Heavy Metal Detox - Is it worth consulting with a professional while doing it?

[Vision]

I have had gut issues for a while which is likely contributing to my fatigue, brain fog, depression, and low motivation. But I am also considering heavy metal toxicity, as these symptoms can be caused by so many factors. 

I have yet to do a provoked urine test to see if I actually have heavy metal toxicity, as I am not fully sure which company's test to do. Perhaps I'll do the same one that Leo did (the one by Doctor's Data) but I don't know where to find it in my country. 

I know that if this is done incorrectly, it can mess me up even more. Is it worth consulting with a professional? If so, who should I consult with? Does anyone know of any reputable people online? 

[Average Investor]

I have seen a handful of people offer it. I have never worked with any of them. I believe Rebecca Rust Lee might offer it. She was a Co-Author of writing The Mercury Detoxification Manual with Andy Cutler. You could find her in the ACC Facebook group. 

My personal opinion would be to fix the gut issues first. I have not seen anyone overcome that by heavy metal chelation. 

[Matt23]

I dunno...

Couldn't hurt if you can afford it.  Michael569 on the forum here works in the nutrition and physical health field and can offer consultations.  I worked with him and he seems like he knows his stuff.  You could also go to a naturopath.  They sometimes offer chelation and seem to know more about it. 

On the other hand, I read some of those papers that Leo put on his chelation video and they were literally giving 30mg doses over long time periods to infants and really young children, which makes me think it's not as harmful as I thought before.  Though, I'm no doctor, nor have I researched this stuff barely at all.. so even my ability to discern what studies say could be significantly impaired.  

Look up some stuff on forums and see what others' experiences are.  

Chat to doctors and naturopaths.  --- I literally walked into a pharmacy and just asked the pharmacist what she thought about chelation.  She thought it was pretty safe and no need to be overly concerned doing it yourself.  

 

[Vision]

6 hours ago, Average Investor said:

My personal opinion would be to fix the gut issues first. I have not seen anyone overcome that by heavy metal chelation. 

@Average Investor I've been in the process of trying to fix them for a year and a half. I don't know how long it could take, but in the mean time it wouldn't hurt to do heavy metal chelation at the same time, would it? 

@Matt23 Thanks. 

[Average Investor]

@Vision If you are having gut related issue, then I would put focus on that. If you are planning to chelate heavy metals, then ideally you want a healthy gut, liver, and kidneys. All of those path ways are going to be getting more stress with a chelator. Doing chelation is also going to deplete you of nutrients. Having gut issues is likely going to cause low mineral absorption on top of that. 

I would personally invest the money into digging deeper with the gut issue. Things like IgE testing or other tests could be crucial here. 

You talked about sibo before. Have you done a test for sibo?

 

[Vision]

5 hours ago, Average Investor said:

@Vision If you are having gut related issue, then I would put focus on that. If you are planning to chelate heavy metals, then ideally you want a healthy gut, liver, and kidneys. All of those path ways are going to be getting more stress with a chelator. Doing chelation is also going to deplete you of nutrients. Having gut issues is likely going to cause low mineral absorption on top of that. 

I would personally invest the money into digging deeper with the gut issue. Things like IgE testing or other tests could be crucial here. 

You talked about sibo before. Have you done a test for sibo?

@Average Investor I've done a lot for my gut issues already. I tested for SIBO a year ago, it was positive. Then I tested for SIBO again this year, and it came out negative after treating for it for more than half a year with antimicrobials and Rifaximin. However, I still have my symptoms. The symptoms are not necessarily from SIBO which is what I had unfortunately assumed last year, which led to me overtreating it. 

The only thing I can think of that's left for me to do with gut issues is doing the comprehensive stool test which I had just recently purchased, and consulting with a gastroenterologist which I've been waiting for over a year for. 

It might take a while before I resolve my gut issues as I've probably had them for a long time given that I've had eczema since I was a baby (which is often linked to gut issues). I was also born via C-section, never breast-fed, had to take antibiotics when I was 1, so my microbiome was likely messed up for my entire life. 

What could I gain from doing an IgE test? What other tests could I do for my gut? I'm willing to go all in.

What could potentially go wrong with heavy metal chelation while I have some issues with my gut? 

[Average Investor]

10 hours ago, Vision said:

What could I gain from doing an IgE test? What other tests could I do for my gut? I'm willing to go all in.

Have you done any sort of elimination diet? You mentioned trying low fodmap before, but you could potentially be reacting to what you are eating. This could help you pinpoint potential allergies you might have. I am unsure on all of the testing, but it is worth diving into. 

With my little sister she had a lot of bad symptoms for years and it took a ton of doctors to diagnose her with celiac disease. It would be worth asking your relatives if anyone has ever had any similar symptoms.

10 hours ago, Vision said:

What could potentially go wrong with heavy metal chelation while I have some issues with my gut? 

Everyone is so different and could be doing the protocol different. If you plan to do it, then I would do it the least aggressive way possible. Small doses and good recovery time. 

The problem with the metals is there is really no way to test or measure how much are in your organs. So it is not like you could just get a test to diagnose this as the problem. A lot of the literature will make you think every disease comes from heavy metals, so it makes it super confusing. A lot of the things you are saying suggest there is more gut related work to focus on. 

Depleting your body of essential minerals from chelation could make your situation even worse. So it isn't something that I would be taking lightly. There are a fair amount of accounts of people making their situation worse with ACC. Regardless of what children have done it. 

If you were insistent on doing it, then I would try out 10 rounds. That should give you an idea of if it might help. However, it is common that people feel some euphoria just starting out, so I wouldn't confuse that with results. Also, keep in mind that most people have to do 50+ rounds really to even get much results. So if it isn't working that is a lot of stress to put on your gut and liver. It can take people years of chelation and some do not get better. Also, none of the compounds in ACC bind to mercury or other toxins and neutralize them. This could cause mercury to move to other places like your central nervous system. 

For myself, I found that most of my issues were resolved by fixing my gut and detoxing my liver. Plus doing some hardcore elimination diet and curing sibo. I have found that doing some heavy metal chelation has helped with my symptoms now, but 80% of it was gut related. Of course that is just speaking for myself, but at least that gives you an idea of what worked for me.

[puporing]

Maybe see a naturopath for a more comprehensive treatment plan or at least another opinion. I just started seeing one now and I have already learned some things that I wouldn't otherwise have known from her. 

[Vision]

17 hours ago, Average Investor said:

Have you done any sort of elimination diet?

@Average Investor

Yes. I've gone on the carnivore diet multiple times. I know what foods I react to... and I react to literally every food. It's just a matter of the severity of the symptoms I get from eating food. With some foods I'll have worse symptoms whereas with a carnivore diet I'll still have the symptoms but just marginally better than not being on carnivore. 
 

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With my little sister she had a lot of bad symptoms for years and it took a ton of doctors to diagnose her with celiac disease.

To test for celiac you need to consume gluten for a certain period of time right? 
 

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It would be worth asking your relatives if anyone has ever had any similar symptoms.

I can almost guarantee my father has issues with his gut. He is bloated 24/7 like me but he thinks it's just belly fat. I also used to think when I first started being bloated 24/7 that it was also just belly fat. But after learning more, I can now see the obvious difference between abdominal distension from chronic bloating and actual belly fat; it's a night and day difference. 
 

He also has issues digesting certain vegetables, and takes PPIs and antacids every single time he has any gastrointestinal symptom, completely oblivious to how harmful they can be when taken so often. I feel sorry for him and I wish he would at least be open to considering testing for gut issues, but he tends to think that these other tests that aren't from mainstream medicine are just quackery. It's an appeal to authority fallacy but I can't blame him, just his conditioning. 

 

17 hours ago, Average Investor said:

The problem with the metals is there is really no way to test or measure how much are in your organs. So it is not like you could just get a test to diagnose this as the problem. A lot of the literature will make you think every disease comes from heavy metals, so it makes it super confusing. A lot of the things you are saying suggest there is more gut related work to focus on. 

What about the test by Great Plains Laboratory? This is a sample report

 

17 hours ago, Average Investor said:

Depleting your body of essential minerals from chelation could make your situation even worse. So it isn't something that I would be taking lightly. There are a fair amount of accounts of people making their situation worse with ACC. Regardless of what children have done it. 

What is ACC? Andy Cutler Chelation? 

 

17 hours ago, Average Investor said:

For myself, I found that most of my issues were resolved by fixing my gut and detoxing my liver. Plus doing some hardcore elimination diet and curing sibo. I have found that doing some heavy metal chelation has helped with my symptoms now, but 80% of it was gut related. Of course that is just speaking for myself, but at least that gives you an idea of what worked for me.

How long did it take you to resolve these issues? 

How did you detox your liver? 

I think I got rid of my SIBO since my breath tests are negative now, but I still have debilitating symptoms so I must have something else causing them. I don't know what though. 

 

14 hours ago, puporing said:

Maybe see a naturopath for a more comprehensive treatment plan or at least another opinion. I just started seeing one now and I have already learned some things that I wouldn't otherwise have known from her. 

@puporing I've been trying to look for a reputable naturopath for a while now but it's hard to find any. I've only had experience with one naturopath and that was my local naturopath who was very transactional. Didn't find much help with them, in fact they made me waste half a year of time, it felt sleazy. 

[puporing]

On 10/05/2022 at 5:57 AM, Vision said:

@puporing I've been trying to look for a reputable naturopath for a while now but it's hard to find any. I've only had experience with one naturopath and that was my local naturopath who was very transactional. Didn't find much help with them, in fact they made me waste half a year of time, it felt sleazy. 

Hmm yeah I guess it all depends on the person. I found what I think was a pretty competent/caring one. Don't know if it'll ultimately help but she is going over stuff in wayyy more detail than my family doc has. There's apparently some kind of "complete" viral testing you can only get from Germany that naturopaths have access to. (At least in my country can only get it from naturopath).

She also told me that doing heavy metal chelation tends to deplete a lot of micronutrients if you're not supplementing them at the same time. So I'm going to be on some IV thing for awhile for a booster and see how it goes.

Edited May 13, 2022 by puporing

[Average Investor]

On 5/10/2022 at 4:57 AM, Vision said:

To test for celiac you need to consume gluten for a certain period of time right? 

Yes, it would require that. 

On 5/10/2022 at 4:57 AM, Vision said:

What about the test by Great Plains Laboratory? This is a sample report

I don't know about them or their testing. You can get some insights from some metals testing, but really it is not going to give you the full picture. You cannot test how much metals are in your organs. 

On 5/10/2022 at 4:57 AM, Vision said:

What is ACC? Andy Cutler Chelation? 

Yes

On 5/10/2022 at 4:57 AM, Vision said:

How long did it take you to resolve these issues? 

How did you detox your liver? 

I think I got rid of my SIBO since my breath tests are negative now, but I still have debilitating symptoms so I must have something else causing them. I don't know what though. 

It took me about a year of focused work on it. I have been working on my health for like 4 years now though overall. 

I did something similar to the protocol in the book The Toxin Solution By Joseph Pizzorno. 

That would be a good book to work with. It will help you eliminate toxins from your life and give you a nice 6 week protocol that targets your gut, live, and kidney. One of my favorite books. 

 

[Vision]

@Average Investor
 

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I don't know about them or their testing. You can get some insights from some metals testing, but really it is not going to give you the full picture. You cannot test how much metals are in your organs. 

Did you get tested for heavy metal toxicity or did you jump straight into treatment? 
 

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It took me about a year of focused work on it. I have been working on my health for like 4 years now though overall. 

I did something similar to the protocol in the book The Toxin Solution By Joseph Pizzorno. 

That would be a good book to work with. It will help you eliminate toxins from your life and give you a nice 6 week protocol that targets your gut, live, and kidney. One of my favorite books. 

Thanks for the recommendation. What would you say you got from it in terms of tangible results? How did the 6 week protocol help you? 

[Average Investor]

12 hours ago, Vision said:

Did you get tested for heavy metal toxicity or did you jump straight into treatment? 

I did not do any testing. However, I read some books and did a lot of research on symptoms. 

12 hours ago, Vision said:

Thanks for the recommendation. What would you say you got from it in terms of tangible results? How did the 6 week protocol help you? 

Doing the gut protocol from that originally made me feel good actually for once. However, I ended up having to cure my sibo. After curing the sibo I later did a similar liver protocol to the one in the book. It made me feel great. My body is much more able to process foods and chemicals. I am much more sensitive to some things as well. So I would need less of a compound to get a desired effect. I would guess my liver and other processes being less overwhelmed has helped. My digestion is significantly better as well. My recovery time is also much better.  

The gut protocol there may or may not work for you. If you are testing negative for sibo, then I would give it a shot. 

I will likely do this protocol once a year as well. 

Edited May 15, 2022 by Average Investor

[The0Self]

Just make damn sure you are doing bare minimum 72 hour rounds, as that it the point after which the healing/damage ratio rises above break-even. Every time blood levels fall, there is some damage -- reduce the amount of time spent in this mode relative to time spent with steadily elevated levels. Minimum frequency is every 4 hours for DMSA, every 3 for ALA, every 8 for DMPS.