Amalgam Removal Risks and Protocols.

[Pat Robinson]

I have 10 amalgams, I'm very cautious/concerned about the removal benefits, and risks. If I were trying to conceive within 18-24 months, I would NOT have even one mercury filling removed and absolutely not by a regular dentist. There is a big dump of stored mercury into blood circulation about 3-6 months after removal and again around a year, per my understanding.

Basically, the body "chelates" itself (into breastmilk, fetus, etc) during the first few months after mercury removal, and then your organs start to dump their mercury out and your blood levels go back up after mercury amalgam removal. Breastmilk is a natural detox pathway.

The issue is that the most mercury vapor exposure is during placement, and during removal. So, you must detox the vapor exposure by excreting the mercury, or storing the mercury. Plus, the mercury fillings leach mercury vapor every day, every meal, especially with hot liquids and chewing.

The body stores excess mercury, if we are not able to excrete it effectively. Some of us have poorer detox ability than others, this depends upon nutrient deficiencies to a large extent, also depends upon toxin exposure and genetics. So, you may have mercury stores from when the fillings were placed or from your mother's mercury load while pregnant with you. (adrenal, thyroid, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, candida, sacral dimple, tongue-tie, allergies, asthma, and mental health issues seem to be associated with poorer detox ability).

The excess mercury circulates in the body (during and after placement and removal) to be excreted (or stored in the organs, brain and gut). As the (daily) mercury exposure is lessened (after removal), old stored mercury is released into blood circulation for excretion.

Opening detox pathways with whole food nutrients is a priority, first. Otherwise the huge load of mercury exposure is more than the body can process and folks could end up with far worse health. Andy Cutler and IAOMT protocols are resources to research and study before considering amalgam removal. I have several friends who are NOT better for having their amalgams removed.

Cutler says that roughly 3-6 mos after removal, circulating metals go up, along with symptoms. Your body moves mercury around for a year or more after removal, and you don't want to be pregnant during that time. "There is nothing you can do to speed that up." ( Page 52 of Amalgam Illness)
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZG9glNfif5YC&dq=Amalgam+Illnes...


If you have optimized nutrients to excrete toxins well and have balanced microbials in the gut, I believe that the IOAMT mercury amalgam removal protocol could be done safely.

However, 40% of North Americans have impaired detoxification due to the MTHFR gene polymorphism and do not excrete toxins well. Those with effective detoxification systems probably are fine with the small daily exposures of mercury as the body naturally detoxifies all the time. If one has more than four mercury fillings or health issues, mercury removal and safe excretion of the toxins becomes much more complicated.

Wish I didn't have a mouthful of mercury. But, I expect they are going to remain. I'm focused on optimizing my detoxification system to handle the years of toxin exposure and stored toxins. I have friends who don't seem to have impaired detoxification systems remove amalgams and chelate according to the Andy Cutler protocol (around the clock!) for a couple of years and are doing well.

Everyone's situation varies, especially if one wants to try to conceive within 18 months, is pregnant or nursing.

Here are several threads discussing whether to remove or not remove amalgams:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1173362&h...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1211134&h...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=435848&hi...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1112417&h...

The health issues that seem to cluster among people with mercury problems:

allergies
anxiety
intermittent depression
adrenal problems slowly building all through this, may not recognize them
hypothyroidism (this is often reversible)

Other folks might have the more serious problems: fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue, MS. Cutler's book talks about various problems.

Chelating with ANY mercury fillings still present is seriously dangerous. Chelating products include those which mobilize mercury from stored locations into the blood circulation but do not bind it for safe excretion:
chlorella and coriander
DMSA
DMPS
ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid)
whey
protein powder (cysteine),
glutathione
BAL
penicillamine
EDTA

http://onibasu.com/articles/Mercury_Chelation/ALA.html


If one has nutrient deficiencies of the major detoxification nutrients (zinc, magnesium, folate, B6, B12, biotin vit C, molybdenum, selenium, sulfate etc.) then the body just redeposits the mercury into the brain, organs, gut, fetus and breastmilk.

Here is more about Natural Detoxification: http://tuberose.com/Detoxification.html
More about Liver Detoxification: http://tuberose.com/Liver_Detoxification.html
Foods to Optimize Phase I & Phase II Detoxification: http://heal-thyself.ning.com/forum/topics/nutrient-dense-foods?comm...

Therefore, it is probably safer to conceive with the mercury fillings in place, than to conceive within 12-18 months within removal of the amalgams.

If I had known about the risk to my fetus, I would not have conceived with 10 mercury fillings present. Our son has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) behaviors. And I know I shared my mercury issues with him, as my mother did with me! We also have genetic variables (MTHFR gene polymorphism) which impairs detox of mercury though.

40% of the North American population has this MTHFR gene issue which doesn't utilize synthetic folic acid effectively for detoxification. Food folate is key. Food folate is present in beans, greens, legumes and liver.

Start at the beginning of this thread for more information.

Also,
http://curezone.com/faq/q.asp?a=3,76&q=102
http://onibasu.com/wiki/Cutler_protocol (many helpful links)
http://livingnetwork.co.za/chelationnetwork/oral_mercury_chelation/
http://www.noamalgam.com/
http://www.holisticmed.com/dental/amalgam/
http://livingnetwork.co.za/dentalnetwork/mercury-amalgam-removal/
http://www.dentalwellness4u.com/freeservices/amalremov.html

Mercury amalgam fillings should be removed only by dentists with experience using the IOAMT mercury amalgam removal protocol.
http://www.mercuryfreenow.com/freeservices/amalremov.html

http://www.iaomt.org/

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[Sarah Wood]

I just wanted to comment on this thread with a brief synopsis of my experience so far and hope that is gives some encouragement or hope to others.

I had 3 amalgam fillings in my mouth. Now I have two. One of my molars with a filling cracked at the end of my second pregnancy. I couldn't chew on that side of my mouth because pressure caused the tooth to hurt. I lived with that situation for about a year, putting it off as long as possible because I was nursing a baby and a toddler. I finally got the filling taken out and a crown put on my tooth when my sons were 3 years old and 9 mos old because I also couldn't live with the cracked tooth any longer. I did see a holistic dentist who followed IAOMT protocol. I took LOTS of vitamin C right after in order to bind as much mercury as possible and tried not to nurse my youngest for 24 hours, but we only made it about 18. I also gave my LOs Vit C to help their bodies bind any mercury circulating in them. The actual removal of the filling took less than 5 minutes. I was surprised b/c I had built it up in my head so much. Anyways, all of us are doing fine since the filling removal, I haven't noticed any issues for me or my sons. I agonized and lost a lot of sleep over the whole thing in the preceding months while trying to make a decision as what to do. I think the stress during that time was actually more detrimental to me than the actual removal. So I just wanted to put it out there that I think it is possible to have a filling (or fillings) removed with out an adverse outcome. I know however, that there is a lot of individual variation on how our bodies handle this sort of thing. Fortunately, I think my body and my sons' bodies handled it well. I was between a rock and a hard place and I did what I had to do. I was also not willing to wean or postpone future pregnancies for a number of months or years. As for the last two fillings, I probably won't have a break in nursing or pregnancy for years to come, so I don't think I'll do anything with them unless there is an urgent issue (which is also a little risky, I know b/c the timing could be worse). And then if I am done nursing and having kids, I probably won't care about them being in my mouth so much anyways! (As my greatest concern in all this has always been for my children and future children.)

To Lisa S - I think the fact that the filling fell out and you swallowed it is actually a blessing! You probably got less mercury exposure simply swallowing it than you would have had having it removed b/c the type of mercury in fillings is best absorbed by the body in vapor form when it is inhaled (like when they drill it out of your tooth!) It is poorly absorbed when ingested.

FWIW, even though the holistic dentist I saw does not participate with any insurance, I still filed the claim with my insurance and they paid for about half. Crowns are wicked expensive and I'm sure that can be a concern just as much as the health issues, but at least it was partially covered. The IAOMT removal/disposal part of it was a couple hundred dollars, IIRC.

[Pat Robinson]

I haven't tried zeolite. It is a very expensive, MLM (multi-level marketing) product sold with a lot of health claims. Andy Cutler recommends against zeolite. Andy does not believe that zeolite chelates.

From what I understand, it is probably safe (other than the aluminum), even with mercury fillings in. I'm not clear on how it 'captures' and binds mercury. But, it is a natural product mined from the earth, processed in an artificial manner to remove naturally occurring heavy metals and toxins. There are synthetic versions also, which are 'purer', theoretically.

My concern, assuming it works, is that it binds other + ions, such Na+, Ca+, Mg+, K+. Removing these from our blood, doesn't sound like a beneficial idea, even temporarily. Taking the zeolite separately from food and supplements is recommended. However, we ALWAYS need Na, Ca, Mg and K circulating in our body!

Also, it isn't being consumed in its natural form, so that weights me to skip it.

My efforts have been to rebalance my body with whole foods, which have been consumed and processed in natural forms by our ancestors, for eons. I understand the heavy toxin loads and nutrient deficiencies of our SAD. I just trust Mother Nature, more than Science. jmmv

An old post with more zeolite links and info.

An older Zeolite thread.

More about removing amalgams while nursing, ttc.

Apparently, there is a big dump of old stored mercury about 3-6 months after removal. And again after about a year, per my understanding. Therefore, it is probably safer to conceive with the mercury fillings in place, than to conceive within 12-18 months after removal, especially if you have any detox or nutrient issues. Also, we excrete our current toxin exposures and old toxin exposures into fetus and breastmilk. And store excess circulating mercury in our brain, organs, gut and fetus.

Andy Cutler says, "Wait 18 months after the last filling is out, or certainly at least 12 but 18 is a lot safer.

See figure 15 on page 52 of Amalgam Illness. Your body moves mercury around for a year or more after it can do this, and you don't want to be pregnant during that time. There is nothing you can do to speed that up."

Regarding detoxing current mercury fillings, my goal has been to optimize my detox pathways so that there is less 'excess' toxins being stored.

As a nursing mom, I'm not sure if eliminating old stores of toxins is timely. With a bunch of mercury fillings, eliminating candida pushes one over to dumping toxins to baby. Of course, we could help baby detox with optimized nutrients. Some people have healthier detoxification ability than others. It is a balancing game, based upon toxin loads and priorities and symptom management (toxin loads are not necessarily evident). Only you are the best judge of what feels right for your body. Listen to it, not me.

After IOAMT mercury removal protocols, there are chelating protocals which are unable to be followed while ttc, pregnant or nursing, nor while other amalgam is still present in the mouth. Chelating helps to remove the mercury by binding and escorting it out of the body, so that it doesn't just circulate and redeposit in the body and "chelate" into breatmilk.

Pat

[Pat Robinson]

I haven't finished reading, but this study linked on the site has a sample size of 33 males.

I'd love to see the actual published research study. Could you email me a copy or link to the PubMed full text report, please (as opposed to the "Dove Press Journal" (whatever publication that represents) article summary).

I'm curious about the number of people in the study who had amalgams in their mouth and/or were trying to conceive, pregnant or nursing. (this is the topic of the post above, perhaps you overlooked that?) As I'm sure you are in agreement, safety considerations when mobilizing mercury for this at-risk population segment requires more than a single 33 person study to claim safety in its prescribing protocols.

Similarly, a 33 person study is rather difficult to extrapolate to a country of 300 million (Americans) with varying health concerns; nonetheless, this is an international site. I'm not real convinced of anything when only 33 people have been the sample size.

We can only measure what the patient can eliminate, not the actual total body burden, it is important to measure what is eliminated
in both the urine and the faeces in order to have a more representative picture as different chelating agents prefer different elimination pathways. If only urine or only faeces are used, then it is easy to miss the chelating effects of a new compound being tested. In these series of trials, both urine and faeces were not used for testing. Nor are their measurements of *mobilized and circulating* mercury which must redeposit into the brain, organs, gut and fetus once mobilized!

Did the sampled men have amalgams, obviously they were not pregnant or nursing. Oh, actually only 11 men were in each of the two groups tested and the one control group of n=11 men. (see "Methods" on page 12.) Group 1 only had *urine* tested post dosing on three dates. Group 2 were only tested on seven dates, and only through day 30.

The study states, "the purpose of this study was not to quantify urinary excretion of heavy metals". So, I don't see how any claims of "excretion of heavy metals" could be claimed in the sales ads?

Were measurements of mercury measured in breastmilk? Were the nutrient deficiencies or genetic predisposition to impaired detoxification evaluated, such as with the MTHFR gene polymorphism considered, evaluated or measured?

Btw, who funded the study?

I'm very detailed at examining the quality and relevance of a referenced study, before claiming any "outcomes", especially as they relate to the safety of children, infants, pregnant and nursing mothers.

Pat

[Pat Robinson]

http://www.liquidzeolite.org/research/liquidzeolite.html

[Pat Robinson]

http://www.dovepress.com/clinical-evidence-supporting-the-use-of-an...

I am unable to locate this study in the professionally published medical literature on PubMed, ncbi or Medline.

From the same linked study:
"Acknowledgments
The authors report the following potential conflicts of interest. James L Flowers is a consultant to the company that manufactures activated clinoptilolite. Erik J Deitcsh is employed by the company that manufactures Natural Cellular Defense®. Stewart A Lonky has no conflicting interests. This work was supported by a corporate grant from Wellness Industries, LLC."

Based upon the inadequate sample size or safety measurements in this "research", I would advise AGAINST this product for anyone, at this time.

Pat

[Lisa S]

Wow. Thanks for all the input and even the debate. That is what we need for our health: informed choices. I am so glad for this site.

[Pat Robinson]

Sharon, you did not address the safety concerns of mobilizing mercury, especially for pregnant and nursing women. There is no research indicating this is a safe product for women.

Pat

[Karin Kish]

If I had amalgam fillings removed in late December and early January would you suggest I stop nursing my newly-turned 2 year old!
. She only nurses from 1 side, 2x/day, and there is very little milk its primarily for comfort. I had no knowledge of these risks-- we were thinking I'd get pregnant again in the coming months and am feeling a little shell-shocked! Thoughts/suggestions greatly appreciated!!

[Karin Kish]

I forgot to mention I still have two amalgams left. Thanks in advance-

[Pat Robinson]

Well, according to Andy Cutler at 3-6 months and again at about a year after removal, the body does another purge/dump of mercury from body stores into blood circulation. That is why the round the clock chelation is recommended for the duration, per my understanding. Can't chelate with mercury still in your mouth though. And Cutler advices no pregnancy for 12-18 months post removal. The first 48 hours after removal were the most mercury exposure, as I understand it.

Magnesium, zinc and selenium are the most benefit for supporting detoxification. Vit C, clay and salt water flushes can help detox mercury. But, breastmilk is a detox pathway.  Plenty of mamas have decent detox systems and have nursed through mercury exposure. And the child is getting optimal nutrition from nursing. You can't change the past.

Pat