What NOT to do!

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Last update: March 2, 2021

We hope to save you from the agony people have experienced with regressions or worsening of symptoms. In order do that you must know what NOT to do if you are going to detox mercury. We have collected the testimonials of others that have used other protocols to chelate mercury and they chose to share their experiences in the hope they can spare others what they went through. 

It is very important that Alpha Lipoic Acid or any chelator is taken on its half-life rather than randomly. This graphic demonstrates the outcomes of both proper and improper use use of alpha lipoic acid. Improper use is what leads pushes mercury into the brain and nervous system causing many of the symptoms you will read in the testimonials below.

Click on the protocol to read the adverse reaction testimonials:

Glutathione IV and/or ALA IV (22)
Oral glutathione (5)
Taking ALA while having amalgam fillings (3)
Taking ALA infrequently (outside of its half life of 3 hours) (10)
DMPS IV / Challenge test with DMPS / infrequent high dose DMPS (12)
Quicksilver / Chris Shade Protocol (2)
Challenge test with DMSA / infrequent high dose DMSA (3)
Cilantro (Coriander) and/or Chlorella (31)
EDTA (7)
MSM (1)
IV chelation with an unknown agent (1)
Various forms of wrong chelators or wrong type of administration (3)

Unrelated to chelation but can nevertheless it poses a great danger to your health:
Gadolinium IV, contrast dye for MRI (2)

 

Glutathione IV and/or ALA IV

My horrific experience with Glutathione IV after only ONE push:
 - Changes in vision
- Coughing
- Feels like two metal rods going up my back and into my head
- Wobbly/heavy head sensation
- Severe Anxiety
- Physical pain from anxiety
- Feel on edge
- Clenched stomach
- Tingling in extremities
- Loss of appetite
- Burning on back of hands, arms, and tops of feet
- Shooting pain in ribs
- Feels like knives in my brain
- Hard to focus eyes
- Problems with hearing in left ear
- Head feels like cement
- Chest tightness
- Neck pain/stiff neck
- Searing headache
- Stabbing pains in mid section, head, face, and teeth
- Sharp pins and needles in jaw and teeth
- Tightness in jaw
- Breathing has changed
- Pains in lower back
- Fluctuations in consciousness
- Strange jello sensations when moving my body
- My muscles feels stagnant
- Pains in abdomen
- Horrific Insomnia
- Legs feel like cement
- Brain feels numb
- Feel like a zombie
- Heightened awareness - like someone flipped the 'on' switch and it won't turn off
- Feel like I'm going crazy
- Feels like my head is inflamed

80% I did not have before. The other 20% have been greatly exaggerated. I will never touch an IV or any chelator again for the rest of my life.

Did you report this to the doctor or practitioner who gave you the IV? If so, what did he/she say?
She said it was just ‘anxiety’ and that no one ever reacted like that. And that metal redistribution was not possible.

Did she tell you to continue?
Well, she did say that people who react like I do usually need more of it. But she never suggested that I do more.

Did you have amalgam fillings when you had the IV?
Yes, one. She gave me the glutathione IV to help with stress.

                                                                                                             - JB

I know without a doubt that had you [one of the moderators of the cutlersuccessstories page] not repeatedly posted this I would not have the ability to respond today.  I felt like I was dying and was unable to think straight, lost short term memory, could barely walk and my heart rate was going crazy high then dropping very low.  Yes I have Lyme but my response to treatment was horrific to say the least. I told my Naturopath doctor and then showed him this post. He thought it was a herx reaction. He was not concerned with my 4 amalgam fillings and said glutathione will only move metals in a Petree dish. Took a bit to sink in but I finally stopped ozone IV treatments with Meyers & glutathione push. 

Slowly but surely I am gaining my strength back. I can now think clearly and my balance is much better. I am far from healed but with your guidance I believe I will get there. I am forever grateful ❤️.Now to get my fillings removed

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             - Denise Vance Neill

---

I was given IV glutathione and almost died.
I have never had an amalgam filling. My high mercury is because I eat fish and we found out that I have a magnesium and potassium wasting disorder in my kidneys. Magnesium is the cofactor in glutathione production in the liver. I have no glutathione. They basically gave me a huge chelator dose but my liver couldn’t handle it. My heart rate got really really low and I was blacking out from it.
                                                                                                         - Melanie Goodman

Thank you so much for putting this out there!!! I did Ozone treatment in Clearwater Florida and had several adverse reactions to Glutathione pushes, which included losing my ability to walk, encephalitis, Migraines, nausea, vomitting, and made my condition way worse. I literally felt like I was dying, and told the doctor my body couldn't handle Glutathione. He told me not to believe everything I read online and Glutathione was safe. That was the closest to death, I've ever been -- people need to be educated on the dangers of Glutathione. I also tested high for heavy metals, and amonia. The doctor finally listened to me -- (...) my experience was very real and my Doctors arrogance and negligence almost cost me my life.

                                                                                                        - Darla Jean McConnell

My histamine issues started after I saw a naturopath. He was administering ozone IV with a glutathione push at the end of the treatment. Since then these histamine issues began. In a crusade to get a better handle on my rheumatoid arthritis pain I got into a rabbit hole. Like my husband says I went from the fire to the frying pan. Slowly a year and a half later I'm finding relief but still suffering with many food intolerances. I've also come to realize that many naturopaths have no idea what they are doing.

Do you have amalgam filings in your mouth?
Yes, I've had one taken out so far. I have one molar and four other fillings to go. The molar I'm having pulled because it's a root canal.

Did you talk to the naturopath who administered the glutathione IVs about your histamine intolerance? If so, what did he or she say?
This histamine issue reared its ugly head after I did these 7 IV's. I never went back to him. Looking back now I believe He honestly is one of those naturopaths that's just making money on IV's, he's not healing anyone. If so, it's simple by accident.

                                                                                                                       - Marina Taniform

A series of glutathione IVs helped me dance all night at my high school reunion 2 years ago, then I felt terrible after a couple of days and things kept going south. It took me over a year to recover from that, and I know others are not that lucky. The party was fun and everyone from my childhood had no clue I had health issues... but regressing so much in my health and feeling like I was going crazy plus basically losing a year + of my life was not worth it.
                                                                                                                - Teresa C.

Dr. Frank S. does the glutathione IV after each ozone treatment! No wonder I got so sick!

Would you mind explaining what exactly happened?

Yes, that's who I spent $10,000 with. To get rid of Chronic Lyme and Mold toxicity. He had me take glutathione after my ozone IV's. I had severe anxiety, my Hashimoto's went crazy, I couldn't breathe, my heart was beating very fast, and I ended up in the hospital twice! I also had terrible diarrhea. He just looked at me after these incidents like I was crazy! He said that my Hashimoto's should be cured! It wasn't and still isn't. I was there for 3 1/2 months every day. Not sure if the Lyme is gone or not. I know that what he did did not cute my mold problem, that is for sure!

So sorry to hear that! What exactly did they hospitalize you for? Thyrotoxicosis?
I didn't know what was happening to me! My husband called the ambulance twice! I asked if they could test my thyroid, and that is when I found out that it was so low.

Did you have amalgams when you received the glutathione IVs?
Yes, I do.  Dr. S. Never even asked if I had them! I wouldn't recommend him to my worst enemy!

What did he say when this happened?
Just stared at me as if I was crazy!! He didn't have a clue! He insisted that my Hashimoto's was cured by ozone! He is extremely condescending. I waisted my money! And, that amount was a huge amount for us!

                                                                                                                                   - anonymous

I had glutathione IV at a different clinic and had a seizure twice.

Did you tell your doctor who administered the glutathione IV about the seizures or was he even present when this happened? If so, what did he/she say?
The clinic did an IV push of glutathione after IV treatments.

The first couple weeks of getting the push I did fine, then they upped the dose. I got the push and stood up to go to another room to see the chiropractor and my body dropped like a heavy rag doll back into the (lazy-boy) leather treatment chair and had a seizure.

Then they lowered the dose back down and I was fine for a couple of weeks.

Then I got the IV push and was leaving the treatment center since it was the last thing they did each day. I was kind of staggering towards the front door when the nurse stopped me and said “look at me” and my eyes were flickering like they were the first time and she said "sit down" and "I am getting help". I sat in the lobby sofa and had a severe seizure. Saw my deceased grandparents. I was choking and gasping for air. They administered oxygen. I just kept shaking and my eyes flashing so they gave me an IV steroid (I think) whatever you need to come back to consciousness. My eye lids would not open for a significant amount of time. I had no control over them.

This was at a clinic at the end of 2015 and into 2016 (12 weeks).
                                                                                                                                     - JP

 I have stage IV cancer. I slowly got my tumors markers into normal range with cannabis and lifestyle and nutrition changes. Two months ago, I was given glutathione, vitamin c and ala IV's. I have been on a downhill spiral ever since. The week after the treatment I had 2 anaphylactic "episodes". I am exhausted and having a hard time regulating my temperature. I was feeling good before the IV's. My tumor markers are up a few points, The Dr's that prescribed them have no answers. I am so frustrated.

Did you tell your doctors about how you felt after the glutathione and ALA IVs? if so, what did they say?

They said it couldn't be the IV's because my symptoms didn't happen right away. I also had vitamin C last time and it burned the hell out of my arm because it wasn't cold or dissolved all the way. They thought I didn't feel good because of all the pain the IV caused.   The histamine reactions didn't start until 2 days later.
When I got the round in January I told the nurse my chest felt tight and I felt SOB [shortness of breath]. She said I might be coming down with a cold.

                                                                                                          - Lisa Jayne

I stupidly had IV glutathione (before I knew/joined this group [Andy Cutler Chelation Think Tank group on Facebook]) about a month ago - feeling a lot worse than I did before Christmas. Hoping chelation next week will help this...

I think I may have been 'lucky' compared to others in that my reaction to it has been an overall worsening of symptoms not an immediate flare up that's obviously directly related to the glutathione drip. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome 3 years back and stopped working 3 months ago in an attempt to heal. I recently had 4 IV drips of vitamins and glutathione which has undone all of my improved health. During and after each drip I felt dizzy, nauseous and terribly fatigued. In the days following my symptoms made doing anything rather impossible. Since receiving IV glutathione I have had consistent muscle aches, joint and bone pain and fatigue/exhaustion on minimal movement, depression (not experienced this for 3 years despite health issues), the ringing in my ears has come back, brain fog up by 75%, unable to hold thoughts / think of the correct words or do the things I was capable of doing before - like attending college once a month for my part time course. I'm too sick to go in this coming weekend. I hope the damage isn't permanent.

Did you tell your doctor or practitioner who administered the glutathione IVs about your decline in health? and if so, how did he/she react?

I have 3 more IVs to have as part of a package I paid for. I'm drafting an email in the hope I get my money back for the 3 further treatments. As you know it's expensive being ill! This 'health' meets beauty clinic (they do a range of treatments) have no idea what they are doing. In fact I was told it was normal to feel crappy! But also, that other people are fine during treatment. Yes, well they're obviously not sick like me! The clinic knows I have CFS.
                                                                                                                - Rebecca R.

Last summer, when I got IV ab [antibiotics] couple of months, I got also iv ozone and glutathione. I got worse and worse. Finally after 4th IV ozone and glutathione, I got sudden deafness in my left ear ! Then I had to take ten days cortisone pills and 5 times HBO [hyperbaric oxygen] treatment to get my hearing back. So I think my Lyme treatment with glutathione went so wrong.                                   

Question: Did you report the hearing loss after the glutathione IVs to your doctor? If so, what did he say to that?

My dr has been ill since last summer. I report what happened to the clinic nurse, who gave me the treatment. She did not believed that iv glutathion either ozone had made me any harm :(. My doctor did not take any responsibility. I told the nurse after every treatment (4 treatments, one/week) that I feel worse and worse. Just before the last treatment, I got big spasms in my whole body, and felt horrible in my head.
                                                                                                                       - Anonymous

I'm in a bit of a glutathione nightmare myself. I became sick after I had 4 amalgams removed followed by 4 root canals (root canal teeth since removed) 1.5 years ago. Since getting sick I've been told I likely have lyme and co-infections ( my strep levels remain very high). 2 weeks ago I had a glutathione IV ( 3rd one ever) and started a new herb for lyme. Within two days I had the worst "herx" of my life. It feels like there are metal rods going into my skull, my body burns, I feel so so toxic. I immediately started using my sauna and activated charcoal. By last weekend I was feeling somewhat better. My doc suggested I come in for another IV this week. Something told me to try one oral glutathione to see how I tolerate it. Well all hell broke lose. All my symptoms came back. I cannot get ouf of bed. Now I have a burning soar throat like I'm getting the flu. It hit me that maybe I am dealing with mercury versus lyme. Now I am horrified and I dont know what to do! Is there anything I should take immediately to lessen the effects of potential redistribution? I had taken oral glutathione many many times before without issue. My challenge tests comes back with low mercury levels but you mentioned this doesn't mean I'm not mercury toxic? I am so scared right now I don't know what to do... I'm at the ER now I can barely walk.
                                                                           - Anonymous [this report can be also found under "oral glutathione"]

I’m translating the Prodigal Son’s story, who has given permission to translate his posts and messages about his experiences with unsafe chelation. He got his 5 amalgams removed "safely" in November 2013 and, by recommendation of his dentist, started high infrequent doses of ALA (120-400 mgs daily). He’s not sure if the removals were that safe after all because he started feeling really bad right away (as a matter of fact 3 hidden amalgams specks have been found in 2016). He also received IV treatments before, during and after the extractions (starting October 2013 and finishing 2014). He was told that the IV treatments contained vitamins, minerals and “a chelator for his brain” and another “for his body”, but he isn't sure which. He also got glutathione injections. He felt his health started to spiral down after the removals and the chelation IVs. He remembers driving back from the place when he had the IV treatments and feeling really bad, weird, tired… He even lost his sight temporarily as he was driving back from one of the IV chelation sessions. Over these three years, his physical deterioration has gotten worse and worse. He went from being able to walk with the help of a crutch because of his knee and having his habitual health problems to become completely bedridden with lots of pain and other health problems that are described below:
HORRIBLE PAINS in all the body especially knees and hips. The pain seems to be neuropathic. Doctors say it is due to a multisystemic disease. Other doctors because of generalized inflammation in all the body, another doctor said it is due to mercury and arsenic toxicity that is affecting the brain and the central nervous system, etc. 
RIGHT FOOT: cracked sole of the foot, peels off completely, a crack between the last small toes, pain in the big toe, itchy painful instep, pain between the foot joint and the leg, burning feeling in the sole of the foot. 
LEFT FOOT: painful big toe, itchiness, sometimes toes of both feet get stiff, especially the big toe, which separates from the rest of the toes during these episodes.
RIGHT LEG: all of it hurts –instep, calves, thighs, hips, sacrum--; skin problems: rashes, itchiness, and several dark spots 
TOTAL LOSS OF MUSCLE MASS: right leg has become deformed and cannot be stretched any more. It has shortened about and is 20 centimetres (7 inches) from the ground. The foot has bent to the side. Numerous varicose veins in both legs. Spasms throughout the body, especially in the right leg. A prosthesis was placed in the right knee in April 2013 and everything was going fine until all muscle mass was lost over night. After physiotherapy, muscle mass was regained three times but after August 2013 it couldn’t be regained any more. Before the operation, this loss of muscle mass had happened another three times. Both legs usually get inflamed especially from the knee down. 
LEFT LEG: painful knee, thigh, hips, sacrum, lots of itchiness, loss of muscle mass, pain in the groin
ABDOMINAL PAIN: pain and burning sensation in the area of the bladder, intestines, colon, kidney area, stomach. Lots of burping, gas. Intense cold from the stomach to the groin area in any season of the year, slow and heavy digestion, diarrhea between 8 and 15 times a day, inflamed intestines and colon. Lots of renal colics from age 14 (right kidney, only last one in left kidney).
NECK PAIN: especially in the right side of the neck as well as the right shoulder and right side of the chest, especially when trying to speak. Pain in the throat, problems to speak; voice changes and lots of pain. 
PAINS IN THE FACE, MOUTH AND HEAD: numbness in face and head, pain in the jaw and teeth, nasal congestion, problems focalizing eyes, vision loss, cracked dirty-looking tongue, frontal headache, punctual headaches, severe hearing loss.
BACKACHE: pain in right lumbar area, cervical area, right shoulder blade, dorsal area.
ARMS: pain in the elbows, no strength, numbness in hands and fingers, itchiness
LOSS OF MUSCLE MASS in the whole body, especially glutes, legs, arms, etc
PAINFUL SKIN in the whole body (especially, legs, knees, hips, arms, belly, elbows, shoulders)
OTHER PAINS AND PROBLEMS: pain in the right testicle, no libido, several sexual problems. Anal fissures with anal spasms, urinary track infections, urinary urges, kidney stones in right kidney. Damaged prostate because of a medical intervention.
REDUCED MOBILITY: spends around 16 hours in bed because sitting is difficult due to terrible pain in the hips, can walk very little. Can only sit to eat and go to the toilet. Right leg is sometimes irresponsive and lumbar area gets cramped. Can only lie on the left side side of the body. 
Has had a lot of colds and really bad cough. 
Constant hunger all day long.
Allergies
Very high ferritin
Memory loss, mental confusion, cognitive problems, irritability, impatience, aggressiveness 
Low THEA (maybe DHEA?) hormone 
SLEEP DISTURBANCES: waking up because of digestive problems (gas, burping, pain, etc), and urinary problems every 3 or 4 hours. 
Hardly ever nausea, vomiting or fever 
Anxiety but no depression 

              - The Prodigal Son [testimonial can be also found under "Taking ALA infrequently"]

I was asked about IV glutathione in a PM [personal message] and I thought I would share my response and further thoughts. Maybe it can help someone else to avoid this horrible trap. 3 years ago exactly, I was chelated for 4 (4 hour sessions) (16 hours) with IV glutathione and IV ALA. This is some of what it has left me with. (I also had a whole mouthful of amalgams under crowns while being chelated, despite the fact that our local holistic dentist told me I was amalgam-free. He never even mentioned my crowns ) We go an hour now to see another holistic dentist,by the way, and she's awesome.
I can't really feel in my emotions just how awful it is. It's kind of like someone else is dealing with it and I feel their physical pain. I talk to myself in my mind as if I'm another person. There's tremendous derealization and depersonalization. I kind of feel like I am in an acid trip where everything is kind of breathing and moving around me. I have tinnitus in my left ear. I have a really strong metal taste in my mouth and I feel like I am in a metal box. When I blink I see a reverse image of what I was just looking at but it doesn't go away for at least two minutes. I guess the light does other things to me besides hurting my eyes. Eventually the reverse image swirls around in my blinking darkness like vertigo in my thoughts. I know that makes no sense. It really is quite nonsensical. Right now I am sitting outside by my pool looking at the sky. I can't feel anything but I can see that it's nice. Soon Don will come outside and help me walk inside before the mosquitoes eat me up. I can feel them starting to bite but don't have the energy to move. Or the balance. I fall down all the time. Everything is very logical and matter-of-fact. That's hard for me because for my career mainly I have been a psychotherapist and I'm an artist so not being able to feel my feelings is really tough. And I cannot recognize people's faces anymore unless they are real close family or a friend that I've seen more than 15 or so times. I can't remember things right after they happen. Like I have to go outside and touch the hood of the car to see if it's hot to know whether we have gone somewhere or we are getting ready to go somewhere. I feel like I am underwater and there is pressure in my chest. My nostrils are mostly closed and I can't get a good breath of air. When I walk my head feels like it's going to explode. I have gained 50 pounds (mostly lymphatic fluid) that I can't seem to get rid of. The bottom of my feet feel like bees are stinging them and the top of them are numb. My face changes every few days because of lymphatic fluid. I never know where I am when I am moving from one place to the other. I get lost in my own house. I forget if I am supposed to turn left or turn right when I come to the hall. I walk into door jams because I can't judge the space. And every time we pass a car I feel like I am going to die. I can no longer drive. I have lost my social circle. I have trouble hearing, I stutter and can't talk on the phone. I no longer make my own tears or saliva. I feel like I have the flu. My hair is falling out. I have crying spells and feel suicidal a lot. My vision is poor and sometimes I see double. If a metal necklace touches my neck sometimes my head starts shaking. It's very disconcerting and confusing but if I just stay in one spot I'm pretty good. Sometimes I will have a few good days and my husband and I will walk. I have made it to a quarter mile. I was once a runner. I was also once a Dean of students at a college and now I can't even help my son with his college application. I have had to parent from bed with some good starts and stops here and there. I was hoping this chelation "expert" knew what he was doing and I would have a few good years with my children before they grow up and move away. Unfortunately it has just made everything 100 times worse. I am still in dental revision and will chelate when it's all out. People tell me I'm brave but I'm not sure what that feels like. What is my alternative? Kill myself? But like I said if I just stay in one spot I'm pretty good. Hopefully that spot doesn't include mosquitoes. I'm sure one day when I can actually feel my feelings I will be really angry.
                                                                                                                                     - Dianna Adams

I had a bad experience with iv glutathione when I had amalgams. First 5 I felt amazing..like not sick at all..after that I went slowly down til I realized I was having major brain stuff by the 9th one..I know now I am infested with mold also in addition to then having 6 fillings..this was over 5 years ago. Was it cognitive impairment, mood instability or brain fog? All of that combined. Like awful.             - Beverly Schoenberger Gomez

Glutathione is one of the most commonly-used interventions by naturopaths, some dentists, and some doctors (alternative and even registered). I foolishly trried it at 600mg after trying to recover from a bad reaction to a 'standard' medication, where it was routinely described across the 'net as being effective for relieving adverse symptoms. Over a course of months, I noticed indigestion problems, sound sensitivity, feeling nerves being stimulated around the head area, and total exhaustion. Only an unknown per centage of people have a bad reaction, but it certainly simply is not worth the risk of the extremely serious reactions that happen. IVs in general are a really bad idea, glutathione is one of the worst.
The glutathione problems started after 5 days and have been getting worse as time has gone on.
                                                                                                                                                       - Richard.

I was doing glutathione, lipoic acid IVs for six months and I developed really bad neuropathy.  I received them for immune support and lyme disease.  I had that for 6 months.  Then boom.  I couldn't walk.  I spent two months using a walker and the worst pain I could imagine.        - Rebecca

DON'T DO IT!!!! I had a glutathione IV (by LLMD) and 2 days later I couldn't feel my feet and everything got worse until I found this group ["Andy Cutler Chelation Think Tank" on Facebook] a year later.     - T.H.

June 2013 started with brain fog and stomach upset. Took my gallbladder out. October 2013 took my thyroid out. Cancer. Kept loosing weight. Went crazy. Suicidal. Went to integrative doc. Gave me IV glutithione. Everything went to hell. I became more sick with horrific nerve pain, electric shocks, and emf (electromagnetic frequency) hypersensitivity.  I went from 200 pounds to 120. I don't feel like eating (...) I got very sick after IV glutathione which started my tingling and horrific nerve pain electric shocks.      - Shelley

Been chronically ill for 4 years following improper amalgam removal and a tick bite (positive for analplasmosis) all within a week, all the while living in a rental with water damage/mold! Yeah, a perfect storm. Just like many of you, I've spent thousands on doctors who didn't have a clue as to the cause of my illness, worse yet, some even gave me treatments which made me worse e.g, IV glutathione. I've seen it all, and now ready to do some serious healing. (...) I had about 5 or so IV glutathione treatments 9 months ago. I think 2 grams in each. I developed bad neuropathy in my legs, arms and extreme soreness in the outer part of my shoulder. The worst bit was that I became suicidal for a couple weeks. Horrifying.     -  Stephen

Trying to undo even a tiny bit of major damage to my father, after IV glutathione and ALA for a week at a shady clinic. I've been trying to get him to do AC  chelation for a long time.
                Short version: his health has tanked like crazy in only two years after having most of his teeth removed and replaced with implants. No doubt they broke some teeth to do the job. He had like 15 amalgams over his 80 years, but was in great health. Also his cadmium shows 12x high on hair test (which apparently (?) means 17x what the mercury on hair test is showing @1.5x cap). They went to a clinic and against my repeated warnings and advice did whatever IVs this gangster clinic recommended. This included ALA and glutathione drips every day for a week (!@&*##!!!). His symptoms are way worse now. He's 82. Not sure if he'll even agree to chelate NOW after getting much worse.
                As an example he left the clinic feeling really good for about a week. Which is common with those treatments, thought he was doing better and then he tanked pretty rapidly far worse than he ever went in. Became super OCD, like overnight.  Shakier, dizzier, weaker and more anxious than ever. They told me about two weeks after leaving the clinic that they needed to talk to me and then fessed up that they had done those drips after my very strict recommendation not to do them under any circumstances. He even had my mom get the same drips with no medical background whatsoever as to why they were giving them to her. They gave them to every single person that walked into the clinic no matter what.  And then she told me she was basically scared to stand up to them and say that she didn't want them or that he didn't want them.  So their fear of the doctors at this expensive clinic - regardless of all of my warnings and research on how to do safe chelation - ended up putting him in far worse shape than he went in.    - J.D.'s father, age 82

 

Oral glutathione

I'm in a bit of a glutathione nightmare myself. I became sick after I had 4 amalgams removed followed by 4 root canals (root canal teeth since removed) 1.5 years ago. Since getting sick I've been told I likely have lyme and co-infections ( my strep levels remain very high). 2 weeks ago I had a glutathione IV ( 3rd one ever) and started a new herb for lyme. Within two days I had the worst "herx" of my life. It feels like there are metal rods going into my skull, my body burns, I feel so so toxic. I immediately started using my sauna and activated charcoal. By last weekend I was feeling somewhat better. My doc suggested I come in for another IV this week. Something told me to try one oral glutathione to see how I tolerate it. Well all hell broke lose. All my symptoms came back. I cannot get ouf of bed. Now I have a burning soar throat like I'm getting the flu. It hit me that maybe I am dealing with mercury versus lyme. Now I am horrified and I dont know what to do! Is there anything I should take immediately to lessen the effects of potential redistribution? I had taken oral glutathione many many times before without issue. My challenge tests comes back with low mercury levels but you mentioned this doesn't mean I'm not mercury toxic? I am so scared right now I don't know what to do... I'm at the ER now I can barely walk.
                                                                           - Anonymous [this report can be also found under "glutathione IVs"]

i took 3 pills of glutathione and made me feel worse. i went white in the face, felt nauseous and very cold at night and had to run to the toilet. felt like i had been poisoned. i did it 3 times to make sure it was the glutathione. happened every time.               - Vin Van

Liposomal glutathione was a horrible experience for my son! He was in horrible abdominal pain with diarrhea and very emotionally labile even on one quarter of the recommended dose. Thankfully, all of the bad symptoms went away within two days of stopping it.

I started Ian (4) on lipoceutical glutathione the first week of July.  At 5 drops/day he did fine.  No positives or negatives.  After about 4 days I increased the dose to maybe 1/2 tsp MAX in his morning rice milk. That night he developed abdominal cramping.  He doesn't verbalize pain, but it was visually obvious to us his tummy hurt.  He had a sloppy stool that day.  I went back to a few drops/day but the cramps/loose stools continued. I stopped the stuff after about 10 days.  It took 2 days, but his stools are back to normal and the cramping appears to be gone.  We will not use it again.  I consider it a $45 bummer for my son.   - Pam

It sounds like a nice "natural way to detox", until you try glutathione or l-glutathione. That was a scary experience for me (didn't take Shade's glutathione product, but still, I will never touch glutathione again).
It stirred up so much toxins, my symptoms worsened rapidly. Took me 4 colon cleanses and 7 liver cleanses to fix it.    - Edith K.

I made a pros and cons spreadsheet when I was trying to figure out how I was going to get the mercury out.  I had already decided to try the ACC way before I realized what my dentist was telling me (based on the quicksilver stuff) was making me worse. (...) Her paperwork said to take chlorella and liposomal glutathione for a few days before the appointment. Chronic fatigue came roaring back, plus I broke out all over my chest and back and face, and then brain fog.   - Pam

 

Taking ALA infrequently (outside of its half life of 3 hours)

As his wife, I am worried sick. In 2015 a very misguided neurologist put him on 300mg ALA a day with amalgams in his mouth, L- methylfolate with b complex, super b drops, iodine drops, numerous vitamins ( core 4), enzymes, and co -q 10. He reacted so badly she decided he was having a bipolar manic episode and that the iodine drops and L- methylfolate were the culprit. She advised his psychiatrist should step in, who by the way, completely discounted her bipolar diagnosis. In my opinion this was a textbook "mad hatter" episode. She politely dismissed us as patients as we went off her protocol saying there was nothing more she could do.

Chris and I discussing what in his past has contributed to his present state of toxicity outside of the initial poisoning which was
1. Amalgams
2. Inhalation numerous times from destroying fluorescent tubes, 20-30 a time over yrs. doing custodial work for school district
3. Consuming 2-3 cans albacore tuna per day for 10 yrs.
4. Challenge, provoked test when 1st. becoming ill to determine metal toxicity
5. 2 years heavy abx. treatment for clinical (presumed) Lyme w/no improvement during that time and possibly becoming floxed with the cipro.

Rage, disassociation, as we remember. At that time, the significant shoulder pain, neuropathies and significant fatigue were for the most part the most debilitating for him. Symptoms were snowballing, he could no longer pursue his 200 mile per week bicycling. We did not realize the challenge test contributed. We had just found out he was literally off the charts for mercury and lead. The Dr. said "most toxic patient i have ever had".  Since we had to pay out of pocket for him, we took that info to our primary physician who immediately ordered blood tests to prove that Dr. wrong. Of course those tests were negative, so we thought we had dodged a "bad Dr." bullet who was going to try to financially fleece us. This was in 2010, had we paid attention to that out of pocket M.D. he might be significantly better today. Yet, that Dr. challenged tested my husband with amalgams in his mouth and began chelation procedures. He was on the right track and I wonder now how many pioneers of medicine were learning through trial and error.

I also would like to add, just prior to discovering ACP [the Andrew Culter Program], we found the "Medical Medium" book. We immediately embraced the book's one month cleanse which included wild blueberrie shakes w/ spirulina, cilantro, wheat grass and lots of thiol vegetables. He had huge dumping with that cleanse which we thought was a good, horribly uncomfortable, necessary path to wellness. I did however love the spiritual aspect of that book.

                                                                                                 - Victoria Kile, describing her husband's experience

Shocked to see Alpha Lipoic Acid and glutathione horror stories from increased mercury toxicity...so much misinformation out there perpetrated by naturopaths and clinics...so thankful to have these informative groups.
Been taking ALA-R for couple years for blood sugar issues. Now have all over neuropathy (tingling feet and hands, painful burning in leg muscles and butt)...assumed it was Lyme/mycoplasma (history of CF and arthritis) but now wondering if mercury? Time to get Andy Cutlers book. (Neurologist said not MS, just the mysterious "peripheral neuropathy" and rheumatologist didn't know what to do with me). No surprises there.
                                                                               - Deborah Behuniak Haydock

After I was almost over with CFS and was planning to start my own ozone therapy service back home, I did something wrong during my last detox cure and things flipped over in terms of hormonal balance. I crashed my adrenals or it was nerve damage due to redistribution of mercury caused by high dose of Alpha Lipoic Acid taken in frequent dose way like in Andy Cutlers protocol, but skipping the night doses. The main reason and factor is still unclear, but according to Cutler as I later found out, it is called “dump phase” [Note: adverse reactions caused by skipping the nightly dosages have nothing to do with the dump phase but with redistribution of mercury into sensitive tissue like the brain for example, or adrenals. This is another cautionary tale why it is of the utmost importance to keep taking the chelators around the clock and to never skip the nightly dosages.] . During first week I felt very good and sharp, then one week break and second round was okay too, but then when lowering the doses back to zero during couple of days I started to wake up too early and finally one night woke up sweating and feeling back pain around my adrenal glands. Also higher than normal ozone doses at higher flow speed might have contributed to that. Since that I have been struggling with sleep problems that led me to research acupuncture therapies. Later I also managed to catch some parasites which made me to dig even more further in different healing modalities like bioresonance. So my journey has not ended yet and I keep searching the ultimate trick for my sleeping issues. At the moment I’m on Cutler protocol the right way, the way it should be taken, first starting with low dose DMSA only and so far it looks promising. So it is potent protocol, but one must be very strict with the half-life and even set timer to remember to take the pill every 3 or 4 hour (ALA- DMSA respectively). It might be used even if you take IV EDTA simultaneously. [Unfortunately, this is not correct: It is never ok to use EDTA, neither in IV nor any other form. This is strictly against the Cutler protocol and can lead to a dramatic worsening of mercury poisoning, see further below.]
                                                                                                          - Tuukka H. , author of the blog medicaltravelling.com

I messed up my body terribly by taking high dose infrequent chorella and R-ALA before and during amalgam removal. My headaches were so severe I felt like vomiting. One morning I looked into the mirror and thought that I looked dead. I wanted to die. Fortunately I found this group and I stopped the protocol I was following. I didn't attempt chelation for a year after that. I ate clean, slept a lot, used a sauna.
                                                                                                                          - Anonymous

I developed frozen shoulders after taking 600mg ala 2x a day as per my holistic dr. I only did it for about 4 days, and thought it would kill me. It started about 2weeks after I stopped. But it wasn't actually frozen shoulders it was frozen everything. I started chelating properly, and also had a lot of (very painful) deep tissue sports massage. After about 5 months I was able to put my arms above my head. I am 3 years later now, and although I still have a little healing to do, and rebuild my muscles from not being able to use them, I am massively better.
                                                                                                                                           - S.W.S

My husband and I got very sick, through a very slow decline, over many months due to our use of chlorella, cilantro and ALA (in ingredients in supplements).

We were very lucky to find someone that noticed and changed the course of our health decline prior to finding this group [the Andy Cutler Chelation Think Tank group on Facebook].    - Cheryl

I’m translating the Prodigal Son’s story, who has given permission to translate his posts and messages about his experiences with unsafe chelation. He got his 5 amalgams removed "safely" in November 2013 and, by recommendation of his dentist, started high infrequent doses of ALA (120-400 mgs daily). He’s not sure if the removals were that safe after all because he started feeling really bad right away (as a matter of fact 3 hidden amalgams specks have been found in 2016). He also received IV treatments before, during and after the extractions (starting October 2013 and finishing 2014). He was told that the IV treatments contained vitamins, minerals and “a chelator for his brain” and another “for his body”, but he isn't sure which. He also got glutathione injections. He felt his health started to spiral down after the removals and the chelation IVs. He remembers driving back from the place when he had the IV treatments and feeling really bad, weird, tired… He even lost his sight temporarily as he was driving back from one of the IV chelation sessions. Over these three years, his physical deterioration has gotten worse and worse. He went from being able to walk with the help of a crutch because of his knee and having his habitual health problems to become completely bedridden with lots of pain and other health problems that are described below:
HORRIBLE PAINS in all the body especially knees and hips. The pain seems to be neuropathic. Doctors say it is due to a multisystemic disease. Other doctors because of generalized inflammation in all the body, another doctor said it is due to mercury and arsenic toxicity that is affecting the brain and the central nervous system, etc. 
RIGHT FOOT: cracked sole of the foot, peels off completely, a crack between the last small toes, pain in the big toe, itchy painful instep, pain between the foot joint and the leg, burning feeling in the sole of the foot. 
LEFT FOOT: painful big toe, itchiness, sometimes toes of both feet get stiff, especially the big toe, which separates from the rest of the toes during these episodes.
RIGHT LEG: all of it hurts –instep, calves, thighs, hips, sacrum--; skin problems: rashes, itchiness, and several dark spots 
TOTAL LOSS OF MUSCLE MASS: right leg has become deformed and cannot be stretched any more. It has shortened about and is 20 centimetres (7 inches) from the ground. The foot has bent to the side. Numerous varicose veins in both legs. Spasms throughout the body, especially in the right leg. A prosthesis was placed in the right knee in April 2013 and everything was going fine until all muscle mass was lost over night. After physiotherapy, muscle mass was regained three times but after August 2013 it couldn’t be regained any more. Before the operation, this loss of muscle mass had happened another three times. Both legs usually get inflamed especially from the knee down. 
LEFT LEG: painful knee, thigh, hips, sacrum, lots of itchiness, loss of muscle mass, pain in the groin
ABDOMINAL PAIN: pain and burning sensation in the area of the bladder, intestines, colon, kidney area, stomach. Lots of burping, gas. Intense cold from the stomach to the groin area in any season of the year, slow and heavy digestion, diarrhea between 8 and 15 times a day, inflamed intestines and colon. Lots of renal colics from age 14 (right kidney, only last one in left kidney).
NECK PAIN: especially in the right side of the neck as well as the right shoulder and right side of the chest, especially when trying to speak. Pain in the throat, problems to speak; voice changes and lots of pain. 
PAINS IN THE FACE, MOUTH AND HEAD: numbness in face and head, pain in the jaw and teeth, nasal congestion, problems focalizing eyes, vision loss, cracked dirty-looking tongue, frontal headache, punctual headaches, severe hearing loss.
BACKACHE: pain in right lumbar area, cervical area, right shoulder blade, dorsal area.
ARMS: pain in the elbows, no strength, numbness in hands and fingers, itchiness
LOSS OF MUSCLE MASS in the whole body, especially glutes, legs, arms, etc
PAINFUL SKIN in the whole body (especially, legs, knees, hips, arms, belly, elbows, shoulders)
OTHER PAINS AND PROBLEMS: pain in the right testicle, no libido, several sexual problems. Anal fissures with anal spasms, urinary track infections, urinary urges, kidney stones in right kidney. Damaged prostate because of a medical intervention.
REDUCED MOVILITY: spends around 16 hours in bed because sitting is difficult due to terrible pain in the hips, can walk very little. Can only sit to eat and go to the toilet. Right leg is sometimes irresponsive and lumbar area gets cramped. Can only lie on the left side side of the body. 
Has had a lot of colds and really bad cough. 
Constant hunger all day long.
Allergies
Very high ferritin
Memory loss, mental confusion, cognitive problems, irritability, impatience, aggressiveness 
Low THEA (maybe DHEA?) hormone 
SLEEP DISTURBANCES: waking up because of digestive problems (gas, burping, pain, etc), and urinary problems every 3 or 4 hours. 
Hardly ever nausea, vomiting or fever 
Anxiety but no depression 

              - The Prodigal Son [testimonial can be also found under "glutathione IVs"]

There were several things I’ve learned that I had done, that in retrospect, were big mistakes for my health.

I had always been ill from my amalgams, but certain critical mistakes I made caused a landslide of deterioration in the last 5 years. It should be noted that it was the combination of all three of these that made me very sick, although just one of these has the potential to make a person who is susceptible, much sicker, triggering a myriad of mysterious symptoms, too difficult to put together until it is very late in the game.

1) Taking 3.5 years to complete dental revision.
2) Taking high dose ALA irregularly with amalgams for 5 years
3) Receiving IV Glutathione

#1 – By doing dental revision so slowly, in an already incapacitated state, I experienced 7 exposures to mercury (7 amalgams); making me much sicker than if I had done all the work in several months. In retrospect I should have completed the revision in 1 or 2 major exposures, or several months, not almost 4 years. This had a very detrimental cumulative effect on my health.

#2 – By taking high dose ALA, about 400-600mgs per day, irregularly for the last five years (not on the half-life, per Cutler Protocol), I “moved” a large amount of mercury that had been lodged in deep tissue and my brain, violently around my body, and back into my brain, creating a myriad of symptoms. People with amalgam fillings need to avoid Number 2, it is discussed in detail in Amalgam Illness. There is a cumulative effect of taking ALA with amalgams. You don’t notice it at first, and by the time you notice it, it’s done a lot of physical and psychological damage.

#3 – I was encouraged to try IV Glutathione, and had several over the last two years. Glutathione is a single thiol agent and can mobilize and redistribute mercury, picking up the mercury and dropping it unpredictably, in the same manner as taking ALA irregularly (not on the half-life per Cutler Protocol).

I am still suffering the cumulative damage from these three actions. In the last 5 years I developed chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, and even electromagnetic frequency (EMF) sensitivity. I have thyroidectomy, but was unable to effectively treat my thyroid. I lost so much hair. Now I know mercury was why I lost my thyroid in the first place. My blood pressure dropped even lower, and my temp was 3.5 degrees low. The cognitive symptoms from this damage included a deepening suicidal depression, which is what ultimately drove me to Cutler chelation. All aspects of my personality changed. My fuse became even shorter. I found no pleasure in anything. Life became not worth living. My short term memory has been severely affected. Work is difficult. Decisions are difficult. Relationships are difficult. I had been ill from my amalgams my entire life, but 5 years ago, I slid into a catastrophic worsening of my health, and I was still unable to put all the pieces together. That’s how it happens. A series of mistakes creates a cascade of deteriorative effects, and you are left to decipher it all, in a race against time.                         
              - Camille [this testimonial can be also found in the 'What NOT to do "Glutathione IV" ' section]

I'm 95% sure that what got me also sick in the first place in 2014 was 200 mg DMSA once a week during about a year, plus 300mg ALA 3 times a day on a completely irregular manner, plus the cherry on the cake which made everything flare up suddenly and which sent me to ER was testosterone gel the doc gave me because of my complaint of lack of energy which he interpreted as lack of libido.    - Rachel

After spending several years in the frequent dose community and doing the protocols on myself and my kids I feel it's my responsibility to report what can go wrong when Alpha Lipoic Acid is used randomly without considering the half-life.  I'm going to tell you about a relative that was given ALA by her doctor. She was told to take it 3 times a day because it helps with blood sugar and she was diabetic.  She began experiencing all sorts of burning neuropathy pains in her hands, feet and legs.  She said she felt sick, had become fatigued and anxious.  I asked her what medications or supplements she was taking and were any of them new?  She showed me what the doctor had her taking.  One of the supplements contained 200mg of ALA and she was told to take this 3 times a day.  I was livid!  While I had told her many times about ALA and about dental mercury amalgams, she trusts her doctors.  She stopped taking this when I explained to her how dangerous it is and that this is why you are experiencing nerve damage.  She stopped and lucky for her the neuropathy did go away but I have seen it become permanent in people using ALA for long periods of time improperly.  I wish I could say this only happened to her once, but there was another occasional a few years later when this happened again because one of the supplements the doctor gave her, contains ALA and she did not know it was in there.  She picked up on it faster this time recalling the earlier experience and stopped taking it.  Read the labels on any supplements someone prescribes for you!  Taking ALA with amalgams just pulls mercury out of your teeth and puts into your brain!      -Jan Martin, Fight Autism and Win, Detoxing Kids

 

Taking ALA with amalgam dental fillings

My functional medicine doctor prescribed a multivitamin that had alpha lipoic acid in it. I took this multivitamin every day for years. The alpha lipoic acid took the mercury from my amalgams and deposited that mercury in my brain. I developed ataxia and nystagmus. My tremor got much worse as did my cognition. An MRI I had after I started taking this multivitamin showed some brain ischemia and calcification. I have had some gains on the Cutler protocol. My anhedonia lifted. My blood pressure and pulse rate returned to normal after being high. I no longer lose hair like crazy. I no longer have the inflammatory geographic tongue. I am still very ill though with immune deficiencies and neurological conditions. I have recently hit the peak of my dump phase but will chelate through it. I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Cutler and the folks in the chelation think tank for this chance to recover my life.                     - Martha (find the story also in the Adult Stories section)

I took 50 mg r-ALA for months (with amalgams) and became very toxic.  It took less than six months for me to go completely off the rails due to taking ALA with fillings in place.  I haven't really started to recover until this year, 8 years after the ALA incident. I was using R-ALA 50 mg as a supplement, had 13 fillings. Did some dental work during that time, and got a lot of mental issues after that. Within 6-10 months I was a wreck. I drank a lot and took a lot of drugs to self-medicate because I was angry all the time. Took me three years to really reach rock bottom and another five years to get to where I am today. Still have work to do.  I'm chelating with success now.  Took me 7 years to get out of my mind(messed) state enough to get things going in the proper manner. Health care didn't know what to do with me, so I had to figure out everything by myself.  -  Chris

Was on 200 - 400 mg ALA daily, per doctor's recommendation, with 15 amalgams, before I knew that Hg (mercury) might be the problem. What resulted was beyond description, although there was so much going wrong at the time I have no way of knowing for sure how much of it was caused by the ALA. My brain got so sensitized and screwed up that just taking a shower was miserable. Just the water hitting my skin was too much.     - Jack

 

DMPS IV / Challenge test with DMPS / infrequent high dose DMPS

Do you have any amalgams, crowns that have not been lifted, or root canals?

No dental work whatsoever. Have no idea where I got Mercury. I had a DMPS IV a year ago that I am very very sick from still a year later.

What are your current symptoms?

Head pressure, vertigo, major anxiety, weakness. Agoraphobia big time. Haven't left the house in a year give or take a few times.

Did all those symptoms start after the IV?

Yes - I wasn't having any anxiety or any of this before. I got very very sick within a couple of days.

What did your doc say when you told him about the adverse reactions?

He chased me out the door and says it wasn't because of it. No help whatsoever.

                                                                                                                                                         - Marisa

Tried it [DMPS IVs]. Nearly died from it. 12 years later, still trying to recover from it. Just don't [do it].
The IV method overloads your liver and kidneys and the mercury has no way to get out. It not only redistributes but screws up your detox pathways. The Cutler protocol is safe. His science is sound. I say that from many years (22) of experience.
It took doctors 9 years to find that it was mercury poisoning. I went to every kind of doctor you can imagine in that time. Then, doctors nearly killed me with reckless chelation. Then, I found this group [Andy Cutler Chelation Think Tank on Facebook] and have slowly been getting better since. It's still a struggle but nowhere near as hard has it was when the doctors were killing me. A lot of damage was done so it won't be a quick or easy path for me. The people who come in and do it right the first time are way better off. I wish I'd done that.

When you told doctors who were giving you the DMPS IVs how horrible they were making you feel, how did they react?

They would say: "Oh, that's strange because everyone else is fine. "
                                                                                                                    - T. Orcel

I have incurred multiple chemical sensitivity as a result of IV chelation with calcium EDTA and DMPS.
I now know never to do IV chelation again, learnt my lesson the hard way, was desperate to get better and had no idea as to the dangers.

Did you ever tell your doctor that the IVs made you much sicker? if so, how did he/she react?

I told her numerous times, but she assured me that the complications would go away after persevering with the IVs. To this day she claims that my MCS (brought on by the IVs) is genetic...what a joke...makes me furious.
                                                                                               - Anonymous [also part of the EDTA testimonials]

I am a mother of an 8 years old asd [Autistic Spectrum Disorder] child and my child has suffered a lot with his health too since his doctor decided to give him dmps injection once a week that means in an irregular way as a result now he suffers more from fatigue, depression, anxiety and strong abdominal pain, serius gut issues like crohn disease that means high Inflammation in his small intestine. After I prescribed the doctor the symptoms he told me to stop with dmps injection because he's sensitive on the sulphur and Is not ready for chelation yet.
                                                                                                               - Irini Licolari

I had an IV (most likely DMPS) done and within 24 hours lost all hearing in my left ear! Don't do it! I am 7 months out and I have regained a significant amount back. The first ENT I went to said I'm so sorry nothing can be done and gave me steroids! Fortunately I found an amazing dr who put me immediately on the right path and after many many hours in a hyperbaric chamber I would say I have about 80% back! I have issues with high pitch noises (concerts, screaming fans, my screaming kids).        - Megan J.

I did an IV challenge and felt awful so my LLNP ended it. Didnt know it was dangerous then either. Im pretty sure it was just DMPS. I didnt finish the challenge because my anxiety and paranoia went through the roof. When i told her what was happening she stopped it and said to still collect my urine for 6hrs because i should have gotten enough. This was about 2yrs ago.            - Johanna

I had two doctors that nearly killed me with unsafe chelation. It's been years trying to get my health back. No little thing. The first doctor gave me eight IV DM PS treatments.
What symptoms did you develop?
Fatigue, depression, itchiness, strange psychological things like paranoia, gastrointestinal distress, hair loss, you name it. And dumping all that mercury on my liver and kidneys made me MCS [Multiple Chemical Sensitivity]. I still have a paradoxical response to most medications because my detox pathways got so screwed up. When I think of how different things could have been for me if I'd found this place first, makes me really sad.
And to clarify about feeling sad, I am now 52 years old and unable to have children of my own. This was the difference between being able to have a family or not. I still hope one day I will be well enough to be a foster mom or stepmom but no guarantees on that. I wish there were someway to make those responsible pay. And just to add to that, if anyone is considering a doctor who recommends IV chelation, run in the opposite direction. You will be glad you did.
                                                                                                  -  T.O.

So I kind of messed myself up. I did 6 DMPS IV chelations along with 3 EDTA IV's and 2 challenge tests.

At the time I didn't know that IV chelations were dangerous. I started feeling really sick and extra tired, my eyes were constantly puffy and swollen, I got unusual depression and intense anxiety. When my liver started to ache that's when I pulled the plug.

It's been two weeks since my last chelation and I feel a little better but still kinda sick.

Update: liver enzyme test came back ok but stools had been yellow for two weeks. Quite scary for a minute there. I've been taking the recommended liver support supplements so many that has helped. Also, my liver has stopped aching and I plan to return to ACC protocol now. I'm taking all the recommended supps but ACE [adrenal cortex] seems to really be the one I needed most. I had to stop drinking coffee and now I basically take ACE like coffee! It gave me anxiety at first but I started getting used to it and it's been a life saver for feeling less dizzy and having more energy.

                                               - D.J. (this testimonial is also under EDTA IVs)

One of my friends is in a clinic in Switzerland and they were treating him for heavy metals through [DMPS] IV and he was already doing bad and now he's doing worse and can hardly walk and keeps having slurred speech. He has lyme and mold too. Been treating for two years. Nothing has helped.

I don't understand. I'm new to this. I'm so angry he's supposed to be an amazing clinic and they f-Ed him up. He's shaking. Throwing up. Can't talk. Can't walk. W(hat) a Nightmare.  He was bad when he went. This is a whole new level.
                                                                                                       -Anonymous  (friend of Rebecca, see above)

I took chlorella from a suggestion from another website before I found this group ["Andy Cutler Chelation Think Tank" on Facebook] ...it made me very ill and reactive...realized later it was redistribution. I tried it for 3-4 days....then stopped due to the ill affects. (...) Oral chelation is not fast, that's the idea...to keep it slow so your body isn't overwhelmed. I had DMPS IV chelation years ago...with amalgams in...very much not recommended...I stopped at round 3 due to bad side affects.... each with worse symptoms...lips and mouth swelling, and from what I learned here I am maybe lucky I stopped when I did...again that was IV not oral....hope this helps.     -Stan

I can tell you first hand that eight treatments with IV DMPS left me much worse than I was before. Back then, I didn't understand that it was redistribution, that had me moaning in pain beginning 8 hours after the treatment. I needed painkillers just to be able to deal with it. I was sick for at least 24 hours after that with muscle pain, neck pain, unbelievable weakness and overall worsening of my already decrepit state. I remember thinking, "if this is the treatment I need for my mercury toxicity, I am just going to have to die with it because the IVs are surely killing me quicker." (...) I remember having had a round of IV in the morning and had to visit my sister in the hospital in the afternoon. She was sitting in a chair and I was in her bed, curled up with the shakes and some awful other symptoms.        - Kat

I am 44, I removed my 8 amalgams 16 years ago (safely), I lived behind the largest coal power plant in Atlanta (high Mercury emission) for 3 years, moved out 13 years ago (my ex husband that lived there with me developed a tumor in the knee and died at 41 from brain hemorrhage cause by chemo, I had a tumor in my breast and removed it but didn't agree to do any chemical therapies, just did Gerson therapy.   I was injured by the DTP shot at age 20 when I clearly had signs of mercury intoxication, but doctors back then and now don't even know how to test for it so nobody figured it out.  So Mercury has been my closest enemy for years.
               When I found out I was mercury toxic (thanks to Pavarotti's pharmacist in Italy that suggested it) I went to 8 doctors that specialize in chelation. Some considered the best in the field........ They all gave me DMSA to take 1-2 times a day. Same for DMPS....... I was sleeping 22 hrs a day when on chelation. All 8 docs said it was part of the process. If I didn't research Cutler on my own and started the cycles based on half-life, I would have probably gotten Alzheimer from mercury distribution (I was losing memory etc)...... No we do not need to go to the doctor. They just cause problems and then can't fix it...........
               I used 1 pill DMPS from (sic) a day for 2 months and felt nothing. After 3 months I used 2 pills a day and it was OK, no major side effects.  Then I used 2 pills of DMPS from (sic) from Germany (original DMPS) and that is when I started to sleep 22 hrs a day.... After 3 days I went down to 1 pill .... I was still sleeping 22 hrs a day...... So I stopped after a total of 5 days.  After I read Cutler's book I took 1 pill of DMPS from (sic) every 8 hrs and I was sleeping 7 hrs per night........ So clearly the DMPS from Germany was getting more Mercury out then other DMPS, and clearly it was not the DMPS that was the problem, it was the Mercury redistribution that made me sleep so long.   (My DMPS and DMSA pills were 100 mg pills.)
            I did a challenge test 1 year ago. Four DMPS 100 mg pills and then  2 hrs later collected the sample. My mercury was at 89 (suppose to be 0) ...... The doctor has been doing these tests for decades and he said he rarely sees numbers so high........ I did 2 months on DMPS (1 pill a day) and 1 on DMSA and it went down to 68. Then I did 6 months of high dose ALA and 100 mg DMSA every 3 hrs alternating with DMPS.  (frequent dose protocol) I ran and did sauna every day for 1 hr for 2 months and then once a week. After 6 months went down to 63.  So almost 1 year of chelation and I still had Mercury......but I no longer suffer cold. I used to freeze with 60 degrees weather since I was injured by the DTP shot at 20 years old. Now 20 degrees and I am fine. Periods are almost back to normal........ My white hair has disappeared. Only negatives are that my eye bags get worse during chelation and my eye sight got a bit worse after 25 years of wearing same prescription.  
                                                                                                 - Anonymous (around 8 months of chelation),
                                                                                                            this story can be also found in the "Adult Success Stories" section

 

Quicksilver / Chris Shade Protocol:

I did Quicksilver for nearly 6 months. 

I barely moved from the couch. The fatigue was so intense. Mum was having chemo at the time and she had more energy than me! 

My memory went downhill really severely, and I did some really stupid things that were just unlike me, like going to bed and leaving candles burning near a curtain. I'm lucky I didn't burn the house down. I also lost numbers. I couldn't do basic maths in my head. I once got 5x7 wrong and was so embarrassed when Mum corrected me! I used to work in finance and have always been good with numbers, so to lose that was really scary. 

Physically, other than fatigue, I had lots of aches and pains, and my eyes had gone blurry, and fasciculations and twitches got much worse. They'd always been one of my symptoms, but it would take a few hours of working hard, usually in the garden, to really set them off. But they started happening sooner and sooner. I was trying to get a garden bed weeded, and near the start I was managing an hour at a time (once a week or so), but within a couple of months I was down to 5-10 minutes and then they would start. I ended up paying my nephew to weed that garden bed. Towards the end, they started happening with no exertion at all. It was September then, and time to plant seeds for the veggie garden I wasn't going to have the energy to tend, but I didn't want to admit defeat. I knew I didn't have a hope of standing at a potting bench to do it, so I slowly brought everything inside over a few days and set it up on the coffee table. I couch gardened! There was no exertion. I was sitting there putting seeds in seedling pots and writing labels. The potting mix and trowel right next to me, and I didn't care if I got dirt on the floor. But after just the first tray of seedling pots, there were the fasciculations. I knew something was really wrong. There was absolutely no exertion.  I was sitting on the couch! 

I had 2 weeks to go on that 12 week round, but I was worried. I thought it was the glutathione. I seemed to get worse each time the dose of that increased. But of course the dose of everything increased at the same time so it was hard to be sure. I emailed the specialist who had worked out that mercury was my problem and told him what was happening and asked if I should stop or just harden up and push through for 2 more weeks. I didn't want to give up, but I knew something was wrong. He emailed back and told me to STOP!!!! He said to take 3g of vitamin C a day, 200mcg of selenium, and chlorella. I didn't take the chlorella. I bought it, and I sat there with the bottle in my hand, and something in me was screaming no. 

I had selenium in a multi mineral, so I took that, and I thought oh I've got all this liposomal C from Quicksilver so I'll use that up. I was looking at the bottle, which I'd been using once a day, trying to work out how many pumps would be 3g, which of course I couldn't do because that is maths, and I noticed it said each 4 pumps contained 25mg of sodium R- lipoate. I think I'd been taking about 12 pumps, so 75mg (3g would have been 24 pumps!). I looked at that and didn't know what it was, but I thought no, Damian didn't say to have that, I'd better just buy some basic vitamin C. So when I went to my doctor the next day, I stopped in at the pharmacy downstairs first to get some. I didn't know what it was until a year later when I found Amalgam Illness, but of course it's R-ALA. A few months after I stopped, Mum was here having dinner with me. I'd cooked roast pork. It was the first time I'd managed to do something a bit special and she loves pork so I'd asked her to come for dinner. We were sitting there talking and she told me that watching me do that detox had been like watching Dad dying of his brain tumour. That she'd seen me progressively shutting down the way he had. I felt so bad that I'd worried her so much when she'd been dealing with so much with her own cancer treatment! 

Later that night I was thinking about what she'd said, and I realized she was right. I had been shutting down. If I had continued for that last 2 weeks, I really believe something would have given out and I would have died. It was almost a year later when I stumbled across an article that mentioned Amalgam Illness and had a link to it on Amazon. I ordered it immediately. As I read it, everything that had gone wrong finally made sense. There wasn't something wrong with my ability to detox, there was something wrong with the detox I'd done! Lots of things, actually. When I told my doctor that I thought the only way to recover from the bad detox was to detox properly, his response was "Oh f@$k!!", but after lots of conversations and him reading Amalgam Illness, he came on board. And now after nearly 18 months of ACC, he's seen so many improvements in me that he has decided to get his own amalgams out and chelate with ACC as well.    - Monique

Not sure if it was the liposomoal GSH, R-ALA, or a dump phase, but I was scared straight. I'll never touch QS products again after my symptoms all came back with a vengeance. Smooth sailing on ACC [Andrew Cutler Chelation] - all horrible symptoms gone that I got while on QS are history - on round 16 and working up quick! (50mg next round!).  - Scott

 

Challenge test with DMSA / infrequent high dose DMSA

Before finding this protocol I was told to take large amounts of cilantro and sulphur containing food to chelate with along with dmsa 250mg 3 times a day! After 3 weeks of that I had terrible brain symptoms that are still with me now! Severe depression, self loathing, massive headaches and much more. Now I am in such a mess with my thyroid and symptoms. I am on round 3 using dmsa 12.5 mg every 4 hours and using the 4 suppliments and still have all the issues but I know it's early days! The sad thing is I was doing not too bad before given the cilantro etc! RAGE!!!
                                                                                 - Tom [testimonial can be also found under "Cilantro/Chlorella"]

I'm 95 % sure that what got me so sick in the first place in 2014 was 200 mg DMSA once a week during about a year, plus 300mg ALA 3 times a day on a completely irregular manner, plus the cherry on the cake which made everything flare up suddenly and which sent me to ER was testosterone gel the doc gave me because of my complaint of lack of energy which he interpreted as lack of libído.    - Rachel

(...) I just found out through a provocation test that I have lead poisoning. My symptoms have flared tremendously since. I took the test 2 weeks ago. I threw up an hour after taking the DMSA the first time then when I tried to do the test again I got a fever the next day, I've been tired and irritated, and my thyroid has been swollen. Yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose. My doc wants to do oral (infrequent dosing) chelation with DMSA 3 days on 11 days off but I'm reading that is it not safe, especially for people with autoimmune issues. So what are my options? I'm thinking this chronic poisoning is the cause of my autoimmune and gut issues. I need to get this metal out but don't want to jump the gun and do permanent damage.   - Stephanie

 

​Cilantro (Coriander) and/or Chlorella

Since many people are advised to use chlorella or cilantro to remove mercury under the impression that it's an "all natural" way to detoxify mercury we felt it's very important to emphasize how unsafe this is. No safe dosing or timing protocol has been determined for using cilantro. Chlorella does not bind mercury but moves it around. It is also often contaminated with heavy metals to begin with. Please avoid using these if you are mercury toxic.

Someone told my mum chorella would help her eczema. Big mistake. 2 months her skin felt like it was burning if she washed her hands etc. Took ages to calm down. All her skin was red and inflammed. Now we check everything.
                                                                                       - Mimi

Somehow chlorella mobilizes the mercury in my body and I have very bad neurological symptoms every night. Still in a very panic mode right now. Not sure how long it will take for the symptoms to go away. and living in mold doesn't help 😥, nor would PCP, urgent care or ER help...

I grew up in a very warm humid climate, and I am sure mold was everywhere, and it never bothered me. This mold/lyme thing seemed to happen to me after I took herbs (from china, might be contaminated with heavy metal) and flu vaccine regularly. now it seems to make more sense to me when i think retrospectively. i don't know if i should be glad (for discovery) or sad (needless to say) ....
                                                                                                      - L. Cheng 

Never ever ever use cilantro. This is coming from someone who took it for afew days and had minor psychosis as a result and extreme neurological symptoms that I honestly felt like committing suicide. I am slowly getting better now with proper chelation. Not to mention the fact that I probably pushed a ton of mercury into my CNS and brain and added a lot of extra chelationtime to get better. I wasnt that sick before I just had some memory problems and trouble thinking correctly and now I could give you a list of 50+ symptoms. We don't know how it works or the half life so it would be similar to giving ALA on a random schedule which we know is dangerous.

Don't do it!
                                                                                                       - Adam

I tried some chelation with a Dr in N [a town in Europe] 2 years ago....oh my Lord I became so sick...I basically ended up in bed for 2 weeks and couldn't move....I was frightened to try [chelation] again.

Was it intravenous chelation?

No it was this proprietary medicine ... called HMD Mercury RX [a chlorella and cilantro tincture].
This was it plus about 5 other supps...it cost 500 euros and really knocked me off my feet....

What exactly happened when you started taking it?

I was vomitting and had diarrhea and then I started to get palpitations...I spoke with him and he said to continue that the symptoms would become less...by the 3rd week I was completely immobilized and my legs just wouldn't move it was so frightening.
My blood felt like it had stopped moving around my body.
My hubby took me to a clinic and they put me in some iv's of vitamins and minerals, for a couple of days and I was a little better but it took me at least 6 months to get over it.

Oh my god....when we tried to contact him [the doctor] for help he just kept ignoring us...and in the end he told me he couldn't treat me because I was a difficult case and to go back to a conventional doctor because I obviously had no faith in him and he was far too busy.
                                                                                                                   - Anonymous

This testimonial is about what not to do, I can't start the Cutler Protocol until fall time, 3 months after I get the last filling out. After lots of different labs and Vision Contrast Sensitivity test for neurotoxins my holistic doc. discovered I had heavy metal toxicity. She gave me cilantro, glutathione, niacin, and phytosterols. She told me to eat a handful of cilantro a day for 3 months and I'll be better. I wound up juicing cilantro, as well as ordering a pill form because I didn't like the texture of the raw plant. I wound up juicing cilantro with cabbage, and was eating a high sulfur diet- lots of eggs and cabbage. I felt horrible for those two months. Then I stopped taking cilantro after reading it just stirs metals and doesn't bind them. For another 2 months I felt equally as horrible. Brain fog, lack of short term memory, lack of focus, feeling drunk, dyslexia, pounding pressure in head (like a migraine without pain), vision issues, vertigo, nausea, tremors, fatigue,tinnitus, can't drive most days, etc. I would occasionally have "good" days where the symptoms were less. Then after another month I start having lots of "good" days and even some normal days. I had 10 normal days in a row and then accidentally ate cilantro at a Mexican restaurant. That was 2.5 weeks ago and I'm slowly getting back to having fairly good days. Still having vision issues and pressure in back left of head, as well as nausea spells and tinnitus. I can start the Cutler Protocol in the fall time, which will be 3 months after I'm supposed to have my last filling removed.
                                                                                                                                        - Jer

I guess my background is mainly seven amalgam fillings wrongly drilled out sometime in the 90s, since then severe back pain, joint pain, allergies, food intolerances, leaky gut etc. etc. have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, depression, chronic muscle stiffness, acidity etc. I just recently went to a dentist who discovered that half of my white fillings still had amalgam underneath. we took that out now and my dentist started me on zeolites, then chlorella and now I'm supposed to start with cilantro, which I don't wanna do as I have fainted numerous times at restaurants when eating it fresh. I never knew what caused the tingling in my neck and head and then fainting, but now i figured out that it's in fact the cilantro/coriander. which, as my dentist says, means, that my brain must be full of mercury. I read all the books I could find and also had the DMPS provocation test done, still waiting on the results. I am sure that I want to stop taking zeolites/chlorella/cilantro as I was going mad on it for weeks and after reading everything I'm not convinced it's the right way to go. my other doctor wants to do IV DMPS, but I'm also not convinced. so for me, the Andy Cutler protocol sounds like the only reasonable option but every doctor I approach with it, has been annoyed with me "knowing stuff" and being quite strict about what I wanna do and asking a lot of questions. of course, no professional wants to be told what to do but I strongly feel that those proposed ways are not the way to go. I'm afraid to take DMSA and ALA without the supervision of a doctor though just because my side effects were so strong already when taking zeolites…

fresh cilantro in food gave me seizures and made me and my father faint numerous times at restaurants before we finally came to the conclusion it was cilantro that was causing those symptoms. nobody wanted to believe me when I kept insisting I wanted my food without it as I thought I was allergic to it for years. people tend to protest that. I had to face hostility coming from so-called friends numerous times, because they believe I wanna grab attention and am only making up stories. It even went up to a point where a "friend" of mine "smuggled" tiny pieces of cilantro into my food because she wanted to prove I was full of crap. did not end well. I am sick of people stating the opinion that "something natural can't cause severe symptoms". get over this natural vs chemical health battle!
                                                                                                                         - Kim

Before finding this protocol I was told to take large amounts of cilantro and sulphur containing food to chelate with along with dmsa 250mg 3 times a day! After 3 weeks of that I had terrible brain symptoms that are still with me now! Severe depression, self loathing, massive headaches and much more. Now I am in such a mess with my thyroid and symptoms. I am on round 3 using dmsa 12.5 mg every 4 hours and using the 4 suppliments and still have all the issues but I know it's early days! The sad thing is I was doing not too bad before given the cilantro etc! RAGE!!!
                                                                 - Tom [testimonial can be also found under "Infrequent high dose DMSA"]

Hi, i had my amalgams removed properly by a mercury free dentist about 1 year ago and was given DMPS 100mg capsules , EDTA and Chlorella Vulgaris to help excrete the mercury and nickel that id tested high for. The DMPS / Chlorella was used first , everything was fine as far as i was aware. After id finished the DMPS i started to use EDTA / Chlorella as per my consultants guidance. i was only using 1 capsule / day of EDTA so going slowly. First 2 days i felt a bit tired and weak i assumed it was just a side effect. After that i started to get stabbing headaches id had years before but for the last year id had none. By this stage i was getting suspicious that something was wrong so by day 4 i stopped uisng the EDTA and Chlorella. Unfortunately as i now know the EDTA and Chlorella had found traces of amalgam presumably in my gums and had redistributed it into my brain. The stabbing pains continued for about 1 week continuously and became so bad that i was screaming from them. Eventually i went to hospital where i was given an injection of diclofenac to calm the pain and the inflammation down. The mistake i made was trusting the consultants id seen over the patients in the Andy Cutler group who had warned me not to do mercury detox in any other way. I went back to my consultant who told me to take a big dose of ALA but i wont i will be taking it according to AC protocol. 
                                              - Fiona [testimonial can be also found under the 'What NOT to do "EDTA" ' section.

I had two doctors that nearly killed me with unsafe chelation. It's been years trying to get my health back. No little thing. The first doctor gave me eight IV DM PS treatments [please, read the testimonial in the DMPS IV section]. The other had me drinking this chlorella stuff that fell like heroin after I drank it. Seriously, it would knock me out for the entire day. Finally, a friend said hey these doctors are killing you and he helped me find the Cutler method.                  - T.O.

Cilantro about killed me in 2012. 72 hours of complete brain malfunction following the consumption of the recommended dose of Cilantro Extract. I dont mind it in food, but I will never forget that experience. Chlorella made my whole body twitch and the twitching took a month to stop afte quitting the Chlorella. I thought I was just allergic but looking back I am certain that I was flooded with metals and those reactions were from shocking my system.      - Tobin Risner

I wasn't trying to chelate with cilantro. It still moved mercury to my brain and made me very sick. In fact it made me appear mentally ill. I became paranoid. I became dyslexic and bipolar. I could not remember my phone number. I lost my job.        - Alan

Following amalgam removal I had planned to detoxify the mercury "naturally".   I felt fairly well after removal thanks to the IV-Vitamin C but within a few days of removal I began to feel worse and I knew I was dumping mercury fast.  By the third month after removal I began to have anxiety, fatigue and I felt like I was losing my mind.  (Reading Amalgam Illness told me this was dump phase) I  knew I needed to do something to help my body get rid of the mercury so I decided I was going to use chlorella.  What a mistake! 
I took a few tablets of chlorella and what happened in the next 30 minutes was horrible.  I developed a terrible pounding headache, fatigue, nausea, brain fog and anxiety all at once.  I thought I was going to either faint or throw up but I couldn't tell which because I felt so sick that I began to panic.  All I could do was make my way to the bed to lay down and try to think through the fog about what I could do to stop this reaction.   I was so sick. and what came to mind was activated charcoal to absorb the remaining chlorella in my stomach before it got into my blood stream. I took several capsules and I laid on the bed, one hand holding my head, the other my stomach, praying I didn't just really mess myself up for good.  I  remember thinking, "Oh God, what did I just do?  Andy Cutler was right....this stuff moves mercury around!".   I was so new in my journey and I was just starting to learn about Andy's work. Let me tell you I never doubted anything he said after that.  I was very luck that I only took that one dose. I cannot imagine what would have happened if had taken more of this but I have seen what has happened to others that did.  It took several hours for me to feel OK again. When I was able to get out of bed and the urge to vomit or faint had passed, I threw the bottle of chlorella in the trash.  And for years since I have told people what happened to me and why I don't recommend they take it. There is no short cut for safely removing mercury.  Don't be fooled by the words "natural detoxification".  After that I started DMSA chelation and it did alleviate the dump phase symptoms I had been having.   I later moved onto DMSA/ALA and finally ALA.  It has given me my life back!   -Jan Martin, Fight Autism and Win, Detoxing Kids

I just got "cilantro'd" again by my favorite Indian restaurant. I think it's time for me to stop eating in restaurants all together. Even when you tell them you have an allergy, they can still screw it up. I'm in agony right now. Horrific dizziness and brain fog. Taking loads of vitamin C and activated charcoal. Hope to feel human in a few days. I feel severe brain fog including bad dizziness and light headedness. I've had a few zaps of burning brain as well. I hope this is the worst of it. God help me.  - Sherri O.

I absolutely avoid Indian, Mexican, Thai , Dominican food etc because of this, which is terrible as I love all of them. If it's a common ingredient in the food, those making it will think you are being a picky/wuss eater and won't take seriously any requests to have it with absolutely no cilantro/coriander. I ordered a quesadilla a few months back from a food truck and explained that I was absolutely allergic to cilantro. Brought it to my aunts about 6 blocks away to eat it and decided to double check it, there was cilantro in it. I took it back to the truck to ask for a new one, and the guy who made it literally rolled his eyes at me! Years ago when my amalgams were in and I was toxic as he(ck), I was eating tons of Mexican and Indian food and cooking everything with graam masala (has a lot of coriander in it).  I also developed or rather had a resurgence of a serious anxiety disorder around this time (specifically purely obsessional OCD).  Looking back I know that was not at all a coincidence. This is one of the more annoying mercury toxicity related things for me, as I seem to be partial to and love all types of food that are a ticking time bomb of cilantro etc... Left out of the list above Brazilian food. I look forward to being essentially mercury free so that I can pig out at Indian restaurant, after Mexican restaurant,,after Brazilian restaurant etc etc. When I accidentally eat it now, I feel really cr(uddy) for about two days... Anxious, exhausted, out of it, have racing thoughts ( a really hellish symptom).  - R.

 Currently at Round 17 (6 months) - 8 mg DMSA and 5 mg ALA - dosing 3 hours. Some early thoughts on what NOT to do: I had a bad experience with the following, before finding my way to Frequent Dose Chelation (using Andy Cutler's Protocol): * Unsafe amalgam removal: Recommend that you defer this until you are sure about the dental revision techniques used by the dentist. Lots of information available on this - so research thoroughly first. * After having 4 remaining amalgams removed by a 'holistic dentist', I started trying to recover 'naturally' with Chlorella and various diets (using the Klinghardt Protocol) I became much worse with bad redistribution symptoms - new migraines, neural periphery, bad fatigue and a host of cognitive issues - including brain fog. (Similar to Alzheimer's) * I had to find a third dentist (IOAMT and Huggins trained) - who uncovered 9 additional pieces of amalgam in my mouth under crowns and in 2 root canals. My situation was made worse as three of the crowns (only a few years old and probably the trigger for my rapid decline) were made of gold. The use of mixed metals and the subsequent high galvanic currents, is known to cause a rapid increase in the amount of mercury being released from amalgams. * I then tried Nutritional balancing (as per Huggins) via a Nutritional service that was working with my new dentist. While most of the recommendations were very sound and I still follow the (Paleo style diet with high quality fats and moderate quality protein), thiol food sensitivity caused a lot of issues for me and made me even more ill. Cutting out 'sulphury foods' (as per Cutler) reduced a lot of my immediate problems. The guidance on supplementation was sound (included basic 4) but included too many sulphur supplements and did not recognize my intolerance to Vit. B supplements. Through the wonderful support of the FDC list and Facebook group, I tried Methylated B vitamins (including Folinic acid) and this had an immediate benefit for me. * During my worst times, I was too challenged to comprehend Cutler's reference books. In hindsight, I would suggest working through the information on a need to know basis, or else it is overwhelming. Follow the basic guidelines of the AI book/plus support groups, to get started. Start with the low doses recommended and increase doses very conservatively. Moving too quickly seems a common problem during chelation.                                   - Anne, 17 rounds (6 months) (also in Adult Success Stories)

I made a pros and cons spreadsheet when I was trying to figure out how I was going to get the mercury out. I had already decided to try the ACC way before I realized what my dentist was telling me (based on the quicksilver stuff) was making me worse. (...) Her paperwork said to take chlorella and liposomal glutathione for a few days before the appointment. Chronic fatigue came roaring back, plus broke out all over my chest and back and face, and then brain fog.                                -  Pam  (also under glutathione)

I took chlorella from a suggestion from another website before I found this group ["Andy Cutler Chelation Think Tank" on Facebook] ...it made me very ill and reactive...realized later it was redistribution. Tried it for 3-4 days....then stopped due to the ill affects. (...) Oral chelation is not fast, that's the idea...to keep it slow so your body isn't overwhelmed. I had DMPS IV chelation years ago...with amalgams in...very much not recommended...I stopped at round 3 due to bad side affects.... each with worse symptoms...lips and mouth swelling, and from what I learned here I am maybe lucky i stopped when i did...again that was IV not oral....hope this helps.                                       - Stan  (also under DMPS)

The reported severe effects (except for manic/psychotic episodes) were exactly the symptoms that I felt after using a couple of chlorella pills for two weeks. I went to the emergency one night and nothing apart from very fast heartbeat and anxiety was found. I must be really mercury toxic. The mess hasn't completely cleared after a year and a half. I still crash from time to time, I lost mental clarity, my vision is still blurry specially at night and on cloudy days. It was hard on my thyroid and my adrenals. I'll never get close to chlorella ever again.
I was doing great after adapting to the ketogenic diet. I had lots of joy and energy and the chlorella ruined it all for me. But it also helped me remember that I wasn't done, that the mercury from 20 years ago was still in my system and that I need to get it out the right way this time.                           -  C.Y.P.

I got the last of my amalgams removed on 6th May last year. I didn't start chelating using ACC [Andrew Cutler Chelation] until the 29th of June. This was because I joined a mercury support group that advocated chlorella. I took it. Never again!!!! Luckily I only took it for 6 days, but the consequences lasted weeks. I thought I was going mad. I was absolutely terrified. Sheer abject terror. Thankfully, I discovered via that group. Thank goodness!!!                               -  Gee Cee

While in Europe and Canada, I got rid of the long list if ingredients and started to eat local, lol. Also, cilantro is not readily available so no cilantro for me for a long time until I moved to a very multicultural city and noticed cilantro was around. Then, I did the stupid thing of using a bunch of cilantro when I had amalgam issues. I had 4 removed unsafely. I thought my brain was screaming.  Since I did not even know my amalgams were made of mercury (while avoiding tuna fish!), I suspected gluten intolerance and went that way until I read the story of someone who chelated with juiced cilantro and got very sick. I put a final stop to cilantro use.  - Sameera

 The effects of cilantro are not really scientifically investigated.  It does not only open the cells to release mercury, but it seems to open the blood-brain-barrier as well. When I had a high body burden of mercury and used 3 drops of it, my body shifted a whole lot into my brain. I was suffering from these 3 drops for about 9 month. Its really hard to get brain burden out again if you're in an early stage of chelation. Better not to experiment, when there's a safe protocol.
          I also made a similar experience with chlorella only there are 2 products: one with cilantro (biologo detox), one without (biologo-balance). I took the one without, so only chlorella with a "big surface" (similar to the nano zeolites nowadays, which advertise with smaller particles and bigger surface). Took that for a week in the recommended dosage and since then my tinnitus/brain symptoms got worse and didn't get better since (I still don't take ALA yet).     -  Marius Podkletnov

Well to put a long story short I was an aspiring musician and had a pretty good life until one day I took a chlorella/cilantro supplement because I heard that it was "cleansing" and I was having strange bouts of tachychardia. Well, needless to say I still had fillings in my mouth and almost immediately I was incapacitated. I had a creepy crawly feeling in my scalp and forehead, eyes felt swollen and since then have been steadily declining in cognition. Especially after having the amalgams removed which caused more problems. I no longer can take in the environment, struggle with maintaining a conversation and have extreme light sensitivity and sound sensitivity. I have gaps of real brain fog so severe that my mind goes utterly blank. I'm starting my third round of DMSA and was taking Gabapentin to control tics suggested by Dr. Cutler and it made my tongue swell up. I've ordered an Adrenal Cortex and my body temp at night stays at about 96.8 and my bp stays low as well. By all accounts I feel the way autistic children are described. I have tolerable days but most days my body malfunctions on so many levels it is hard to stick with a chelation regimen. I am taking the vitamin C and Zinc and Magnesium as well as vitamin b12 and D but if there are any changes they are so minor I can't really contend that they are an improvement. I have random pains in my scalp and forehead as well as the pins and needles and they found a 1.7 mm cyst on my brain that wasn't there a month ago. I'm not sure if it's related but it sure is oddly coincidental. Anyways I hope as I recover through chelation which I'm really banking on since doctors have ruled out anything diagnostically serious. (...) I have days where I stare at the wall because my mind ceases to function. I get racing thoughts, OCD and moments of blank thoughtless voids. I've really considered Alzheimer's or some degenerative disease but I'm reminded this was all brought on after taking chlorella and I'm only 27. I was functional before this happened and now my brain continues to decline in scary ways.    -  Elizabeth

I have charcoal, clay, chlorella caps my old NP gave me to help with Lyme herx. In the beginning I had no issues and they actually helped. Now though they make me worse and increase my neurological symptoms. For me, I'd rather stick with chelators that have a stronger bond i.e. Safer.   -   Eva

I had a manic/psychotic episode from chlorella. Not something you want to wake up to in the middle of the night. Or ever!   -  Anonymous

I took chlorella on and off for six months, while I still had amalgams, before I understood that my problem was mercury. I actually felt pretty good on it at first, which is why it took me so long to understand that it was making me worse. I can see its appeal as a remedy, and when I was not yet so sick that I woke up and researched my condition more seriously, it sounded like a good idea, just throw an herb at it. I used herbs anyway, so great. 
              I have been chelating for a year and have just about reached the level of health I had before chlorella. I'm in nutrition therapy school now, and I really want to get the word out about ALA in particular. To its credit, most of the folks at my school already know about the dangers of chlorella.    -  Molly
                                                                                        [see her success testimonial with Andrew Cutler Chelation on the Adult Testimonials page]

I never could understand why I would get a splitting headache and feel like cr(ud) when I ate Mexican food with cilantro. Eventually I just concluded "I don't like cilantro." I think part of its reputation for chelating is that folks that are really only mildly toxic may feel better on it for a short time, or they are better excreters than we are. But I wouldn't touch it again with a ten foot pole.   - S.H.                                

I accidentally got cilantro in my food recently at a restaurant that promised me they were removing it from the recipe and I almost went to the hospital and thought I was dying pretty much. Yet another thing people take for chelation without knowing the damage it can do. I did not know it was the cilantro until about two days later when I ordered the same thing and it came out looking completely different and they explained to me that all of the green sauce had cilantro in. The kitchen had screwed up two nights prior despite my strict recommendations NOT to put it in the sauce.   Cilantro symptoms started out as a bit more energy, but then quickly turned to a rapid heartbeat, anxiety, dizziness and fear there was something wrong with my heart. I almost went to the hospital. While I realize this doesn't happen to everyone, I've heard enough stories from others with similar reactions that it's not a safe option and I worry about people that take it or other unsafe advice without knowing what might happen.   - J.D.

I had cilantro once with my eggs 18 months into chelation and thought I would die!   - Louise

I used NDF plus [a product containing chlorella and cilantro]. When I went from 6 to 8 drops I completely lost control of my mind. I had to stop driving (for 3 weeks) and I could barely function. It's not something that should ever be given to a child because they are not able to describe how horrible it is. I was following the instructions of a doctor, a dentist, and the company.  I suspect that it is the cilantro in the NDF that causes the sudden mobilization of metals. Anyone who uses this product is taking the risk that the cilantro will move metals INTO the brain. In fact it is most likely that the metals will go into the brain. The consequences can be sudden and dramatic like I have experienced personally - or develop slowly over time. Any amount of lies and hype from the company does not change the fact that the ingredients have not been researched properly and the product is not safe for human consumption. It really bothers me when I see people promoting this product for use with children.   - Linda

Never ever ever EVER going to consume cilantro again so long as I've got Hg [mercury] in me. Causes full blown Hg poisoning symptoms all over again. It's awful. For some it could be a good reminder of how being sick feels if they've got themselves feeling good from supplementation.    - C.V.B.B.

I stumbled across this group ['Andy Cutler Chelation Think Tank' on Facebook] in April of last year. I had been suffering debilitating anxiety, insomnia, muscle pain, rashes, and social withdrawal.  A biochemist had given me the diagnosis a couple years earlier of mercury poisoning after I developed gut candida, but his treatment plan included chlorella and I got worse.  My reaction to chlorella was severe anxiety, excruciating burning nerve pain, and also rage, anger, and irritability.  I started chelation in June 2015 with 25 mg ALA and 6.25 DMSA. The improvements were almost immediate.  Less anxiety, better sleep, nowhere near the agony and itchiness, and I started going out again.  I am now at 200mg ALA 25mg DMSA. The transition is remarkable. I am 8 months in and feel fantastic after being nearly bedridden.  After 14 years of "options" and 17 practitioners later, years of needless suffering and loss, I did several months of chelation and have my life back.  Stick with people in the know, who are focused and care about your well being, and you will have a much better chance of recovering.
                                                                      - Charles, (32 rounds, ca. 9 months)                                                             
                                                                  (this account can be also found under the Adult Success Testimonials)

 

EDTA

I have incurred multiple chemical sensitivity as a result of IV chelation with calcium EDTA and DMPS.
I now know never to do IV chelation again, learnt my lesson the hard way, was desperate to get better and had no idea as to the dangers.

Did you ever tell your doctor that the IVs made you much sicker? if so, how did he/she react?

I told her numerous times, but she assured me that the complications would go away after persevering with the IVs. To this day she claims that my MCS (brought on by the IVs) is genetic...what a joke...makes me furious.
                                                                                               - Anonymous [also part of the DMPS IV testimonials]

Hi, i had my amalgams removed properly by a mercury free dentist about 1 year ago and was given DMPS 100mg capsules , EDTA and Chlorella Vulgaris to help excrete the mercury and nickel that id tested high for. The DMPS / Chlorella was used first , everything was fine as far as i was aware. After id finished the DMPS i started to use EDTA / Chlorella as per my consultants guidance. i was only using 1 capsule / day of EDTA so going slowly. First 2 days i felt a bit tired and weak i assumed it was just a side effect. After that i started to get stabbing headaches id had years before but for the last year id had none. By this stage i was getting suspicious that something was wrong so by day 4 i stopped uisng the EDTA and Chlorella. Unfortunately as i now know the EDTA and Chlorella had found traces of amalgam presumably in my gums and had redistributed it into my brain. The stabbing pains continued for about 1 week continuously and became so bad that i was screaming from them. Eventually i went to hospital where i was given an injection of diclofenac to calm the pain and the inflammation down. The mistake i made was trusting the consultants id seen over the patients in the Andy Cutler group who had warned me not to do mercury detox in any other way. I went back to my consultant who told me to take a big dose of ALA but i wont i will be taking it according to AC protocol. 
                                              - Fiona [testimonial can be also found under the 'What NOT to do "chlorella" ' section.

So I kind of messed myself up. I did 6 DMPS IV chelations along with 3 EDTA IV's and 2 challenge tests.
At the time I didn't know that IV chelations were dangerous. I started feeling really sick and extra tired, my eyes were constantly puffy and swollen, I got unusual depression and intense anxiety. When my liver started to ache that's when I pulled the plug.
It's been two weeks since my last chelation and I feel a little better but still kinda sick.

Update: liver enzyme test came back ok but stools had been yellow for two weeks. Quite scary for a minute there. I've been taking the recommended liver support supplements so many that has helped. Also, my liver has stopped aching and I plan to return to ACC protocol now. I'm taking all the recommended supps but ACE [adrenal cortex] seems to really be the one I needed most. I had to stop drinking coffee and now I basically take ACE like coffee! It gave me anxiety at first but I started getting used to it and it's been a life saver for feeling less dizzy and having more energy.

                                               -  D.J. (this testimonial is also under DMPS IVs)

I did IV EDTA... I'm sure it set me back months in recovery. I am also high lead, mercury, arsenic as well as a few others (I'm off the charts in most). My ND had me doing IV chelation to remove toxins, I didn't realize how unsafe it was. To be honest at first I felt like I was getting better, after my IV I felt incredible but before the end of the day and for the following few days I would crash hard. Crushing mental and physical fatigue would set it, anxiety, very emotional about irrational (i.e.: I would get extremely distraught over the thought of someone kidnapping my children while we slept), insomnia and blurred vision (more so than before)...it seems to exacerbate the majority of the symptoms that lead me to discover Mercury and metal toxicity but heightened them 100x. It kept getting worse over 3 months until I found this group and discovered how bad iv chelation is (I was also taking a cilantro tincture...ugh).

All my symptoms became heightened after each weekly IV. EDTA made me feel the worst when redistribution set in and the DMPS push I had every 3rd week was more tolerable. My ND told me to expect to feel worse before better so I didn't realize that I was being re poisoned in a dangerous way. My poor brain (and body!).

Anxiety, depression and blurred vision were noticeably affected. As well as my memory and inability to find the words I wanted to use for conversing (even extremely basic convos). I was essentially told a I had MS after seeing 3 neuro Opthamologists because it was the closest diagnosis they could come to based on my symptoms 😳. Also they said I may be in the beginning stages of early Alzheimer's at 35...yikes! But it was Mercury and lead, thankfully like most of us here I'm smart enough to do my own research.      - S. Vandermeer

Last year I was having IV chelation for lead and Mercury and the ND added ozone at the end to my blood. I think I did 4 or 5 times. I did not feel good. I was dizzy before I started. But it got really bad.
I bought Cutler's books. I have done some AC protocol chelation since last summer. It was the dizziness that was the main bad thing I can remember. After reading Cutler's book I will never do it again. I did have the challenge test before with DMSA which showed high levels of mercury and higher levels of lead excreted. The IV chelation also had glutathione added as well which adds to redistribution I believe.            - Terri Stott

I did several rounds of IV chelation and have never felt worse. It's scary to think of the damage I may have caused. The whole time I told them it burned very badly and hurt in my bones during the whole treatment, every time. They brushed it off like I was just being overly sensitive. Finally, I took it upon myself to do more research and stopped when I saw my symptoms were not 'normal'.    - Lydia

I was so traumatized by a bad experience with redistribution after I took oral EDTA. (…) I took oral EDTA for 3 weeks , I had my fillings removed 20 years prior but I contracted an illness and my health went down the plug big time. I had taken various 'so called' metal chelators which did nothing but I could actually feel the mercury in my body swirling around and redistributing .. But NOT leaving. I KNEW the mercury was still in me. That's when I looked into a proper protocol and found Cutler thankfully.  This whole opening pathways thing gets up my goat. When I started chelation my pathways weren't opening for love nor money. I had complete malabsorption to the point where my teeth were going black at the back. I was on a downhill slide , only through chelation did my pathways open and improve such as my methylation and digestion.    - Louise

 

MSM

Early on before I confirmed I was Mercury toxic I decided to foolishly try some more mainstream advice, this time it was MSM for joint issues, and wow look at all those other benefits. What they fail to tell people is what can happen if you are Mercury toxic. I took 1 gram of MSM and my brain pretty much came to a stop, like literally, total zombie mode, I had to lie down in the fetal position to try and sleep it off and I had crushing head pressure to go with it. MSM can move mercury but only makes a poor bond with it which equals BIG trouble, if only I had known this ahead of time, damage was definitely done, it took me about a week to recover.
                                                                                                   - Jason L.

 

IV chelation with an unknown agent

[...] as you know I was badly damaged by iv chelation, kidney damage and severe chemical sensitivities and immune dysfunction. Still not recovered but hoping that chelating the safe way will help me heal. This [Andrew Cutler Chelation] definitely seems to be the right way to chelate- slow, low and gentle.

What was your dose of iv Chelation?

I don't know:( I blindly trusted the drs which was stupid but I had a lot of chelation IV's, about 50 or more and was severely damaged from it.

Did you inform your doctor about your adverse reactions? If so, what did he/she say?

I didn't know that it was the iv drips making me so ill initially. I got kidney damage and frequent kidney infections and at first thought it was from the copper iud that was the cause. After a while it became clear why I was so sick. I've been literally bedridden with a severely compromised immune system. The drs basically didn't believe me when I said it was from the drips or even from mercury toxicity and try to make out that I have a psychosomatic condition! The dentist too didn't believe it could possibly have harmed me even though I had a filling in every tooth and them all removed in the wrong way over a few days- 9to 5 in the dentist chair! general consensus is that I am crazy to blame metals and iv drips for my condition.

                                                                                                               - Karen H.

 

Various forms of wrong chelators or wrong type of administration

I did iv chelation prior to doing this protocol. I had terrible side effects. I couldn't sleep, had terrible uncontrollable anger issues, my brain hurt and it felt like it was going to explode out of my head! It took awhile to calm down. I have been doing AC for almost six months. It's much more gentle on the body and I am getting better! So many improvements all ready. AC will save you a ton of money also.

What chelator was used, do you know? And how did your doctor react when you reported the side effects?

The doctor used EDTA and I think DMSA and something else. She was also giving me glutathione in the iv. Plus she had me taking a supplement orally three times a day that contained ala. At first I felt awesome for the first few iv chelation, then the symptoms set in. My doctor had sent me to another doctor to do the chelation IV. When I told her I wasn't going back and about the side effects she was concerned. Then I explained I was going to do AC protocol and I explained how it was safer and better. She was very open to it. A few months later when I saw her again she wanted to hear all about it and was very excited when I told her I was feeling better. She has been nothing but supportive. She even wrote down his information so she could look into it.

It was really scary at the time! Luckily I didn't do too much harm to my body in the long run. Each IV cost me $150.00. Isn't that crazy! This is so much cheaper!! Not to mention better.

                                                                                     - Donna Duffy

After reading about sulfate issues I've stopped taking NAC, MSM (it was in my glucosamine), and turmeric. Plus r-lipoic-acid. I still have TERRIBLE brain fog, but I'm amazed that my mind does seem a little clearer after only a couple of weeks without these supplements [...].

Do you have amalgams?

No silver amalgrams for me -- I was lucky to have a dentist that only did porcelain fillings. My husband was not so lucky. I used lots of supplements for inflammation/neuropathy for lyme not realizing it was making me sicker. I wish I had found this group sooner.

                                                                                               - T.D.

Klinghardt chelation protocol almost killed me.

Do you know what exactly he had you take?

I don't completely remember but it was mostly his biopure stuff with a few other things added in at times. Stuff like bentonite clay, chlorella and cilantro tinctures, microsilica, something called "metal sweep", and EDTA. At the time he was also into DMPS injections, and Meyer's cocktails with glutathione added. Of course nothing was frequent dose and most was done on rotational type schedule. Basically a bunch of nuclear bombs in my opinion.

What kind of symptoms have you developed during his protocol or which ones got worse?

Too many to mention honestly. Basically I became bedridden and most system/organs just shut down. Severe pain, constant nausea, inability to eat or digest, awful insomnia despite debilitating fatigue, migraines, crashed hormones, severe brain fog, inability to regulate temperature, and lots more that I would rather not remember. I lost all my hair, all my muscle, became severely depressed and hoped to die. I met another woman who went through the same sort of thing and another who did end up committing suicide, both were on this protocol.

Did you mention to Dr. K about your bad reactions and if so, how did he or his staff react?

They tell you everything is "herxing". I did not work with him directly but one who trained under him. She did start to get scared but I think these docs treat with blinders on. She would just lower doses but wanted me to keep going. No matter how deathly you look or how detailed you describe how you are crashing, they don't really seem to understand or want to understand how horrible things really are. When you don't miraculously improve, they start avoiding you and won't return calls or emails. That works for them as you get too sick to even go to see them. I think they don't want a "failed case" under their belts and figure if they just avoid/deny your existence/pleas/deterioration that you will go away. And I guess it worked in my case. I stopped seeing my doc cold turkey and had no more contact with her. I never heard from her again and she had been treating me for years and I had erroneously thought she cared about my well-being. For all she knows, I could be dead. Forgot to mention that during this time I also ended up with an appendicitis. Not sure if it was related but I suspect it was.
                                                                                                                            - M. D. M.

 

Gadolinium IV, contrast dye for MRI

I am sure there are SO many people experiencing symptoms from MRI contrast but they may only develop them later or had issues to begin with so they will never connect it to the contrast.   In my case, I was 100% healthy. The MRI was to check on my tailbone because I had hit it and it was still bothering me. Contrast should have never been called for. I began experiencing very clear crazy symptoms within 48 hours after a single MRI contrast injection. There was no question what caused it. And of course no doctor would accept that as the cause because I have healthy kidney's. Even with a Mayo clinic gadolinium urine test showing my levels were extremely elevated a month after, all they could do was dismiss me. So much for being told it leaves the body within 24 hours! There are studies showing that everyone who gets a dose retains some. And we now know it's being deposited in the brains of people with healthy kidneys. Yet now we must somehow prove its causing damage. How can a toxic heavy metal in the brain and body not cause damage. A year later and I am still not well. Don't know if I will ever be back to normal. It is truly criminal.     - Anonymous

My Neuro ordered 6 MRIs ALL with Gadolinium in one day. I survived the first one and had to leave immediately. My reactions were immediate, as I assume they would be with anyone whose brain is filled with mercury. My entire mouthful of mercury fillings were dry- drilled out over 2 days. Hot mercury dripping into my gums leaving tattoos everywhere. I had mine removed for my health... I should have just left them. Now, people are hearing about the dangers and how to have them removed properly by a biological dentist. Back then, no one had ever heard of a biological dentist! Just think of injecting Gadolinium along the lines of having all your mercury removed improperly. It's just as dangerous as vaccines. WAY worse for an already vaccine injured kid. Please be advised that the imaging facility slipped it into my IV telling me it was Valium for claustrophobia. I would never have consented to this poison. My life is over now because of it. Once you "Consent to Treat", they can inject you with any poison they feel like.  And they ARE doing so without ones' informed consent, ALL THE TIME !! I have strabismus now from one dose.  I'll never drive again, or enjoy a movie.  I want to make sure you understand that they are slipping it in to IVs WITHOUT CONSENT!! I was afraid the Neuro Opthomologist was going to tell me he had to surgically remove my eyeballs to correct the damage! No, not even, I'm too far gone for even that. I was pretty much a quadriplegic and still have much difficulty using my muscles, 2 years post Gadolinium. Brushing my teeth is way too difficult, I don't have any strength at all and also suffer from incontinence.   - LS