Sep 7

Mercury and Fatigue


As you know by now, I’ve done a lot of research on chronic fatigue. However, I don’t remember ever reading a book on chronic fatigue mentioning mercury specifically, and I think this is an important issue that should not be ignored.

 
In case you are not familiar with mercury, it is a chemical element, a highly toxic ones. Unfortunately, it is possible to inadvertently get mercury poisoning: this can happen by directly touching it, inhaling mercury vapors (i.e. from a broken thermometer, or while drilling silver fillings) and – possibly the most likely, in my opinion – exposure to fish contaminated with Mercury.

 
Until recently, I used to eat a lot of Sushi. It’s tasty, it’s healthy, in New York city it’s very affordable – so why not? Last year suddenly my chronic fatigue increased dramatically (after it has been improving because of the B-12 shots I’ve been getting), I started getting headaches, and my blood pressure – which is normally average to low – went way up. I also I became very thirsty – and worst, I started forgetting things (I normally have an exceptionally good memory).

 
I went to see a doctor, who wanted to put me on blood pressure medications, and was quite surprised I get headaches (said that my blood pressure isn’t high enough to warrant that). She couldn’t explain any of the other symptoms. So I decided to go to a specialist: I went to a neurologist and explained the problem (I didn’t think my chronic fatigue specialist is the one to ask, since he routinely examined me and didn’t notice anything unusual). He ran me through an entire series of tests.

 
The results, to me, were very surprising – I was suffering from mercury poisoning. Although he said I should not be getting headaches, the fact of the matter is, I was. So based on that, and the fact my blood pressure went up at the same time, I believe I was suffering from mercury poisoning for at least 3 months before it was officially discovered. He said I have more than 3 times the maximum allowed amount of mercury in my blood, and this is not good at all. The scary thing is: I wasn’t eating that much Sushi! So although it’s possible I was getting it from another source, I don’t believe I did – I mean, I where could I have gotten it from?

 
The scary thing is that mercury testing is a really simple test and yet it is not a routine one, moreover, many people – at least in NYC – often eat Sushi, so it’s possible many are exposed and this affects them to various degrees (here’s an article that suggests this as well). I felt stupid about it, since just a few months before, there were lots of articles warning New Yorkers about eating Sushi (here’s one), and I figured that this was probably resolved by then (clearly I was mistaken).

 
Unsurprisingly, the symptoms, particularly of low-level exposure, include fatigue, loss of memory and increase in blood pressure. What a coincidence!

 

My suggestions for you, if you suffer from chronic fatigue

If you have any reason to suspect you’ve been exposed to mercury, which should not normally be the case (unless you eat a lot of fish – and I think this is a problem particularly in New York, though I may be wrong on that), simply ask your doctor to do a blood test for mercury.

 

Treatment

If you do suffer from mercury poisoning, there are ways of treating it. One way is through chelation therapy, which supposedly absorbs the mercury out of one’s system in a session of treatments. The problem is that – so I’ve been told – if you have silver fillings, there’s a risk it’ll literally cause the mercury component to melt into your system and make things worse (not to mention the dental ramifications!). I don’t know whether that’s true, but I’ve decided not to risk it.

 
Second, there are also detox diets which help the body get rid of mercury (and other heavy metals). Although I personally never tried those, here are two eBooks that explain the process: Detoxification Kit: cleanse your body from heavy metal and Be free from Heavy Metals.

 
Personally, I decided not to risk chelation therapy, and at the time wasn’t aware of any eBooks. One of the symptoms of mercury is extreme thirst since the body tries to get rid of this toxic material. So I decided to assume the body knows what it’s doing. I drank massive amounts of water every day, and went for monthly blood tests. At some point I was even able to calculate the estimated drop of the mercury level in my blood. I don’t know how accurate the tests were, but within 4 months I was back in the threshold of “allowable” mercury level (even if at the maximum level). One thing that bothered (and to an extent, still does), is that a doctor suggested that even this exposure can do some damage. “Officially”, it does not (not at my level of mercury), but you just never know. Anyway, what’s past is past.

 
Once I got to that point, my headaches vanished completely, my blood pressure went down, my extreme thirst disappeared – and my chronic fatigue significantly lessened (roughly to the level it was before).

 
Hopefully you’ll find this inspiring. Mercury is not normally associated with causes of extreme fatigue, but I believe mercury poisoning can very easy lead one to believe he or she suffers from chronic fatigue. Even worse, it seems doctors are generally not too aware of the risk – otherwise why is this not a routine test? The good thing is, if that is your problem, it is relatively easy to cure and detect.

 
As always, please keep me updated!

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Jul 20

cures for fatigue

As I stated in the intro to this website, there seem to be numerous causes for chronic fatigue. Generally speaking, the reasons underlying Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are unclear, and there seems to no one medical solution.

One theory suggests – and many doctors actually do not agree with this – is that there may be a candida (official name Candida Albicans) overgrowth in the body of CFS sufferer that weakens his immune system and saps his energy. This theory suggests that by significantly reducing the amount candida from the body, the immune system can be improved again, and the chronic fatigue be beaten.

The presence of candida yeast in the body and the effect it has are not well understood and are controversial. Many believe that numerous health problems can be traced to an overgrowth of candida though there are others who say it is harmless. Some illnesses that are believed to be associated with candida are Fibromyalgia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Ironically, some people diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome try to eat more sugar based foods for the immediate energy that they provides, but unfortunately this may actually make things worse. Candida albicans loves sugar which actually helps it grow and spread. Similarly, frequent usage of antibiotics can dramatically increase the presence of candida in the body.

It a person exhibits any of the symptoms of Candida (such as thrush, bloating, yeast infections, skin rashes, or frequent respiratory and/or sinus infections) they should consider treatment for the yeast. Personally, I believe that just going on an anti-candida diet may be worthwhile even if these symptoms are not all present.

Reducing candida can be mainly done with anti-candida diets: by ‘starving’ the candida in your body by avoiding certain foods such as sugars, the amount of candida can be dramatically reduced.

Vitamin B12 supplements or injections might also help, as low levels of B12 can lead to anemia, which may result in an overgrowth of candida. In addition, other treatments to lower the amounts of the yeast in the system such as certain anti-fungal medications may be helpful as well.

Personally speaking, when my CFS has first started I’ve done a lot of research about this, and reached the conclusion that I suffer from candida overgrowth because: (a) I’ve taken a great amount of antibiotics (long story) over a period of two years and (b) I literally only eat foods that candida loves. The combination of the two is a recipe for candida overgrowth, and this is actually not medically disputed.

My research showed that for some people anti-candida treatments and diets can be very effective. I believe it all relates to the underlying symptome that really causes the fatigue.

Unfortunately for me, even though a blood test showed my candida levels were slightly elevated, this did not seem to be my cure. Probably my chronic fatigue is related to other causes. However, it doesn’t mean it won’t work for you – and you have nothing to lose.

Here are some eBooks that can help you eliminate Candida. All have money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose really.

One last favor. If you try this and you manage to defeat your CFS this way – can you please let me know? Even though this method hasn’t worked for me, it would really make me happy knowing that it has worked for someone else, and I was the person pointing him or her in that direction!

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