I recently removed many large mercury amalgams and will soon begin the process of mercury chelation. How long will it take? How do you know when you've completely eliminated mercury from your body?

From what I understand, it isn't possible to eliminate all mercury from the body. But after detox, the level in the body falls from toxic to a level your body will cope with. We will then be detoxing it for the rest of our life, especially as we are exposed to mercury all the time from various sources, particularly if one eats fish. This is my understanding, but might be wrong.

The damage done by mercury to cell membranes etc. may be permanent (though I'm hopeful appropriate supplementation and the like can alleviate some of the effects in the long-term), it is at least theoretically possible to remove nearly all of the mercury sequestered in nervous tissue. Here is a link to collected comments by Andy Cutler on mercury detox. In the section headed "Chelation progress and non-progress-- when to stop" see topic 510 entitled "how long to chelate": Here he states that it could take up to 100 lipoic acid chelation cycles to clear accumulated mercury. That is hopeful in my opinion (and I'm not being cynical).

Index of Comments by Andy Cutler

Hi there. It's really hard to tell how long it can take because everybody is different and as you heal along the way, you will improve. But the problem is, many people get to a point where they feel so much better, they "think" they are well and they're still mercury toxic and need to continue chelating for another 6 months - a year AFTER they think they are well. Because we're so used to being ill, we have no conception of what is it like to be TRULY well, so you can think you are and you're only halfway there and still toxic.

Sometimes the chelating/detoxing itself can reach a point where it's keeping you well and ridding you of mercury before it builds back up in your blood again as it's still coming out of your organs etc. If you keep chelating after you think you're well, you have better chance of avoiding getting sick again from more mercury coming out and hitting you later on.

But again, mistakes can be made along the way which can harm and hinder progress in a huge way. so the best way is to go slow and take small doses of any chelating agent to make sure you cope with it, or you could get hurt very very badly.

Things even that are natural, can be very dangerous in mercury poisoning, such as garlic supplementation. This has been something so dangerous for me, I now cannot do much at all and suffer permanently from psychotic symptoms and am bedridden most days. This has gone on for months now and no sign of improvement. So be careful and take it slowly and find out the safer chelations for most people that will be less likely to hurt and more likely to remove mercury, rather than simply mobilising it all over the place..

Bex,

I also used garlic to get rid of candidia (didn't know at the time that it stored mercury) and in doing so released all that stored stuff making me even more sick. However, about a year later I feel remarkably better. I take magnesium-800mg or more,(this is very important for detox and MANY other things, but it also would help you with the psychotic symptoms) vitamin C, Mercury Detox (Tyler), glutathione, and Algin.

I don't think it has to be permanent-it just seems like it at the time because detoxing is such a slow process.

Hang in there.

. I too used an antifungal and got very ill from releasing mercury from candida, but like you, I improved after i chelated it out and actually was even better than before I believe, but this garlic supplement did not do that, it was something else believe me.

It was as though it not only forced toxins into the gut and brain and nervous system, but I also have bacteria infection in my jaw/gums and I believe from what I've read, that sulfur compounds/amino acids cysteine and methionine (those found in garlic in potent form also) that the anaerobic bacteria from e.g. jawbone infection can desulferate the sulfur amino acids and in combination with the mercury produceFAR MORE lethal compounds and then can do serious damage.

I happen to have jawbone infections, so maybe there is an interesting connection. But not only this, the simple fact is that garlic can move mercury into far worse areas, brain/gut/nervous system, and that is enough to cause enough damage on it's own.

Not so much the fact it can kill candida and release more mercury, it's what it does WITH the mercury and how it reacts with the bacteria in the jaw too. This is just my experience and it is just horrific believe me. I have been through many detox reactions, but this is not detox, I know how it feels and this is pretty much permanent. I think a lot of it is other issues with the mercury that is preventing me from bouncing back or healing or detoxing like I used to. Which would be why things like this happen to me very easily.

I'm now 6 weeks post amalgam removal. After an initial increase in symptoms related to mercury toxicity, I'm now successfully managing most of the symptoms with supplements recommended by Cutler. One of my symptoms is ileo-cecal valve pain that comes on when my body is pushing out mercury through the liver. This seems a rather reliable indicator of intestinal load of mercury. So, my strategy will be to continue as is (supplements, low-sulfur diet, and clay baths) until I no longer have the ileo-cecal valve pain. At this point, the remaining mercury in my body should be in my brain, and I'll begin the DMSA/ALA chelation campaigns. Any thoughts or warnings?

Hi, if you are only 6 weeks post amalgam removal and you add ALA now? I can warn you that you WILL end up with more brain mercury.

Andy Cutler must know what he's talking about when he advises people wait for 3 - 6 months after amalgam removal before using ALA. He advises people use DMSA or DMPS during that first 3 - 6 months without ALA to help clear the blood/tissues of mercury and then adding ALA after that time in very small doses. (I'm sure you know his protocol for using these chelating agents).

I had a friend who used ALA and he's a mess now. I used it and am a mess, psychologically. And I was 3 months out of any mercury exposure, so I SHOULD have been safe. Wrong, I still have far too much free floating mercury that my body is not elimnating so the ALA just pushed it into my brain and now I'm experiencing suicidal thoughts nearly permanently.

I don't know if you want to risk this. I know ALA can be wonderful stuff, but it can be a total and utter nightmare when used at the wrong time, especially if the person does not eliminate mercury easily. Some people have to wait much longer before using it than others.

Thank you for the sobering response. When I said

I couldn't quite make out the anti-spam letters and the previous post got cut off.

When I said "At this point," I didn't mean now, but after the cramping in my side stopped (the ileo-cecal valve pain) or six months (whichever happens last). Based on my symptoms, a blood mercury level of 6.5 ug/L with amalgams still in, and the fact that I'm functioning reasonably well with supplements, I'd say that I'm moderately mercury poisoned. What do you think about chelation campaigns with low dose DMSA beginning at two-months post-removal? Thanks.

Hi, oh ok I see what you meant. First of all, according to very reputable sources, it is nearly impossible to detect mercury in the body by using standard heavy metal detection techniques, once the mercury has been released into the body for more than a few weeks. This is because mercury quickly binds to the sulhydryl-containing enzymes and other proteins in the liver, kidney, lining of the GI tract and brain. Once exposed to mercury, it only takes a few weeks for this binding to occur, and once it does, no mercury will be detected in the blood, urine or hair.

Sometimes they can give a challenge test with something to encourage the mercury into the urine etc, but even then highly toxic people can still come up with low levels of mercury. Sometimes peole lwho are not toxic can come up with higher levels. It's odd, but it can show that a person with low levels is ill becuase they are not eliminating the mercury into the urine and hair. Someone healthier might be able to eliminate the mercury out into the urine easier, which might show a higher level. The sickest patients are usually the ones with the lowest levels of mercury oddly enough.

Hair tests are the best way to go, but again, not to test for levels of mercury so much, but to test for which minerals are distorted that might indicate mercury toxicity is at work, depending on what mercury affects.

The DMSA can be taken right now. People can start to take it 4 days after their last amalgam removal (accoding to Andy) and then you can use it at low doses that you can tolerate (e.g. starting at 12.5 mg) every 4 hours around the clock for about 3 days (or longer up to a week if you want) and then take the same amount of time off and repeat this pattern for about 3 months or longer (up to 6 months). And then yeah, apparently a person is free to begin adding lipoic acid (though for me? I could not do this, I'm too toxic now even for DMSA).

I wish you all the best and hope you do well on DMSA if/when you try it.

PS> my posts get cut off too because of that spam thing!