Marilyn in Seattle: I know people through cyberspace that have made great gains in recovering from mercury poisoning. One person was in a very bad way, in a wheelchair and unable to do anything for herself. Like me she had a diagnosis of Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. She went the allopathic route until they just about killed her. Now she is driving again, doing her own grocery-shopping things that people take for granted but which are miracles to her. She did the Gerson therapy as a means to detox.
Another lady, Martha, was in a wheelchair. She can run for short distances now and is working 3 jobs and singing in a church choir. Mick is also on his way to full recovery. These are my cyber-friends, all wonderful people.
In real life, Maria is the wife of one of the men my husband works with. She was bedridden for 3 years, sporadically blind and in real bad shape. She got her amalgams removed and worked with a naturopathic doctor (ND). She used natural means to detox, mostly chlorella and garlic and supplements. She went back to school, got her degree in music therapy and is now teaching full time. She cannot run but is walking without a cane.
Edgar Cayce said that the nervous system can heal but it is the slowest system to do so and can take 4-7 years. This fits with what is these people’ s experience. I think some of us tend to store mercury more in the central-nervous-system (CNS). If you store it more in liver, intestines, heart tissue, etc, maybe the recovery can be faster because these organs are quicker to recover. I don’ t know. My guess is that MSM gets into all tissue and would be a great help in getting it out of the heart, kidneys, etc.
I truly believe that mercury and other toxic metals affect different people in different ways. My ND is working with a woman who has amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gerig’ s disease) and was given 6 months to live. When she first started going to the clinic, she had to be carried in. She has incredible levels of aluminum in her. So she’ s on this intensive detox program and she can walk again. Another patient with Parkinson’ s got his fillings out has done a few detox treatments and his tremors are gone. My toxicity manifested as multiple sclerosis, someone else could manifest with chronic fatigue syndrome.
It has been knowing others that have had great success and seeing their healing process that keeps me on-course and very optimistic. Unfortunately, to get well, you need to earn an IHMD (In Home Medical Degree). Even with my ND’ s help, I am still having to track and record and read and learn.
Mercury and Hormones
Andy Cutler: Mercury poisoning can also affect hormone levels. It is well known that people who have reduced levels of thyroid and adrenal hormones due to pituitary failure are quite susceptible to yeast infection, but that this is fixed if they are given the hormones. In fact, hydrocortisone— the adrenal hormone— must be present in the proper amounts to fight off things like yeast. Either too much or too little makes the immune system not respond properly. Mercury toxic people are often a little low on both thyroid hormone and hydrocortisone. People who are thin, have well developed but weak muscles, and eat large meals with a lot of protein are low on hydrocortisone, but it is common for doctors not to diagnose this condition until they are so low they are just about to die. If these people take 5 mg of hydrocortisone 2-4 times per day they will feel a lot better and also have less yeast problems. People like this really ought to check if they have mercury poisoning. My book, Amalgam Illness, tells how to do this. (See information on cortisol supplements in the Adrenal chapter.)
Marilyn in Seattle: This quote is from Quig’ s article on cysteine metabolism in the Alternative Medicine Review journal, which can be found at http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/tox3- 4.html [3]
“Hg [mercury] may also interfere with progesterone metabolism without affecting serum levels of progesterone. In vitro studies indicate Hg [mercury] binds to a free sulfhydryl group on the progesterone receptor and may thereby diminish progesterone binding and cellular response.”
I have often thought there must be a link between mercury and progesterone. I wonder… My progesterone has been *8%$#!!# forever, yet my serum levels of progesterone were always normal, but right, let me try living without my natural progesterone cream and I go through HELL. Huggins talks about thyroid levels showing up as normal in the mercury toxic and how the thyroid hormone is inactivated and does not convert from T4 to T3, but I don’ t recall him going into progesterone. And now I have to wonder if mercury poisoning is why Armour Thyroid had no effect on me— I have no selenium in my system… Quig says,
“Hg [mercury] is known to irreversibly bind to and “waste” selenium,… Therefore, Hg may inhibit the conversion of prohormone T4 to T3 by interfering with selenium availability.”[3]
Polly: You might need more T3 than is found in Armour to make up for the conversion problem. Besides mercury, there is lead, cadmium and arsenic that also bind to sulfhydryl groups. Therefore, they might also cause a problem with progesterone.
Marilyn in Seattle: It’ s frustrating, because I know my thyroid is out of whack and I stayed on the Armour quite some time, and it had no effect. I think I am still missing something and it could very well be the selenium— which I am still having trouble tolerating. I can take like 50mcgs a day of selenium, but I have trouble with more than that.
So I am looking at screwed up progesterone, B12, histidine and all of these are essential for myelin health. (Myelin is the coating on the nerves that is damaged in multiple sclerosis.) It is becoming more and more clear to me the way in which mercury creates some “MS“ — Mercury Syndrome.
Polly: B12 is a problem with many people with multiple sclerosis. You may be right about the mercury toxicity being a reason for the B12 problem in your case. Mercury lowers your sulfate levels, and indirectly you need enough sulfates to absorb the B12. (Sulfates activate the CCKA receptor, which regulates intrinsic factor, a substance in the digestive system, which allows the body to absorb B12. [4])
Later: Marilyn in Seattle: It took me two years to find a doc that would run a BUNCH of tests to try and see what was going on with the larger picture. My doctor tested ‘free T4 and free T3’ because we had already verified mercury toxicity. T4 is converted to active T3 in the liver and my liver is a mess. So she found what she expected — very low T3. I am now on Liothyronine (T3) and it does help. According to Raymond Peat, you cannot handle DHEA properly without adequate thyroid hormones. This turned out to be very true in my case. With the T3 thyroid, I can handle the DHEA, which gives me energy and makes me feel alive.
Polly: Mark Konlee’ s new book, Immune Restroation Handbook, has some very important information on selenium. He finds that people tolerate organic sources of selenium much better than the inorganic. He has spoken with people who have had rather amazing results using the organic selenium products. 1000 mcg of organic selenium per day has helped some adults get rid of hepatitis C and candidiasis. The reduction in hepatitis C viral load was very apparent in a month or two. (Since too much selenium can be detrimental, perhaps get your blood levels monitored if you are going to stay on this much selenium for more than a month or two.)
Examples of organic sources of selenium are sea vegetables, Brazil nuts and fish. There are some supplements available too. Solaray makes a product called Bio-active selenium, which is made by growing mustard greens using high selenium water. Also, there is SelenoMax by Source Naturals which is made with yeast. Jarrow makes SeleNext by sprouting broccoli in selenium rich water.
He suggests that you avoid products that claim to be amino acid chelates of selenium. (Eg. L-selenomethionine or selenium aspartate.) Many of these products appear not to be true chelates, but only complexes. People don’ t seem to be tolerating these synthetic products nor getting any benefits from them.
Marilyn in Seattle: I get ‘pings’ in my head when taking too much selenium. And too much creates this horrible vertigo. I know two other MS folk that react to selenium like this. But I don’t react to Seagreens, so maybe organic selenium would be okay. Thanks for the info!!