Hi Buckeye.

I have OCD (self-diagnosed) and have had it since I was a child. I started to have fillings at about nine or ten years old (I can't remember exactly) and by the age of 12, I was locked in the ritualistic world of OCD.

I didn't know what had happened to me, why I was suffering like this all of a sudden. I had been a confident and happy child previously and I was very scared. When my parents started questioning me about my behaviour and talking of going to see psychiatrists I got even more scared and I hide the rituals from them. Instead of the physical ones I turned more and more to the mental ones.

This terrible existence went on and on until I was about 17. At that age my anxiety started to drop and I became "almost" normal - but some of the mental rituals still haunt me.

I never understood why I had the sudden change. Everything I'd ever read about OCD said that it was incurable and the only treatment was drugs. I put it down to becoming a Christian - which certainly helped in alleviating my anxiety somewhat to believe there was a God in control of the universe and that my rituals were meaningless.

Now I believe it was because:

1. I was no longer getting amalgam fillings - there is high mercury release when they are put in.

2. I no longer had braces.

3. I became a vegetarian so I no longer ate fish (which can contain high mercury, especially Tuna).

At the same time I started to get the OCD, I also started to get very bad migraine attacks (lights, shakes, vomiting). Also I started to wake up with numb/pins and needles. I started to get light sensitivity, chemical sensitivity, and my skin was very sensitive to the touch. I was also not getting regular periods and vaginal thrush was a problem. I had to have medication for this at 19. Also I was getting bad floaters in my eye. I was feeling suicidal a lot and my skin was spotty and blackheads were a problem (still are).

I was constantly going to the doctor telling them something was wrong with me. I mentioned my anxiety problem, but didn't go into the OCD because I knew, from reading, that the answer would be drugs and therapy, and I didn't want to go that route. The OCD was, at this time, manageable.

Ihad a root filling 7 years ago, and since then my health has got worse. Within a year of it I was having muscle pains - the doctor diagnosed RSI and inflammatory drugs. Also, within 2 years of this filling, my periods almost stopped completely. I have brain fog almost all the time, depression, fatigue, and have lost interest in so much things I used to love.

Last Christmas I had treatment on this tooth - shaved off the top of the amalgam without using oxygen or precautions - and the following week I had very bad pins and needles, so much I had to get dressed and walk around the hotel I was staying in on holiday. I started to get very bad panic attacks and intensification of my OCD symptoms - compulsion to blink, rituals, tics.

The doctors have tested me for years and come up with anxiety disorder, PCOS, RSI, labyrinthitis, rhinitis and various other things. The solution is always drugs.

What lead me here was that while I was looking up for "alternative" solutions, I read a story about a child who had OCD who gotbetter after mercury amalgam removal and chelation.

Only last week I read about a man who suffered from OCD having a 99% cure after removal of the fillings.

At this point in time I have about 8 fillings, but when the OCD started I didn't have that many. I started to get the problem as soon as I started with fillings. So I believe it's possible to get OCD from few fillings. You may not be able to excrete toxins, you may be very sensitive to mercury, or we may have some biologial predispositin to OCD that is triggered by mercury.

Also, it's possible to get elevated levels of mercury from eating fish. Aswell as that, vaccines used to contain mercury and some still do. If you eat seafood, I would suggest giving it up.

I have found relief from my symptoms by following diet advice for mercury toxicity. At the summer my compulsions to blink was very bad, but since taking alginate, the edge has gone off it. I probably need to take more alginate that I am at present and be more meticulous in following a good diet that I am. But the alginate is the only thing I have found to help. I tried magnesium (which I am still taking) but it didnt' help by itself. I can feel the difference with the alginate. I was scared of taking it at first (have a phobia of taking things) but now I wouldn't like to go through the day without it!

If you stick here, I think we can help each other <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I may not get better as quickly as I would like after removal as I am a vegetarian and that's supposed to hamper the recovery process, but I am sure we can support each other and give tips on what is helping.

I am 99% sure mercury triggered my OCD, and before I pay for any other kind of treatment for my problems or go on anxiety drugs I am going to see if removing my fillings following all safety precautions helps. If not, then I will look into other possible causes, but I feel very sure, given the timing of my illness and all the other things, that I have Amalgam Illness, not OCD and not PCOS.