help! i am just trying to absorb all of this! i have had symptoms for a year and a half!

i have seen every dr under the sun , until my sister suggested a accupuncturist. i was in his office for 10 minutes and he said , do you have amalgam fllings? i thought what does this have to do with anything? and then i listened , and then i cried, and i cried ,and i cried. you mean to tell me the answer was right in my mouth the whole time?

15 emergency room visits, thousands of dollars in co pays, six mri's,5 ct scans and tons of bloodwork.It was hard to accept myself. but for the first time in almost two years i had an explanation!!!

on my first visit he treated me with accupuncture, i was scared to death, it was all so new,he also told me that i had a yeast infection in my gut. i said, how do you know that?he said trusut me. trust him? i have trusted every physician i have seen and gotten nothing but anti depressants, and phychiatric recommedation. but he seemed pretty sure of himself and was quite serious! he gave me a yeast controller and trace minerals to take, also a rx for diflucan to get me started.

when i got home i was exhausted.then i went on line . oh my!!! i never thought to consider myself an out of touch person, but i was floored !! is this really happening ? how can this be? i felt totally betrayed! i started to read side effects for diflucan,i always read them now. after trying 6 different anti depressants in 3 months(my dr thought the prozac i was on for 3 years was causing my symptoms)i have to read everthing now.come to find out ,i couldn"t take xanax with diflucan.I was rxed xanax because the prozac wasn"t helping with my panic attacks anymore.so i had to make a choice do i stay safe and just keep on doing the same thing that has gotten me nowhere with my illness? or, do i trust that something, or someone has led me to this place and trust that this is the beginning of change ?

it was a very hard decision, all of my life i had been treated by physicians, and was blind to the type of holistic medicine i was about to approach. still something told me this is good. so i jumped into the void and started taking all of the things my accupuncturist gave me.

my first dose of diflucan was a whopper.I felt like crap! he said i would. according to him when yeast is being killed off, it gives off toxins, just what i need, more toxins! but a funny thing happened 2 days after the first dose of diflucan, and two doses of yeast controller drops, i started to see my face, my face that had been swollen and red for almost two years was back!!! i didn"t want to get my hopes up but there was a differance!! i took those drops 3xs a day 4 drops under tongue religiously fortwo weeks,the trace minerals seemed to exasperate my symptoms so he said stop those.

i have been smoking for a while now,i know i have to quit, he gave me a needle in my ear to help w/ withdrawl.baby steps ,my mother always tells me.

my second visit was not so successful, he gave me an injection in my neck. i didn't see it coming cause i was laying on my stomach, i already had needles in my lower back. i tensed up when he gave me the injection, my lower back was in agony ,so he took them out. note to self (look both ways!) the next day i had severe pain in my kidney area, not good i have had 4 kidney stones in the past during, and after pregnancies. all i could think of was what did he do to me?amazingly enough i called him and actually got him on the phone !! i don"t know about anyone else but whens the last time you called your dr and actually got HIM on the phone?that was very reasurring !

i went home put some heat on it and went to bed.the next week was not so good, i had already dipped into the bill money to pay for the accupuncturist,things were getting tight,could i keep this up? i was starting to feel different, not to go as far and say better, but different.was that good or bad?i had missed alot of work due to sympyoms and the money just wasn"t ther . but will i compromise my health because of the cost? i'm sure i"m not alone in this situation.

so i called the accupuncturist and we agreed i could see him every 3 weeks.ok i could somehow swing that and still have a roof over our heads.the next thing i had to do was choose whether or not to keep my primary dr in the loop. i did see him after the accupuncturist and told him what was going on. he did order the blood merc test(this was before i knew that it wouldn't show up unless you were recently exposed) and he did a 24 hr urine non provoking.the accupuncturist did order a provoking test w 3 dmps pills,6 hr urine , but i was scared to take it. i called the cdc and talked to a dr who is in charge of merc poison issues. he said do not take a provoking test ,due to side effects. now how am i supposed to feel about the accupuncturist now?

anyway, the blood came back( none detected) and the 24 hr Which was tested twice, came back w/ two differnt results 1 said ( none detected, 1 said <4 so which is it? my primary didn't seemed impressed with either .he kept asking me if i had high, highs and low,lows. i didn't know what he was getting at . then he rxed seroquil, ever heard of it ? it is a drug used for bi- polar disorder!! the side effects on this drug gave me a panic attack!! literally !! diabetic coma ? that one was enough for me. i didn't take it and decided not to see my primary anymore. i'm in the process of find ing someone ore suitable.

i appologize if this is a long story , but i am new to this and maybe someone went through what i did ,or is going through it now and maybe they could feel better knowing they are not alone, or crazy, or thinking it's all in their head, as i have been told many times.

i went to see my dentist, i called and asked for my records as per accupuncturist,the receptionist asked me why i needed them. i explained that i have been sick and so on. when i went to pick them up,the oral surgeon was there whom i know fairlly well. when i asked for my records she said they were not ready. and , she added you didn't have any fillings put in ,in this office. like it's any of her business. then he came from around the corner yelling that accupuncturists are all quacks and tey just want my money . i was not prepared for that crap! he agreed to give me some xays but it would take a couple of days.

that conversation did it. i made an appt w/ a dentist who is mrec free, now just because they are merc free does not mean they will remove your merc fillings safely,so you could be worse off than before removal . im glad i asked if they use separate oxygen and a dam, and to my surprize, they said NO! so why are they advertising on a merc free website if they are exposing patient,staff and themselves?

i found one who follows protocal, i drove an houe and a half to see him.now he wants to know why i didn't take the provoking test. i don't know what to do !!who do i trust? this is where i am now if anyone could offer some advice,it would be greatly appreciated! god bless all of you,and don't give up!

(Russ added paragraphs to make your story more readable on 6/9/06 12:05 am)

Hi Def,

I'm very sorry to hear about your situation. Your story is, however, not uncommon. I believe tens-of-millions are suffering from some chronic disease or groups of chronic diseases and have no idea that it's caused by mercury.

I'm going to attempt to take a few minutes and offer some information that I hope will help you. I had my fillings removed in July 2000 and have recovered from over 17 physical symptoms and a still-untotaled number of emotional symptoms. My life was horrible and is now great.

If you're interested, get acquainted with my story. It may help you understand that mercury issue better so you can deal with it better:

http://herballure.com/mms

Based on your store, here are some things you need to know.

First, mercury does not usually show up on blood tests unless you're in stage 3. Most people are in stage 1 or 2 where the body harbors the mercury and is very efficient at keeping it out of the blood. For this reason, standard hospital tests for mercury toxicity are useless for the vast majority of mercury-toxic persons.

Second, a challange test will mobilize a massive amount of mercury by injecting you with a sulphur-containing chemical. This sulphur "drags" the mercury out of the body tissue into the blood allowing it to end up in the urine. They will then take an extended urine sample—perhaps over 24 hours—and test it for mercury.

The problem with this kind of test is, although it can reveal that mercury is present in body tissue, you can also get very sick from the mercury that gets mobilized in the body by this test. Not everyone gets sick but I have heard many horror stories from those who have. Most knowledgeable doctors will not recommend a challenge test.

The way to get diagnosed properly is a little complex, but not impossible at all. You need to have a hair test and have the test interpreted by looking for signatures, that is, levels of other minerals in the hair that follow a certain pattern that indicates the mercury is actually present even though it may show up very low on the test.

To have the test read properly, you either need to find a doctor who is knowledgeable in this area, or you need to get a book that explains how to recoginize the signatures yourself, like this one:

Hair Test Interpretation: Finding Hidden Toxicities

If I was in your position, I would be taking the following supplements right now:

Algin
This is the single most important mercury detox supplement. It absorbs mercury in the colon and prevents reabsorption via the colon walls. Typically, 90% of mercury is dumped via feces.

Vitamin C
I would take between 3000 to 8000 mg of vitamin c per day to protect your body from certain types of mercury damage.

Vitamin E
This will help protect your brain from mercury-induced oxidative damage.

I would also continue researching so you know what you're dealing with if it is indeed mercury, which it certainly sounds like it could be. You have to be aware that mercury exposure can happen not only via amalgam fillings, but also via coal-burning power plants, vaccines, tattoos (usually red paint), dentures, and from other sources.

Here is a link I would explore to continue to expand your understanding of the mercury issue:

Mercury Talk Info Base

If you can reasonably determine that mercury is the cause of your health issues, you need to choose a dentist carefully. It's not easy to do but there is an article at the link I gave above that gives tips on how to do this.

If you want to share some of the symptoms, I will be happy to share some supplements that can help with those symptoms until the root of the problem is removed.

Welcome to the forum and please keep us posted.

hello again! i also just found out that i have very high cholest. thanks again!

High cholesterol is directly related to high homocysteine. High homocysteine is related to mercury toxicity because mercury blocks the action B12 which lowers homocysteine.

Gotta' go. I'll try to add more later.

thank you for your recommendations! how much algin and vitamin e do you suggest? thanks again!

I would take 400 iu of Vitamin E and I would take between 1500 and 2000 mg of Algin 3 to 4 times per day. This amounts to 3 to 4 capsules between meals and before bed.

Hello it has been a while since i have been on the computer. i was trying to keep my mind on other things, not to consume myself with all of this. It was getting a little too scary. I did see a bio dentist only an hour away. I am very confident in him.I have other issues like 8 cavities, and gingivitis that need to be addressed before amalgam removal.When i went for gingivittis treatment i was having pain in my left upper tooth,which held my largest filling . He took an x- ray and said ok we'll take it out! i was not prepared for this and got very worried. He assured me that every precaution would be taken .Turns out there was a cavity under my amalgam filling! that would explain alot!.I took 500mg v c before and 1 for 3 hours after procedure.Within the next 3 days i felt horrible and my anxiety level was through the roof,crying spells and all.i went to see my accupuncturist. He treated me and i requested a low dose valium,i was overwhelmed at this point, and with 2 small children at home i think i needed something to take the edge off. They are very worried about their mommy.
he said that would be fine and also gave me a supplement to take called 5 htp 50 mg for low seretonnin levels. i have taken it for 3 nights now and other than waking up with dry mouth and throat,Im tolerating it well.In the next 4 weeks i will be having a root canal done 8 cavities filled and last,but certainly not least my last 3 fillings removed.
I just want to say Thank You to all who participate in this forum.I have gotten alot of questions answered and an unexpected feeling of community. To know that when i am at my worst ,or feeling that the people close to me just don't understand all of this ,or don't know what to say or how to help me ,I can come on here and know that i am not alone in this fight! It is a fight, a fight for your life and for mine and for people who haven't even discovered that this is whats making them ill. I pray for every one of you every day that you keep pressing on and know that one day, no matter how close, or how far it may be, you will be well again!!!!!