Every so often, waves of dread came over me; impending doom, far beyond reason.

Strangely Out of My Mind

Mercury fillings is, metaphorically speaking, brain fog. The stroke is a part of it with paralyzing palpitations, funky metallic taste and nagging fear. 

Every so often, waves of dread came over me; impending doom, far beyond reason. And just like that, it's gone. I'm lucid, normal, able to function; then it's back with a vengeance. Strangely out of my mind. Brain fog. I was 21 and alarmed. It's 1999, nearly 30 years ago, I had a stroke in 1999. I was 52 with Afib, thundering and pounding in my chest, rank metallic taste and, well, Doom City. Not good.

Conservatively, the fillings in my teeth were 40 to 50 percent. That's a lot of mercury for a teenager. The silver amalgams are actually half mercury, 50%.  Silver fillings contain a mix of zinc, copper and tin. My mom didn't know; I didn't know.

My ex-ex-ex-husband Frank, he related, every spring and fall, he was disoriented, befogged and he "wasn't here", an aura of confusion, a sense of place, time and identity. Brain fog. He dreaded spring and fall.

It's 1976, and I called the psychiatrist with an appointment. I worked in Volkswagen Personnel at the time.  Frank is fearful doctors and described the aura.  The doctor furiously wrote about the symptoms and prescribed a sedative.  But he has no clue, as did Frank and I. The psychiatrist scrawled an arcane "depressant", but Frank worried about... um... erectile dysfunction and he threw it out.

I divorced Frank in 1979 and the brain fog is a moot point. Coincidentally, the dentist filled the teeth with mercury fillings, sometime ago, in the 1960's, after the shrink. Could it be mercury fillings? I never heard of mercury fillings.

Frank threw a lot of things, specifically, heart medication.  At 42, a shiny helicopter transported Frank to Pittsburgh hospital tout suite. He had a heart attack. He tossed the medication again.  At 57 in 1999, clutching his heart and eating a submarine sandwich and a Miller Lite, he succumbed. Two days later, bloated and swollen, Jeffrey (my son) found him.  Frank called 911, but never made it. 

Brain fog is insidious, it wears you down. Before the stroke in '99, I couldn't, reluctantly, drive a car; what if my palpitations start?  Something's going to happen, but what?  The breathing, sweaty hands and overwhelming calamity?

In 2004, I had caregiver, Carla, for accessAbilities in Greensburg, PA.  Carla's Dad had leukemia for two years. No family history to speak of and dad was failing and, of course, died. She and I perused the internet for leukemia, toxic waste, polluted arsenic, mercury and onerous bad stuff.  Mercury?

I know mercury.  The light bulb moment is mercury. Of course. The stroke flipped the switch;  flooding back to 60 Minutes, heart-stopping palpitations and cataclysmic destruction. I knew. My heart is racing in a good way.  It's the mercury.  I'm grateful to Carla and Dad.  Perhaps it's written.

The dentist pulled the teeth in 2005. I still can't talk. Pull? Dentures? One-word answers. A crazy lady with a stroke. The dentist understood.

The stench in my mouth was unbearable. One by one, the dental forceps extracted the teeth. Forty years is a long time. Cell by cell, organ by organ, took it's toll. The long, slow, process is over and I was overjoyed.  Dentist placed the dentures in my mouth.

In 2012, for 20 years, give or take, I have no palpitations. (Side note: Lopressor reduces the heart rate. I get that. In 2000, I came home to Bear Rocks; still the palpitations are heart-stopping, volatile and vehement, pounding on my chest. I took the Lopressor religiously. It's not the medication and it's not the heart rate, although Lopressor is a nifty drug. I know my body.) It's a wonderful feeling; no brain fog. The fog lifted.

Everybody's looking for a quick-fix.  Let the body heal itself.

Little silver fillings of mercury, amalgam fillings. I didn't know. Nobody knew. Well, the dentists, apparently.

Mercury Fillings and the Stroke

The ambulance pulled up from the hospital, the swinging doors opened on the ER and the physician reviewed the chart.  The time is 1:31 AM, Dec. 20, 1999. I'm in the hospital and I was in "observation".  Diagnosis:  syncopal episode.  (Read: I don't know.)

I was on a monitor bed with catheter, IV's and a shockingly low blood pressure at 63/28.  I was hypotensive, dehydrated, lethargic and weak. The diarrhea and violent vomiting stopped. The right arm and leg were dead. I couldn't speak at all.

Two hours later, approximately 3 AM to 5 AM, I had "nebulous" stroke. The doctor said that the may have resulted from a relative dehydration and hypotension during this intestinal illness, "possibly" contributing to the stroke. 

Shuffling through the paper for medical records, nearly ten years ago, I noticed something. Shigella syndrome. I never heard of it. Shigella is a myriad of symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, lethargic, dehydration, hypotension, and the list goes on.  Shigella can lead to vital organs, such as the brain. Stroke comes to mind. Shigella is negative. 

Meningitis effects the headache, neck stiffness, fever, confusion, altered consciousness and vomiting, although the physician ruled it out.

Addison's disease, among others, hyperpigmention of the nails and diabetes insipidus (excessive thirst) were possible, although the nails were fine and I am not parched, per  the hospital.

The doctors saved my life. I'm exceedingly grateful.

Mercury poisoning symptoms include:  depression, anxiety, foul breath, metallic taste, vomiting, diarrhea, vision impairment, irregular heart beat and pulse, changes in blood pressure, persistent cough, swollen lymph nodes in neck, excessive perspiration and host of signs; symptoms that I had.

Okay, let's review:  In the ER, diarrhea, (bright red blood, yet...hemorrhoids) violent vomiting, bradycardic, blood pressure 68/23, dehydrated, lethargic, and weak as kitten.  The hospital revealed salt-wasting (urine) and evidence of adenopathy of the neck. The carotid duplex revealed that the proximal left internal carotid artery is 80-99%. A new central nervous system "event" since admission, ischemia stroke would be possible. And palpitations so heart-stopping, so volatile, with 220 beats per minute. I am mute.

I'm absolutely convinced about mercury fillings and the stroke... however, I have no proof. 

The evidence mounts, though... funky metallic taste, paralyzing fear all the time, constantly; excessive sweating, and palpitations, so heart-stopping, for 20 years. About 5 years ago, the doctor prescribed a mercury urine heavy metal screen for the lab. The urine is negative, however, I waited a month for the urine. I urinated in the medium, but the reagent evaporated. Hence, the "negative".  I never had a toxic screen for a blood test.

I'm not a physician, or a dentist, or a science guy. That said, here's my events about the stroke and mercury fillings. I obtained medical records for the hospital. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration in December 14-15, 2010, discussed mercury fillings in pregnant women, young children and alternative methods for tooth decay.

I have the stroke gene. My Mom's brood was plethora for cerebral vascular accidents and my Dad and his uncles died of old age. You pick. In the emergency room in 1999, I had a massive, blown, left middle cerebral artery, with an acute infarct. The infarct is the loss of adequate blood supply, and absolutely no headache.

I have soft teeth as a teenager, always going to the dentist. Filling after filling, tooth after tooth, the drill cleaned out the cavities and silver fillings intruded insidiously.  

Conservatively, the fillings in my teeth were 40 to 50 percent. That's a lot of mercury.  I called in 2009 for my dental records in 1960, a long time ago, but the old records were gone. Seven years is the maximum.  Fifty years is a long time.

The mercury was there, lurking. I didn't know it at the time. I had a baby at 21 years old. There's no family history for eczema. The mercury passes to the fetus and the placenta;  the mercury triggered it. 

My son Jeff had golf-ball eyes crusted with ooze, profound itching and scaly skin with strips of baby feet peeled away with dermis. Not pretty. He was two. The itching was so bad, he wore mittens I gave him to ease the pain. Kenalog cream helped, but it was a corticosteroid. He had a gamete of allergies, from trees, grasses, dust mites and milk. 

Jeff is 46 now; he has a daughter, 16. 

My granddaughter Jordan is a reed thin sweetie, with angular features and long lines.  She eats like a truck driver, craves sugar and she loves fruit.  She inherited eczema;  wisps of eczema from elbows and knees, ever so faint, in the springtime.

  

He graduated from Penn State University at State College and he works for McDonald's Corporation. Every spring and fall the eczema appears.  Every so often the obsessive-compulsive disorder rears it's ugly head. The actions repetitive, ritualistic and compulsive. Jeff never had eczema and OCD.  Ever.  

I was a transcriber for medical records 40 years ago.The kidneys worked overtime, sometimes I urinated in intervals of ten minutes or more. To the typewriter to the bathroom, I couldn't stop peeing.  And excessive sweating with no rhyme or reason; I was soaked to the skin.  Secret, Sure, Ban; nothing works. The aluminum zirconium were no match. I resorted to Mitchum's and under-arm pads. I had profuse sweating.  

A foul-smelling odor permeated my teeth and my mouth, a metallic taste in my teeth.  Doublemint gum, Tic-Tac and Altoids were in my purse constantly.  

And palpitations, so distressing, so dire and heartsick, for 20 years. I thought I was going to die.  

The doctors prescribed Tenormin.  It's a beta-blocker, prevents heart attack and reduces the heart rate.  But the palpitations continued with a vengeance.

Twelve years down the road, at 52, I saw physicians and cardiologists and Holter monitors, EKG's, whole-body ablution and new-age therapy. Scoping the internet, I saw magnesium tablets for heart palpitations. I tried everything.

The dentist pulled the teeth in 2005. The stench in my mouth was unbearable. One by one, the dental forceps extracted the teeth. Forty years is a long time. Cell by cell, organ by organ, took it's toll. The long, slow, process is over and I was overjoyed. The  dentist placed the dentures in my mouth. A crazy lady with a stroke. 

The metallic taste was gone instantly and the dentures were healing.  No pain to speak of. The palpitations have subsided and no panic attacks. I'm speaking again. Before the stroke, I had at least once-a-week palpitations; pounding, heart-stopping, life-or-death palpitations.  It's a wonderful feeling. It's gone. It's the Lopressor? You be the judge; I defer to the doctor.  I don't know.

Today, 25 mg. in the morning and 25 mg. in the evening (metaprolol tartrate) (Lopressor) and one aspirin, per the doctor. It's a miniscule amount. I have "benign blood pressure".  I take Chlorella, a micro-algae supplement (chlorophyl) for (mercury) toxins, D-3 (the sun) CoQ10 (antioxidant) 100mg and B12.  I eat bunches of cilantro and garlic. Cilantro helps detox heavy metals. Mercury stays with you for a long, long time. It's infinite.

I'm 68. I walk with cane. My right leg and arm is, essentially, dead and use Walk Aide for my right knee. The peroneal nerves lift the foot electrically.

The physicians and dentists need to talk to each other.

Now.

Mickie Yezek Roller

www.walkaide.com

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/21/the-dr-oz-show-my-latest-jaw-dropping-interview.aspx

WalkAide has Bluetooth technology; every step I take, via the computer, it knows.

The Benefits of WalkAide

The muscles atrophied on my right leg, specifically, my knee joint.  Sometimes it buckles. I had a hinged support brace for the knee. It works well, coupled with the cane or four-pronged walker, but, sometimes it hurts, especially the lower back. 

Fifteen years ago, I fitted for a leg brace during 2000; HealthSouth in Monroeville, PA is a top-notch facility. I'm 52, confined to a wheel chair. Gimme a break.  Make me vertical!   Oh, one more thing...I can't talk, either. God's little irony. 

The leg brace is a medieval torture chamber with bells and whistles and snaps and buckles, nevertheless, I persevered. I'm walking again. Three physical therapists supported me; the wheel chair just in case, the four-pronged walker for my left hand, just in case, and the leg brace for balance. Three steps.  It's progress. Woo hoo!

I moved to a nursing home, Harmon House in Mt. Pleasant, in March 2000. Every day, I went to physical therapy, still in a wheel chair. The leg brace is long-gone, thank God. The routine was walking on a knee brace and a four-pronged walker, probably, ten to 20 feet. Turn around, and walk back. Instant exhaustion. The wheel chair looks good to me. I was a runner before the stroke. God's little mirthful irony.

Long story short, eight years ago, I lived in the mountains in Bear Rocks. I love to walk. Flipping the pages of my Stroke Connection, WalkAide appeared. The peroneal foot lifts electronically. It's a cattle-prod, essentially. It's a simple machine, three buttons.

I called WalkAide, I pieced together sentencing fragments. WalkAide knows about aphasia and the stroke. Do tell. I have an appointment for Hanger Prosthetics in Greensburg in 2008. The physical therapist electrically stimulates the appropriate nerve (peroneal nerve) that signals the ankle joint to dorsiflex. Two electrodes are used.

Next, Excela Hospital in Mt. Pleasant for physical therapy, three times a week; step-gait muscles, strength exercise and TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) for the muscles on my right leg. Now I'm ready.

As I said, the muscles atrophied on my right leg. Eight years is a long time. However, read WalkAide very carefully, especially the video. You'll be glad you did.

My left hand is functional, my right hand is unfunctional.

Use an rubbing alcohol pads for the affected area.  Clean well.  Really well.

Soak the electrodes with plenty of water. I use bottled water, eighteen ounces. Keep it handy in the bedroom.

With my left-hand, the WalkAide snaps in to place. Turn the knob, for example, to 5. (The physical therapists knows.) Press STIM button.

Two minutes, max.  No lower back pain and I'm ready to walk.

HINTS:

In the evening, turn it down, say a "three" on the STIM button. The electric shock is too much. The morning, afternoon and the evening, I'm on the go all of the time.

There's two electrodes; one o'clock and three o'clock on my knee. The three is fine, but the one has pimples ever so slightly. When I go to bed, I rub antibiotic cream to the affected area. It's gone before morning.

Keep a spare battery (AA) in your pocket or purse, just in case. The shelf-life is one month, give or take. With my left hand, I have difficulties in changing my battery.  Press down and discard. The audible "beep" will sound indicating the battery is low.

The electrodes should replaced every, probably, 2 weeks. I use my teeth. Hey, whatever works. The two leads (red and black) are connected to the electrodes. With my left hand, I use my teeth to connect wires on the lead with the locator (electrode)...very carefully. It works well. Turn off the WalkAide, of course.

Washing the cuff - Remove the liner, DO NOT remove the little red and black locators.  Line dry only and hand wash.

WalkAide has Bluetooth technology;  every step I take, via the computer, it knows. Any walking pattern or shift in model, it knows. Schedule an appointment for the clinician for the appropriate adjustments.

Cost:  Medicare doesn't cover WalkAide. (Write an email to the President of the United States...I'm not kidding!)  WalkAide is working with insurance companies to determine coverage. Over the three years, I forked over $4500, (a WalkAide unit, cuff, electrodes, clinical evaluation and follow-up visits). Electrodes cost, over the three years, $800+/=. It's definitely worth it. I have equity in my house. Thank God.

WalkAide provides a clinician EVERY TIME for appropriate adjustments, for asking questions and fine-tuning. I have Medicare and group insurance.

I FEEL better, no back problems, the right leg is fine and I have strength, energy and persistence. I live in the mountains, the uneven hills, grasses and banks are no problem for me. One caveat; I'm extremely careful all the time. Vigilance is key. I know my limitations.

www.walkaide.com
www.hanger.com

I was a certified lunatic. The Afib was a funny thing; it just keeps beating. The erratic beats are gone.

Heart-Stopping Afib

Afib

Fall colors are turning, the wood stove stoked and little slivers of frost on the pane. I live in  Pennsylvania in 1953. School was starting and I was a bright, eager reader. I was 6 years old in the first grade. The chubby hands lugged the book, almost as big as the size second grade.

My mother and I read fairy tales, Aesop’s fables and Uncle Arthur’s bedtime stories by heart. I love to read. So, the texts were easy for me in the first grade. I spouted words and phrases constantly. I went to the second grade and debut as a reader.

The room was sizeable, filled with kids, and I read Henny Penny. Henny was a chicken with extreme paranoia, the fable goes. Disaster is imminent. The teachers and children were impressed. I continued reading.

Harbinger Henny Penny exclaimed, “The sky is falling!”  She bopped the acorn mistakely to her noggin. "A piece of sky fell on my head!" said the fowl.

Indeed.