Hi folks

I'm sorry this is such a long post, but it's a long story. Please please give it a read, as I'm at my wits end and I'd appreciate any feedback I can get.

In October 05 I became ill (swollen lymph gland in neck, crushing fatigue diagnosed as "CFS"). I was given antibiotics for the swollen gland, even though it had gone down by that time.

Suddenly, things took a big turn for the worse. I started getting terrible nightmares which I would wake from 2-3 hours after going to bed, and when I woke I would have the LOUDEST tinnitus in my right ear that I've ever heard. The tinnitus would still be there the following morning, and would last until the evening.

(By the way, when I woke I'd feel as if I'd been asleep for six hours or more, having had a long, vivid dream... and would be astonished to find it was only a couple of hours since I'd fallen asleep)

This repeated night after night. Eventually, the tinnitus became permanent as did some hearing loss in that ear.

ENT surgeons couldn't find anything wrong ("oh it's a virus, it'll get better, let's see what happens") and after several visits and lots of tests (MRI, blood work for auto-immune things) I got nowhere.

My thyroid function, while not way off the scale, was definitely on the extreme wrong end of the normal range. So a friendly expert recommended I go on Armour thyroid to see if it helped, as a lot of hypothyroid patients have hearing problems. (In the US I'd be classed as hypothyroid, but we have different ranges here in the UK).

No particular improvement with my hearing, although the fatigue seemed to clear up. Also the nightmares gradually stopped and I started to sleep better... but the tinnitus and hearing loss is crippling (especially since I'm an audio engineer by trade... so I haven't been able to work for five months now).

In fact, the hearing got steadily worse. The tinnitus started to flare up in the other ear. Also my ears became "hot" feeling. I also have difficulty with my eyesight (can't stay focused on one spot, reading is very difficult as I can't follow a line of text well).

Eventually, I was lead to the thought that it might be mercury poisoning from my one remaining large amalgam filling which made up the whole inside surface of one molar.

My dentist insisted that it couldn't be that, so I did nothing and waited.

Then last weekend, things became unbearable. The pain in my ears and the loud tinnitus increased (as did my general level of panic) and I started to get strange flashing blue pinpricks of light when I closed my eyes to sleep. I was also getting tiny tremors or shakes in my hands, making it difficult to type or do any kind of fine manual work. I don't know how I survived that weekend, but I didn't get much sleep. Basically, I felt like my life was over.

So I went to have that filling replaced a few days ago. And that's when it REALLY got bad!

I'm not certain that the replacement was done properly. I insisted that my dentist used a rubber dam, which he did, and he said he had high volume extraction... although I wasn't aware of any sort of vacuum being used (can you normally hear it running? I couldn't see it from the chair). He didn't seem to have any way of providing me with a clean breathing air supply, but insisted it wasn't necessary.

So, replacement was performed on tuesday, and during that afternoon my hearing improved somewhat and I started to feel better. Not right, but better.

Then that night things went compleletly haywire again. I started having the nightmares again (which I hadn't had for two or three months), waking up after just three hours from an appallingly vivid dream. I woke with loud tinnitus in my LEFT ear. This happened two nights in a row... I'd also go immediately into vivid dreams even if I took just a short nap in the afternoon (waves of extreme fatigue occasionally). I also wake feeling as if I've been anaesthetised... I have to force my eyes open with sheer willpower.

So I started to wonder if the removal procedure exposed me to another even larger mercury dose. Otherwise, why would I have this dramatic relapse of symptoms the same day as the amalgam removal?

I now have varying tinnitus in both ears, variable hearing loss in both ears (although not the kind of hearing loss that shows up particularly in tests), and both ears feel uncomfortably "hot" and irritated. My eyesight is still messed up, and my hands were tingling noticeably this morning and are now shaking subtley.

I saw yet another ENT yesterday (after four expensive and unproductive 10-minute consultations with the first private ENT surgeon, I moved on) told him the entire story, and while he was sympathetic and open-minded about it, he admitted he had no experience with mercury poisoning. But he ordered up blood and 24-hr (non-challenge) urine tests for mercury... although I get the impression that these both frequently deliver false negatives.

My GP has kindly been in touch with the leading toxicology unit here in the UK, but the word that has come back is that "you cannot get mercury poisoning from amalgam fillings, so that cannot be the cause". They will treat me for poisoning if the blood/urine tests come back positive, otherwise I'm on my own.

I should also mention that I had an right-side abdominal injury last year well before all this started, which has never been diagnosed and is still painful. So my current theory is that my body's ability to excrete mercury has disintegrated (I've been kind of constipated for absolutely months) and that's lead to a buildup that has resulted in my current condition.

At least I HAVE an idea... so far, I'm the only person involved in the case that has researched any of these possibilities (HypoT, mercury). Docs have been utterly clueless and unwilling to suggest any particular cause, although more than happy to rule out things on the basis of what might be rather flawed tests (i.e. tests that could easily deliver a false negative).

Apologies for the long story. But I'm worried, after five months of serious health issues (I was previously a super-fit 40-year-old who played lots of sports) that I will remain in this condition permanently... the medical world is at a loss, and as you probably know, if they can't positively diagnose you they do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. There's no sense of emergency from any of the doctors I see, even though I'm largely incapacitated now.

Please please please, does any of this strike a chord with anyone out there? Does it sound like mercury to you? Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do next, considering I'm in the UK? I would even consider flying to Baltimore (Johns Hopkins Hospital) if there was any hope of receiving better treatment there. I'm almost suicidal with worry - my life is over if I don't get well.

Thanks
Audio Engineer (at least I was), London, UK