Hi there all

Well i've been treating myself for mercury poisoning for 5 years now and have seen very little improvement. My second exposure came after a tetanus vaccine 3 years ago.

Since the vaccine i have developed many symptoms of tetanus. Difficulty swallowing, swollen spine, stiff neck and swollen glands. Thing is all these are mercury symptoms too. I do get some relief when i eat apples and high vitamin C fruits which seems at odds with the candida diet im on. I also function better when i eat these foods and my neck loosens somewhat..i can hear it pop and click.

I really don't know what to do. I simply can't go back to my doctor as they've created this problem and if i mention mercury..well you know what response ill get there. Any suggestions?!

Well vaccine damage is a possibility, but obviously things go back further than that with you because you say you've been chelating for 5 years.

I'm afraid I haven't been coming to this forum very often and am not familiar with your details. Could you tell us what your past health history is and why you decided to start chelating? Also, were you following Andy's regime during that time? Have you tried taking large doses of vitamin C (several grams a day), or is there anything else that seems to have helped over the years?

My thinking is that your immune system is compromised but that's a guess, and that's usually not an end in itself because something has to cause that to happen. Maybe others will have some ideas once we know a bit more about what's been happening with you

"Since the vaccine i have developed many symptoms of tetanus"


What are all your symptoms? Are you overweight, average weight, or underweight? Are you very fatigued? Do you have muscle ache?
Are you eating well? Are you sure you don't have any nutritional deficiencies?

ALL VERY POSSIBLE, Candida possible.

You can never rule out other metals either like Lead and Copper, maybe Aluminum too, which can cause similar problems as Mercury.

There is alot to look at when it comes to being sick. My Holistic Dentist even said now many things can cause what you are going through before he took the tooth and and said you need to think about a full approach and read off a few things which made sense.

Mercury might add to your problems no doubt, but if you have ever taken any inhalers (Steroids) or Antibiotics etc., that can explain the low immune system and the Candida as well, case in point Chelation doesn't work or you do not get progress in 5 years which he has done.

Good Post JK once again.

I am very underweight and have been since amalgam removal. I have terrible muscle ache but had none until the vaccine, especially in my shoulders. I have started eating more vitamin C rich foods beforehand i was concerned about candida which i do have but again it wasnt bad until the vaccine where it really tipped me over the edge.

Also i've started experiencing lockjaw. Its very hard for me to open my mouth very wide.

As for Andy's protocol. I do get reactions from DMSA and ALA. ALA makes me feel braindead and DMSA makes me hyperactive.

As i said eating apples help and vitamin C rich foods help but i know they make my candida worse but the popping and clicking goes away.

Finally i believe all my problems started from a bad experience with contact lenses, yeah an eye infection, which i believe happened to Bex.

I do have an appt with a mercury free dentist this week who is going to replace my composites as i'm having reactions to them.

Thanks all for your responses!

Stuart, since you are very underweight and have plenty of muscle ache which might be due to a magnesium deficiency, imo it would be a good idea for you to eat plenty of raw sunflower seeds.They are high in magnesium, and also have other minerals, protein, and plenty of calories as well as fiber. I get them unshelled for under $2 a pound. Other nuts and seeds also have magnesium, but not as much.

"Also i've started experiencing lockjaw. Its very hard for me to open my mouth very wide."

It sounds like you may be grinding your teeth at night. Do you use a mouthguard when you sleep? I had one made by my dentist which was expensive, however there are ones available in the drugstore for around $25.

It sounds like you probably do have a problem with mercury, but also probably have some vitamin and mineral deficiencies. You should work out a supplement regimen. Are you eating enough fiber? Try to drink more water. Focus on getting enough minerals, especially magnesium and zinc. Vitamin c and b vitamins are very important. You could start with 1,000 mg vitamin c twice a day, and a half a B50 tablet twice a day. taking a vitamin D supplement might help greatly with the muscle ache. I suggest 2,000 units a day. You could also try getting more sunlight. Do you get enough calcium?
Plain yogurt is a good source of calcium.

Have you done a parasite cleanse? Many here have had parasites.
Many of your symptoms might be caused or at least worsened by parasites. There are parasite clease formulas in vitamin stores. Some contain many herbs. The better ones seem to contain at least these three herbs, wormwood, black walnut green hull extract, and cloves. Most good cleanses last around a month. Humaworm, Kroeger Wormwood Combination and Paragone are very popular. Wormwood Combination is probably the least expensive at around $5 a bottle on the net(2 bottles are needed).

Sounds like a good list of things to think about. I'd just re-emphasise the importance of vitamin C. Eating fruits is not, unfortunately, going to give you anything like what your body needs. Linus Pauling, one of vitamin C's greatest champions, did a lot of research in this area. He said that if you look at the natural proportions in which other animals' bodies manufacture their own vitamin C, then in a similar proportion we should be getting 3-10 grams a day. Maybe at one time in our history it was possible to get this from food. Certainly not today, because the fruit and veg available to us are depleted in vitamins and minerals due to over-farming. (Organics have more, and I'm not honestly sure what you'd be getting if you grew your own.)

Infections and low immune responses seem to have figured prominently with you, so getting that vitamin C would be the first thing I'd do. I'd go easy at first because some people who have been poorly for a long time find that it's a shock to the system.

Would pure Vitamin C from foods like Camu Camu or Acerola be more available for the body to use and be even more effective than megadoses of C? I believe so, I could be wrong though.

Seach on those powders, let me know what you think. High doses of C can damage the kidneys over time, correct?

Foods don't contain that much vitamin c though. A typical orange might have 50 mg of vitamin C, so to get 4 grams of vitamin C from oranges, you would have to eat 80 of them a day!(Not a good idea, as this would give you terrible diahrrea, and would also give you too many calories). The better vitamin c supplements are buffered(ie. calcium or magnesium ascorbate, which is vitamin c with calcium or magnesium) and also contain citrus bioflavonoids which work synergistically with the vitamin c.

"High doses of C can damage the kidneys over time, correct?"

Too much taken long term might lead to kidney stones, especially if one doesn't drink enough water. I take only 2 grams a day of vitamin c, but increase this greatly for short periods of time if I get a high fever.

2 grams is not that bad JK, thast right around where I would keep it, unless sick. I know how much the foods contain, but do they work better with co-factors involved? Maybe? Food is what we need, a isolated substance with none of that? Doesn't our body want the whole? Think about that for a minute.

Hi Stuart,

I had the lock jaw problem also!!!

The lock jaw by the way occured following consumption of sugar and/or gluten products and went away again once I resumed the candida diet. So obviously it is related to yeast, but probably created ultimately by heavy metal toxicity and certain foods simply lower your resistance to it.

By the way, fruit doesn't have to be bad. I was once able to eat it just fine (even with the lock jaw). I only had to give up sugar/gluten/yeast. So don't assume if you have candida, that this means NO high carbs are allowed. Some can certainly get away with a looser diet by allowing some high carbs in there. I once could and I was just fine.

I remember how bad the jaw would lock after cheating. I'd wake up the next day with it and it would last all day, until the good diet would make it go away again. Sometimes I could not open my mouth enough to brush my teeth properly!

I recommend that you simply give up the obvious bad stuff (sugar/gluten/yeast) and don't worry about the fruit or high carb veg or gluten free grain, unless you find they too are causing issues. That's what I'd recommend you do if you haven't already. This alone can be a big help.

Stuart, also make sure you get enough sodium. For a long time I was eating many natural low sodium foods, not putting any salt on my food, and not getting enough sodium. Lately I remind myselt to salt my food. Most people in the US and UK get too much sodium, but there are still some people who don't get enough sodium. Perhaps if you feel better after eating foods that contain vitamin c such as fruits and vegetables, it might not be the vitamin c that is making you feel better, but the potassium. Fruits and vegetables have plenty of potassium. I have given up on fruit, but eat plenty of vegetables. I also eat plenty of plain yogurt, which is also a good source of potassium.

I find that creatine helps eliminate my muscle ache. I take around 3-5 grams a day on an empty stomach. I just added this recently to my regimen.

There is no evidence that vitamin C causes kidney stones, as you can read here:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/f-w99/kidneystones.html

I agree that commonsense thinking is that vitamins and minerals should be taken in as natural a state as possible, but Pauling said that his research showed that plain ascorbic acid was as good as anything more expensive with bioflavonoids etc. After I'd read one of Pauling's books and did some research myself, I lost any fear I had of taking large amounts of vitamin C, and it's been enormously helpful for me.

Yeah I felt better and did good on around 10 g a day for a while myself, the thing is the diarreah would get to me and I don't need that if you now me I go enough anyways!


I read what Linus has written as well and yes he is very knowledgeable and I would trust alot of what he says. I am against high dosages of certain things, I guess C is not really one of them to be scared of but cautious and monitor if it depletes anything else over time, you don't want that.

I used to visit a site, wonder if www.cforyourself.com is up, time to check that out again.

A breath of fresh air, thank you.

If vit C is causing diarrhoea, you are taking too much for your body's needs. I never get it on my daily dose of 9g but that's because I'm poorly. It really has made the world of difference to me. I can't honestly say that about any other vitamins or minerals. Magnesium would be second on my list.

Actually before the chatting continues here, I wonder if we could wait to hear from Stuart? This is his thread.

I did really well on Magnesium for a little while, from Natural Calm to Glycinate. I found it did not work as well after a while, maybe I got over my deficiency for a while?

I would start to get diarreah from Magnesium too, and it didn't take too much later on.

The Vit C is a good idea. I will pick up some Ester-C this afternoon as i've heard its more gentle on your stomach than regular C. ALA is a no no for me but DMSA i can handle a little better. I can actually handle Chlorella too which i know for a lot of people it causes hell.

I do get candida symptoms but mainly with things like potatoes and wheat so i avoid those completely.

Do any of you guys eat fish at all?

I eat low mercury fish such as salmon, sardines or herring, but only maybe 7 ounces a week or less. Ester C is good, although some criticize it. There are also other formulations of calcium ascorbate, and there is magnesium ascorbate. Magnesium ascorbate gives you magnesium with vitamin C in a buffered form. It makes it easy to add extra magnesium to your regimen.

I also had my amalgams removed 4 years ago and have come to the conclusion that the hg was a tremendous body burden, but not my only issue. I think low adrenal function is my primary problem-probably from birth. It sounds like it could be yours also with being underweight etc. and not seeing improvement after so long. Supporting the adrenals is most important for any quality of life. Magnesium is super important as your cells "leak" mg as well as potassium (this I learned from Majid Ali in "The canary and chronic fatigue". Most adrenal books tell you to add sodium and for many this is true, but it almost killed me. I have to be on a very low sodium diet. I take a minimum of 645mg of magnesium. I take mg glycinate and mg taurate. Almonds and dark chocolate also have. Vitamin c is also very important for you adrenals and well as pantothenic acid. I also take Isocort as my siliva test (only reliable one) showed that my adrenals were bad. I highly recommend that you do this test. If your adrenals are as bad as mine, you simply can't get better with nutritional therapy.