chelation scared

What kind of chelation? Are you talking about EDTA?

Well, mainegirl, I've had 42 EDTA's, 12 DMPS IV pushes, and a few rounds of DMSA. The kicker is that even with all of that, I'm still off the chart in mercury. Now that I've learned that lyme holds onto the mercury, hmmmmm, I'm thinking I may have gotten the cart ahead of the horse.

about DMSA. It will displace minerals so if you're going to do chelation with it you want to be sure and supplement with trace mins and whatever else is recommended. It certainly was effective when I did 24 hour urine tests for metals so I know it works. If you're really, really weak and down, I'm not sure nows the time to do it... I remember feeling "empty headed" when I took it....but for the life of me, I can't remember the regime I followed. The one thing I can't remember about DMSA is if it crosses the blood/brain barrier. Supposedly DMPS will and at the time there was controversy as to whether it would carry mercury into the brain and leave it....Haven't kept up on my reading on the mercury issue these days.

Are you wanting to use DMSA for mercury or what?

I should probably bow to the experts on this forum regarding detox baths and DMSA on the same day, but I will give my opinion. If you're battling lead, the best option as I was told a few years ago, is EDTA IV chelation. Because I was able to show a high lead level with an EDTA challenge, my insurance paid for the 42 treatments (nice of 'em, eh?) I do know there is oral EDTA but I know nothing about it. I would personally not dream of touching a detox bath and DMSA on the same day. Like I said, DMSA displaces minerals and I felt punky for a day or two after DMSA. Don't know if it was the mineral replacement or just time but I would get back to feeling normal bad about the third day. If your doctor has a lot of experience with DMSA for lead and you like him/trust him, then I'm sure not going to try and discourage treatment.

No, DMSA is nothing to be scared of, but do some reading and make sure it's the best choice for lead. I think I heard the term "weak affinity for mercury" when I was doing the EDTA (which meant it wasn't the number 1 choice to chelate mercury). So each has a stronger pull for certain minerals/metals than others. EDTA is short for a long name(!) but if you type EDTA in a search engine, it should bring a lot up. Again, read about DMSA and you'll have the info for your decision. The beauty of DMSA is that it's in a pill....EDTA is IV....or that's how I had it.