Suddenly I am seeing lots of women who want to conceive or are pregnant already. I am also seeing scary numbers of women with high mercury levels. When I was getting pregnent, the brilliant advice of the CDC was "limit how much fish you eat to once per week or less." I don't find that satisfying.
If you have metal fillings in your mouth or you eat seafood regularly, there's a good chance you might be mercury toxic. I was and didn't know it. You see - I have a great love for sashimi. I ate it once/week for about a year when my office was near a glorious sushi restaurant, and since I have no metal fillings, I wasn't too concerned. Then I tested and found I was toxic.
Symptoms? Fun things such as:
emotional rage
depression
mood swings
irritability
anxiety
brain fog
dementia
Alzheimer's disease
senior moments
memory loss
heart irregularity
shortness of breath
blood pressure problems
dizziness
numbness tremors
vision/hearing problems
MS or ALS
recurring infections autoimmune conditions
chronic fatigue
allergies/asthma
gum problems
low thyroid function
cold extremitities
unexplained weight gain
low libido (for men - poor erections)
infertility
birth defects
headaches
insomnia
lack of energy
metallic taste
As my thinking about pre-conception counseling evolves, I am integrating the importance of assessment and detoxification from heavy metals such as mercury and toxins such as xenoestrogens, chemicals in the environment that act like estrogen in your body.
I tried a lot of different mercury detox programs over the past two years since I was first diagnosed and have a few favorites. More on that later....
I am teaming up with two other extraordinary physicians to try to raise awareness among women especially of reproductive age -- Drs. Marsha Nunley, MD and Bruce Dooley, MD. We are planning some educational programming in San Francisco for the fall. Stay tuned!
