Well, I began chelation about 4 weeks ago. This past weekend I increased my DMSA dosage from 12.5 mg to 25 mg. At 12.5mg I felt wired, had bowel issues from loose stools to constipation, and insomnia. I kept at it though. I increased the dmsa to 25 mg because I wasn't doing that bad and felt much clearer. I now have pressure all over my head and am completely brainfogged. On 25 mg I had terrible insomnia, constipation, fatigue, and feeling tired,but wired all the time. I can bearly think straight. I have high levels of lead and mercury was at the upper level of the average range. So I called my doctor and he suggested I try the dmps pills instead to see how I feel. I will wait at least a week in a half till I do this. He said I may have some hidden mercury in my body and asked me if I ate alot of tuna fish as a child. Of course the answer was yes. Anyway, I am feeling quite discouraged and so desperately want to get better. I also called a doctor about edta iv's which are incredibly expensive- $135.00 per treatment and I'm scared to do this. My doctor told me lets try the oral route first to see if this helps. He said sometimes he combines dmps pills with edta pills. I don't know if what I am feeling is a yeast flare or not. Anyway, just an update. Any thoughts?
Actually you sound like you found the right dose--12mg. This is the dose that is most commonly acceptable in the early rounds according to reports from members in the Cutler groups.
In the Yahoo Cutler groups we are taught not to double the dose! We only increase by 50%. We also stay on a particular dose for at least a few rounds since sfx sometimes build up over a few rounds.
You sound like you need more magnesium and maybe vitamin c. these are two of the important supplements to take while on round--and off too--cf Cutler's books or the Files section of the frequent dose chelation yahoo group.
What supplements are you taking, how much and how frequently?
There are supplements you can take for those symptoms. Cutler has much on them in his Amalgam Illness book--noamalgam.com
Oral DMPS is usually better tolerated, esp if there is a history of nasty candida. I suggested it to a female friend for her early rounds since she has anxiety and is so sensitive. She is doing surprisingly well--as long as she does not forget her magnesium!
I used DMSA--16mg in the early rounds before adding a little ALA. I'm quite sensitive to ALA and the DMSA helps with the ALA sfx--fog, lethargy, etc. The sfx are manageable.
In the Cutler groups, if you get a reaction to taking a Hg chelator that is considered a strong indication that you actually do have an Hg problem. Your symptoms while on round with 12mg were the symptoms we see on round when Hg is involved.
STAY AWAY FROM EDTA when Hg is involved! It is rather well known to make Hg more toxic to the brain! It is an old chelator of lead but it really not necessary for most heavy metals since there are better ones now--DMSA, DMPS, ALA, and maybe some day, OSR.
Actually you have not even begun to get to the "hidden" mercury. You'll get to that with ALA. DMSA and DMPS mostly get to the HMs in the blood and extracellular space. However this is what you want to clear at this time. You don't want ALA finding Hg in the blood and carrying it *into* the brain as seen in at least one study with mice.
Remember some of us are not good at excreting HMs. You are likely one of them. There is thought to be a genetic component to this. Boyd Haley, former chair of the chem dept at the U of KY is an excellent source of info on this. http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/7383821
Therefore you sound like you are on track except you need to get better supported with supplements.
This is not a short process. Stick with low doses in the beginning as you tweak the supplement support and tweak your dosing schedule. After nearly 2 yrs I've been sticking with low doses so I'm functional while on round. I'm still only taking 10mg ALA + 20mg DMSA. I've had many, many gains. After being a sick and brain fogged for 15 yrs I am so grateful that I chose to chelate. It has changed my life and is changing the lives of those around me as they've witnessed my transformation!
I think you are wise to work with a doctor, even if he is a newbie at this too. Most doctors are. Mine was too. We were learning on the go but Cutler's information has been really quite accurate. I suppose the 15,000 members in the Yahoo chelation groups over the past 10 yrs have given him lots of experience. Of course that's on top of his own recovery from Hg.
I'm happy for you. It sounds like you are on the right track.
Thanks Joe- I really need the encouragement to push on. The most debilitating symptom was that I had insomnia and could not sleep on 12.5mg. This is what made the round a disaster. ON the 25mg my head pressure was so bad I could barely stand it. SO now what you are saying is that with added magnesium and vit c I am more likely to tolerate the dmsa? Should I take more herbal laxatives so I am excreting better? Also, should I be taking a yeast killer such as nystatin at the same time as taking the chelator? I'm sorry for all these questions. Do you think dmps will do me any good since I have high levels of lead? Thanks loads - I need added support at this time.
I have no experience with chelation (still have amalgams) but the yeast I can address. Alot of ppl take nystatin incorrectly or without excluding sugar from the diet which renders it useless. You want nystatin powder which you mix in water 1/8 tsp 4 times a day. You can get it with no RX at Fludan.com for about $100 for a 90 day supply. Nystatin is safe to use since it does not enter the blood stream, but it works via contact with the yeast so that's why you still have to eliminate sugar (bread, alcohol, etc) or it won't help. The other antifungals are much more powerful but they also blow out your liver, which would not be ideal while chelating.
Also for the laxatives, I take vit C powder as sodium ascorbate (buffered so it won't erode teeth) 1 tsp in water every morning - 4 grams - and it has a laxative effect with no cramping. It is the pure crystals so has no binders and fillers like the pills.
I hope to be joining the ranks of chelators soon and get this crap out of my body and brain! All this to undo what someone made money on when I was just a kid. Can you imagine - drilling teeth and putting toxic crap into little kids. Also injecting toxic crap into babies, kids, and adults.
" The most debilitating symptom was that I had insomnia ...
Did you try melatonin, Mg, Gaba, maybe 5htp?
"...with added magnesium and vit c I am more likely to tolerate the dmsa?
From my experience, that of a close female friend and 2 yrs in the Cutler groups, I'd be surprised if 12mg is not close to the right dose with proper supplements. Some don't tolerate the discomfort as well as others. Some choose to lower the dose to 6 or 8mg for a few while. This is quite individual.
"Should I take more herbal laxatives ...
Beware of impact on liver. Cutler does not seem to be big on those, except maybe milk thistle which has a nice laxative effect on me while on round.
" should I be taking a yeast killer such as nystatin...
You received some really good tips from other members on this. There is a rather long list of suggestions from Cutler in a doc on Neutrophils in the Files section of the Frequent dose chelation yahoo group.
"Do you think dmps will do me any good since I have high levels of lead?
Check Cutler's hair test book on lead but I don't think he thinks we need to chelate with dmsa every week to get rid of it. There are many people using primarily dmps but occasional dmsa rounds, esp if candida is an issue.
There is so much more information available in his books and in the archives of the yahoo groups which are hosted at onibasu.com
I suggest drinking lots of water and going to the bathroom as much as possible to help get the toxins out. You should also go to a sauna to help sweat out the metals ASAP (assuming you aren't already doing these things). That should help you relieve your symptoms in the short run.
If you don't have access to a sauna, then I recommend making yourself sweat and then showering off. I also take a hot bath while keeping the top part of my body out of the water. That helps me sweat out the metals too.
google "garry gordon edta" guy spent 30 or so years researching it and i think was the original guy to find out what it does with lead, mercury etc, foot pads with cilantro tincture on them are safe and work (have seen pre and post hair tests) also zeolite, cutler hates all these things but this garry gordon guy is one of a kind and have seen the pre and post hair tests myself so.. also theres nothing like colonic irrigations to get your intestines functioning properly so they can get the garbage out
In the Adverse Reactions folder in the Links section of the frequent dose chelation yahoo group you'll find dozens of reports from members about the damage done by various "chelation" substances. Some of the worst stories are from those who used cilantro, including the FDC group founder.
"colonic irrigations to get your intestines functioning properly so they can get the garbage out"
This is a perfect example of the foolish stuff people post on the net.
Organic Hg in fish and vaccines easily get across the blood brain barrier but sometimes get converted there to inorganic Hg. Inorganic Hg does not come out of the brain at a medically useful rate--it essentially gets stuck there, especially in those with certain detox related genes.
How is a colonic going to get that Hg out of the brain?!
A little harsh, but I agree with your statement. I was considering clay baths for my little one (speech delay) and posted on the yahoo autism recovery group and was bombarded with very distressed parents pleading with me NOT to try to chelate myself or my kid with clay, cilantro, natural chelation "tinctures" that are sold all over the place, etc. One lady's husband went to a spa for this (I think soaked in mineral spring water or maybe clath or both) and never recovered the mental capacity that he lost.
It scared me into doing hundreds of hours of research to really understand that this is not like a diet or vitamins or something to play around with. Loosening the heavy metals and allowing them to redistribute in worse places can make you worse and cause permanent damage in kids.
I am sticking with the Cutler protocol as it is proven effective over and over, and is the safest method with low, frequent dosing.
My plan is to successfully chelate myself and do a hair analysis on my kid to see what her levels are. Her speech is improving and I do not vaccinate her, so I may not address her issues at all depending on what the hair analysis says. Sometimes chelating is not worth the risk in kids.
So please please people understand the seriousness of what you're doing, and only use the methods that are exact and have been proven effective. I highly recommend the yahoo group recoveryfromautism for a wealth of info on chelating children and reading the hair test.
I respect the difficulty involving the decision to try to address a possible HM problem. Testing for HMs stinks--short of an autopsy! Often we are left with suspicious test results--hair, porphyrins, urine, etc, plus a suspicious symptom list.
I hope to get around to posting two more in the coming days. They are much more interesting with borderline red high Cd on one and borderline red lead in the other. Yes, it is strange but supposedly different things come out at different times.
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dmsa chelation- fourth round a disaster 
