My First 30 Rounds

First off, I want to say that what I'm about to write is not so you'll feel sorry for me. I'm writing this to help other people who may be going through chelation, and need some hope.

I also want to say....

No, I am not going crazy. 
Logically, since I'm removing mercury, 
I'm becoming uncrazy. 

Some things I describe here are symptoms of  mercury toxicity. You've heard the term "Mad as a Hatter", haven't you? Look that up sometime. (I'm not referring to the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland)  Then, think about everyone who has amalgam fillings or who received a large amount of thimerosal filled vaccines up until 2004 and some of the craziness going on in the world and the tremendous amount of people on antidepressants today for anxiety or depression.
Ok, rant (and rabbit hole) over....

My last post was 7 months ago in March. I find it very depressing to write how about how I'm feeling when I'm miserable...

I mean, who wants to read that?

Plus, people read it and comment so nicely and I don't want people feeling sorry for me - or thinking that I'm some crazy person, who's a hypochondriac who always has some new, unexplained symptom. If you are mercury toxic, you know what I'm talking about. 

Here's where I am now...

I've completed 31 rounds of ACC. (Andy Cutler Chelation Protocol). More on how I'm doing later...let's talk about the last 12 months. 

Here's some history...

I had amalgams for nearly 5 decades. Nearly 50 years. That's a long time for fillings that are 50% mercury to do a lot of damage.  I also just found out I have the MTHFR (yep, that's how it's spelled) genetic mutation where your body detoxes 50% less than others. I also used a chelator (alpha lipoic acid) in a lyme protocol with amalgam fillings still in my mouth. Ala used improperly can move mercury to your brain, which is what I believe happened to me.
I knew from the Andy Cutler support group on Facebook that my journey wasn't going to be a short one.

I knew at the end of September 2017, that I would go thru a period called the "dump" where you have INCREASED symptoms. 

It was expected to start 2 to 4 months post amalgam removal.

It was expected to last a year or more.

I had a "hoping to goal" of making a little progress by September 2018.

I had a "hoping to goal" of the dump ending at the end of November 2018.

Decisions, then the dreaded dump...

Because we had an important wedding to go to in October(last year),  I  set my final amalgam removal to be at the end of September, so that I wouldn't enter the dump until after the wedding. I'm glad I waited an additional month to do my final amalgam removal. It was perfect timing because I continually felt better after removal.

My brother passed away the end of October and we flew out to California for his funeral the first week of November. I was still feeling pretty good (all  things considered) post amalgam removal. 

flowers from the bridal shower

At the end of November the dump hit.

Muscle tightness and dizziness became more pronounced over the next month, but I was still able to have some "better" days where I could get things done.

ACC says to wait 3 months to start chelating with  Alpha Lipoic Acid, but I was afraid to start in December. I had my supply of ALA, but wasn't until the third week of January, when I basically stuck in bed and wasn't having any good days, that I did my first round.

My hair test back in the Fall of 2017 didn't show any mercury and didn't meet any of the ACC counting rules. Mercury toxicity causes mineral derangement that shows up on hair tests. Mine showed nothing. The only way for me to know if I had mercury toxicity was to do a trial round of ALA and to see if I had any reaction on round or the 3 days off round. 

I started at 12.5 mg ALA and took it every 3 hours for 63 hours. I reacted. My ear ringing was louder and I didn't feel well on round. The symptoms weren't that much worse than before the trial round, so I continued at the same dose.

I made some gains the first 8 rounds or so.


You can find the link to the Andy Cutler Chelation group on Facebook HERE.

Lessons learned:

On one round I forgot a dose and had to abort the round. Off round, I had increased symptoms. On another round, I didn't realize I had forgotten a dose until I took the next dose. Instead of aborting the round, I continued to finish the round and I will never do that again. The redistribution symptoms were awful.

The biggest mistake I made was doing a round while up at our mountain house for a week. I extended my round so I wouldn't have the redistribution symptoms on the drive home. I also didn't have access to a sauna during the round. (big mistake). The whole next week was miserable. I will never do a round when I don't have access to a sauna. I also tried raising my dose once I felt good on and off round , but I felt pretty awful when I did, so I went back down to 12.5 mg

In March, I had a 2nd muscle spasm episode. This time I was ready. My neighbor had let me borrow a wheeled walker and I had a prescription for 800 mg of Ibuprofen. I only take painkillers when I ABSOLUTELY have to. My doctor also signed for a temporary handicap placard. Our daughter was graduating in May and we borrowed a wheelchair, but we ended up not needing the placard that day because we found a parking spot right in front of the building.

I was glad I had the handicap placard over the coming months because my muscle tightness and dizziness got worse.

Those in ACC say that the peak of the dump many times is between 6 and 9 months. June went by, then July, then August; still increasing symptoms and no progress at all.. It seemed like it was going to go on forever. Oh, and I had another muscle spasm episode in July.

During that time(but not all of it- can't remember how long), I was crying all the time; for NO reason. My serious, logical self could not control it.  Those of you who have never been poisoned by mercury won't understand that. It's pretty common in the ACC group to have adrenal problems...and crying, for absolutely no reason. I am not normally a cryer. Yes, in the past, I've cried, but not all the time and only for a good reason.

This crying was without a sad or happy thought; just all of a sudden.

Still at 12.5 mg, I reached out to the ACC group and listed where I was at and what supplements I had tried to alleviate my symptoms. Here's my post:

Can anyone help me or give me some insight? I had 5 amalgams removed last year safely (XXX the dentist in the group, just rechecked my x-rays), and had amalgams, probably for 48- 50 years. I'm in month 9 of my dump(12 months post amalgam removal) and finished round 23 at 12.5 mg ALA onlly on Aug 8th (took last week off) and am feeling pretty bad.(brain fog, tight muscles , numbness poor sleep, balance issues and fatigue) . My muscles are super tight all the time and seem to be getting worse. Most of my tight muscles start at the hip and as they have been tightening, the numbness has been moving up from my toes, to my calves, to my hips and now the middle torso progressively. I had a muscle spasm a month ago that required drugs to take the edge off pain. I'm still partially using a walker. It's difficult to walk with my leg muscles being so tight and feeling stiff. Yesterday, out of the blue, I developed a lot of black floaters in my left eye that are very noticeable . I've had a lot of white floaters for many years, but never black ones. Of course, I take the core 4, with extra mag,  8 -10 adrenal cortex a day, hc cream, adaptogens and a bunch of other supplements.  I don't eat many thiols, but don't go out of my way to make sure my food aren't high thiol, and I haven't done a thiol exclusion test. I start round 24 tomorrow, but I'm at a loss for what else to do to feel better, other than chelate and wait for my dump to be over. Thanks in advance.

Now, the group can't give medical advice, but it was suggested that I lower my dose. 24 rounds in and I have to LOWER my dose for a few rounds to see if that would help. That was depressing because in ACC, the goal is to get your dose to 3 mg per kilogram of body weight. Everything I had read in the group was true for me, 

so, I lowered my dose to 5 mg. of ALA. 

In September, I had a few days where my muscles didn't seem to be so tight. My chiropractor agreed. I had/have only been getting a K-laser treatment on my hip and neck twice a month, since my muscles have been too tight to adjust me.

Right around the time Hurricane Florence came through, I had 2 weeks of feeling really bad. At least with the lower dose I wasn't crying all the time for no reason, but what was the point of getting out of bed? Unless you've experienced this, ya'll don't realize how much energy it takes to keep yourself upright when you're dizzy and off balance all the time. 

I started feeling better the first week of October. When I say better, I don't mean I feel well- I just felt a little better than bad. I went to the grocery store the other day because felt pretty good that morning. I felt pretty good in my head; sitting down. Unfortunately, my body didn't get the message. Fortunately, I parked in a close parking spot and brought my cane.  By the time I had walked the whole store getting my groceries, I was feeling ill and had to sit on a bench near the pharmacy. It was all I could do to pay for my groceries and get to my car. Sitting down in my car and driving is usually no problem because I'm only dizzy standing up, but I rested before I left just to make sure. My (large) neighborhood is right next to the store and my house is about a mile away. I think I'll continue to have my husband do the grocery shopping for awhile.  

I am still having what I call "meltdowns", after riding in a car, going to a noisy restaurant and eating dinner or going to an appointment or doing any number of things that my body perceives as stress. I try to warn my husband that I'm about to cry beforehand, so he doesn't think he did something wrong. 

I will be glad when that symptom is gone for good. 

Where I am now...

I am finishing round 32 today. I usually start a round on Monday and finish on Wednesday, then take 4 days off, but I want to get one more round in before going to our daughter's baby shower in SoCal in November. I want as much mercury out of my head by then, so I'm only doing the minimum 72 hours between rounds.

Well, that's where I am. I can feed myself, do a couple of loads of laundry a day, vacuum one room at a time before needing a rest or walk out to get the mail and  pull a couple of weeds. I can drive myself to the chiropractor 20 minutes away twice a month. I take a cane when I go out to help stabilize me and to help others to see me. I still use my walker at home to help give me some support when I'm tired. That's pretty much it.

For now.

Looking forward to digging in the dirt again and going to dinner and enjoying it, instead of wondering if I'm going to survive getting through it without a meltdown.

Thanks for listening

Pam

UPDATE:My head suddenly cleared the Tuesday night (Oct 30th) after I finished my 33rd round. Traveling was difficult, but I was able to enjoy our daughter's baby shower on November 4th. 

Current Symptoms:

dizziness when standing/walking

muscle tightness/spasticity

super hot or freezing feet

numb feet and ankles

spider-like sensations in legs

brain fog (when I do too much or after a round)

waking up at night several times

urgency

ringing in the ears

meltdowns
gait problems
blurry eyes at times
eyes not processing what I'm seeing (when in public)
nail problems
random fibro pain
stabbing pains that last for hours or a day
legs so tight, it hurts to straighten them
  

Chelating Mercury

*this post contains an affiliate link

Hello friends!
I haven't posted in awhile because I'd been in a holding pattern. The plan last year was to have my amalgams removed safely by a biological dentist. That took some time as I had to find a biological  dentist, get quotes from 2 different dentists,  and decide who to go with. Because I had amalgams in all 4 quadrants in my mouth, it took 2 different appointments to remove them, with a couple of months in between to recover. (sensitivity)

Gorelik Dentistry

 The last of my amalgams (silver fillings which are 50% mercury) were removed safely at the end of September 2017.  I was feeling be better and was even thinking of planning a trip for this Spring. It was not to be. According to the Andy Cutler Safe Chelation group on Facebook, the "dump" phase started 5 days shy of two months post removal. 

For those that don't know, the "dump" phase starts 2 - 4 months post removal of all mercury. Even a speck left in your mouth is enough to keep this from occuring. If you're getting your amalgams removed, do so with a biological dentist who has a whole safe protocol and have the dentist take bitewing x rays after the fillings are removed,  and before your teeth are refilled. 

The last week in November ( 2 months post amalgam removal), all my muscles were cramped up. They cramp when I stand up and when I'm sleeping. My whole body. Going to the chiropractor doesn't help. The brain fog was coming back, as well. 

I had planned to start chelating via ACC (Andy Cutler Chelation) after the holidays, but I felt bad and didn't want to chance feeling worse. Sometimes, when people start chelating, they feel worse, but not always. Sometimes they feel worse "on round", when Alpha Lipoic Acid is carrying the mercury out of your body, or feel worse "off round" when there's no Alpha Lipoic Acid in your system and mercury is dropped, or redistributed in the body.

DO NOT EVER TAKE ALPHA LIPOIC ACID WHEN YOU HAVE "SILVER" FILLINGS IN YOUR MOUTH, AS IT CAN MOVE MERCURY TO THE BRAIN

Sorry for the all caps, but I can't stress this enough. I believe, this is what caused my problems after our big move. I had been taking ALA randomly in one of the Restore products (Mitochondrial Support)  for about a year and a half while I recovered from Lyme.

My thinking is that I've recovered from Lyme, but now have to chelate the mercury out. Mercury and lyme have some of the same neurological symptoms and mercury lowers immunity.

Getting on to Chelation:
I did an HTMA hair test, but it was inconclusive, as it didn't meet any of the ACC counting rules, but I was low in lithium, even though I take lithium orotate regularly. The ACC group suggested that I do a trial round to see if I reacted, so I ordered 12.5 mg capsules from Living Supplements.

January came and went. Then, in the 2nd week of February, I had really bad brain fog and dizziness for the whole week and I couldn't drive anywhere or do hardly anything. I figured chelation couldn't be any worse because I was already stuck in bed, as I couldn't get up and do anything, other than feed myself,  use the restroom and maybe do some laundry. I couldn't stand up without getting dizzy. I was also having periods of crying uncontrollably for no reason. 

So, I created a spreadsheet for taking ALA every 3 hours around the clock and started on a Thursday. The first day on round, I felt awful. My head felt like it was filled with cotton and was smoldering. I took some Alka Seltzer Gold for symptoms (suggested by the ACC group) and it helped. I didn't feel well, yet I wasn't depressed. I was actually in a good mood. I felt ok for the remainder of the round and didn't bad when I finished the 72 hour round.

Today, I'm on the last day of my 2nd round at 12.5 mg ALA. This round hasn't kept me in bed and I haven't had any additional symptoms other than a little more ringing in my ears and my head feeling a little like it's stuffed  with cotton. Dizziness is a little better, but I'm not about to try driving yet. I'll wait until I complete a few more rounds.

Dr. Cutler's Book Amalgam Illness explains a lot. Click on the photo to take you to the Amazon link where you can purchase it.

I am hopeful that I will get better and am hoping I will see significant progress by summer, but it takes a long time to chelate all the mercury out. It can take 18 months to 2+ years to finish. 

You can't chelate until 3 months after you remove your amalgams. The ACC group suggests you take the "core 4", which are zinc, Vitamin C, magnesium and Vitamin E (mixed tocopherals). Join the group on Facebook to see the recommended doses.

Some things you should not take or eat when you have amalgams are:

No Cilantro,

No Glutathione

No Chlorella

No Alpha Lipoic Acid

There's more, but those are the biggies. Cilantro is a single thiol, which can pick up mercury, but it can't hold on to it, so the mercury can get redistributed to the brain. I'm not going to go over the chemistry of glutathione, chlorella and ala here. Join the Andy Cutler Chelation:  Safe Mercury and Heavy Metal Detox group on Facebook for more. I can't stress this enough.

Well, that's all for now. I'm anticipating that I'll be bringing you good news in a couple of months. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Pam


If you'd like to see which supplements, treatments and other things that have helped me along my journey, you can read about them HERE.

* an affiliate link means that if you purchase something from the affiliate link, I'll make a small commission.

May 17 Update

Hello Friends!

I hope you are doing well or are on your way to healing.
Just wanted to let you know how things are going with me.
Last time, I had been 4 weeks without brain fog. A few weeks after that, our daughter came for a visit (from SoCal), then I spent a week getting our taxes organized and ready for our accountant. I missed going to the chiropractor for those 2 weeks (chiro was sick, then didn't want to go during daughter's visit), then couldn't get in the following week because the chiropractor was booked. By the time I went back, the brain fog was back and my back and neck were worse off than ever.
I've gone back 3 weeks in a row for an adjustment and K-Laser treatment and the brain fog is better, but I still get bouts of it.

=
I went to see my integrative doc and had him run a bunch of labs. My liver enzymes have been high for at least a year, but seem to be getting higher. That may have something to do with the brain fog, so if you have brain fog, you might want to check your liver enzymes.

My chiropractor asked me how I was doing at an appointment and I said I was waking up at night every couple of hours and sometimes I couldn't get back to sleep for 2 hours. She said it that when you wake up at 2 or 3  to go to the bathroom, it's probably your liver. She confirmed what I had been reading. She asked if I was taking anything for that and I told her I just started  taking 1200 mg of milk thistle. She had me take home some Liverplex from Standard Process and gave me instructions on how to slowly build up to full dose. She said that Liverplex would bring down my liver enzymes and I'd sleep better. I started taking 1 a day and had no reaction. The 2nd day after I took one, I was able to sleep 6 hours straight! It's been a long time. The following night, however, I was back to getting up every 2 hours, but it still gave me hope!

I've been on the Livaplex for several weeks now, but I struggle to get that 3rd dose in . I have some good nights where I only wake up once, but the last 2 nights I was up 4 times. The good news is that I've been able to get back to sleep right away and haven't had any nights where I'm up for 2 or 3 hours. 

As for the dizziness and brain fog; they still plague me; the dizziness or off balance on many days. It's better on days when I sleep better, so I do everything I can to get better sleep on the nights before I have to drive to an appointment. I get brain fog when I do too much, which could be anything on days when I don't get enough sleep. On those days, I just try to relax, sit in the sun for 30 minutes, do something in the garden - but not overdo it or do something easy like laundry. 

I've met with a 2nd holistic dentist for amalgam removal and have scheduled an appointment for removing the fillings (and 1 crown) on the right side of my mouth. I'm so glad I went for a 2nd opinion even though the drive is 30 minutes instead of 15. I like this dentist better and the cost is lower. Even though she will do 2 additional crowns on 2 heavily filled lower teeth, the cost is about $1,300 lower than the first dentist, and that's with a $500 lab compatibility test. If I had gone to the new dentist and had to put a crown on those 2 lowers(not included in the estimate), the difference would have been $3,900.  That's a lot! The new dentist will also be doing ozone on the 4 teeth that have/will have crowns. Hopefully, all the mercury will be out of my mouth by the end of July. Then, I can start chelating in October. I plan to use the Andy Cutler Chelation method - but, more on that later. 

In the meantime, I'm continuing the K-Laser treatments at the chiropractor and look forward to them twice a month, still taking a maintenance dose of Advanced Biotic , Adaptogen Recovery, numerous other supplements and doing what I can to enjoy life. We spent a week at our Mountain Cottage working on our kitchen reno (my husband) and doing various maintenance projects. Here's a photo of the open shelving project that we just finished. You can read more HERE if you'd like to see more of the kitchen. 

That's all for now...

If you have any questions for me, feel free to leave a comment or contact me via email, listed on the sidebar.

Hope today is a good day for you.

Pam

Here is the status of my symptoms:

Numbness, tingling in feet - fluctuates

dizziness/off balance- seems to have been worse this month

brain fog- comes and goes in the afternoon

blurry eyes - a few days clear, then a few days blurry

urgency  (3) - still a problem

noise sensitivity (2)

startles easily- very little unless it's a really loud noise.

muscle pain -2 some days more, especially after working too hard.

muscle weakness (2)

high pitch ringing in the ears/low pitch ringing. High pitch comes and goes,

not being able to follow directions - hasn't been a problem - only a problem when I get brain fog.

97 - temp has been lower

Weight is stable at 130