The GABA system appears to be the target for mercury poisoning. This completely makes sense when you consider some of the sysmptoms of mercury poisoning are irritability, anger and neurvousness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...;list_uids=7641224&dopt=Abstract

I've noticed mood stabilization from taking supplements that increase GABA levels in the brain. Here are some:

-The supplement GABA doesn't cross the blood brain barrier very well but I have noticed improvement from taking it.

-L-Theanine is probably the best supplement for increasing GABA levels.

-Inositol is good too but it has an SSRI like effect which some people don't like.

All of the supplements are only temperary relieve of course.

From the very brief research that I've done, the GABA receptors seem to inhibit various brain functions to consolidate memory. So improving the GABA receptors may improve memory and attention. But as I say, I've not done a lot of research.

I'm not going to be taking anything that crosses the blood-brain barrier until I'm sure my body is relatively mercury free, as I don't want more mercury transporting up there.

Thanks for the information though, this is a subject I'm very interested in.

Interesting. I didn't understand it all, but maybe that's why taking zinc (I only take 100% RDA) seems to help with my symptoms, although I have to say I am a little concerned about supplementing with a heavy metal.

On an OCD group I'm on someone was arguing that rather than trigger the condition, mercury would actually help the condition. I'm not sure what their reasonsings were for that, but eveything I've read suggests that mercury causes OCD and people have recovered after removal. If mercury did help the condition, then it doesn't make sense to me that I got the condition within 2 years of having a first filling and that my condition improved when I was no longer getting the fillings on a regular basis and stopped with braces.

They may have gotten mercury mixed up with magnesium as I have friends who just remember the "m" part and get the two words confused. Magnesium does help OCD.

I've also read that magnesium helps OCD. I started taking it in the summer, although I got oxide, which I believe is supposed to be the least effective.

Lately I've been rethinking a lot of my OCD (which I should say is self-diagnosed). Tic like symptoms are said to often be a symptom of OCD, but I'm thinking that the tics and the anxiety are two different manifestations of mercury toxicity rather than OCD.

I don't know if this will make sense to those who don't know much about OCD, but I've lived with this condition for 20 years so am very familiar with the different aspects of it. These are:

1. Conscious compulsions to releive anxiety i.e. if sonmeone switch the light off and on ten times, the house won't go on fire. Even though the logical brain tells the person that switching the light on and off won't make a difference, the anxiety is not relieved until they switch the light off and on. This relieves anxiety for a while, until the next terrible thought occurs and another ritual must be performed.

2. Tic compulsions - involuntary counting or moving of part of body or blinking.

One is conscious response to panic attack and the second is unconscious.

I do believe there is "some" ability to control the former, but it is acutally very little because the body goes into panic attack and the mind finds a way to relieve that. I thought I had gained control over it by the time I was 18, that I had "pulled myself together" and not engage in ridiculous rituals, but now I believe it was the removal of my braces at 15, stopping eating seafood and no longer getting fillings that reduced my level of toxicity within 3 years so I was no longer intoxicated to do all this stuff. Even now I can get the compulsion, but I don't get the urge as strongly to act on them and I can fight the urge if the panic attack isn't too great.

Regarding the second, however, I have very little control over it. This year, since I had treatment on a mercury filling, it has been very bad. The only thing I have found to help is alginate and avoiding sulpher foods etc - effectively treating mercury toxicity.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, OCD is the response some people have to mercury toxicity and the various symptoms are those of mercury toxicity. I won't know for sure until I have the fillings replaced. If I get better then I will know it was for sure the mercury. I read only the other day of a man who was cured of OCD when he was treated for mercury toxicity. Some people don't have the fillings, but they had vaccines and eat fish.

Modern medicine, however, treats OCD with drugs to suppress anxiety and increase serotoning and therapy. I don't know what the success rate is, but generally OCD is incurable and a person can expect to have it their whole life.

Demi,

I agree. Everything that I have read points to OCD being the result of toxins and there is no "cure" from the medical community with drugs. Only removing the cause-most likely mercury for most-and giving it the necessary nutrients, will allow your body to react appropriately.

Don't feel guilty that you can't "control" your OCD habits. It isn't your decision to do these things, but your body's response to the imbalance going on with in.