I'm sure you had a great time they do a good job there. I'll appreciate this more when I comeback for sure. Never take your health for granted.. as I'm sure you know as well.

Dave,

I'm getting used to this production division stuff. The classifier had weak hand, I think today was the first rounds I fired with the M&P weak handed. I had one failure to extract.....maybe the gun, maybe the brass with the 77 headstamp.. It's all in fun.

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

I will tell you here what I said in private e mail. Lead does not just go away. Something has to be done to remove it from your system. Whether it be Vitamin C or other chelating vitamins. Read THIS

Most family doctors or general practitioners are not very familiar with elevated lead levels because the days of lead paint for the most part are gone. They just don't see it so they don't stay up to date.

When my lead levels were at 35, my doctor asked what I think I should do. I told him I would take care of it and I did. I had it down to 15 in 90 days. Down to 10 another 30 days later. This time of year they go up because of indoor shooting. My personal opinion is no indoor range should allow people to use lead bullets. That would reduce the exposure to the primer compound. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen..

Dave, you are responsible for your own health. The wait and see attitude your Doctor is suggesting is not in your best interest. Giving up the sport for the winter will only reduce further exposure. It will not eliminate the lead as quickly as chelating vitamins will.

Take control of your treatment, find out what will work and do it. Then, using all your ideas, get your butt back on the range.

Regards,

Gary

[lugnut]

Thanks Gary- I've been doing a lot of research on this too. I've added Vitamin C to the mix already. Nothing else for now. My level did drop from 56 to 49 in one week. Your body can and usually does rid itself of lead without treatment- sometimes quickly just with eliminating exposure. It really depends on the extent/duration of exposure. If I was over 60 still I'd consider pushing for more aggressive treatment- possibly.

WRT Chelation treatment- Vitamins and Heavy Metal Cleansers may have chelating properties yet the FDA in most cases doesn't agree- nor do these companies have proof of their chelating properties- not that I doubt they do. Put it this way- I've probably had elevated BLL for a while. I'll see where it is in a month and make adjustments if necessary.

Oh- and don't worry- I'll be back shooting for sure! And I agree- it would be nice to get people shooting no exposed lead!

One last thing- did you get all the black boggers out of your nose yet? lol

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

One last thing- did you get all the black boggers out of your nose yet? lol

Actully I don't have that problem. Saline Nose spray really helps that problem

Best of luck to you. I am proof the FDA doesn't know everything. The vitamins worked for me 2 times. Also worked for two other people I recommended them to.

The old remedy of eating clay is always an option if your hungry

[lugnut]

Note to diary/fellow shooters- wrt BLLs. I posted this on another thread as well... so if people aren't reading this thread, others will still have a chance of reading it. I hope the mods are ok with this.

I had been getting headaches- sometimes REAL bad for quite a while- sad to say for years. I would usually get these when a woke up in the morning... not after a long indoor practice, not after a match, just random mornings. Sometimes 3 times a week, sometimes 4 times, sometimes once. I could NOT correlate this to anything. I thought I might be getting dehydrated while exercising- because when I played tennis on Thursday nights- I would get a major headache the next morning. Dr couldn't figure it out at all so I just delt with it.

Well.... since my BLL have come back high I almost completely stopped shooting... NO shooting indoors. I've tumbled some old brass (with new respirator) and did a little reloading (yeah I'm bored out of my mind). I have not had ONE headache in the last 3 weeks. This is good and bad to me. Bad because if the BLLs were what was causing the headaches- that would indicate that I've had high blook levels for years... Good I guess because now that I've stopped shooting indoors- the headaches seem to be gone.

I had NO other symptoms. I think my memory is as sharp as it has been and no other issues at all that I know of (thank God).

I feel it is so important to pass this on to fellow shooters- as I had no idea I'd be a candidate for BLLs that high. I shoot indoors usually at MOST 2 times/week. Be safe out there guys...

On another note. I did shoot a small outdoor match last week and will do another one tomorrow. I have been absolutely going bonkers not shooting. I miss the practices, I miss the matches, and I really miss the great friends. Winter sucks sometimes and this makes it worse. I've been doing dry fire on occasion but it's not much fin without some live fire mixed in. At least the passion for shooting is growing in my belly like mad!!

[lugnut]

I shot a local IDPA match last weekend and a small sanctioned IDPA match today. I have only done dry firing for about a month now for practice so I've been pleasantly surprised how well I've done. Last week I shot real well. I think my new mag well caused me to drop my mags twice- once on an indoor stage that cost me about 10 secs because I couldn't find it (yeah I needed it). Other than that I shot clean and fast. Fixed magwell problem after the match!

The match today was brutally cold (kudos to the SOs... some that didn't have time to shoot the match themselves). All in all I felt like I was shooting very good. Fast but not giving up many points. I was really trying to let my eyes/sights dictate my speed and it seemed to work. A few mistakes was about it. A missed head shot and a down 3 (thought it was down one) that cost me a bunch- FN. Still ended up top ESP and 3rd overall out of about 60 total shooters.

I must say though- I don't miss shooting indoors... I can't wait till the days get longer and hotter so I can start doing more live fire practice!! I guess it's good to take a break but I really miss it. Another lead test next week.

[lugnut]

Results from Feb 4th came back today- down to 40. I was kind of hoping they would be in the mid 30s but in about a month they came down from 56 so I guess I can't complain too much. I've done little reloading and only a couple outdoor matches with very little (I mean 15 mins total) indoor shooting at a couple IDPA matches. I have started taking the mega vitamins recently so not sure how much that will help. I still haven't had any major headaches so I'm 100% convinced the high BLLs contributed to that! I'm guessing that I've had high BLLs for a while and it will take a while to "purge" them from my body....

I have been dry firing... albeit it's horribly boring IMO. I am getting much better at calling my shots though! I'm trying to train with as much as I can in the Steve Anderson book.

I'm trying to stay positive but it's been so cold out and the days are so short I haven't been able to practice still. I know it's probably best to just take time off but it's hard for me to do that.

My big dilemma is whether or not I should still shoot the IDPA Indoor Nats. Indoor shooting for hours... and I likely won't have too much live fire practice in.... uggh.

[Steve_P]

Glad to hear your levels are coming down.

Hope you are back to matches soon!

SP

[jar]

Dry firing the Anderson book drills has helped my shooting quite a bit lately.

Do you have a respirator? If so, if I were you, I'd probably shoot the S&W nats, using the respirator for all the time on the range except when I was actually shooting.

Either way, glad to hear your levels are on the way down. See you on the range.

[lugnut]

We had a great friend and fellow shooter - John Kelly that passed away a couple weeks ago. We had an IDPA memorial match in his name at a local club yesterday so there was no way I was going to miss that one. It was great to see so many people together in support of his memory.

It was a good match and we were squaded with some fun shooters. Turned out I ended up shooting real well. My shooting was fast and pretty accurate. Since I've only had dry fire practice for the last month and a half (plus a few matches) I'm convinced that torturous dry fire is a good thing! I had one costly mistake that gave me an FTN but the match had lots of good shooting with transitions and many head shots. I ended up coming in first in ESP and overall so I'm pleased as can be. I think John was looking over my shoulders yesterday.

Next shooting will be at the Indoor Nats. I may have to check my VV320 loads though because I forgot how smokey my 231 was until yesterday indoors! Can't have that problem at the Indoor Nats!!!