Re: The REAL half-life of DMSA

I came across this discussion from 8 years ago and wanted to reply for anyone else who comes across it.

I've been a Cutler protocol supporter because it makes sense according to the Science I am aware of and because it has a long track record of safety and effectiveness.
It is true that I got my life back and have at least normal health today in large part due to ACC protocol detox and relevant supplements that Andy recommended in his writings. To be clear ACC detox alone is not responsible for my good health today. I still require a handful of supplements and a small dose of ADD medication.

I have no doubt that ACC detox has been a major reason for my good health after 15+ years of below average health. Before I started ACC detox over 10 years ago I had been taking many of the supplements I still take today and I had been taking twice as much ADD medication. Yet my health was certainly not as good as it is today. For example, my previously low bone density according to DEXA scan and low kidney numbers (eGFR) normalized after 1.5 yrs of ACC. The density of my back improved 8% over that time whereas it has worsened by 2% in the prior 1.5 yrs. My kidney numbers have continued to improve over the years.

I assume I've not completed the required detox process. I still do a weekend round every couple months and almost always feel a little better after it. I feel more masculine, stronger and my muscles tend to feel good. I have no plans to stop doing rounds with the modest doses of DMSA and ALA. Strangely I never advanced to high dose ALA so it is likely there is more Hg in my brain to remove.

My dear lady friend also got life transforming health gains from her years of ACC detox, adrenal support that Andy so often recommended, etc.

Many of those gains came after a huge setback. Around 6 months after Amalgam removal she accidentally took roughly 100mg ALA per day for about 10 days in a new formulation of the multi vitamin she had been taking for many years. She was a physical and mental mess after doing so. The worst symptoms were tingling in the hands and especially "burning brain." She said she thought she was going to die.

Fortunately I noticed the ALA in the new multi and recognized the symptoms--classic mercury mobilization symptoms. I got her to an integrative doctor who supported her battered adrenals with good effect but it took over a year of ACC detox plus relevant supplements for her to just get back to where she had been prior to the high dose ALA intake.

Roughly 5 years later her health was the best I had known it and I had known her for 30 years since our early 20s. She was no longer in fear of a panic attack due to her PTSD. Adrenal cortex support, glutamine/GABA, magnesium and low dose lithium supplements seemed to really have her PTSD under control. She could enjoy life more fully. It was so good to see.

Unfortunately it was also that time when she was diagnosed with brain cancer. she was dead a year later.

Her case was remarkably consistent with the hypothesis about the cause of most cancers by Dr Jerry Tennant. He wrote a sizable book on the subject but the basic concepts are in his hour long Youtube video on cancer. Unfortunately without the direct link the apparent shadow banning makes it difficult to find.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcO6GiVPCSk
https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Voltage-Cancers-Switches-Polarity/dp/1515055558/ref=sr_1_1?

I got her a Cone Beam dentistry CT scan. Sure enough the results were consistent with her situation--low density in the areas formerly occupied by a couple of her wisdom teeth. Two dentists expressed concerns about how her 1 root canal looked including the surgeon who did the Cone Beam.

Tennant associates low voltage in the Wisdom teeth areas with CNS cancers and adrenal problems. She really fit the personality description he provides of that.

In his book Tennant also warns that various toxins can also reduce the voltage on acupuncture meridians increasing the risk of starting the process of cancer. Additionally he warns that low thyroid and adrenal function also lower voltage on the meridians. Of course Julie fit this description. She had been on thyroid medication for decades and greatly benefited from a number of adrenal/steroid/sex hormones from her integrative doctor. She tested low in most of them and low-norm in others.

So although many people might tolerate high dose ALA, why roll the dice, why play Russian roulette? Start with low doses of ALA after removing exposure, including Amalgam fillings. Take ALA while respecting the half-life along with generous doses of antioxidants that don't mobilize much mercury--vitamin C, E, maybe selenium, etc

For those who want to read what Andy wrote about the half life and dosing of DMSA and ALA, check out this long post from one of the old Yahoo groups.
http://onibasu.com/archives/am/53055.html

Quote, excerpt:
First, chelating agents serve two functions. They mobilize toxic
metals. They also bind toxic metals. They do NOT "hold on tight" and
do NOT bind irreversibly. They pick up and drop the metals often.
Thus, you need to maintain a rough balance between mobilization and
binding so that the chelators grab most of the free toxic metals
rather than letting them grab back on to the body. In order to do
this, you need to keep the blood level of chelating agents reasonably
constant. This is done by giving them roughly a half life apart, so
that blood levels don't fluctuate by more than a factor of 2. The
half life of DMSA (directly measured in human children) is 2.5 to 3.5
hours. The kinetics of ALA are much more complicated but are
adequately described as a half life of 1.5 to 2.5 hours. The peaks
get smeared out over a 2 hour period due to it taking about 2 hours
for the stuff to slowly be absorbed when it is given by mouth.
EXACTLY how long you can wait between doses varies from individual to
individual and I have determined my numbers based on the experience of
a lot of people who have done it this way. They are theoretically
sound and empirically verified. While I can't really tell you exactly
why ALA is best every 3 hours or whether DMSA could be stretched to 5
and still be OK, I can tell you with great certainty that 8 hours is
way beyond the bounds of reason.
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