I went to a new doctor yesterday and I'm not sure what to think. After seeing me briefly he told me that I suffered from magnesium deficiency (because I had a bottle of water with me, I'm always thirsty) and a vitamin B deficiency. After looking at my blood chemistry he said that he didn't see any signs of mercury toxicity (didn't know that was possible). He said that a rash on my face indicated an allergy to latex and he guessed that I have some other problems.

He said that he has had a lot of success in treating people with traumatic brain injury and one of the keys is giving the body the proper nutrients for it to heal the brain. He gave me a long list of supplements to take. Some of them like vitamin E I am already taking. I have been taking omega 3 supplements for quite awhile but he wants me to take five times as much as I am taking now. He also prescribed high potency B-100 complex, a multivitamin (already taking it), magnesium oxide 250, calcium carbonate 500/600 mg with vitamin D, vitamin C (3 grams a day), and vitamin E (400 IU X 2/day), and cinnamon (to lower cholesterol).

All of those things are good supplements but I am skeptical to say the least. The problem is that in both mainstream and alternative medicine you can find doctors that think they know what they are doing but they really don't. He is the director of the Ohio State University Center for Integrative Medicine so it's not likely that he's a quack but you never know.

I think that I will try his plan for now since it is in network for my insurance and the supplements are not too expensive. I have to admit that what I'm doing now has only given me modest improvement at best.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions? In the last several months I've come to believe that I really suffer from mercury poisoning but I know there is no way to be 100% certain.

I don't know but if you have heavy metals in your brain, how can the MD be sure that you don't suffer from mercury poisoning?

Unfortunately and typically, often the worse case senario poisoning fails to show a result. Either it's due to brain poisoning and/or due to the mercury being retained and not eliminated. It is very hard to pinpoint whether mercury is an issue and one way is a hair analysis test and then to find out how to read it properly to see whether it has the particualr mineral distortions that mercury is notorious for causing.

What your doctor is suggesting, doesn't sound bad though to me....but what would I know? I'm no health professional, but certainly I can't see anything wrong with his supplement suggestions. It may well aid you a little, but if you do have mercury and the mercury is in the brain, you'll need something to aid it out like alpha lipoic acid (taken the same way as DMSA)

Some people do not tolerate DMSA and luckily it is optional anyway, it is not essential. ALA is essential, as is chelate brain and organs.

The only reason for DMSA is to help speed up the initial clearance of mercury from the blood stream. But if you have been months apart from any recent mercury expousre, you can use ALA. It's just not wise to use too early on after recent exposure (e.g. amalgam replacement). best to wait about 3 months before using ALA.

The best dietry suggestions for anybody toxic to my mind come from this website here - http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/candidasupport/

the lady running this site, is aware of mercury toxicity and other illnesses. Her recommendations are the best I've heard for anybody. The fats to include in the diet are pretty essential, they help the body to produce bile, and help eliminate toxins, plus help heal tissue/brain.

Here is some info that may help:

http://mercurytalk.com/wiki/index.php/Testing_for_Mercury_Toxicity

Thanks for the information, Russ. I still think that mercury poisoning is an issue for me.

I think my new doctor was looking at the makeup of my blood and not specifically looking for mercury in my blood. However, I have to be skeptical because my life (or at least the quality of it) depends on an accurate diagnosis and treatment.

I am going to continue the Cutler protocol until I feel good or I'm convinced that mercury is no longer a problem.

HI aaron, out of curiosity, are you noticing any changes at all on is protocol so far? does it stir your symptoms up? or is it too hard to tell?

It's too soon to say, Bex.

Yesterday I felt good until the evening and then I became very agitated so I'm still going up and down. The doctor said that most of my symptoms should subside in 6-8 weeks unless (of course there is a catch) I have to remove some toxic foods from my diet. If I have Celiac Disease (I'm waiting for the test results) then I will have to eat a gluten free diet for the rest of my life.

A friend of mine noted that the last few times he has called me I haven't talked about suicide and for a long time I would mention that every time I spoke with him.

While the supplements and drugs are helping me I'm still not convinced that I'm not suffering from mercury toxicity so I am still doing the Cutler protocol with 25 mg of DMSA and 50 mg of ALA. The supplements seem to allow me to use higher doses of chelating agents.