My sister-in-law sent me this story yesterday because parts of it reminded her of me.  While my own health journey was nothing like this poor woman’s, I also suffered mercury toxicity.  Unfortunately, most people in the U.S. are contaminated with many heavy metals, and you would never know unless you continued to dig and dig for answers.  Many people have no symptoms of heavy metals in their bodies, until the exposure has gotten too high. I recommend this video to truly understand just how dangerous mercury is to our bodies.  Looking back, I had never thought about the timing of everything, but all of my joint pain/swelling/stiffness started right after I had my silver (mercury) filling removed.  According to the video above, mercury induces autoimmune diseases in rats. I truly believe that the improper removal of my silver filling induced my entire health escapade last year.  To this day, I never had any answers on what triggered my autoimmune symptoms, but now I do. It’s so good to finally have answers, and now I can share my story and hopefully help others.

Check out Stacy Case and her story with Multiple Sclerosis-caused by the removal of her silver fillings.  She also went through chelation, and is on her way to being undiagnosed with M.S through alternative treatments.

What Set My Levels Over the Limits:

Last February (2010), right before my joint issues all started, my dentist here in Nashville informed me that I needed to get my silver fillings removed and replaced with a safer material as the mercury in those silver fillings was very toxic.  She seemed to know what she was talking about, and as my dentist, I trusted her that she was taking good care of my health. I remember the metallic taste in my mouth as my fillings were being removed, but because my dentist didn’t inform me of the dangers of mercury and because I trusted her as my healthcare practitioner, I didn’t think much about it.  Not long after my first filling was removed, the joint pain and stiffness started. It got so bad that I would wake up in the middle of the night not being able to move my fingers. Also, the following weeks and months after my first (and later second) silver filling removal, I had repetitive yeast infections and UTI’s and could not figure out why. A few months later, I started having muscle tremors and constant twitching throughout my body.  I had no idea what was going on in my body. One day, a facebook page that I follow, Heal Thyself, posted a link titled, “Dangers of Mercury Amalgam Fillings and How to Remove Them.”  After reading about the “safe” way of removing these fillings and the dangers of doing it the wrong way, I felt sick to my stomach.  No wonder I had all these crazy symptoms and repetitive infections for no reason. Did I mention hypothyroidism was another symptom of mercury toxicity? (reversible, thankfully) What happens is that “the excess mercury circulates in the body (during and after placement and removal) to be excreted (or stored in the organs, brain and gut).  As the daily mercury exposure is lessened (after removal) old stored mercury is released into blood circulation for excretion.” There is a lot more to mercury toxicity, so if you want more articles or if you have any questions, please let me know.

The International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology website informed me that there is a safe removal of amalgam fillings protocol.  The PDF file is at this link. Do you have silver fillings?  It is beneficial to your health to get them removed, but make sure you get them removed the safe way.  Go here to find a dentist who safely removes amalgam fillings and who knows all about mercury detoxification pathways.  *Note: Let your IAOTM dentist know if you plan to get pregnant within a year of amalgam removal, as proper chelation is necessary to completely rid your body of the excess mercury before pregnancy.

Here is a list of symptoms/conditions that could be caused by mercury or other heavy metals in your body.

My alternative doctor confirmed through a stool sample that my body had elevated amounts of several heavy metals, especially mercury.  He then started me on oral chelation therapy. The agents he used for my chelation were:

• DMSA
• EDTA
• Cilantro Tincture
• ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid)
• As well as a few other supplements to support my body

I just had another stool sample collected to see exactly where my body is in this chelation process.  But I can tell you within a month or two of starting the chelation therapy, the twitching, buzzing, and spasms throughout my body went away.  Those were a few of my symptoms, but remember every heavy metal has its own set of symptoms. Heavy metal toxicity seems to be a topic that few people talk about or even think about when dealing with symptoms with an unknown cause.  Most conventional doctors will not order a stool test for this, so I advise you to either find an alternative doctor or naturopath who will. Better yet, contact Great Plains Laboratory and order a test yourself.  This is the lab (but certainly not the only one) who performed mine.

You’re probably thinking, dang, this girl has had some crazy health problems.  You’re right, I have, and when I look back at everything I went through last year, I can honestly say that I’m thankful for it all.  My health issues have forced me to look at the food I eat and the products I put on my body in a whole new light. I have learned so much through my own health journey, and I absolutely love researching and learning more. I truly believe that God allowed the pain and suffering that I went through last year so that I could help others.  That is my prayer and passion: that my stories and knowledge will help you become a healthier and happier person.