How I Recovered from Mercury Toxicity
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Wondering about mercury toxicity? Here's a story about how one woman recovered from apparent mercury poisoning. Some of the info in this post just might help you.
Horrible Health Problems
I struggled for many years feeling badly, so I was used to being tired. Sadly I was also used to being unable to keep my house clean and never catching up with anything.
But, I wasn't used to the debilitating headaches, insomnia, and generally feeling awful that rendered me unable to function.
I resorted to eating a lot of frozen pizza in an effort to “survive” and my house became even worse as I was having a hard time keeping up with even regular chores much less deep cleaning.
I know it sounds crazy, but it had to get that bad before I realized that something was seriously wrong.
I had grown used to the fact that sometimes I just didn't feel very well. Since doctors had never been able to help, I chalked it all up to stress. I went to quite a few doctors and got quite a few diagnoses and recommendations, and I improved some by addressing PCOS, liver health, infections, and candida.
Some supplements helped to improve my sleep and energy levels, but I knew I wasn't totally well. I still had weird abdominal bloating and fatigue (even though I had been treated for candida and infection), and my sleep and weight still weren't the best. I continued to skip periods and have other signs of hormonal dysfunction. So, I continued to research.
I read many stories of mercury toxicity and many of the mercury toxic people reminded me of myself: adrenal fatigue, hormonal dysfunction, anxiety, insomnia, liver problems, thyroid-type symptoms, candida, and chronic fatigue.
After a lot of research and prayer, I decided to have my mercury tooth fillings replaced with composite fillings.
I chose a dentist who specialized in removing mercury fillings and spent a lot of money to have my fillings removed. I didn't know 100% if this was “the answer,” but I went in the faith that I had done my homework and had peace from God that I felt I needed
Since removing my mercury fillings and detoxing, I improved by leaps and bounds!
For example, I had been eating a healthy nourishing diet and taking good care of myself for a few years, but I hadn't been able to lose the extra weight that I had. After I had my fillings removed, the weight just fell off. I wasn't “puffy” anymore.
My Experience with Recovering from Mercury Toxicity
Mercury does damage to the body in many ways. But there is hope! I recovered from chronic fatigue, polycystic ovarian syndrome, anemia, metabolic syndrome, headaches, and insomnia. Here are the steps I took to recover.
It's important to add that these steps may not be the ones that you need to take. Mercury can be very tricky, and each person's body is different. Yet, I do I feel that the way I chose to handle mercury was a very safe way to detox. I was concerned about damaging my body further so I chose to be thorough in the steps that I took.
First Things First
This is what I did to get my life back from mercury toxicity:
- Find Practitioners
I found practitioners who could address my mineral status and deal with the other medical problems that I had. Before I had my fillings replaced, I had already been treated by an integrated doctor for a gut infection. I had also been on bioidentical progesterone to help balance my hormones and had quite a few vitamin C IVs. Additionally, I was on a targeted vitamin and supplement program. - Choose Mercury-competent Dentist
There are reports of people getting very sick from having a dentist improperly remove a mercury filling, so it's important to carefully choose your dentist. Never let a dentist just “drill out”an old filling.Once those two things were taken care of I started working on helping my body get rid of the stored mercury, and heal from the mercury damage. Here are the 4 different areas that I addressed.
My Recovery from Mercury Toxicity
Mineral Support
This is best addressed way before the removal of the fillings. I had testing done through Metametrix Labs along with some blood testing. My practitioner put me on optimal vitamins and retested periodically so that I would know which vitamins were needed.
Minerals are vital and deficiencies can cause a lot of symptoms. I believe that many of the terrible symptoms from my mercury toxicity were due to the mercury displacing minerals. Most mercury-damaged people seem to do well on high quality B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium (sometimes calcium also), vitamin D, trace minerals, and vitamin E.
Safe Mercury Removal
The day I had my fillings removed, I had an appointment with my integrated physician to have a vitamin C IV within hours of my filling removal. Vitamin C has been shown to alleviate mercury toxicity (source).
I swished activated charcoal around in my mouth when I got home to absorb any particles of mercury left in my mouth. I brushed my teeth with activated charcoal and swished and spit a lot. Then I took an activated charcoal pill and later on took another detox product. I also took liposomal glutathione to improve liver health, because having optimal liver function is important for supporting detox.
I did clay foot baths. I am now juicing and should have done this a long time ago! Juicing is wonderful for detoxing.
Address Candida
If you have issues with mercury, it's extremely likely that you have issues with candida. Some people will not be able to overcome candida problems until they work on ridding themselves of mercury.
Of course a real food diet is important. High quality meat, eggs and vegetables are helpful for detox. I avoided sugars and yeast. Vinegars can also aggravate yeast. I took anti-fungal supplements and rotated them.
Heal the Gut
Some people work on this while working on detox, but I found that I was really able to concentrate on my digestion after I had worked on detox for a long while, perhaps because my mercury symptoms were so much better. Finally, I could pinpoint what foods were bothering me.
I tested positive for Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth (SIBO), so I began a protocol and diet to treat that. Then I started supporting my liver with food and eventually juicing, and cut out food groups that I was intolerant to.
Other helpful therapies for healing the gut include l-glutamine, turmeric, probiotics, licorice, garlic, and of course candida fighting foods and supplements.
I know this list looks long, and it is! For me it was a very long journey back to health but I'm glad I did it!
Not All At Once
I didn't do all these things at once. In fact detoxing often happens in cycles. I would sometimes be actively working on something pertaining to detox. Other times I would just take my regular vitamins and minerals and eat well. I also want to mention that some people will not have to address all these areas. Sometimes, simply having a safe dentist remove the fillings can be the catalyst for healing.
I personally needed to address all these areas, but it has all been worth it.
No longer do I feel sick and exhausted.
I'm at a healthy weight, sleep well, and am able to keep up with my responsibilities.
Most importantly, perhaps, I am able to enjoy life again!
{Please note that neither Kristie nor Adrienne are medical professionals and the above is not medical advice. Please consult your physician prior to making changes to your diet, supplements, or exercise program}
Have you heard about Mercury Toxicity before?
What do you think about this?
Kristie has had the privilege to be a stay at home wife (and then mom) for 18 years. Homeschooling became a passion for her after the blessing of her first daughter arrived. In 2010 Kristie's chronic health problems became serious enough that homeschooling was becoming very hard to keep up. Her prayers and research led her to health and then to blogging! Nowadays you can find Kristie busy in the kitchen making family approved allergy-friendly meals. Unless she's busy researching her next health topic or homeschooling!
Thank you for publishing this. I am in the detox process from Chemical poisoning from paint that has sapped the last 14 months of my life. I have about 7 days of pristine sleep, and after a solid 12 months of abdominal bloating and chaos, I recently had 7 full days of great intestinal comfort. Every 7 days it seems the scales ip and another phase of chaos ensues. Mind you, I have and infra-red sauna in my home, my wife is vegan, and we are very active. I trail run, bike, and climb. I only recently began again as I was down for so long. I had my mercury fillings changed our by my dentist. They did the mouth dam and double vaccummed the mouth while procedure was happening. I only had two, but the large one was resting on the gum for 7 years as it was a side filling. I was always happy and joyful in my life, but i realized it was 7 years ago that it all began to change. Depression tried to creep in, marriage was a massive burden, etc. Once they removed the fillings, I felt great for 3 days and then boom! I bottomed! The insomnia is the tough part for me, and the nerve chaos. However, I am slowly recovering. Running weekly, focusing my sleep times. Reading more at night to rest my mind. Shutting off TV for awhile. STaying positive. Supplementing. Glutathione, Boswellia resin, Juicing, Sauna, chelation foot bath, etc. Loved your article. Encouraged me to keep going.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share. I will let the author know you wrote this. I am recovering from my own issues too – little by little. I have heard that sometimes the glutathione directly isn’t the best – that you want the precursor.
Yes, I checked out the Glutathione on Dr Hymans site. Im taking Liposomal Glutathione. However, just a few days, the nerve buzzing began again. But, I also realized that I began Natural Calm magnesium supplementation not long ago as well. So, Im off everything and slowly adding to determine if this is just a by product of the detoxing, or something causing from ingestion. Time will tell. Its more like a nervous pulse throughout the whole body. Right before I fall asleep, and immediately upon rising, there is a micro pulsing at the nerve level that is odd. Oh well, one day at a time. Blessings…
Hmmmmm….have you seen the nerve oils at Rocky Mountain Oils / Native American Nutritionals? They have some and Cypress is supposed to support circulation. This isn’t medical advice, and please consult w/ your physician prior to adding supplements to your regimen, or before using essential oils. But I think you would find some interesting things there. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/ Take care.
Hi Kristie, I too had amalgam fillings removed and replaced with composite fillings (approx 6 years ago)
..
Prior to this my symptoms were varied: Night terrors (where I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming at the top of my lungs), fatigue and anxiety. At one time Rheumatoid Arthritis was diagnosed and then there was the debilitating giddiness and seizures.
Before I had the fillings removed, many medical tests (including a brain scan) could not find the cause of my problems…It seemed to me that I was going completely mad…
Eventually it was discovered that many of my fillings were leeching mercury and that I was a absorbing the poison on a daily basis.
Fast forward to now and those awful aches and pains and other symptoms have all gone; now and then I will have a relapse and suffer a night terror or some giddiness which I can usually put down to having eaten seafood for a few consecutive days..
Good luck with your recovery and thank you for sharing your journey.
So glad you are doing better!!!
Wow Mauzie! That is an amazing story. Thank you for sharing it. That is wonderful that you were able to overcome so many varied symptoms. I am sure your story will help to encourage others!
hi! I am 39 years old and was abused by a dentist my whole childhood into adolescence. I believe that he would tell my mother I needed fillings just so he could abiuse me.. Long story short, I have a mouth full of mercury fillings. I do not have the money to have them removed but I have felt sick for the better part of 15 years… Idesoerstely would love to find some help with my situation. Is there an organization or a philanthropic organization that can help me???????? Please!!!! I am in such need of these fillings to be removed… I have four precious children that I never feel well enough to enjoy the way I want to… Please can someone help me….
Hi there. I am so so sorry for what you went through and are going through. Let me know what kind of help you are looking for. Perhaps we can direct you somewhere. I know that one of the first people I talked to when I was very sick was a man who was in a wheelchair (I believe) from mercury poisoning and he is now doing quite well. I am personally working w/ a new practitioner on gut healing and heavy metals so I could put you in touch w/ her if you like. Take care and I do understand your pain. It is terrible to feel so sick and not feel you can enjoy life the way you want to.
I am so sorry for your childhood experience with your dentist and the pain you are going through now.; I personally blame the American Dental Association for standing behind this systematic poisoning to our constituency. Mercury has been banned in many countries already in Europe but is still legal here, even if not used a lot.
I will fight to get mercury amalgams banned here in the states. I am hoping that in the end the ADA will have to pay out claims for the damage they have inflicted to all affected.
God bless you.
Have you tried your insurcance company about coverage options? If not good, I would contact the FDA and tell them your story and see what they suggest.
Thank you for this article. I feel like I was reading my problems and thoughts….wow!! I had lead poisoning as a child, and luckily survived after spending weeks in a hospital for treatment. I am wondering if some of my ongoing issues over the years was due to that poisoning. Strange, no doctor has ever tested my blood as an adult for lead. I also encountered mercury as an older child…not knowing what I was playing with until my father saw what I was holding and yelled “Don’t play with that…it’s dangerous!” Wow, I need to get checked for metal poisoning!
It can be tough to get accurate testing for heavy metal problems. I was offered a chelation challenge test-which is a test where I would have taken a drug through iv to “pull” heavy metals out of my system. Then urine must be collected for a while (I think it was part of a day.) I decided not to do that. I have heard of some people having bad effects from that, and I still had the mercury in my mouth so I didn’t want it moving around and causing more health problems. I have heard some good things about hair testing. That might be something to research.
Or if you don’t have any mercury fillings, then you might just want to try some of the safer detox methods. Of course, I am not a medical professional of any kind. These are just my humble opinions.
Hey Kristie, thanks for sharing your experience and advice. I had my mercury amalgams removed in 2004 right before I got married. It took me about a year to truly recover from the exposure I received while they were removed (even though we did everything to protect my body, there is just no way around the fact that there will be some additional exposure that you have to deal with from the removal process). I didn’t know about charcoal at the time, and I wish I had done more to support my body during that year of detox. That said, one year of my life where I feel a little punky is WAY better than being slowly poisoned by my amalgams for the next 40-60 years. SO WORTH IT! This is another one of those dirty little secrets most people are unaware of, thank you for shedding some light on it for us.
Sarah, thank you for sharing your story! It is definitely true that many people are unaware of the damage that mercury can do. I hope that my story will help others who may have the same problems with mercury that I did.
I’ve wondered if taking lots of cilantro would help with the detox
It apparently does.
Actually cilantro should be avoided, it mobilizes the mercury but does not sufficiently remove it from the body, it ends up re-toxifying the body by dumping the mercury into the blood stream. I am working closely with my acupuncturist on detoxing mercury from my body, as is my husband. My husband had some cilantro when he wasn’t supposed to and he woke up the next morning just angry, he couldn’t figure out why he was so angry all day. He ran it by our acupuncturist at his next visit and she asked him if he had cilantro, she knew. I highly recommend avoiding cilantro. Our acupuncturist has had us on Toxi-guard for heavy metal detox, along with Pecta-Sol C for helping to flush it from the body. I went from symptoms of dementia, adrenal fatigue, hypothyroid to mostly healed in 5 months. The weight gain is the only issue I’m struggling with, but we’re working on that as she is doing allergy elimination and vitamin C flushes. My diet is not the problem as I’ve been eating clean for over 5 years and am studying to be a holistic nutritionist.
Good luck,
Angie
How interesting. I’m going to ask my practitioner about it. Thanks!
I don’t think a lot of practitioners know about this. Our acupuncturist knows about it because she’s dealt with it a lot healing patients from mercury toxicity. It was actually a mistake that I made before I went to see her and I actually was very ill, but I also had my fillings removed the unsafe way.
Angie
I just talked to my practitioner. She says it’s a weak metal binder but tends to stir things up so she has no issues w/ my eating cilantro, but she stays away from the supps for this reason- thanks!
I considered taking cilantro, but never have. I have heard that cilantro doesn’t have a strong hold on mercury so sometimes it picks up the mercury but ends up redistributing it instead of ushering it out of the body. This can be dangerous. I don’t have personal experience with cilantro so it may be helpful to some.
Yes this is true, cilantro is terrible to use for mercury detox, I actually just commented on this above from our personal experience 😉
Angie
That’s an amazing journey. I’m glad you were able to figure out what was causing the problems. Thank you for sharing!
I am so thankful for finding things that have helped me! That is one reason I started my website because I realized that many people are suffering unnecessarily. And not just from mercury poisoning but from alot of health issues that are “incurable”.
I am battling to find and make contact with other mercury poisoned people. Mercury poisoning nearly killed me clinics and operations included all while living in a strange and foreign country. You know whats its like, nobody believes you, its a hellish lonely time. Cutlers handbook is my bible but it takes so long. My fillings out 5years ago but sofar chelating only for 2 years. Would like to write my book one day, so that at least my children will know what i went through. I an 66 years old , had fillings for 40 years before finding out. Kath
Oh I am so sorry for all of your problems. I have heard mixed things about Cutler and the IV chelation. You think it’s safe?
Cutler’s protocol allowed me to regain my life. I did have a bad experience with DMSA, but low-dose oral DMPS has been a godsend.
Interesting. What happened w/ DMSA? I am looking at something in the future hopefully.
So happy to hear you were able to recover. Yes, I have heard of mercury poisoning, my husband had it due to fillings. I think the big thing about mercury poisoning is everyone does not have the same symptoms and they are numerous. After becoming very tired my husband went to the doctor and was told he had reoccurring mono and chronic fatigue syndrome. It was while he was watching a talk show that he realized what he was really dealing with. He had his fillings replaced, started detoxing, taking supplements and after almost two years recovered. Personally I just want to say that if you have silver fillings they are mercury and you need to get them removed asap.
I am so glad that your husband was able to figure out what he needed to do! And, I definitely agree that mercury poisoning causes different symptoms in different people. Thank you for sharing your story!
I found this article to be very interesting! Does Mercury have any effect on memory? I feel like I am very forgetful–more than I should be at 50–and am concerned about it. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks! According to this I would think so. https://www.epa.gov/mercury/health-effects-exposures-mercury
Memory loss is one of the maun symptoms of mercury toxicity — check out Dr. Boyd Haley’s YouTube videos about mercury and Alzheimer’s.
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Thanks for publishing this, Adrienne. And thanks for sharing your story, Kristie! I just had two of my five remaining amalgams out last week, and am working on learning as I go, how to manage everything. It is not a simple thing, trying to figure all this out. Your story gives me hope that one day I will feel like myself again!
Hi Eileen! I am so glad my story gave you hope! It can be complex, but healing happened for me and I know it can happen for others!