How to Detoxify Mercury from The Body

I have been thinking alot about mercury over the past several months and over the years. I have a son with ADHD and have always thought that mercury in vaccines caused the problem (or worsened it)...as it also causes autism.

I would love other thoughts from members of this forum regarding the best known ways to rid the body of mercury. I believe we all have mercury in our bodies and no amount of it is good.

Here's some info that I found:

4) Pull Mercury Out of Your Soft Tissues with Powerful Rx Meds
As noted in the above literature, there are a number of ways to pull mercury out of the soft tissues. Several Rx methods are discussed below:

a) DMSA
This is an Rx drug chelator (binds to mercury and then pulls it out of the body). If you use DMSA, it is recommended that you work with a Doc that has used it with more than 20 patients in the past and it is recommended that you first take several small test doses to make sure you can tolerate it (e.g. 20mg 1st time, 100mg 2nd time, 500mg 3rd time; and wait 2wks between each test). An example LONG TERM treatment approach is to take 100mg a day for 3days and then wait 3weeks, and then repeat the cycle; and do this for a year or so. And while doing this, take a zinc/copper tablet each day (e.g. 25mg zinc, 2.5mg copper; the 10:1 ratio is important). DMSA is sometimes coupled with Lipoate (e.g. from Jomarlabs); however, if one has multiple sclerosis (MS), DMSA is to be used with caution since those with MS are at a greater risk of a bad reaction. Also, if one has high levels of methyl-mercury (inorganic mercury from fish), the Lipoate can hurt as well.

This web site does not recommend that you take medium or large amounts of DMSA, since this is a powerful drug with side effects (e.g. pain next to your belly button) and there are other items that you can take that will help you detoxify mercury with less side effects and invasion. However, small quantities of DMSA, over longer periods of time, have been useful in a number of cases.

source: www.beatcfsandfms.org...

DMSA seems to be a good approach for someone that has definite issues with mercury poisoning. The above linked site also list natural remedies that can do the same thing without the side effects:

5) Pull Mercury Out of Your Soft Tissues with Supplements
Below is a list of supplements that pull mercury out of the soft tissues. These are available at your local health food store, and have minimal side effects.

a) NAC, Milk Thistle, Cilantro, C, E and B
NAC, Milk Thistle, Cilantro extract are natural chelators and the C, E and B vitamins as supporters of this chelating glutathione system. A typical vitamin C regime is to take 1000mg of the time release version (releases over 12hrs) twice a day.

CAUTION #1: NAC doses should be kept low if one wants to reduce the risk of side-effects. If one has Cystinyria or Cystinosis (a rare inherited disease) they should not take cystine. Also, one should not take NAC if one has high glutathione.

CAUTION #2: Lipoic acid is is only recommended for inorganic mercury (amalgams) and should not be taken if one has methyl-mercury (salt water fish) problems. Typical Lipoic acid doses are 25 mg per day at first and then, 50 mg per day if one tolerates it well.

b) Livaplex (available from Standard Process Inc, Palmyra, WI)
This helps the liver move mercury out of the body (especially inorganic mercury from fish). It is recommend that you take 1 to 2 capsules a day at meals for at least several months.

c) Antronex (available from Standard Process Inc, Palmyra, WI)
This helps the liver move mercury out of the body (especially inorganic mercury from fish). It is recommend that you take 1 tablet a day for at least several months.

d) Chlorella
This binds to mercury and helps remove it from the soft tissues, especially the colon. Some people take 3 tablets a day for several months; however, if one has high levels of cysteine, the Chlorella can hurt (due it's sulfites); therefore, one might consider favoring other approaches, unless they know the cysteine is ok.

e) Garlic
This binds to mercury and helps remove it from the soft tissues, especially the colon. Some people take 3 tablets a day at meals for several months; however, if one has high levels of cysteine, the Garlic can hurt (due it's sulfites); therefore, one might consider favoring other approaches, unless they know the cysteine is ok. The liquid form of Garlic has proven to be affective at removing methyl-mercury from the liver with normal cysteine, and it is safer due to containing less sulfites.

Interesting stuff which I'll have to read more on....and may possibly try one of these natural remedies....like Livaplex or Atronex (after I read more about them).

It appears it's easier to remove mercury from soft tissues than it is to remove it from the insides of nerve cells:

6) Pull Mercury Out of The Insides of Your Nerve Cells
This is where one can get stuck. Pulling mercury out of the blood and soft tissues is relatively easy. Pulling it out of the insides of your brain cells is not so easy. It is here than the mercury can effect the ability of the nerve cells to communicate, for example, by clogging the noradrenaline alpha-1 receptors. DMSA, yet not DMPS, can chelate neural mercury. And the half life (time to reduce level 50%) of mercury in nerves is 15 or so years. If you do the Long Term DMSA regime noted above (300mg every 3wks) continually, you might be able to reduce this half life to 3 to 5yrs. The world needs a chelator for neural mercury for two reasons:

i) Help measure the amount of neural mercury in one's body by using it in a challenge test. One could take the chelator challenge pill, collect urine and then measure level of excreted mercury + chelator to get a fix on how much is sitting in the cells).

ii) Treatment approach for neural mercury removal.

7) Consume Brain Chemistry Meds as Needed
The maintenance approach to neural mercury is to consume drugs like Wellbutrin SR and Provigil or other brain chemistry meds that counterbalance the effect of the mercury to bring the patient into the asymptomatic range. Maintenance on such meds may be required for the duration of one's lifetime. Also, they may be necessary if the mercury had inactivated several of the internal biochemical processes used to regulate one's brain chemistry.

Fascinating stuff and I'd be interested in anything anyone else knows about how to detox oneself from mercury. Thanks!!

Edit to add:

The Chelation Solution

Chelating (pronounced key-layting) agents are substances which can chemically bond with, or chelate (from the Greek chele, claw), metals, minerals, or chemical toxins from the body. The chelating agent actually encircles a mineral or metal ion and carries it from the body via the urine and feces. Many organic acids found in the body or in foods can act as chelating agents, including acetic acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), citric acid, and lactic acid. Natural chelation processes in the body are responsible for such things as the digestion, assimilation, and transport of food nutrients, the formation of enzymes and hormones, and detoxification of toxic chemicals and metals.

How Chelation Aids Health

Chelation delivered orally involves ingesting nutritional food supplements which contain chelating agents including; vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and herbs.

As such, oral chelation can serve as a convenient, non-invasive, long-term health maintenance and preventative program. The gradual dosage delivery significantly reduces the risk of side effects; oral chelation is safe for children and adults.

source: www.becomehealthynow.com...

[edit on 18-9-2006 by Excitable_Boy]

In my youth I had daily headaches I suspected might be mercury related, as in, me being one of those people who shouldn't have mercury fillings. I tested my theory be using liquid selenium which is also considered a chelating substance for mercury.

My headaches ceased within days and there were no side affects, it's fairly safe when taken properly. That cinched it for me and I had all my mercury fillings removed (by a Dentist that agreed to follow all the precautions for taking them out) and replaced with the white ones. I continued the selenium for a short time after that and never had another problem with mercury.

It seems some of the things being recommended could have some serious consequences, so I suggest you look into the selenium drops. There really was no concern at all using this method.

Edit: Here is some info on mercury & selenium written by a Dr. Aflred Zamm, who is in fact the Dr. I was treated by in my mid twenties or so. I was very lucky to discover him and find he was a day trip from where I lived.

Dr. Zamm

Scroll down the page till you find his name, then check out his section.

First of all, if you crave sugar and sugar makes you sick, and you are already suspicious about that, then take this test. First, try taking selenium, which is a mineral that binds with mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. If you feel better after taking selenium, it is a clue, not a diagnosis. About 20 years ago, when I started to investigate selenium, I realized that there was a paradox. Some people got better right away, some people took about three months, and some people got worse. I finally figured out that the patients who got worse were those who were most sensitive. They were the ones who were really sick--the ones who needed it the most but because of a peculiar intolerance to everything, including the things they needed, couldn't deal with the selenium. To overcome this, I had the very sensitive patients dilute chemically pure selenium down to very small dilutions. By starting with very small dilutions and gradually building it up over a period of three months, these very sick patients started to get better.

I doubt he's still inpractice himself, but his work is still out there.



[edit on 9/18/2006 by Relentless]

Yes, caution when you try these remedies.
My experience with milk thistle was not scary, but weird. The toxins came out all right. It coated my hair and nails as a waxy substance for months.

I will you well with your research, EB

BTW, if you plan to take supplements on your own, you may want to see this post:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Thank you both....Relentless and DontTreadOnMe.....I will use caution. I will also look into to this liquid selenium Relentless. I take selenium now, but in pill form.

Thanks for the feedback!!

Does it HAVE to be liquid selenium? Will the pill supplements I take work (or have they been working without me knowing it?)?

Thanks again!

[edit on 18-9-2006 by Excitable_Boy]

Originally posted by Excitable_Boy
Does it HAVE to be liquid selenium? Will the pill supplements I take work (or have they been working without me knowing it?)?

Not sure I remember this, but I tend to think if I went with the liquid form recommended by Dr. Zamm, there was a reason, especially since it was hard to find back then, but I went out of my way to get it.

This is all making me think that after all these years, due to my sensitivity to heavey metals, I should probably do another run of it, especially since I smoke and so there is probably a build up of heavy metals over the years from that. Selenium seems to be able to handle quite a few of them.