More on the thyroid...

We are still in the process of treating my thyroid, and working hard with diet to stabilize it. So far it's going pretty well. I still get fatigued quite often, but it seems to be less than before. The one big thing that I'm still (frustratingly) not able to get rid of is my head and neck pain. Sometimes it is quite excruciating, and becoming a concern to me since my doctor and chiropractor can't seem to settle it down any with their treatments. I'm considering a trip to the dentist since the pain seems to be radiating around my upper left jaw and then heading toward my temple and through to my sinus area. I had a tooth worked on over a year ago (one of the first revisions) that Dr. C told me had an exposed root under the amalgam from decay. He replaced it with composite filling and it seemed to be fine, but things just aren't settling down enough for my comfort and I'm curious if there's a problem. I also have a crowned tooth with amalgam under it sitting right next to the tooth in question. Something could be wrong there as well.

I happened to come across this thyroid function quiz, and thought it was rather interesting. I scored 25 out of 100 - that's actually pretty terrible! I do not know anything about the products offered for sale at this site, however, so I cannot tell you whether they are safe or not.

Another method of testing your thyroid (which is actually the old way before blood tests were available - and actually is a lot more reliable - is the basal body temperature method, and this is one that I am doing. This is not the chart I use, but a good one that I had found online. I use a digital thermometer, so I don't have to wait the 10 minutes, only a minute or less. I try to make sure to take it as soon as I wake up so that I get the most accurate temperature. The "normal" range that your temps should be in are between 97.4 and 98.1. Anything lower could mean thyroid dysfunction. Mine have ranged all the way from 95.0 to 97.1, all below the normal range.

It's so frustrating to me to know that mercury most likely is causing all of these problems for me. Mercury "loves" the thyroid, brain, and liver the most, but of course it has the whole body to wreak havoc in. Again, if you suffer from an ailment that just happened to show up either shortly after mercury exposure or a length of time after, if amalgam is the exposure, consider replacing it/them (with knowledgeable medical and dental personnel). Your body will thank you for it.

A diagnosis within a diagnosis...

I have a bit of time today and thought I would go over my symptoms list again from July and see what may have changed since then. Within just the short amount of time I've been doing the oil pulling (or swishing), I have also seen a couple more symptoms go...enough for my doctor to be able to finally see the current diagnosis and treat much of the remaining symptoms and get me healthy enough to finish the dental revision.

This is the list from July:
-frequent irritability (feels like finger nails across a chalkboard x3)
-sensory overload (''feel'' words/sounds/sensitive to touch)
-occasional feeling of suffocation/chest soreness
-vision disturbances (wobbly-like looking in a fish bowl)
-dizzy spells(vertigo?)
-chronic fatigue
-frequent anxiousness
-frequent chills/cold
-fatigue, tire easily
-neck sensitivity
-occasional indigestion
-occasional nausea
-poor memory
-brain fog
-inability to concentrate
-occasional palpitations
-lack of confidence
-don’t like to be alone
-mood swings
-headaches
-indecision
-unpredictable mensus/pms
-motion sickness
-skin eruptions
-bad breath
-occasional extreme thirst, dry throat
-zinc deficiency
-anemia

This is the list now:
-severe head and neck pain/achiness
-unexplained weight gain
-muscle aches/pain
-vision disturbances (off-balance feeling)
-dizzy spells(vertigo?)
-chronic fatigue
-hair loss
-occasional irritability (feels like finger nails across a chalkboard x3)
-occasional sensory overload (''feel'' words/sounds/sensitive to touch)
-frequent chills/cold (body temp below normal)
-neck sensitivity
-occasional indigestion
-occasional nausea
-poor memory
-brain fog/inability to concentrate
-mood swings
-motion sickness
-skin eruptions
-bad breath
-occasional extreme thirst, dry throat
-zinc deficiency
-anemia

For many of you who suffer with hypothyroidism, you may notice quite a few of my "new" symptoms as some of your own. My doctor has diagnosed me with hypothyroidism and has started treating me with nutritional foods to aggressively get my thyroid working properly again. There is a way to do it naturally, and since I have been having so many issues with reacting to medications, we chose to go this route. He has me taking kelp, miso, and 2 herbal foods called sunrise and electrosport. He said that within 2-3 months my thyroid should stabilize.

I have not discussed yet how mercury plays a role in screwing up the thyroid, and I just recently found this great article on it. http://tuberose.com/Thyroid.html
This article also mentions fluoride and how that has caused hypothyroidism as well. It's a very interesting read. If you want to know more besides that article, just google "thyroid mercury".

Mercury ban in cosmetics...

I apologize for not posting in a while. It's the Christmas season and I've been kept pretty busy, but I wanted to share this information I just saw come up for Minnesota. Yea!!!

http://wcco.com/local/mascara.mercury.ban.2.610516.html

I'll update as soon as I can.

Seems to be working...

Today is day 3 of doing the oil pulling, or swishing. I have to admit, the first day it felt pretty gross swishing it around, tasted terrible, and I had problems keeping it in my mouth because my sinuses were starting to drain down the back of my throat and I was gagging. The second day went much better, and I didn't start gagging and spitting up junk until after I was done. It also didn't taste as bad, and didn't seem to be as difficult to do. Today was a breeze and I almost forgot to go and spit it out at the twenty minute mark. I'm still not expecting much yet in the way of relief, but every little positive step seems like good improvement. I have been noticing small windows of energy the last two days sandwiched in between extreme fatigue and brain-fog, and the headache seems to be less painful. Overall my thought process is starting to become more positive, and I'm feeling more confident about things.

I have been digging around the website I previously mentioned (earthclinic.com), and finding a lot of interesting information. Some of it seems pretty far out there, but the body is an amazing creation, and natural means for health just seems more wise to me than using man-made chemicals that can do more harm than good. Have you ever noticed that the side effects listed on your prescription (or on t.v. commercials for medication) are more than what the medicine is used for? Worse off for me is that I haven't seemed to do well with any prescription meds at all over these last 2 1/2 years. The nasonex was just another reason to make me understand that with getting more side effects than what it was supposed to be helping with.

One remedy (on the website) I've decided to incorporate (again) is molasses. Molasses is great for anemia. Dr. S had me taking it a number of years ago for my anemia, but I stopped doing it for some odd reason I can't remember. It was really good to see the health benefits of this simple food, and to know that it is commonly used and has helped many people. I'm hoping that it will pull me out of the extreme fatigue/brain-fog funk and make me feel a little more human most days. I am intrigued by the apple cider vinegar method, but probably won't try that until I see how the oil pulling works.

Help with toxicity...

Today I was looking up ways to non-medicinally help with my sinusitis. I came across this site and asked Dr. S about it. He knows it as "swishing", and highly recommends it. http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html

Sparky also found this one:http://www.oilpulling.com/

Dr. S wants me to try it, so I'm pretty up on it. I read most of the testimonials this afternoon on the one website and found it to be very encouraging, with only a few people finding no relief. I will be starting this "program" tomorrow, and expecting to have quite a few bad days before I feel anything good since I know it has a lot of toxins to pull out.

Okay, you're asking about my remaining amalgams and what this will do to them. It's probably not the best thing to do while they're still there, but I'm willing to do anything non-medicinal if I will feel better for the holidays! The amalgams also are hidden under the crowns, so the only problem I would have is the mercury being pulled through my body, and at this point, I think with all I've been through I can handle that!

Headed Uphill...

I saw Dr. S on Monday, and he helped to get rid of the side effects of the nasonex, and my head ache for the most part. I am now starting to have snippets of good times in between chunks of bad times. My fatigue level has gotten back to 'normal' for me, and my head doesn't feel as thick as it did. I am no where near 100%, maybe not even 75% better, but it's still going in the right direction.

I am still being plagued by the off-balance feeling and dizziness, and a dull ache just up and behind my left ear. I had that same dull ache before, but it was a lot more intense when I still had my infected tooth. I am not sure why it has stuck around, but it could be just remnants of the infection and sore muscles from working through the tmj discomfort I had during that time due to bruxism. Sometimes when something has so much trauma put on it like that area did, it can take several months for it to return to normal. The ache is not without it's power, though - when it is more irritated, it causes me to feel pain radiated through the rest of my head and down into my neck.

Dr. S and I discussed more about why he wants me to wait for more dental revision when I was there on Monday, and now it is more clearer to me that it's not because he doesn't agree the amalgams are causing my problems, he does, but he said because I am so sensitive to so many things right now I am not stable enough to have more work done. I need to get through this latest issue with the sinusitis before I can put more trauma on my system. That made a lot more sense to me.

Extreme fatigue, nausea, bloody nose, neck pain....

The title of my post today are side effects I started having with nasonex. They were all above and beyond the normal problems I have. Included in that list is a sore throat high up in my sinus cavity, irritability, and headache. You may wonder how I could attribute them to nasonex when I have all of these other symptoms I deal with on a daily basis. They all acted differently than my "normal" symptoms. When I started on my third day of being so tired I could barely get out of bed, I decided to see what the side effects actually were for this "wonderful" drug, and found this website. http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20762&name=NASONEX
I immediately decided at once to get myself off it and figure out a different way to deal with the sinusitis. I'm less fatigued now, but all of the other symptoms are being slow to leave my body. Probably because nasonex is a corticosteroid and takes awhile for it to dissipate.

I just want everyone to be properly informed if your doctor wants you to try this medicine. Of course some people do fine with it, but as you can see in the website, there were a LOT of people who had problems like me.

Wouldn't ya know it....

Of course when I finally got my thoughts back together, I realized that there IS a connection between sinusitis, rhinitis, etc. and dental amalgams.

http://www.talkinternational.com/mercury-symptoms.html
http://www.cfs-recovery.org/mercury.htm
http://www.yncnaturally.com/newsletter12104.html

Okay, so these are only a few websites, but I just wanted to get them out there for your perusal. If you are intrigued and want to find out more, just google sinusitis dental mercury or amalgams. You'll obviously come up with something like I did.

I've done the meds a couple of times now, and of course don't feel much different yet. I do notice a little freer breathing after taking the nasonex but I've only done the saline rinse once so far and I'm not really supposed to be noticing any improvements yet anway. I actually have been working through some deep muscle spasms and aches in the left side of my neck at present, and it started about 20 hours ago. It doesn't feel good, and sends horrible feelings up into my head. It's a worrisome feeling, but that pain is slowly diminishing, and I am hopeful it will be gone soon.

I like to be prepared...

I went to see an allopathic (western medicine) doctor today. She (Dr. A) was really nice, but I probably freaked her out a little bit. Since I'm so used to doing research and making lists and having things organized (I am an organizational nut on my good days), I prepared my list of symptoms for her, had my family medical history in order, brought a copy of my dental work-up, and had information about my naturopathic doctor, Dr. S. I was ready for any type of test and theory of what she thought I might have. She probably thinks I'm a hypochondriac since my list of symptoms filled a page of copy paper typed. Now these symptoms were not all ones that were bothering me today. They included symptoms that I've had since I was a child, to symptoms that have come and gone over the last two years, to the ones specifically that I wanted her to address today. I explained to her I wanted her to see the entire picture in case there were symptoms that go together. She probably still thought I was a bit on the crazy side- maybe I am, but I blame it on the mercury! :)

Anyway, Dr. A believes that the dizziness/off-balance feeling and headaches are being caused by acute sinusitis. She gave me some trial meds to take (nasonex and an OTC sinus rinse). She said that both of these together should clear out the "thick" feeling I have going on in my head and relieve the pain and pressure I am feeling. It will probably take up to a month to feel relief though, so she wants to see me again then, and decide whether or not I also need a visit to an ENT at that point.

I will certainly be thankful if I can get rid of these problems - it will sure make life a lot easier. Even if I feel 100% better in a month, I am still a supporter of getting rid of amalgam fillings and will continue to have mine removed.

Still Feelin' Crappy....

I haven't been in here in a few days because I've been feeling pretty rotten. Either the candida cleanse is working, or I have other issues that need to be addressed. I'm still feeling badly, but I thought I should update so that when I look back on this I will know what was going on.

I have been having some serious headaches that mostly happen behind my eyes, but it sometimes moves slightly upwards or backwards farther into my head. Bright lights bother me, and I've noticed that if something isn't in focus to begin with, my eyes get REALLY irritated by it. My lower left eye lid has been twitching for the last week, too.

I was also having some problems with my neck, but I think buying a new orthopedic memory foam pillow has helped with that, plus I saw my doctor last week and he did some acupressure on my head along with acupuncture. The pain isn't gone, but it is feeling somewhat better. I'm dizzy still, and feel off-balanced most of the time...Dr. S was hoping to help that with the two procedures, but no go.

When I woke up this morning, I felt pain in my teeth (all of them), deep in my ears, behind and above my eyes, and the bridge of my nose. I have also been having issues with my arms, especially my left one, but they both fall asleep often. My left arm aches horribly at times from just under the shoulder down to the wrist. I also get adrenaline rushes, mostly upon waking, for no reason at all. My feet get a burning feeling, and my plantar fasciitis acts up even when I haven't been on my foot. My mental clarity lately has been down to almost nothing when my headache is going on - which has been pretty much non-stop for the last week. At times, it feels like my body is vibrating, like my blood vessels are going nuts. Last night I woke up about 3 a.m., and my middle finger on my right hand felt like electricity was running through it. Now today, I get aches in that hand that starts from half-way down my elbow to my fingers, and makes my hand "feel" useless, but I've been able to use it.

Die-off symptoms of candida are as follows: headaches, nausea, brain fog, dizziness, fatigue, sugar cravings, minor skin breakouts, cold hands and feet. I've highlighted the ones I'm noticing for me so far. This is the second and last week of the cleansing, so it's the time when this should happen if it's going to. I haven't totally been able to keep sugar out of my diet as it is in almost everything, but I've sure done my best to keep it minimal. Hopefully these symptoms I have will start going away as the yeast dies off.

I have noticed one positive since I started this diet. Before, if I didn't eat something every couple of hours I'd feel terribly sick to my stomach. Now I can go between meals no problem without anything, and my stomach gives me no problems, except for a hungry growl from time to time.

Dr. S. told me if things don't start getting better in a few more days, he suspects I could have carotid artery blockage, an ear infection, or a sinus infection. I'm hoping for one of the latter two, since the first one is scaring me a bit.

I haven't forgotten that I still have the five crowns with amalgam under them. Dr. S thinks that by now I should be feeling about 95% better, but I think I disagree on that. He wants me to wait until I'm more stable before I do any more dental revision, and I will, but I'm not sure how much more stable I'm going to get.

More tired than you should be?

Mercury toxicity can cause chronic fatigue. I am a firm believer in that, as I have suffered from chronic fatigue for as long as I can remember. I have had amalgam fillings since I was in grade school. I know that I have touched a little on this in a previous post, but I wanted to make sure that I gave it a solid place among the things that I'm highlighting that mercury does to the body. If you want to get technical, thyroid problems, low blood sugar, and anemia also factor in to this equation, and also can be caused by mercury toxicity...I have been told by my doctor I have problems in all four categories.

Being tired ALL of the time is wearing. It zaps energy that I need just to get out of bed in the morning. I can positively say that I'm not a procrastinator. But due to my being SO tired all of the time, it takes me a long time just to get enough energy to think about doing things most days. And then when I realize how much energy it's going to take to do a certain task, I base getting it done on whether or not I know I can do it in a timely fashion. Some days my other symptoms factor in, and I just can't deal with even thinking about getting enough energy to think about doing something. So, that said, I have some websites below explaining the mercury/chronic fatigue link.

http://www.cfspages.com/
http://www.karlloren.com/ultrasound/p24.htm
http://www.immunesupport.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-causes.htm
http://www.cfsn.com/fatigue.html
http://www.trans4mind.u-net.com/cfs.htm
http://www.icnr.com/cs/cs_11.html
http://www.wicfs-me.org/mercury_cause_cfs.htm
http://edta.net/chronicfatigue.html
http://www.cfs-info.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1173

The Candida Connection

I have decided to do the candida cleanse for myself along with Doshi for the next two weeks...actually the whole family has decided to cut back on sugar and things with yeast, so we'll see how things go. Doshi and I will be doing the extra stuff like acidophilus and fortune delight, the others will just tag along with a little healthier diet for a couple of weeks. I am hoping that I find a little difference with how I'm feeling when I am done.

I will quickly share with you some websites regarding candida and mercury toxicity....

http://www.natural-lifestyle-made-easy.com/natural_dental_health.html
http://www.noamalgam.com/
http://www.puristat.com/candida/endocrinefactor.asp
http://www.nuresearch.net/?page_id=7
http://www.candida-society.org/ncs/digestv1i3.htm
http://www.webhealth.co.uk/a_to_z_of_health/candida.asp
http://www.candida-albicans-cure.com/tooth-filling.html

Just A Quick Note

Over the last few days I have been working on a diet for Doshi to help him with an overgrowth of yeast, or candida, that I suspect he's dealing with along with his possibility of mercury toxicity. I thought I would see if that would help in calming down his extreme hyperactivity. In the process, I checked what correlations there were between candida and mercury, and although I did find a lot on it, I will have to share it in my next post when I have more time. I did want to share now, though, that I was VERY happy to see more information on cilantro used as a detoxifier. I have also started giving Doshi daily fortune delight to do some cleansing, and acidolphilus to help introduce good bacteria back into his system. I am not following the candida diet for him only because it might be too much for his little body, so we're just cutting out the major stuff like a lot of sugar and processed foods. We're also making sure he gets a lot of fresh vegetables, and cutting back a little bit on fruit and juice.

I'll post more later, but I need to run for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Why a Known Poison?

I just wanted to start off this post by saying once again, mercury is poison. It doesn't belong in our bodies.

I know there are many skeptics out there who don't believe in "mercury toxic" sick people and who trust that the ADA is telling the truth and that their dentists wouldn't knowingly harm them or their children. I would like to tell you with all certainty that you can. But you can't, and I'd be lying. I have come across many websites that "claim" amalgam is safe (and think that those of us who know it's not are crazy), but not one of them can show scientific proof. They claim that they have a bunch of "studies" that were done, but cannot show even one lab report stating that mercury stays in the filling. Not even the ADA has proof, and that concerns me, because there are people who have terrible neurological disorders that have become well after having amalgams removed. There are doctors and scientists who have done tests and have proof that amalgams release mercury, but all the ADA can say is that amalgam is safe and expect you to believe it. I forget what type of reasoning it is, but it has something to do with "if the ADA claims it, then it must be true" reasoning. It's false and they know it, and they are scared that we're learning the truth.

Sparky made a good point the other day when he and I were talking about my health issues and amalgams, and he even said there is a way around this for the ADA so that they won't have all the lawsuits they are afraid of. He said all they would have to do is make a huge deal out of some "new" composite filling that is better than all other types of fillings, get the insurance companies to accept them as the norm, and immediately do away with amalgams. Unfortunately they wouldn't get the punishment they deserve for lying to the public for the last 150 years, but at least amalgams would no longer be a problem for our children to grow up with like we've had to.

I would like to ask you to check out the petition on the right side of my page, and if you would, sign it to help get rid of amalgam fillings. And please share that petition with loved ones and friends. Let's make a difference for the next generation. Let's get rid of these terrible maladies that amalgam fillings cause in our bodies. It would be interesting to see what disorders would disappear if (and when!) an entire generation were amalgam free.

Neuropathy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Mercury

My research continues on with what mercury does to the body. Today I looked up neuropathy, but found that MS is closely linked, so I researched both. My maternal grandfather died from MS when I was two, so this one hits close to home.

FDA testimony
Testimony from same person
FDA testimony II
http://www.iaomt.org/news/archive.asp?intReleaseID=215&month=11&year=2006
http://www.hendess.net/ms_e.htm
http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/mercury.html
http://www.nationaldentalinformationcenter.org/the_hidden_killer.html
http://www.pamrotella.com/health/ms.html
http://curezone.com/letters/multiple_sclerosis.asp
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_247-248/ai_113807023
http://www.vaccinetruth.org/multiple_sclerosis.htm
http://zap.intergate.ca/sclerosi.html

There of course is more, but I thought I should stop here. I also recently found out Dr. Hal Huggins has written a book about MS and mercury. Check it out in my book section.

In the last week I got a cold. It started out first as a sore throat only and seemed to go away in a couple of days so I thought maybe I was out of the woods, but I felt it settle in my chest over the last two days. It feels like I've been coughing until my chest hurts, but I haven't been doing much coughing at all. It is pretty sore, and making it difficult to keep rejoicing in the fact that my headache and jaw pain have not returned. I also have not noticed any irritability in about two weeks, but I am not getting overly excited about that yet since it could return. I have been having several bouts of dizziness over the last week as well, so that's been frustrating since my doctor has tried helping me with various things to alleviate it and nothing seems to be working. It makes me want to get these last five crowns taken care of right away!

I forget...what was I researching?

Today I started researching memory problems stemming from dental mercury, but as I kept checking out sites I noticed that they were discussing alzheimers almost as equally as memory problems. I have a family friend in his 80's suffering from alzheimers. He now lives in a nursing home and his wife visits him daily, even though he barely knows who she is. The last time I saw him several years ago, I do remember when he smiled one could notice his mouth was full of silver fillings. Do I believe that amalgam fillings can cause alzheimers and other memory problems? You bet. I personally suffer with memory problems daily, and I believe that it would have continued getting worse. I have noticed since I've had a lot of amalgam removed that my long-term memory has gotten better, but my short-term memory is still terrible, although of course I'm not done with dental revision yet.

Please look at the websites I've shared below, and decide for yourself what you think.

http://www.midnightcafe.com/alzh/diagnosis3.html
http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/amalgam.htm
http://www.whale.to/d/biblio.html
http://www.mercola.com/2001/apr/7/alzheimers_mercury.htm
http://curezone.com/dental/dental_alzheimer.asp
http://www.holisticmed.com/dental/amalgam/

UPDATE: The family friend I spoke of in this post passed away on Tuesday, October 30th.

Dr. C and Learning Disabilities

I got a phone call from Dr. C yesterday. I was a little surprised, although I shouldn't have been, since he's done it a couple of times previously. He called just to see how I was doing since I had the extraction done and if things are healing well. We talked for a good 20-30 minutes. I shared with him about how the laser treatments went and he had several questions regarding it (he's considering purchasing a laser for his own practice which I wholeheartedly encouraged), and then we also talked about our next plans for dental revision for me. We decided we'd wait a month to give me a little more time to heal since this root canal thing was a huge blow to my immune system, and then I would call and set up an appointment to get started on the crowns. After a couple of questions I had for him and another one he had for me, we felt good about where we are at with my dental situation. Much progress has been made, and we are both looking forward to finishing the job.

Today's symptom I researched is Learning Disabilities. During my college years, I was tested for and found to have LD in math and reading comprehension and retention, so connecting LD with mercury toxicity is big for me. It would explain a lot. I started having problems in school in about the 2nd and 3rd grade, which I'm guessing is about the time I would have received my first amalgam fillings. Kindergarten and 1st grade I remember being easy and fun, and my teachers were pleased with my work. By 2nd and 3rd grade things became extremely difficult, and by 4th grade there were big deficits in my learning curve. I struggled all the way through junior and senior high having to take algebra 1 three times. I loved to write, but would fail (or almost fail) anything else reading related. In college I noticed my friends barely having to study and breezing through tests I would barely pass after studying for hours. It really started bothering me, so I finally talked to a counselor (who I was doing workstudy for at the time) about my frustrations. Not long after, I was tested and found that I fit into the category of the Learning Disabled. Suprised? No. Here's some info regarding LD and mercury:

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/3318/t/CFIDS_FM
http://www.homeopathyhouston.com/homeopathy_articles/learning_disabilities.html
http://www.ghchealth.com/your-next-visit-to-the-dentist.html
http://www.talkinternational.com/news_vaccine_072407.htm
http://www.whale.to/a/grant.html
http://www.flcv.com/tmlbn.html
http://www.toxicteeth.org/compareTable.cfm
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/amalgam.htm

Laser Therapy Update and Anemia

Yesterday was my last of 6 sessions of laser treatment therapy. I have noticed a profound difference. My headaches are pretty much gone, and my jaw is starting to feel normal again. I have to believe I am a success story for Dr. K, and that cold laser treatment works to speed up healing from extractions or heal over cavitations that have happened. Dr. K and his staff attended a dental conference over the weekend (Dr. C was also there), and Dori said they have learned so much more about what they can do with laser treatment as well as other dental procedures. I was encouraged to hear that.

Today I am struggling mostly with dizziness, chronic fatigue, and brain fog. Unfortunately the laser therapy didn't rid me of those problems, not that I was expecting it to, but I sure was hopeful. I am still in contact with Dr. S daily and he's aware of these symptoms, so I am hoping we'll find something to relieve it for the time being. According to research, both dizziness and brain fog can be caused by (you guessed it!) mercury toxicity. I am reminded every time I feel dizzy of the 5 crowns with amalgam under them I still have that could be causing the problem.

I'm going to say it: MERCURY IS POISON. Why would we want poison in our bodies?

Today I researched anemia and mercury. Here are some sites I found:

http://www.drkaslow.com/html/mercury_s_influence.html
http://www.amalgam.org/
http://www.icnr.com/uam/DAMSIntro.html
http://www.natural-lifestyle-made-easy.com/natural_dental_health.html

Have Trouble Sleeping?

Today's research is the effects of mercury on lack of sleep, better known as insomnia. Here's what I found:

http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=1852
http://www.mercurypolicy.org/exposure/documents/ModelDentalBill.pdf
http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html

This last one had a questionnaire in it that I'll copy and paste below:

A checklist of other symptoms that could be related to mercury toxicity.
A Mercury Test by Dr. Hal Huggins:

1. Heart problems
_heart/chest pains
_angina
_tachcardia (heart racing)
_heart murmur
_low blood pressure
_abnormal EKG
_endocarditis
_partial heart block
_high blood pressure
_heart attack

2. Skin Problems
_unexplained rashes
_excessive itching
_red flushes of color
_rough skin
_acne (pimples)

3. Nervous Disorders
_Belle's Palsy
_Multiple Sclerosis
_shingles
_epilepsy/convulsions
_Dr. told you "It's your nerves"
_the shakes of hands, feet, head, etc
_twitching of face or other muscles

4. Digestion
_diverticulitis
_ulcers
_Crohn's disease
_Graves Disease
_indigestion
_diarrhea
_bloated feeling after eating
_heartburn
_poor appetite

5. Blood Disease
_mononucleosis
_false positve for venereal disease

6. Cancer
_leukemia
_Hodgkins disease
_any other name

7. Endocrine Problems
_diabetes
_ovaries
_hysterectomy-complete
_tipped uterus
_overweight
_thyroid overactive
_testes
_pancreas
_cervical erosion
_underweight
_prostate
_mensturation-painful, too often or too seldom/ stopping without reason

8. Emotional
_sudden anger
_depression
_wish you were dead
_irritability
_suicidal tendencies
_been divorced

9. Annoying Symptoms
_frequent headaches
_noises in your ears
_ringing in your ears
_hissing in your ears
_chronic eye inflammation
_chronic fatigue
_do you tire easily?
_swollen lymph nodes
_do you sweat excessively or not at all?
_hearing problems
_cold hands and feet
_motion sickness
_slow healing
_leg cramps
_dizziness
_get up at night to urinate
_urinate frequently during the day
_have insomnia
_tired when awaken in the morning
_have trouble making decisions

10. Allergies
_metal
_fabrics
_soaps and detergents
_food
_other__________

11. Diseases
_rheumatoid arthritis
_bursitis
_tennis elbow
_painful joints
_Friedreich's ataxia
_asthma
_osteomyelitis
_psoriasis
_sickle cell anemia
_kidney stones

12. Miscellaneous
_Infections take a long time to heal
_Do you work around mercury?
what capacity?_______________
_what medications are you taking that have mercury in them?

13. Dental History
_had silver amalgams
_had gold fillings
_have gold fillings now
_removable metal bridge
_gold bridge
_porcelain caps (crowns)
_non-precious crowns
_root canal
_root canal now
_metallic taste in mouth
_burning sensation in mouth
_increased flow of saliva
_have more than half your teeth

There of course are more websites with more info on insomnia. Please check them out for yourself if you suffer from it! Just type "insomnia dental mercury" in google.

Nervousness and dental mercury

I thought I'd start going down the list of symptoms I previously posted back in July one by one and start doing research on each of them. Today I looked up nervousness. Here are some things I found:

http://www.talkinternational.com/health/hg_signs_symptoms_poisoning.htm
http://www.toxicteeth.org/merctoxprofile.cfm
http://www.pacifichealthcenter.com/updates/4.asp
http://www.quicksilverpress.com/contents.html

These of course are just a few of what's out there. I'm also sure we'll see nervousness pop up again when I research other maladies.

The effects of mercury: ADD, ADHD, and Autism

Today I decided to do a little research on Attention Deficit Disorder and mercury. What I found was more than I could bear to think about!! I of course have read some about it, but not to the extent these websites have shared. And this is just the surface of them, folks!

http://www.mercuryexposure.org/index.php?article_id=339
http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article18965.html
http://www.wholebodyhealth.us/autism_adhd.htm
http://www.webdeb.com/add.htm
http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2006/04/fda-public-hearing-on-dental-mercury.html

Another article mentioned selenium as being a great natural chelator (or detoxifier), and works great with cilantro. Hmmmm.....I think I'll check out some new recipes that include both for my kids. They both were immunized as children as well as had to deal with my mercury overload in utero. I've done epsom salt baths for them and other things, but I still see a lot of hyperactivity in Doshi. I bet he would benefit from a little bit of extra help.

An Informative Newsletter

Below I have copied an email newsletter I received from the Huggins foundation. I am thankful for the timely information!

ADA Takes Bold Protective Step

Dentistry has rehashed the same argument about, should dentistry place mercury fillings because they are cheap, or ban them because they contain 50% of the most toxic poison known that is not radioactive?

Last year's Congressional hearing on "how safe mercury is in the mouth" as presented by the FDA – lost by a vote of 13 to 7. Nearly 2 to 1. A committee of scientists evaluated the presentation as well as those by several "witnesses". Dr. Boyd Haley and Dr. Hal Huggins presented scientific data refuting mercury safety.

After mulling the presentations over for a year, the FDA has stated in writing that they will present new standards for the use of mercury fillings by the end of the year 2007. Based on that, the ADA sent communications to all dentists telling them to immediately start informing their patients that mercury was in "silver" fillings. Especially discuss this with pregnant women and parents of children in order to reduce the number of law suits.

As stated in a letter from Charles G. Brown, National Counsel, Consumers for Dental Choice:

"In the July edition of Dental Practice Report, the long-time general counsel of the A.D.A., Peter Sfikas (who stepped down eight months ago) advised dentists that FDA would likely contraindicate amalgam to classes of patients, and dentists must begin immediately protect their legal position by (1) asking patients if have mercury hypersensitivity, and (2) giving precise warnings about mercury exposure to pregnant women and parents of young children."

The FDA could reclassify mercury from Class I (of no health significance, where it is now) to either Class II, which calls for record keeping of who had mercury placed in their mouth, or to Class III which would constitute a total ban in dentistry due to its toxicity. The ADA is hoping for Class II, the public pushing for Class III.

The ADA just paid for a study on "the economic impact of mercury-free dentistry". This may indicate their fear factor. Another item that may be related is that dentists have just been targeted as high income people with little litigation, so a ripe terrain for new lawyers. This as a result of the fact that there are more students in law schools now than lawyers in practice in all 50 states put together. Attorneys are just now finding out that almost all dentists have malpractice insurance, but that placement of amalgam may or may not qualify for insurance coverage. The dentists actually mix mercury with metallic powder to form amalgam. This constitutes manufacturing a "product". Do dentists have product liability insurance? No. That opens Pandora's box for litigation from both the malpractice aspect, since dentistry has been aware of its toxicity since 1840, and dentists are also wide open for personal loss from the product liability aspect.

The ADA held its national meeting in San Francisco September 28 through October 2, 2007. In addressing the issue of mercury toxicity, the ADA decided to mandate dentists using mercury scrubbers to remove mercury from their suction devices before dumping it into the sewage system.

Thus, the ADA is protecting the sewage, and ignoring human health that it is sworn to protect. How bold.

---

In an effort to inform the public of both sides of the issue, the Toxic Element Research Foundation (TERF) has just released a 45 minute DVD of the July 23, 2007 edition of the New Zealand 60 Minutes franchise examining the dental mercury issue. Both sides were presented in 60 Minutes fashion. A representative of the New Zealand dental association and Dr. Huggins were both interviewed recently in Auckland, New Zealand. After the program, Dr. Huggins then comments on some of the presentations from the Washington DC encounter between the FDA and the Congressionally appointed committee. He shows a few clips of the actual session in D.C. with comments to accompany. There are a few testimonials from previously mercury damaged patients. All in all, the DVD takes the place of trying to tell friends and family about the mercury issue in a 3rd party format. A tax deductible donation of $25 to the Toxic Element Research Foundation (TERF) will secure you a copy (including US postage). Call for your copy through Dr. Huggins' toll free number: 1-866-948-4638. The Toxic Element Research Foundation is currently paying for laboratory fees for testing that proves the toxicity of dental materials in humans. Any additional donations will be put to good use for the health of all of us.

Thank you for your interest in eliminating this unnecessary poison that provides more birth defects than all other known methods. As Huggins says in ending his talk, "Clean our DNA. Ban mercury fillings."

Hal A. Huggins DDS, MS

The Cost of Fixing Bad Health

Last night I went to see my doctor, Dr. S. He felt it was time to see me again, so Sparky drove me to his office after work. Dr. S. worked on some stomach problems that started yesterday afternoon, and then also corrected some misalignments in my head, neck, and upper back. He told both of us he feels we've made it past this last problem, and he thinks I'm on my way to finding many good days coming up. He assured us there will still be some bad days, but he's confident that I'm on an upward curve. I'm really hoping so. It's been a long haul, and I'm really tired of feeling badly most of the time.

This morning I went in for my 4th of 6 laser treatments. There's a marked amount of less pain in the jaw and extraction area, and my head doesn't hurt as often or as much. I'm certainly enjoying that, since the pain from the infected tooth was horrendous. Dr. S. is helping me out daily through email with offering advice for pain management as well.

The reason why I titled this particular entry the way I did was to bring this all into perspective. In previous posts I've talked about nutrition for good teeth. I've mentioned how important it is to take care of teeth by eating right and having composites instead of amalgams placed in decayed teeth, and encouraged no root canals. I know the reasons most people choose amalgams anyway, but I want to encourage you to think out of the box in your reasoning. I know insurance companies won't cover for composites when amalgams can be used. I know that amalgams are cheaper than composites when you don't have insurance. PLEASE, think about it long term though, and not just short term when your dentist tells you he's going to place amalgams. It may seem wisest to do the amalgams at the time, but consider the costs of health care after amalgams have been placed. Let me explain with an example, me.

Amalgams were placed in my teeth every time I had decay because insurance paid for it. We didn't have any costs out of pocket, which was nice. But as I got sick, the doctor visits and emergency room bills became so many we couldn't count. And now that I'm having the amalgams all replaced, along with crowns with amalgam under them, and root canaled teeth retreated, our out-of-pocket costs in the last 2 1/2 years have skyrocketed. In the last year alone, we have spent over $8,000 in medical and dental costs. That doesn't include the previous 1 1/2 years, and I'm not done yet. I have at least another $6-7,000 more to go in dental bills.

Okay, so now some of you are thinking "But I'm not sensitive to mercury. I don't show any signs of anything that would tell me I'm mercury poisoned". If you have one ailment you are plagued with that your doctor can't explain - he may be able to remedy it by medication or surgery or whatever, but he can't tell you how it started, then please think long and hard about those silver fillings you have, or that root canaled tooth you have, or the dentures you have. I'm begging you to think about them! And I beg you to think twice before your dentist wants to place amalgam in your or your child's or your loved one's teeth. TELL HIM (or her) NO, PLEASE!!!! Send a message to the ADA that we're not going to stand for it any longer!!! Please pay the out-of-pocket expense now while it's only $50 instead of having to come up with $1000's of dollars later to fix a health problem it created.

I think I'm done begging now. :)

Making A Difference....

Yesterday I had the third of six laser treatments on the extraction and TMJ area. Dr. K actually did the procedure for me this time, and we talked extensively about my jaw and ear pain. He did the treatment a little different than Dori, and it still might be a little too early to tell, but my head hasn't hurt much at all today. This is huge, even from just a few days ago! I have been rejoicing that the pain has gone, even if it is just momentarily. You could call me a semi-happy camper today.

I noticed in my most recent blogs I have dwelt only on this tooth situation, and I apologize. I intend to get back to discussing more about mercury and fillings and root canals and such, it's just that I felt it necessary to show what can happen when root canals go bad. The main purpose of this blog is to help inform my readers about mercury and the dangers of dental care done by mainstream dentists who do not believe in informed consent, so I will get back to that as soon as possible.

Progress?

Yesterday I went to Dr. K's for my 2nd cold laser treatment. This time it seemed a little longer, and the gal (I'll name her Dori) who does the procedure was also willing to do the laser up in the tmj area where I was still having pain from the novacaine injection. Dori said it may help with the painful headaches I've still been experiencing since the tooth was extracted. I don't know if it's too soon, but my headache throughout the day yesterday didn't seem to get bad like it has been. I still had it, it just wasn't as intense. This morning now I still have a tinge of headache, but it seems to always be light in the morning and get worse during the day. Four more sessions to go....

For a while now I've been working through heavier brain-fog than 'normal', but the last few days have seemed even heavier. I have been having the hardest time concentrating. What takes the normal person 10 minutes to do can take me up to an hour or more. It's been really frustrating. At this point I don't want to speculate what could be causing this. I've speculated before, and I always seem to isolate one symptom rather than seeing the whole picture, and then I realize later that I was way off. It probably all leads back to the fact that I still have mercury in my mouth and body, I still have four root canaled teeth, and I have four extraction sites (wisdom teeth) that need to be addressed.

So, it's not a light saber....

I haven't posted in while. Not because I didn't want to, but because I haven't had time. But I did want to share something new that I am trying, and the first treatment was this morning.

After my fiasco last week with the oral surgeon who wouldn't remove the periodontal ligament, I talked to Dr. K, the dentist in the cities. He suggested two things; go to another oral surgeon and have him/her go back into the extraction site and clean it out, costing me another $1000, or try a new procedure that Dr. K recently began that's showing much promise - cold laser treatment at $25 per session for 6 sessions. I decided to try the treatment and save my money. Plus, this procedure is non-invasive, and it involves no pain whatsoever. I liked that. Now, I did try to run 'cold laser dental treatment' through a search engine and I couldn't get anything to come up, so I am trusting big-time Dr. K knows what he's talking about, but so far he has known. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I think it's okay.

My first session was no more than 8 minutes long. I sat down in the chair, one of the hygenists came and sat down in the dentist's chair, and held a laser inside my cheek and the gum line, carefully and slowly moving it around the area where the root of the tooth originally was. She did that for about 3 or 4 minutes, and then took a different laser and held it alongside my cheek, moving in the same way as the other laser. Another 3-4 minutes and I was done. I go back in two days, and then again two days next week and the following week. This is supposed to kill off any remaining bacteria and stop the extraction area from cavitation if it were going to happen.

I also asked the gal about my wisdom tooth extraction sites and she said that all four of them would need to be done if we were going to do it since there's no way of knowing if they've turned into cavitations without opening them up. I told her I'd think about it and will consider it as a future project if getting the rest of the amalgams out don't cause the relief expected.

Today I am feeling less pain in my jaw (although it's still sore in the novacaine needle puncture area), but the dizziness and slight headache are still hanging around. My doc seems to think that my anemia is out of whack again causing the dizziness, and wants me getting more red meat and pumpkin. We'll see if that helps any. I checked out the nutritional value of pumpkin, and found that eating it canned has far more nutritional value than eating it fresh! Unexplained anemia, which is what I have, is often caused by mercury toxicity. Upon amalgam's removal and detoxification of the body, many patients have found relief from anemia and regained their energy like never before. I am hoping that's what will happen for me when I can finally finish up with the last 5 crowns. It's looking like we won't even start the crowns until the new year, however, so it's going to be a bit of a wait.

Let's see....this puzzle piece goes over here.....

Sparky brought home my extracted tooth yesterday after his visit to my dentist (I'm going to start calling him "Dr. C" just to make it easier) to get his teeth cleaned. The tooth was sent to Dr. C, and he looked at it and noticed that there was still an infection at the end of one of the roots and it was making the dentin soft. VERY soft. I took a good look at it last night and saw the same thing. Okay, sooooooooo....... I think I'm starting to put some puzzle pieces together, and figuring this out little by little what happened when I got really sick 2 and a half years ago when I thought this all started, but it started long before that. Just for the sake of having it in print, I am going to share my thoughts on how it all happened, so humor me, please!

All the amalgam in general as well as the original root canaled teeth still probably have something to do with this, but I'm going to pinpoint just this particular tooth for this part of the puzzle and what part it possibly played in the collapse of my health.

Let's look back to my teenage years, which was roughly 20 years ago. I got a cavity in this particular tooth (#18). I went to the dentist and had it filled with an amalgam filling. Since amalgam fillings only have a supposed life of 10 years, I should have had it replaced 10 years ago. I didn't. Sparky and I, in our young married years, saw a lot of different dentists because we hadn't found anyone we were really happy with. One dentist was too rough, another was too expensive, another didn't care that I tasted metal in my mouth after he placed a filling, and yet another called us all the time to set up cleaning appointments way too often, etc. When we finally found a dentist that we stuck with for several years (but still wasn't crazy about) he suggested I needed a LOT more work, and a LOT more amalgam fillings. We couldn't afford it, neither in time nor in funds, so we put him off. That tooth in particular, #18, he proposed an amalgam filling with a precious metal crown over it. Yep....precious metal. Not only mercury in the amalgam, but metal on top of it. I didn't do it, even though I didn't know the dangers at the time.

Okay, back to the timeline... four years and two babies (with very hard pregnancies as well as a miscarriage) later, I still did not have the work done. And the filling was failing. I mention the hard pregnancies and the miscarriage because I've read mercury can play an integral part in both.

At this time, I was introduced to some wonderful (and I do mean wonderful) whole-food products by a good friend, and I started buying them and using them faithfully. Some of these items, like I mentioned in an earlier post about Fortune Delight, were also cleansing in nature. These products did a lot of good for me, and I probably would have been a lot worse off had I not had them because I was full of the silver poison! I also started using some special toothpaste and tooth whitening products from this company. The stuff is great for someone who doesn't have 26 amalgam fillings! These awesome products cleaned my teeth... too well. It totally cleaned off any type of residue that was keeping the mercury from seeping out so quickly from my teeth into my body.

Back to the tooth: by this time, the filling in #18 had failed. But I still wasn't seeing the dentist because it didn't hurt. It was only unknowingly draining every ounce of mercury and mercury vapor into my body. By February 2005, I came down with a nasty case of what the nurse practitioner at a clinic told me over the phone was bronchitis. I struggled with that for a couple of weeks, and even when I look back at pictures during that time period, the pictures don't even look like me.

A few months (and a lot of stress from every where in my life) later, I ended up going on antibiotics for strep throat. Within a few days I would start feeling sick like I've never felt before. At that point my whole world turned upside down, and I was on a quick roll down a loooooooong sloping hill. My doctor didn't even know how to help me, and later on he told me that I freaked him out because he couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.

I continued to stay sick and muddle through until the following March when I was asked by a friend if I thought my amalgams could be the cause. The light went on. I started a little bit of research and came to a conclusion that it just might be it since I had almost as many fillings as I had teeth. It took six months, however, before a dentist could ever touch my teeth, because I couldn't function. On my good days I had to make up for the several bad and catch up on everything else. I did go and see Dr. K in June hoping to get started soon, but an accident broke his ankle and he was out of work for a couple of months. He introduced me to Dr. C for Peanut, but I decided I needed to see him, too.

As Dr. C made his way around my mouth that September, working on teeth and replacing the amalgam, he came to #18 tooth this last spring. He cleaned it out but noticed it was a deep decay under the filling and into the root. He tried to save the tooth anyway, but it was too late. Within a couple of weeks I was back in the dentist chair, and the root canal happened. A few weeks after that and my health started sinking lower again, this time the pain that came with it was unbearable at best. I had neck pain and head pain and head spasms and dizzy spells. Dr. C was convinced he took out all of the root when he did the root canal, and as you've read in previous blogs, he kept trying to help relieve the pain by changing the occlusion. Then this last Monday came, and I had had enough. The tooth was extracted, and it almost has completely come to an end, except.... I was lied to (but not purposefully) by the oral surgeon. It happened because the ADA has chosen to lie to their dentists and oral surgeons, and he didn't know any better. And I'm frustrated beyond belief.

When I went to the oral surgeon on Monday, I specifically asked that they would remove the periodontal ligament after he removed the tooth. He looked at me very strangely and told me that the periodontal ligament comes out with the tooth and I would be just fine. Well, according to Dr. K in the cities and some websites that I've placed in previous posts, some of the ligament stays with the bone and needs to be ground out with a dental burr. This will stop cavitation from happening and eventual disease in the rest of the body. Now I knew this, but I couldn't get this doctor to understand my need for it to be done (nor did he probably know how to do it). I contacted Dr. K today, and asked him to refer me to one of his oral surgeons who DOES take care of this. My concern for this to get done is not only for my longterm health, but the antibiotics that I was put on on Monday still has not started to work because the ligament is still there holding onto anaerobic bacteria.

I think the hardest part of all of this is that I keep seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, but someone keeps moving it farther as I inch up! Anyway, this is how I see this tooth playing a part in the collapse of my health. It's just one piece of the puzzle, but I think a huge, important one. It was a big tooth, with big roots.

Now as my kids hug me when I don't feel well, I tell them both...don't let this happen to you! Please take care of your teeth! Please brush often, and please think about what you put in your body! ...And that goes for you all, too!

It's Gone!!

Yes, the tooth is gone. What a huge sigh of relief, and my neck and head have already thanked me.

My dentist called me early Monday afternoon and we talked about the tooth. He told me that the oral surgeon who could extract it was leaving town today (Tuesday), and was willing to see me yesterday afternoon. I went gladly and willingly as soon as I could.

When the assistant brought me back and sat me in the chair, I was nervous and excited at the same time. Nervous I still might not be better when the tooth was gone, and excited that I might be better afterward. I decided I was only going to have novacaine, and I'm glad I did. It took longer to let the novacaine do it's job than what the oral surgeon did! When I was ready, he and the assistant came in and got the extraction tool ready. Within a matter of a minute, the tooth was out (in pieces), and gauze was dropped in it's place. I got to see the tooth, and it was not pretty (if there is such a thing as a pretty tooth!). It had broken open in the root area and I could see the posts that my dentist used to give support for the crown. I wanted to investigate longer, but they weren't willing to let me stay there very long.

A matter of hours later, I commented to Sparky that my neck didn't hurt much any more. It didn't!! And the pain in my head slowly disappeared, too. Of course there is still pain in the jaw, and now I feel achy in that area from where the novacaine was administered. The doctor put me on clindamycin, and gave me a prescription for motrin 800 mg. He also gave me a prescription for vicodin, but I chose not to fill it. The pain has been tolerable, and my neck is not tight and painful at all today. I've had some head pain, but it is minimal. I'm a little disappointed that I'm still having dizzy feelings, but they could be from the motrin, since it can be a side effect of the meds. Another thought is the infection that the antibiotic is addressing. It could just be a matter of time and it might go away. I'm hopeful, anyway.

BUT IT'S GONE! I'm very happy about that. It feels strange to have a big gaping hole there now, though. I'm concerned about dislodging the blood clot, too, since I've had dry socket before and it's even more painful than what I've been going through recently. I don't want that to happen again!

I will also be patiently and eagerly watching to see when zirconium implants will be available, that's for sure.

Remove it already!

I was reading these testimonials not because of the dentist (but she sounds great), but because of what these people had gone through... http://www.mercola.com/forms/testimonials_dental.htm
Oh my word is all I can say.

I called my dentist's office today and talked with the receptionist (who also assists my dentist at times) and told her my tooth was still giving me problems. She is going to talk to my dentist and call me back, but I asked her to tell him I just want the tooth gone. And after reading the testimonials in the website above, I am more than ready to get rid of it. The sooner the better.

Here's another page with some very useful information on it:
http://www.mercola.com/forms/dental_corner.htm#dentalarticles

Even I'm Amazed....

Listed below is another list from a different source (http://www.mercuryexposure.org/index.php?page_id=61) that shows even more relation to health problems and mercury.

• ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder (Medical Science)
• Agglutinin formation (Medical Science Publications)
• Allergy (Dental Handbooks)
• ALS - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Medical Journals)
• Alzheimer's (Dental Science)
• Anger (Dental Handbooks)
• Anorexia (Medical Journals)
• Anxiety (Dental Handbooks)
• Astenovegetative syndrome (Medical Science Publications)
• Asthenia (Medical Science Publications)
• Asthenic-vegative syndrome (Medical Science Publications)
• Ataxia (Dental Handbooks)
• Autism (Vaccine Journals)
• Bad Temper (Dental Handbooks)
• Blisters (Dental Handbooks)
• Bloating (Dental Handbooks)
• Blood Pressure Problems (Dental Handbooks)
• Bloodstream (Medical Science Publications)
• Blurred vision (Environment Newspapers and Dental Handbooks)
• Bone marrow (Medical Science Publications)
• Bones (Medical Science Publications)
• Breakdown (Medical Science Publications)
• Cancer (Medical Journal)
• Cardiac effecters (Medical Science Publications)
• Cardiovascular self-regulation (Medical Science Publications)
• Cardiovascular system (Medical Science Publications)
• Cerebella ataxia (Medical Journals)
• Chemical depression of work function (Medical Science Publications)
• Chest Pains (Dental Handbooks)
• Chronic fatigue syndrome (Dental Handbooks)
• Chronic inflamation (Dental Handbooks)
• Chylamydia trachomatis (Medical Journals)
• Circulatory changes (Medical Science Publications)
• Circulatory systems (Dental Handbooks)
• CNS Central nervous system (Medical Science Publications)
• Concentration loss (Dental Handbooks)
• Constipation (Dental Handbooks)
• Cortex (Medical Science Publications)
• Cortical excitation (Medical Science Publications)
• Cortical neurosis (Medical Science Publications)
• Cytomegalovirus (Medical Journal)
• Decision making difficulty (Dental Journal)
• Depression (Dental Handbooks)
• Depression in functional body (Medical Science Publications)
• Dermographism (Medical Science Publications)
• Diahhrea (Dental Handbooks)
• Digital tremor (Medical Science Publications)
• Diminished working ability (Medical Science Publications)
• Dizziness (Dental Handbooks)
• Ears ringing (Dental Handbooks)
• Emotional disruption (Medical Science Publications)
• Energy loss (Dental Handbooks)
• Enlarged glands (Medical Science Publications)
• Enzymatic protein function (Medical Science Publications)
• Fatigue Medical (Science Publications)
• Feet cold (Dental Handbooks)
• Fever (Medical Journals)
• Fibromyalgia (Dental Handbooks)
• Fine tremors (Medical Science Publications)
• Food allergies (Dental Handbooks)
• Frequent urination (Dental Handbooks)
• Functional disturbances (Medical Science Publications)
• Functional shifts (Medical Science Publications)
• Galvanic response (Medical Science Publications)
• Gnarled limbs (Environment Newspapers)
• Gum Problems (Dental Handbooks)
• Hands cold (Dental Handbooks)
• Hard pulse (Dental Handbooks)
• Headache (Medical Journals and Dental Handbooks)
• Headaches (Medical Science Publications)
• Herpes I (Medical Journal)
• Herpes II (Medical Journal)
• Hormonal protein function (Medical Science Publications)
• Hypersensitivity (Dental Handbooks)
• Hyperthermia (Medical Science Publications)
• Hypoxia (Medical Science Publications)
• Idiopathic autism (Vaccine Journals)
• Immune system (Dental Journals)
• Immuneological protein function (Medical Science Publications)
• Infection (Medical Science Publications)
• Infectious diseases (Medical Science Publications)
• Influenza (Medical Science Publications)
• Insomnia (Medical Journals)
• Intestinal disturbance (Medical Science Publications and Dental Handbooks)
• Intoxication (Medical Science Publications)
• Introvert (Dental Handbooks)
• Irregular heartbeat (Dental Handbooks)
• Irritability (Medical Journals)
• Jaw inflamed (Dental Handbooks)
• Joint pain (Dental Handbooks)
• Kidneys (Medical Science Publications)
• Less muscular capacity (Medical Science Publications)
• lichen leukoplakia (Dental Handbooks)
• Liver (Medical Science Publications)
• Low blood pressure (Dental Science Publications)
• Lower muscular capacity (Medical Science Publications)
• Lumbago (Dental Handbooks)
• Malaise (Medical Journals)
• Memory (Dental Handbooks)
• Memory loss (Medical Science Publications)
• Mercurial syndrome (Medical Journals)
• Mercury etiology (Medical Science Publications)
• Metabolic changes (Medical Science Publications)
• Metal taste (Dental Handbooks)
• Micromercurialism (Medical Science Publications)
• Moderate hypochromic anemia (Medical Science Publications)
• Monotypic functional shifts (Medical Science Publications)
• Mood (Dental Handbooks)
• Morphological disorders (Medical Science Publications)
• Muscle pain (Dental Handbooks)
• Muscular insufficiency (Medical Science Publications)
• Nervous heart (Dental Handbooks)
• Nervous systems (Dental Handbooks)
• Neurological symptoms (Medical Science Publications)
• Numbness (Dental Handbooks)
• Olfactory analyzer (Medical Science Publications)
• Optic thalami (Medical Science Publications)
• Paralysis (Dental Handbooks)
• Phlebitis (Dental Handbooks)
• Physiology toward pathology (Medical Science Publications)
• Plasma (Dental Journals)
• Positive electrical charge (Medical Science Publications)
• Protein metabolism (Medical Science Publications)
• Psychic (Dental Handbooks)
• Red dermographism (Medical Science Publications)
• Reflex insufficiency (Medical Science Publications)
• Rheumatoid arthritis (Dental Handbooks)
• Sensitivity (Dental Handbooks)
• Sinusitis (Medical Science Publications and Dental Handbooks)
• Spasms (Dental Handbooks)
• Spleen (Medical Science Publications)
• Stiffness (Dental Handbooks)
• Stomach disturbance (Dental Handbooks)
• Stress (Medical Science Publications)
• Subcortical ganglia (Medical Science Publications)
• Suicidal (Dental Handbooks)
• Tachycardia (Dental Handbooks)
• Teeth ache (Dental Handbooks)
• Tremors (Medical Science Publications)
• Temperature response (Medical Science Publications)
• Thyroid metabolism (Medical Science Publications and Dental Handbooks)
• Thyroid uptake of radioactive iodine (Medical Science Publications)
• Ticks (Dental Handbooks)
• Tired (Dental Handbooks)
• Toxic action (Medical Science Publications)
• Urine (Dental Journals)
• Vascular disorders (Medical Science Publications)
• Vascular permeability (Medical Science Publications)
• Vegetative dystonia (Medical Science Publications)
• Vegetative nervous system (Medical Science Publications)
• Vegetative neurosis (Medical Science Publications)
• Vertigo (Dental Handbooks)
• Week pulse (Dental Handbooks)

Now I ask again....how safe is amalgam if dentists are even journaling symptoms (note the dental journals and handbooks in parenthesis above)?

Mercury is Nasty

Today I ran across this article, and within it is a video that is a must see. It explains what happens when mercury enters the neurological center of the brain. http://www.drkaslow.com/html/mercury_s_influence.html

The article also discusses reproductive problems, digestive problems, thyroid issues, yeast overgrowth, and mineral displacement.

I am feeling very heavy brain-fog today, and I've been having problems with my right hand going numb at times. My doctor said that the hand problem is connected to the same trunk of muscles as the neck problems I've been having and the chiropractor should be able to address the problem.

I reminded myself again last night that I still have 5 crowns with amalgam under them that have to be removed before I should feel any type of major relief. The struggle of day-to-day living with my symptoms is frustrating at its best, and most days I'd rather just climb in my lazyboy and let the world go by. Don't let this happen to you. Don't get overburdened with metal toxicity and let your health disappear on you. Stop the amalgam insanity by refusing amalgams (and root canals!) at all costs. You'll thank yourself later for it!

A Collision....

I'm feeling pretty much lately like a freight train hit me, and I'm dealing with the aftermath.

I called and talked with my dentist early last week. I couldn't convince him to pull the tooth then, but he did say he would pull it if what he wanted to try didn't work. I decided it was worth him trying what he wanted to if he'd extract it if his idea failed. He wanted to level down the tooth more and see if he couldn't relieve the pain by adjusting the bite. I went in to see him on the 20th, and as he was checking the occlusion (bite), he noticed that the tooth in front of the tooth in question was hitting pretty heavily on the top tooth as well. He leveled both teeth down to make the occlusion more even.

So far I've noticed a lot less pain in that part of the jaw, but my neck and head have not given up their fight. I had some severe pain in my head that lasted several hours over the weekend that advil wouldn't even come close to touching. The pain has returned today in a not so nice way and making the day miserable. The dizzy spells that I have often have surely made themselves known today, too.

I haven't detoxed much with the fortune delight lately only because there have been so many days that I've needed to feel okay to go somewhere or do something. I plan to continue it on the next day when I know I can be home all day and nothing too major is required of me. I know I certainly need it, as I struggle so much with lack of concentration and energy along with a myriad of symptoms that some cleansing would help.

Here is another article that sounds like it could be my life story. http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=492
How sad it is to see so many articles on the internet today that share people's life stories that are affected by mercury. It's also frustrating to see so much information on the dangers of mercury in fillings all over the internet, yet no one in the government does anything about it to save people from the heartache and pain when they become sick.

Talk about toxic!

In reference to my title of this post, I'm the one who's toxic, and I think yesterday proved it.

I emailed my doctor in the morning, telling him of some symptoms that I was experiencing that were getting a little out of the ordinary (out of the ordinary meaning really bad). He told me to start detoxing by drinking some fortune delight. It's healthy and natural...Doshi loves the stuff so I keep it on hand, and was ready to start. Little did I know exactly what was going to happen! I used to drink FD before I got sick. I liked it, and it was refreshing. The great thing about it is it's an herbal food, and works well with the body to eliminate the bad stuff, especially after workouts. When I got sick, I drank it for a while, but stopped when I noticed the irritability wasn't so bad when it wasn't included in my diet (Irritability to me was bad, until recently when I found out it was good for it to happen - more in an earlier post).

Because I have tried to stay away from anything that will detoxify until all the amalgam is gone, I am so toxic now that only one packet of FD in 12 ounces of water caused one of the freakiest things I've felt in a while. After drinking about 3/4 of it, I started feeling a pulling of stuff inside my head into the rest of my body. I felt so terrible during that time and after, I pretty much lost the rest of my day to feeling completely out of it and just feeling like crud. By last night, the left side of my head and jaw (near the bad tooth) were hurting pretty bad. During the night I woke up and felt that same side of my head had "fallen asleep" and it was tingling very strongly. It was all the way from my chin up to well behind and above my left ear. When that got back to normal, I could feel my jaw on the left side aching considerably. I woke up this morning with pain still there, and a fair amount of irritability. The pain has subsided somewhat, but I can still feel an achiness. I was still irritable, and my stomach was a bit "off", too.

I emailed my doc right away this morning to ask if it was from the fortune delight and he said yes, the body is detoxifying like it should. It's certainly not fun to go through, that's for sure. But he wants me to continue, with a more diluted form of the FD so it's not so strong to my system. He said in about a week I should hopefully feel some improvement.

Because I had used FD before, I never expected the results I got yesterday. I should have thought about how much the dental revisions have put a lot more mercury ravaging around my system, though. Plus, the root canaled tooth has had time to cause so much toxicity with the anaerobic bacteria making it's home there, along with the four other root canaled teeth with their own toxicity.

I also read today about cavitations left behind when removing a tooth. These can, and most often do, turn almost gangrenous. Talk about gross! But almost everyone who's had their wisdom teeth or any other teeth extracted probably didn't have the periodontal ligament removed with it, only to leave behind the 95% chance of bacterium buildup. It doesn't show up on x-rays, and most times there is no pain, so the unsuspecting person goes on with life thinking they are healthy and nothing is wrong with them. Within years, the bacterium usually shows up elsewhere in the form of an auto-immune disease, or worse yet, cancer. So not only amalgams can cause these terrible diseases, but so can root canals, and cavitations (Uninformed Consent, Hal Huggins).

I sure look at situations so differently now when I meet someone who is suffering from cancer or an auto-immune disease. It continually goes through my head...how many silver fillings does this person have? How many root canals? How many cavitations? Do they have dentures that have mercury or nickel in them? If they don't have any of these things, did one or both of their parents since mercury can cross the placenta or attach itself to sperm?

How many dentists have unknowingly poisoned their patients because they don't know any better and have listened to what the ADA is telling them instead of having reason to do their own research? I will say it again. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO INFORMED CONSENT. Do your research. And like me, if you're still not sure, do MORE research before you have anything put in your teeth (or your body!). Even now, after how much I've learned, I'm still making mistakes. I still forget things I've read, and I feel most times like I'm the only one who knows what's best for me dental-wise, because I certainly don't trust my dentist even though he's better than most since he understands the dangers of and won't place amalgam, but I've learned he still doesn't have all the answers, either. So if I'm doing all the learning (and forgetting), there's not a huge support system for me to lean on. Find a doctor who understands mercury toxicity and can help you. Find a dentist who completely understands the toxicity of all things done to your teeth. Be INFORMED.

http://www.piercelaw.edu/risk/vol2/spring/royal.htm
http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=502
http://www.rooted.tv/?gclid=CK-7nsvK644CFRUHWAodGCh8FQ

A Vision for Revision

Yesterday I pulled out a chart of my teeth that a previous dentist had supplied me with. It showed what my teeth were like before the revision process started a year ago. It's a very detailed computer drawing, showing all of my fillings, root canals, and crowns. Wow, have things changed!

I've had 11 teeth worked on so far, and 8 more to go. All 11 teeth contained amalgam fillings. 9 of them now are shiny composites, the other two have had root canals, and both will eventually need to be removed. Those two are included in the 8 still needing work. The other 6 teeth are precious metal crowns with amalgam underneath, and 3 of these teeth are root canaled and will need to be extracted. Who would have thought so much can happen in such a small area of the body!

After going over this chart and seeing where my problems still exist, I think I have come up with a good plan for the next groupings of revisions, and it should take four phases. Hopefully my dentist will agree and we can get started as soon as possible so that I can have the bad RC (root canal) extracted right away. Two days ago I had an email second opinion done with the dentist from Minneapolis about the tooth in question, and he's willing to help me in any way he can if my dentist doesn't do what I feel I need done for my health. I'm really relieved to know I have him to fall back on. He also said he would talk to my dentist (since he knows him) about RC's to see if he can be of some help in that way. I'm trying to be patient and give him a few days to do that before I call my dentist and tell him I'm ready for my next revision, but I seem to be feeling a little worse each day and don't know how much longer I can put up with this.

In the process of talking to the dentist from Minneapolis, I learned of a new type of implant that can be done for fake permanent teeth that isn't as intrusive to the bone as titanium. It's a zirconium implant, much like porcelain. According to this file, the FDA may have approved it for the U.S. now, but I'm not exactly sure. The dentist encouraged me to go to Germany to have them implanted, though!

I have another list of websites available for your own research.

http://herballure.com/HotTopics/MyMercuryStory.html
http://herballure.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB19
http://community.tri-cityherald.com/?q=node/526/12195#comment-12195
http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=489
http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=488
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=17498
http://curezone.com/dental/mercury_symptoms.asp
http://community.tri-cityherald.com/?q=node/526
http://www.iaomt.org/news/archive.asp?intReleaseID=240
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfVsUuhoFWY&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ylnQ-T7oiA&mode=related&search=
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2001/may2001_report_mercury_1.html
http://www.positivehealth.com/article-abstract.php?articleid=495
http://talkinternational.com/detoxification.html
http://www.kitchendoctor.com/articles/cilantro.html
http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=503

Thanks to Sparky for these!

Ten Steps Back

It actually has been a long week since my last post. By the next day, my neck tightened up again, my head started hurting really bad, and I had irritability beyond what I've been used to. I also have been having dizzy spells a lot as well. It has lasted all week, and things are barely at a comfortable range today.

Over the weekend, Sparky (thank you, Sparky!) and I had some time to search some more websites with a lot of good information on them. One is a video of an extracted tooth with amalgam still in it. The video shows the tooth held by a special screen (they explain what it is) and rub the tooth with different instruments. It shows the amount of vapor the tooth lets go of with each rub or scrape. I was sickened as I watched it just thinking how much mercury I was spewing out before I had the amalgam removed every time I opened my mouth!

Tooth vapor
Curezone frequently asked questions
More frequently asked questions...
dental amalgam
a forum on amalgam
another forum on amalgam
curezone
curezone root canal

I also read over the weekend the introduction to Hal Huggins website under the heading "Setting it Straight". It seems that my reading and research hasn't even begun to hit the surface of the protocol in which to take in amalgam removal, and I've read two of Mr. Huggins' books. According to this article he writes, I should have had all of my amalgam removed within a month's time in order to do it properly, as long as I don't have any work done on consecutive 7 day cycles (more on this in his book "It's All In Your Head"). He says the likelihood of recovery is not as good if this is not followed. I'm a little discouraged to say the least that I didn't know about this before. I certainly would have made arrangements to have it all done as soon as possible if I knew that. I was under the assumption from reading elsewhere that it should be done one filling at a time, and over a period of time. I thought I was in danger of moving along too fast by having two and three, sometimes four done at a time. I don't know what my prognosis is now that I didn't do it the way Huggins encourages. It, along with my root canaled teeth, could be why I'm still struggling so much now.

I also am discouraged to find no other alternatives for root canals. Having any type of metal implant put into the bone structure of the jaw if a dead tooth is removed is not any better than having amalgam in the teeth. Bridges aren't any better as they also need to use metal to give stability to the tooth. But having the root canal is the worst! So now what? I have no idea, and I am frustrated beyond belief. If any of you are doing your own research and find anything, would you be willing to share? Please post a comment with your information so others can see what you've found as well. Thanks.

Some Snippets

Other than feeling dead-tired from lack of sleep (due to Sparky's cold of recent), I have been doing better over the past few days. I saw my doctor on Saturday and he did a different procedure on my jaw to help calm it down, using a machine that sends pulses of electricity through some pads held to my cheeks. He also adjusted my neck since it was bothering me again, and he was able to make that feel a little better, too. I still feel achiness in the neck and jaw, but it's a little more tolerable now. My doctor is wanting me to try to calm the tooth down even more by putting eye-droppers of swedish bitters on it at bedtime and brush with liquid stevia (sunectar/sunnydew). I was able to start the swedish bitters since I had some of that, but I won't have liquid stevia for a few days because I need to order it.

We also asked my doctor what causes the irritability I struggle with pretty often. He said that the irritability is actually a good sign that my body is trying to detox the mercury out. He said the only other way would be through fever, and he said this is the best way for it to come out, so he's glad to hear when I am irritable but does understand the frustration I feel since it's so bothersome. It's kind of strange to think I should be happy when I'm irritable!

I was reminded of another thing to share - about mercury being the possible culprit for premature grey hair. I started going grey in my late 20's. My head is peppered with silver strands now, but Sparky noticed during the weekend that I had a multicolored strand of hair he found on my shoulder (my hair falls out easily now, and thinning at a rapid rate). It reminded me of something that I learned in my research...I'm thinking it's in the Andrew Hall Cutler book - about hair greying at young ages due to amalgam. I don't recall however, if it it mentions anything about reversing itself once the amalgam is removed. The strand was silver on the bottom, and my natural color near the root. Methinks it's a possibility my hair could possibly reverse back to it's natural light brown when the amalgam is completely gone. Hmmmm.....it will be interesting to see in about a year from now.