Chelating mamas?

Toraji -
Hi. I've seen your posts on NT so I know that we're coming from the same place nutritionally. I had the last of my fillings removed per protocol at the end of October and had been playing with "to chelate or not to chelate". I hate taking pills esp. chemicals/drugs so the idea of DMSA was not a pretty one to me. I seriously looked at a lot of natural chelators, but I kept running into nightmare stories of neurological consequences. I finally bought Cutler's book (35 dollars including shipping - he is in WA so you might get it cheaper). The book was worth the money. I learned a lot and was kept from doing some things that might have been harmful. I was also considering just ALA until I read Cutler's book. ALA chelates mercury from the brain and organs, but it isn't a one way street. Mercury could also enter the brain when using ALA. The purpose of starting with DMSA is to chelate a significant amount of extracellular mercury out of the blood before using the ALA. If you have high blood levels and use the ALA too soon you could actually be allowing more mercury to enter your brain ! Please invest in the book. This was one of many important facts that I learned.
Cutler's biggest point is to go low (dose) and slow. I started on the low doses of DMSA that he suggested this week and thought I was safe. I started 50 mg DMSA and increased to 100mg as he suggests. I had no problems. I went to this frequent chelation yahoo group http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group...ose-chelation/
that implements his protocols and found out that many of them have injured themselves by using the amounts that I started on. They suggest starting at 12.5 mg and being VERY safe. Most of them sound much more toxic than I do and that might have more to do with the amounts of DMSA/ALA tolerated.
My supplements : High vit butter oil, high vit CLO, Rainbow Light Multi. NA ascorbate and biflav., adrenal organ supplements, and CA. I was considering selenium, but I get 200 in my multi and eat pastured dairy, eggs, meat, produce from my high selenium state. I also just started taking mag, zinc, B50and milk thistle per Cutler's protocol. I should also be taking molybdenum, but haven't gotten there yet. I want to vomit when I see how crowded my supplement cabinet is, but I want to do this safely and would rather take all these supplements plus DMSA for hopefully just a year than keep the mercury in my body.

Moneca

Toraji,
I ordered my 25 mg DMSA from www.vrp.com Some of the folks on the yahoo chelating site use this and no script is needed. I'm doing this on my own for two reasons. First, dd has health issues and we're spending all we can on her alternative care bills and nutrient dense food . Second, the three NDs I use know NOTHING about chelating safely. One talked me into a DMSA challenge. I was very lucky. She used a low dose challenge (250 mg) and I only had a mild headache. I've since learned that headache is the biggest symptom of mercury redistribution to the brain .
The info that I gave you on ALA is on page 204 middle of the left column and again on the bottom right of page 202 which continues to the top of page 203in Cutler's book. This is in the appendix which is probably why you missed it. I almost didn't go through the appendix, but found some valuable info that was not previously mentioned. Yes, I'd love to bounce chelation thoughts of each other . I'm sure there is a bunch I overlooked despite my best efforts. I read it the first time with a highlighter and then reread those sections three more times after a few days.
JaneS will probably be starting to chelate soon, but is currently too sleep deprived from ds to think of waking up any more in the wee hours than she already does.

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YUP! :

I need to though... I can't keep blaming my memory losses on lack of sleep can I?

I think I've been very lucky in that I think I've basically only seen improvements after the removal of my 10 fillings. My gut still cannot deviate from the SCD too much even with digestive enzymes so I probably need to start with the DMSA too.

I take high vit. CLO, EPO, selenium, B vits, vit. C at every meal and bioflavonoids. Natural Calm magnesium. Zinc sometimes. Tons of yogurt and fermented veggies of course.

I need to find the time to read Andy's book again too.

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Nice to see your face. I knew it wouldn't take too long .
Hey, Sierra is on the weight chart for the first time in 18mo !

I guess I need to order the DMSA then...I'm also going through it on my own for now since money is tight and the only seemingly knowledgeable people to help with chelation are out in the big city which is 2 hours away. I'm seeing a new local practitioner tomorrow to do a craniosacral treatment on DD, she is a chiropractor who is also on board with WAPF nutritionally so I'm hoping that works out though she probably does not know much about chelation.

Interesting about the headache, I had a whopper of one a week or two ago that was triggered by an allergic attack. I have not had one in a very long time, so perhaps there was some detox of mercury being part of that. I don't know how you can tell if you are dumping mercury or not. I have heard that sometimes dentists can mix mercury/lead with the stuff used to fill root canals, and I still have one root canal in my mouth. I don't know if I'm still having mercury exposure or not because of that tooth. Sigh.

Sometimes I get so depressed thinking of all these things that have slowly piled on over the years (like root canals and amalgams) that have affected my health. On the bright side, the past few days I've been feeling a lot more motivated to do things around the house, which I have not felt in a long time so perhaps the fog is lifting after all.

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Yeah, you mean like the root canalled tooth that was removed at the end of my first trimester?

I thought there was a way to check?

A chronic infection could also be an issue...you heard about Weston Price's son dying from one?

Toraji - I just saw a post somewhere regarding x-ray being used to determine whether mercury is present in a root canal. You might also want to go to the yahoo group and ask about that root canal before using the DMSA - just to be safe. I know what you mean about getting overwhelmed when it all seems to be piling up . I finally realized that my body could only heal to a point regardless of eating WAP and taking great supplements if I was still storing mercury. They clear a whole hospital wing with a mercury spill, but it's o.k. to have it in my brain and organs :? I knew in my heart that I had to get the toxin out. My minerals were very skewed on the DDI hair test indicating mercury toxicity. It is worth the peace of mind I hope to have in the next year to start chelation.

Isn't it amazing how many mamas start to have memory loss and difficulty concentrating while pregnant or breastfeeding? I hear lots of women say that it never gets better. I wonder if the way pregnancy/breastfeeding delpletes the body of vitamins and minerals isn't just the final kick in the pants to a mama that is already mercury toxic ? Of course, being on a nutrient dense diet while prego might have a whole different outcome and the mercury problem might not be so obvious. Really makes me wonder how many people are mercury toxic. .

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His only son died from complications of an infected root canal that Price himself placed. This led Price to lead a huge team of researchers for many years to investigate why... he was the principle researcher for the organization which came to be known as the ADA today. He published something like a 1,000 page tome on the dangers of root canals.

More in Dr. Menig's modern book, "Root Canal Cover Up"

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The people who are not on superior diets plus supplements and have amalgams.

Jane,
Thanks for the story. I can't imagine how WP must have felt . Thankfully it motivated him to do phenomenal research for all those who follow .

Well, I am starting my second round of DMSA today. I had a few short mild headaches during my resting week (mercury redistributing), but that was the only issue. I used DMSA 100 mg my first round. I found the weight dosing and cut back to 50mg this round. The cautious folks on the amalgam yahoo group said that I can work my way back up to 100mg in a few weeks despite my weight. I'll take it slow as I plan to add ALA in another 6 weeks and don't want to be increasing as I add a new chelator. So far, so good !

Great to hear!

I've got my DMSA on order. I think I'm dumping mercury despite the root canal, so I'm possibly not getting exposure there. I've had a few headaches so far, but after an initial increase in fogginess after removing the fillings, I've been increasingly clear-headed and much more motivated to actually get out of the house and get things done. It's kind of weird, I've been so long in a state of unmotivation that it's kind of surprising to actually feel like I can mow the lawn without any prodding from DH.