The role of Mercury in ME/CFS?

[brenda]

I bought a FIR sauna a few years ago - one of the portable ones that leave your head sticking out of the top. I was unable to get a sweat up so I eventually stopped using it. I can't say I noticed much difference but I was going through a huge emotional upset at the time so I think that my body was not ready for healing.

Recently I resurrected it and began slowly. This time I sweated successfully after doing my sun bath, brushing and light exercise (had to stop the excercise). It was pouring out of me this time. However, I began to feel really bad, reverting back to a state of sleeping all day drifting in and out of consciousness and I began to question whether my body was at the stage where it could cope with detoxing at this level. I decided no so I have stopped using it until I am stronger. I think that it is a really good idea to use one for a week or two before one buys and definitely go slowly.

 

[alice1]

I've tried different detox's and the 2 things I noticed were 1)go very slowly2)wait until you feel you can handle it...because you're definitely going to feel a little worse.

 

[susan]

detox and methylation

I have not noticed any difference yet in my mercury detox of 4 mths under the homeopath. Her claims being that viruses only can live in the body in the presence of mercury.

Last week I went to see the most intelligent guy I have ever met in relation to CFS ...an ex..Doctor turned naturopath. He said to me if you want me to plug dykes I am not interested. I am more wanting to find out what is causing your illness of 21 yrs.

His approach is unblocking the methylation cycle. I live in OZ and have to send 3 tests to the US stool and urine to Metametrix in Georgia and hair to Doctors Data Inc in Chicago.....cost $1000. Years are running out for me so i am going the whole hog now.

His theory.....wrong parents......He claims the illness stems from a weakness in our genetic pool through years of toxic pollutions etc.....same reason for rise in Autism....believes we descended from 6 people and have become in bred weakening the gene poolover thousands of years.

The breakdown in the methylation cycle is genetic and he said after the tests he can go around this problem, with certain types of nutrients. I think Jen said if we get the methylation fixed, the mercury will leave our bodies anyway and that is what I believe now and have believed for quite some time.

I see this problem as a break down on a major freeway system with a lorry blocking one lane shortly before our exit with traffic backing back.....toxins and viruses stock piling behind. That is why I could not utilize gluthathione, it was the end of the exit ramp and got blocked.

Can you believe he only charged $50 for an hr?...does phone consultations from anywhere. He had lovely new premises with his wife as receptionist.

We figure that he would not even cover his rent in his lovely rooms. Maybe he is one of the last TRUE healers not out to make a fortune. He is an Englishman bout 60 and just maybe he has made his money prior and now wants to just heal people.

I figure the test will reveal what I am lacking instead of dosing myself up on this and that and wasting more money, so may be cheaper in the long run.

I had a shot of B12 3 wks ago and I thought I had gone to heaven, made my adrenaline too fast so 10 days later I followed 2 times a week 1/2 the dose and it made no difference, I was awake half the night before I realised what was causing it...so maybe I dont need the stuff and the urine test will reveal it....blood tests wont.

 

[Ad*]

Athene, you should read up on the Cutler Protocol for mercury detox, and perhaps ask your doctor about it. It uses low doses of the chelators at frequent intervals to avoid how you are feeling after the challenge test.

The challenge tests can be very hard on the body as they use a single high dose of the chelator which results in some redistrubution of mercury around the body.

Some info here http://onibasu.com/wiki/Cutler_protocol

 

[Sushi]

I'm going to bump this thread up because I am getting some anecdotal evidence myself of the role that mercury has been playing in my illness:

Background: I had 13 amalgam fillings done--mostly in childhood, some in adolescence. About 20 years ago I decided to have them removed as I had read about amalgams having a negative effect on health and these old fillings were beginning to crumble. Dentists didn't know to take precautionary measures when removing amalgam at that time, (nor did I!) so I suspect I got more exposure while they were being removed (though I did notice immediately that I had less joint pain).

In the years after the fillings were removed I tried various chelation methods, including about 20 IV EDTA sessions (that was very tough going!), and numerous attempts at oral chelation. In the last year I have also done a lot of FIR saunas (usually every other day). Still, not much evidence that if I was reducing mercury, it was making a difference.

I started working with another doctor in September and his main focus is detox and killing bugs. After a few months of treatment (including herbal/natural treatment for XMRV) I began excreting mercury. At that time he did a laser/photon detox session for mercury and started me on tiny doses of microsilica. Both these had a very good effect--head clearing, more energy, needing less sleep, better able to tolerate methylation supplements, etc.

On a followup treatment last week, my doc did another laser/photon detox session for mercury and after this one I felt much, like much better...and have continued to feel that way. He is giving me another oral chelator this month (in his experience it is necessary to rotate them in order to keep getting good results). He is giving me twice weekly oral DMSA + high doses of chlorella.

I am seeing that some of my symptoms that have most resisted treatment are clearing up--could it have been the mercury from those 13 amalgams? I am beginning to think it is related. This is early days yet and I know there will be a sometimes bumpy road ahead, but so far so good. Maybe the poor results that many of us have seen from chelation in the past, was due to the wrong techniques of chelation--meaning not the ones that our body was ready to accept.

Yes, a hypothesis, but I am going to keep monitoring this one.

Sushi

 

[Wayne]

Feeling Better with Chelation

On a followup treatment last week, my doc did another laser/photon detox session for mercury and after this one I felt much, like much better...and have continued to feel that way.

Hi Sushi,

So happy to hear you're feeling better and getting some good results from your chelation efforts. (Congratulations!) Thanks for giving us some details on what's working for you.

A quick note (can't post too much these days). I started taking some SAM-e last fall just before leaving on an extended trip. It seemed to be helping, but was hard to gauge while traveling. I just started it again this week (am now home, and am really noticing a difference (feeling better).

I think I remember Richvank mentioning at one time that SAM-e can also help support methylation. I think it's possible this is what's happening and is perhaps lowering my toxic load, including mercury. BTW, I too had many amalgams removed, some of them improperly. In the long run it was good, but I sure was miserable for a few weeks as I went through some pretty acute mercury poisoning.

Wayne

 

[Hysterical Woman]

I bought a FIR sauna a few years ago - one of the portable ones that leave your head sticking out of the top. I was unable to get a sweat up so I eventually stopped using it. I can't say I noticed much difference but I was going through a huge emotional upset at the time so I think that my body was not ready for healing.

Recently I resurrected it and began slowly. This time I sweated successfully after doing my sun bath, brushing and light exercise (had to stop the excercise). It was pouring out of me this time. However, I began to feel really bad, reverting back to a state of sleeping all day drifting in and out of consciousness and I began to question whether my body was at the stage where it could cope with detoxing at this level. I decided no so I have stopped using it until I am stronger. I think that it is a really good idea to use one for a week or two before one buys and definitely go slowly.

Hi Brenda,

Can you give us an update on how you are doing with the FIR sauna? I have considererd investing in one, but such big $$$!

Let us know how you are when you get a chance.

Take care,

Maxine

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Sushi

Hi Sushi,

Thanks for giving us an update. I am interested in whether mercury has had a big impact on my illness too. Played with mercury from a thermometer when I was a kid, worked at a hazardous waste disposal facility when I became ill (altho we didn't take mercury there).

In any case, congrats on getting your health to "move along". Please continue to let us know how you are progressing. When one person gets better there can be information to help all of us.

Take care,

Maxine

 

[Sushi]

Update on progress with oral DMSA

Hi,

I am posting here about my experience with getting mercury out although I just read interesting stuff on the B12 thread (Dreambirdie et al).

I wrote last week that after a super fantastic experience with my 2nd LED for mercury I was going to be following up with twice weekly DMSA (300mg, oral) preceded by about 10 chlorella capsules (I noticed that my doc uses a different type of chlorella -- chlorella pyrenoidosa). Well, the DMSA is working great! A few days after a dose I notice my head starting to get a bit muddy, then I take a dose and bingo! I wake up the next morning to a different world.

But...caveat...he tested me for a whole bunch of chelators and this is the one I tested well with now--in a few weeks I may need to take another one. So this means, sadly, that you need a knowledgeable practitioner to try this route.

Sushi

 

[Sunday]

Sushi, it sounds as if you are off on an exciting adventure with this dr. I'm another person interested in your story, and so glad for you that you've found a good person to work with.

I'd be curious to know: how does he test for the best chelators for you?

 

[brenda]

Hi Maxine

Thanks. I have not got back to the sauna yet - I am planning on testing to see if I am able excrete heavy metals yet and have just done a hair test to see how much mercury is there. My feet have started to sweat so that's a good sign I think. The sauna was 150 - it folds up into a bag.

 

[Sushi]

He tests using direct resonance testing and autonomic response testing--basically very sophisticated kinesiology developed by Dr. Kinghardt (I think he developed it, anyway he teaches it). I have been "muscle tested" by a host of doctors and with many of them, I didn't really trust the results--they weren't that good at it.

With this doc, it is always a very clear response. Guess it is because he is so well trained and has been doing it for so many, many years. So far, everything I have tested well for has worked well :victory:--proof of the pudding! And I have had a lot of bad experience with chelation in the past.

Sushi

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Hi Maxine

Thanks. I have not got back to the sauna yet - I am planning on testing to see if I am able excrete heavy metals yet and have just done a hair test to see how much mercury is there. My feet have started to sweat so that's a good sign I think. The sauna was 150 - it folds up into a bag.

Hi Brenda,

I can't believe I am about to tell someone congratulations on getting their feet to sweat, but there it is.

Please let us know what your hair test shows and any testing you do to see if you are able to excrete heavy metals. I am still dreaming about owning my own FIR sauna. Sigh.

Good Luck!

Maxine

 

[undcvr]

Hi I recently tested myself for mercury at ARUPLabs. The mercury lvls in my blood is 3 ug/l. Is this good bad ? I am already beginning to suspect that it is on the high side but not terribly bad. Am I rite ? Thanks

 

[Athene]

Hi,
I've got the "Amalgam illness" book by Andrew Hall Cutler so I tried to look this up to find out what he thinks.
He says hair and urine tests are more reliable, as blood tests nearly always give a falsely low result - the true level of mercury is only in your blood if you have literally just been poisoned by it. He recommends a range of tests with the results being evaluated against one another.
If I were you I'd contact the lab to ask what they think about this result, then take it from there.

 

[anniekim]

I find this whole area of mercury testing very confusing. I found the following on the Internet by a dr cranton:

'We recommend testing on whole blood, in preference to urine or serum tests. We believe that blood testing is a more accurate way to detect assess heavy metal toxicity of all types. Hair testing for methyl mercury can also be reliable. The upper safe limit for hair mercury is 15 microgram/gm (ppm), based on the latest research in the Seychelles Islands by the University of Rochester. When we occasionally do test urine, we use random unprovoked urine specimens and measure mercury and other elements relative to urine creatinine. That method cancels out errors caused state of hydration and variable fluid intake, which varies the concentration elements in urine. We no longer provoke excretion with a chelator before collecting urine for testing because it causes large and erroneous elevations '

It seems labs set different reference ranges, so if it's low, a person can thin they have a high level of a metal whilst another lab would say it was in the normal range. Eg this doctor cites 15 mcg/g for hair testing for mercury as the upper safe limit. A private lab in London cites 1mcg/ g as the upper safe level, seems a big difference

 

[undcvr]

All these units are driving me crazy, why can't all of them just agree and just standardise already.

How does micro gram convert to u (Greek:Miu) grams, I am guessing they are the same. Either way I guess it is not the Mercury causing my lingering issues then.

 

[Athene]

Hi,
Yes, microgram is the same as greek miu-grams!

I also find this mercury business, and the fact that nobody can agree, so frustrating. It is clear that nobody really knows what is a safe level or not, nobody knows how to test it, it is all theories. I got a super high mercury level done using that provocative urine test (which Ammiekim's quote above says is also unreliable) - the lab said over 80 times the safe maximum.

I've just decided to bury my head in the sand and ignore this mercury stuff. Nobody can agree on how to treat it either. I swallowed an old mercury filling recently and it hasn't made me feel any worse than usual. If anything I am feeling slightly better than before!