Re: Thanks, Suze WAS: Mecury Testing Question -

May 11, 2004

> Thanks, Suze WAS: Mecury Testing Question -

>

>Thank you so much for reposting that message and answering my question. I

>think I'm just going to get them removed--I don't want to bother with the

>tests beforehand (seems like it would be more important to do AFTER the

>removal anyway).

Personally, I think it's good to do before and after testing so when you are

chelating, you can guage whether your chelation protocol is working or needs

to be adjusted. It's not absolutely necessary to test at all though.

However, insurance won't cover any of it if you don't get a referral from a

health professional to have your amalgams removed for health reasons, I

believe. Most of the health professionals want to do either DMPS or DMSA

challenges as pre-removal testing. According to Andy Cutler these can both

be dangerous. I've decided NOT to go through with the DMSA challenge

tomorrow when I see an ND about immune support during my amalgam removal

period. I'm going to do the DDI hair elements test instead.

Along those lines, to amend my previous response about testing, according to

Andy, there IS a hair test that's usually quite accurate (but not always)

and more accurate than any other test. It's the hair *elements* test from

Doctor's Data Inc. It's NOT the hair toxicity test. Apparently, mercury

reliably disrupts the mineral transport system in certain ways and you can

fairly accurately guage that by the hair element test. Here's a good link re

testing: http://home.earthlink.net/~moriam/ANDY_INDEX.html BUT, you should

use that test along with the counting rules in his book " Amalgam Illness " .

The counting rules take into account symptoms, previous tests that may add

relevant info to the picture and so on. Based on the overall score using the

counting rules you can get a good idea if you're mercury poisoned and to

what extent.

>So, what's the best discussion list on amalgam removal...where I might be

>able to get doc recommendations and detox recs (for after the removal).

You can get referrals for dentists in your area who follow the proper

removal protocol from DAMS:

http://www.dams.cc/

More info from DAMS: http://www.amalgam.org/

These are some of the lists that I've joined and find helpful:

(more than 3,000 members

and high volume. Andy Cutler routinely answers questions on this list and

the list is weighted towards his protocol)

adult-metal-chelation

frequent-dose-chelation/ (this list is

also focused on Andy's book and protocol)

I'm sure there are other lists that focus on other " expert's " protocols,

such as Hal Huggins. I am not aware of them myself. I think the main

difference between Andy Cutler and other experts is that he's VERY cautious

and is adament about the creed " first do no harm " although he is not a

medical doctor (he's a PhD in chemistry and former amalgam illness sufferer

himself.) You may decide you like Hal Huggins approach better - he's

published a number of books on this subject as well. I'd suggest getting

Andy's book and at least one of Huggins' books to decide for yourself. So

far, I'm most impressed with Andy's work in terms of approaching mercury

toxicity with safety as the foremost issue. He also seems to be a good

researcher - not just reading the abstracts, but analyzing the studies

themselves, which you obviously need to do since abstracts don't always

accurately reflect the data. Besides, Huggins focuses alot on the amalgam

removal protocol while Andy focuses on the testing and chelation protocols,

so they're not totally exclusive approaches. Andy's chelating protocol can

be challenging though, as you need to take a dose of lipoic acid and DMSA

(if you use them) every four hours including at night, but you don't do it

evey day. You do 3 days on/3 days off, or similar.

I

>know of one dentist here in NYC who could do it, but I need to do more

>research.

Whatever you do, DO NOT have *any ol'* dentist remove your amalgams! They

must AT LEAST follow the IAOMT (http://www.iaomt.org/) protocol to ensure

you will not be terribly poisoned during the removal. Having them removed by

a dentist who does not follow these strict standards could possibly result

in acute poisoning, as much vapor is released during removal, especially if

they just drill it (don't section it), don't have an alternate air source

for you to breathe (such as nose mask), don't have a mercury vapor ionizer,

etc. You should call DAMS (phone# at above link) and get their list of

mercury-free dentists in your area who follow these protocols).

I'm not going to try to conceive until next year at the VERY

>earliest. How much time after removal are you going to take before trying

>to conceive? Just curious...also, I think I have four small ones, how many

>do you have?

Well, I'm a lot older than you (41) so I don't have the luxury of time to

wait. If I were younger I'd probably wait a year and do some serious

detoxing/chelating during that year. I will TRY to wait 6 months, but it

could be less than that. I will be very serious in my detoxing/chelation

protocol though, while at the same time trying not to over do it. I will

retest (DDI hair, probably) before conceiving to see where I'm at.

I have 8 + amalgams. One of them takes up almost an entire molar - it is

HUGE :-( You are fortunate to have only 4 small ones! The problem is that

everyone reacts differently depending on a number of variables. For example,

if you have a defect in your detoxification pathway, as many people do, you

might not be able to clear mercury as efficiently as someone else. So it's

best to remove the chronic source of mercury vapor - the fillings -

regardless.

Best of luck! That's so great that you're getting them out well before

conceiving - I bet you're going to have incredibly healthy children :-) Not

just because you're removing the heavy metals from your body, of course, but

also because you're a WAPer. LOL!

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

May 11, 2004

Dear Suze,

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of the great advice on this issue

(there is SO MUCH info out there and I really appreciate your distillation

of it for me.)

And yes, I plan on having smart-as-a-whip gladiator children! I went to a

ballgame on Sunday and couldn't help but look at all of the " physical

degeneration " in the children there. Unbelievable bone structure

deformities and behavioral problems--and, as you can imagine, they were all

eating pepsi, pretzels, carvel ice cream, etc. ALL DAY LONG.

I'm looking forward to hearing about your journey with the amalgam removal

and subsequent pregnancy. Did becoming an NTer influence your decision to

have a child in the first place? Don't answer if this is too personal a

question--I'm just nosey! Also, have you read " The Continuum Concept " yet?

I thought it was a fantastic and eye-opening read.

Really, I feel pretty darned prepared to be a mom--just not quite ready for

the profound life change. I do worry about two things that could be major

issues with my family: circumcision (my husband is Jewish and I'm totally

opposed to it) and vaccines (I'm on the fence here and in NY the laws are

VERY hard to get around). But, I'll figure these out when the time comes.

----- Original Message -----

From: " Suze Fisher " <s.fisher22@...>

> Best of luck! That's so great that you're getting them out well before

> conceiving - I bet you're going to have incredibly healthy children :-)

Not

> just because you're removing the heavy metals from your body, of course,

but

> also because you're a WAPer. LOL!

May 11, 2004

We've done the Doctor's Data tests, and in my opinion, they are not accurate,

because they don't have a base line read. They judge all samples based only on

their collections, it is not on a base line, or even on a random sample. So if

100 people send in samples, you will be scored only on those 100 samples.

Obviously, these people who send their samples to them are all having problems

(albeit different?), but the results are still skewed by that sampling.

Dona

Thanks, Suze WAS: Mecury Testing Question -