PRURIGO NODULARIS --Chelation Therapy

The term Chelation Therapy is sometimes used very loosely.  It's important when discussing Chelation Therapy, to be specific about the Chelating Protocol and the Chelating Agent used.

Mercury intoxication can mimic many autoimmune symptoms, of which PN symptoms are a possibility.  Since my interest is PN, my focus here will be on mercury intoxication and how to chelate it safer.

Recommended Books

 
 
I highly recommend the following books for your reference.
1.  Autoimmune Disease:
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Autoimmune Disease
by Dr. Stephen B. Edelson and Debra Mitchell

2.  Mercury Intoxication:
Amalgam Illness: Diagnosis and Treatment
by Dr. Andrew Hall Cutler

3.  Biodentist and Safer Amalgam removal protocol:
Uninformed Consent:The Hidden Dangers in Dental Care
by Dr. Hal Huggins, developer of the Huggins protocol
 
 

Chelating Agents

 
 
Chelating Agents:  There are many different chelating agents depending on what you are trying to chelate.  Since my focus is on PN, I will focus on chelating
mercury.

Mercury: DMPS, DMSA, Alpha Lipoic Acid.
Lead: EDTA		 
 

Chelating Protocols

 
 
My main focus is on safer protocols to chelate mercury, which mimics autoimmune symptoms like PN.  Dr. Cutler and Dr. Edelson disagrees about the chelating protocols.  Dr. Edelson uses both Oral and IV methods.  Dr. Cutler feels using IV for the challenge, or for therapy, can be unsafe for some people.  Here's some testimonials from patients about the DMPS challenge and how it backfired.

 http://www.dmpsbackfire.com/default.shtml

Since Dr. Cutler was also mercury intoxicated, he had a very strong interest in researching and developing safer protocols because he had to use these protocols himself and wanted to avoid the backfire as described above.  We realize there are no guaranteed 100% safe protocols.  But consistent with my goal of safer positive results, I chose to follow Dr. Cutler's protocol, and in hindsight, I'm very glad I did.		 
 

The safer mercury detoxification protocol

 
 
Remove all amalgams using a biodentist who uses the Huggin's protocol.  Dr. Hal Huggins developed a protocol to remove amalgams safer.  When you interview biodentists, just make sure they are experienced using the Huggins protocol. Here's a link with more information.

 http://www.amalgam.org/

2.  After amalgam removal, have your doctor check to see if you are healthy enough to detox and chelate mercury.  My liver and kidney was not strong enough to chelate immediately so I needed to detox and strengthen my liver and kidney before chelating.  When my doctor felt I was strong enough, I began chelating with ORAL DMSA.  I will not use IV method since it's not safe for everyone.

After just six cycles of ORAL DMSA, my doctor recommended I stop because it was beginning to put too much stress on my liver and kidney.  When my doctor tells me I'm ready to chelate again, I will use ORAL Alpha Lipoic Acid to finish the mercury detox.  I will update this file when appropriate.

Cutler's Safer Protocol:  Remember, nothing can be 100% guaranteed safe.  So all I can say is this is the SAFER protocol.  All chelating agents are in ORAL form as IV method is not recommended.

DMPS: 2,3 dimercaptopropane sulfonate sodium
DMSA: meso-2,3 dimercaptosuccinic acid
ALA: Alpha Lipoic Acid

 
 

Chelating Agents to Use

 
 
Chelating Agents to use: Any one of the following methods in ORAL form.

1.  DMSA alone followed by DMSA and ALA is a reasonable option.
2.  DMPS alone followed DMPS and ALA.
3.  ALA is the only common chelator to effectively cross the blood brain barrier, so you will need to use ALA at some point to clear mercury from the brain.
4.  ALA has specific risks because it crosses the blood brain barrier.  It's not recommended for use soon after mercury exposure like right after amalgam removal.
5.  ALA tends to lessen copper excretion, so people should check their copper levels when using ALA.		 
 

Dosage Frequency

 
 
Choose the one that applies to the agent you are using.

1.  DMSA every four hours including at night.  24 hour day, you have 6 doses.
2.  ALA every three hours.  24 hour day you have 8 doses.
3.  DMSA and ALA, every 3 hours to make it simple.
4.  DMPS every 8 hours		 
 

Dosage Amounts:

 
 
1.  DMSA: 1/32 mg to 1/2 mg of DMSA per pound of body weight, per dose.  For example, if you weight 100 lbs.

1/32 of 100 lbs = 3.125 mg of DMSA per each dose. 
1/2 of 100 lbs = 50 mg of DMSA  per each dose. 

I started oral DMSA at 12.5 mg per dose, 8 doses a day, for a total of 100 mg per day.

2. ALA: 1/32 mg to 1/2 mg of ALA per pound of body weight, per dose.
3. DMSA and ALA:  Whether used alone like above, or together, same dosing amounts.
4. DMPS (alone): 1/32 mg to 1 mg of DMPS per pound of body weight, per dose.
5. DMPS and ALA: Follow ALA dosing on 2, and DMPS alone dosing on 4.		 
 

Length of cycle

 
 
1.  3 days on and 4 days off.
2.  3 days on and 11 days off.

I chose 3 days on and 4 days off.  I chelated on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and took the other 4 days off so it would not impact my work schedule too bad.
So in one 7 day week, I would complete one cycle.  I went for 6 cycles of ORAL DMSA( six weeks), before my doctor told me to take a break and let my stressed liver and kidney rest and recover.		 
 

How long to wait after amalgam removal before chelating

 
 
DMSA: 4 days after removal since DMSA cannot effectively cross the blood brain barrier.

ALA:  at least 3 months after removal since ALA can effectively cross the blood brain barrier.		 
 

Mercury Mobilizing and Redistribution

 
 
It is VERY IMPORTANT to take the chelators in the frequency and the amounts recommended above to MINIMIZE mercury mobilization and redistribution problems.  It's impossible to completely AVOID mobilizing and redistributing mercury since you must stop chelating at some point to allow you body to rest and recover.  Proper frequency is every 3 hours for ALA, every 4 hours for DMSA, every 8 hours for DMPS.

Dr. Cutler said this is the one area that can cause the most backfire because people just don't realize the importance of following the dosing frequency.  Many of the backfire problems are related to improper dosing frequency since some people don't want to get up at night every 3 hours to dose themselves.  The other backfire problem is improper dosing amounts, taking too much chelators,whether orally or worse by IV, and overwhelming the body and its organs.  Please, for your own sake, read carefully the information above, fully understand it, before you decide to chelate.

Weak Mobilizers are not effective chelators:  DMPS, DMSA, and Alpha Lipoic Acid are the effective mercury chelators.  Weak mobilizers like Cilanto, Chlorella, N-acetylcystiene, EDTA, DMSO, Glutathione, and many more, are weak mobilizers and are not effective at chelating mercury.  Dr. Cutler goes into significant details about sulfur groups, thiols, etc. and explain why this is so important to understand since mobilizing mercury can move mercury from dormant areas of the body to very important areas of the body like the brain.  You can read all the details in his well researched book mentioned above.  So to make this section easy to understand, forget all the weak mobilizers.  Just focus on the three effective mercury chelators:  DMPS, DMSA, and Alpha Lipoic Acid, all in oral form.

 
 

Questions and Answers

 
 
Did chelating mercury help with your PN?

It's hard to say whether chelating mercury helped my PN or not, because I've only done 6 cycles to date, and it's really too early to say right now.  But since this is an ongoing process, I will be able to answer than question more definitively later when I resume the chelating.  Stay tuned!

Why is IV and or large infrequent dosing potentially dangerous?

The reason it can be dangerous is because when chelators are given by IV, the amounts are larger, and direct to the bloodstream.  If someone has a weak liver and kidney, overwhelming their body with a large spike of mercury chelator is a terrible idea, and may backfire as described above.  Some people will even lament and say Dr. Cutler's protocol is such a hassle(getting up even 3-4 hours), is he serious?  Yes, Dr. Cutler is deadly serious!!  Mercury chelators are water soluble, which means it can only stay in the body temporarily.

Therefore, ALA and DMSA will stay in the body for about 3 to 4 hours, and DMPS for about 8 hours.  If the frequency window is not maintained, then you will have more mobilizing and redistribution problems.  Ideally, let's say you do 3 days on and 4 days off, with the combination chelator of DMSA and ALA.  That would mean you have 8 doses per day, 24 total doses for the 3 consecutive days, and would only face redistribution problems when you stop the cycle after the 24th dose. 

The key to minimizing redistribution is always having a level dose of chelators in the body so when the first dose is leaving the body, you have a followup dose ready to go into the body to chelate what the first dose left behind.  Some people feel Dr. Cutler's protocol is such a hassle, or feel the redistribution risk is not a big deal for them.  They take the chelators on their convenient schedule, like one large dose a day, or just during the day and skipping the night doses, or one large IV per week, etc.  They value their convenience more than their safety.  The bottom line is, what do you value more?  I value my safety more, so accordingly, I chose to follow Dr. Cutler's protocol.

Why chelate mercury first, before other metals?

Unlike other metals(lead, copper, aluminium, etc.), the body has a more difficult time getting rid of mercury.  Mercury also can penetrate the blood brain barrier easier than other metals.  Dr. Cutler mentioned than when you chelate mercury, other metals are lowered as the mercury is chelated out.  But if you chelate other metals first, like lead with EDTA, it's not as effective for mercury.  Dr. Cutler goes into more details in his book, with hair analysis, scientific data, patient feedback, etc. to support the idea of chelating mercury first, then other metals later if necessary.

How was your experience with chelating mercury?

I did six cycles of ORAL DMSA.  Dr. Cutler's protocol for DMSA and ALA is actually 1/4 mg to 1/2 mg per pound of body weight per dose.  I took an initial dose of 12.5 mg per dose because the DMSA I got from Thorne Research comes in 100 mg capsules.  Therefore, I opened one capsule, divided it into 8 doses so each dose is approximately 12.5 mg, give or take.  However, I do know some people who had trouble with even the low range of 1/4 mg per pound per dose. 

My doctor revised Dr. Cutler's protocol downward to 1/32 mg per pound per dose, making it even more conservative than what Dr. Cutler recommended.  Everyone's body is different so a general rule to remember is this:  You can always revise Dr. Cutler's protocol on dosing amounts downwards, making it more conservative, but don't revise upward, making it more aggressive.  Taking less than 1/4 mg per pound per dose is fine. Just don't take more than 1/2 mg per pound per dose since the body can only handle so much chelation and detoxification.  This is a classic case of more doesn't always equal better.

I tried to write this article with as much detail as possible.  You can always refer to the three reference books above for more details if you wish.  But, I've summarized the most important points here.  Feel free to email questions to me if you don't understand something and I will update this file with the appropriate answers.  Good Luck and take care!

 
Prurigo Home     OptimalThinking Home