Well, taking advantage of the 3-day weekend, I started the protocol on Saturday as soon as I woke up. I took 12mg of ALA and 1g of vitamin C every 3 hours, and even woke up in the middle of the night more than once (not by choice necessarily) to take it.
I also took algin once a day every day, and wonder if that helped. It's supposed to bind to heavy metals and not let go, and then you remove them via bathroom.
Anyway, I definitely had the side effects of doing the protocol, which included random ups and downs, one moment where I felt a weird feeling come over my whole body and was afraid I was going to become very hungry (but it washed over quickly), and various off-and-on symptoms like some come-and-go headaches. So it's certainly doing something.
The thing is, the side effects were surprisingly mild compared to the horrors other people have mentioned. I'd read people saying they became really forgetful to the point of having "near amnesia", people who had to lower their dose to 6.25mg, and so on. At times I felt like the ALA was doing nothing for me (i.e. no pain no gain), but at other times, I would be fatigued or have some symptom (that would be mild to moderate), a reminder that something was definitely happening. Plus my frequent waking at night during that time.
Well, now I start the 11-day "off" period. I will take algin and milk thistle (not at the same time) once a day during this time. I'm looking forward to taking the ALA again. I'm really thinking maybe I should increase the dose a bit. I just started, but the side effects were so relatively mild compared to what I'd seen other people mention that I wonder if it's moving that much mercury, or if my burden is lower than other people's, or what.
Well, it is looking as though I may be one of those people who feels better on the "on" days than on the "off" days. Whoa. I'd been feeling rather strange today; slightly dizzy, and a feeling in my forehead that's hard to describe, though these symptoms are ones I tend to associate with candida die-off.
Well, time to take algin when I get home. I'll see how my 11 "off" days go. Is ALA supposed to make the mercury move around your body and bloodstream for days after you take it and that's why we have the "off" period? If so, I guess I'll soon see if it's true what they say about algin being able to grab mercury and yank it out. I can't wait!
Chelating affects everybody differently, so it's hard to say what exactly normal side effects are but what you're feeling is not unusual.
It's also not unusual for people to feel bad for a period of time after chelating since your body is still expelling the mercury during that time.
You can experiment with higher doses and more frequent rounds if you feel your body can handle it. Though I would suggest you see how you feel after a few rounds of what you're doing before you begin experimenting.
Okay, will do. I'll stick with 3 on/11 off (some people have reported success with 3 on/4 off) for now, and keep the 12mg dosage.
Yeah, I did expect more side effects, I'll admit. On my "ups", I felt so good and normal that I thought "is this doing anything for me?", but on my downs, while they weren't terrible (I've experienced worse), it was a reminder that I'm definitely doing something. We'll see how I feel the next 10 days.
Yeah, I'd get the euphoria on occasion. It could last for quite a while, or it seems like it. Nice little "side effect". Then my mood wavers in other directions and I'm reminded that, yes, there is mercury moving through my body.
How's this for a reaction? I'm tired, very tired, around 10:30pm just about every day since I stopped taking ALA. I guess this is a good thing. Heck, I don't stay up late (though I do wake up an hour early).
Well, lots of people talk about how they feel worse on their "off" days than their "on", indicating a reaction lasting days after they stop taking it for the moment.
Anyway, I am really looking forward to starting up again next weekend. My schedule is Saturday-Monday. (The reason it's not Friday is because from Friday to Saturday, I tend to sleep a lot longer)
I'm very glad I started, and if my side effects are this minor, then I'm very happy.
"lots of people talk about how they feel worse on their "off" days than their "on", indicating a reaction lasting days after they stop taking it for the moment."
From my experience in the groups over the past two years, a minority of people experience this. Often this group will use DMPS and will do very long rounds with breaks of a week or so between rounds. Some will only use ALA for a few days per week.
I cant say I understand why this happens to some. Maybe they need more sulfur and the chelators are providing more. I always feel more fatigue and lethargy on round.
This all sounds fairly normal. I expect to see sfx the day after the round, hopefully for only about a half day. You should be back to normal during your time off. If you get the dose right, you only have to take a few days off between rounds.
Unfortunatly the strange feeling in the head--some describe it as a "swimming feeling"-- is likely related to redistribution of Hg due to the last dose of the round.
I take more antioxidants-- Vit C E Se--at the end of the round.
After you've done a number of rounds it would be good if you could extend the length of the rounds somewhat. However many of us don't do so well on round and so stick to short rounds on the weekends--Fri afternoon to Monday morning.
Many get fewer sfx, when they use a little DMSA or DMPS along with ALA. Some, myself included, use the combination except we take a few doses of DMSA only at the end of the round for better "mop up" and fewer after-round sfx.
I would not increase the dose for a few rounds. Give yourself time to see how your body will handle the stress of chelation.
Cutler says something like, you are a mammal and you are taking a chelator; therefore you are excreting HMs! He also says that doubling the dose only increases excretion by 33% or so not 100%. I have links to his quotes if needed.
He says take a dose that allows you to feel sfx but also allow you to function.
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First 3-day round of Cutler protocol done! Impressions 
