This article examines Chelating Protocol and the Chelating Agent(s)
available for Mercury intoxication. I don't know if PN and Mercury
intoxication has any cause and effect relationship. Allopathic
medicine and ADA dentists currently debate whether Mercury amalgams
are dangerous or benign to our health. But since there is no
conclusive evidence that Mercury is beneficial to our health, I
decide to chelate.

I highly recommend the following books for your reference.

1. Autoimmune Disease: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About
Autoimmune Disease
by Dr. Stephen B. Edelson and Debra Mitchell

2. Mercury Intoxication: Amalgam Illness: Diagnosis and Treatment
by Dr. Andrew Hall Cutler

3. Biodentist and Safer Amalgam removal protocol:
Uninformed Consent: The Hidden Dangers in Dental Care
by Dr. Hal Huggins, developer of the Huggins protocol


Chelating Agents: There are many different chelating agents
depending on what you are trying to chelate.

Mercury: DMPS, DMSA, Alpha Lipoic Acid
Lead: EDTA


Dr. Cutler and Dr. Edelson disagreed about the chelating protocols.
Dr. Edelson uses both Oral and IV methods. Dr. Cutler feels using
IV for the challenge, or for therapy, can be unsafe for some
people. Here are some horror stories from patients about the DMPS
challenge and how it backfired.

http://www.dmpsbackfire.com/default.shtml

The safer mercury detoxification protocol:

1. Remove all amalgams using a Biodentist who uses the Huggin's
protocol. Dr. Hal Huggins developed a protocol to remove amalgams
safer. When you interview Biodentist, just make sure they are
experienced using the Huggins protocol.

Here's a link with more information.

http://www.amalgam.org/

2. After amalgam removal, have your doctor check to see if you are
healthy enough to detox and chelate mercury. My liver and kidney
was not strong enough to chelate immediately so I needed to detox
and strengthen my liver and kidney
before chelating.

This was my chelating protocol, customized for my tolerance level.
I took an initial dose of 12.5 mg per dose because the DMSA I got
from Thorne Research came in 100 mg capsules. I opened one
capsule, divided it into 8 doses so each dose is approximately 12.5
mg. I do know some people who had trouble with even the low range
of 1/4 mg per pound per dose. My doctor revised Dr. Cutler's
protocol downward to 1/32 mg per pound per dose, making it even more
conservative than what Dr. Cutler recommended. Everyone's body is
different so a general rule to remember is this: You can always
revise Dr. Cutler's protocol on dosing amounts downwards, making it
more conservative, but don't revise upward, making it more
aggressive. Taking less than 1/4 mg per pound per dose is fine.
Just don't take more than 1/2 mg per pound per dose since the body
can only handle so much chelation and detoxification. This is a
classic case of more doesn't always equal better.


Cutler's Safer Protocol: This is Cutler's protocol.

DMPS: 2,3 dimercaptopropane sulfonate sodium
DMSA: meso-2,3 dimercaptosuccinic acid
ALA: Alpha Lipoic Acid

Chelating Agents: These are the possible options.

1. DMSA alone followed by DMSA and ALA

2. DMPS alone followed DMPS and ALA

3. ALA is the only common chelator to effectively cross the blood
brain barrier, so you will need to use ALA at some point to clear
mercury from the brain.

4. ALA has specific risks because it crosses the blood brain
barrier. It's not recommended for use soon after mercury exposure
like right after amalgam removal.

5. ALA tends to lessen copper excretion, so people should check
their copper levels when using ALA.

Dosing Frequency: Choose the one that applies to the agent you are
using.

1. DMSA every four hours including at night. 24-hour day, you have
6 doses.

2. ALA every three hours. 24-hour day you have 8 doses.

3. DMSA and ALA, every 3 hours to make it simple.

4. DMPS every 8 hours


Dosage Amounts:

1. DMSA: 1/32 mg to 1/2 mg of DMSA per pound of body weight, per
dose. For example, if you weight 100 lbs.

1/32 of 100 lbs = 3.125 mg of DMSA per each dose.
1/2 of 100 lbs = 50 mg of DMSA per each dose.

I started oral DMSA at 12.5 mg per dose, 8 doses a day, for a total
of 100 mg per day.

2. ALA: 1/32 mg to 1/2 mg of ALA per pound of body weight, per dose.

3. DMSA and ALA: Whether used alone like above, or together, same
dosing amounts.

4. DMPS (alone): 1/32 mg to 1 mg of DMPS per pound of body weight,
per dose.

5. DMPS and ALA: Follow ALA dosing on 2, and DMPS alone dosing on 4.

Length of cycle:

3 days on and 4 days off
3 days on and 11 days off

I chose 3 days on and 4 days off. I chelated on Friday, Saturday
and Sunday, and took the other 4 days off so it would not impact my
work schedule too bad. So in one 7-day week, I would complete one
cycle.

How long to wait after amalgam removal before chelating:

DMSA: 4 days after removal since DMSA cannot effectively cross the
blood brain barrier.

ALA: at least 3 months after removal since ALA can effectively
cross the blood brain barrier.

Mercury Mobilizing and Redistribution:

It is VERY IMPORTANT to take the chelators in the frequency and the
amounts recommended above to MINIMIZE mercury mobilization and
redistribution problems. It's impossible to completely AVOID
mobilizing and redistributing mercury since you must stop chelating
at some point to allow you body to rest and recover. Proper
frequency is every 3 hours for ALA, every 4 hours for DMSA, and
every 8 hours for DMPS.

Dr. Cutler said this is the one area that can cause the most
backfires because people just don't realize the importance of
following the dosing frequency. Many of the backfire problems are
related to improper dosing frequency since some people don't want to
get up at night every 3 hours to dose themselves. The other
backfire problem is improper dosing amounts, taking too much
chelator,whether orally or worse by IV, and overwhelming the body
and its organs. Please, for your own sake, read carefully the
information above, fully understand it, before you decide to chelate.

Weak Mobilizers are not effective chelators: DMPS, DMSA, and Alpha
Lipoic Acid are the effective mercury chelators. Weak mobilizers
like Cilanto, Chlorella, N-acetylcystiene, EDTA, DMSO, Glutathione,
and many more, are weak mobilizers and are not as effective at
chelating mercury. Dr. Cutler goes into significant details about
sulfur groups, thiols, etc. and explained why this is so important
to understand since mobilizing mercury can move mercury from dormant
areas of the body to very important areas of the body like the
brain. You can read all the details in his well-researched book
mentioned above. Just focus on the three effective mercury
chelators: DMPS, DMSA, and Alpha Lipoic Acid, all in oral form.


Questions and Answers:

Did chelating mercury help with your PN?

It helped my overall health, which is my focus. I didn't do mercury
chelation with an expectation about how it may affect PN.


Why are IV and or large infrequent dosing potentially dangerous?

It's dangerous because when IV chelators are used, the amounts are
larger, and direct to the bloodstream. If someone has a weak liver
and kidney, overwhelming their body with a large spike of mercury
chelator is a terrible idea, and may backfire as described above.
Some people lament and say Dr. Cutler's protocol is such a hassle
(getting up every 3-4 hours). Is he serious? Yes, Dr. Cutler is
deadly serious!! Mercury chelators are water soluble, which means
it can only stay in the body temporarily. Therefore, ALA and DMSA
will stay in the body for about 3 to 4 hours, and DMPS for about 8
hours. Maintain the frequency window to minimize mobilizing and
redistribution problems. Ideally, let's say you do 3 days on and 4
days off, with the combination chelator of DMSA and ALA. That would
mean you have 8 doses per day, 24 total doses for the 3 consecutive
days, and would only face redistribution problems when you stop the
cycle after the 24th dose. The key to minimizing redistribution is
always having a level dose of chelators in the body so when the
first dose is leaving the body, you have a follow-up dose ready to
go into the body to chelate what the first dose left behind. Some
people feel Dr. Cutler's protocol is such a hassle, or feel the
redistribution risk is not a big deal for them. They take the
chelators on their convenient schedule, like one large dose a day,
or just during the day and skipping the night doses, or one large IV
per week, etc. They value their convenience more than their
safety. The bottom line is, what do you value more? I value my
safety more, so accordingly, I chose to follow Dr. Cutler's protocol
on dosing frequency and amounts.

Why chelate mercury first, before other metals?

Chelating mercury first is just more effective. Unlike other metals
(lead, copper, aluminum, etc.), the body has a more difficult time
getting rid of mercury.

What side effects did you experience, if any?

Since I followed Dr. Cutler's protocol and the dosing amounts I took
was conservative, I experienced no redistribution problems when I
ended each cycle. However, towards the end of the first two cycles,
I only experienced a very mild headache, and a little muscle ache.
It was no big deal. I went to bed, woke up the next day, and
everything was back to normal. My doctor told me this is just my
body starting to chelate and detox. It's very normal, and nothing
to worry about. By the third cycle, I had no side effects at all, as
my body got uses it. I drink 2 liters of water a day. But during
chelation, I drank a little more water just to help detox, so not
surprisingly, I urinated a little more during chelation. Other than
these small differences, everything else was normal.

Why is it three days chelating for both the one-week and two week
cycle? Can we chelate more than three consecutive days in a cycle?
Is there a difference between the one week and two week cycle?

Three days on for chelating mercury seems to be the most optimal
since it's long enough to do some chelating, but short enough to not
throw off other minerals in your body. When you are chelating
mercury, you will lose other minerals at the same time. Secondly,
three days on fits well with most people's work and home schedule,
thereby not causing too much disruption.

Generally, it's not recommended to go more than three consecutive
chelating days because of the accumulated minerals lost, and the
accumulated disruption in your sleep cycle. I have heard of people
going 4 days on, and 10 days off. I prefer to stay with the weekly
cycle of 3 on 4 off. Just as a side note, the reason there is a two-
week cycle is for people who are sick and have other health roblems,
which means they need a longer rest period between cycles. The
general rule for cycles is: The on days should always be less than
the off days.

How much was the Biodentist bill? How much was the Chelating Agents?

Biodentist: (In United States Dollars)

$75 Office Visit
$50 X-rays
$500 Remove two amalgams

Chelating Agent: This cost will vary depending on how many bottles
you need.

$30 DMSA (a bottle)
$25 Alpha Lipoic Acid (a bottle)

I tried to write this article with as much details as possible. You
can always refer to the three reference books above for more details
if you wish.