Mercury/Heavy Metals - new theory after 15 years

[Hope4Johni]

Glad you are doing much better.

Your posting really caught my attention as my eye problems started a couple of weeks after I received a booster vaccination for diptheria, tetanus and whooping cough (Dtap). I did not make the connection with my eyes until many months later. At first, a couple of weeks after the vaccination, I noticed an increase in floaters then my eyes felt dry. The next thing, about 4 weeks later, was a feeling in my left eye that it was bulging and that something was sticking into it in the lower left corner. At the time, I thought it was my thyroid level being too high. Later I learned that my thyroid level was not high at all.

I have just started trying to detox naturally with cilantro and garlic. Have been doing it for one week. Am supposed to do it for two more weeks.

I now have a bad case of blepharitis/meibomitis and dry eyes. Have seen improvement by taking doxycycline.

I wonder if anyone else has had dry eyes after receiving a vaccination.

[RonnieD]

Hey, it's been a month since I last posted so I thought I would provide another update. I keep taking the DMSA and keep feeling better. I had lunch with a long time pal today who interrupted me and said "Dude, why aren't your eyes red?"

Since starting the DMSA, my chronic joint pain and fatigue has disappeared. I am feeling so much better that I am able to go to the gym 4x a week to lift weights for an hour per session. The weightlifting heightens my appetite which poses a problem for my eyes as a lot of foods irritate my eyes within minutes of consumption (ranging from pork to cereal to raisins to refined sugars). I am eating a greater quantity of food, including foods that still irritates my eyes, but the irritation is significantly lower now, and lingers for a much shorter duration.

My eyes used to be extremely sensitive to contact with water (from the shower or washing my face) and I used to have severe anxiety but both issues have also disappeared with the DMSA.

My eyes still have irritation, and I still have progress to make, but since starting the DMSA 4 months ago, my eye pain has gradually diminished and I would estimate that the irritation has reduced by about 30-40%.

[bakunin]

Hey, so I'm about 3 months into using the DMSA (2 days of 50mg 5x daily, then 5 days of taking multi vitamins 2x daily) and I can't believe how much better I am feeling! My chronic joint pain and chronic fatigue has disappeared and my eye pain has significantly diminished. My eyes are feeling much better and are looking a lot whiter. I am receiving comments from friends, colleagues and acquaintances such as the girl who cuts my hair about how much better my eyes are looking.

I've been told that the total duration of taking the DMSA will range between 6-24 months. I am shocked at how much the quality of my life has improved and will keep taking the DMSA and provide random updates.

Great news Ronnie. Congratulations.

I think there are more cases of some kind of intoxication on this board that we would expect. I'm having chronic fatigue either, and I'm in a detox diet. My eyes are slowly improving (I hope they keep improving).

[Anthony16]

hey Ronnie,
Im glad to hear things are improving.i really hope this is not just coincidence as i know you have been through a lot over the last 15 or so years cos of your eyes.
Keep us updated
Best of luck
A

Hey, so I'm about 3 months into using the DMSA (2 days of 50mg 5x daily, then 5 days of taking multi vitamins 2x daily) and I can't believe how much better I am feeling! My chronic joint pain and chronic fatigue has disappeared and my eye pain has significantly diminished. My eyes are feeling much better and are looking a lot whiter. I am receiving comments from friends, colleagues and acquaintances such as the girl who cuts my hair about how much better my eyes are looking.

I've been told that the total duration of taking the DMSA will range between 6-24 months. I am shocked at how much the quality of my life has improved and will keep taking the DMSA and provide random updates.

[LaDiva]

Delighted to hear this! Good news. Thanks for catching us up.

[RonnieD]

Hey, so I'm about 3 months into using the DMSA (2 days of 50mg 5x daily, then 5 days of taking multi vitamins 2x daily) and I can't believe how much better I am feeling! My chronic joint pain and chronic fatigue has disappeared and my eye pain has significantly diminished. My eyes are feeling much better and are looking a lot whiter. I am receiving comments from friends, colleagues and acquaintances such as the girl who cuts my hair about how much better my eyes are looking.

I've been told that the total duration of taking the DMSA will range between 6-24 months. I am shocked at how much the quality of my life has improved and will keep taking the DMSA and provide random updates.

[LaDiva]

Sazy, those are both great links. Thanks for posting them! I've been on a modified diet for three months. I think it takes awhile to work, and not sure about the dry eyes, but if it is a digestive tract issue, I've read it takes six months to a year to improve the situation. I do think it is all linked, and certainly gut problems can cause inflammation. A probiotic ad mentioned that 70% of your immune system is in your digestive tract. If the ad is true, that is real food for thought.

Wondering how you are doing Ronnie?

[sazy123]

functional medicine:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeq6x...ture=endscreen

[sazy123]

Also,

When you have disease and digestive issues- chances are you have a ''leaky gut'' and/or ''sibo''- small intestinal bacteria overgrowth. Candida is also possible. These can cause all sorts of symptoms and vitamin dificincies due to malabsorbtion.

So the aim of a diet is to avoid hard to digest foods such as the ones i listed above (grains, dairy, nuts, and most fruit). Fruit is due the sugar that SIBO and candida feed off. If the foods digest easily they will not feed the SIBO and ones leaky gut is able to heal. Check out the GAPS diet and SCD diet.

My issue is constipation though since im not eating grains, i have always had a problem with it. I read it is a symptom of Sjorgrens. I might have to eat a grain.

[sazy123]

Worth a try!

I am about to embark on a metal detox protocol suggested by Andrew Cutler.

I am going to see a naturopath this week and have all sorts of tests including a urine test, if she does provocation. If not i will do a hair test.

A few years back i had an allergy test against metals, i was looking for nickel. The test showed a ''borderline'' sensitivity to mercury. 100-200 is borderline and 200 or above is definate sensitivity. My score was 180. So IMO I could very well have a mercury problem since it is on the higher end of boderline.

I have read that manu autoimmune conditions have been linked with Mercury toxicity. Its possible that Sjogrens Syndrome is also linked. I suspect that i have it due to positive ANA test and am waiting on the NHS to have more tests done. I have been watching/reading some interesting stuff lately based on ''functional medicine'' which claims that autoimmune conditions orginate from the same causes- but the body attacks different areas of the body which it mistakes for toxins (mercury is a toxin)- and that is where all the different ''autoimmune diease names come from''. The body will attack a particular part of the body depending on the persons genetics (instread of attacking the toxin) and what they are pre-disposed to.

This guy explains it well, its an interesting watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdSeqUWNByc

I have been on a strict Paleo/autoimmune diet for one month now. I do not think its helping my eyes. I have constipation and have lost weight- but thats about it right now. I have done strict diets in the past with no success, but this diet is slightly tweaked for autoimmune conditions. I am not eating nightshades, eggs or nuts, dairy or grains. YES VERY HARD!!! Im not working right now which has helped. Im also taking suuplements for dry eye and probiotics.

My Next approach is to try the metal detox. Like Ronnie I have had no improvement from any treatments and i have had alot of vaccinations over the years. I had a round of vaccinations before travelling to australia, it was this year my severe dry eye set in after going on anti depressents. I think alot of things lower the immune system and then one last thing happens- ''trigger'' which the immune system cant cope with and it can not cope with the toxin load anymore. This is the main premise behind functional medicine.

So its worth a try!! Ive given up thinking conventional medicine will help my eyes anymore. Even the BEST and cutting edge treatments for dry eye such as Serum drops, testosterone cream, IPL resulted in 0 improvment.

I am confused about testing for Metals though. I dont want to waste money on unreliable tests. I also suspect Nickel toxcitiy because i wore a brace for years and a retainer for 10 years.

Mmmmm

[farmgirl]

Hi Jads:

There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding amalgam fillings. I made this comment on a former post about mercury in fillings but will repeat it.

I was a dental hygienist in my former life. I have had either gold or porcelain fillings for over 30 years, not a hint of amalgam left. I developed Sjogren's 2 years ago. There is a lot of 'scare' stuff re: amalgam fillings but the reality of it is that the mercury in your fillings is inert and can only be released if the filling is ground down and mercury vapors are released. The study that was done to determine how much mercury is released that could pose a risk to humans was done on sheep. We are not sheep. People masticate (chew) by biting up and down, we don't grind. Sheep on the other hand masticate by grinding side to side like a grist mill. Your fillings are old and hard, the fillings placed in the study animals were fresh and soft. Long story short the results of that study when measuring the mercury vapor released as the animals chewed has very little bearing on what really happens when a human chews. It was largely the basis of that study that prompted dentists to sell you on 'new' fillings by scaring you into removing the old amalgams.

There is a lot of mercury vapor released when you take out an amalgam which you are inhaling and swallowing plus absorbing through the mucosa (skin inside your mouth) which is very thin. If you leave them alone you will be subjected to vastly less mercury vapor. There is a protocol to follow when removing amalgams for heath reasons and very few dentists are trained or have the equipment to do it properly and safely. This link should give you some kind of an idea what is involved http://www.mercuryremoval.org/amalga...ecautions.html

For the most part wholesale removal of amalgams is a very dangerous thing to do....F/G

[jads]

Ronnie, glad to see the chelation is helping and good on your for taking things into your own hands.

Heavy metals are rather insidious I think. Effectively, they're all around us - food, water, pollution and so on. Usually, a healthy person has the ability to chelate and dispose of trace amounts of mercury, lead, copper and other metals they take in. But when we get overwhelmed or can't excrete it through the usual detox channels, this is when things get backed up and start causing health problems.

Out of interest, a hair analysis is a good way to determine heavy metal burden as toxic, as well as non toxic, elements are noticeable in hair samples for up to 3 months. It's often used on sports people for drug testing for this very reason ;-)

As a kid, I was pumped full of mercury fillings until my dentist decided to remove them all with know reason given - at great expense to me I might add. Legally, the dental industry is not allowed to comment on the health dangers of mercury fillings but this is absolutely the reason that they're being taken out of peoples mouths: they're toxic.

[RonnieD]

I'm not 100% sold on the mercury explanation, but given the complete inability of doctors, including ~15 eye specialists plus rheumatologists, infectious disease specialists, allergists and GI specialists, to find anything even remotely wrong with me through extensive blood work, I am willing to continue the DMSA route. My urine sample was provoked with DMSA. The reason this is needed is because people with mercury problems cannot chelate mercury and therefore unprovoked samples will not detect material levels of mercury; this is the problem that the DMSA is trying to solve. People with the inability to chelate mercury apparently actually have unprovoked test results showing mercury levels less than in people who can chelate metals, but the results interestingly then flip - to a material degree - when a chelating agent is introduced. This in itself make intuitive sense so I certainly hope the DMSA results in a material improvement.

With respect to the term quack, its history is actually quite interesting. The term was originally applied to doctors who believed mercury did not pose problems, but the label has shifted 180 degrees over the past 150+ years. I ripped the following from another site:

"Mercury was first used in dental amalgams about 1800 in France, and the amalgam was introduced to America in 1833 by the English. The American Society of Dental Surgeons of New York (which later became the American Dental Association) found 11 of its own members guilty of malpractice for use of mercury amalgam and suspended their licenses in 1848.

The word "quack," defined as an ignorant pretender of medical skill, is based on the German quicksilver, "quecksalber". Doctors and dentists, concerned about patients being poisoned, shortened it to quack and used it as a term for colleagues who used mercury as a medicine or in dentistry."

[shanku]

Did you use a non-provoked urine sample for this testing? If not, then following article suggests that using provoked samples could be misleading:

http://www.quackwatch.org/01Quackery...ine_toxic.html

[jenny2008]

im glad it doesnt make u sick..keep us posted please esp if it helps your dry eyes..which i hope it does! good lucK!