Hi Snowbird, as far as I understand it mercury testing is really hard to judge. It can give a pretty misleading result. You can be heavily poisoned with mercury but have it bound up in your tissue and organs and show a very low level on a hair test (retention toxicity). Some of the sickest patients how the lowest levels.

In normal healthy people, there is a certain level of mercury because we are all exposed to it daily in many different ways. If a person is showing every sign of toxicity from metals/mercury, yet shows almost no level, it can be a very bad sign rather than good.

If a person shows a high level, it maybe acute exposure, or that they are readily eliminating the mercury that they are being exposed to.

Someone with a low level may have it bound up tightly OR they are simply so intolerant to mercury it may only take a very small amount to make them sick.

There are many reasons for differing results. I think an expert has to do many forms of testing to see whether mercury is behind it. Like looking at certain mineral levels that mercury interfers with and looking for a pattern that might be typical in mercury toxicity.

I showed very low levels on my hair test and very low levels of selenium (which mercury competes with), and I think very high potassium levels etc. all my metals were basically low, yet I showed extremely obvious metal toxicity. I actually smelt of metal, tasted metal and had all the symptoms, yet because my hair test and other testing showed little to nothing, I was then disregarded by the doctor in question.

I was very lucky to have one of the best doctors in NZ explain to me why this was happening and he explained that in very toxic invididuals a low level is a bad sign and he likes to try to get the levels UP, so that it shows the mercury is starting to come out and show in the hair.

So I dont take too much note of hair, blood/urine testing. I think it might be possible to provoke mercury outwards into the urine if there is a properly done chelation challenge testing, but it's got to be done right or that can go wrong also.

HOw do you know for sure if you have mercury? Probably getting a hair test and checking for mineral levels. Also another indication is your reaction to specific mercury detox products. if you get an exacerbation of symptoms or improvements, that can be another sign you may have nailed your problem. My reaction to mercury chelation was very obvious I was loaded with metals. I used to salivate uncontrollably as my body tried to eliminate what the chelating agents had stirred up. I would also come out in rashes and as I said, smell of metals.

But everybody is different. You can usually put two and two together by different types of testing, checking the mercury symptom list and trying chelation to see your reaction. Though I'd be really careful to do any chelating whilst you have amalgams still in. Maybe ok for some, but others can get very sick.