Hi Jeanie,

I used to talk on the mercury forum fairly regularly but I stopped chelating last February while I worked on treating my adrenals and thyroid. And to be honest I don't like the format changes that Russ has made; I found it more user-friendly the way things were before.

I belong to a couple of other forums where I can go to ask about these things and I've had differing advice. On one, I've been told that my Armour dose still isn't very high and that I probably have other hormones out of balance too (I'm seeing an endocrinologist in a week). Other advice is that a negative hair test can still mean I have mercury, and I've also been told that the heavy DMSA/ALA chelation I was doing could have mobilised mercury too much, including into my brain. I don't know.

Looking at evidence isn't a game I play in the evolution/creationism forum, it's a way to judge reality, and it can be hard when the evidence seems to weigh fairly equally.

Evidence for mercury being my problem:
-- the symptoms I've had for 4 years, some of which can be characteristic of mercury poisoning
-- feeling better when I was chelating than I do now
-- my symptoms starting 2 months after getting 4 amalgams put in when previously I had none
-- negative hair test (which can mean I am not excreting mercury)

Evidence for mercury not being an issue:
-- negative hair test (which can also mean I really am clear of mercury)
-- childbirth and the subsequent stressful months might alone have done the final damage to my endocrine system
-- chelating hard for months without results, and feeling so bad when I missed a single dose, that I never had a break from it -- suggests maybe the DMSA was simply propping up weak adrenals
-- no swings in mood or symptoms, they've been pretty flat depending on what I've been doing to treat myself
-- 4 amalgams, then 2 months later I get ill -- seems rather extreme
-- no signs of allergies or other autoimmune problems, which are common in mercury poisoning

At the moment I'm thinking I ought to just continue to treat my adrenals and thyroid. Andy Cutler says that even when mercury is the underlying problem, these symptoms should be greatly helped with the right treatment. I've just had a very anxious day today and I think my last Armour raise was too hard on my adrenals; it's got me into the frame of mind again where I'm worrying that I'm not going to get well. I've got this stack of planning that needs to be done for school at the end of the month and it's hard to address it in this condition.

Definitely though, chelation is hard on the adrenals. I would recommend finding out what state yours are in and treating them as needed, then you can chelate again. For some people this simply means taking something like liquorice extract or ginseng.

I'm 36 so I'm not menopausal yet. I've got other problems there, probably related to hypothyroidism (i.e. very heavy periods). I'm sure my hormones are out of whack and the problem was made significantly worse by an antidepressant I took. I've been off it over 2 years but the things it did to me have so far not been put right.

Welcome to the wonderful world of illness, LOL. I haven't been reading in this particular forum for a long time so I'm afraid I've missed anything you might have said about yourself. I take it that you suspect you have a problem with mercury? How long did you chelate for, and did you get any positive results?