Hi Tracii, you like so many others have really been through total hell. I have had 20 years of it. You do not get an effect without a cause and unless you are ingesting some kind of toxin almost 24/7 to bring this on, you ought to consider mercury being involved here, at least to some degree, if not the entire cause.
Andrew Cutler who is a chemist and studied this for many years of his life, feels that mercury is responsible for so many things that it's a tragedy that people will waste years hunting down some "disease" that they have, when mercury should always be eliminated as a possible cause, because it is the most toxic metal known to metal, second only to plutonium in toxicity, is located in the worst possible place (the oral environment). Right below the nose and brain. Is constantly in your mouth 24/7, being further encouraged to vaporise by saliva, chewing and hot fluids. Has a way of chronically and slowly poisoning someone over years and yet so often never being considered.
My experience with mercury sounds so familiar to your symptoms that it's eerie reading this and others like it. I did all the running around after chronic fatigue syndrome, mental illnesses, candida, the whole shebang and kept going in circles and coming up with....well little to nothing.
Admittedly diet played a BIG role in controlling some symptoms and giving me a bit more strength, but it did not eradicate the underlying condition and for me it was a nightmare of confusion and suffering to find out what was doing this to me? I was eating healthy foods, yet displaying signs of toxicity from...where?
I had the swollen legs (particularly knees, just like you mentioned), puffy eyes, pale face, obssessive thoughts and ritualistic behaviours, becoming very easily infatuated, paranoid, fearful thoughts, becoming afraid to talk, uncontrollable blushing, blurred vision, hating the light and shutting curtains constantly, photosensivity, obession about my skin or appearance, insomnia, insane vivid dreaming, uncontrollable crying and salivating, nausea, tremor, bad circulation, blue nails, shivering spells, grey tattooing type discolouration in the private area (where it should be pink and interesting faded when I chelated mercury later on), metal taste in the mouth, swollen tongue, dents in the tongue from teeth (scalloped edges), sticky tacky nasal mucous with bloody crusts, thrush, bowel upsets (constipation/diarreah), brittle unhealthy hair that lost the strength of colour, hormonal imbalance, lack of concentration and mental abilities, sensation of sheer stupidity, excessive daydreaming/fantasy world, passive or aggressive behaviours, mood swings,extreme rage, low self esteem, blemished pimply skin, or excessive oil or then excessive dryness, social fear and withdrawal, adrenaline rushes, heart palpitations and the list goes on.
I am sure you can relate <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> And autism is now being considered in conjuction with mercury toxicity from vaccines. Many parents online are chelating their children and finding success with this. So there is an autistic compenent involved in mercury. Perhaps not all cases, but does it hurt to remove amalgams and chelate? Does it hurt to remove a neurotoxin from your mouth?
You are very young and for me wasting so much of my life swingiing from one diagnosis to another and finally winding up with the mercury one and finding out this was it, was kind of tragic when I consider how much sooner I could have found that out and it takes time to detox from it too.
I was recovering from all those things I mentioned, after amalgam removal and detox, but it was not easy. I am on here now, because I am chronically ill from a volatile bacteria/virus that I got in 2003. So I have post viral fatigue now, which is a little sad considering I had been recovering from years of mercury poisoning and doing well.
I hope that you will consider this toxin, because it would be tragic to ignore this, as it is responsible for so much and is so often overlooked. I know it is easy to blame mercury on evertyhing, but it is also easy to miss the obvious! It is just one more toxin that the body does NOT need.
I have been from one doctor to another and one psychologist to another, anxiety courses, medication, being told I needed mental help, having this having that, being told I was neurotic, the whole list goes on and nobody ever suspected I was being poisoned with a metal (and neither did I). I also had high candida which was hurting me alongside the mercury. Treating both can allow for dramatic improvements in this illness. It is worth doing. I find that treating candida, is a great help whilst one treats the mercury.
These links I feel are vital in anybody's quest for health.
http://www.westonaprice.org/splash_2.htmhttp://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/index.htmlhttp://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/index.htmlhttp://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/index.htmlhttp://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/chronicdisease.htmldon't be too overwhelmed by all the links, they all "link" to one main home page, but thought Id list them there for you, as I feel they are very important. You could save the home page to your computer so you can refer to any of these when you wish. This is what I've done.
I have not yet come across any better findings than the one of Dr Weston Price and what he has discovered after years of studying the worst and healthiest specimens around the world and what their diets and lifestyles were like. It is an eye opener for sure and I have applied his advice and I find it helps me more than any other!
Fits in with Hal Huggins, how important protein from meats, eggs are and healthy fats are in healing, as well as the obvious vegetables, nuts/seeds, and other foods. I know of a few biologic dentists who now apply this kind of dietry advice to their mercury toxic patients and how important it is for healing.
