Dr. Janet Stopka D.D.S.
Thank you for this opportunity to tell my story. My name is Dr. Janet Stopka D.D.S. I am a practicing dentist from the south side of Chicago. I wholeheartedly support mercury-free dentistry. I became mercury- free and a mercury- safe dentist in 1996 after joining the IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology) who assisted me in saving my life. I was able to get rid of all of my symptoms.
I have not used mercury as a restorative material in 14 years and my patients are given informed consents. No one has ever asked me to place mercury in their mouth. They all understand immediately that it is toxic. But yet, many of them don’t know they have it in their mouth! I learned it was toxic in second grade. I don’t let them breathe it in if it is removed and I no longer allow myself to breathe it in.
I would briefly like to describe my experience with mercury. I had three small amalgams in my mouth upon entering dental school placed when I was twelve. My mercury issues started to become a problem when I entered dental school. ;There were approximately 90 students in my class. In technique class for preparing ourselves to work on live patients 90 students opened capsules of amalgam to scrape out fillings without vacuum suctions to pick up the scrap. Most of the bio-hazardous waste sat on the floor until the cleaning crew came in at night. The very next morning I woke up unable to bend five of my fingers. ;(Not a good symptom to have for a prospective dentist).
I went to doctors and they found I was perfectly healthy. Nothing was found wrong with me. I had blood tests done and even served in the USAF (United States Air Force) dental corps for three years. But the military places lots of mercury fillings. After my residency the first year, I was on the amalgam line for recurrent decay and fractured teeth. Over the course of the next few years I developed more symptoms despite the doctors telling me that I was perfectly healthy. My symptoms were not only the five swollen joints but...
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Dr. Janet Stopka D.D.S. shares her mercury poisoning testimony with the FDA
I was unable to digest food. I was unable to eat anything but eggs and yogurt. Anything I ate made me bulimic. It sat in my stomach like poison. I could not keep awake and would fall asleep during lectures. I even fell asleep during a comedy club in Las Vegas. I had to sleep a minimum of 48 hours over the weekend. During the week I had to make myself exercise and sweat excessively and then sit in a sauna for an hour- BECAUSE IT MADE ME FEEL BETTER! My head felt like I had cellophane stuffed inside and my sinuses gave me a pounding headache. I wanted to kill myself. I was depressed. POOR ME - I am perfectly healthy.
Looking back at my life there is an old expression that hindsight is 20/20. Listen to what I observed in dental school....
My roommate lost part of her hearing, one of the top students in my class was forced to drop out due to the development of a hand tremor. A girl had her first seizure on the clinic floor while working on a patient - I HEARD THE SCREAM. Most of the girls made frequent trips to the health center for urinary tract infections. Most of the males in my class became alcoholics. One of the amalgam instructors was dying of cancer.
There is an old expression that hindsight is 20/20. And we all learned how toxic mercury is in second grade. Why when you graduate from dental school is it rendered nontoxic? Fortunate for me my uncle was a medical doctor (ENT, Allergist) and told me there was a problem with mercury. I remembered him saying that to me while I was in school.
Mercury fillings are a 200 year old mistake of the profession.
Because I wanted to become a productive member of society and graduate I poisoned myself. I want to help prevent others from getting that ill. I can go on about how I detoxified myself but suffice it to say I can bend my fingers, I have no headaches, my ears are clear, and I can now eat a cow :-)
Dr. Janet Stopka D.D.S.
What began with debilitating fatigue, grew to accompany insomnia, blurred vision, painful sinus headaches, extreme allergies (to everything), food intolerances, candida, never-ending chronic infections, exhaustion, a consistent feeling of being tired yet wired, and hypo-thyroid issues. Everything became incredibly overwhelming. Darkness clouded over me like a shadow of death; I became depressed, anxious, and frustrated. I had gone mad, and my life had fallen apart. I was living in a bubble, and a normal existence seemed like an impossible dream.
Rebecca Lee's eight mercury filling removals sent her health into a tailspin. Read on as she tells of her health hegira (a journey, especially when undertaken to escape from a dangerous or undesirable situation).
In 2005, I received 7 amalgam fillings and afterwards saw my health spiral downward. It wouldn't be until years later that I would pin-point the destruction of my health to this event. I remember shortly after that dental appointment, I became ill routinely. My mother said to me "You haven't been well since you went to that dentist" - And that always stuck in the back of my mind.
My name is Stacy Case. I am a mom, wife, believer, journalist and a fighter. In 2008, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. All of my neurological symptoms started right after I had my silver fillings removed and replaced with more silver fillings. I later learned each filling is made of 50% MERCURY!
Flight attendant Denise Knight shares her story of extreme mercury toxicity from unsafe amalgam removal.
Looking back it's hard to believe that I didn't figure things out sooner. I was perfectly placed to know exactly what was going on. I was conscious about toxins of all kinds and took supplements to keep myself healthy. And yet, when I fell ill with mysterious symptoms eight months after I got my amalgam fillings removed, I had no idea that this could be caused by mercury.
Veterinarian Hanne Koplev suffered for years from possible heavy metal induced Parkinson's Disease
12 years ago I went to the dentist. Immediately, I notice I could not hear to well. I was tested, 40% hearing in right ear, 60% hearing in left ear. I received implant hearing implant in my left ear. My vision was blurry. I received my first pair glasses. I started stuttering, then my foot was hurting.
This is the account of how my wife was affected by mercury poisoning: It started with symptoms ranging from unexplained anxiety, palpitations, struggling to breathe, light headedness and in the final stages of her illness, pins and needless over her body. Her arms and legs became very weak and she would frequently feel as if she were going to pass out.
Plagued with allergies, vitiligo, and Hashimoto’s thyroid, I attended a medical lecture featuring a panel of doctors, one of whom spoke about autoimmune diseases and offered a warning that would change my life. “If you are in your thirties and forties and have been suffering from autoimmune diseases,” he said, “it may be connected to the amalgam fillings in your mouth.”
I suspected my health was being impacted by my dental amalgams but dismissed the idea as I trusted the scientific integrity of the dental and medical community. I assumed the anti-amalgam community to be unscientific alarmist. I expected to find little or no scientific work on the subject, but was shocked to find hundreds of peer reviewed studies.
In 2007, I was training rigorously for the 2008 U. S. Women's Marathon Olympic Trials when my health took a down turn. My training abruptly ended as I began experiencing neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal distress and major fatigue.Lucily, I was able to pinpoint the underlying cause, mercury toxicity.
I am a survivor of mercury poisoning which stemmed from having 16 mercury dental amalgam fillings by the time I was 24 years old. I've suffered from a number of neurological issue, including: depression, panic attacks, social anxiety disorder, stuttering and heart palpitations. I reached a point in my life where I wanted god himself to take my life and I wanted to die.
Thanks to Champus (federally-funded health program for military dependents) I ended up w/ 7 fillings that completely cover the chewing surface when I was 10 which caused immediate horrendous headache / toothache / earaches plus hyper-sensitivity to cold that persists to this day.