Heavy metal testing?

Hi everyone,

My ND mentioned that she would like me to do chelation testing for heavy metals. I am just wondering if it is worth doing. It is very expensive ($400+) and i am already spending a lot of money each month on lyme treatment. I have no mercury fillings and live in a very dry climate so mold is not mich of an issue here.

Do you think it is worth doing?

I just need to decide where to allocate my resources as efficiently as possible as I only have so much money to spend.

Sorry, I don't know much about this but I am just curious as to what the treatment would be and how much the treatment costs.

Is it as expensive as the testing?

Is the treatment specific to different heavy metals? (I mean do you need the test first or can you just go ahead and 'treat' them anyway?)

Is you ND suggesting testing because you have plateaued in your treatment or is it because specific symptoms are possible/probably caused by heavy metals?

Sorry, I know you wanted answers, not questions, lol. Just these are the sort of questions that would lead me to making a desicion as to whether or not to go ahead with testing - which may or may not arise for me in the future.

I would suggest that you do the testing, but not the chelation unless it was necessary. I was told by my doc that chelation therapy puts a lot of stress on the body - don't know just how true that may be though.

Thanks all for the responses. I am not quite sure what the treatment program is for heavy metals, so i cant comment on how expensive the treatment is. Perhaps someone has insight into what treatment is for heavy metals.

I have made very big leaps in the 5 months i have been treating lyme with abx, however the last few months i have seemed to plateau. My doc has switched me to banderol amd samento and taken me off abx for now. She wants to see if i can push myself over the edge just by herbals and wants to see if there is anything else that may be preventing me from healing.

I have spent thousands and thousands on treatment already and just frustrated that i cant quite heal completely.

I prefer the Doctor's Data Heavy Metal Urine Test over the chelation tests. If the metals are sequestered by pathogens(and they often are), they will not show up on a chelation test. They might not show up on a urine test either, so it's not 100% accurate. Many people have metal issues even when their tests say that they don't.

I was symptom free for a very long time, then relapsed (as my body went through the change). I never had heavy metal testing the first time, however this time my response to treatment has changed. I did the hair analysis and found I have tin and a few others I hadn't really heard of. I was surprised I didn't have Mercury since I do have fillings.

I am taking spirilina and an other formula with chlorella. Both are oral tablets.

Everyone's body is different.

What links can you provide to show that having a hair analysis won't detect mercury levels in the body?

I was actually on Rifampin and Biaxin for 2 months previously but noticed no real change to symptoms and no herxing. My WBC got very low and therefore my ND wanted to pull me off ABX for a month to see if this is my body or if it is the ABX, as she mentioned that Rifampin can cause WBC to be suppressed further.

Coming off the ABX, I actually noticed that I didn't seem to backslide, although in the last few days I have had worsening symptoms but I have also increased my banderol and Samento intake fairly substantially.

Also I was on Alinia for 3 months as well as Crytolepsis when I first started treatment and had no reaction to either of those.

I think I will test metals to at least see what we are dealing with.

I am so frustrated by this process as I dont even remember what it is to be normal again. I just want to get over this so that I can move on with my life. I feel like I have hit the pause button and it sucks because no one seems to understand.

People who have mercury issues have detox issues. A hair analysis shows what the body is detoxing.
A low level Might be a symptom of a problem detoxing metals.

Im not doing research on this but will say my personal experience is my two favorite docs both use urine test. Dr Y and Dr R. (challenge test)

There is a good book called Biological Medicine by Dr. T. R.
Page 179 he discuss this issue

Get the challenge test-

I do realize the book isn't a study you can call Switzerland and ask. I am just to busy to search for research but would be happy to read any research showing that hair is a great way to test for mercury.

FYI you can also see Dr R's lectures on Lyme on youtube-where he show the lyme map and the heavy metal map of the US-very interesting

Best of luck to all.

Post Edited (magoo2) : 10/26/2015 8:48:07 PM (GMT-6)

My ND specializes in heavy metals detox(she's retiring tho); she told me that HIGH metals was my 1st attack on my immune system and why I 'collected' infections. My Dr's Data urine provoked test revealed HIGH mercury, lead, and aluminum. I did weekly I.V. chelation for 8 weeks, but it caused severe muscle cramping. I then used oral chelation supplements which, honestly removes very little metals.

Dr's data test is $99, & I paid $98 per session for I.V. chelation.

Also, my blood pressure went down(to normal) after chelating. If you're chronic for C.P., you're a high risk for artery disease, aka hardening of the arteries.

Oh also, heavy metals can also be assessed based on your history....when younger I lived in an old house during a renovation, I worked with metals in jewelry making, I used to purposely inhale gasoline years ago before it became UNleaded, I used leaded paint when lived overseas, I bought bulk meat and froze it in aluminium foil and used aluminium cook-ware, I traveled to remote areas in China where metals are high, and worked w/photo developing chemicals in high school. Eeeeek!

I had been on antibiotics for almost 3 months (several different combos) with no improvement or herx either. I recently went off to try a new therapy (LDI - Low Dose Immunotherapy). My doctor did test metals and I felt strongly that this could be my problem. We have community well water (which I had never had before) and my issues started about a year after we moved to NC. I speculate that I was able to handle the lyme for awhile, but the chronic exposure to heavy metals in our well water just wore me down or may have possibly hindered my methylation pathways. I do have the MTHFR gene. Anyway, I was tested through Doctor's Data (IV chelation then collected urine for 6 hrs. after). I was high in Aluminum (used lots of foil!), Copper (well water), Uranium (well water), Lead (well water), Cadmium (not sure), Gadolinium (just had 2 mri's and this is in the die). So knowing that my well is high in Copper, Lead and Uranium and I tested high on those makes me believe this is pretty accurate. Also, our drinking water is filtered with Reverse Osmosis which I have had tested and it does filter out Uranium & Copper well. So I must be getting those two metals from showering. I have learned a VERY important lesson to check your local water quality report and be informed on what is in your water. Doctor's Data can also test your water for $100.

I also tested my youngest daughters hair with Doctor's Data and I was upset to see she is off the charts for Copper and Uranium, but did not show much lead. I retested recently to make sure the swimming pool was not causing higher than normal reading. Should have test back in the next week or so.

I'm currently using Nutramedix Sealantro every other evening in hopes that it lightens my load. I have read up on chelation methods and Andy Cutler's approach makes a lot of sense. He has a book which I need to buy.

Sarah - Have you chelated for your heavy metals?

Very interesting conversation!!

Kyo, I hope that you will let us know what the results are for your youngest daughter as that will provide some interesting comparisons!