Thank you for the advice!

Thank you to the anonymous person who commented on my last post! I got my act together and talked to my doctor, and we decided to treat me for candida and start working on natural chelation methods immediately. I started on the candida diet last week, and to keep me encouraged, I try to search for different things on candida every day just to keep me focused. Today I found this website and was encouraged again that I'm on the right track with the mercury issue. It is obvious by looking at the symptoms on this page that this is what I'm dealing with since I still struggle with about 90% of what's on this list.

Late last week I devised a recipe for soup containing chicken, celery, carrots, cilantro, and onion. When I warm it up I'm going to add miso to it, making it into more of an Asian type soup. The main part of this soup's chelation benefit for me is going to be the cilantro. Its ability to expel mercury from the tissues in the body has been found to be phenomenal. I read one person's experience with cilantro, and she claimed that she had made an extract out of cilantro and drank a small amount of it. Here is what she said:

"In 1995, I was bitten all up and down my leg by a lady spider. I was paralyzed for nearly a year by the bacterial neurotoxin and have since that time shown more of the classic symptoms of sensitivity to metal poisoning. I thus decided to try the first batch of cilantro on myself. The results were dramatic: my brain felt like it was "spewing." Sorry, I can't find a better word. On a purely physical level, I felt tingling sensations. In my dreams, I saw spurting, like an ink jet printer. My hair started to feel like it was coated with something awful and the smell was ghastly.

The tingling sensations lasted about five days and then subsided markedly. However, I had some muscle cramps so decided to add trace minerals and seaweed to my regime. I was also extremely careful to drink a lot of fluids, including my own delicious tea that I made to support lymphatic drainage. During the first two weeks, my skin felt like it was coated with slime. I took baths in Epsom salts and found an oil slick on the surface of the water and residue on the tub that looked like gray sand, exactly what yet another dentist told me to expect. He said his wife actually had little dots percolating up through her skin that looked like tiny beads."

I found it rather intriguing to hear her mention a "spewing" sensation, since I had the same feeling about nine months ago when I started drinking Fortune Delight again after taking a long break from it.

I am still not doing 'well', but I now have a different attitude about it again, and I'm not getting down on myself for not being better yet. I knew better, but I had forgotten all that I have learned about the detoxification period and the lows I should have been expecting to feel, so thanks again, anonymous person, for sharing a ray of sunshine!

Not going anywhere very fast...

Today I'm in a funk. It is the 6 week mark since I had my amalgams removed, and I'm feeling a little down about the progress I've made. I was hoping I'd notice some big differences in how I've felt by now, but there has been pretty much next to nothing in either direction overall. I have been struggling with more fatigue as of late, more than I've had in quite a while. It's been tough. I tried spending time with my family this last weekend going to a classic car show about an hour from our home. I only lasted 4 1/2 hours, which sadly, in comparison to last year, was terrible. Last year we were there the entire three days and I was nowhere as fatigued as I was in the one day this year. It was frustrating and a bit mind-boggling. I expected this summer to be difficult, but I guess part of me was telling my brain that I was going to feel good instantaneously after the amalgams were gone...a thought that should have never crossed my mind.

I am trying to prepare myself mentally for stronger levels of detoxification now that the 6-week mark has passed, but I'm having trouble wrapping myself around the thoughts of feeling worse for a while. So far where we live it's been a cooler spring, but the days have been beautiful and enjoyable. To have to think of spending these days being more miserable after being miserable for over 3 years is hard to look forward to. The only thing that keeps me on track is the hope that I will be symptom free at the end of all of this. I'll be able to have fun with my family and go for walks and bike rides and even drive again. And feel good through all of it.

I know I've not talked about this before, but I wanted to share how my mind has been affected by this illness. I believe the mercury has caused my brain to do strange things, especially causing me to be an over-emotional wreck. I get worried about things I shouldn't have to be worried about. I especially worry that I will never drive again...something I enjoyed doing up until 2 years ago when the off-balance and dizzy feelings got worse. I get anxious for no reason - something that I never had problems with before. My brain sends signals to different parts of my body, and my nerve endings produce pains and aches I never used to have, nor signals anything wrong with me. My short term memory is absolutely terrible, and I have to go back and read what I've written several times just to remember what I was talking about. Sometimes all Sparky (my husband) has to do is walk in the door after a long day at work and look at me and I cry for no reason. My head gets migrating aches and pains and sometimes they get so bad I think the pain will shut my brain down and I'll pass out and not wake up. I occasionally get heart palpitations that feels like my heart doesn't know when to beat and causes me to feel anxiousness, too.

I've read enough personal stories of others who have suffered with mercury toxicity to know that I'm on the right track when I say I believe it's mercury, even though there is a part of me that worries it's something more. Mercury is poison enough to cause me to blame it for all of this, since I had so much available to my body for so long.

I'm hoping that I'll have more positive news the next time I check in. I would love some encouragement from anyone out there who's detoxing from mercury toxicity and who's felt symptoms like me, or for that matter, just plain encouragement from anyone!

Four weeks of metal free...

As of yesterday, it's been four weeks since my last amalgam (and metal crowns) were taken out. It's not been a cakewalk, but the side effects have been in the right direction. I am finding that some days are better than others, but overall I'm slowly making progress. I haven't done a whole lot in the way of detox yet, I have another two weeks to go before I really should start anything.

I have tried the detox foot pads two nights so far, but not two nights in a row yet. Both mornings the pads have been filled with a gooey dark substance and my feet have been dry, so I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I think the proof will be when I can wear them several nights in a row and if they start lightening in color with each day. I may have to be doing it for awhile though, if they do work, just because of the amount of toxins in my body.

My biggest symptoms that are still plaguing me are the off-balance and dizzy feelings I have. I can't even sit without feeling like I'm going to fall off a chair, and walking is a concentrated effort not to veer to the left. I know my equilibrium is off, but I don't know how the mercury has affected it and how to concentrate on getting rid of that issue. I'm hoping that once I start really detoxing I'll find some relief. It's really frustrating, because it is that problem that keeps me from doing a LOT of things, including driving. I also still feel a lot of fatigue most days. Some days of course are better, but I am still finding that I have to push myself to do even simple things most days.

I saw Dr. S last week and he concluded that the pain and achiness I was feeling in my legs was being caused by my pelvic muscles deteriorating and the pelvic bone starting to loosen up and open up outwards. He was hoping that strengthening the muscles in that area would pull the bone back in and also take care of the pain, and so far it has.

Even though this update doesn't sound too enthusiastic or positive, I feel optimistic that once I really start detoxing I should see continuing improvement at a faster rate.

FINALLY! FDA Admits Mercury fillings are bad!

Mercury Fillings May Harm Some: U.S. FDA

Yes, folks, the FDA is finally admitting that amalgam (mercury) fillings are bad...for some groups. Okay, so if they're bad for these groups, why not for everyone? We'll get to that later. Right now I want to share that I knew this was coming a year ago. Dr. C told me that the FDA was going to be putting this warning out...A YEAR AGO. It took them this long to get it into dentist's offices. A year of letting people from these age groups and genders continue using these terrible poisonous fillings.

So now what?

Why is it not safe for pregnant women, children, and unborn babies, but yet safe for the rest of us? For those of you who have been following my blog, you should know the answer to that. If you don't know the answer, I request that you go back and read all of my entries. Then if you still don't know, please do some research for yourself. Go to a search engine and type in "dental amalgam toxicity". You'll find tons of information. If that's not enough, email me (th.happycamper@gmail.com), and we'll talk. I can guarantee that after all of this, you WILL know the answer, and you'll be livid, because your dentist did not warn you of the dangers of putting amalgams in your teeth. I don't think I can stress enough that it's a terrible, terrible poison, and it's destroying our bodies!