Wednesday 9 May 2012

The morning after:  2 amalgams replaced yesterday. Jaw still a bit sore. Puffy cheek back to normal. Mercury symptoms:  slight insomnia (trouble getting to sleep despite tiredness), a nightmare (my father back from the dead!), muscles twitching a little on one leg (had an Epsom bath - 2 cups in a tub then rinsed off, after procedure to reduce this), joint pain at elbows and wrists, slight sinusitis, sore muscles all over, fatigue, one hallucination of a table moving. R&R today; a nice cloudy, rainy day for that.

The left side of my mouth is now free of mercury. Which means I can chew on that side mostly, to lessen releases of mercury from stimulating the still 6 remaining fillings on the right side. My dentist says that will not do any harm to my 'bite', to chew on one side only.

I have some catching up to do here. Have been taking a breather from mercury studies for a while, was getting too stressed out about it, plus some other life stressors, needed a vacation from worries. Mental and physical tension is one of mercury's effects (e.g., grinding teeth, biting nails, snappy temper, impatience), I am learning the trick is to be aware of it and balance it with pleasurable and relaxing measures.

What's been happening:

Ontario Poison Centre toxicologist offered no assistance at all to deal with chronic mercury toxicity, because my blood and urine levels of mercury are not high as happens in acute poisoning. With chronic low level exposures as from amalgams and the tainted Bi Yan Pian I used for eight years, the mercury is in the tissues, not circulating in blood where it can be measured. It is slowly released through stools and urine mainly. People poisoned from eating a lot of fish can have blood levels of 500-1000 measurement units, mine is only 9, "normal" is 3 or 4.

The physician in town who does recognize Chronic Mercury Toxicity wants $300 for an assessment and will not talk to me before then. Their office claims to be able to treat people sensitive to chelators (I have reacted badly to several - chlorella, NAC, ALA, EDTA) then do chelation after that. I do not feel comfortable with allopathic chelators at this point, my system is too toxic and sensitive, there are dangers to those procedures because they are potent and pull out other metals besides mercury; the body needs those metals to survive. It's a delicate balancing act to provide replacement necessary metals, such as zinc, copper, selenium, while extracting the mercury.

I need to know more about it before trying anything so strong as DMPS, (Dimercaptopropanesulfonic acid (pronounced dye-mer-cap-toe-pro-pain-sull-fon-ic acid) - chelating agent,  that binds to metal) which allopaths claim is the only way to get Hg out of  brain tissues. One of my sisters did the DMPS challenge recently and tolerated it alright. It means getting an intravenous dose which pulls Hg out of tissues; urine is measured for Hg before and after, tells how much mercury is in tissues. After you follow a detox program lasting months or years, you do that again to see how well it worked, how much less Hg is left in tissues).

I have decided for now to go a gentler route. Saw a Clinical Herbalist, she assessed me and prescribed, after testing my pulse reaction to them, astragalus and schizandra berries, to begin with. Started with a small amount of each, gradually increasing for a couple of weeks, now on a reduced maintenance dose for a month, half an inch of astragulus bark and a teaspoon and a half schizandra. The astragalus is boiled in a litre of water for 5 minutes, then berries added and all steeped for four hours or overnight, drunk thru the day before 7 p.m. (after which time organs need to rest, no heavy meals after then either. I used to eat late at night, this change is improving my diabetic blood sugars). It is not to detox mercury specifically but to strengthen organ function so the liver, kidney etc all can do better what they normally do, clean out toxins. Altho I have a university degree in health sciences, there is never an end to understanding our marvellous bodies and how we interact with the world. I am learning a lot from "alternative" health systems like ayurveda, yoga, herbology, qi gong, energy medicine.

Dr. Tom McGuire, of the International Association of Oral Medicine and Toxicology - mercury-free dentists, which my dentist belongs to,  supports the view that chelation should wait until after amalgams are out of the mouth, to avoid pulling mercury out of fillings and into circulation. Once fillings are replaced with safer materials, then a mercury detox is done. There are myriad approaches and conflicting opinions as to how best to go about that, this is what I must research between now and the end of the year when my amalgams are gone (whoopee!). Until then I do only homeopathic detox and supportive measures.

I just took the last of 4 powders prepared by my Hielkunst homeopathist (one before dental procedure, one after, one later that day, one the morning after). Then I take a daily "heavy metals detox" remedy and a "drainage" (to help lymph drain toxins) remedy daily for a couple of weeks, until I feel a "shift". These homeopathic shifts are impressive. This year I went from rarely feeling happy to now happy mood on a daily basis, thanks to homeopathy. I feel very blessed. Unable to support myself, on disability pension for many years, my family pays for health care not covered by provincial plan, which is most of what I do:

homeopathy (Hielkunst), reflexology, Psych K, Body Talk, yoga, Sat Nam Rasayan healing meditation, Spring Forest Qi Gong, Ayurvedic nutrition, supplements (vitamins B, C, D; omega 3 and Evening Primrose Oil, sulphur (MSM), coQ10, trace minerals, Calcium (citrate) -Magnesium 1:1 , "Bio XII" homeopathic biosalts).

It all adds up to thousands of dollars per year. Thank-you to my family angels!

My musical friends support me psychologically. It is so fun when we get together to sing and play guitar and piano, lifts my spirits and gives me something positive to look forward to every week. Thank-you music angels!

More re mercury symptoms:  hallucinations (stationery things look like they are moving) have occurred a couple of time in the last month; severe muscle spasms in my back, sometimes legs, chronic muscle weakness and fatigue, gets worse when exposed to phenols (scents); chronic sinusitis - much better now that I am off the Bi Yan Pian, no longer living in "sinus hell" like I was for years. Thank God.

Despite weakness, am strong enough to do my garden work this year, which I was not 2 years ago. Put a load of compost on my 10 x 20' community plot and turned it in, plus added a layer of topsoil. Did it over 3 trips, now just a little corner left to do. Planting weekend here in Eastern Ontario is the last weekend in May. Can't wait! Will grow lots of organic greens this year. Kale, chard, bok choy, spinach . . . yum.

Essential for detox is good nutrition, heaps of fresh fruits and vegetables, minimise white flour, sugar, processed foods. The bowel eliminates mercury so must flow smoothly - lots of water, fibre, gentle exercise (too much mobilises mercury), a ten minute walk is good and all I need to lower blood sugars, too.  I am a junk food junkie so have been slowly reducing these things by focusing on  F(fresh) U(unprocessed) N(nutritious) foods.  The unconscious mind, apparently, does not process negatives so "don't eat cake" translates to "EAT CAKE!" Instead, I simply say:  eat more greens! and don't obsess about the other stuff, but practice "messing with the habit" as I learned when quitting smoking - break the associations (e.g., always having a sandwich at lunch vs. now soup and salad more often),  eating consciously. Fun. Terry Wahls cured herself of MS with nine cups a day of greens, mixed veg's, fruit, quality lean protein. So I use a big bowl and fill it up. It's actually hard to do on a daily basis, I just keep 'hitting the reset button'.

So, for today, how to Rest and Rejuvenate:  touch base with family and friends; lie in bed listening to favourite music; watch a favourite movie; draw; go for a walk; eat favourite nutritious foods like fruit salad, greens stir-fry. Meditate and pray, do Qi Gong and yoga, pranayam - breathing exercises. Rest my mind by letting go of worries about any thing, give my trust to the Spirit of the Universe to provide abundantly all that I need to survive and thrive, just for today. Gratitude.