I suggest that you read up on the theories and controversies related to heavy metal chelation.

Unfortunately if you go to ten doctors you are likely to get five different different opinions. I say five because five will tell you that no one has a heavy metal problem unless they got exposed in a large accident in a chem factory or similar!

For example, one of my doctors, an endocrinologist, is an award winning former med school prof. Even though I had symptoms of a lead problem he never asked me if I had exposure. He just told me that medicine did not know why body was not rebuilding bone and that there was not much he could do for me.

After 1.5 yrs of detox--Cutler--the bone density of my back that previously had not responded to 1.5 yrs of medicine and supplements from the doctor improved 8%. It was basically back to normal. A number of other minor symptoms have improved as well including my below normal kidney blood test numbers.

The tolerance for ALA varies greatly! People who don't have much or any mercury (Hg) problem will probably tolerate 100mg doses or more. However, someone with MCS due to Hg will not likely tolerate more than 5mg doses in the beginning. I was still employable in a mid level systems/network support job but 12mg ALA plus 16mg DMSA kicked my butt.

Furthermore there are good reasons to want to clear out some heavy metals (HMs) from your blood with DMSA or DMPS for a number of rounds before introducing ALA.

ALA can cross the blood brain barrier (bbb) and carry Hg along with it. Of course it can do that in *both* directions. So if you still have silver-mercury fillings leaking Hg, ALA will more likely find some Hg in the blood and possibly move it into the brain.

ALA does not hold onto Hg irreversibly even though its dual SH/thiol groups grab on better than most substances.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/la/lastructure.html

ALA drops Hg from time to time. If it drops the Hg in the brain, it can get stuck there. The body naturally tends to convert Hg to the inorganic form. That form does not cross the bbb. It essentially gets stuck in the brain and causes various problems including the alzheimer's-like damage shown in the U of Calgary video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDnfeIwd0wI

The mice in the Gregus study that received ALA ended up with *more* Hg in the brain even though they excreted more Hg than control mice. Cutler comments on that here.
http://onibasu.com/archives/am/74605.html

(Boyd Haley, former chair of Chem Dept at U of KY, has Youtube videos and papers on the link between Hg and Alzheimers)

Therefore we have to use ALA wisely when there is an Hg problem. We stop exposure to Hg, including removal of silver-Hg fillings. We clear out the blood stream for a few months. Then it is less likely ALA will find Hg in the blood to carry into the brain. The odds are increased that It will find Hg in the brain to carry across the bbb and out of the brain.

Cutler addresses the basics of his protocol and related issues in this audio interview--#96 here.
http://zentertainment.org/podcasts.html

The site that posts our hair tests and symptom lists also has a good section on Cutler protocol basics. they also have a decent reputation for providing good chelation related supplements etc.
http://livingnetwork.co.za/chelationnetwork/hairtest/hairtest3/

Everythingspectrum.com also has very low dose caps intended for autistic kids and very sick adults.

Why punish yourself on round 1. Why not start with very low doses so you can determine if you will be one of the unusual sensitive people? So many have chosen an aggressive approach and had to take time off to get adrenal or other testing and support. It seems to take these people quite a while to return to generous doses.

Cutler considers generous doses of antioxidants to be a mandatory part of the protocol. So much more could be said! Do your homework!

The Files section of the Yahoo Frequent Dose Chelation also has helpful resources.

Joe