Hi VeggieJuicer, when I was mercury toxic (and didn't have what I have now), I used many different things to try and get well. Oddly enough, just because something is natural, does not mean it is safe for a mercury toxic person.

Anything that mobilises mercury wildly can be a risk, particularly in someone that may not be able to eliminate properly or keep up with what's been pulled out.

I found that DMSA taken according to Andrew Cutler's instructions was the safest route for me at that time. You cannot always completely avoid symptoms during detox, but you can lessen them to a more tolerable degree. His tends to do this for many people. His protocol is this. You take DMSA (e.g. 25 mg to start) every 4 hours around the clock. Unfortunately the annoying thing is having to set an alarm and wake at night. But this is the only way to keep blood levels of DMSA even, and avoiding the intermittant dosage that causes the levels of DMSA to spike up and then drop down rapidly, which causes erratic movement of mercury. If DMSA is taken every 4 hours, it remains at much hte same levels and continues an ongoing more even movement of mercury and escorts it out, rather than randomly moving it all over the place.

You do the every 4 hour routine for about 3 days straight (or longer up to a week if you like). Then you take a break for about the same amount of time. Then repeat this same cycle and so on. E.g. 3 days on, 3 days off. Or 3 days on 4 days off. So long as you take it more than 2 days and have a break of the same or longer, it is fine.

It is not wise to take it any longer than a week though. Because it is quite stressful for the body to chelate and due to waking often, it may not be helpful either. Your body needs a rest inbetween. You may need to do this for about 3 months or so. DMSA reduces blood/tissue mercury. It is not as effective as chelating organ/brain mercury as Alpha lipoic acid. So you can bring Alpha lipoic acid onboard later. ALA should not be used too early on if your blood levels of mercury are still too high. You need to wait about 3 months or more after your last amalgam removal before ALA can be used. DMSA can be used immediately.

If you have already been 3 months or longer past last amalgam removal you can "officially" use ALA. But most try DMSA first just in case they find it is still chelating some mercury. When you feel ready to try ALA, you can use it with the DMSA, or you can use it on its own and leave DMSA out of it. Many find DMSA is helpful to use with ALA though. Both can be used at the same dose at the sametime. Though it is safer to use ALA every 3 hours rather than every 4, because after 3 hours, the levels of ALA in the blood start to drop. You can extend to every 4 hours during the night if it helps you get some more sleep, but best to stick to 3 hours if you can, especially during the day.

The dosage of both can be started low and increased later as side effects allow. Once a person starts ALA, they can keep using it for months until they have chelated their organ and brain mercury. This may take a year or longer. You may start to feel much better much earlier, but it does not mean all your mercury is gone, just means the chelation has gotten rid of quite a bit, but it possibly helping keeping you well. You need to continue chelating even if you feel ok. It is safer that way to make sure you have gotten rid of all the mercury.

DMSA is available online. Here is one place:
Worldwide Health Centre - (UK Depot St Albans, Hertfordshire) and (US Depot Carson City, NV 89706).
Sells DMSA 100mg and 25 mg caps
http://www.worldwidehealthcenter.net/category.php?find=DMSA

And here:
Supersmart website - UK
Sells DMSA 100 mg caps.
http://www.supersmart.com/article.pl?id=0248

Though the one just above only sells them in 100 mg capsules. You may handle that dose fine, but many wish to start lower. Some do not tolerate higher doses, so they may start as lower as 25 mg or even 6 in some cases!! Andy recommends 50 mg - 100 mg and does not think it's a high dose, but depends how poisoned you are and how sensitive you are.