Re "When I hit a plateau ..."

Cutler in his book Amalgam Illness around p 50 has a diagram of how people usually respond to the first year of chelation.

Around 4 or so months after Amalgam is removed and after a number of rounds of DMSA or DMPS the blood is largely cleared. Then mercury starts coming out of the organs into the blood. This is sometimes called the "dump" or "stall" phase. It can last until around 9 or so months but is varies somewhat from person to person.

Cutler strongly recommends that we chelate during the dump phase. If we do, as the Hg comes out, there is DMSA or DMPS in the blood to increase the odds that the Hg will be removed from the body rather than redistributed elsewhere--and cause symptoms.

Some people think that it might be better to just use DMSA or DMPS during the dump; however Andy likes us to use ALA so it will go into the organs and have a chance to escort some of the Hg out rather than have the Hg rip up cell membranes on the way out.

DMPS is well regarded in the Cutler groups for those who also have candida. DMSA tends to exacerbate a candida problem at doses over 25mg from my 2 yrs experience in the groups. Cutler provides many suggestions for dealing with it but when possible, folks tend to use DMPS. Many of the autistic kids choose to just use ALA. Their situation is somewhat different since they rarely had Amalgam fillings removed. Taking ALA almost immediately is common.

Remember you don't need large doses of chelators to get nice gains. I've been chelating for 1.75 yrs on an average of 16mg DMSA + 8mg ALA every few hours nearly every weekend. My bone density problem is almost gone according to DEXA and I'm off all medications. I have a ways to go but clearly I had an HM problem and chelation is working! : )

Good luck. & God bless.

Joe

My allover-body symptoms like fibromyalgia and other muscle/bone/joint pain were really the first ones to go away. The superficial muscle pain and sensitivity was pertty much gone within a month of two of DMSA, and definitely gone after adding ALA. Basically the symptoms went away as you might imagine they would, with the mercury being eliminated first from the shallow places (muscles, blood, etc.) and later being pulled out of the really deep places like the brain.

The supplements that I feel were important during chelating, for me were:

--soy lecithin 1 tbs after breakfast and dinner< --a LOT of vitamin C (15-20g/day)
--Now Foods ADAM Men's multivitamin
--extra vitamin E
--sublingual B12 for energy
--NAC
--Silymarin (milk thistle) for the liver
--Biotin (vitamin B)

 

 

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Hi, Vee, you should actually start supplementing now and get your elimination organs in top shape before you start to chelate. Heavy metals are structurally similar to and displace vital nutrients, which is why we feel so crappy. We have become deficient in pretty much everything. As the metals come out, the cells are hungry for a replacement molecule, so you need the supplements while you're doing this as well.

My Amalgam removal is next week - they are all coming out per safe protocol (one sector at a time). This is costing me out of pocket, but I consider it necessary for my health. Money is no good to me if I'm sick, tired, or dead.

This is what I'm taking daily and I feel improved even with the Amalgams still in, especially with depression, anger, and anxiety. The amounts are so high because with the metals in the receptor sites, only a fraction of this is actually getting absorbed by my body.

Vit C (3 grams), D (10,000IU), E, magnesium & selinium (both very important!),zinc, B complex, lecithin, Lugol's Iodine 5% 200mg for endocrine system, at least 2 quarts of distilled water with colloidal minerals, himilayan Sea Salt and a pinch of borax, Epsom Salt baths to help me sleep.

"Would you mind explaining some of your terms - DMSA, Cutler's protocol and ALA?"

DMSA. Di-thiol chelator of lead, mercury and some other heavy metals. It is a US FDA approved drug for removing lead in kids. Cutler thinks it needs to be taken roughly every 4-5 hours around the clock for a few days in order to be safe with it. It does not cross into the brain and some organs very well.

ALA. Alpha Lipoic Acid. Antioxidant that we get from food in small amounts but available as a supplement in most pharmacies in the US (by scriipt only in some other countries). It is also a di-thiol chelator of mercury, arsenic and maybe other heavy metals. You can see dual SH groups (mercury magnets) of the the reduced form of LA.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/la/lastructure.html


Lipoic acid is quite unusual among the mercury chelators in that it crosses the blood brain barrier. This is wonderfully powerful when used safely since otherwise the inorganic form of mercury essentially gets stuck in the brain. However, LA can also be quite harmful if used incorrectly. It can move mercury *into* the brain if used incorrectly as the body moves towards equilibrium!

I believe LA recycles and therefore helps to preserve glutathione levels in the liver.

LA is the primary chelator in the Cutler chelation protocol.

Cutler. He is a (semi-retired?) PhD chemist/chemical engineer who had a heavy metal problem about 15 yrs ago--including quite a bit of tremor. He got much better and documented his methods. He is now a health care consultant for doctors. His methods have been particularly effective for an impressive percentage of people with symptoms of MS and autism, but also CFS, some psych problems, fibromyalgia, etc.

His books include Amalgam Illness, which is on the chronic effects of mercury, especially from "silver" Amalgam fillings which contain roughly 50% mercury. It is available at noamalgam.com

His other book, Hair Test Interpretation is best known for his "counting rules" theory. He thinks mercury affects movement of minerals in the body ("mineral transport"). When the problem is serious enough the essential elements section of a hair test become statistically strange. More on an early version of his theory here and a reply by a noted autism/DAN doctor.
http://onibasu.com/archives/am/2200.html


There are 600+ hair tests along with symptoms posted here for use by folks who are using Cutler's protocol.
http://livingnetwork.co.za/chelationnetwork/hairtest/hairtest3/


Cutler discusses all of these issues in this interview with Dr Dan Pompa, both of whom had heavy metal related illnesses. They discuss the challenges of getting diagnosed and effective treatments.
http://www.healthcentersofthefuture.com/DrCutler/


Cutler's bio information
http://amalgamillness.com/AboutTheAuthor.html

http://noamalgam.com/#authorsays


Joe, hair test #354, nearly 2 yrs Cutler protocol and improving nicely.