Hi, just to mention DMSA here and the fact I believe it does not slow down progress, but speeds it up. I recall the times of being mercury poisoned, either after exposure in the dental office, or amalgam removal itself or the dumping stage.

Each time this occured and I tried to do "nothing" or take other mobilising detox agents, I found myself going in painful circles, but not making significant gains. Once I got onto DMSA and took it Andy Cutler style, I began to make REAL progress and I mean even after I stopped using it.

So once again, I have to say this is not about the immune suppressing actions of DMSA (which I've not heard of before), but rather it plain and simply chelates metals.

One doctor had me on his protocol and I simply could not tolerate the side effects, but I understood the reactions of getting worse to get better. This indeed can and does happen and it's a painful price to pay for improvement at the other end. BUT, I could not continue and in the end I opted again for DMSA.

I still got the detox, but the improvements came and I got the newly exposed mercury out of my system and that improvement remained. SO I could stop taking it. It is not as powerful in chelating apparently as ALA, but it is still very helpful and effective and most definitely speeds things up. I have proven this time and time again with myself.

Andrew Cutler's book mentions chelating with ALA alone or with DMSA and without a doubt, it is recommended to chelate with both if possible. Why? Because he's proven that taking both increases the rate and speed of chelation, more than just ALA by itself. Yes it can help with side effects too and no doubt this can also be attributed to the fact it's a very strong binding drug and anything ALA has chelated from the brain can have the extra chelating ability of DMSA working with it. DMSA is good to bind mercury in the blood and tissue, so it makes sense.

I do not find DMSA helps me unless I have been newly exposed to mercury and/or somehow it's been mobilised out of organs into circulation more. Yet I have plenty of symptoms from other toxicity and illness, so far from DMSA suppressing my immuntiy and giving a fake sense of improvement, it has no effect at all because there is either not enough mercury or it is not in the areas that DMSA can reach.

DMSA only chelates extracellular mercury, whereas ALA chelates intracellular. I feel both compliment eachother when used together. Unless someone cannot tolerate DMSA. ALA will still do the job on its own.