Chelating mamas? - Page 30

[tanyalynn]

Sources of silver (from Cutler's Hair Test Interp book):
photographic chemicals (through skin contact, like a pro/hobbyist), silver salts (medicinal), silver nitrate sticks (used to sterilize wounds and stop bloodflow), colloidal silver, silver nitrate (used to be used on burns or to prevent infection), and various other healthcare uses, silver is in some chemical laboratory procedures; silver from jewelry or coins is poorly absorbed, only something like a surgical implant containing silver can be significantly absorbed

Well, that's not a lot to go on.

[tanyalynn]

Cutler's counting rules (from his Hair Test Interpretation book)

ETA: Individuals who want to order this test on their own can order through a company called Direct Lab Services, the test is the Hair Elements test (NOT the Toxic Hair Exposure Profile) and the interpretation described below applies to that test (and only that test). It costs a bit less than $100 and there's a small discount for joining (and mentioning when you call DLS) the autism-mercury yahoo group.

Thanks to mamafish9:

On, and on ordering from direct labs - you can order online and just write in the message box that you are a member of the autism mercury yahoo group, please apply the discount, and they do.

Also, it's much rarer, but occasionally people show up with very high hair mercury. That's also a problem. It doesn't get as much mention because, well, if someone sees vastly elevated hair mercury, they assume that is a problem. But if it's low, the assumption is that it's not a problem, and while sometimes that is true, sometimes the mercury is just not being excreted well.


This thread doesn't have one single place that Cutler's hair test rules are laid out, so I'm going to do that here. The basic idea behind Cutler's rules is that mercury interferes with how the body is able to use nutrients, which causes various health problems, and which is visible by the wild skewing (too many highs and lows) that mercury toxic hair tests show.

Please note that the counting rules were re-numbered and a 5th rule was added after the original counting rules were formulated (in case you see a shorter list elsewhere on the web). And note that all of these rules apply only to the Essential and Other Elements portion of the DDI Hair Elements test. The Potentially Toxic Elements are not counted at all for determining mercury toxicity and deranged mineral transport.

1. Count the number of elements that go to the right of the white 50% line (meaning the Percentile is 51% or higher). If this is 5 or less, mineral transport is deranged.

Note: Normal, healthy lactating women (lots at MDC) sometimes exhibit an "all low" pattern (meaning most of the results bars are going to the left, so the Percentile is low for most of the minerals), meaning they fail #1 but they're not mercury toxic. It's more likely with a vegetarian diet, especially a vegan diet. Non-lactating veg*ns are not more likely to fail this rule than anyone else. So a lot of caution and common sense needs to be applied if the hair collected is from a nursing mom--and Cutler thinks the same may be true of pregnant women, I'm guessing he doesn't have enough data to say for sure.

2. Count the number of elements that go to the left of the white 50% band (meaning the Percentile is 49% or lower). If this is 5 or less, mineral transport is deranged. This is the exact opposite of #1, and both are looking for lots of minerals higher or lower than most people.

3. Count the number of elements that go into the red zone on either side. If this is 4 or more, mineral transport is deranged.

4. Count the number of elements that have bars ending in the white or green zones (short bars, meaning the results are close to average). If this is 11 or less, mineral transport is deranged.

5. If any two of the above rules are missed by only one, mineral transport is deranged.

Failing just 1 of these tests means deranged mineral transport, you don't need to fail them all.

Also keep in mind, if you're taking a medication or supplements that are making you feel better, they may be doing so by changing how your body is able to utilize nutrients, and that would be reflected (if the supplementation has gone on long enough) in the hair test. My mom (Tanya, not Cutler), for example, was on osteoporosis meds that actually increased her bone density in her late 50's, when most women are experiencing slowly decreasing bone densities, so that clearly changed how her body could use several minerals compared with her peers and her hair test looked off but didn't fail Cutler's rules. But common sense says that being related to me, and having very similar symptoms, which are common to mercury toxic people, means that it would be darn risky to assume she's just fine.

[dhammamama]

hi! i'm in the midst of amalgam removal. two quadrants down, two to go, with my third tomorrow. i started because of pain in a crown, so the work is proceeding more quickly than i'd imagined, as i want to complete it w/i 30-60 days. i did not have a hair test, but have several autoimmune issues, as well as other long standing health problems so it's seems like a good idea to get them out.

to say i'm feeling overwhelmed would not begin to cover it!!! i'm slowly making my way through the thread, as well as cutler's and huggin's and others books.

my dds is good-- biologic, following good protocol etc. but it's still stressful.

i'm not sure what to do next. am i understanding correctly that if i chose to chelate w/ only ALA I don't start that for several months? but if i want to do dmsa I start that w/i a few days of my last removal? i'm still not clear from what i've read if people have better luck with either protocol. it seems to be very much up to the individual.

have i made a huge mistake by not doing the hair analysis first? and is there any benefit to doing it after the last amalgam removal?

ty!
dmamma

[rayo de sol]

Thanks for doing so much research on my behalf, Tanya! You rock!

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

Detoxifying the mercury every day is work for your body, no doubt (and I don't think it's great for anyone), but it's good not to meet his counting rules.

So, the big question on my mind is will the mercury from my 9 large amalgam fillings be harmful to a fetus--even though it hasn't completely ruined my health (yet)?

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

To me this actually seems good. I doubt you sent in a hair sample just because you had money to burn, right? You've identified a problem that has a concrete solution, it's fairly straightforward, and it doesn't require dental work before starting, so you can just figure out dosages and start. It sounds like you don't already have kids? So you don't need to deal with the guilt there, or the work to help them heal.

Everything you say is true. You have a good attitude. Maybe it's the silver talking (ha! I'm so funny!), but I've always been a total pessimist, so bear with me here while I indulge in a lot of self-pity: I am still pretty freaked out that I have the silver levels of a miner (did I mention I also have tendency to exaggerate?). I did the math and calculated that I have nearly 57 times more silver than what the upper limit for humans should be.

Also, I'm sort of confused about what exactly the "concrete solution" to high silver levels is. You mean taking the selenium and vitamin E? I can't chelate because of my 9 huge mercury amalgam fillings. Chelating would just mobilize the mercury in my fillings, and it would probably all go straight to my brain, and I'd end up a vegetable.

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

Sources of silver (from Cutler's Hair Test Interp book):
photographic chemicals (through skin contact, like a pro/hobbyist), silver salts (medicinal), silver nitrate sticks (used to sterilize wounds and stop bloodflow), colloidal silver, silver nitrate (used to be used on burns or to prevent infection), and various other healthcare uses, silver is in some chemical laboratory procedures; silver from jewelry or coins is poorly absorbed, only something like a surgical implant containing silver can be significantly absorbed.

I highlighted the sources that might pertain to me (although I haven't had any contact with photographic chemicals for at least the last 5 years), with the "surgical implant" being the fillings in my teeth. I found this about amalgam fillings:

By 1895, the mercury amalgam mixture of metals was modified and this formula continues to be used to this day, with a typical mixture containing 50% metallic mercury, 35% silver, 9% tin, 6% copper, and a trace of zinc.

Perhaps silver eating utensils could be another source? I mean, a spoon, for example, goes into the mouth repeatedly just during a single meal.

[tanyalynn]

So, the big question on my mind is will the mercury from my 9 large amalgam fillings be harmful to a fetus--even though it hasn't completely ruined my health (yet)?

Okay, everything I write is my best understanding, and I'm no expert. That said, the biggest risk of mercury to the baby is when mom's body doesn't detoxify mercury well, and so it builds up in mom's body. It's not the 10mcg (approx) that moms gets from her fillings every day that is the biggest problem for baby, it's the years and years of mom absorbing that 10mcg and not excreting it that's the problem--it builds up and is transferred along with other mineral stores (things like iron) to baby. So two women with the same number of fillings for the same amount of time can transfer vastly different amounts of mercury to their babies because their bodies have reacted to the mercury very differently. The fact that you're _not_ mercury toxic even with a very high amount of silver in your body is really a good sign, it seems to me.

Everything you say is true. You have a good attitude. Maybe it's the silver talking (ha! I'm so funny!), but I've always been a total pessimist, so bear with me here while I indulge in a lot of self-pity: I am still pretty freaked out that I have the silver levels of a miner (did I mention I also have tendency to exaggerate?). I did the math and calculated that I have nearly 57 times more silver than what the upper limit for humans should be.

It's really okay, and I think good, to be sad right now. You've got a problem, it's real and it won't go away on its own. Lots of reasons to be sad, and I think it does mean that you should deal with it before TTC and that's a loss too. Don't short-change the grief just because I pointed out the positives. I've had a long time to get used to what's going on with us, and now that I'm seeing improvement for all of us (well, me and the kids) it's a lot easier to look at the positives. But early on, wow, I was freaked. This was huge and I had to deal with delaying TTC, for who knows how long, and step WAY out into the unknown. I was rather skeptical of the whole "toxins in our environment" stuff and suddenly I'm the source of all sorts of that for my kids. So it's okay to be sad, I think it's really healthy to feel that so that you can take the next steps and start fixing the problem.

Also, I'm sort of confused about what exactly the "concrete solution" to high silver levels is. You mean taking the selenium and vitamin E? I can't chelate because of my 9 huge mercury amalgam fillings. Chelating would just mobilize the mercury in my fillings, and it would probably all go straight to my brain, and I'd end up a vegetable.

Cutler says that supplemental selenium and vitamin E will help the body get rid of excess levels of silver. That's separate from the dmsa/dmps/ala chelation that he recommends for mercury problems--those are the ones you'd never want to take with amalgams in your mouth. You can take supplemental selenium and vitamin E with your amalgams in place and so I think you can get your silver levels down before you do anything with your amalgams (if you decide to--it seems like sometimes it's better to leave them alone unless you're willing to wait a while before TTC). I'd do more research to learn about silver (I truly only know what I typed up from his book). And I'd probably look into supporting general detox pathways--B vitamins (esp B6 and B12), zinc, magnesium, selenium helps here too. Various multi-vitamins would be appropriate. I use Perque2 Life Guard but I'm sure there are others.

I highlighted the sources that might pertain to me (although I haven't had any contact with photographic chemicals for at least the last 5 years), with the "surgical implant" being the fillings in my teeth. I found this about amalgam fillings:

I'm glad that something jumped off that list for you! I've read of people who had no idea where their exposure came from, and that would be frustrating and frightening. Cutler didn't really emphasize silver toxicity coming from fillings, and I don't know why. Maybe most people don't absorb enough from their fillings alone to cause toxicity problems? And even though the photo chemicals were years ago, I'm guessing that you absorbed a whole lot and your body just hasn't been able to catch up, even after all this time.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by dhammamama

hi! i'm in the midst of amalgam removal. two quadrants down, two to go, with my third tomorrow. i started because of pain in a crown, so the work is proceeding more quickly than i'd imagined, as i want to complete it w/i 30-60 days. i did not have a hair test, but have several autoimmune issues, as well as other long standing health problems so it's seems like a good idea to get them out.

to say i'm feeling overwhelmed would not begin to cover it!!! i'm slowly making my way through the thread, as well as cutler's and huggin's and others books.

It is really overwhelming at first. Sometimes it's still overwhelming and for me it's been more than a year since I realized this was a problem for me (us).

my dds is good-- biologic, following good protocol etc. but it's still stressful.]

i'm not sure what to do next. am i understanding correctly that if i chose to chelate w/ only ALA I don't start that for several months? but if i want to do dmsa I start that w/i a few days of my last removal? i'm still not clear from what i've read if people have better luck with either protocol. it seems to be very much up to the individual.

My impression from my reading, and my experience, is that most people can tolerate both dmsa and ala, but the dosage may need to start pretty low. I found DMSA to be a lot milder than ALA, and I think it's important to wait like Cutler says. I take half the dosage of ALA as I did DMSA and the ALA still tried to knock me on my butt, fatigue-wise (and I've had to work to avoid some mood problems after rounds with ALA). You don't have to start DMSA 4 days after the last of your fillings come out, it's okay to wait longer, I think Cutler emphasizes the 4 days so that people don't start popping them right away.

have i made a huge mistake by not doing the hair analysis first? and is there any benefit to doing it after the last amalgam removal?

I've actually never done a hair test on myself. I was diagnosed symptomatically, and much later sent in some of my daughter's hair to see if we had lead (I think almost all my kids' toxins came from me, so I was using her as a proxy for all of us). And hair changes slowly, both because it takes a while to fix long-term toxicity and because then you have to wait for the hair to grow out long enough to get enough to cut off. So if you want to, you could certainly do it now. So I'd consider what information you think you'll get from it and what you will do differently than you plan to now to decide if the cost is worth it.

ty!
dmamma

Jumping back up... I think the most important thing to do is start a vit/min supplement routine to do basic detox support. That's what Cutler's B vitamins, etc are for. ... oops, more later, but welcome!

[rayo de sol]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

This thread doesn't have one single place that Cutler's hair test rules are laid out, so I'm going to do that here.

Yay! : Thanks!

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

1. Count the number of elements that go to the right of the white 50% line (meaning the Percentile is 51% or higher). If this is 5 or less, mineral transport is deranged.

7 of my elements go the right of the white area. That's awful close to 5! Ack! And 3 of my 7 go all the way into yellow or red. (Or is this not significant for the 1st rule?) And one of my 7 just barely gets out of the white into the green region.

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

2. Count the number of elements that go to the left of the white 50% band (meaning the Percentile is 49% or lower). If this is 5 or less, mineral transport is deranged. This is the exact opposite of #1, and both are looking for lots of minerals higher or lower than most people.

14 of my elements go the the left of the white area. (Does this mean I'm deficient in these elements?)

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

3. Count the number of elements that go into the red zone on either side. If this is 4 or more, mineral transport is deranged.

3 of my elements go into the red.

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

4. Count the number of elements that have bars ending in the white or green zones (short bars, meaning the results are close to average). If this is 11 or less, mineral transport is deranged.

16 or 17 (can't tell with one--it's right on the green/yellow border) of my elements end in the white or green.

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

5. If any two of the above rules are missed by only one, mineral transport is deranged.

Ack! I definitely miss rule #3 by just one, and I'm wondering if I'm close to missing rule #1 by just one.

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

Also keep in mind, if you're taking a medication or supplements that are making you feel better, they may be doing so by changing how your body is able to utilize nutrients, and that would be reflected (if the supplementation has gone on long enough) in the hair test.

Hmmm, would this include cod liver oil or fish oil?


So, maybe I'm close to being mercury toxic? I do have about a dozen of the symptoms that are listed as being a sign of being mercury toxic--but I guess the symptoms could be caused by something else.

[tanyalynn]

Follow-on for hair test interpretation

Instead of just being pass/fail, there are gradations of unusual, to give some perspective to the numbers. I'll see if I can make it sorta presentable:

Rules 1&2 ...... Rule 3 ....... Rule 4

Ordinary & average ....... 9 to 14 ...... 0 or 1 ....... >=15
Not uncommon .....8 ...... 2 ....... 14
Unusual ....... 7 ...... 3 ........ 13
Suspicious .... 6 .... n/a ..... 12
Abnormal (fails counting rules) .... <=5 .... >=4 ..... <=11

So #1 at 7 is unusual, #2 at 14 is ordinary, #3 at 3 is unusual, #4 is ordinary.

That said, when I was in my early teens and got my fillings, how long would it have taken for me to fail a hair test? The allergies and anxiety started in the same timeframe (given that I'm looking back 20 years)--I mean within 2 years, definitely, of when I got my fillings, but would I have failed then? If you have other symptoms that don't seem to be silver-related (or if you just want to avoid the possibility sometime down the road), I'd tend to say, treat for the silver now and start looking for a good dentist. But, I'd say you'll likely need to wait at least 2 years to TTC. But I'm not sure how long the silver would take to clear up on its own (the frequent dose chelation yahoo group could probably help with that) so maybe you won't lose a lot of time.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by dhammamama

hi! i'm in the midst of amalgam removal. two quadrants down, two to go, with my third tomorrow. i started because of pain in a crown, so the work is proceeding more quickly than i'd imagined, as i want to complete it w/i 30-60 days. i did not have a hair test, but have several autoimmune issues, as well as other long standing health problems so it's seems like a good idea to get them out.

to say i'm feeling overwhelmed would not begin to cover it!!! i'm slowly making my way through the thread, as well as cutler's and huggin's and others books.

my dds is good-- biologic, following good protocol etc. but it's still stressful.

i'm not sure what to do next. am i understanding correctly that if i chose to chelate w/ only ALA I don't start that for several months? but if i want to do dmsa I start that w/i a few days of my last removal? i'm still not clear from what i've read if people have better luck with either protocol. it seems to be very much up to the individual.

have i made a huge mistake by not doing the hair analysis first? and is there any benefit to doing it after the last amalgam removal?

ty!
dmamma

Are you taking any supplements now? Your body could probably use the detox support while you go through this. Cutler has a list of suggestions, but no brands. The frequent dose chelation group can share brands that they use.

FWIW, I use Perque2 life guard as my multi (I take 6/day), vitamin C to bowel tolerance (at times this has been very high), Perque's Bone Guard Forte 20 for extra minerals, a sublingual b-12 and extra magnesium.

Also, how are you on fatigue-type issues? Lots of folks seem to have stressed adrenals and thyroid, which it seems like can be seen, somewhat, with a hair test (though I think direct testing of each is more accurate). I've seen that chelation is somewhat stressful, for me particularly on my adrenals (I think my thyroid's hanging in there, I think the high-dose minerals I'm taking are keeping my thyroid functional).

A saliva test from canary club (or any 4x/day saliva or blood test) would be the most complete to evaluate your adrenals and then you'd know where you stand and whether you need to have some supplements on-hand for that. My adrenals are the biggest day-to-day problem I've got right now, so I vote for having a reasonable idea (testing or just symptomatically) of where you are going into it.

Thinking about these now and having things sorta lined up may be useful. You know that graph in Cutler's book, the one that shows people tending to feel better for months 1-3 post-removal, and then cycling down for months 4-6 and then starting to improve? That's been true for me, and I chelated through this time period (with a few longer breaks than is typical due to life getting in the way). Chelating is supposed to make it easier, it wouldn't be fun if it were worse.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by dhammamama

i'm not sure what to do next. am i understanding correctly that if i chose to chelate w/ only ALA I don't start that for several months? but if i want to do dmsa I start that w/i a few days of my last removal? i'm still not clear from what i've read if people have better luck with either protocol. it seems to be very much up to the individual.

ty!
dmamma

I wanted to get back to this. I think the sicker people are, the more care they need to take in trying things and starting really slow to see if they tolerate it. On principle, I think doing the dmsa is helpful just because it helps excrete some of the mercury before the body starts dumping, so I think it's helpful if people can tolerate it. At places like frequent dose chelation, I think the sicker people post more because they need more help.

[tanyalynn]

I wanted to share a quick update on how we're doing. I've been putting it off because I hit a stumbling block with my son and I was frustrated with myself.

First, on me: my HCP recommended something, even before I got my fillings removed, that she promised was helpful, but I never saw a real distinct improvement until recently.

http://www.perque.com/pdfs/Pt_Ascorbate_Slush_FIN.pdf

It's called a vitamin C flush, and it's basically taking vitamin C in regular, increasing doses until you get lots of watery diarrhea. It helps reduce the toxic load in the body--as I did this, my daily vitamin C need (the amount I could take every day before I got diarrhea) went down from 45g to 4-5g (it took multiple flushes to do this). I saw that happening, but I didn't notice feeling better from it (though I'm sure it was good for me). The flushes seem to help get rid of toxins that are already circulating--it seems like there are levels of accessible/less-accessible toxins, and stuff like ALA is needed to get it out of key places like the brain, but toxins that are easier to reach can be gotten rid of like this--and I think it helps tolerate the more potent stuff like ALA.

But I found it most useful after I started the ALA. I was doing the flushes (and still am) every week, a day or two after a round with DMSA and then sometime the next week, but it was after the ALA that I really saw it help. In the days after one of my early rounds with DMSA+ALA I started to notice my mood and motivation really dip, it was especially bad because we were about to move. I was really struggling, and I was really surprised when I did one of these flushes and the next day, I had _significantly_ more energy and my mood was a lot better. My mom (who was visiting to help with the mood) really noticed, and I got a lot more accomplished.

I think these have really helped prevent me from getting bogged down while chelating. I assume they helped before I got my amalgams out (I was doing them then, as well as a day or two after I got my amalgams out each time) but I can't say I noticed an immediate reaction until I started the ALA.

I do them 24-36 hrs after rounds--I did one once <24hrs after the end of a round and it didn't seem to help as much--I actually ended up doing another flush just 3-4 days later and that helped with mood/motivation type stuff. I don't know how individual the timing is.

Anyway, wanted to share, since it's working for me.

For my son--it's been a lesson in making mistakes even when you think you're doing okay. The last round with him was back in mid-June. I had a stomach bug earlier that week, and it never occurred to me to be extra careful with him. He'd been at his old dosage of ALA for a few rounds and tolerated it just fine, so we decided to increase his dosage. I don't think the new dosage was necessarily too much/too soon, but combined with a stomach bug, it wasn't good.

I started the round Saturday, and on Sunday he started stuttering and stammering, and mouthing objects in odd ways, and chewing his shirt, and doing some odd sensory things, like crawling with his forehead on the floor. And because I always give the kids lots of extra vitC to help with any metals that the ALA drops (to try to maximize the detox pathways), I didn't realize that the diarrhea wasn't just me over-shooting what he needed, it was an illness. And since it was a gut illness, I think they're harder on the body overall and I think it really degraded his ability to deal with the toxins I was pulling out.

I hadn't ever thought "what happens if he shows new symptoms during a round?" This had never come up for me before, everything has gone pretty smoothly with him. Conventional wisdom is to stop right away, and I should've, but I finished the round. We've been trying to play catch-up to all the metals that were mobilized ever since, and disruptions to our routines (a move, a long vacation, the hurricane) have slowed us down (interestingly, I saw his stuttering get a lot worse when I was really stressed about the move and he was stressed cause mom was stressed--good lesson in how stress affects the body). Anyway, I'm hoping we're getting close to being caught up, the symptoms are less (no clothing chewing, no weird crawling, still occasional stuttering/stammering, a bit of mouthing). I felt sh!tty, even knowing that I'm trying hard.

[annie12345]

...

Edited by annie12345 - 5/15/11 at 9:07pm

[rayo de sol]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

I felt sh!tty, even knowing that I'm trying hard.

This stuff is so hard to figure out. It seems incredibly complicated.

[rayo de sol]

Originally Posted by annie12345

Mercury toxicity might be masked by the high silver - might not - I have read extensively on my own testing but not this one.

Really? What have you read that indicates this (I mean, is it a source I could access)?

Thank you so much for your input on my test. It's hard to figure out on my own.

I haven't had much luck researching high silver so far. It seems like every source I've found so far states that silver is NOT a toxic metal. I'm so confused now....

[rayo de sol]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

But, I'd say you'll likely need to wait at least 2 years to TTC.

Thanks for all the good info!

Perhaps no one can answer this question, but given my NOT failing the counting rules as of now, will I irreversibly damage my future child if I choose NOT to remove my 9 amalgams and chelate before TTC?

I'd really rather not go to the dentist: I have a dentist phobia, I don't know of a good dentist, the expense, the fact that they can't remove the mercury fillings without drilling out more of the virgin tooth, the risk of being exposed to a larger quantity of mercury during the removal, and I guess there's that my health isn't so desperately horrible yet that I'm motivated enough to want to get my fillings out.

I was hoping to start TTC next summer. I'm getting old (mid-thirties), and I can't wait much longer.

I'm in a panic about my future child's health.

I guess I'll try to see what I can do about the silver and re-test in a few months.

[abemom2]

HI! I'm thinking of removing some amalgam fillings, but would like to know my mercury levels to decide if timing is right. (I think high, considering what's in my mouth, symptoms...)

What are the recommended tests and from which labs? I'm new to it. I would also like to test for some of the more common toxins. What would they be?

Something not too expensive.

I'm in Canada if it makes a difference. (I understand it's basically by mail.)
Thanks so much,
Ana

[Panserbjorne]

I would use DDI. It's inexpensive and does a large number of metals as well as a mineral profile. The only caveat is that you do need to understand how to read it.

[dhammamama]

tanya,

thanks for all your input, esp about the C flushes. i've been doing serious supplementation since january, including adrenal (basedon saliva test results) and thyroid (AI) support, so feel i was in a pretty good place to start amalgam removal. As good as possible!!

i'm through 3 quadrants now and had a little difficulty (pain swelling etc) but *am* feeling mentally clearer. i'm going to hold off on the last quadrant for a couple of weeks to give my face some time to heal.

i have a meeting w/ a detox doc, too, at the end of the month so will be grateful for that support. this all feels quite overwhelming at times. right now i have a packet of info for him i need to complete and that task feels monumental. just trying to take it one step at a time.

i have cutler's book and like it, but find it slightly difficult to navigate. i don't know if that's brain fog or the organization/layout/ font/paper etc. probably both. but i'm making my way through it circuitously.

i find the financial part of this journey _extremely_ stressful. but i was so low it feels like i had no choice.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by rayo de sol

Perhaps no one can answer this question, but given my NOT failing the counting rules as of now, will I irreversibly damage my future child if I choose NOT to remove my 9 amalgams and chelate before TTC?

and I guess there's that my health isn't so desperately horrible yet that I'm motivated enough to want to get my fillings out.

I was hoping to start TTC next summer. I'm getting old (mid-thirties), and I can't wait much longer.

I'm in a panic about my future child's health.

I guess I'll try to see what I can do about the silver and re-test in a few months.

Keep in mind where I'm coming from as you read this--I'm chelating myself and my 2yo and my 4yo. Honestly, I don't think you want to be me. While I am grateful for many of the lessons I have learned in this journey, if there were an easier way to learn these lessons, I would have chosen that.

It was _enormously_ stressful to decide whether I should chelate my children. Wow, one of the most stressful decisions I've ever had to make. And accepting that my kids' health was so compromised that this was my best choice... was a bummer.

If you think you've got symptoms that are not silver-related (and you should go to frequent dose chelation or another place and find out how long resolving silver toxicity takes, and if there are any other things you should do to help there), then considering the mercury next is a good idea. Your test isn't completely clear on mercury, but it has to be taken in the context of how you feel. If you felt great and your health seemed perfectly fine, then your results would be more likely to be innocent. But the cost of being wrong--it's the lingering doubts, and those can't ever be resolved. What does it mean that my son was exposed to so much mercury before his birth that he started life with toxicity symptoms? We all have some heavy metals, but he had enough that I could start seeing odd things as early as 6 months, though the picture didn't become clear until later. I don't know what that means for the rest of his life or his health, and I'm just trying hard to fix as much as I can and hope everything else is fine.

And one thing--if this is the beginning of getting sick, a) pregnancy and nursing are very nutritionally draining (I'm sure that hastened my health problems) and b) fixing this stuff while caring for little kids is a drag. It's been hard on my marriage, really bad on our finances, and it's just such a huge effort to put in. I'm tired out and I feel bad and so I'm not the parent I want to be. I haven't felt good for any of my son's lifetime, and not for most of my daughter's. I'm not saying this as a Tanya pity-party because I know I have a lot to be grateful for, but if this is coming down the pike at you, then I'd try to avoid the worst of it if I could.

So that's where I'm coming from, I know not everyone counts the risks and benefits the same way.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by dhammamama

tanya,

i find the financial part of this journey _extremely_ stressful. but i was so low it feels like i had no choice.

I hear you on that! I am feeling particularly frustrated about finances too right now. The supplements for multiple people add up, but even more than that is the choices we've made--me quitting work and a move which has not been a positive one financially so far. I've been struggling to have faith that this will work out to the best for our family in the long-term.