Hey Steve,

Going "ok" thanks for asking, but struggling with this persistant parasitic infection (as well as my usual candida). So things are complicated. I have had to wait before I do another round of ALA, due to the fact this parasite appears to feed off so many things, including supplements (apart from parasite cleanse), so yeah, this is not making things easy. Plus I ate some roasted nuts the other day, which has made me worse and I need to recover again before doing another ALA round. So I'm going through what seems to be the usual "die off/healing" symptoms I get. Frustrating! But I did do 100 mg of ALA every 3 hours (every 4 hours during the night) for 3 days straight, so I'm quite happy I could do it!

The only symptoms I noticed, apart from yeast/parasite flare ups, was general tiredness and aching, which is not unexpected during mercury chelation, both from the detox and minerals being used up more during the process I guess. I cannot take supplements because of the parasite, so it makes it more difficult, as supplements help provide the antioxidant/mineral support required with this toxicity and during the stress of chelation.

Yep, redistribution is inevitable at the end of each round, but thankfully its not something major and then you rest, which allows things to settle before your next round. Longer rounds would likely be better yes, but NOT if they're not tolerable. It is better to find a dose and length of round that allows you to keep functioning, so you're able to do regular rounds. Rather than do a high dose or really long round and then suffer for it, not able to chelate again for sometime.

You can do 2 weeks. I've done some reading on the other forum and 2 weeks is the limit for ALA chelation. But that is a very long period of time and I concur with JK's comments that slow and steady is what works and the way to go. Rather than a race, think of it as a marathon (I've heard this said I think it's good to remember). A week off maybe ok, but is that enough for you as a rest period? Usually it's advised to take as much time off as one has spent on the chelator. Definitely keep up the antioxidants/mineral intake constantly. Make sure you're taking the water soluable supplements 3-4 times daily (4 times if possible). They get used up quickly, so it's necessary to take them regularly during the day. Split them up if you need to, so you avoid overdosing. This is Vitamin C, B complex, specifically.

I had listed a number of testimonies regarding Cutler's protocol somewhere on this forum and I used to keep it in my documents, but now I have another computer and don't have them. Though you can do a search on the forum for "cutler protocol testimonies" and hopefully you'll locate them. Or you could go to the frequent dose forum (in the link I gave) and check out the links/files section. I am sure there will be plenty of testimonies there and new ones that I didn't get that you can check out. I guess it's different for everybody how soon they get well and how difficult that process might be. For me, it tooks many months, actually a few years to start improving, but I have to admit, I didn't even chelate properly until the last year or so, which I now attribute to speeding my improvement. Again, I only did DMSA, which is not enough. In fact, DMSA is optional - ALA is essential. It is the deeply stored organ mercury that one must eventually get to after body/blood burden of mercury has cleared and that's why ALA is necessary. So of course, just because I "felt" better, didn't mean I was and leaving much of the mercury behind I believe caused future problems for me - suseptible to chronic viral/bacteria illness and possible hidden jawbone cavitations (which can then hinder mercury excretion). So my response to chelation now is not so great and not so obvious!

So I do the ALA on and off these days, but not often enough, as I find the gut problems I suffer very difficult.

The liver pathway problem I think has been there for many many years, but worsened due to other health problems coming onboard. So a tendency has become something much more intense due to other loads on my body. I don't know if the ALA will help that, but it might eventually. Supplements can help - like support for the liver phases - helping to speed up phase II. But as I said, I can't really take supplements right now or I just feed this parasitic problem, which then puts extra burden on me and defeats the purpose. But I used to take them and I believe it did indeed help somewhat. But the problem still remains.

12th day on chelation? Wow! I would strongly advise not to alter doses DURING the chelation round. It is better to find a dose and stick with the same dose throughout the round. If you find the dose too high and you feel too ill, stop the round, wait for few days or longer (about the sametime you've spent on it) and then try again on a lower dose. OR, if you find the dose too low during the round and have done a few rounds already on the dose with NO problems, and you feel you could up the dose, don't do it until you have finished the round, rested and about to start a new round. THEN you can try the higher dose on the next round. But if you decide to up or lower doses during rounds, this can contribute to redistribution because the dose of the chelator has altered suddenly in the blood stream.
So it's advised to not only keep a steady 3 hour regime, but a steady dose of the chelator during the round. As you want to reduce redistribution as much as you can and not make unnecessary sudden changes.

Yeah, too much exercise is not always good for you when you got a bunch of mercury in your body. Keep it moderate. I do treadmill walking about 3-4 times a week (for about 30 minutes a session), then some push ups and things and maybe a bit of rebounding, but I find if I start jogging on my treadmill? Though I may feel ok "at the time", I cop it later as it's like unleashing and stirring up a load of metals/toxins at once and my poor system can't keep up and process it. At least, that's how it feels. Yet, I NEED exercise to get things moving at the sametime. It's about creating that balance and that balance will be different for each person. But at least you're trying! Hehe, yeah, I know what you mean about feeling fat. I think it's mainly this diet plan and moderate exercise that is keeping me at an ok weight. I've also knocked off my weekly roast pork consumption as I suspected it may not be doing me any favours. not sure if it's coincidence, but I appear to have lost a bit of weight and that's the only change I made....I hate to speak too soon though But it seems to make me strangely tired after eating it, so that maybe a warning sign in itself. I eat beef, lamb, chicken and do fine on them.

I also get the gut bloating, especially during and maybe after ALA. I am honestly not certain what happens here, but I do know that ALA excretes mercury via the bowel/gut? So your idea that it maybe moving mercury from the brain through the gut is definitely a possibility. Some chelators excrete via the kidneys/urine, so I think the action of chelating mercury from ALA may well flare up yeast/dysbiosis conditions as it's moving the metals via the gut/bowel. I'm not sure whether ALA directly does it (possibly somewhat), but I do know that when I use it, I do get increase in those problems. I get a feeling of bloating and even heat, so perhaps it's stirring up toxins in those areas, pulling toxins through those areas, and in doing so, yeast also.

Either way, one may have to lower the dose if things become too uncomfortable. Chelate so you can still get on with life and continue to do regular rounds. Keep up the support supplements as mentioned and treat yeast/parasites as needed to help you feel more comfortable and healthy, as those problems if left untreated can make matters so much worse. Good thing you got time on your hands, so you can concentrate on your health and chelating the mercury.