The lipid/glycaemic seesaw (teeter totter)

[KatieS]

Java, my dentist claims I do not have any amalgam in my mouth now as the amalgam was removed with new crowns. Isn't this typical to remove the amalgam with a new crown? He is very reluctant to remove crowns for cosmetic purposes such as discolored tooth or exposed gold margins as any crown prep removes more of the good tooth and stresses the tooth root possibly leading to a root canal. Old roots tend to be calcified and crack after a root canal, leading to implants which has been my experience. Just my opinion, as a year younger than you, I would err on the conservative side, possibly a second opinion.

[Jafa]

Hi Katie, Apparently 'regular' dentists don't remove all of the amalgam, just enough for the crown to sit on top. I see on my detailed receipt I paid $181 for ' cavity floor build up above gum line' so would think the 'regular' dentist would drill the amalgam just to that level. My new dentist said it is not usual practice to remove all amalgam under crowns unless requested.

I think total amalgam removal is only necessary if you wish to detox. Frank will probably know more about this. I take your point ( and Franks) about proceeding cautiously. I do wonder if at our age it is worth it. Not sure if there is much evidence of amalgam fillings/ cognitive decline. Perhaps others on the forum have more information regarding this. Maybe we are at least reducing current and future mercury exposure by removing what we can, and having crowns over mercury fillings would still reduce exposure as apparently most is inhaled.

[Sandy57]

Jafa I will post more on the weekend. If you want to do a total mercury detox, you have to be amalgam free. If you do a complete detox with mercury fillings in your mouth, that mercury will released and can be deposited in other places, usually brain and liver tissue. A very complicated process, that I am simplifying. It is like a boat leaking water, if you bail the water out, and it leaks at the same rate, you get nowhere. As you detox mercury it will be pulled from your mouth into the blood system and if your lucky you break even from the detox protocol. But you will not be detoxing the real culprit, which is the mercury hiding in other areas / (organs, tissues) that cause some medical issues. However, mercury is released as vapor from your mouth and some dentists feel that crowns reduce this vapor significantly. A real dilemma. I have mixed feelings about this part and can only defer to your doctors and dentist.

If you want some great reads; research the work from Dr. Chris Shade. There are many theories and protocols, but his makes the most sense to me.
I can give you 5 more in order, but that is a great start.

Yes, you will benefit at 66, and no you will never get rid of all the mercury in your system.... You stated that you have had silver fillings for years. The half - life is too great to overcome completely. That being said, if you get rid of more than half your mercury, you will see some improvements in your health.

And yes you are correct I have not finished the detox because of crowns, but have optimized my pathways to be ready when I have them all replaced. Yes again, expensive as hell and a lot of work. Sandy is ready for the complete detox, but has 1 crown that I will get checked again. Her dentist said she can wait, but I might just tell him to look under the crown. She had 7 fillings removed, and has the 1 crown along with an old root canal (which is another big issue, too long to explain that now, but involves mold detox if you can believe that). I am giving it a month to see how she does.
Ok good luck,
Frank

[Ski]

I just went through about a 5-6 month mercury detox using Andy Cutlers method. Probably not long enough but go tired of waking up every 3 hours to take it:-)

I had all my amalgams removed as well as all my crowns replaced. Almost every one of them had amalgam underneath. I never experienced any side effects from the detox.

[Sandy57]

There are two major camps. Interesting and confusing at the same time. Some Functional med docs recommend Cutler and swear by his protocol, others recommend Shade and say it is clearly a safer method. Just happens to be the biggest problem with detoxing anything that I have found. There are several ways to get the job done, you just have to choose what works best for your body. The 3 hour window is the biggest complaint about Cutler and his protocol is far less conservative.

The gluthionine pathway makes the most sense, but all systems have to be ready to detox, liver, kidney and skin. However if they are, you will acquire better health in the long run because the body is becoming optimized. It is slower and more expensive going the Shade route. For older patients I would recommend Shade.

Mary Ackerly recommends Cutler. I think Bredesen mentioned to me Quicksilver, which is Shade. Good example, I think Bredesen is more concerned with the Glutathione pathway and has you tested for such with GST. However, he refers to Ackerly, who uses a different system for mercury detox. They both work, it comes down to what you can stick with, what reduces Herxheimer reactions, what you can afford and motivation. I can give several examples of docs with opposing views and they are in the same camp as far as doing what they think is best for the patient with detox protocols. A great example of this is Dr. Klinghardt whose was the father of detox. His approach is different than Shade and Cutler and people say his methods clearly work. So who do you trust, believe in, and go with is definitely an individual choice. I only recommend going SLOWLY and being CONSERVATIVE....it's not a race.
Mahalo,
Frank

[circular]

Be careful, go slow, are do not underestimate the complexity of detoxing mercury. Seems very straight forward, it's not...Also it takes a long time and if you have had the fillings for years, than it takes longer. Best Frank

No doubt this is mostly true, but I'll add that I recently, easily lowered my mercury from 7.2 ug/L to 2.6 ug/L. That was using basic serum test and maybe that's not a good measure??? I went from a diet of daily low mercury fish/seafood to eating it about a couple times a week. I think I also increased my cruciferous vegetables significantly during that time. These, I've read, are supposed to support the glutathione pathway along with other inputs. That won't be everyone's solution, but for now I am focused on working every angle other than removing crowns and the one tiny remaining mercury filling that hasn't been touched. I've just added charcoal as part of my CIRS protocol with Dr. Ackerley, so maybe this will help with the mercury detox too, although she didn't mention that.

Is the goal 0 mercury? Are fancy mercury tests required to accurately assess? Dr. Ackerley said no amount of mercury has any place in our bodies, but I doubt there's clinical evidence that zero mercury leads to improved health outcomes over, say, my current 2.6, which is in the low end of the lab's 'normal' range of 0-14.9 ug/L. I wonder if many people, before or after detox, measure zero.

[Jafa]

Hey Frank, Thanks for all that great information. I have plenty of time before I'm ready to detox, so should be very well informed. Well done on your progress Sandy. Hugs and very best wishes for health improvement. Please let us know how it's going Frank, when you have the time.

Thanks also to you Ski and Circular. Great to hear the experience of others. Isn't mercury from fish organic? And amalgam inorganic? Does that make a difference with detox? Dunno.

[circular]

Isn't mercury from fish organic? And amalgam inorganic? Does that make a difference with detox? Dunno.

Dunno either, hmmmmm. I'm thinking mercury in fish would be inorganic (at least some of it) due to pollutants in the water taken up in the algae they eat? Will have to learn more

[Sandy57]

Jafa and Circ I will answer some of your questions Wednesday. But as a quick note. No mercury is the goal. Blood serum alone is not good enough to test Circ. Different types of mercury, which I will explain later hide very well, so they do not express in standard blood tests.

Yes, Jafa you have plenty of time and I have a correction to make. The half life for mercury, if you can get it to bind is not impossible to overcome. Based on you multiple fillings for years, I made an assumption that it would be hard for you to chelate, bind, and expel all your mercury based on age and how long you have had them. Those are strong parameters for sure, but the most important is genetics and how your body deals with metals. The pathways for detox are based on genetics and your current state of health, therefore because I do not have that information I should not have said you may never get rid of all your mercury. It is possible and you getting the amalgams out is a great first step.
Ok more later,

Frank

[circular]

Those are strong parameters for sure, but the most important is genetics and how your body deals with metals. The pathways for detox are based on genetics and your current state of health, therefore because I do not have that information I should not have said you may never get rid of all your mercury. It is possible and you getting the amalgams out is a great first step.
Ok more later, Frank

I'm on an epigenetics kick lately Frank. Are all metal detox genes deterministic? My amateur understanding is that few genes are. I wonder if it's possible the most important variable isn't the genetics per se, but the epigenetics determining whether and how the metal detox genes are activated in a given individual? For example, if I'm not mistaken, cruciferous vegetables help support detox pathways; perhaps they, for one input, also do epigenetic favors to wonky metal detox genes, and thus modify the half-life?