Heavy Metal Detox Chelation 10 Month Report

[Space]

TLDR: Started Andy Cutler heavy metal chelation protocol early 2021. So far I’ve completed 20 rounds with varying dosages of ALA/DMSA. Have had mixed results. Some periods of sustained improvement in mental health. Other periods of no obvious improvements. And some periods of worsening health. Hard to determine effectiveness due to also making many other nutritional and health related changes over the same period. But overall glad I tested the process. Will be continuing with rounds for some time.

_______________

Intro

So I thought I’d give a quick report on my experience with chelating over the past year or so for anyone interested.

 

If you’ve not familiar, chelating is a method of heavy metal detoxification (with a particular focus on mercury). It involves taking the supplements ALA and DMSA in regular intervals over a 72 hour period. That counts as 1 ‘round’. You can do dozens or even hundreds of rounds depending on the severity of toxicity in the body. 

 

The main reason I started the process was because I had 3 amalgam fillings (which contain mercury) in my teeth for many years and have experienced a range of mental and physical issues that were a possible symptom of the mercury amalgam fillings. Ultimately this was a long, somewhat expensive and still on going test to see if I can improve my health.

 

I had my amalgams removed early 2021 partly because I didn’t want to have mercury in my mouth for the rest of my life. But also because in order to start chelating it is absolutely essential that all the amalgam fillings and all remaining ‘specks’ i.e. tiny small bits of amalgam in your teeth, are removed.

 

If you are considering following this protocol it is absolutely imperative that you follow the correct instructions and guidelines laid out here:

https://andy-cutler-chelation.com/#THE_CHELATION_PROCEDURE_-_AFTER_DENTAL_REVISION

 

Amalgam fillings must also be removed by specialist SMART (Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique) dentists. Good database of SMART dentists here:

https://iaomt.org/member-listings-smart-member/?fbclid=IwAR01P3GcVICFCBnE0IrBbMrJ0me3Sg2ebV4ZR13Coudd0_47wal5ObVIZV4

 

Rounds/Dosages

I’ve currently done 20 rounds with quite a detailed log of all my rounds, dosages, dates, and symptoms on round. Started out with just DMSA for a few rounds, then moved onto DMSA and ALA together. 

 

Started with very low ALA dosages of 1-2mg and slowly worked my way up as per the recommendations in the above link.

 

The most recent 3 rounds have been 25mg DMSA and 12.5mg ALA. I seem to be handling it fine with no significant side effects so I’ll be going up to 25m DMSA and 25mg ALA soon.

 

On round I have also always taken the recommended additional supplements like Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin B, Zinc, Magnesium. However Zinc makes me nauseous so I don’t take it as often as recommended.  

 

I should also mention I had a couple rounds where I messed up the night doses, and either woke up and forgot to take the supplements or just slept through my alarm. I’ve refined my setup now so I actually have 3 alarms! And my phone is plugged into a set of speakers so its basically impossible to miss the night doses. The doses are positioned slightly away from my bed so I have to physically move up right to get the dose. And I also only have two doses in the box so I don’t get confused in the middle of the night.

 

Experience

To sum up the experience I have had periods where I saw significant alleviation in my anxiety and improvement in mental performance to the point where it was nearly undeniable that the chelating was working. By mental performance I mean reductions in brain fog, quicker access to memory, and more creative thinking.

 

But I also experienced periods of the complete opposite, where the chelating didn’t seem to feel like it was doing anything at all to improve my health. I could have possibly entered into the ‘dump’ phase around 1 or 2 months after starting which is commonly talked about but I don’t know for sure.

 

I’ve had a number of mild negative symptoms on rounds like irritability, spaced out feelings, lack of focus, tiredness etc. However these could easily have been a symptom of other things, so again it's hard to diagnose these. But some of these certainly came about on round and went away a day after I had finished the round, so in some cases it was clear that the ALA and DMSA supplements where the cause.

 

I also consistently experienced extremely intense and vivid dreams on round. Without fail every time. These don’t really affect me too much in a negative sense, but its definitely a relief when I finish the round and go back to dreamless sleeping.

 

One really interesting effect is on meditation. I consistently, again without fail, see an improvement in my ‘meditation ability’. My morning meditations feel much more ‘deeper’ and more powerful. And its not subtle, its very obvious that this is occurring every time I’m on round.

 

I could probably say the chelation has improved my mental abilities, memory recollection, more clarity, less brain fog etc by a small amount, but its honestly hard to quantify it and the changes than I’ve seen in these areas over the past 10 months could be due to changes in my diet or something else entirely. So I can’t say definitively that it's a result of the chelation. Its also hard to think back 12 months and remember what my brain function was like and how it compares to now. But, on reflection, I don’t feel like I’m struggling with my mental performance these days. Where as a year ago I know I was really struggling.

 

I will be continuing with doing more rounds because I want to increase the dose of ALA quite a bit more and see what effect that will have.

 

Hope this was informative and helps anyone else interested in giving it a go.

[PurpleTree]

ok i'm still unsure if i should try it or not

you seem very unsure whether it helped or not and put a lot of time, work and energy in it

72 hours seem very doable but only one round probably wouldn't help a lot

 

spaced out feeling, lack of focus etc. were probably because of sleep deprivation right?

[Space]

6 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

spaced out feeling, lack of focus etc. were probably because of sleep deprivation right?

Potentially, but it didn't feel like sleep deprivation. I've never felt tired because of needing to wake up in the night. 

[EntheogenTruthSeeker]

Have you found psychedelics are more portent after detox?

[Mada_]

On 18/10/2021 at 10:20 AM, PurpleTree said:

ok i'm still unsure if i should try it or not

you seem very unsure whether it helped or not and put a lot of time, work and energy in it

72 hours seem very doable but only one round probably wouldn't help a lot

 

spaced out feeling, lack of focus etc. were probably because of sleep deprivation right?

Try actually researching the topic before dismissing it

[Leo Gura]

On 10/17/2021 at 1:19 PM, Space said:

But, on reflection, I don’t feel like I’m struggling with my mental performance these days. Where as a year ago I know I was really struggling.

This is the biggy.

I was struggle a lot with mental performance until I did 20+ rounds. And most of it cleared up.

The problem with losing mental performance is that it happens so gradually you can't even remember what it was like to be at 100% mental performance years ago. And then when you gain it back, it's hard to remember how awful it felt when you lost it.

[Superfluo]

50 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

it happens so gradually you can't even remember what it was like

50 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

And then when you gain it back, it's hard to remember how awful it felt when you lost it.

That's a basic human blindspot, isn't it? (Generally speaking)

 

Edited October 25, 2021 by Superfluo

[Leo Gura]

9 hours ago, Superfluo said:

That's a basic human blindspot, isn't it? (Generally speaking)

That's just the nature of states of consciousness.

A memory of a state of consciousness is not the same as being in that state of consciousness.

Heavy metals put you into a different state of consciousness. Heavy metals are like anti-psychedelics that you are tripping on 24/7.

[Average Investor]

@PurpleTree I would recommend taking the time to do proper testing and investigation on the topic. 

Also, before even considering it I would work on gut and liver health. You might also have other conditions that are bothering you that need to be addressed. Getting your overall life style to a clean level would make a massive difference for most people as well. 

I'm in the same boat as you, but I have made some massive progress doing all natural processes to heal. However, this protocol seems to have a good amount of validity. It makes it tough though reading a report like this without a really clear result. It really depends what you are trying to get out of it and what issues you have. 

Brain fog, fatigue, and things like that might be much more easily addressed with something as simple as getting better sleep. However, they are not the only solution. 

 

[Space]

On 21/10/2021 at 1:10 AM, EntheogenTruthSeeker said:

Have you found psychedelics are more portent after detox?

I haven't done any psychedelics since starting the detox. I am already quite sensitive to psychedelics after my 5-MeO awakenings last year but it will be interesting to see if anything is different.

15 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

This is the biggy.

I was struggle a lot with mental performance until I did 20+ rounds. And most of it cleared up.

The problem with losing mental performance is that it happens so gradually you can't even remember what it was like to be at 100% mental performance years ago. And then when you gain it back, it's hard to remember how awful it felt when you lost it.

Interesting. What was the highest dosage you ended up doing?

Yes, exactly. As you say it's hard to remember how you felt a year ago. Same thing for spiritual work. Hard to comprehend where I was 4,5 years ago. 

[Space]

4 hours ago, Average Investor said:

@PurpleTree I would recommend taking the time to do proper testing and investigation on the topic. 

Also, before even considering it I would work on gut and liver health. You might also have other conditions that are bothering you that need to be addressed. Getting your overall life style to a clean level would make a massive difference for most people as well. 

I'm in the same boat as you, but I have made some massive progress doing all natural processes to heal. However, this protocol seems to have a good amount of validity. It makes it tough though reading a report like this without a really clear result. It really depends what you are trying to get out of it and what issues you have. 

Brain fog, fatigue, and things like that might be much more easily addressed with something as simple as getting better sleep. However, they are not the only solution. 

 

Yea its very hard to quantify my results to be honest. But I like doing these kind of self-experiments and I don't feel it has negatively impacted my health in any way. Only thing it impacted was my bank balance. Worth the money to get the amalgams removed by a private specialist dentist as well.

If you're interested in reading more reports and getting a good feel for the protocol theres a great Facebook group page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/153239041441176/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=4289616477803391

[Leo Gura]

6 hours ago, Space said:

What was the highest dosage you ended up doing?

About 200mg of DMSA every 3 hours and 200mg of ALA.

[Average Investor]

8 hours ago, Space said:

Worth the money to get the amalgams removed by a private specialist dentist as well.

With removing the Amalgams it probably saved you a lot of the potential pain of your increase in mercury. 

In my case I don't have any of those. However, I have lived by a paper mill most of my life. Which turns out to put mercury into the air. I have also cleaned up a florescent light that boke as a kid, which exposed me then. 

I've read most of Cutler' s 1999 book on it and done a good bit of research so far. I'm still hesitant to just jump right into it, but I am open to it. I did go into that group and asked about people giving testimonials for issues I had. I was referred to the search bar, which actually yielded very little. That group is too restricted to even have an open minded discussion on it too. 

[Breakingthewall]

there are several things about the protocol that I don't understand. I understand that the doses of ala have to be low at the beginning, and that it mobilizes the mercury of the brain and if it is too much it can cause serious disorders, but the dmsa does not cross the brain barrier, then, because you have to start with low doses, and because can produce side effects?

Another, the rounds have to be 3 days, because if you do it for just one day, the mercury is mobilized but not all is expelled .... but what was mobilized on day 3 is not going to be expelled either. What happens if you take ala every 5 hours? Why is it so important that the body is not even an hour without the contribution of the ala? if at the end of each round this is going to happen. 

Why is it so dangerous to chelate if there is mercury left in the mouth? chelators bind to the mercury that is in the body to expel it, if you have a filling that is putting some mercury in your body, where is the problem if you take a chelator to expel it?

If the ala and the dmsa bind to the mercury, forming another inactive compound, which is excreted, where is the problem that the body is without input for a few hours? what is chelated will be expelled, and the rest will be where it was before.

Because the body does not have the capacity to expel much, so you have to start with a few mg, but later, in the future, if it has the capacity to expel more, and the dose is increased? if it is expelled in the urine, this does not increase or decrease

What would be the problem with taking ala daily, for example every 8 hours for 2 years? If the ala chelates the mercury and then is ejected, eventually all the mercury will be ejected. why can't you just use ala? I'm sure there will be solid reasons for all this, but I haven't found them

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Breakingthewall

[museumoftrees]

Is it worth going through heavy metals detoxification if i’m only 23 years old ?

[Space]

On 02/11/2021 at 11:03 PM, Breakingthewall said:

there are several things about the protocol that I don't understand. I understand that the doses of ala have to be low at the beginning, and that it mobilizes the mercury of the brain and if it is too much it can cause serious disorders, but the dmsa does not cross the brain barrier, then, because you have to start with low doses, and because can produce side effects?

DMSA doesn't cross the brain barrier but it could still cause side effects if you take too much. And people react differently to DMSA so the default recommendation is to go slow and steady and start with low doses. 

On 02/11/2021 at 11:03 PM, Breakingthewall said:

Another, the rounds have to be 3 days, because if you do it for just one day, the mercury is mobilized but not all is expelled .... but what was mobilized on day 3 is not going to be expelled either. What happens if you take ala every 5 hours? Why is it so important that the body is not even an hour without the contribution of the ala? if at the end of each round this is going to happen. 

ALA must be taken every 3 hours if you're consuming ALA. Has something to do with the half life of the substance. More info in the links in my original post. 

On 02/11/2021 at 11:03 PM, Breakingthewall said:

Why is it so dangerous to chelate if there is mercury left in the mouth? chelators bind to the mercury that is in the body to expel it, if you have a filling that is putting some mercury in your body, where is the problem if you take a chelator to expel it?

The chelator cannot extract mercury from a tooth filling. Can cause symptoms to worsen if you still have even a speck of amalgam in the tooth.

On 02/11/2021 at 11:03 PM, Breakingthewall said:

Because the body does not have the capacity to expel much, so you have to start with a few mg, but later, in the future, if it has the capacity to expel more, and the dose is increased? if it is expelled in the urine, this does not increase or decrease

What would be the problem with taking ala daily, for example every 8 hours for 2 years? If the ala chelates the mercury and then is ejected, eventually all the mercury will be ejected. why can't you just use ala? I'm sure there will be solid reasons for all this, but I haven't found them

 

Taking ALA daily can have significant negative impact on your liver and other organs, as far as I understand. And it won't work as a chelator if you take it every 8 hours. DMSA is also a chelator but it can also help to dampen the potential side effects of taking ALA.

[Breakingthewall]

13 hours ago, Space said:

DMSA doesn't cross the brain barrier but it could still cause side effects if you take too much. And people react differently to DMSA so the default recommendation is to go slow and steady and start with low doses. 

Yes, as I read later, mercury can block the kidney ducts and cause kidney failure, so you have to start small and see the reactions 

13 hours ago, Space said:

ALA must be taken every 3 hours if you're consuming ALA. Has something to do with the half life of the substance. More info in the links in my original post

Yes ,ala lasts 3 hours in blood, but what I don't understand is because it is a problem if there is an hour or two in which there is no ala in blood. But probably there is a reason , I'll try to find.

13 hours ago, Space said:

The chelator cannot extract mercury from a tooth filling. Can cause symptoms to worsen if you still have even a speck of amalgam in the tooth.

Yeah, it chelate from the blood and organs, so where is the problem if you have the amalgam? Well, sure it's better to don't have...

Thanks for your answer and for your post, i didn't know about mercury, i was searching a lot since I read it

[Space]

@Breakingthewall Your welcome. Sounds like you're doing a load of research which is great

[Space]

On 03/11/2021 at 4:02 PM, museumoftrees said:

Is it worth going through heavy metals detoxification if i’m only 23 years old ?

Yea i've seen a lot of people on the FB group getting their children to chelate so its perfectly fine for a 23 year old to do it.

There isn't really a recommended age to start. Although the earlier the better. 

My advice is, if you have mercury amalgams in your mouth, get them removed by a registered SMART dentist. Then its up to you whether you start chelation. You might want to get a toxicity test done after that and get it reviewed by the members on the FB group.

[The0Self]

On 11/2/2021 at 7:03 PM, Breakingthewall said:

What would be the problem with taking ala daily, for example every 8 hours for 2 years? If the ala chelates the mercury and then is ejected, eventually all the mercury will be ejected. why can't you just use ala? I'm sure there will be solid reasons for all this, but I haven't found them

PSA:

Redistribution is caused by falling blood levels of double-thiol chelators (the kind that work). You have to take ALA every 3 hours or more often, otherwise blood levels will fall between doses. DMSA must be taken every 4 hours or more often (I just took it every 3 hours with the ALA). If that's too inconvenient, you can take DMPS (NOT to be confused with DMSA) every 8 hours, which may sound like an attractive option, but DMPS only chelates lead, not mercury (arguably the most problematic metal)... and DMPS is quite a bit more expensive than DMSA and ALA, if that matters to you.

Rounds need to be at the very least 72 hours -- that is the bare minimum. Longer is better, within reason, as it reduces the ratio of: time spent in redistribution or damage-mode (which occurs any time blood levels FALL) / time spent in chelation or healing-mode.

There is nothing you can do to avoid the falling blood levels when you stop taking the chelator -- it is inevitable. But you can minimize the number of times this has to happen, by...

1. increasing the length of each round

2. taking doses on time and not missing doses.

 

There is nothing wrong with using ALA-only, but it must be taken every 3 hours. It's just faster with DMSA+ALA, and ALA doesn't chelate lead, only mercury.

 

Redistribution completely negates healing. This is why studies on DMSA with an e8h dosing schedule show no benefit other than less heavy metals in the body. DMSA must be taken every 4 hours or more often, for at least 72 hours straight, for cognitive benefits to be a likely result.

Edited November 13, 2021 by The0Self