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.