as i said, most people get them in their teens. also, i did great in school, too, just that i was very ill my whole life until the mercury was out. what you cannot relate to is that us mercury poisoned people do not want to let people know how bad we are feeling or that we cannot keep up with others. i have talked to many patients who tell me this and it was my experience. i pushed myself so hard i had 2 M.S. attacks within 3 months of each other. it was very bad. once i found out it was the mercury, i stopped trying to be like everyone else and knew i was sick and couldn't do anything but get it out and hope for the best. people with mercury fillings have what they call "brain fog". for me, it meant studying much harder than anyone else, because it was hard to concentrate. i had to read things over and over. if it took someone an hour to write a paper, it took me 5 or more. but, i wanted to get my A's, because i was smart and i knew of no other way to do it than do a ton more than the others. i was in my 30s at that time, when it became the hardest. but, there was no way to admit anything was wrong, because i looked ok and at that time, medical tests were pretty-much coming back normal. i have spoken to many patients and they say that for years and years they went to the dr and all the tests would be normal. then, one day, the tests start to show disease and conditions, finally. that is how it was for me, too.