Funny you should ask...

When I was about 25, I developed severe headaches. The doctor determined that they weren't migraines, and referred me to a neurologist.

The headaches occured on a fairly regular schedule. They usually happened early in the morning, but if I didn't have one by ~8am, I knew I was going to be O.K. till at least ~4:00pm.

When they happened, it felt like if I could just squeeze my head hard enough, I would be able to stop the pain. The only thing that would stop the pain was a prescription suppository that knocked me unconcious almost immediately (hah...try inserting a suppository when you think your head is going to explode!).

During that time, a dental bridge in my mouth came loose (when I lost a baby tooth, the permanant tooth never developed-hense the bridge).

The day that the old bridge was taken out, I develped one of the headaches, but it last three days. I spent two of those days in the hospital on drugs.

Two weeks later when the bridge was ready to be installed, the hygienist asked how I was as she showed me to the exam room. I just happened to mention that I had been having headaches, but that they had mysteriously disappeared after the three day headache ordeal following the bridge removal.

The next thing I knew the dentist came flying in the door.

He quizzed me about my headaches. He asked about rashes (which I didn't have). Then he told me that my old bridge had been made out of nickel. It suprised him a little when he noticed it, because (according to him) "NO ONE makes anything out of nickel anymore".

But when he heard about the head aches he was just amazed, because he said that the headaches I described were a "classic" nickel allergy.

And furthermore, he said that since NO ONE used nickel anymore, I could have suffered FOREVER because no one would have been looking for a nickel allergy.

I've never had problems with snaps on jeans (I've heard that the snaps are usually made of nickel), but have had problems with Mexican made silver earrings (the posts are often soldered with nickel) causing my ears to bleed.

Sooooo....do I think my bridge caused my MS??? No....probably not. But...no one else in my family has MS...and no one else in my family has had a bridge made of nickel, so...what do I really know????