The Allergen

Mercury is killing her, or so she thinks. Even after she stopped eating fish, even after a dentist removed her amalgam fillings, even after she stopped bathing in tap water, even after she started eating with metal utensils and china plates, even after she stopped wearing jewelry, she feels her life slipping slowly but surely away.

Though skeptical, I am sympathetic. A few years ago, after taking an antibiotic, I experienced a violently painful reaction. Doubled up, I managed to call the doctor, only to have him ask me whether I'd ingested milk or other dairy products. When I responded "yes," he read to me the part of the warning label that said: "Avoid milk and other dairy products." Duh.

Feeling stupid quickly gave way to feeling better, much better than I could ever remember feeling, and keep in mind that I was taking antibiotics because I was sick, and I was still sick, for they hadn't started working yet, but the other parts of me felt incredibly good. It was like I'd been tuned up. Detoxed. A new man. Even while I was wheezing and coughing waiting for the antibiotics to work.

Long story short: I'd been allergic to milk and other dairy products, but never knew it. I guess I figured the pain and discomfort was just a normal part of being alive. Removing said products from my system dramatically reduced my ordinary everday pain and discomfort, producing a sustained feeling of well-being that I've managed to maintain with the assistance of soy milk and other soy-derived pseudo-dairy products.

Back to Mrs. Mercury. She has one child who's gotten so big. A rich husband with businesses to run. A massive new house that needs nothing but inhabitation. A mind that's not the most dynamic and engaged mind in the city, if you know what I mean. And a hobby -- interior decorating -- that perhaps isn't sufficiently absorbing to occupy those long daylight hours while the family is away.

So when she feels listless, when the sadness overwhelms, when she can't seem to make it off the divan, is it any wonder she blames the mercury? As I learned with milk and other dairy products, when you eliminate the allergen, you eliminate the pain. Immediately and permanently. It's so incredibly transforming, it's seductive.

The problem is, it's one thing to eliminate a substance from your life, quite another to eliminate an entire life from your life.