I am really getting tired of what I am going though. I am sure many of you can relate. When I finally think I'm getting better and most of my symptoms seems to subside and life is good again, the evil mercury symptoms are back again! Some are new or old symptoms coming back: night sweating, inability to sleep through the night, anxiety and now my left arm has been feeling numb for a couple of weeks. This numbness comes and goes but it scares me. I also feel a bit dizzy when walking.

I wonder if this is just a new stage in the detox game? Do we detox different parts of our bodies at the different times? For example, do different organs detox at different times and therefore symptoms change, come and go etc.

It just seems that when I finally think I see the light at the end of the tunnel, the darkness comes back. It's hard to endure. It's also hard to make a decision whether to go back to see a doc but every single time I went was a complete waste of my time.

My bowels are very active so I seem to be eliminating a lot, but seeing that it's month 9 after being mercury poisoned I thought I would be doing a lot better by now. I can never predict if I will have a good or a bad day and I am still very scared. I'm doubling up on Algin these days and vitamin C and doing all the right stuff we discuss on this forum..

Any ideas how the detox cycles work? I wish I could understand better what was going on with me..and when this hell will be over...

Nina,
I know exactly what you mean. Right now I'm feeling pretty good, but then you get a day or a few days when you wonder what's going on all over again. Your symptoms sound similar to mine right now and I am 5 1/2 months post removal. I find taking lots of Vit. C really stops the symptoms such as the tremor etc.
I 'm not sure about how the detox order goes or the different symptoms we feel as each organ or area detoxes, but I just want to encourage you today to remember the good days you've had and project that thought to the many, many good days that are coming up.
No tunnel lasts forever!
Chelan

Hi Nina, yep that's what happens with the mercury symptoms. They constantly go around and around and you just have a time of thinking "am I coming out of this" and you get pushed back into the black hole again and so it goes on until enough mercury is removed to where you begin to gain more ground. It can take a long time. Just when you think one part is improving, then it comes back again. it just goes through the cycle of the same symptoms until they are clear of mercury again, or at least clearer. It seems it does this over and over. Mercury is called quick silver because it moves all over the place so easily and is hard to pinpoint. You will have another moment, time of feeling improved and then you'll be pulled back under again. That's what I went through with it. Now? I have other problems of incompatible dental materials (with other metals in them) that have made me ill again, and I've been re-exposed to mercury from going into a dental office, plus possible cavitation. So I have a multifactoral problem now, whereas before it was just mercury.

From experience and what I used to go through, I had the same problems you had. It just KEPT ON GOING. Often, just when you feel at your best, or improved, the body then another lot of mercury comes up to the surface or fills you back up again to be detoxed. It's coming out of your tissues and organs because it's been stored for so long. The body begins to dump mercury back into the blood stream once the amalgams are removed. For some reason once the mouth no longer has mercury, the body after a time begins to give up what was stored and you can go through total hell.

Safe chelation at low frequent doses is a good place to start to try and keep things more level and keep it going OUT. Though it gets reasorbed again, eachtime a bit is coming out.

Wow - this is enough to make me wonder whether it's worth getting the fillings out in the first place?! I am considering having the whole lot out in one go, under conscious sedation, by a dentist who is highly recommended in the UK. Assuming vapour release is kept to a minimum, and he (and others) assure me that it will be - I should only get better, no? Surely nothing can be worse than having chronic fatigue, candida, leaky gut, hypoglycaemia etc etc?

Bex - would you keep us posted on how you go with the DMSA, as this has also been suggested to me. Are you using the ALA as well? In his book Andy Cutler says that DMSA can have a bad effect on candida. Have you noticed this? I read from your other posts the problems you have had, and I am so sorry. On that basis I have stopped taking Grapefruit Seed Extract, and will just continue to take probiotics, which have increased my energy levels. Good luck.

I think it's worth getting your amalgams replaced, but I would never get them all done in one session!! How many do you have? That can be very dangerous, even with the safety precautions. I would get about 2 or 3 done in one session, but can't imagine doing anymore than that and have time off inbetween replacements. If you think you'll be ok, and you don't have too many amalgams and a very competent dentist who uses all the precautions, then you might risk it. I'd be very careful though. I'm surprised he would want to risk removing them all in one go.

I swallowed amalgam on my last removal, I believe that did something to me that was very bad. I had tremors right after it and was much worse.

What I was mentioning with the worsening of symptoms following amalgam removal, is called the second stage of suffering. It's quite normal and happens sometimes almost immediately, or a few months down the track or later. Just when the body decides to start dumping the storage of mercury. Some people feel better right away, go into a remission adn think they're "cured" and then wham, the storage begins to shift and come out. It just leaks out and fills the blood back up.

The way to help this or even prevent it, from Andy Cutler's advice is to take DMSA (start no earlier than 4 days after replacement). You take it in small doses (25 mg for example) every 4 hours or more often (3 hours) around the clock for about 3 - 7 days, then a break of the about the same and start again and so forth.

This not only can help detox mercury, but also can actually help control the symptoms before the storage can build up in your blood too much. It's a long process, you have to keep doing this for about 3 months, when you feel a bit better and you've lowered your blood mercury/urine mercury, then you can add ALA to start chelating mercury out of the organs and brain, before they can fill the blood up again. It's not easy to chelate, even on andy's protocol I've had problems, but alot of that is because I am highly sensitive and toxic and the dosage for me has to be kept low.

You might find his book very helpful for you to get through this. I find it absolutely necessary to refer to. "Amalgam illness, Diagnosis and treatment". He talks about all of this and tell syou what to expect, how to help yourself if you can't get help and how to get well safely!

Yeah, killing the candida with antifungals for me was a total and utter nightmare. I don't know what happened, I thought perhaps I had killed the candida off and maybe it came back stronger, but now I think I had released more mercury. Whatever happened, I am far worse.

Yeah, DMSA can make candida flare up more, but nothing outstanding. Nobody knows whether it's directly DMSA or the metals being shifted around, or both. But I would worry more about the mercury than the candida. I just control candida as much as I can with diet, etc. Whatever helps you. Some people might find antifungals are fine for them and help them. Perhaps if I had stuck with taking them, I may have been ok, but the aftereffects seem VERY mercurial and frightening, so am scared to go back on them.

As for now, I'm just trying hard to chelate, but not finding things as they used to be. The complication of metals in other materials in my teeth, including incompatible ones might be the reason.

Thanks for the reply and good luck to you as well. Go easy! Don't rush too much and hope they do a thorough job on your teeth.

The book bex mentioned is available here:

Amalgam Illness: Diagnosis and Treatment.

It's honestly the best source of information on this subject I've found.

I had all my fillings removed in 1 day as did my business partner and we did very well. Our dentist used many protective measures during the procedure and I've been on the road to recovery ever since. It's changed my life dramatically for the better, not just physically, but emotionally.

It might help to read my story if you haven't already. It's located here:

http://herballure.com/mms

Best of luck to you!

As I've said before, I've felt the best and worst I've ever felt in my life since gettnig my fillings replaced. Some days there is a skip in my step, other days I hardly have enough energy to place one foot in front of the other.

The healing cycle is suppose to be: storing up enough energy/whatever to rid yourself of mercury (the high), and ridding yourself of mercury (the low).

I've recently been going through a succession of lows. I've been ridding myself of my candida and thus mercury has been reintroduced into my system (more than it should be as i've been stupidly been using probiotics which seem to methylate mercury).

I've recently been suffering from tinnitus and constant headaches, so much so I can't sleep. I account this to the probiotics more than anything though. Also, at one point I was unable to defecate for a week. I've also been getting muscle twitches in bed, and I never used to get those pre-amalgam replacements. In brief, yeah, I know what it's like. But even in my darkest moments, I keep thinking: one day..., and i'm getting there...

What SteveX is talking about I refer to as the rollar coaster ride. It's normal and common. The end is usually better than the beginning and it's worth the trouble?very worth the trouble.

Russ. I'd be really grateful if you'd have a look at this link

http://www.el-essawy.com/presentation_files/frame.html

this is taken from the website of the dentist I am thinking of seeing for an all-in-one-go removal of my 12 fillings. I also feel it's a lot to do at once, particularly as I am already chronically fatigued with candida, hypoglycaemia etc etc, but he appears to take very good precautions, and to have a commitment to let no vapour get into the patient. He is considered one of the, if not THE, best mercury-free dentist in the UK. I am scared about the prospect, but also excited, as it means I could start getting better sooner than I thought. Could you compare the precautions he takes (have a look through the presentation) with the ones that your dentist took, and let me know what you think? I'd be really grateful!

I am going to start having my fillings replaced next year, but not all in one go. I'm having then done in quadrant order, as that is supposed to help the body go into natural detox. So I'm going to be having 4 visits, hopefully, which will be at the most 3 teeth a session, and I'm going to leave a couple of months in between each one. I got very sick when I was given the fillings at regular doses, so I want to have them replaced gently, using all precaution.

David Harvie Austin and David Cowan, both in London, are the only 2 dentists I'm aware of in the UK who use all precautions and diamondlite filling.

I'm not going to do the DMSA and am going to go the slow detox route instead as I really was so ill after having fillings as a child that I want to go very slowly so as not to mobilise mercury too quickly.

For me I see no option but replacement if I am to have a hope of getting better. I have so many health problems, it's almost ludicrous, and I think the mercury has given me mental illness (OCD) that I never had before the fillings.

At the moment I am taking vitamin c, vitamin e, magnesium, zinc, occasional selenium until I can find a better one, and 2-3 alginate pills a day. I've started taking Flax Seed Oil today (vegetarian Omega 3 from Seven Seas) as I get pins and needles problems, and am going to add in some B12 when I find a quality one.

Thanks for this Demi. Do you have contact details or website links for these dentists? I have heard good things about El-Essawy - Lyn Rennick who runs an anti-amalgam organisation in the UK www.LynRennicksAMPSsociety.co.uk says there are only two dentists she would trust to remove her amalgams - Hal Huggins in the States and El Essawy in the UK. I am nervous about having them done all in one go, as I have so many(12), and I don't know what the aftermath will be like, but he has many good testimonials and really seems to know what he is doing. There is also extensive pre-treatment Vega testing to determine what the body can and can't take, and whether it will tolerate the materials used in the process. I hope to come over to the UK for pre-testing in early January, and see after that. 2006 could be the year when I get better!

I haven't heard of El Essawy, but I'm only learning about all this myself <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dr David Harvie Austin's contact number is (0207) 6372732. He was trained under Hal Huggins and has written a lot of things on dangers of amalgam and root canals etc. He is in Weymouth street, London, which is close to Euston Station. He gives oxygen supply and a lot of other precautions.

David Cowan has a website:
http://www.kingsburyholisticdentist.co.uk

Dr Austin can also refer you for a biocompatibility test for the new filling material at Biolab, London. You can get an appointment the same day and it's very simply done with a bloodtest and costs about £50. (extra tests are more).

I don't know how this compares to the vega testing, though, which one is more accurate. I got results in a few days that said I am compatible with diamondlite <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I know how you feel and how discouraging it can be to think that you should be getting better and yet... I think that my body was trying to detox too fast and was causing me more problems. I took the advise of someone on the site here and have started taking niacinimide to slow down phase I of the detox so that maybe I can balance out the two phases and have less problems.

I noticed that ALL of your symptoms that you listed are magnesium deficiency symptoms. You are probably depleting your magnesium with the detoxing that your body is going through. Take some before going to bed (when your levels are lowest) and again in the morning (2nd lowest time) . I take 350mg each time of ionized mg as I have digestive problems and this is cellular ready. There are a lot of forms of mg out there, just watch out for mg citrate as you can't take enough of that without getting loose stools, and oxide is the least expensive, but your body can't assimilate it.

Hang in there, I have faith that with time and the right nutrients that our bodies need to handle this poison , things will improve. Of course I constantly have to remind mself of that! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Can you give me some info on probiotics methylating merc ury.

From what Hal Huggins said, Candidia, not probiotics, are what methylates mercury. I have read that mercury is demethylated by probiotics, so who knows?

I personally think probiotics are necessary as mercury really screws up your flora in your intestines, and you need good flora to properly and fully digest food.

Hi Nina,

I have had many of those symptoms and have started with the Nature's Sunshine Magnesium Complex (thanks Missy and Laura!) The numbness and anxiety I was experiencing is virtually gone. The insomnia has very much improved. I got so confident about being able to sleep that I began having some caffeine throughout the day. This was a mistake because according to Andy Cutler "Caffeine accelerates magnesium excretion and should be avoided." When I began drinking caffeine again my muscle cramps started up. (Muscle spasms and cramping is another sign of magnesium deficiency.)

Another thing you may want to try is discontinuing the Algin for a couple of weeks. I understand that the Algin has helped many here, but for me it seem to stir things up. It seemed the larger doses of Algin I was taking the worse my head symptoms became. ( Ear ringing and strange sensations in the head) I don't know why I was senstive to it, especially since it goes in one end and comes out the other, but I guess everyone is different. I then began taking milk thisle and symtoms improved even more.

Chloe

A few pieces of info that may help...

Coffee facilitates the transport of mercury through cell membranes. Coffee and mercury are a really bad mix.

Any type caffiene will dispel calcium, magnesium and electrolyes so coffee is bad x 2.

Even though we have rave reviews about Algin from most people, we're now discovering that in a few people (perhaps fewer than 1 in 10 so far), Algin affects people in a negative way. This is a mystery to me.

Some excellent information on Candida...

"Candida ingests everything in it's environment, and grows and spreads rapidly when unchecked. The inorganic mercury in the gut is also consumed. Inorganic mercury ions ingested by yeast form various compounds.

Yeast cell walls can bear their own weight in mercury. When the mercury load becomes too much for the yeast, it is excreted free as methyl mercury.

Methyl mercury is Candida's flame. Methyl mercury is rapidly and efficiently absorbed throughout the human intestines. From there the blood stream carries methyl mercury (CH3Hg) throughout the body. CH3Hg can pass the blood brain barrier, the placental barrier, and can be tightly bound into proteins, fatty acids, hormones, enzymes, nerve cells, everywhere.

The selective attack of mercury on the immune system is now completed for people at all states of compromise. Nuetrophil's, the immune system macrophages patrolling the GI, consume the mercury bearing yeast. Macrophages collect up all the various forms of mercury within and on the yeast as they eat them.

As the Nuetrophil looks for the antioxidant glutathione (GSH), to rid itself of the yeast poisons, it finds little or none available. The mercury compounds in the blood stream have already preferentially bound up the available GSH as the body moves to clear the mercury poison through the liver.

At some point the body becomes short of resources for combating mercury and Candida. The neutrophil's are crippled, and unable to eat Candida. New GSH is in short supply."


"In the healthy gut, the yeast Candida albicans; it's many Candida yeast cousins; and staph and streptococcus bacteria are not welcome. E. coli, bifidum, bulgaricus, and other acidophilus type bacteria work together with the human immune system macrophages, called Nuetrophil's, to keep these bad guys out.

Yeast, staph, strep, and E. coli all convert inorganic mercury ions into methyl mercury.

E. coli, when present in a healthy gut, and when well supplied with the amino acid cysteine, along with the other healthy coinhabitants of the gut lining, convert methyl mercury into inorganic mercury.

A healthy GI flora is essential in keeping the bad guys out, slowing the ingestion of methyl mercury, and completing the digestive process for many foods.

Yeasts are fungus or plants, and are not killed or controlled by antibiotics. In effect, antibiotics are plant extracts, having first been isolated in penicillin mold. Antibiotics encourage yeast growth.

Antibiotics are highly effective at killing bacteria, members of the animal kingdom. The healthy inhabitants of the human gastro-intestinal (GI) track, are bacteria. The gut bacteria are killed by antibiotics. With enough exposure to broad spectrum antibiotics, GI flora can be completely exterminated.

Viruses are neither plant nor animal. They are encased strands of DNA and RNA that steal reproduction capability from the cells of the hosts they invade. Antibiotics have no direct effect on viruses."

Source:
http://www.cfspages.com/fire.html