My story began when I was a child, but I did not exhibit strong symptoms until I was thirty-three. As a child, I had recurrent problems with tooth decay. I was told that my body makes an enzyme that eats away the enamel on my teeth and would have dental issues all of my life. At the age of 4 or 5 I got my first amalgam (silver) filling. Year after year and amalgam after amalgam was added to my mouth.

As I became an adult, I had several root canals and more amalgam added, along with precious metal crowns attached with amalgam as a binder. During those years I started showing signs of anemia and learning disabilities. When I reached the age of thirty three, really bad things started happening. I was diagnosed with keratoconus, I had breathing issues, my chest hurt, my digestive system was shot, and I was in constant pain with head aches and neck pain.

I couldn’t handle noise, and I constantly had the feelings like I was scraping my fingernails across a chalkboard. My chiropractic adjustments wouldn’t hold. I became agitated and irritated and my nerves were shot. My whole body ached, and would go numb in various places. I was getting rashes on my legs, and would have indigestion and heartburn constantly. I showed signs of candida and started having anxiety attacks.

My thyroid stopped working, and I was chronically fatigued all of the time, even after napping for several hours. I went to the ER several times and told I was depressed and they wanted to put me on anti-depressants. I knew it was physical and not mental, but I had no idea what was wrong. I eventually came across some information regarding mercury and the symptoms it can cause. I decided right then and there to have my amalgam fillings replaced with composites by a doctor trained in proper removal of amalgam.

That process took two years since I had so many fillings and my body couldn’t handle the trauma very well. I had to take time to heal between each revision. Once I had all of the amalgam removed and had no metal left anywhere in my mouth, I had a toxic elements screening done and found that indeed I was toxic in mercury as well as lead. I am on my second round of chelation with DMSA now, and finding that the symptoms I had that mimicked MS CFS, and fibromyalgia are slowly disappearing.

My next step is to have the root canaled teeth extracted along with the periodontal ligaments. My only reason for waiting to have that done is that there are no good alternatives for missing teeth that aren’t more metal at this time. Mercury is also used in making denture material, so that is not an option either. I am taking one day at a time now, and just trying to make it through the pain knowing that someday my body will be rid of the toxic metals and I should start healing. It’s been a long process and will probably take just as long to heal. I encourage anyone who has amalgam fillings and are dealing with one malady or another should consider researching and talking to your doctor about toxic element testing.