Re: a question: diagnosing mercury poisoning

[Guest guest]

Posted by: " Depue " seandepue@... seandepue

Sat May 24, 2008 11:15 am (PDT)

>hi,

>Is it possible to diagnose mercury poisoning just from knowing that

I've had a certain number of amalgam fillings for a certain length of

time?

No. Some of us excrete mercury better than others.

>I had a challenge toxic metal test (using dmps & edta) which showed

slightly elevated mercury (and lead) levels - just outside the normal

range - I think the number was around 11 -

This will not tell you if you are toxic or not. Also, it is very dangerous to

do challenge tests. They have the potential to move enough mercury to cause

permanent neurological damage. Luckily it didn't in your case. Finally, using

chelators when you have metal in your mouth is also a good way to move mercury

out of the fillings into your brain and body.

>but that doesn't seem to

justify the severity of my symptoms, which are mainly unrelenting

extreme fatigue and foggy headedness for 19 years.

This is one way to look for toxicity. You can look in Andy Cutler's " Amalgam

Illness " and he has a checklist of symptoms that you can use to get some

reasonable idea of your likelyhood of being toxic.

These two symptoms are very standard mercury toxicity symptoms.

>My doctor said the levels really aren't that high, he's had people off

the charts, etc.

Yes, but we dont' really have appropriate norms to compare to. Some very

poisoned people (people who have been known to have been exposed a short time

before the urine test or people who ultimately have improved on chelation) have

no mercury at all in their urine.

>I can say that i had about 8 amalgam fillings for about 10 years

before my symptoms began (and more after)

So, we know you have a source, and we know you have some symptoms that are

consistent with Hg tox.

>Would that history necessarily mean that I would be poisoned enough to

cause my symptoms?

Not necessarily, but it is certainly a possibility.

>I am asking this because I have finished 4 rounds (50mg. dmsa every

3-4 hours for 3 days) and have felt nothing other than increased fatigue.

, you are !poisoning yourself! if you are chelating while still having

amalgams in your mouth!

Please don't do this any more. You must remove the amalgams first.

When you do, if you chelate and experience symptoms, then that is the

definitive diagnosis of poisoning. These chelators will not produce side

effects if there is no mercury in the body for them to move.

>thanks for your input,

>sean

Dave.

[Guest guest]

. I am glad to hear that you have removed all the amalgam - whew!

Yes, tiredness in response to chelation is very common. DMSA makes me

exhausted. ALA has other effects, but it doesn't do that (to me).

If you take a look at p.52 of Andy's first book (Amalgam Illness) you will see

a graph of how symptoms (can) decrease for a while at the beginning but then

(essentially always) increase for a period of time that can last up to 12

moths. It took that long for me to see my grinding exhaustion relieve, and

just become basic run-of-the-mill exhaustion. Another 5 months for me to get

some testosterone back. After that, it was a long slow progression upwards.

I was pretty poisoned, though, so you may progress faster, depending.

If you are feeling tired, then you are definitely on the right track. As I

mentioned, chelators won't have an effect if they are not removing metals.

Unless you had your last amalgam removed less than 3 months ago, then you can

go ahead with ALA right away. You will find different side effects, and since

it goes across the BBB, you may find mental manifestations if you extend your

rounds (I started at 9 days, which is the point at which I found the

psyhchiatric effects to be too much). That, of course, depends on what kind of

symptoms you started out with; it will be less likely if your symptoms never

got to the level where you were noticing any depression, anxiety, paranoia or

psychotic symtomology.

In any case, the effects will be different, and it is just possible that you

may find ALA easier - or perhaps some combination might be easier.

By the way, did you do a hair test? I should have mentioned that if you have

any lead, then DMSA will be an (occasional, 3 days per month) necessity. If

you do have a hair test, why don't you post it? I'd be happy to go over it;

and there are things you can get out of it over and above toxicity.

Dave

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Posted by: " Depue " seandepue@... seandepue

Sun May 25, 2008 10:00 am (PDT)

Dave,

I am sorry i didn't mention that I did have the last of my amalgams

replaced before I started on the chelation. panoramic x ray shows no

more metal.

So should i attribute increased fatigue from chelation to mercury

removal? I sure hope that is so - then I know I am doing my body good.

Can you give me any idea of how long it takes for symptoms to lessen?

I plan on continuing dmsa for 1 to 2 additional months then adding

a-lipoic acid for however long it takes to feel normal.

It is hard to know if I am on the right track as I have tried MANY

different medical treatments that seemed promising to feel better and

none have worked.

Thanks for your response,

[Guest guest]

Dean. I just sent you a message on this. My understanding of Andy's

recommendation has always been to work on them _while_ chelating, and that none

of these problems can really be dealt with in any meaningful manner without

chelation. I am certain he has repeated that multiple times on AM. I think

it's a message most of us need to hear, since mercury makes us susceptible to a

strange kind of procrastination, in which we keep doing all kinds of things in

preparation for what we need to do, but have difficulty focusing on the central

task that needs to be tackled.

As for DMSA and tiredness, I asked Andy personally about my fatigue when using

DMSA and he just said, " Ah, that's very common. "

So, I don't think this is anything to worry about, and I also don't think we

should be indicating to people that they should waste a lot of time dickering

around with things that are not going to resolve unless they start to chelate.

Dave.

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Posted by: " DeanNetwork " dean@... deansta22

Sun May 25, 2008 9:54 pm (PDT)

> So should i attribute increased fatigue from chelation to mercury

> removal? I sure hope that is so - then I know I am doing my body good.

Hi

Fatique is most likely to be adrenal related, and most likely to be fixed by

adrenal support.

This is CRUCIAL to chelation. Please read here

http://www.livingnetwork.co.za/healingnetwork/adrenals_thyroid.html

> Can you give me any idea of how long it takes for symptoms to lessen?

You will have to address adrenals (take hydrocortisone or ACE) for this

fatique to lesson, or possibly thyroid support.

Also, many a time I've come across people that took 50mg DMSA and felt

'nothing, just a little more tired'.

They were in fact doing damage, and when they reduced the dose down, felt

better on round.

Please get some adrenal support, and do some rounds at 12.5mg.

If you have some money, get the cortisol saliva test done asap.

Also start tracking your daily temperatures to check adrenal and thyroid

function.

DeanSA

[Guest guest]

Dave,

Its good to hear that others have experienced this increase in

fatigue. It helps me to stay as positive as possible while grinding

through this.

I do remember looking at the graph about symptoms & merc levels. It

puts a perspective on the amount of time that needs to be dedicated

before permanent benefits are felt.

It is a little intimidating to hear that it took you 12 months just to

have some easing in the fatigue - but it is better to know the truth

up front.

I had my last amalgam out 5 weeks ago so I have another 2 months

before I can start ALA.

Unfortunately I only have a challenge blood test done a couple months

ago. I am considering taking a hair test.

What is your opinion of doing that at this point in the game?

[Guest guest]

Dean,

I have cut down to 25mg dmsa this round.

I take Isocort daily. My cortisol levels were measured high 3 yrs

ago, but taking hydrocortisone Or isocort has never helped.

I do it anyway because people always recommend it.

In the past I saw a thyroid specialist and did temp records up the

wazoo. At that time I did 2 therapeutic trials of T3 with isocort- I

got no benefit except increased pulse as the dose got higher.

I was convinced I had adrenal/thyroid problems for a while.

Looks like it was just the Merc beast bearing down on my endocrine system.

Thanks for the suggestions