NO HIVES!

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to make this post because I did not want to jinx myself. Well I think I can now officially say I did not get hives with this latest round. This is really good news to me! I will continue at 10mg DMPS from here on out until I am brave enough to raise it again. :)

Round 6: DMPS Ends

I went a full 5 days and decided it as time to call it quits for now. No reason in pushing this too far. So far, I have no hives but that means nothing. They can literally pop up out of no where, so I am just getting ready. I have been taking my hives regimen throughout this entire chelation round to see if that makes a difference.

My vision is definitely changing. The glasses I wear are pretty old. I've had my contacts prescription changed several times since I got the glasses. Glasses just get so expensive to replace, so I've kept these as my lounging eye wear. Well now I am not seeing the same out of them. I think in my right eye I am seeing better. My left eye still seems quite blurry. When I put my contacts in, I am also not seeing the same out of both eyes. This one is significantly harder to figure out, so I'm going to be heading to the eye docs soon enough. I am due for more contacts and my eye exam is over a year old so I have to get a new exam to get new contacts. I am curious to see what has happened with my eyes. They have been getting worse every year. In the past 3-5 years, my eyes have gotten quite bad. My right eye is -5.75, left eye is -5.25. If anything, I think my right eye is about the same and my left eye is catching up to the right. haha The left eye has the "we think it's a torn vitreous but we aren't sure" and something called "white without pressure". However most places say both are benign. Still makes me wonder about it all at times with my other health issues.


The heat has just been terrible. This is a bad summer for all POTS sufferers out there. I definitely had heat exhaustion the other day and my temps have been well over 99. Earlier today I was pushing 99.2 and that was after getting a cold bath.

I just keep chugging along here. Lately I've been putting almost all of my energy into singing. I want to get really good and possibly make some music. That's been my life's dream for many years now. Now that I am feeling a little better, I am motivated. I think my voice sounds a lot like Sharon Den Adel from the band Within Temptation. She's more comfortable with her head tone, but I'm working on it. My singing has come a long ways over the years, which is mostly self-trained. Those few lessons I took years back were nothing.

Hope: Keeping up with my Nephew!

For the last 2 days my sister needed me to watch her son for a few hours. I used to cringe when she'd ask me because I was always concerned if I could get through the day. My nephew is really behaved quite well for a 5 year old and he is very laid back and easygoing. Any time I watched him and did not feel good he was very understanding. I know adults who are less understanding than my nephew! HA!

It has been very warm lately and of course I was concerned about my heat intolerance. Can I even stand up outside let alone play with him? Yikes. On bad days just walking to the car would make me feel as if I were going to die.

Well it turned out that I not only could stand up outside, but we were playing tag! We sprinted, yes SPRINTED around the yard playing tag for about 30 minutes or so. I'm happy to report he got tired before me and wanted to go in for a drink of water. :) You can not even believe how excited and happy I am about all of this. It was 83 degrees with very high humidity outside so something is going on with me. Am I cured? Nope, but there is a big enough difference that I have noticed. I have a long ways to go, but this is giving me so much hope and optimism. It is actually a little scary! I was afraid to hit POST on this one. Will I jinx it?!

Last night (after watching my nephew for two days and going on walks at the park afterward, cleaning, making dinner, any other normal duties that need done in my house etc) I did have a headache, but it was gone when I woke up this morning. YAY! I have no post exertional malaise today, although that has never been a big issue for me in the past. It is not quite as warm today, but the humidity is very high. That's usually all I need to feel sick and I am doing well.

Like I said, I am NOT cured by any means, but this is very interesting. I just hope I keep getting better and it doesn't stop here.

Making Progress with DMPS

I am convinced now that DMPS is what people need to use to feel better. I have talked about it before, but the few people who were "following" Dr. Cutler's FDC who got significantly better ALL used DMPS at some point or another.

Only a few members of FDC even use DMPS because so many of them are fearful of the drug even though Dr. Cutler says it is safe and recommended here, here and here. They refuse to find a doctor to prescribe it, which makes me believe you can't really be that sick! They are afraid it is not FDA approved, which is once again just another excuse to stay sick. (Alert: Amalgams were FDA approved!) Those who use DMPS have less side effects and symptoms and actually seem to legitimately feel better much faster.

Others using DMPS not strictly following FDC who got better as well:
MercuryLife Blog. Read the entire story!
MS - Ten years bedridden - cured by Amalgam removal
Woman was bedridden with CFS
Another person with CFS Cured
Another woman with CFS finally getting better with chelation

DMPS is the common link in all of these stories. Some of them have done other things alongside it too. However these people should not be considered "lucky" or less toxic. When you start looking at stories of those who got truly better, they all used DMPS in some form or another (oral or IV) at some point in time during their journey.

I'm not really following FDC and taking DMPS every 8 hours. I take it when I get up in the AM, mid-day and then at bedtime, so I don't have to interrupt my sleep at all. With an odd circadian rhythm, even at every 8 hours sometimes the doses would fall while I was sleeping. I had enough of that and just decided to take it at bedtime regardless of what time it was. Sometimes it was at 10 or 11 hours out from my previous dose. I don't think it really matters at all and you could probably take it on any schedule and still see some improvements (my opinion only not based on any scientific evidence).

If you are following Dr. Cutler's protocol and have completed double digit rounds of DMSA or ALA and not feeling or seeing improvements, then consider finding a doctor who will prescribe DMPS. It may be the difference of getting your life back. Isn't that the most important?!

The doctor who prescribed me DMPS NEVER PRESCRIBED IT BEFORE TO ANYONE. I am his FIRST patient and my husband is his SECOND, so please do not try to use "well I don't know if my doctor would do that" as an excuse to keep staying sick. If you really want to use DMPS, then you will find a doctor or beg a doctor who is open-minded enough to use it. I actually had to fax my doctor some information that talked about using oral DMPS and after reading it all he had no issues with me trying it out.

In 5 rounds of DMPS I am feeling the best I've felt in 11 years. I am not over exaggerating or making this up at all. Some people may say that it is placebo, but how could a POTS patient make their heart rates not climb as high while standing? ... How could I have less heat intolerance? ...

Is it all good? NO! The hives are still problematic as evident from my last post and I am concerned about it and SJS. The latest set of hives were focused more around my joints (knees, elbows, wrists and ankles) and thankfully I did not have any hives on my neck at all. This made me very happy because I knew I was not going to have any issues with my throat swelling up.

Outside of the hives I have zero symptoms on and off round. Not many can say that about ALA or DMSA and I really don't understand why someone would continue to take something that is terrible at chelating metals... Dr. Buttar says that it is dangerous to use DMSA. Dr. Cutler's followers had a discussion about this in 2009 and rather than scientifically disproving it is dangerous, they just called the doctor an idiot, he doesn't know what he's talking about and he is promoting his own chelation protocol. Um..And how is Dr. Cutler any different? Dr. Cutler sells consultations too...

And to put it into further perspective at least 2 people in this thread are still sick on FDC. I guess your own irrational fear and advice is not working out for you. Stop drinking the Cutler kool aid!

Many people have become fearful of DMPS due to the fearmongering website, DMPSbackfire. For years I thought it was the devil and was harmful because "Dr. Cutler says so". However since DMSA did not do anything for me at all and may even be dangerous itself, I started to question all of that. Now that I'm taking DMPS and feeling better I realize how stupid it was to have an irrational fear of it. The stories on that website really should just be called "when stupid doctors strike" because they were doing terribly stupid things with DMPS like chelating people WITH amalgams STILL in their mouths! How could any doctor even think that would be a good idea?

If DMPS IV's are too scary for you, then you can use it orally too just like DMSA. That's what I am doing for the time being.

I gave my doctor a PDF from this website. I have no idea what this doctor recommends with chelation, but I found the clinical trial of interest and that is what I showed my doctor.

If you are following FDC, let me know what you think about this theory that DMPS is the key!

Disclaimer: As always these are my opinions on things. I am not a doctor and are simply telling you of my experiences and relaying data/materials I have found online over the years. Everyone with a chronic illness should be following up with a doctor and if you are not, then start today.

Update On Tooth

Well the weird pain I am getting is not from the tooth with the metal post. It seems that either 1)I have brushed my gums so hard in the past 2 months that I have caused gum recession or 2) getting the amalgam tattoo removed did indeed cause some gum recession or 3) chelation is doing something to the gums.

I guess it could be a combination of all of those things. I just find it SOO strange that my dentist used to say how GREAT my gums looked and now I have severe recession in the exact same area where the gray tooth and amalgam tattoo was removed.

I still have a metal post in that tooth that needs taken care of and that can only be resolved with a crown. That's $1200 I don't have.

I just keep on going I guess. I have hives tonight and it is NOT looking good. I feel no need to put more pictures of the hives on here because there's more than enough already. haha

Almost Completed First DMPS Round

I am 2 pills away from finishing my first DMPS chelation round and I feel nothing at all.  No headaches, no tiredness, no hives...nothing.  This is very exciting to me because I was concerned it would be really terrible.  With all of the negativity surrounding DMPS, I really thought it was going to be "tough" with a lot of symptoms and weird side effects.  Perhaps it is too soon?  I guess only time will tell! 

I am following my doctor's advice on this one and will take a 4 day break.  There is no reason to overdo it and if I continue to do well, I will look into increasing my dosage or increasing the length of rounds.

The fact I had no hives is pretty amazing.  I just hope I'm not jinxing myself. haha

Recap: This was a 3 day round taking 50mg DMPS orally every 8 hours.  I started half-way through Tuesday, so I will be ending on Friday morning after taking my 9th dose. 

An Interesting Website

My husband found this website and I wanted to pass it along to my readers. Be sure to do your own research and discuss any risks with your doctor before beginning any chelation protocol. I'm not a doctor!

The website is called Mercout.com. The website supplies the patient with a 30 day supply of DMPS. The only difference is that you must prove that you have elevated mercury levels in your body with laboratory testing. Mercout.com offers a test you can buy through them if you do not have a test, but they will also accept a test you already had done previously. I think that's pretty awesome! Since DMPS is prescription, this is necessary for the company to cover their butt.

The website says....

Step 2: Physician Review of Your Mercury Test Results

If the urine test by the independent laboratory indicates that your mercury level is elevated, it is very likely our physicians will recommend that you begin to remove this toxic substance using the MercOut Detoxification Program.

I definitely have laboratory results that show I have elevated mercury levels in my body, so I have no issues with "proving" it.

 I'm starting to think that I need DMPS to get the mercury out rather than DMSA. Studies show that DMSA pulls only 1/5 or 1/10 the amount of mercury than DMPS. This challenge test was complete with a small dose (~65mg) of DMPS injected in my arm very slowly. I really doubt DMSA is grabbing anywhere near 30mcg of mercury every 4 hours. I'd love to prove that, but I just don't have the $$ to throw around to experiment.

It got warm today and I'm already getting symptomatic. This spring/summer is going to be rough unless I get this metal out of me. I'm not about to chelated for 8 years to have minimal improvements.

Speaking of which, I am chelating right now. I'm taking 50mg of DMSA every 2 hours. The Cutler folks will think I'm crazy for even considering such a high dose, but in his own book he says you need high doses to get this crap out. 5mg every 4 hours isn't going to do anything to get mercury out of your body. It's like throwing a little cup of water on a large fire. You need a bucket of water to even begin to put the fire out. Have fun with your cups of water...

Chelation: Common Mistakes People Make

Updated March 2011:  I wrote this back in early 2009 when I thought Dr. Cutler's protocol was curing people left and right.  Now it is 2011 and there is nearly NO success stories with this protocol myself included. It has done absolutely NOTHING for me, but give me terrible side effects.  I get severe rashes and hives on DMSA no matter what dosage, no matter what dosing schedule.  Because of all of this my views on everything has changed substantially.  They have changed so much so that I am editing this post and rewriting it because I don't want to give people the wrong impression.

The only doctor (I have seen) who has published results from following Dr. Cutler's protocol is Dr. Amy Holmes.  She is no longer practicing medicine because her own health issues.  At this link you will find a chart that says no one over the age of 13 had marked improvements on Dr. Cutler's protocol.  Since I am an adult, I find this highly discouraging especially since for years she was important in the FDC circles. 

I think this protocol is solely based upon wishful thinking, hope and hype.  For some reason it grabs unsuspecting sick people like a spider web and you cannot get away no matter how hard you try.  Everywhere you look for chelation information, there is at least 1 Cutler follower who will scream if you attempt or even talk about any other chelation ideas outside of Dr. Cutler's. No other discussions are allowed because they are "unsafe" or "dangerous".  Dr. Cutler is highly prized in these groups and nothing he says can be questioned because he cannot be wrong, ever.  Right...I suppose if people were getting better, then they would have more ground to stand on.   Well, I have stopped drinking the Cutler Kool Aid and have opened my eyes up to the possibility there are other ways to recover from mercury poisoning especially since people are not getting better with DMSA and ALA.  If you stumbled upon this blog, then please read some of my newer posts on the matter and not my older posts from 2008 where I was just starting out on my journey.  I was naive.

As always though, I am not a doctor and whatever you do is at your own risk and you take full responsibility for any consequences which occur.

Most of this information is from my own experiences, but some of it is derived from Dr. Cutler's Frequent dose chelation protocol. You can find more information about him and his protocol at his website.

Mistakes Made Prior to Frequent Dose Chelation

• Chelating with amalgams in. You can pull mercury from the fillings increasing exposure.  

• Using chelating agents such as cilantro, chlorella, MSM and garlic because they are "natural" ( I am not so sure they are as dangerous as Cutler and his flock suggest).

• No lab work done prior--CBC with diff, TSH, FT3,FT4, cortisol saliva test recommended at bare minimums. If adrenal glands are suspected to be failing, then an ACTH stim test should be performed by a qualified endo before any hydrocortisone is supplemented. It is not something you should be messing with unless you have a documented adrenal issue. It is now becoming increasingly popular to go on HC for any reason.

• The idea that severe "detoxing" symptoms means you are excreting mercury. "No pain, no gain" attitude.  (I am now taking DMPS with no side effects while on round.)

Mistakes Made During Frequent Dose Chelation

This entire section assumes that the FDC protocol is actually working...That is assuming A LOT.  I can say with pretty good certainty that it is not working in a majority of cases, YET those on the FDC yahoo group will insist there are hundreds of success stories. However when you try to find said stories, they usually include young children or simply the stories are no where to be found. The so-called "success stories" list on FDC is a joke. Please do some of your own follow up of those people and let me know how many success stories are still making posts on FDC with issues.  It is maddening this would be counted as a success story. The day I consider myself a success story, I will never post on a health forum again.

I made a more recent post questioning whether or not people are really recovering.

• Starting on too high of a dose--DMSA-no more than 15mg, ALA-no more than 12.5mg (I now think that this is why the Cutler protocol isn't working.  The doses being used are a joke.  You might as well be flushing them down the toilet and doing nothing.)

• Increasing the dose too quickly. Do at least 4 rounds on intro dose before increasing. (Not sure it matters because no one really gets better regardless of what they do)

• Perceiving chelation as a 500 yard dash, rather than a marathon. Take your time because it will take years (Still think this is true. It will take time to get better, but I think 6 months to a year is reasonable to see some drastic improvements.  No one on Cutler protocol has this though)

• Trying to chelate without a dedicated timer/pill reminder.

• Not supplementing with the appropriate minerals-Vitamin C, B, D, zinc, magnesium, CoQ10

• Using DMSA/ALA on any schedule other than every 3-4 hours as recommended by Dr. Cutler (Once again I am questioning the very foundations of this chelation protocol. Who knows?)

Do your own research and start searching out people who have actually RECOVERED from mercury poisoning.  I have been listening to other sick people for years and I realized I was a complete idiot.  I should have been looking for those who have gotten HEALTHY!  DUH!  If a sick person has been trying something for years and they are no better, then whatever it is they are doing is not working.  Do not get suckered into listening to SICK people for HEALTH advice. It's obviously not working if they are STILL SICK.

Snow, Chelation, Etc!

It has been very wintry. On top of what we already had, last night and today we probably got another 2-3" and they are calling for more tonight and tomorrow! We have to be up to a foot by now, but with how windy it's been it is impossible to get an accurate measurement.

We broke down today and bought a snow blower. My left arm couldn't take shoveling anymore. There's just too much snow now and our CRV almost got stuck in the driveway. We barely got out today. We won't be reaching freezing for at least a week, so the driveway was becoming a problem.

There have been some crazy accidents at the intersection near our house. The first one involed a truck with a horse trailer. It slammed into a house! You can imagine the sound it made. Thankfully though the truck hit the porch, so there was minimal damage done to the building. My husband and I laugh though and say if a truck were to hit our house, they would go right through it and keep on moving. haha Tonight, a tractor trailer jack-knifed (not completely sure at the moment) and brought the highway to 1 lane for a few hours. The roads were really snow covered, so it doesn't surprise me. Just moments ago, they got the truck straightened out and towed it away.

On the chelation front, I'm not going to do 25mg of ALA anymore. It's just too dangerous to start that high, so I will be ordering (tomorrow) the ALA from Dean in South Africa. If you are in need of small dose ALA, DMSA or combo ALA/DMSA he can hook you up for a relatively cheap price. He is an active member of the frequent dose chelation yahoo group, so he is reliable. I emailed him last week and the shelf life on the ALA is 1 year, so you can order multiple bottles at a time to save money on shipping. Since it is coming from South Africa expect to pay $20-30 for shipping depending upon your location.

I had a terrible headache, felt very tired today and was itchy. At this point, I have no idea what is causing it all. I added in milk thistle the other day, so maybe there is a connection or coincidence?

Getting Back Into the Chelating Mindset

I am having a difficult time getting back into chelating. Taking these few months off has made me incredibly lazy. I missed my doses last night, so I have to stop. I used to beat myself up over it, but I am OK with it. I just need to update my chelating calendar, so I know when to start up again.

If you are trying to chelate without a calendar, you will fail miserably. Everyone should have a calendar no matter how much you think you don't need one. You'll forget!

I have heard so many people say how terrible ALA is when they first start using it. I have to admit that before knowing about Dr. Cutler and his way, I have used ALA before WITH AMALGAMS IN. It was NOT deliberate, but recently I went through all the supplements we own and came across a detox formula I used for a few weeks. I was taking 6 capsules a day. 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening. There was 100mg of ALA in each capsule!

Now I can't remember what I felt like back then because every single day was a bad day. You know how that goes! My husband and I both think that DMSA with ALA must be very synergistic. If you are only taking ALA, you may not feel the extreme affects. But then I've heard some people say if you just take ALA, the effects are worse. I don't know about that for me. When I take DMSA, I instantly feel something is happening inside of me. With ALA the only thing I noticed was a slight headache just before my next pill was due. Even with me missing my dose last night, I feel totally fine!

I have heard that ALA takes about 3-6 months to "catch up" with you. You feel fine on a high dose and then suddenly it slams you. Perhaps this is the trend I am on.

I wanted to plug the frequent dose yahoo group today. There are some very intelligent people on this yahoo group and I recommend joining even if you don't plan on posting or asking questions. In order to join, make sure you put a good reason down or they will reject your membership. They have had problems with spammers in the past.

I recommend this group more so than the herballure website. I've practically stopped going to the other forum because no one wants to help themselves. It is hard for me to deal with people who don't want to help (but still complain).

Just be sure to read all the information on the yahoo group upon arrival and don't use an email address that you don't want spammed. It is almost guaranteed to get picked up by spammer eventually.