My Quicksilver Mercury Speciation Test Results
Methylmercury, organic mercury, inorganic mercury, mercury from fish, mercury from amalgams...I get confused. But this test shows my levels for both types of mercury are moderate, significantly higher than even the Quicksilver sample. I had nine amalgams removed 13 years ago. This was a little before my health issues started (huge bloating and systemic yeast issues, primarily - I now believe that it's very possible that my candida growth exploded at that time to protect me from the mercury exposure).
Mercury speciation testing by Quicksilver appears to be the latest and greatest way to determine mercury toxicity levels. Many people are testing the old way - by provocation. This is where you take a large amount of a chelating agent like DMSA and then measure how much mercury comes out in the urine. I've done this a few times, and the levels were always high. But Dr. Chris Shade says this gives an inaccurate reading.
From Quicksilver Scientific's website: Quicksilver Scientific’s Tri-Test is the only clinical testing suite that measures both the exposures and excretion abilities for each of the two main forms of mercury we are exposed to. The QS Tri-Test utilizes mercury speciation analysis, a patented advanced technology that separates methyl mercury from inorganic mercury and measures each directly. This technique provides unprecedented information for the healthcare practitioner to assess the patient’s difficulties with each form of mercury and plan a successful detoxification strategy.
After getting these results and discussing them with my long-distance doctor who actually works fairly closely with Shade, I still wanted to talk to the man himself. So I paid some big bucks for an hour of his time on the phone. I wanted to ask him some specific questions on what he thought about Andy Cutler and timed ALA dosing, testing for Cr, Ni, Fe levels in my blood (my spinal fusion rod contains those metals), finger swelling, parasites, Lyme, and near infrared saunas. Here are some notes from our phone call.
When you take the mercury out, you have to beat back the resulting explosion of pathogens, leaky gut, and hormone dysregulation because of constant leakage and inflammation. Not to mention possible increases in blood sugar resistance and a leaky blood-brain barrier. You need to take lots of antioxidants, especially glutathione to repair the damage. Until you open up the doors in the gut, specifically the upper small intestine, the glutathione system will not function correctly to move toxins out of the body.
For parasites, he recommended liposomal artemisinin. This works for Lyme as well, but he said if I did have Lyme I'd need some other tools in my toolbox. The liposomal artemisinin, from wormwood, is quite powerful and dosage would be one teaspoon per day, working up to 2 teaspoons. Aloe vera gel is also very good - Lily of the Valley at 4 tbsp per day. It soothes an inflamed gut. Get reactivity down. Normalize the system. He said it was great that I am up to 1-2 scoops of IMD. He has patients for whom 1/2 scoop is way too much. He highly recommended the liposomal glutathione - 4 pumps, 4 times a day. Try that dose for a few days to see if you feel better, because it helps so much with the detox pathways. The test showed that my detox abilities are impaired. Take Rentone for my kidneys - 1, three times a day. Metals are more pain, while Lyme is more swelling.
Lymphatic stagnation is a big problem. Swing your arms. Pump your lymph (hello Rebounding page). Chi machines are good. Walk, move rotationally. Qigong is also great.
Your hormones can come back (some of mine went missing years ago). Many of his clients are women who are beginning to hit the perimenopause/menopause years, because when their progesterone levels drop, the same toxic load that they were able to cope with before, now knocks them out. Maybe try transdermal progesterone.
For Lyme, he likes Spirostat.com to test DNA, with which there are less false negatives.
As for saunas, only elemental mercury comes out but you also get the pcb's out.
Volumes show that alpha lipoic acid upregulates the glutathione system. His ClearWay Cofactors has ALA in it. (I'm still on the fence about taking ALA on an untimed schedule- although I've been taking it - since I'm a former Andy Cutler protocol chelater. (Boy would I love to host a debate between Chris Shade and Andy Cutler on the chelation topic.)
When I asked if I should try DMPS (I managed to get some from Switzerland believe or not), he said don't touch it, it's too nephrotoxic.
His sum up for me:
1. Find out about Lyme (I hadn't known at that point)
2. Definitely go after the parasites, which cause inflammation
3. Hold the glutathione in the mouth for a while before swallowing, try the upper dosages
4. Increase the Clearway to 2, 3 times/day
5. Think about adding the liposomal artemisinin at 2 tsps/day for add liquid bentonite
6. Continue my salt/c regimen if I wanted to (although he hadn't heard of it as a therapy for Lyme)
7. Aloe, maybe reishi or maitaki or astragalus
I've just finished Round 14 of IMD and my experience has been positive thus far. I have sustained energy every day, and I am working a lot in the garden like I've always wanted to. I take two scoops of IMD for five nights, then break for two nights. I've only recently been taking two scoops. I started with half a scoop a few months ago. I do not have any of the mercury mobilization symptoms like I did when I was taking low frequent doses of DMSA and ALA. Perhaps the liposomal glutathione and the Clearway Cofactors are instrumental with this, it's hard to know. Also possible is that the Andy Cutler chelation did really get some mercury out, which I bet it did since I was at it for six or so months.
Other improvements include pee that no longer smells, a head that stopped itching, and hair that stopped falling out. Further, I am happy to share that the scale says I've gained nine pounds since the summer, which is great because I've been wanting to gain ten pounds for years (reducing infections I'm sure is also to credit). Another welcome change is that now I can take anti-parasitics or yeast killers (like grapefruit seed extract, or colloidal silver) without getting depressed. Ditto for strong probiotics. From my own experience over the years, I theorize that killing pathogenic microbes releases mercury, causing, for me, depression. I know some doctors agree with this and some do not. And as I learn more about fun biofilms, seems like the metals and yeast and parasites can all be in there together. But now, here I am, killing parasites and removing mercury, and I feel fine! Major improvement.
But all of these changes for the better may also be dependent on my other daily habits - killing infections (lyme and other parasites), eating mostly Paleo to keep inflammation minimal, exercise, nine hours of sleep, poo tea, and more. My thinking is that sometimes it takes everything you've learned to throw at it to get better.
As for Chris Shade...he went through the adventure of mercury toxicity himself. It's fantastic to talk with someone who has come out the other side and can now help others. I especially like the video where he says the Hg caused his IQ to drop...until he was able to help himself out of it. Sounds like me. Here's the video:
