Hi all, I'm new to the forum and looking for some guidance...

I had my last mercury filling removed last month by a holistic dentist and they gave me a detox regimen that seems somewhat simplistic and reckless. It's a treatment used by Dr. Omura that uses cilantro tablets. I'm supposed to start with one tablet a day and work my way up to four or as I can tolerate. Supporting supplements given are folic acid and shark oil.

I know cilantro pulls out mercury from anywhere in the body and then it is up to your body to eliminate it. The problem is my body is weakened from such a large burden over many years of building toxicity so I'm worried about redistribution. I was looking for something that could trap the metals in the gut to help bring them out and came across Algin recommended from this site. Three different times I have tried to take one Algin capsule with nothing else and I become very fatigued(down-regulated metabolism), foggy/achy, get a strong metallic taste in my mouth which is most noticeable when waking and feel like I could stay in bed and sleep instead of getting up. This lasts 2-3 days from taking just one capsule. I get a similar reaction whenever I try taking N-Acetyl Cysteine(NAC). I understood that Algin stays in the gut so I'm not sure what it could be doing to move metals around and making me feel so bad. Would this reaction have something to do with the liver? Should I not take Algin given this reaction?

I could take chlorella but I understand that it goes into the bloodstream and would mobilize more mercury and even in the gut it has a weak bond so there is a good risk of redistribution anyway. The only other thing I can think of that might trap the metal ions in the gut until excretion is zeolite powder. Are there any opinions on zeolite powder? I have been using some liquid zeolite which might help take some out of the blood but it's a smaller amount and gives me fluid(lymph?) buildup in the ears.

I have read about the Cutler protocol which I might have to end up trying but thought I should give the dentists office recommendation a try first. I have eaten some cilantro and chlorella two years ago when I first found out I had heavy metal toxicity and it briefly cleared things up drastically but I didn't know what I was doing back then and I ended up crashing. Same thing with clay baths which back fired from improper use. Now I am a bit trigger shy to do anything.

I have slow bowels so I really need something to trap the stuff to prevent redistribution. Any other suggestions on what to use with the cilantro tabs or should I not even try it?

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Here is a background of my situation. I'm 27 and I have had 15 amalgam fillings which were all placed between 1989-1998 when I was a kid. I think 5-6 of them were put in my baby teeth. I was a six-sport high school athlete at two different class 6A high schools. During my second semester of college in 2002 I started having anxiety attacks out of the blue for no reason. All health tests came back normal and I was placed on an antidepressant but, since then, my health has declined. In 2005, I came off the med but several symptoms set in and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism shortly after. Thyroid hormone replacement did not help much but I was able to push through my senior year of college and managed to graduate in the spring of 2006.

A few months after graduation I had to move back home because I was too symptomatic to work and needed to find out what was wrong w/o having to resort to prescription medications which only masked my symptoms and let them progress. In 2007, I saw a natural health doctor who put me on a high dose of iodine and some other supplements which helped but did not solve the issues. However, I was able to function much better and had more energy on high dose iodine. When my iodine was restored to adequate levels he ran a bio-meridian test and it showed no improvement. We talked about it and he thought I had some sort of toxicity. I quickly found out I had heavy metal poisoning(most likely from my dental fillings) after trying a green drink that had chlorella in it and felt better and I could feel stuff being released.

I did a thorough search of my mouth and found only three fillings left despite my dental records showing 15 had been placed throughout childhood. The three left had deteriorated and the others must have vaporized or been ingested. After a set-back in 2008 from trying some clay baths, I finally had my three remaining mercury fillings replaced over the last six months.

Some of the symptoms I have are:
--adrenal fatigue -my adrenal glands themselves are fine but after lab-work and a few experiences I've determined that there is something wrong with the stimulation process in the HPA axis. Antidepressants completely restore normal stimulation and I have great energy while on them so I think it is metals blocking or disrupting neurotransmitters, especially serotonin. When I had my first two larger fillings replaced last November, I immediately noticed adrenal function and energy being restored and even had a thyroid crisis four days post-replacement. My low adrenal function returned three weeks later so I think metals shifted around causing the same disruption in the HPA axis. I have dark circles under my eyes and occasional low blood pressure symptoms.
--hypothyroidism -I take 30mg of Armour Thyroid. After a thyroid crisis mentioned above I quit taking any thyroid hormone for six weeks and did fine w/o it before needing to get back on it in December. I cannot eat soy or goitrogenic foods.
--chronic fatigue -(due to low cortisol) I'll sometimes need to lay down or take naps in the afternoon. I have poor tolerance for exercise. I can only walk and if I try and jog or jump I'll start to feel really weak and lightheaded.
--fibromyalgia -muscles almost always ache (due to low thyroid/cortisol)
--muscle weakness/stiffness
--depression/anxiety/panic attacks -lots of brain fog, general anxiety and feeling uneasy
--irregular bowel movements/bloating -possibly due to low metabolism and/or poor digestion
--weight loss/inability to gain weight -I have always been very thin with very low body fat. I think this has exacerbated mercury toxicity because there is less storage tissue. I have a poor appetite and only really feel hungry in the evenings. A lot of times I'll eat even though I'm not hungry to try and maintain weight.
--insomnia -it takes me at least one hour to fall asleep at night and very hard to get up early..usually feel unrested in morning.
--poor vision -need corrective lenses, dry eyes, image burning, pressure behind eyes, floaters and night blindness
--heat and cold intolerance -difficulty sweating
--poor quality hair and nails
--mild BPH and hairloss

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions about how I should proceed to get this stuff out. This looks like a great forum to find answers for mercury toxicity. Thanks for reading.

John

Hi John

Thanks for sharing all this. I would personally steer clear of cilantro, at least for now. So I would suggest you avoid the tablets. Certainly at this stage. You maybe able to try them much later on after your blood levels of mercury are down, but even then it may still be risky because there is no way of knowing "how" it works in order to put together a proper protocol to ensure more safety and less risk of redistribution.

Certainly, for now, it would be most unwise because your blood levels of mercury will still be high. I would also be wary of chlorella, unless you feel it helps you and makes you feel better. If it does? This may mean you are low in sulfur and respond well to sulfur products, so you may get away with it more than someone like me, had continually unpredictable responses to chlorella. Sometimes I felt better, but other times the symptoms it wrought from moblising mercury were absolutely dreadful and I wound up often making myself so poisoned from "backfire", that it could take months to improve again. Plus, it made me wonder if due to such reactions would more of that mercury have entered my brain? Possibly! Chlorella I believe is indeed nutritious, but has the potential to mobilise mercury, so be careful.

You would be wise to safely reduce your blood levels of mercury first before trying a brain chelator like cilantro or indeed alpha lipoic acid. Cutler does not personally recommend cilantro as such, unless a person cannot get or cannot tolerate alpha lipoic acid. So yeah, some can take it, but they'd need to have reduced their blood levels first and would need to really monitor themselves on it. It does indeed work, but I've known cilantro to move mercury into my gut area from redistribution, as any other product or protocol that is not particularly stable.

Your blood levels of mercury will actually reduce on their own over time (the first 3 months), but it is slow and of course chelation not only speeds it up, but is more efficient, plus can make you feel better in the process (if it's done right). So you can actually do nothing for the first 3 months and then start on a brain/organ chelator after that time. Again, if you find you do well on sulfur based products, then you maybe ok to consume them.

Another option at this time of course is DMSA. Taking low doses every 4 hours, around the clock for a few days or so, and then a break for the same amount of time (or more), and just repeat this cycle over the 3 months. This can help alot. Some people suffer tremendously with so much mercury in them, that DMSA taken this way can actually help stabilise some of those symptoms as it brings the blood levels down at the sametime. If you can get hold of it and it doesn't break your wallet? I would suggest trying it, but only start at about 12.5 mg and only increase when you are certain you can tolerate that dose. You may need to do a few rounds before you're sure you can start increasing the dose.

So yeah, my personal recommendation (as a non professional, but an experienced mercury toxic person) would be to try Cutler's protocol. Plus cleaning up your diet if you haven't already done this. I always mention this because it is so vital to alot of these symptoms mercury toxic people suffer, as candida/parasites/gluten intolerance and other problems tend to come onboard and create havoc alongside the mercury. At least dealing with the diet can take a load off the gut/liver/immunity and release alot of stored toxins in the process, plus strengthen your system to deal with mercury. Supplements are an extra aid if you find they help you. Antioxidants/essential fatty acids/minerals etc.

Hal Huggins recommends that mercury toxic people consume enough proteins and animals fats (eggs/meats/butter) etc. Avoid sugar/wheat/gluten/caffeine etc. Salt is also helpful believe it or not. I also find that consuming raw vegetables helps to clean me out and detox me also. I am able to get away with black tea, but coffee is OUT for me.

He feels this aids healing! I believe him, as it has helped me quite a lot, plus I gained a healthier appetite, increased bile flow and managed to balance out my weight.

Imo you need to concentrate on taking supplements. Are you taking plenty of magnesium, B vitamins, and vitamin c?

Since your weight is too low, a good idea would be to eat plenty of nuts and seeds, which are high in minerals(especially magnesium, which is very important for energy production), protein, calories, and vitamins. Sunflower seeds are the least expensive, and are high in nutrition. Some places sell them without the shell for under $2 a pound. Pumpkin seeds are even better nutritionally than sunflower seeds(except that sunflower seeds have much more vitamin E), but are much more expensive. Brazil nuts are great as a source of selenium, but don't overeat these(just one ounce a day is a huge amount of selenium). They are also high in other minerals. Walnuts, cashews, almonds, and other nuts are also a good idea, but can be expensive in large quantities. Walnuts are high in omega 3 fats.

Perhaps you should also take some iron and copper supplements, especially if you don't eat much meat.

To boost your adrenals and increase you blood pressure, you should increase your salt intake. Licorice root is also good for boosting serotonin, and may also help boost your blood pressure.
Some report less muscle ache after drinking licorice root tea.
licorice root will also help combat constipation. So will increasing magnesium intake and taking msm supplements(1 gram 3x a day is good). MSM helps with detoxification and will help your hair and nails.

Night blindness may be due to zinc or vitamin A deficiency. Supplementing these(30 mg a day of zinc, and 10,000-20,000 units a day of vitamin A (not beta carotene) may be helpful in improving vision and boosting immunity.

Insomnia is often due to calcium or magnesium deficiency. It can also be caused by vitamin D deficiency. A good idea is to take 2,000 units a day of vitamin D(or more than that if your levels are tested and show up low).


Are you taking CoQ10 and carnitine? These will help boost energy.

Magnesium malate is the best form of magnesium to take to combat fatigue and muscle ache. Carnitine and creatine supplements may also reduce muscle pain.

Have you done a parasite cleanse recently? A one month cleanse might be a good idea.

A supplement that can be very helpful in boosting muscle function is creatine.

Are you still taking plenty of iodine? I am taking 48 mg a day as potassium iodide. Selenium is also very important for converting T4 to T3.

Imo the first place to start is with a one month parasite cleanse and taking supplements. Taking a high potency olive leaf extract is also a good idea to fight parasits and candida, as is eating raw garlic. When you boost your energy a bit, then you could start thinking about chelating, first with DMSA, then with DMSA plus ALA.


http://www.flcv.com/cfsfm.html

Perhaps it is a good idea to eat no more than 3 or 4(half an ounce) Brazil nuts a day. Have you tried any of the things I suffested above? Licorice root tea, magnesium malate, molybdenum, creatine, MSM, and carnitive have brough me relief.

Hi guys, thanks for your replies.

Bex, How can you tell if you have high blood levels of metals? Through a lab? I seem to be able to taste it through the saliva. Every once in a while I'll even wake up in the morning with a strong metallic taste in my mouth and rinse it out and see brown colored metal particles coming out when I spit. I don't believe this to be mercury but some other metal like cadmium that has accumulated due to mercury. The mercury has a different taste and I notice this when I take chlorella but especially cilantro.

I'll probably take your advice and hold off on any cilantro in the early stages. It's something I might try at a later stage of detox, plus it was expensive. I'll look at trying to get some DMSA and try the frequent low dose to be safe. As I understand it, this Cutler method all goes through the kidney so it might not be as crucial to have frequent bowel movements? The waking up in the middle of the night for three nights in a row sounds rough because I feel pretty crappy if I don't sleep well but I guess that's a necessary evil.

Do you have any thoughts on zeolites or the Algin reaction I had?

JK98 and Bex, I probably should have listed the supplements I have been taking for the last month or more and what my diet is like.

-multi-vitamin
--pro-vitamin A 5000 IU
--vitamin D3 2000 IU (I also take an extra 2000 IU separately in the winter)
--vitamin E 30 IU
--vitamin B1 10 mg
--vitamin B2 10 mg
--vitamin B3 20 mg
--vitamin B5 10 mg
--vitamin B6 10 mg
--folic acid 800 mcg
--vitamin B12 100 mcg
--zinc 15 mg
--selenium 200 mcg
--copper 500 mcg
--chromium 200 mcg
--coenzyme Q10 100 mg

-magnesium 325 mg
-Carlson's cod liver oil 920 mg of omega 3's
-milk thistle 300-600 mg
-Quantum kidney complex
-iodine (iodoral) 12.5 mg
-Garden of Life probiotic
-1-2 Emergen-C packets a day so 1000-2000 mg of vit C

I've cleaned up my diet pretty well over the last 14 months and it has changed a bit in the last few. The first half of last year, I was eating closer to a vegetarian diet with limited amounts of meat and no dairy. However, when you can't eat any goitrogenic foods it cuts down on variety and I was losing too much weight. So this year I started researching some more about diet and came across the Weston Price research. The last couple months I've started incorporating more locally raised animal foods and healthy fats they recommend. By nature, I believe I'm a fast oxidizer when my metabolism is functioning normally so I believe now that a higher fat/lower carb diet is what suits me better. Plus, I crave fats and protein and I think they help with the mercury issue like Bex mentioned. I think it's starting to help me gain a little weight but not much. I still eat a good amounts of vegetables but now sometimes I'll steam them and put some grass-fed butter on them. I try and eat as lightly cooked food as possible and stay away from processed foods as much as possible. I've slowly started cutting down on wheat and bread and currently looking for a gluten free flour to make bread with. I'm not sure whether I should add dairy or not but I do eat some raw cheese. I've never seemed to have any issues with dairy. I'm planning on completely eliminating wheat and gluten by next month so I'll see if I notice any improvement on gluten free. I've been adding a few cashews and sunflower seeds for snacks. I don't drink coffee or any caffeine, only water based drinks including water, Emergen-C, tea and almond milks. I don't seem to tolerate caffeinated or alchoholic beverages very well anymore anyway.

I think I get enough sulpher and cysteine eating eggs, raw cheese, meats, avocados, green beans and asparagus. The meats should have plenty of zinc and iron. I'll keep in mind carnitine, creatine, selenium and olive leaf extract as possible supplements to add but I'd like to keep supplements to a minimum and whole foods as the primary sources.

I don't feel good eating too much sugar or white breads and pastas but I do eat a couple pieces of fruit a day. When you guys say sugar should be avoided does that include fruit?

I have no idea if I have candida or parasites. Is there a way to tell? I think I will plan on doing a bowel and parasite cleanse over the next month before starting the DMSA. Do you recommend any particular products for this?

JK98, I'm taking the maintenance dose of iodine which is 12.5 mg. I'm thinking about trying to go on the higher doses again because I had improvement and was able to tolerate more exercise which means I can sweat better and that helps clear my head and raise energy levels. I was taking 37.5 mg over the summer of '07. Do you know if it is OK to take this much while doing any sort of chelation like DMSA?

All in all, my diet is a work in progress but getting a lot better and I'm getting most of the important supportive nutrients. I just don't think my energy levels are going to come up much more until I start some sort of chelation. My energy seems to go as good as my adrenals get stimulated and that appears to involve my central nervous system and brain.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm sure I'll have more questions at some point.

It might be a bit much to take 37.5 mg of iodine while chelating.

Chelation with ALA results in most of the mercury excreted going through the bowels via the bile, while with DMSA more of the mercury is excreted in the urine. Chelating while you are constipated will make you feel very horrible. Taking probiotics, eating more fiber, taking msm, and taking licorice root will help relieve constipation. Many are constipated as a result of dysbiosis. Drinking more water will also help, as will taking more magnesium and vitamin c. Licorice root, cayenne pepper, and ginger will help increase bile flow, which will help decrease constipation and increase detoxification.

You should be taking much more B vitamins. Perhaps a B50 twice or 3 times a day. Fully formed vitamin A and not just carotene would also be a good idea.

I use 2 bottles of Kroeger Wormwood Combination for each of my one month parasite cleanses. I do this at least once a year. Others here claim good results with humaworm(only available at their website, humaworm.com). The Humaworm formula has some laxatives in it, but not large amounts of them. Any parasite cleanse with at least wormwood, black walnut green hull extract, and cloves will be good. Some formulas like humaworm add many other herbs. You can add raw garlic to help make the cleanse more effective.

"Mercury can cause lower bile flow in some people. People with lower bile flow (for any reason) are more likely to become mercury toxic as 72% of inorganic and all organic mercury is excreted through bile - "

http://onibasu.com/wiki/Cutler_protocol

Lirorice root is great stuff and can be helpful for many reasons. Besides which, licorice root tea tastes great!

http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-licorice-root.html

OK, I think I'm just going to be taking the maintenance dose of iodine while chelating.

Until then, I'm going to take your advice and do a one month parasite cleanse. I'm going to order the Kroeger brand. I also thought about ordering some olive leaf extract but after reading the other thread it sounds like I probably shouldn't need to take both of these at the same time, especially because I have never done a parasite cleanse. What do you think? hold off on the olive leaf until I use the Kroeger product? Also, what should I expect to feel once I start this cleanse? I have never done it before.

I'm going to switch to a different multi-vitamin that has more B vitamins and more vitamin A. I'm also going to get a higher magnesium supplement.

I'm already eating plenty of fiber so I don't think that's an issue. I've just started the probiotics and I will eat some more fermented foods. I think I'll also try eating more beets because I have noticed in the past this helps me go. I think the betaine in them stimulates bile or something. Plus, the color in them makes it easy to monitor transit time. If all that doesn't help I might try some of the other things you listed.

" I also thought about ordering some olive leaf extract but after reading the other thread it sounds like I probably shouldn't need to take both of these at the same time, especially because I have never done a parasite cleanse. What do you think? hold off on the olive leaf until I use the Kroeger product? Also, what should I expect to feel once I start this cleanse? I have never done it before."

The parasite cleanse herbs- wormwood, black walnut green hull extract, and cloves are also antifungal. If you have a large yeast overgrowth as well as parasites, then you might get an extremely strong reaction to the parasite cleanse. If the reaction is too strong after the first dose and you can't tolerate it, then stop the cleanse, deal with the candida for a while with olive leaf extract and raw garlic before starting the cleanse again.

When I am doing a parasite cleanse, I take the Kroeger Wormwood Combination just before I start eating a meal, so if there are any parasites, they can't get any nutrition without getting the herbs. Follow the dosing directions on the bottle, as Wormwood can have some toxicity if taken in excess amounts or if used for more than a month. After you finish the month, wait at least 4 months before taking it again. If you see evidence of parasites, then you can eat a clove(section) of raw garlic after each meal(chew it well and swallow with plenty of water), and add some herbs to fight the specific parasites. After the cleanse you can continue with the raw garlic and the other herbs you added later. Some people only do a 2 week cleanse, but in two weeks all the eggs and stages might not be killed and just the adults, so the infection might resume. That is why many do a one month cleanse, and the Humaworm cleanse for example is one month. If you go to the humaworm website, you can learn plenty about parasites and the herbs used to combat them.

Olive leaf extract is also antiparasitic, so you could start that if you see any evidence of parasites. Sometimes parasites are visible when shed, and sometimes they are microscopic and can't be seen. Some people don't see any evidence of parasites but feel better after a cleanse. Perhaps it may be due to killing candida, or to killing parasites. When candida or parasites are killed, they release toxins which produce unpleasant side effects(perhaps a headache, or muscle ache?). Drink extra water while doing a parasite cleanse.

I stopped using multivitamins as they don't have exactly what I want in the amounts I want, or may have some herbs I don't want to take. I take a buch of separate pills instead. The B vitamins are easy, as many brands make a B50(50 mg of each B vitamin), which can be taken 2-4 times a day with a meal. For vitamin C I use calcium alscorbate tablets or capsules with bioflavonoids. Calcium ascorbate is buffered vitamin c with calcium. I use magnesium ascorbate powder mixed in water when I am constipated(I normally can't take much of it). for vitamin A I use 10,000 unit vitamin A acetate tablets. I take one twice a day with a meal. Vitamin A helps fight parasites. I use the Source Naturals magnesium malate tablets. I take one 1,250 mg tablet with each meal. Beets are a good source of iron and fiber, but they do also have plenty of sugar. If you have candida overgrowth you might want to avoid all fruit, sugar, and vegetables high in sugar. Probiotics help fight constipation, as does drinking more water and getting more exercise. Taking more magnesium also helps combat constipation. When I am constipated I drink a cup or two of licorice root tea. That usually helps. Both candida overgrowth and parasites tend to cause constipation.

Make sure to avoid calcium carbonate as it is very constipating.
get calcium supplements in a different form if you decide to take calcium supplements. I get plenty of calcium in my diet, so the only calcium supplement I take is the calcium in the calcium ascorbate(that still adds up to 300 mg a day of supplemental calcium for me).

Are there any unique symptoms of having candida? I would hate to give up fruit completely.

I was thinking about just quitting the multivitamins but I'm going to try this one which was recommended on that fibromyalgia site you linked. It has a good amount of basic vitamins and minerals I was looking for w/o extra herbs and other micro-nutrients for a good value. I'm going to try the magnesium supplement you use from Source Naturals because it has malic acid for aluminum(which I think I might have) and it's a more absorbent form. I had a hair mineral test done two years ago and my calcium was really high(most likely because mercury is displacing it) so I don't take any calcium supplement. It's easy to get calcium from food as long as you eat some green vegetables or milk and avoid sugar.

Thanks for the input on how to deal with the parasite cleanse. I'd love to eat some garlic too but it does seem to mobilize metals in me.

If you get a strong reaction to raw garlic, it is probably due to candida or parasites being killed. Genital fungal infections that are difficult to treat is another sigh. You could try taking caprylic acid and see if you get a strong reaction to that as well. The problem is that antifungals also tend to be antiparasitic. Do you get a strong reaction to perfumes? That is a sign of aldehyde toxicity. Candida produces aldahydes. Are you very sensitive to bleach fumes? That me be a good clue that you have a candida problem.


Some will tell you to give up fruit initially, then later add back a bit of lower sugar fruit like canteloupe and strawberries, but to still avoid grapes, oranges, figs, dates, and other very high sugar fruits.

magnesium malate is a good source of magnesium that is easily absobed. The malic acid it is made with helps provide energy.

http://intelegen.com/nutrients/malic_acid_energy__fibromyalgia.htm

You can stimulate your adrenals by increasing your salt intake, and by taking licorice root. Carnitine is good for boosting energy, especially in those who eat little or no pork or beef. I think carnitine is helping me. I take 1,000 mg a day.

I used to take the Twinlab Daily One many years ago, then I switched to the Solgar VM75. Now I prefer to take each thing separately(except the B vitamins-I take a B50 twice a day) The Source Naturals Fibro Response had me interested in it, and I almost wanted to buy it, until I noticed that it has ALA in it. If they left out the ALA it would be good. With the ALA, I don't want to take it.

I don't have a sensitivity or allergy to anything. I don't like strong scented stuff but as far as reactions to them or anything else, no, nothing. I also never get sick. I've probably had a stuffy nose or sore throat 2-3 times in the last ten years which will last a day at the most. That's what I don't really understand. If my immune system is suppose to be "weak" from all the metals I should get sick or have sensitivities. The only thing I seem to have a problem with as far as I can tell are the metals, big time. Significant neurological and endocrine disruptions. Maybe parasites or fungus. I guess I will find out when I get the parasite cleanse. I'm doing a one week bowel cleanse first though.


I eat mostly apples, bananas and berries. Occasionally oranges, plums, kiwis and melons. Rarely grapes and mangos. Usually 1-4 servings a day.

I'll be going gluten free next week. Hopefully this helps my digestion which I think is sub-par. That and adding more cultured foods should help.


I've started adding a little sea salt to my food. I don't eat much processed food anymore and never added salt so I will see if this helps. But like I said before, I think the adrenal issue is the stimulation, not the glands themselves. I eat meats, mostly locally raised and grass-fed now so I guess I should be getting some carnitine from them already.

Bananas are very high in sugar. If you have a candida problem, then they should be avoided. Berries aren't so bad, especially the tart ones. Blueberries are relatively low in sugar. Apples are high in sugar, however they do have plenty of malic acid in themand plenty of fiber. You could get the malic acid from magnesium malate.

To help your digestion, you could eat raw ginger, and put cayenne pepper on you food. Cayenne pepper stimulates additional hydrochloric acid production, and bile production. So does wormwood though. Wormwood is the primary herb in a parasite cleanse. Wormwood is also one of the most potent antifungals. Since it is so strong though, dosage needs to watched carefully, and after using it for a month one should wait at least 4 months before using it again.


Carnitine is present to a great degree in beef and pork. Most other meats don't have that much of it.

http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-cayenne.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnitine

In addition to all the fructose, large amounts of fruit will give you too much potassium. People with adrenal fatigue/CFS/fibromyalgia(all probably caused by mercury), one needs extra sodium and not too much potassium, and extra magnesium and not too much calcium. you should try to concentrate on these things and getting other minerals in the right proportions. You can analyze your diet, and get nutritional data for each food at

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

You can also find out which foods are highest in a particular nutrient.

Not all fruits are high in fructose, Lemons and Limes hardly have any in them! Minerals in balance, which some fruits will hav, it's hard to take a supplement and balance things out over time worried about this and that, too confusing at times JK. I love this post, I will post a table below of fructose in fruits.

The table is toward the bottom.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...-of-high-blood-pressure-and-obesity.aspx

Also keep in mind that chelation causes an increased loss of essential minerals such as zinc, copper, chromium, magnesium and molybdenum. That is why it is good to start supplementing these at least a month before starting chelation.

damn jk that site is awesome

Sean, that Mercola article is very interesting.

Samh, I'm glad you enjoy the nutritiondata website. Here is another interesting nutrition website.

http://whfoods.org/

This article is the most informative one I have read so far about what is going on, and which supplements to take.

http://www.flcv.com/cfsfm.html

The one crucial thing the article leaves out is molybdenum.

Taking olive leaf extract while taking the wormwood, black walnut and cloves formula will make it even more effective, but may give you extreme side effects from too strong of a die off reaction. If you get very little reaction from taking the wormwood, black walnut, and cloves(Wormwood Combination), then after a week or two of that you could start the olive leaf extract.

If you do decide to get olive leaf extract, get a potent one. The weak ones I have tried in the past were almost worthless. The most potent one that I have tried so far is the Olympian brand olive leaf extract. It you shop carefully, you can get it for around $9 per bottle of 60 capsules. I have not tried any of the very expensive olive leaf extract.

Thanks for the advice. I probably won't get the Wormwood Combination for a couple weeks because Vitacost is holding the order for something else I got on backorder. What do you think about NSI's olive leaf extract?

In the other thread you mentioned you were taking cilantro with DMSA and ALA to chelate. Assuming I can tolerate DMSA and I get my peripheral body burden lower with it, do you think I could end up trying cilantro with the DMSA instead of the ALA for the CNS, bone and organs?? I don't seem to react well to ALA when I have taken it in a supplement and a superfood powder in the past. However, cilantro seems to give an immediate relief of symptoms as long as too much does not get free in the blood. I think it somehow clears neurotransmitters or the pituitary or hypothalamus and that in turn gets my head clear and my adrenals(chi) back online. With ALA, I get no positive effect, only negative detox symptoms BUT that could be because I was not using it properly. Still, my heart/gut says to use cilantro. It seems as long as I were to keep enough DMSA in my system and a low amount of cilantro, it might work better for me than ALA. What do you think?

I never tried the NSI olive leaf extract. They claim 18% oleuropein, however an article I read about olive leaf extract claims that many companies exaggerate about this. I have no idea about the NSI brand. You could order one bottle of the NSI and one bottle of the Olympian and compare the two. I noticed that the Olympian olive leaf extract is much more fragrant than the other brands I tried(I tried 5 brands so far).

Cilantro doesn't replace ALA, it is an adjunct to it. I still recommend that you use ALA, but only after using DMSA for a few months.


"I don't seem to react well to ALA when I have taken it in a supplement"

Bingo! Some would say that is proof of mercury toxicity. It gives me mild headaches.

It is important to get enough good sulphur before you start chelating and during chelation, otherwise the chelation molecules might be be torn apart for use as a sorce of sulphur and they won't chelate. Some suggest taking msm. I like taking msm. I take a gram of it 3x a day.


First use the DMSA alone for a few rounds, then you could take cilantro with the DMSA. After a few months add ALA. Start with low doses, but if you finish a round with very few side effects, then you should increase the dosage next round. If the side effects are too strong, stop the round then use a lower dosage the next round. Use the highest dosage you are comfortable with.
I went from 25 mg ALA and 25 mg DMSA each dose to 200 mg ALA and 66 mg DMSA my last chelation round. I increased the dosages in a few steps.

So you're saying it is OK to take just DMSA and cilantro with no ALA but that cilantro can't replace ALA. Why can't cilantro replace ALA? What can ALA do and where can it go that cilantro can't?

also, how long did it take you to go from 25/25 to 200/66? And why a 200/66 ratio? That seems wide.

Cilantro can mobilize some mercury from the brain and nervous system, but it isn't nearly as powerful as ALA.

When I first tried chelating, it was 3 months after my amalgams were out, and I tried a few rounds with just 50 mh ALA per dose. While it cleared up the brain fog well, it gave me severe muscle ache and I crashed hard and waited a few months before trying ALA plus DMSA 25 mg of each. At first I thought I could avoid the expense of DMSA(Andy Cutler says ALA is mandatory but DMSA is optional) however the side effects of using ALA without DMSA were too great.

I think I went from 25 mg of each to 50 mg ALA 25 mg DMSA, then 50 mg of each, then 100 mg ALA 50 mg DMSA, then 200 mg ALA 50 mg DMSA, then 200mg ALA 66 mg DMSA, then 200 mg ALA 83 mg DMSA, but at 83 mg DMSA per dose I got diarrhea and had to stop the round. The next rounds I did with 66 mg DMSA and was fine. Diarrhea is a common side effect when using too much DMSA. You need to see how much your body will tolerate per dose.

I used much more ALA than DMSA since DMSA is something like 10x the price of ALA. I also seemed to tolerate the higher dosage of ALA much better than a higher dosage of DMSA. I arrived at the 66 mg and 83 mg dosages for DMSA since the DMSA comes in 100 mg and 250 mg capsules, so 3 66 mg doses were put together from 2 100 mg capsules, and 3 83 mg doses were put together from one 250 mg capsule. I tried to make the doses as even as I could(I just seperated it by sight).

The side effects using ALA without DMSA are so much greater than using ALA with DMSA. With the DMSA it was very tolerable. The last 2 or 3 doses of each round I did with DMSA only. I advise people not to use ALA without DMSA unless they can't help it(DMSA is not available in some countries).

I decided to increase my vitamin D intake to 4,000 units a day from 2,000. Vitamin D is so important, and I don't get much sun.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

I have suffered from constipation on and off over the past few years, but lately I noticed that if I take around 300 mg of magnesium at one time, within around 2 hours or so I am able to use the bathroom. This amount is good enough to let me use the bathroom without giving me diarrhea.

Thanks for spelling out what you did. When the time comes I will probably use some cilantro with DMSA before I add any ALA.

I have a strong reaction to even small amounts of cilantro. The first time I found out I was mercury toxic two years ago, I ate ten or so leaves of cilantro and that night it mobilized a ton of metal. I woke up with a clear head with metals everywhere. Another weird thing happened right when I woke up. My pineal gland started broadcasting my thoughts in crystal clear images. That was very startling because I had never experienced that before. I felt unbelievably great that morning with a clear head, great mood and strong appetite for breakfast(very unusual for me). Later that night I started feeling crappy again from redistribution but it told me that cilantro can really help me out and that metals were indeed my problem. ALA just puts me into a coma it seems.


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...amin-d-the-silver-bullet-for-cancer.aspx

I believe Weston Price figured that traditional cultures consumed on average 4,000IU of vitamin D through diet each day; obviously, through animal foods. On top of that, most of them spent their time outdoors working so they would get more through sun exposure. I take 4,000IU's when I don't get any sun and that is what Mercola's article recommended for my body weight.

The Vitamin D Council website advises taking 5,000 units of vitamin D a day, then testing the blood levels after 2 or 3 months of this, and adjust the intake up or down depending on the test results. It is hard to get much vitamin D from food, but some people get plenty from sunlight.

Have you ever tried taking msm? I'm curious how you react to it.

http://www.falconblanco.com/health/msm/msm.html

Food sources of vitamin have to come from animal sources. The best is cod liver oil but only those that have not been stripped of it's vitamins through processing(most are). Fish, dairy products(milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, high vitamin butter), eggs and organ meats are other sources. It would still be tough to get 4-5000IU from food. The Inuits and Eskimos would have had to get theirs almost exclusively from food.

I've never tried MSM. My guess is I wouldn't react well since it's concentrated sulfur. I do OK on sulfer containing foods that are not goitrogenic but concentrated stuff like that or NAC/Cysteine is too much given my current toxicity load.

The reason the you do poorly on sulphur supplements might be that they increase detoxification, therefore making you feel worse. The problem with detoxification is that you will feel worse as candida and parasites are killed and release toxins in the process, or deeply stored toxins are mobilized and put in the blood stream. This needs to occur though to get them out of the body.

Bloating and constipation may be caused by candida or parasites, or perhaps insufficient stomach acid or insufficient bile production. Insufficient stomach acid will let parasites and candida grow, while insuffient bile will prevent your body from properly detoxifying. Remember that most of the mercury excreted by the body is through the bile. There are a number of herbs that increase bile flow such as dandelion, cayenne, licorice root, ginger,