If I've correctly interpreted counting rules, my son (just turned 5, 40
pounds) isn't mercury toxic (exact results below).  However, he has several
symptoms I thought could be attributed to mercury toxicity:

Extreme sensitivity to light, heat, sound

Extreme hyperactivity to foods with salicylates, high in phenols, B vitamins
(maybe just B-6?), transdermal glutathione, chromium. Sometimes shakes left
hand when really hyper.

Hyperactive, spacey, irritable when eating foods with casein or gluten (I
discovered this on my own a year before I learned about autism and gfcf diet.
Did not come to this conclusion based on a test)

Episodes of dilated pupils

Sensitive to certain smells (scented candles, rubbing alcohol)

Used to refuse to play with or be in groups of children from 2-4 years

Problems with bacteria and yeast overgrowth, and constipation off and on

Inability to sleep more than two or three straight hours from four months of
age until 4 1/2 years of age.

Bed wetting

If not mercury toxic, then what could cause all the above? Could the fact
that he received his last vaccine when he turned two and had his hair test at
four-and-a-half account for mercury not appearing to be a problem? Or perhaps
mercury is a marginal problem and should still be addressed?

Yet in many ways he's always done extremely well. He's gifted verbally and
intellectually, and his motor skills have always been fine as well, so maybe
we dodged a few bullets somewhere.


Supplements currently getting:
milk thistle (20 mg 3x daily)
Vit C. (200 mg 4x day)
Magnesium (usually 50 mg daily)
ProCulture Gold (2 capsules)
Casein-free colostrum (1 tsp)
Calcium (500 mg)
CLO (1/2 tsp transdermally)
Flaxseed (try to get a tsp ground or 1/2 tsp liquid in daily)
Zinc (off and on, seems sometimes to make him hyper, though he is very low in
zinc)
Vitase Digestion Formula (digestive enzyme)

Off and on, I give him B vitamins of various brands, but they invariably make
him extremely hyperactive, even the most hypoallergenic kinds. What do I do?
Give individual Bs? What proportions and amounts? Which are the most
important? I suspect B-6 is the culprit which is making him hyperactive.

Selenium question - Is this useful anytime or only during chelation? How
would I know if it's helpful?

High citrate - Andy has said it can be caused by many things. Is aspartic
acid useful for this no matter what the cause? How does aspartic acid work?
Can it be harmful in any way to my son? What would dose be?

Should I chelate? Gradually over the past six months, he seems to be getting
better behaviorally, and I wonder if left to his own (if mercury isn't the
issue) if he'd get completely better. Of course, I'd prefer not to chelate if
he's not considered toxic.

Thanks,
Debbie ...DDI Hair test results below in format recommended by Moria:

Toxic element    reading  ref.             color     band           approx.
%????(not sure)
Aluminum          20         <8.0           yellow   middle         90%
Antimony           0.078    <0.066        yellow   middle        70%
Arsenic              0.2       <0.08          yellow   middle        92%
Beryllium           <0.01    <0.02          blank    blank          blank
Bismuth             0.025    <0.13         green    low              50%?
Cadmium           0.043    <0.15          green    low             52%?
Lead                  1.2       <1.0            yellow   middle        69%
Mercury             0.21      <0.4           green    low             55%?
Platinum            <0.003  <0.005        blank    blank          blank
Thallium             <0.001  <0.01         blank     blank          blank
Thorium             <0.001  <0.005        blank    blank           blank
Uranium             0.083    <0.06         yellow   middle         70%
Nickel                0.16     <0.4            green    low             58%?
Silver                 0.1       <0.2            green    low             60%
Tin                    0.76      <0.3            yellow   middle        90%
Titanium            0.57      <1.0            green    low             58%
Total tox:                                         yellow   midldle        85%

Elements
Calcium             121       125-370      yellow   medium*     14%
Magnesium        19        12-30          white     middle        50%
Sodium              64        12-90          green    low             60%
Potassium         76         12-40          yellow   medium       88%
Copper              13         8.0-16         green    low             55%
Zinc                   36        100-190       red       high            2.5%
Manganese        0.11      0.2-0.55      yellow   medium        5%
Chromium          0.41      0.26-0.5      green    low             55%
Vanadium          0.063    0.03-0.1      green    low              53%
Molybdenum      0.1        0.05-0.13    green    low             60%
Boron                4.7        0.6-4.0        yellow   medium       85%
Iodine                0.33      0.25-1.3      green    low             25%
Lithium              0.007    .007-.023     green    low             20%
Phosphorus       220       160-250       green    low            53%
Selenium           1.2        0.95-1.7      white    middle         48%
Strontium           0.06     0.16-1.0       red       high            3%
Sulfur                49400    45500-53000  green low             52%
Barium              0.13      0.16-0.8      yellow   medium       8%
Cobalt               0.014    0.013-0.035  green   low              18%
Iron                   11         8.0-19         white    middle         50%
Germanium        0.045    0.045-0.065  yellow  medium      15%
Rubidium           0.072    0.016-0.18   green    low             53%
Zirconium           0.075    0.04-1.0      green    low             20%

Ratios:
Ca/Mg   6.46      4-30
Ca/P     0.549    0.8-8
Na/K     0.845    0.5-10
ZN/Cu    2.75     4-20
Zn/Cd    834       >800               

*Not sure what you want for bands. I made red=High, yellow=medium, green=low


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]