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I've been seeing a holistic MD and I've been dx'ed with this and esp heavy on the lead and mercury. I've suspected this for a long time but was freaked out when I saw how high my levels were. For one thing I have a mouth full of mercury (amalgams are 50% mercury) and for another, I broke open a thermometer when I was 11 and played with it for at least an hour in the bathroom and the stuff can really give off vapors and I also got it all over my skin. Contrast that with 20 years later when I was working at a hospital and some mercury got spilled and they called in a special hazard team to clean it up and they came in special suits and cordoned off the area.
Some of the immediate symptoms that one gets right after a direct exposure like that are: behavioral changes, depression, confusion, irritability, hyperactivity, allergies, and asthma. I had every one of those! And I had every one of those for my entire teenage years and it was so bad that allergies sometimes sent me to a hospital and I was so irritable that my mother told me I should never have kids. The depression and confusion were so bad that I ended up dropping out of high school--I have a fairly high IQ but I couldn't keep my mind on my work to save my life and it was horrible. The fog began to lift a bit when I was 18 and I ended up going into college with my class, but I still feel bad about all the pain and agony I put my parents thru during those years and they never knew what happened b/c I doubt I told them about the thermometer, and even if I had, they still might not have known. Also, though I was able to do college, it took 12 years to graduate, due to false starts and changing majors and letting boyfriends distract me. But I did graduate.
I've also had a lot of the symptoms of chronic exposure, such as chronic constipation that wouldn't resolve no matter what I ate or drank, though that got some better with probiotics--still, not the improvement you'd expect. A big symptom for lead toxicity is anemia that keeps coming back--my OB/gyn has always been puzzled about that but we never got it figured out. The lead extraction will probably take a long time as it likes to rest in the bones. Anyway, something few people think about which is why I'm bringing it to your attention and this stuff can make you really sick only you've been sick so long you have absolutely no idea what it feels like to be healthy.
So, I'm starting a course of chelation therapy this week and that will probably go on for months at least. I do not recommend this as a "do-it-yourself" project, but it's possible and if you do, google Cutler Protocol for chelation. My doc isn't doing it exactly that way but he has me on a lot of nutritional supports.
I hope the chelation therapy works for you. I've heard about it. The part about the anemia being from lead exposure especially interests me because the doctor told my husband he has high levels of lead. Nothing was done except to give him iron, but he keeps testing as low in iron.
It sounds like you had quite a bit of mercury exposure and I hope the chelation gets rid of it.
Yes it esp makes me sad to think how much of my youth was wasted on this--this stuff was extremely psychologically painful, for me and those who had to deal with me. I've never really had a decent job b/c I just wasn't capable--I'm a first year teacher now but struggling. I really pray that this fixes it though some of the brain damage may be too extensive. It's not so that anyone can tell but me these days, but in earlier years people just used to wonder what the hell was wrong with me b/c I looked normal lol. Now they're thinking that a lot of AD/HD and other things could be caused by this and not everyone reacts to the same amount in the same way.
Yes it esp makes me sad to think how much of my youth was wasted on this--this stuff was extremely psychologically painful, for me and those who had to deal with me. I've never really had a decent job b/c I just wasn't capable--I'm a first year teacher now but struggling. I really pray that this fixes it though some of the brain damage may be too extensive. It's not so that anyone can tell but me these days, but in earlier years people just used to wonder what the hell was wrong with me b/c I looked normal lol. Now they're thinking that a lot of AD/HD and other things could be caused by this and not everyone reacts to the same amount in the same way.
It does seem as though chelation can get the mercury out, not so with the lead though. Better late than never--just go forward and don't look back. When the dr told me my husband has high lead levels, I immediately associated that with his ADHD (undiagnosed but when you live with someone 24/7, you know.) For my husband it ruined his life in some ways too. He is smart but couldn't pay attention in school. That was in the "old" days before anyone had heard of ADHD. He coped by finding interesting jobs that he could throw himself into because he can concentrate for really long periods of time if he is totally absorbed in something.
It is kind of sad to think of what he could have been and how misunderstood he must have been all his life. Same for you, but somehow you do cope and overcome your situation to an extent. Hopefully with this treatment, you will be even better than ever!
It does seem as though chelation can get the mercury out, not so with the lead though.
My doc says you can get the lead out with DMSA, which is what I'll be on, but it takes longer--years even, b/c it's stored in your bones. You have to have a lot of mineral support, both for remineralization and b/c the DMSA will take out minerals along with the lead. Good luck to you and your husband--it sounds like you love him just the way he is and bless both of you.
Stepka, unless your "holistic MD" gave you a clear proof (positive blood, urine, hair or other tests) of mercury poisoning, I don't think it's likely you suffer from it.
"After an exhaustive investigation and review of the evidence, including the form of mercury in question, the route of exposure, and the dose, the Public Health Service concluded that dental amalgams do not pose a serious health risk." Medscape: Medscape Access
Two brief exposures to mercury do not likely result in chronic mercury poisoning.
Stepka - what changes in your diet have you followed?
I blame the diet choices that begin the downfall of ones overall health. The non-nutritional foods.
There is aluminum, lead and mercury in VACCINES - that do NOTHING but cause immune system issues. How many of those were you given? Did anyone recall a reaction that could have begun a type of allergic reaction?
There is lead/mercury in the AIR that we breath everyday. Who can be sure how much?
There is mercury in high fructose corn syrup. Has been for a long while now. What else is it in? Or the number of other health destroying chemicals, additives, synthetics? That not too many people seem to be concerned about, at all.
Even pure raw veggies/fruits seem to be deficient in necessary vitamins and minerals today. I supplement with Vit D3, iodine, magnesium, zinc, food based Vit C, Vit B *methyls - not the cyanide types. Vit K2. My water is triple filtered. My air is filtered. I have salt lamps going for the negative ions.
There is no detectible high level of "electrical" crap: no mircrowave oven, no cordless phones, no wi-fi, etc.
Infra red saunas helped. Drinking clean filtered water with organic lemon. Cutting out sugar. NO GRAINS helped as well. As well as the raw dairy from Type A2 cows (that are kept very clean and batch testing results are available):
The following is a very interesting article on milk! And some not so known facts -- As you may or may not know, all proteins are long chains of amino acids that have many “branches” coming off different parts of the main chain. Beta casein is a 229 chain of amino acids with a proline at number 67 – at least the proline is there in “old- fashioned” cows. These cows with proline at number 67 are called A2 cows and are the older breeds of cows (e.g. Jerseys, Asian and African cows). Some five thousand years ago, a mutation occurred in this proline amino acid, converting it to histidine. Cows that have this mutated beta casein are called A1 cows, and include breeds like Holstein. http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2009/...-store-bought/
I hope you get the answers. And health, too!
(I still have amalgams - the bad ones. No high mercury for me)
Last edited by hellothereIN; 03-24-2014 at 07:01 AM..
Also wonder how one goes about ridding their body of these toxic chemicals and metals?
DMW, I'm taking DMSA, which is some really strong sulfur. There is a really complicated explanation for why this works but basically it acts as a magnet to pick up mercury and lead and carries them out of your body and you have to help it along by drinking plenty of fluids and getting exercise, etc. An interesting thing is that a few weeks ago I got really depressed. I'd been taking the DMSA for about a couple of months and suddenly life was not worth living. I told my doc and he ordered a dmps IV and I immediately felt better. I've heard that DMSA can't cross the blood brain barrier but dmps can so I know this working. Also I've begun to notice that ever so slightly my brain is working better. It comes in flashes but its better than before. I feel like the scarecrow in wizard of oz--if I only had a brain. Lol
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