Here we have the lovely Dr Shade talking about how he got into working all his stuff out about mercury toxicity and detoxification. He talks about how he, being a biochemist, knew that it was fine to do a DMSA challenge test even though he had a mouthful of amalgams. After all, his amalgams weren’t corroded, so couldn’t possibly break down.
And then he discovered how wrong he was. He began the DMSA and peed very little mercury out – all good, he thought. So he upped the dose. And everything was very far from good. He even got lost driving to the airport, a trip he’d done many times before. Elsewhere he talks about how he then measured the mercury, not in his urine, but in his spit and the mercury levels were astronomical. He found out later that his amalgams were corroded on the inside, not the top.
The constant leak of mercury from his amalgams was coating his guts and blowing out his natural detox system.
It is not safe to undergo a DMSA challenge mercury detox with a mouth full of amalgams. It will pull out the mercury in the teeth and if any are corroded, the mercury will go straight into the system. However, it is possible to boost the body’s natural detoxification systems, reversing some of the damage and preventing further damage. But even with the gentler methods, a full blown mercury detox is still not advisable until the amalgams have been removed.
Finally, a brief word about intestinal binders to remove mercury. One of the classics is modified citrus pectin; according to Dr Shade, this is good at damping inflammation, but has no special affinity for heavy metals. Clays, like betonite clay, charcoal, zeolite and chlorella are also broad spectrum cleansers. The binders with the best affinity for metals are the thiol resins.
Mercury toxicity mimics almost all diseases. Other signs of mercury toxicity are low body temperature and an inability to raise body levels of zinc and magnesium because mercury blocks the receptors to these elements in the cells. To safely undergo a full mercury detox, we need to have had our amalgams removed by a dentist who specialises in this plus supporting the detoxification ability of our guts, liver and kidneys. Merely undertaking some bonkers wheatgrass, smoothie detox for a week is really asking for trouble. But the good news is that if we detox mercury by boosting the body’s natural detoxification systems, we will also remove many other toxins from the body and end up bouncing about like toddlers. Persistant bags under your eyes? Start to look towards a good detox with excellent liver support.
Hello, I ran across your web sight because I’m looking for ways to detox after all my mercury fillings are removed. I have to wait because of insurance. But what can I do in the mean time? I do have 1 unsealed one leaking and I have health problems from it. Can’t wait to hear from you . Thanks Kimberly
Hi, Kimberly. Are you sure your insurance will cover the detox? Also see if you can find a natural dentist to remove the amalgams – the dentist will be best able to reduce the impact of removing amalgams. They are expensive, mind.
In the meanwhilst, breathe well: make sure your diaphragm is going down when you breathe IN. This squeezes your liver and helps its function. Take the highest possible quality of supplementation, including a pokey vitamin C – Berocca just doesn’t cut it.
As the blog went into, detoxification is dependant upon how good the liver is at clearing toxins.
Hi, I had my amalgam fillings removed last summer (by nhs dentist , privately) and soon after had pain in my kidneys and joint pain to hips, shoulders & neck, My doctor thinks i have polymyalgia rheumatica and has put me on low dose steroids. I’m awaiting results of CT scan on kidneys. I have recently read amalgam filling removal can cause mercury poisoning and wondered if a detox would help, I’ve researched mercury detoxing but there are so many methods its very confusing. What do you think is my best way forward, best regards, Gary
Oh dear. Hope you are drinking plenty of water. A very high quality, buffered Vitamin C will also help. And yes, it is confusing. But I would definitely get hold of Dr Shade and his company, Quicksilver, since he had such a bad experience with detoxing, that he has learnt how to detox well. Detoxing is not to be undertaken lightly. Only too often what happens is this: detoxification happens in 2 stages; the toxins are broken down or changed and can become more toxic at that stage, then the second stage enables the toxins to be excreted from the body. Often the second stage can’t keep up with the first stage and so things get worse, not better: an analogy: a bunch of criminals to be sent to jail are held in a poorly guarded cell, they chat to each other and learn how to become even better criminals: the bus taking them to prison arrives but is much too small to take them all; so a few go to jail and the others escape……..
Hi Clare, I have mercury toxicity and was thinking about taking the IMD intestinal cleanse and also the Liposomal Glutathione. Are these safe to take and are there any issues I need to worry about while taking these supplements? Thanks.
The IMD intestinal cleanse a very good thing to do. I am not familiar with Liposmal Glutathione, so all I can say is source it carefully and cheap is very rarely better. Eat a balanced diet – including animal/fish protein and plenty of vegetables to help your liver have the ingredients it needs for both stages of detoxification, as well as take the supplements recommended by Dr Shade. Good luck.
Wheatgrass I take wheatgrass I can’t afford to take the fillings out I also drink burdock root tea
BULLETPROOF UPGRADED COCONUT CHARCOAL
‘Bulletproof upgraded coconut charcoal uses a finer grade of charcoal than is normally available and is completely washed to remove heavy metal contamination common in charcoal
Benefits include:
Supports detoxification
Supports reduction of intestinal gas
Directions
Take 1 to 4 capsules with 8 oz. water on an empty stomach for general detoxification, or when consuming food of unknown quality. Take intermittently, not every single day’.
Does the above mean that the ‘bullet proof coconut charcoal’ can be used successfully to remove mercury?
To be honest, Terence, I have no idea. I’m not sure that charcoal will bind to heavy metals, and certainly something like this cannot remove heavy metals from the tissues and bodyfat, where they get stored. What they are saying is that the charcoal itself has no heavy metals in it from the production and they claim it supports detoxification, but that is just a general detoxification. As Quicksilver point out, to safely detoxify anything, it is a matter of finding out if the liver is able to. Usually stage 2 of detoxification is the problem, not the first stage. Hope this helps a bit. Good to hear from you.
Charcoal does indeed bind to many toxins and heavy metals, including mercury. But it does have an effect on micro minerals and gut flora, so twice a week charcoal is sufficient, while taking probiotics daily.
Removing heavy metals is not as easy as it seems as detox/adrenal support may differ for each individual (with different weaknesses/deficiencies), there fore a natural health professional’s help is always advised while detoxing. I can answer general questions that will benefit everyone, but i also treat heavy metal toxicity as one of my specialties if anyone needs private support.
I completely agree that detoxing is not a matter of picking a detox diet off the internet. It is just so much more complex. And just eating a load of charcoal will indeed drag good stuff out along with the bad. The two hot topics of research are neurology – the brain – and the gut; and they are intimately related. My message is please don’t just try some faddy detox, but do some serious research and testing before you leap.
Hi I have large mercury fillings since I was a child. I am a thin small boned female 118 lbs 5’3. I have has has stomach bloating and digestive issues my entire life. Could this be from the mercury. I ambaftaid to have them removed and do not want to do this. Is is safe to detox with these filings still in my mouth? Thank you
Hi Jane, Mercury fillings: 2 things to bear in mind: they only really become a problem when they start to break down – and that’s when the mercury gets released into the system. Of course, removing them causes a huge flood of released mercury; when I had mine removed, the dentist put a rubber dam over the rest of my teeth and mouth, leaving only the problem tooth exposed and reducing my exposure to mercury a bit. The other problem lies in how well your liver detoxifies heavy metals. Impossibel to tell this without investigations – and they will be expensive.
Bloating and digestive disorders are symptoms of something, but it’s quite a task to work out what. Of course, heavy metals can’t be ruled out, but neither can many other things. Have you ever had a full on stool test? And, have you ever had a head trauma, including birth issues (forceps delivery, breach birth, caesarian etc), or were you a very ‘good’ when a little girl – ie didn’t charge about like a gnat on speed as most other small children do?
Hi Clare, I am looking into detoxing and found your article here. I have a question on your above reply. You say head trauma can mess up your digestive system? I have had dislocated jaw joints and bad sleep for quite a long time like 15 or more years. So that could mess up my digestive tract. I had a jaw joint replacement surgery a little over 4 years ago but still have some trouble with digestive tract and sleep. The bad sleep alone can mess up my digestive tract correct? I am trying to figure out why my sleep is still bad. About 3-4 months ago, I started taking this greens powder with spirulina and chlorella which detoxes on a daily basis. My jaw joints are titanium with some aluminum and chromium. So could this greens powder be pulling out these metals in the jaw joints? I guess need to find a metallurgist to find this out.
Hi Corinne.
Oh dear! The muscles that move the jaw are innervated by the biggest cranial nerve, the trigeminal nerve, aka Cranial nerve V. All this has upset this nerve. As far as a brain is concerned, eating is of prime importance and mess with its trigeminal nerve and underlying stress levels can only rise! High stress = crappy digestion and sleep.
Much can be done to calm the jaw down and so reduce these underlying stress levels. Do you live near any z health practitioner?? To my despair, only we know how to go about this – and the work is not complicated!!
If you do not live near a z health practitioner, maybe you know of an excellent massage therapist? One that is not a thug? Sports massage is the last thing needed here. Jaws are precious things and need the most delicate handling.
You are right in that only testing will tell if your jaw is leaching those metals. But none of them are dire. I’d take the spirulina and chorella if you find them helpful, otherwise I’d just eat a wide variety of vegetables for the vitamins and fibre.
I truly suspect the insomnia is stress and gut related, with the jaw trauma playing a huge part. Hopefully the Z health practitioner will also know how to go about calming down trauma too – again simple to do, it just needs persistence. I’ve done it….(yes, I had years and years of insomnia and a broken neck and jaw, and I’ve taken the spirulina etc etc etc, cut various foods out of my diet etc etc etc done heavy metal detox et etc etc so I speak from long experience)
Good luck
Hi Clare,
I have 4 amalgam fillings on my teeth, 1 of it is cracked a bit but there’s no safe place to get them removed in Vietnam hence I’m still waiting until get could go overseas to get it done. I have some cysts in my breast, will it because of the toxicity? In the meantime, I start to do enema coffee to detox liver and drink green juice. What should I do? Thanks
Hi Kelly, Can you find a dentist that will put a rubber dam over your mouth whilst they remove the cracked filling? This will lessen the load of mercury, although not eliminate it completely. I’d take plenty of good quality Vitamin C to help,along with as high a quality liver detox supplement as I can get. Another thing I’d investigate is a good Chinese doctor if you can find one. A Chinese doctor will help your liver cope.
I think you will have to get the filling removed if it is cracked otherwise you may develop an abscess and get into a terrible muddle! Here in UK, though, it isn’t so easy to find dentist that is doing this kind of thing during these terrible times of Covid, so good luck!
I really don’t know if the cysts in your breast are related.
Green juice is good to drink. Coffee enemas can be good, but don’t overdo them since you don’t want to damage your intestines.
Good luck.
Hi Clare,
Thanks for your response. I will try to find a good dentist who could take the cracked filling out asap. I have also been consulted that nano zeolite is safe to use for detoxification, could you give me advice on this? Thanks
I am interested in knowing about the safety of zeolite spray with amalgam fillings as well.
I’m sorry, but I really don’t know the answer to this.
There’s a Biological debtist in Huddersfield at COTE ROYD clinic. His name is Dr Seb.
He removes amalgam safely.
It would be very expensive ( probably 10.000$ or more) for me to be taking out the mercury underneath my 2 bridges. So until I can is it just enough to take kyolic garlic and corella? I also take between 2000 and 4000 mg of Vit.C besides other supplements. Could some arthritis looking Joints( both 1st knuckles on both 1st fingers) come from mercury? Thanks.So far Im not taking those 2 supplements regularly except what might be in my supplements. Thanks
It would indeed be very expensive to remove the mercury! And, as long as the fillings are not breaking down, is it really necessary? You will get a huge hit of mercury when they do come out. Hopefully your dentist knows this and will take good precautions to help you (and he/she!).
The problem with detoxification is it is a 2 stage dance, so you can take chlorella to help, but you do have to ensure that your liver is up to the 2nd stage of the detox process. To this end, I’d take the best liver detox supplement I can get my hands on – I do recommend the Poliquin product, but there will be others. And this is almost more important than taking supplements aimed at mercury removal.
However, garlic is extremely good for you on many fronts (although I believe some Indian medicines dispute this), so I’d deffo take that and eat it, provided you can tolerate it.
A very high quality Vit C is also deffo worth taking daily.
As for it causing arthritis, I don’t know. There are many causes of osteo arthritis (I presume this is what you have). Do all you can to keep the fingers fully mobile and strong = squeeze things hard and use elastic bands to strengthen the extensors. And eat healthily = lot’s of variety of everything and cook it yourself.
Probably not as much help as you’d like, but there are no simple or easy answers. I wish there were..
Hi Clare,
How do we know if our mercury amalgams are breaking down or leeching?
Thank you
Hi Semra,
If they are breaking down you’ll know because the nerve will tell you! Otherwise the dentist will tell at your next check up. As for leeching, that’s slightly harder to detect. If your liver is keeping up, then that is OK – yes, it’s an extra stress on the poor organ, but some livers cope well with detoxifying heavy metals. The problems come when they don’t. And you will be getting toxicity symptoms. The great conundrum is what would be causing the toxicity symptoms, since it could be many things! The best advice is eat as well as possible, eat organic as much as possible, and support your liver, especially the second stage of detoxification. When amalgams need replacing, don’t be bullied into replacement amalgams! Some dentists are still archaic..
Hi Clare
I am just getting my amalgams removed I had quite few of them. When I went for consultation dentist told me I have to wait till all amalgams are removed to start detox with chlorela. But it is different dentist who is removing them now and she said I should start taking it already. It’s a bit confusing and I have lots of them so the process is longer. I still have 2 times to go to get them all removed. The one she removed and changed for white fillings are a bit painful and I am not sure if it’s because of different fillings. I haven’t started to take chlorela yet . Do you think I should wait till all of amalgams are gone? and should I use something else for detox till then?
Thank you
Hi Andrea,
If you’ve started having them removed, then I certainly would get on with taking Chlorella. I’d also take the Poliquin product, Liver Detox. You can get it from me, contact me for more details. But I live in UK, and I don’t know where you are based.
I don’t know why the new fillings are a bit painful – except that they may be pressing on the nerve in the tooth. If they don’t settle down pretty fast, you’d better go back to the dentist.
I also seriously recommend getting to see a first rate massage therapist and have them calm down your jaw and neck. Prolonged dental treatment puts a terrific strain on them. If you don’t have a regular massage therapist, then you’ll have to investigate those in your locality. You do not want a heavy handed massage therapist around any part of your body, especially the fragile and extremely important head/neck/jaw. And no head thrusts either!
So what can be taken, while the amalgams are still present, to detox your system.
Thanks!!
It’s a good question. Eating garlic is a good idea. You can also try glycine, N acetyl cysteine and alpha lipoic acid. These will all support the liver and help it detox the metals floating about in the system, without drawing more out!
I have several mercury fillings. No insurance, not financially able to remove. Before my insurance was gone I had my teeth cleaned.
Dentist wanted to crown(w/out root canals) a few of these amalgam filled teeth. I decided against it. Is it really a good idea to cover up these teeth? Although I think he possibly would’ve been taking the fillings out then drilling the tooth down before crowning it. Either way, whether filling removed or not, is it good idea to then cover that?
Also, I have heard that white oak bark, take capsule, open & make WOB powder into paste with few drops water & place on any tooth that is painful, infected, abcessed, it’s supposed to help & heal. Have you heard of this? Do you know would this WOB help with detoxing too? Sometimes when chewing, especially hard foods I get twinges of pain in filled molars.
Ask the dentist if he will be removing the amalgam filling before fitting a crown. I’m reasonably sure he’ll have to since the crown will fit around the stump of the tooth -and with most of the tooth drilled away, a remaining filling will be unstable. The root does not have to be removed for a tooth to be crowned, and, indeed, if possible it is best to keep the root. But your dentist is best to answer these questions.
I suppose the million dollar question is your ability to detoxify mercury.
Pain is not good. Do you ever wake up with tooth pain? One cause of these twinges could be teeth grinding (bruxism) at night. Impossible to tell since you are asleep! Again, ask your dentist if he/she thinks this is possible. If bruxism is the cause, crowning will make no difference.
All this said, if I could afford it, I would have a tooth crowned provided I got rid of the amalgam filling. I would take heavy doses of the best class of Vit C I could – Poliquin Ubermag and the Poliquin Liver Detox to help with the detoxification process.
I don’t know about White Oak Bark, so can offer no opinion. Sorry.
I do not wake with tooth pain. But am pretty sure I grind. In years past, after dental visit my Insurance was checked to see if they would pay for a mouthguard. They would not. Never got one.
What do you consider a heavy dose of Vit C?
As of now, due to finances, no teeth work will be happening.
Thank you for your help though.
A heavy dose of Vit C would depend upon which Vit C you take. Excess Vit C is peed away. However, too much Vit C can cause inadvertent rushing to the loo.
I’m not convinced that mercury toxicity would cause tooth pain when chewing hard. Sound more like deep fillings hitting the nerve – and possibly an overtight jaw. Were you a client, I’d work on your trigeminal nerve – the nerve that innervates the teeth. However you could try mindful eating. So easily written! Terrifically good for you, but can be challenging to do in these days of fast food. If you go for a regular massage with a good massage therapist, you could ask if they work on the jaw muscles. But do not have them do this if they are heavy handed.
Good luck.
Hello-
Ive often wondered if gargling with selenium would help neutralize some of the mercury in the mouth?
I don’t know. Selenium is not known for its ability to detoxify heavy metals. The main problem with mercury fillings is when they break down, and, indeed, when they are removed. The only way of finding out if gargling with selenium helps is testing for mercury before and after. Not an easy thing to do in UK.
My amalgam fillings are about 35 years old and I’m told still in good shape and because of their age they are no longer a danger. Is there any information to support this statement of older fillings no longer being a danger?
Hi William, I suppose there are two answers: if the amalgams are stable, then leave them alone. Taking them out always leads to mercury toxicity, so only remove them if you think you need to. Which leads to the second answer – do you suspect you have heavy metal toxicity and your old amalgams are playing a part in this?
The reason dentists liked amalgams was that they were very hard wearing and therefore long lasting. I suspect your old amalgams are proof of this!
I have about 5 plus big amalgam fillings in my mouth , it will cost about 10k to have them all removed. If my credit gets approved to have it done, should I have them all removed at once or would it be safer to only have one or two done at a time? I have one that has a crack on it and the others are breaking down , I need to have them removed but it’s very expensive , like about 1800 a tooth. I’ve heard about things that bind to the mercury in the mouth. Is there anything that I can’t take while the amalgam is till in my mouth. I bought some wheatgrass juice powder the other day but not sure if it will bind to the amalgam in my mouth. Is there anything else that’s natural to eat that would be unsafe for someone with amalgam fillings in the mouth? Thank you in advance. I’ve read that you’ve said garlic and vitamin C are safe with amalgam fillings to bind to heavy metals in the body. I would like for as much of this amalgam to leave the body from the gut as possible.
Hi Preston, sorry about the slow reply! I’d play safe and avoid things like wheatgrass. I would take a good quality vitamin C and I’d nosh away at the garlic, provided it agrees with me. Garlic and onions don’t suit everybody. Should you go for broke and have them all done at once? That depends upon the skill and knowledge of the dentist as well as your finances = ouch at the cost! If you have them all done, that will give your liver one heck of a work out to clear the mercury. I would go onto Dr Shades website and stock up before! It is probably safer to have them done one or two at a time, starting with the worst – certainly the cracked one.
Have you used the dentist before? Do you trust him/her? Another reason to have them done in 1s and 2s. Make sure the first session is good. If you look elsewhere on the comments you’ll see someone had a filling incompletely removed..
If you do trust the dentist and they understand why you are doing this, talk to them and ask them what they do to lower the mercury exposure to yourself during the treatment.
Hi Clare I had one amalgam(only one iv had) removed incorrectly after rushing into it because it was cheaper and quick( didn’t do enough research before hand) I’m now feeling terrible a month and 2 weeks on. Depression anxiety and now my back is starting to became agony. I can see a silver stain on the composite which then put in its place and i think there will be stains under the composite if i can see one just next to. My brain fog is also starting to become noticeable. I started taking liposomal glutathione straight after getting it removed and it made my symptoms worse so i stopped taking it after a month however iv ordered dr shade bitters no 9 as i only discovered recently that you have to take that for stage one before the glutathione stage 2. my question is do you recommend i take the bitters even though i have a silver stain left and possibly more stains under neath the tooth? i’m booked in to a holistic dentist but they can’t see me till next year. Thanks
Oh Nathan. A good question. Do the bitters help you feel any better? It’s a matter of helping your liver detoxify whilst you wait to see the holistic dentist, so if the bitters are helping, keep taking them. If worse or no different, then hang onto them until you have that filling sorted out. A decent quality vitamin C will help – and is safe. Hopefully the remaining amalgam is stable. Do you have a good Chinese acupuncturist near you? That will help a lot whilst you wait, and is the safest of all. But I’d use one someone recommends to you – and I do mean a chinese acupuncturist, not a massage therapist who uses needles to help muscles relax. Chinese acupunturists basically work on your guts – they stick pins in your tummy, legs, feet, ears, you name it…and it is seriously weird. But a good one will really help.