hi
does anybody else ever have a really stiff neck i have chronic headaches and my neck always feels stiff somtimes my head feels so heavy and painfull

Yes! My shoulders and neck are always stiff and painful. And I have chronic headaches behind my eyes - I know the brain fog is related to all of this because when I get a neck, shoulder, face massage it is better for a little while.

I had that really bad for months before I even knew about mercury toxity. Mine pretty much went away from following the candida diet and taking extra magnesium. I only get it occasionally now, I'm so glad, I had a headache/neckache that lasted for over 6 months. I'm halfway through amalgram removal at this point and feeling much better! Hope you feel better soon!
Helen

I get a stiff neck, as well as body stiffness all over. Many times when I get out of bed, I feel like I can't even move or I "fall out of bed". My stiff neck feels like it goes into my shoulders and jaw. This is not everyday, mind you. About half of the time I feel like this, especially upon waking, and the rest of the time I don't. I just think it's the crazy effects of mercury, as I have a mixture of symptoms one day, and a completely different mix of symptoms the next, and they mix and change from day to day. Some days I am so sore and stiff, I feel like I have worked out or lifted weights all night, and all I've done is rest. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I used to have what felt like a tight band around my head, which was particularly stiff at the back of my neck. This went away on proper thyroid medication. Sore muscles sound like fibromyalgia, which is also related to hypothyroidism.

Nicola

clare I also get this in fact its how my illness kicked off among vomiting and breathlessness my neck was so stiff i really thought i had menegitis and the head pain was like nothing ive ever had before

Just got the last of my amalgams removed and many of my symptoms have exacerbated. My neck stiffness in particular is BAD. Definately seems to be a link with Mercury.

Heavy magnesium supplementation can often help with mercury-related migraines and stiffness.

MSM is good too, and it helps get rid of mercury. I had been taking it for years before amalgam removal, and still take it even though my neck pain is all gone.

Sandi
xoxo

What is MSM, Sandy?

I'm going for a magnesium infusion this week. I will let you know if this helps me. I have similar symptoms as you do.

it is methyl-sulfonyl-methane....supposed to be good for reducing inflammation, I have had hip and back and neck pain for years and it helped quite a bit..now I realize it was helping me to detox from the mercury too. It may have helped save my life in the long run.

It is a sulfur compound, and I take 1000 mg am and pm. Careful though, especially if you are sensitive to sulfur.

hope it helps,
Sandi
xoxo

Great! Thank you. I might have to look into this, as I have suffered the back, neck and terrible hip pain for several years.
Did you notice any difference or side effects from when you took it with amalgams in, then when they were out? Where do you get this?

funny you mention the hip pain mommy cos a friend of ours who use to be a dentist has had to have two hip replacements

Well, I thought it was effects of pregnancy. I was sure that had something to do with my body stiffening up. I went through more pain, than I ever have in my life, with my last 2 babies. My sciatica and my hip/joint pain, was unbelievable. I attributed it to something in my back that must not have healed right, from a car accident in 1996, and then the hormones or something when I got pregnant must've caused something. You know though, it's this and that. You are always looking for a "logical" cause to your symptoms, I had no idea about the mercury, until I was 8 months pregnant with my last one, and even then, I didn't know the EXTENT of what it could do. All I know was, I couldn't wait to get her out. I kept telling her it was time to come, because mommy's body is poison, and you need to come out. Even early would be better, but the doctors always try to keep the baby inside as long as possible. If they only knew. I was sure after the pregnancies, that things would go back to normal, as far as my body was concerned. I thought mercury was causing me being ill, but not the body pain. I have gained a lot of weight after the babies, so I figured if I lost weight it would help the hip pain too, but it's never REALLY gone away. I didn't make a connection with the mercury, but now I do.

I get a stiff neck to, along with headaches and shoulder pain. At one point the pain in my neck was so bad my primary doctor ordered a cervical MRI. It came back negative of course. I continued with the anti-candida diet, starting taking Mg, and had all of my mercury fillings replaced (all 7). Also, following a gluten free diet helped to. Now that I am starting chelation and taking some stronger anti-fungals, I get the stiffness as die off.
I think taking magnesium is one of the easiest first things anyone could try.
chigirl

Yes it helped relieve the pain even before i found out about mercury. I also thought it was caused from childbirth, my first son weighed over 11 pounds and it was very hard on my pelvic ligaments. They got overstretched and were already weakened by mercury, which I didn't find out until 24 years later!!!! I bet many hip and knee replacements wouldn't be necessary if it wasn't for mercury weakening the tissues.

Unbelievable the extent of the damage caused by this crap!!!

Back to packing and moving some more!!!

Sandi
xoxo

Yea, my son was a big one too. Over 10lbs. I got terribly sick after his birth.

What kind of magnesium are all of you taking. Magnesium oxide or the magnesium complex, or something else?

I had a magnesium infusion today - magnesium chloride. It was wierd - you get a feeling of warmth throughout your entire body. My dr. told me to expect this and it was true. He said it took me longer to feel this than some others - which was indicative that my cells were probably really deficient in magnesium. I felt like I might have had some relief, but I'm not sure. Still stiff neck and feeling behind eyes but seems to come and go. My integrative dr. and I had a long discussion about chelation. He said that in his experience, a few people get better but many still have a lot of symptoms even after the levels are down. And a few get worse. Makes me feel skeptical about what to do (I still have amalgams and am very chemically sensitive). Anyway, for now I will be trying to get magnesium infusions twice per week for about six weeks. He said the effects are cumulative - so it's worth a try.

Great to hear about the magnesium. Mercury sure does deplete it in the body so it does make sense that there would be some delay for you.

I understand what your health practitioner said about not all people getting better. It definitely takes time, some much longer than others, and indeed, a few do get worse. I believe that may be because these few don't take preventation measures during chelation and/or don't take other measures to help the body heal. You sometimes have to pay particular attention to the liver and kidneys.

Good luck and let us know how things go.

I will keep you posted. I am one of those people who have not been able to tolerate vitamins, so I am hoping this intravenous magnesium route might be the key to getting some nutrition into my cells. Maybe I will be able to tolerate other nutrients intravenously over time. I plan to take it slow, and want to make sure I am strong enough if I do have my amalgams removed. I am meeting with my mercury free dentist in mid December and we will see from there. My integrative dr. did discuss the possibility of trying NDF at some point - and he had some other natural chelator that he discussed (that has amino acids?) that is being used a lot in the Autism world right now. He said these might be easier on me than DMSA.

Thanks for the support.

Yes. I don't know if I've mentioned this already but I've used a protein powder for years. I mix it with water. It contains cysteine which contains two sulphur binding sites that like to bind to mercury. I believe it is a great, long-term, gentle way to detox. I have had great success in detoxing and it seemed to work well for me.

Russ,

What was the protein powder called?

Guys, stiff neck is an indirect sign of metal/candida toxicity, but a direct sign of liver congestion/overload. Which makes sense that once you begin your detox, your liver is overloaded. We should all be taking liver herbs (not just milk thistle), coffee enemas, etc when we detox.

Jinx, you're right. I took antibiotics and developed far worse candida. When that occured, I developed a very tired and aching/stiff neck and I would keep rubbing the back of it.

Eachtime I cheated on my diet, this same thing woudl recur again, so there is a definite connection with the metal/candida toxicity. Absolutely and yeah they both overload the liver!

Though dealing with candida can take a big load of the liver, as it takes a load off the gut, which allows elimination to take place, rather than constant recirculation of toxins.

I agree, liver support is a good idea throughout all this regardless. But sometimes that can also stir up toxins, some do badly on milkthistle because it overdoes the detoxing with the liver, so even then, things have to be done very carefully.

I believe diet is the first thing, then the supplements can do their thing. IF the diet isn't followed, I hardly see the point of supplements, considering the gut won't be in any shape to cope and the body is unlikely to absorb it anyway.

The protein powder I use is called:

Nutri-Burn