My cousin's partner was very healthy and happy until about 4 years ago when he was involved in pretty bad car crash. He damaged his back severley and has not been able to work since. He has suffered many of the same symptoms as ourselves. He was of course prescribed the usual anti-depressants, sedatives ect, which helped to a very small degree. The doctor recently abruptly stopped them and the poor guy has gone completely to pieces. He has tried to kill himself 3 times in the last 2 weeks and these were not a cry for help. The last time my cousin found him hanging in the loft and he had no respiration or heartbeat. She cut him down, the paramedics just managed to revive him, he was taken to hospital and then sectioned, He is now in an institution being pumped full of more TRIAL medication. Tracy

Sounds like withdrawals. Is there any chance someone can get him out and begin a slow taper?
I felt suicidal during withdrawal too. And that's not characteristic of me.

Oh, hello btw. I'm new to this forum. My name is Tonya.

Good luck to you Tonya, I'm afraid you won't get much sympathy on here admitting to something like that. I wish you all the best and thanks for your kind words. I actually don't feel suicidal, just got to ride it out. Peace be with you my friend, I'm afraid I've had enough of the judgmental stance of some people on here. You'll understand why when you read some of the threads. All the luck in the world. Tracy

Hello Tonya,

Welcome! Actually, I think you'll find a tremendous amount of information and encouragement from the vast majority of caring people on this forum. Of course, some of us have our bad days and good days, but overall, it seems that most people give this forum two thumbs up! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dance.gif" alt="" />

I hope you'll stay with us for a while. Feel free to post any questions or comments you have. The more the merrier! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/boogie.gif" alt="" />

By the way, do you have (or have you had) amalgam fillings? Just curious how you came to find us.

Welcome again, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/byebye.gif" alt="" />

Hi Tonya,

I second Laura's message! For the most part, this forum has probably been the most supportive one I have belonged to, as well as the widest variety of information and attention given to eachother. Somehow people never seem to tire of trying to help. Please do not be put off by an instance that has arisen on this forum recently. Sometimes it's unfortunate timing when someone joins right at one of those moments and hope you're not put off!

Anyway, welcome to the forum <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You have an interesting handle Tonya. Are you involved in that field in some way?

Wow, thanks for the welcome, guys!
Laura, I have 9 amalgams (one of which has been deteriorating, I think)! That's probably more than the average adult has. The first went in about 17 or 18 years ago; the last one about 8 years ago, so they've been in quite some time now. I can't have them out right now for a couple of reasons. I have had issues with my adrenals for several years now and in December, suffered from an adrenal collapse (term used by my alternative healer). I'm not stable enough to handle the risk of more mercury entering my body. Very symptomatic lately. The other problem I have is most likely due to the adrenal insufficiency and possibly the mercury itself. I suffer from pretty severe agoraphobia. I don't want to challenge my body by getting to a dentist office at the moment. Hopefully this will change in the future.
Linda kindly directed me to this forum.

Tracy and Bex, I've seen skirmishes in many forums. I guess it's bound to happen. I'm not put off by it at all, in fact I'm very grateful there is a forum to discuss the mercury issues. It's wonderful that I'm not alone!

Russ, no I'm not in any form of health care - allo- or otherwise. I experienced a long-lasting drug withdrawal because I didn't know how to taper properly. Many of the more dangerous symptoms (like the suicidality) were short-lived. But there are others that continue today.

There are so many things going on right now, that I don't know what to attribute to the mercury.
I'm wondering if the adrenal collapse hadn't occurred, if I'd display any symptoms of mercury poisoning at all.
I was already having issues with my kidneys. My Chinese herbalist diagnosed me with kidney yin deficiency.
Maybe that was caused by the mercury?

I have a few questions though. Is it pointless to try chelating without first removing the amalgams?
If I read correctly in another post, the best way to do this is by clearing out the body (or at least the intestines) first, then moving on to the brain. Is that correct? I've been having both physical symptoms and mental (have compared my symptoms with those of forum member Jinx).

Thanks and sorry this is so long!
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi Tonya, welcome to the forum. Russ and Laura have done a very good job bringing us all together so we can try and get well again.
This forum has saved my life, i have some good friends here,in fact they are my best friends. There are arguments on here but we are only human, Anyway best of luck with finding answers to good health!
Dawn x

Hi Ghost,

I'm sorry for your situation and have heard similar from many other members. I think you are playing it safe by waiting until you feel in a stronger position to go through with the removal. As you know, the exposure during removal is unavoidable, though a good biologic dentist will do his/her best to limit this by providing you with as much protection as possible. However, the vapor exposure is still substantially increased.

When I had amalgams, the only thing I did was change my diet. I did not know at that time about amalgam toxicity, but I knew I was being poisoned by something. I was very very ill, both from mercury and candida I believe. So all I did at that point was treat the candida and that helped me a great deal. Because in reducing candida, and improving immunity with the diet, my body was stronger against the mercury. I would not advise antifungals as such because they can increase the release of toxins ten fold by splitting alot of yeast open at once. Yeast can also absorb/contain mercury so in killing yeast too aggressively, you can be exposed to the metals in one shot.

The way for me to go about it was the diet. I removed ALL sugar from my diet (imperative), all wheat and any wheat containing products (absolutely essential too) (wheat is treated wtih mercury fungicide, which might explain why I would develop more mercury symptoms after eating it). It is also a gluten grain and gluten messes up the gut in mercury and/or candida. I avoided all gluten containing grains. So I only ate basically rice, or corn at that stage. They are still high carbs though and some people find they still feed their candida, but I was ok with them back then. I only had mercury, I did not have anything much else wrong other than yeast. So long as I avoided sugar and wheat and yeast, I was able to include other things.

I avoided coffee, as that too would worsen by toxic symptoms (some say it contain cadmium?, plus it's high in caffeine and bad for adrenals). Black tea was ok for me then, though I'd advise sticking to herbal tea personally.

I was lucky then I could still have some dairy like milk (but only in cereal and tea). I couldn't drink much of it without experiencing symptoms. I could also have some fruit, but not much. I ate about 2-3 pieces a day and that helped with my sugar cravings. I was also able to eat potatoe chips soon after too, but they are still high in carbs and can still feed candida. So some people cannot eat any fruit or potatoes or any grain at all.

These days I cannot eat grains, fruits, or any high carbs (potatoes, corn, peas, beans, etc). Because I have a much worse case of yeast etc, due to viral infection etc. So my immunity is much worse than it used to be. I have had to adjust my diet accordingly.

However, going back to when it was mercury? I could get away with the natural carb foods and could still have healthy treats like carob and potatoe chips etc (so long as the potatoe chips were not flavoured with grain products).

After a few weeks of doing this (excluding sugars and gluten/wheat and yeast), I improved dramatically. I was still poisoned yes, but my health had improved, my depression had lifted and anxiety also improved. Though I admit that the early stages of the diet caused detoxification symptoms. I felt worse going through it and headaches erupted and crying etc, as the toxins were erupting out of me. It was worth it though because after a few weeks I was feeling so much better. Skin, hair, eyes everything improved.

Amalgam toxicity? That stayed because the source was still there. But I recommend to you, if you have not already, to change your diet. Supplements can also be an aid in this and for me, the ones that helped my mercury toxicity were vitamin C (powder), vitamin E, halibut oil (for vitamin A and D), B complex, milk thistle (for liver), zinc, selenium, magnesium, iodine, flaxseed oil (for essential fatty acids omega 3 etc - 1-2 tablespoons a day mixed in with plain sugar free acidophilus yoghurt or cottage cheese, if you can handle cheese). Also getting a general multi vitamin/mineral mix powder supplement can be a good base to work from. The others can be extra additions, because mercury interfers with them.

Making sure you have enough healthy fats and protein in your diet! Hal Huggins recommends this particularly for those suffering from mercury and things like eggs, meat and butter etc are very good. Making sure you have enough salt is necessary for adrenals too (celtic sea salt). You can even add it to your vitamin drinks, just quarter teaspoon 2-3 times a day. As well as food, but you must make sure you get iodine and sea salt does not usually contain enough of it. As well as the fact mercury blocks the action of iodine and displaces it. So I use lugol's iodine for that, though mine is a diluted form of it.

The healthy oils/fats are butter, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, lard, fish oil (mercury free), etc. I would steer clear of hardened vegetable oils like canola oil etc. Animal fats are far better, you should read the studies of DR Weston Price online.

Diet is very important, I think of it as the foundation of everything else. The body will detox a certain amount when you eliminate the bad and consume the food. Cheating on this diet is pointless, becuase most of the time it takes you back to square one. You may get away with a looser diet later on as you improve. It is imperative not to cheat in the early stages until you feel strong enough that you "might" be able to handle "some" cheats. Though I'd recommend finding healthy alternatives instead. You may never want to go back to your old diet, once you get a better one in place, if you notice big improvements.

The two books I think are excellent in this illness are Hal Huggins "It's all in your head" and "amalgam Illness, Diagnosis and Treatment" by Andrew Hall Cutler. These two books I believe are almost essential to have in mercury toxicity.

I hope this helps a bit. Mercury causes so many things to go wrong inside the body and yeast/pathogens are a big part of the symptom profile, and often you may not know what is doing what. This is why treating pathogens can be very important for any symptom relief, with amalgams or even after they have been removed. It takes a long time to heal. Hal Huggins believes that diet destroys more recoveries than anything else, OR overdoing it too soon.

Thank you Dawn! So far, I think this forum is wonderful! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thank you Bex, for all this information! It's a lot to digest.
I've never been tested for candida, though it's likely a problem for me as well.
I have changed my diet and do take many vitamins/supplements.
After my adrenals crashed, I restricted my diet to just poultry and vegetables.
I would either steam, saute or juice the veggies. Was too afraid to try anything
else. Fruit raised blood sugar, and therefore cortisol as well. Wheat caused
symptoms to worsen. Dairy products caused digestion problems.
I was afraid to try a mung bean and barley soup that my Chinese herbalist
prescribed for urinary tract/kidney infection. But those didn't cause any sort
of reaction, thankfully.
I heard beef is hard on the adrenals, so have stayed away from that as well.

I do use a lot of olive oil and coconut oil, and take fish oil in capsules. Maybe
I should add more fats to my diet?

I use either Himalayan crystal salt or the Real Salt brand of sea salt from Utah.
In a group that focuses on adrenal fatigue, it is said that iodine may cause
problems in some sensitive individuals. I wonder if your diluted brand would be
easier on the adrenals.

It was cheating on my diet that caused the adrenal collapse. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I guess I was
tired of the brain fog, and so rekindled my old sugar and chocolate addiction.
I know, big mistake. And yes, I probably will never go back to the old diet once
my health improves.

Thank you again for all this information and for the book recommendations!
Take care.

Hi, you're welcome.

I would not bother with testing for candida, most tests don't seem to show exactly what's going on (eg false negatives). The best test is diet and seeing your own reactions/responses to that, plus it's a healthy diet anyway, regardless of what somebody has.

Celtic sea salt or rock salt is great, but does not contain the iodine necessary to keep healthy thyroid function. Your blood passes through your thyroid and the iodine is needed for many functions. If anything, not enough iodine would place more strain on adrenals to cope with all the other things going wrong due to lack of iodine. Overstimulating the thyroid would also strain adrenals, so it's a case of getting enough of it, without going overboard I guess. You should treat both with as much natural methods as you can.

You would be really wise to up your fat and protein intake, especially with mercury. I eat chicken, lamb, (beef too, which seems fine), liver, eggs, butter, lard etc. It's helped me. And I'm in a really bad way due to infections, so without this, I'd be worse. I tried just sticking to cereals and vegetables and things, but I was even weaker. You need these raw materials for glandular function, brain function, skin etc.

I recommend you look through this website here http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/
It has a lot of valuable information and dispells alot of myths too. It maybe a bit strict, so yu may not want to follow it to the letter, but the good foods it recommends and fats and reasons for it, are set out very well.

My diet consists mainly of eggs, meats, vegetables (low carb), liver (beef and/or chicken livers) plain acidophilus yoghurt, raw almonds/brazil nuts, seeds - sunflower and pumpkin, and the good fats and herbal tea mostly. It sounds strict, but it's really all I can handle. I can't eat grains or fruits. So I don't.

It's hard to stick to sometimes, but the fats and protein help because they are so tasty with salt of course <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> But definitely the high carbs, sugars etc, are a nightmare for me. Even a piece of fruit can cause a relapse. I admit that this is not normal, but until I gain any kind of cure for the underlying cause, I'll have to adjust my lifestyle accordingly and keep doing so.

Take care! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/byebye.gif" alt="" />

Dear Tonya you sound like you have a similar problem to me. I had a very bad tooth infection about four years ago. My mainstream dentist kept taking out the filling and packing it with gauze, then refilling. Unfortunately she left the last lot in for months and while on holiday the filling,along with gauze fell out and I swallowed them both. I felt ok for a few weeks, then noticed the Lymph glands under my arms becoming very painful and I got Hayfever in August which I usually only get in July. I went back to work, had another refilling at the dentist and two days later became vilolently ill. I thought I had Menengitis or something. Anyway to cut it short I did not recover and had to leave my job. Three months later, my Adrenals crashed, I cluld not stop shaking, trembling and had massive panic attacks. Thats when I was prescribed the Benzos, but of course with no information about addiction or anything.I was also given sleeping tablets. The doctor would give me as many as I wanted, without a word, I did mention addiction, but he said there was nothing to worry about. The doctor stopped mine last August very abruptly, when I had just suffered the sudden loss of my sister It has been a nightmare. I know wxactly what you mean, I am now confused about symptoms and whats causing what. The problem is I've contacted many professional and got many different answers, some say its not withdrawal by now and some say withdrawal symptoms can last literally years, especially if abruptly stopped. It gets so confusing, you never seem to get just one answer from any one. Sorry about the earlier post, going through the same thing, I'm sure you understand. I would be interested to know some of you symptoms if you don't mind sharing them. All the best Tracy x

Thanks Bex! That is a very informative site. I especially appreciate the recipes and info. on cookware.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Tracy, that's horrible what your dentist did!
Yes, I had the trembling and shaking. Several times found myself teeth clattering and shaking as if out in the cold without a coat! There were times my muscles would clench up so tight, it'd be hard to move or walk, even seemed hard to take a full breath. I thought I would die. Lots of panic attacks as well. Adrenaline rushes were the worst!
My heart would start beating very rapidly and very hard. I'd feel so amped up and out of control of my body.

Still have adrenaline rushes, just not so intense. The strange thing is that most of the physical symptoms have now given way to mental/emotional symptoms. The trembling/shaking is rare now. In its place, I've begun to have intense and very irrational fears. Kind of embarrassing to talk about, but for a few weeks, I feared cloud cover/over cast weather. If the sun was behind a cloud, I'd suddenly feel boxed in or trapped. Seems harmless, but it was very scary. Then a fear of night (or darkness) started up. I managed to get over that quickly, but experienced for a couple of days an intense fear of the world. I guess what was happening was that I've been reading too much about all the conspiracies (real or otherwise) and became completely overwhelmed by it all.
Another very distressing mental symptom I've been experiencing is derealization. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derealization

I've been told that all of these fears and mental disturbances were a) kidney yin deficiency b) adrenal dysregulation and/or c) just a form of anxiety.
I went through many of these symptoms in the months following drug discontinuation, which has me wondering if I somehow triggered the withdrawals to return. Lately some folks in another group have been talking about drugs storing in fat cells and being released upon weight loss. I have lost at least 30 lbs since this adrenal crash.
Scary if that's true about the fat cells.
I'm wondering also if those are symptoms of mercury poisoning. And if so, does it indicate that I should detox immediately?
Like you, I'm confused and get conflicting reports from various sources.
I wish I could perfect the art of muscle testing and discover for myself which vitamins/herbs/foods are best for me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Sorry you had to go through the loss of your sister, while also going through this.
I hope things get better for all of us.
Take care.