Removing mercury fillings - anyone's health improved?

[jasperc163]

I've posted on here alot in the past as I have a chronic and constant headache (a year now). I have been reading about the mercury issue which i know is contentious, as I have a mouthful of mercury fillings.
Obviously removing them is a big deal and I am already cleaned out from all my other attempts to get some resolution.

So a) has anyone seen resolution of health issues, particularly headaches/migraines after removing their mercury fillings b) is there an easy way to test for mercury toxicity at this level?

thanks

jasper I cant help with the mercury issue, but I just wanted to say I was sorry you have not yet got this resolved and to offer my support, such as it is. Are you with us on the support for thyroid disorders thread?

Hi RockinD, thank you and hope you are doing ok? No not getting anywhere despite trying Armour :-(

Jasper I am not sure if this might be of help, but I know those hair tests (where they cut some hair behind your neck) can test for toxic levels.

www.annclinlabsci.org/content/36/3/248.full

although a brief look at the research seems to think this is unreliable!

although this link seems to think there is some validity

www.arltma.com/Newsletters/MercuryToxNews.htm

This website mentions a urine test you can do .....

www.mercout.com/pages.php?pageid=42

Wishing you luck, and hopefully someone else can give you some information .....

thanks iwantavuvezela,
Will look into it. I have been investigating the cost of having these fillings removed correctly (so they don't make things worse) and it is seriously expensive!!

noone done it for health reasons?

I spoke to my dentist about having two large ones removed and he quoted me £90 for each(or so). Smaller holes would be around the £40 mark. I have heard people talk here of a dental insurance plan? Would something like that work for you.
Wishing you luck , I am having my first filling done next month. Will see how that goes, and then start the slow process of having the others done.

Hi there
Is this with a normal dentist then? I had understood that i needs to be done in a particular way or you end up with more contamination from vapours etc due to breaking up the filling? These specialist dentists seem to charge an absolute fortune - 90 sounds fab.
I have about 10 plus a bridge that i think probably has mercury underneath it!
Best of luck with it.
alice

If your dentist thinks that removing your mercury fillings will fix your problems then he needs his registration looking at. There are more synthetic chemicals in white fillings than in silver ones. It's expensive snake oil and there is science to back that up.

And I'm very sorry that it has got to this stage with your chronic pain. What other dental issues have they looked at? Have you had your jaw joint and muscles assessed?

Had mine removed as my new dentist felt white would look better than mercury. Has made no difference to any of my health problems. Not that I would have expected it to. As MrsMorton said there is evidence to back up the fact that it is expensive snake oil.

What has your GP said about the headache? If nothing have you got a second opinion? Have they referred you on to a consultant?

Thanks Mrs Morton and Rafa. It is just something that I am looking into as the mainstream medical profession are only interested in treating the pain (ineffective to date and a load of side effects!) as noone actually understands headches. As with alot of things there is evidence that points both ways ! Oddly enough the Department of Health issued a warning in 1998 to pregnant women to avoid having dental amalgam fillings during pregnancy to avoid causing possible harm to the foetus. This was probably linked with research in the 1990's in Canada, showing that mercury crossed the placenta and was deposited into the major organs namely kidneys, liver and brains in sheep and chimpanzee.

Yes yes to MrsMorton x10.
At best this will be a placebo effect as you have invested time & money into this 'cure'.
If you want to try something, & I really don't blame you, it sounds like you're having a horrid time, would you consider acupuncture? I believe they're are reliable studies showing a benefit in chronic pain management. The worst case scenario would be no improvement & a few teeny tiny scratch marks.
If you embark on radical dental treatment you need to be prepared to shorten the life span of your teeth, the risk of acute symptoms, a mounting bill & no difference in symptoms.

Mercury can cross the blood brain barrier in children but not so much in adults. Hence doh guidance.

Thanks Isisisis, I have tried acupuncture amongst other things without success. I have no axe to grind re the mercury thing and noone insisting that i should remove my fillings. It is just something that i have been reading about and there is quite alot of anecodotal stuff out there about it significantly improving health. Nothing works for everyone but I have tried most things already :-)

I find it hard to believe that anyone can say for certainty that the fillings cause no harm at all to adults, despite admitting that it is potentially an issue for the foetus or children and classing it as toxic/hazardous before it goes in the mouth/after it comes out. There is enough doubt that it has already been banned in some countries in Europe .

ok still looking into this! I had a blood test done that has shown sensitivity to mercury and nickel.

I am well aware of the official view on this but even the BDA admit that some mercury does pass into the body, so the question is who can define what is an ok amount? Especially if you are sensitive to it.
Anyone else looking into this or had them removed for health reasons (and by removed, i mean by a dentist who takes appropriate precautions)?

Nickel is in absolutely everything OP. I am nickel sensitive and can't eat chocolate, tuna, oranges, corn, whole wheat, kidney beans etc etc. I try my best to avoid these but it's tough and I manage the symptoms (ulcers mainly) accordingly. Some things are worse than others. Have you looked at dietary nickel because there's a heck of a lot of it.

Who did your blood tests btw?

Hi there,
No not looked at the Nickel issue yet - though a cursory glance showed it was all the foods that i eat as a vegetarian!
It was the Melisa test which looks at how your white blood cells react to various metals
www.melisa.org/pdf/MELISA%20Brochure%20(eng).pdf

Whether you address the fillings or not, it might be worth thinking abt nickel. As a veggie you will struggle I'm sure because it's in almost everything that is healthy!!

Thanks MrsMorton - do you know anything about why I wouldnt have an obvious skin allergy to Nickel? I do remember having exczema etc in my 20s / early 30s but none now. According to the test my reaction to Nickel is quite marked so I find the lack of skin reaction odd?
I only had 5 metals tested, and mercury was the only other one that came up with a clear sensitivity.