I have decided to be tested for heavy metals as I have several amalgam fillings and I believe heavy metals could be stopping me from improving further on the antibiotics. I can be tested for 7 metals, so which ones should I be tested for? At the moment I am thinking of testing for the following: Aluminium Cadmium Inorganic mercury Methyl mercury Nickel Silver Tin
Any advice would be great, thanks.
Posts: 263 | From UK | Registered: Mar 2006
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just don
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I am interested in othres responses also. My suggestion is to test for ALL of them IF you can!!opinion of --just don--
-------------------- just don Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001
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SForsgren
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If you get tested through someone like Doctor's Data, they do a heavy metal screen that looks at most of what you have listed here. Though they don't break down the types of Hg, it does contain a number of different metals in the results. It's a very good place to start.
-------------------- Be well, Scott Posts: 4617 | From San Jose, CA | Registered: Jul 2005
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mojo
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My Dr. used Doctor's Data and they checked for all of them. I did the hair test and the 24 hour urine challenge (for Mercury) both before and after replacing my Amalgams and chelating with IV DMPS.
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GiGi
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You may want to read the rest of this before you make your decision, see link below.
Here is just the portion that talks about the better way to determine toxicity. Just be fully aware that a negative Heavy Metals test done by any lab does not mean you are not mercury/heavy metal toxic.
The mercury finds hiding places and dislodging/mobilizing it and taking it out of these places, and out of the body is very tricky. So people can have tests that stay negative while mercury is doing its ugly thing somewhere in the body, most often in the Central Nervous System/Brain.
Diagnosis:
History of Exposure: (Did you ever have any amalgam fillings? How much fish do you eat and what kind? A tick bite? etc)
Symptoms: (How is your short term memory? Do you have areas of numbness, strange sensations,etc) -
Indirect tests: cholesterol (increased while body is dealing with Hg), increased insulin sensitivity, creatinine clearance, serum mineral levels (distorted, while Hg is an unresolved issue), Apolipoprotein E 2/4, urine dip stick test: low specific gravity (reflects inability of kidneys to concentrate urine), persistently low urine ph (metals only go into solution in acidic environments - which supports detoxing), urine porphyrins
Autonomic Response Testing (ART): (Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt M.D., Ph.D.) BioEnergetic Testing (EAV, kinesiology etc.) Response to Therapeutic Trial Functional Acuity Contrast Test (measure of Retinal Blood Flow) Non-specific neurological tests: upper motor neuron signs (clonus, Babinski, hyperreflexia), abnormal nerve conduction studies, EMG etc . non-specific MRI/CT findings: brain atrophy as in AD, demyelination
Several 'challenge tests' are used today. They generally involve measuring the urine metal content, then administering an oral or iv. mobilizing agent and re-measuring the metal content in the urine after a few hours. Most well known is the DMPS challenge test: However, there is agreement amongst most researchers, that the urine Hg content does not reflect total body burden - only the currently mobilizable portion of Hg in the endothelium and kidneys. If nothing comes out, there can still be detrimental but non-responsive amounts of Hg in the CNS, connective tissue and elsewhere.
I have developed a simple approach that works well. I use autonomic response testing (muscle biofeedback) to determine what metal is stored where and what detox agents would be most suitable for this individual. I obtain a hair sample and have it analyzed. It may or may not show any toxic metals. Metals reach the root of the hair via the blood stream. Hair only can show those metals, that have been in the blood in the last 6 weeks. That means, hair only reflects acute toxicity or recently mobilized metals but not the true body burdon. Then we embark on the detox and mobilizing program. In 6 weeks another hair samle is send to the lab and analyzed. If for example manganese is now high, mercury starting to rise (mostly it is methyl Hg, that is reflected in hair), aluminum is at the same value as before, it means, that this program is starting to mobilize Mn ad Hg, but not Al. Through minor adjustments and following the client closely, we observe as the levels in the hair may rise for months or years before returning to low or absent levels. That is the end point. At that time biochemical challenges with Ca EDTA, DMPS or DMSA can be valuabe to see if there are still hidden pockets of metals somewhere in the system that have been ovrlooked with the other methods. In general, the hair-mineral analysis is often overinterpreted. Hair minerals are a reflection of the toxic-metal induced distortion in mineral metabolism.
posted
Back in 1991 I had what I know now is a Lyme flare. I didn't know what was wrong ... I had my amalgams out, chelated, supplemented, went on an anti-candida diet and a rotation diet (to determine food allergies). This put me mostly into remission for 13 years.
I can't encourage you enough to get the fillings out ... by a proper dentist, of course.
I did the six hour urine challenge test and the company that did it checked for all the metals (it may have been Doctor's Data), it didn't make me pick and choose. I would be sure lead is on your list. My daughter and I both tested positive for lead ... she was negative for mercury, I was borderline positive for mercury.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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It's really strange because when I went to a private hopsital to have tests for Lyme, they did a physical exam and said "several amalgam fillings" - the thing is, I can't see ANY... I have got someone else in the family to look and they can't see any either. I know I definitely did have quite a few fillings when I was a child, but maybe they fell out. I do eat a lot of fish, all different types.
I was/am getting tested using the MELISA test, which I have heard very good things about. http://www.melisa.org/
So I might/did have amalgam fillings, I do eat a lot of fish and I do have a history of a tick bite.
On my last set of blood tests my creatinine levels were low, which is interesting.
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