I am so glad to have found this forum...I am going to be getting all my amalgams removed asap. I believe my dentist knows what he is doing...he is a holistic dentist and he requires that his patients read Huggins' book before treating them. The only thing is I don't think he does chelation...he does muscle testing to decide which supplements to give for detoxing though.

My history...I think I got my first filling when I was 14. I have quite a few huge fillings now and one root canal. I had health problems before the root canal, but afterward my health really spiralled. I have thyroid, adrenal, blood sugar, heart, kidney, etc issues.

If I had any doubts about having mercury toxicity, my last dental visit took care of those. A filling crackedand had decay underneath. He drilled only enough to get rid of the decay and then put a temp filling on to tide me over til we can get the whole deal done (I'm waiting on income tax refund). Well, just from that tiny bit of drilling I have had horrid symptoms and exacerbation of symptoms. I want this stuff out of my mouth asap! I want my life back.

One of my daughters had a bad molar that was filled and then crowned when she was 4 years old. The dentist assured me they didn't use amalgams, but composite. Yet the crown is metal. She has been having body aches (mostly in the legs) ever since. I thought it was growing pains, and then celiac disease. She did improve somewhat on a gluten free diet but still complains of body aches and fatigue often.

Do you think the crown would cause problems even if it is on top of a composite filling?

Hi Heluvsme! Glad you found this forum too <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I believe you are right about the dentist. The fact he actually takes an interest in this enough to get his patients to read Hal Huggins book says alot about him as a person, not just a dentist. I'd imagine he's done a lot of reading also and would be well aware of the protective/safety measures required, as well as biocompatibility of replacement materials, as well as supplements that maybe more suited to your body.

I wouldn't worry about the fact he doesn't do chelation. In fact, that actually leaves you free to persue that area without feeling you have to comply with his chelation (particularly if it didn't suit you). People respond different to different protocols and if you're under somebody's treatment? It can be rather difficult if you don't respond well to what they're prescribing.

Root canals, amalgams, cavitations, gum disease, etc are all ongoing sources of toxicity that the body has to contend with 24 hours, 7 days a week. I believe that many sicknesses can stem from oral toxicity and/or disease. Because if the body is not having to contend with something 24/7, it's amazing how well it can heal, especially when you make efforts with your diet and support supplements.

These sources of toxicity effect every organ you have already mentioned. The thyroid is typical, mercury apparently blocks the action of iodine and displaces it also. So some people require supplementing the very minerals/elements that mercury typically displaces. E.g. iodine, zinc, magnesium, selenium etc. also replacing antioxidants is very important like vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A (probably better in a natural form like halibut oil, where you get vitamin D also) and as mentioined selenium and B complex also. Milk thistle is good too as an antioxidant/liver supplement.

People respond different to different supplements, so that too can be a problem, particularly when mercury or other toxins can cause you to be suseptible to sensitivities...plus, increased supplements can also caused an increase in detox/healing symptoms, which can be misinterpreted as "allergies". It's hard sometimes to tell.

I actually found myself an overall good basic multi vitamin/mineral supplement powder, which I take twice a day. It has almost everything in it. I use that as a foundation supplement and from there I make extra additions if I feel I need a bit more of something. So I take that, plus selenium, vitamin E, milk thistle, fish oil capsules (mercury free), lugol's iodine (not too much, about 1 or 2 drops a day), magnesium etc. I maybe getting calcium also, and take it in equal amounts to magnesium, plus I take 50 mg of elemental zinc...

I also stick to a strict healthy diet. Hal Huggins also mentions how important this is and in fact, diet and/or overdoing things too soon after one feels better destroys more recoveries than anything else. Many people with toxicitiy issues like these have yeast overgrowth (candida). And it can be essential to eliminate sugars, gluten, wheat, caffeine, milk out of your diet. Some people can get away with natural sugars from some fruit, or honey, but if you have a serious enough candida problem, you may find it causes problems.

Hal Huggins also recommends eating a high protein diet (meats and eggs) with plenty of animal fats like butter. This is very healing, particuary in someone with mercury, as well as plenty of vegetables. You may have to be careful of high carb vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beans/peas, sweetcorn etc, as they still have the potential to feed yeast in someone very sick. It really does depend on how serious it is. I eat my vegetables, raw in salads, or stir fried mainly and sometimes steamed.

I try and stay away from tea and coffee, as they can cause problems, especially if you have adrenal issues too. I drink herbal tea and that suits me fine. Coffee is the worst though, I get much worse after drinking it. It apparently can wipe out good bacteria, how true that is I don't know, but my experience with it is not good. IT also tends to exhaust my adrenal glands.

Milk feeds yeast because it contains lactose, plus apparently can impede the detox of mercury (as can caffeine). So you're better of having natural acidophilus yoghurt (sugar free) and butter as your dairy, rather than milk and cheese which usually cause issues.

I think you can be pretty sure that the stuff in your mouth is not doing you any favours at the least and at the most? Could be the cause of why all these things are going wrong inside of you. mercury isn't just a direct poison, it is an accummulative poison, so it builds up and this is why some people can take a long time to get poisoned from amalgams. From there, it breaks down the body's ability to handle other things, as well as directly poisoning your body systems and brain. Causing endocrine problems as well. You would be very very wise to get on a removal plan. But please don't make the mistake of rushing in and thinking I'll just get them all out and I can start healing.

The drilling alone, as you have already experienced, is very risky. To get this stuff out is risky. You should probably do it stage by stage. Slowly but surely under a good dentist who will give you as much protection as possible and make sure you support your body with diet and supplements so that it can cope better, plus detox better. That's what I would do if I had the time back again. Rushing in is not the answer, it can make a person MUCH MUCH worse and for a long time. It is not worth it.

I would recommend to you too that another book that I think is essential, along side the Hal Huggins book is "Amalgam Ilness, Diagnosis and Treatment" by Andrew Hall Cutler. Here is the link to it - http://herballure.com/Products/AmalgamIllness_DiagnosisAndTreatment/index.html
This book goes through every aspect of mercury poisoning, what it does to you, where it goes, what to take to handle some of the symptoms, how to chelate it back out of you SAFELY and effectively as possible.

There are plenty of different chelation protocols out there and it's very difficult to know which one is the best for most people. With what I have gone through myself for many years of being highly toxic and sensitive, in the end i found his protocol the most logical and effective and best tolerated for me. I am also hearing this from quite a few other people too. Though I can't say it's going t be THE one for you, i can say it's a pretty good bet! Here is a link to some testimonies I put up on this forum a few weeks ago if you wish to take a look.
http://herballure.com/ubbthreads/sh...&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

I am not sure about your daughter's crown. I don't personally feel that any direct metal like in the mouth is not a good thing to have, particuarly if it degrades in the mouth or is creating a galvanic response. Also she maybe metal sensitive as I am, so I cannot handle anything like that at all. It could well be making her sicker. I find cerec porcelain is a very good option for just about anything. It's biocompatible for many people, very strong, very flexible, lasts for many years of a person's life. It is not quite like the old style porcelain either and does not have a metal base attached to it. However it is very expensive! That's the only downside to it I can think of, but the fact it can last almost a lifetime is a pretty good investment in the long run.

I hope some of this will be of some help to you. Sorry if it's a bit too much info at once, but just trying to fit in as much as I can. And let you know what helped me.

Hi Heluvsme yeah yeah yeah

If the filling is the color of metal then it is an amalgam filling and is full of mercury.

If the filling is white then it is probably not mercury. But the white composites are still full of other nasty things that people react to as well. Some people react badly to some of these composite fillings. When I was bio-compatibility tested I was fine for 30 dental products and not fine for 20….so its more than possible yr daughter could be getting a reaction from even just a composite filling and a metal crown (even if there is no mercury around.)

If the crown is metal this creates an electrical current in the mouth. It is especially bad if you have two different types of metal in the mouth. A battery effect.

Composite fillings can be made of lead, tin, copper, and likely a combination of metals even if they are white in color.

So a crown and a composite filling could cause a reaction, even if they are not mercury.

Speak to your holistic dentist….did he fit the crown and composite himself?

Generally when having a dental cleanup …the crowns are lifted and checked underneath for amalgam as this is the only way to be 100pct sure. I would suggest that for your daughter. I would also suggest bio-compatibility testing for both of you. Again speak with your holistic dentist about how to do that, he should be aware. Lab work or muscle testing.

As Bex said, “Amalgam Illness” by Andrew Cutler is essential reading. I am following his protocol and it’s working fine for me so far. the best $35 you can spend right now....its explains many mercury problems and how to avoid the pitfalls of mercury detox. You can also self diagnose mercury poisoning from the book too.

Remember amalgam removal is just the beginning of getting well. After amalgam removal the mercury still needs to be removed from your body stores….thats what the cutler protocol does…allows you to safely detox the mercury in a manor you can control.

Welcome, ask lots of questions and good luck! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Thanks so much for all your advice! I will be taking her in asap to find out if the filling and/or crown is causing these symptoms. I am trying to to totally freak out here...I have been so sick for so long. I am scared I will die before I can get these out and detox. Is that normal??? I mean the fear...it's overwhelming. To make matters worse, my dentist office called to offer me an appt tomorrow and I can't take it! So I have to wait til the 20th.

Hey Heluves yeah yeah yeah

The most important thing for you to do is to learn about mercury illness. Number 1 big important, for both you and your daughters sake.

Seems strange that, doesn’t it? Why do I say that? Why don’t I say the most important thing is to get the fillings out?

Because…..

You have had the amalgams in there for a LONG time. Another couple of weeks here or there is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Obviously yes…they gotta come out soonest, but the more you know about mercury the easier task you will have in getting better quicker and avoiding the oh so common pitfalls.

What is more important is that you understand what’s happened and how to SAFELY get better and detox yourself and yr daughter.

Detoxing the mercury is simple(-ish) but there are ……
SO MANY ways to do it wrong,
SO MANY ways to do it painfully,
SO MANY ways to make things much much worse……

Detoxing mercury is simple(-ish) but it does take a long time. Depending on how ill you are……….1-4 years.

Unfortunately there are few doctors that can be trusted when it comes to mercury. They may know lots of great things for normal people, but mercury people always get hurt by some well meaning doctors, NP’s and dentists.

I think I can go out on a limb here and speak for everyone on this forum, everyone has been hurt by well meaning advice from doctors, NP’s and dentist’s at some point. And it hurts and it hurts real bad too.

The only way to avoid this is education….painful experience is talking here. My painful experience.

At least when something does go wrong ( it will!) you will know roughly what to do and how to ride out the rough times.

Blindly taking detox advice from doctors is a recipe for disaster.

Education is 100pct essential.

Don’t rush in…….rush to educate yourself first. Channel your desire to freak out …..to a desire to learn and understand…..and hence protect yourself and your daughter.

Good luck & ask lots of questions

Thanks again! I am already on a high protien and good fat diet. I take a lot of supplements as well. I am on a gluten free diet, but I still do corn and rice (whole grains). I drink one glass of raw goat's milk a day, but I also eat string cheese. I have a hard time giving up sugar! I know I've had candida issues for many years. I felt like it was reasonably under control with the supplements til that dentist visit last week. I think the mercury that I got exposed to from the drilling combined with the fact that I ran out of acidophilus set me back.

I am hypoglycemic, and have to eat about every 2 hours just to keep going. I even eat once or twice in the middle of the night. I'm just throwing info out there to see if anyone has any advice. Going to a total meat/veggie diet scares me because I have to eat so often and it seems like I do need some carbs to feel good. I try to do a Zone kinda thing...just a tiny bit more carbs than protien.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that I suddenly have problems carrying a pregnancy. After having 4 children all 2 years apart, now I have had several early miscarriages. I had all the mercury in my body with all the other pg's. Any thoughts on that?

Maybe you passed your toxic limit?

Mercury is an accumulative toxin. Mercury leaks into your body continually from your amalgams 24/7, slowly poisoning all your internal organs….at some point your ability to live a pain free life stops. Your mercury load is constantly increasing because your amalgams are constantly leaking mercury. Your body is unable to function correctly because there is too much mercury in you and it must use it’s precious resources just to keep you functioning as best possible and having another child is not possible.

Same can be said for many other toxins, the vast majority of which normal people will never hear about, understand nor be able to prevent. The more you hang out here on Herballure….you more you will discover.

Your diet is great…congrats! Having a decent diet makes a world of a difference to your standard of life.

If you are having a hard time with giving up sugar….. can I suggest you google “Raw agave nectar” – tastes like honey but is very low on the glycemic index. I can’t handle any sugar, nor any fruit…but agave is fine. It tastes divine <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Hi Heluvs me, giving up sugar is a necessity if you wish to get candida under control. You can take any supplements you want, but it will return if you don't stop feeding it. Giving up sugar is not just about starving excess yeast, but also helpful to overall immunity. Sugar really is that bad! So bad, that even honey and fruit can be problematic to many people with candida. They should also be stopped.

You get more than enough energy believe it or not from good fats, proteins and vegetables. I'd watch the grains, though they are non gluten, they are high carbs and yeast are not fussy what they feed on. But if you really need them? And you are struggling to give up everything? Then continue with them, but I'd keep it limited if you can.

I know it's very difficult, but funnily enough hypoglycemia can be CAUSED by all these issues, candida included. So it's a vicious cycle. I have had it also and it was mercury and candida I am sure of it. I used to have to get up in the middle of the night and eat, or I would lie in bed crying with hunger and even be in pain. The ongoing sugar eating was continuing this cycle and making me weak and ill unless I kept feeding the problem. Eventually I had to give it all up and of course all those toxins started to come loose and come out of me.

At the end of a few weeks, I was impressed with the improvement! At that time, I was lucky because I could still eat some limited fruit and limited non gluten grain and even add milk to my teas and non gluten cereal. But that was then, this is now and I have different issues now than I did then. Back then? I just basically had mercury poisoning and that was bad enough and my candida was bad enough, but now? I struggle with viral/infection problems, so my immunity is actually far worse and my diet now is restricted far more because of that.

You'll be the best judge, but definitely give up all sugar! That stuff is just poison. And the fact a person finds it so hard, shows they probably have a yeast problem. Yeast crave sugar and need it to survive and they continue to poison you with their toxins (which also affect the brain as well). Symptoms from candida are vast, just like mercury! any pathogens will feed on sugars, yeast, gluten grains, high carbs, etc.

You don't have to do a total meat and vege diet to start off with. It is a transition and I actually always included raw nuts (that is more than enough energy, but good fats are too). I have almonds and brazil nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and of course acidophilus yoghurt! These are snacks that keep me going during the day and are more than enough. All these foods have energy believe it or not, we've been kind of brainwashed about the high carb thing. You'd probably want to read the findings of Dr Weston Price online. Who studied the healthiest cultures around the world and found out what they were all consuming.

The problem with miscarriages can be typically mercury, but could also be yeast. It's hard to say why it's happening now and wasn't then, but again it's progressive because mercury accummulates and it depends too on your overall immunity at the time and who knows what else can come into it! I know it causes so many reproductive problems that in some areas, they have warning sign about amalgam mercury on the wall of dental offices. What a pity that isn't everywhere!!! A biologic dentist here apparently when he used to use amalgam, was alarmed I think at how many miscarriages women were having that he had put amalgam in and he started making the connection. It was far too coincidental and he was becoming more aware of the problems of mercury in amalgam and decided to get rid of it and go biologic.

It is very upsetting that you're having this happen to you at all! But I remember I had amalgams all my life and sometimes problems start much later on for reasons I don't always understand. Perhaps just the length of time, the fact the body does its best and then at some point it cannot handle anymore and you start seeing things go badly wrong. Sometimes it can be one extra load on you. For me, It was when braces were put on my teeth (age 14-15). That's when I slipped into chronic illness. I believe my body was trying hard to handle the mercury and I was no doubt already poisoned, but it only took one extra toxic metal strain and I fell apart. From then on, even though the braces were removed, I never did come right.

I struggled for years and finally got on a candida diet and improved much of my symptoms, but the underlying poisoning ones were evident and continued no matter what. I used to get blue nails, I would get tremors, metal taste and very cold body temperature. Nobody knew about mercury then in amalgams really, or didn't consider it. But even my Mother said "Your symptoms sound just like poisoning" and they were! Anyway, it's a long story, but I did finally get them all out (about two at a time thankfully). But often unprotected removals and not even being properly tested for bicompatibility and getting differeing composites in the same mouth because of going to different dentists.

It was a long painful journey because I didn't know what I was doing. Post amalgam removal was tough at first because I had swallowed amalgam during removal. Yep, the assistant didn't use the suction and down the removed grains of mercury went. I was very ill from that alone. But improved somewhat later on. But the stored mercury was still inside of me and at some point the body becomes aware there is no more amalgam in teh mouth, no more need to store it and it begins to dump the storage. Ouch! So you go through a kind of detox, one that you can't really stop from happening. The body just starts to try excreting it.

So when that started to occur, again I didn't know what it was and panicked. Nobody told me about the "second phase of suffering" that can happen to many people down the track after all amalgams are gone. Not all get this, but many do. The way to deal with it is basically chelating the mercury after your amalgams are gone and getting on with it and getting onto a protocol that suits you and helps you (cutler's helped me). Just getting the mercury OUT of there and in a way that is most tolerated and safe. Reducing the mercury, will usually lessen and speed up the entire healing process. Detox symptoms are normal, not pleasant, but expected as the metals start to come out of you.

Along with this of course are the fact other toxins too can come out of you and the body may also deal more with pathogens and you can get healing symptoms from that also. For me? I noticed just an incredible spilling over of metal detox. So obvious it was, that people could sometimes smell the metals on me as they were coming out of my pores (after exercise etc). I developed a hot itching burning rash over my body everytime I heated up and this can occur as mercury comes out onto the skin. It was incredible, it happened after a chelating agent was administered in me (DMPS IV) and released so much metal everywhere, that I was an absolute mess. So of course, it started to come out of the skin, I guess it had to! Probably saved me in a way. I also cried and salivated a lot, which is my usual response to toxins coming out of me. It is not nice, but that's the way my body tends to deal with it. I salivated so much, I used to hang my head over a bowl or toilet. My body was determined to get this stuff out of me and you can imagine years worth of stored mercury is not fun when it starts coming back out.

Again, you can start chelating this stuff so you do not have to go through quite as much as I did. I didn't do ANYTHING, i left it until my body pretty much forced the detox on me and in a slow painful manner. Then I had to go find ways of helping the metals out and took all sorts of stuff, which mostly mobilised it everywhere, rather than removed it more strongly. This just increased my symptoms and often to an intolerable degree, but in my mind, I thought so long as it speeds it up. Well in doing that, I could get very ill for a long time afterwards, so had to find a protocol that would do the job, but in a way that wasn't so painful. Again Cutler's was the answer for me in the end.

You maybe different, but at least you've found this forum and can decide for yourself.

I wonder too about my daughter. I lost a couple of pgs really early, too and had to use progesterone cream to stop spotting during my first trimester with her. I've also breastfed for two years now. I have 16 amalgams and 8 are under crowns. I'm planning on hair testing her really soon, so I can figure out if she's poisoned from me or not. I just finished reading Andy Cutler's book on Hair Test Interpretation. It was worth the money!

Can anyone tell me how I can help my dd detox from nickel? I am just assuming her crown is probably made of nickel (80% are, right?) What could I give her (she is 5).

From “hair test interpretration: finding hidden toxicities” see page 247

…..oh…too long to type……let me see if I can find it…..oh yes…..here we are:

http://books.google.com/books?id=U7...p;sig=xwKoN6VPkLif88LQ9lYPrIWRbpU#PPA247,M1

Go to page 247. there are directions for what to do about nickel.

How do you know she is high nickel? did u do a hair test?

I'd be sure she ate lots of fresh green veggies, salads etc.

seems rather odd to go through the pain and expense of so much fancy dental work on a baby tooth. but that's what dentists are for I guess, to give us top buck bad advice. I would have it extracted and simply waited for the second tooth to grow in.

If it's still in there and causing distress it certainly won' be helpful to having a new healthy tooth coming in behind it.

I don't know for sure that she has nickel toxicity, but something is going on because she never had problems til after that crown was placed. The tooth is her back molar. The dentist said it would cause problems with the other teeth to have it pulled. I sure wish we would have known then what we know now<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />