News you won't see in controlled mainstream media.

Does high doses of iodine help or hurt chelation?

I will say this - when I was very low in iodine and then started supplementing it, there was quite a dramatic reaction for sometime and I had to keep lessening the dose and at times taking a break. There was a sense of movement of toxins/metals (possibly some redistribution)which at times became intense - but I required that iodine and I believe I needed to supplement it. Replacing iodine, means of course "displacing" toxins and certain metals in those particular areas. Just as can happen with replacing anything mercury depletes or competes with.

Same can occur with selenium and other elements.

I don't think it hinders chelation - if anything it could be helpful. Both by the fact the body is getting more of what it requires and the fact a certain amount of metal may of course be displaced and mobilised to some extent. This may then be picked up by the chelating agent....

Though this is merely an opinion and an unqualified one at that. But certain replacing that which mercury depletes/blocks and competes with is I believe necessary, but can cause dramatic reactions. This is why it should be done carefully, slowly and gradually increased to tolerance. Even replacing antioxidants can be powerful enough. I had incredible reactions just by supplementing a high quality vitamin C powder containing bioflavanoids. I had to keep stopping and reducing the dose. That alone was enough to create a detox reaction!

But I do not believe they hurt chelation at all. I think chelation actually maybe helpful at the sametime, because it may pick up the extra metals that maybe mobilised after some have been displaced by replacing minerals/elements that compete with the metals.

I dont think anyone could give you a definite answer on this. If you feel fine doing it I think its ok, but to be safe I think a moderate dose would be a better idea. Its all about how you feel during and after the round, and compare that to how you feel on a round of the same dosage without the iodine.

How I feel isn't the answer though. If it helps chelation then I would do it even if it makes me feel worse. If it impedes chelation then I don't want to do it. I searched the net, and didn't find anything about this.

Selenium seems to impair chelation, so don't take it while chelating.

"It is concluded that sodium selenite decreases the efficiency of DMSA and DMPS in mercury removal from the body of rats."


http://iodine4health.com/special/metals/juresa_metals.htm

It appears that Andy Cutler believes that high iodine intake does not help increase mercury ecretion.

http://iodine4health.com/special/metals/cutler_metals.htm

Andy doesn't believe ANYTHING helps increase mercury excretion JK98, apart from the chelators. But, in my own experience I KNOW, that certain antioxidants/elements when replaced, and a proper diet, can indeed cause aid a certain amount of movement of toxins/metals and perhaps "some" excretion in the process. Why? Because in replacing these essential elements/antioxidants that mercury depletes, and fixing the diet, the body gets more of what it needs and it's ability to detox seems to increase. I can attest to that! The power of taking extra of the elements mercury depletes was obvious when I started taking them. That plus disrupting toxins/metals in those particular areas where those essential elements instead belong! So there is a competing factor (displacement). I realise this is not true chelation, but I do believe that they can help the process of detoxification to some extent. These elements when replaced, I believe do increase the body's efficiency with toxins.

Though they are not chelating agents and do not grab the mercury itself, I believe they "can" precipitate a certain release of toxins (which can include metals). If this did not occur, one would then need to explain my own dramatic detox symptoms, which included metal, because I could taste and smell it. Exercise produced similar.

But that in itself is not likely to get a mercury toxic individual "well" and certainly not one with significant organ mercury. It it was enough, I'd be well and would not have remained vulnerable to other illnesses as much as I was, because I still had organ mercury remaining that was not chelated out.

Andy does recommend selenium for those who can tolerate it. So if selenium impedes chelation, I am confused as to why he would ever mention that it can be taken ??? Mercury depletes selenium. Just replacing selenium alone has had different effects on me at different times. First time I started taking it, the effect was almost immediate and VERY VERY strong and the detox was obvious.

However, I also felt there was a certain amount of binding up with metals or something because there were times it appeared to "help" with symptoms or numb them somewhat. Perhaps that might be a concern? I couldn't really honestly tell exactly what was going on. If in doubt? Then it's not absolutely necessary to take selenium anyway.

Andy does not state that it is.

How you feel while and after chelating is strongly correlated with how much redistribution of mercury is taking place. If you can handle it, then do it, but being stubborn and pushing ahead while your body is actually feeling worse can make you worse in the long run, and many people have had that happen to them thinking they would take higher doses of ALA assuming it would help them get better faster.

Side effects can be expected to a certain degree, especially when severely poisoned. However, putting up with side effects to the extent that they cause severe and often psychiatric and/or other distressing/frightening symptoms is usually a sign of either redistribution and/or too high a dose. Not wise. The mercury from being bounced around by improper detox/chelation can enter more sensitive areas (brain being one). Too high a dose can simply be overwhelming to the body which may not be able to handle it. And often all that happens is, the person can then get a backfire effect because the body is unable to keep up.

So yes, a person can make themselves worse. Even if one does chelation by a safe/logical protocol - taking too much can still cause problems. It is not necesary to put up with any side effects that go beyond a person's tolerance.

Both dosing and timing are highly important to reduce these risks and actually get the mercury OUT, rather than bounce it around.

Some of us have had a large number of mercury fillings, and get strong symptoms with any dosage of chelation. As long as we are becoming incapacitated while chelating, we may as well try to push the envelope a bit and push for doses that are on the higher side. Of course one shouldn't use doses that cause very extreme discomfort.

If you try to do both detoxes your system will likely be overwhelmed and you'll crash hard. Expect very strange symptoms to come out of no where--acne, severe migraines, crazy feelings and hot flashes. If you have any low cortisol symptoms, then you need to get that sorted first before trying to chelate at all.

This is a pretty good list of low cortisol symptoms.
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.co...PSESSID=6fb1816015bedba45711e020946a831d

I haven't chelated for a long time now. My body just isn't ready to go through with it again.

Hello Birdlady. This is the first post I have seen a post here by you in a very long time. I have been occasionally reading your blog. I had 25 mercury fillings, almost all of which I have had for over 20 years. I have decided to stop the high dose (around 15 mg a day)iodine and focus on chelation. I am doing 50 mg ALA + 50 mg DMSA every 3 hours for 3 days(2 nights) each week. How many mercury fillings did you have?

Most of my adult life I was around 50 pounds overweight. Once I started having the mercury fillings replaced, I started losing weight. A few months ago I became concerned because I started becoming too thin, even though I was eating plenty of calories. It seemed like no matter how much I ate I would still lose weight. Then that stopped and I started gaining weight. Now I am having trouble losing the weight I gained, and am struggling just to stop myself from gaining more weight.

Birdlady, I read in your blog about your water retention. Have you tried using herbs like asparagus, burdock, milk thistle, licorice root, dandelion, or some detox teas? I am convinced that water retention is quite often due to the body trying to dilute toxins. Do you drink enough water? Taking in too little salt or taking in to much salt might lead to water retention.

JK, how many days after your rounds does it take you to feel 'normal' again? By Normal, I mean what you would feel like when all the symptoms from chelation have subsided. This is a good gauge on if you are taking a reasonable dose. If it only takes you a day or two until your chelation symptoms subside I would say that is a good dose for you.

My symptoms from chelation are usually gone within 12 hours of my last dose. Does that mean I should be using higher dosages?
I am using 50 mg ALA+ 50 mg DMSA at each dosage. For 50 mg ALA I take a 50 mg tablet. For the DMSA dose, I empty a 100 mg DMDA capsule into a cup of water, stir well, then drink half of it. The rest is placed in a small tightly sealed container in the fridge for the next dose. I guess my next step should be to increase the ALA to 100 mg per dose while keeping the DMSA at 50 mg. I tried breaking the 50 mg ALA tablets in half, however it is very hard to so evenly, and very annoying to divide them.

GOOD LORD some with 25 fillings etc.! I only had a few of them, maybe two or three, most got taken out ealier or fell out, the other was a FULL TOOTH OF AMALGAM and my dentist said wow who put that in there? That split on half and I could taste it all the time and got it taken out by a very good holistic dentist! That was the end of the mercury for me, I never had near as much as some in here, good lord mine was a whole moler but I never had that many! I believe it messed me up alot, but I never had near 25 in my mouth or even near 7 or so which some had in here. What idiot puts these in our mouths or deems it safe when it has to be put in a bag and concealed after it's outta our mouths? I mean my LORD thats just nuts to think of. I can't go in a landfill correct? But it can be in our mouths?

Yeah it's been a long time since I've posted. Since my last posting, I went to see a doc about 6 hours from me and he has me started on some meds.

A lot of my fluid retention is from the Florinef and Cortef for my adrenals. Honestly, I think I was too thin before hand, so it's just something I'm going to have to deal with with exercise. I still have a long way to go, but at least I can get up in the morning and my blood pressure is no longer in the high 80's.

I had 8 amalgams and never even got close to reaching the doses you are on. I stopped once I hit 25mg DMSA because my adrenals and thyroid crashed. Right around that time I developed itchiness and my life literally spun out of control. I'm still trying to get the HC and florinef dosing right, so I won't be adding in chelation for at least another 3-4 months. My doc will likely be putting me on armour soon and I need to be able to distinguish symptoms from chelation and symptoms from a new med.

In addition to the new meds, I think the water retention is actually going back to my thyroid and low potassium these days.

I've been trying to stay away from adding in any herbs because I have to know what symptoms are from what. Every day is a new adventure for me.

OMG... Prescription drugs What did he prescribe? Is it helping?

I also had times where i felt chelation was too hard on my body. I found that increasing my vitamin c intake has helped me a lot and allowed me to continue chelation.

Right now I am on florinef and cortef. Not much I can do about it if my adrenals aren't working. At least I can stand up now without nearly fainting from low blood pressure.

Yes it is definitely helping! But I'm not quite figured out just yet. I just started all of this a few weeks ago. Now if I could figure out these night sweats, that would be excellent!

Birdlady, do you think your adrenal crash had to do with taking high doses of iodine while you were mercury toxic? I'm not very familiar with how you felt before you started taking iodine, I was just curious, as I know how Iodine makes me feel and it would certainly make me really sick if I took those mega-doses for some time.

I still think the body does need iodine, but I just don't think it can handle all the stuff it releases if you are already mercury toxic. So I am just taking very small amounts (i got about 400% daily value a day) until I get my mercury out, and then I will see how I react to it again.

I already had adrenal issues before using the iodine, so it certainly didn't cause it. It simply exacerbated it! I still don't know why after tons and tons of testing why my adrenals aren't working right. The iodine in combination with the mercury toxicity most definitely caused an autoimmune response in my body. I still have 1 patch of hair that has never grown back. It doesn't appear it ever will.

If I were to do it all over again, I'd first check out the status of my adrenals. Get some blood work and a saliva test done. Then find a doctor to help set the adrenals straight first. Once you are stable on herbs or meds (whatever works for you), then you can try the high doses of iodine. If you try to detox with weak adrenals you are going to feel so incredibly ill.

I wouldn't recommend more than 4 tabs of iodoral a day and you should start this very slowly to see how you react.

On the yahoo thyroid board, so women take 50mg of iodoral every day without any problems at all. Other women, like me, take 1 tab and have experienced severe detoxing symptoms. It really just depends on each person's body and how much garbage you have in the body.

Once I'm stable on my new adrenal meds, I will be putting myself on a maintenance dose of iodine to flush the fluoride out of my body. I haven't figured out how much yet but maybe 1/2 tab every other day. Unfortunately, florinef is bonded with a fluorine molecule and there is nothing else out there that works. I had to choose the lesser of two evils and sadly the fluoride seemed like a better choice.

How have you been feeling? I see you post on the yahoo boards every once in a while.

I would be concerned about possible redistrubution from the iodine, but yours is a tough case because iodine would be important if your taking florinef. I'm pretty sure iodine releases mercury, Dr. Brownstein did some tests and it showed mercury showed up in high levels after iodoral was started. Just be careful, and don't be afraid to take time off of iodine if you are feeling to ill. You probably got more iodine in the last year than most americans get in there entire life.

Your hair patch will grow back if you are able to chelate the mercury out of the body at some point. I have patches on my leg (specific spots on both my calf and my thigh, that clearly looked cleanly shaven even though I had normal amounts of hair on the rest of my leg, and it was the same pattern on both legs) that never had hair that are starting to grow hair after ALA chelation...Now where it was completely bald it is stubbly and slowly growing...slowly.

I've been chelating w/ala for like 7 months, though about 2.5 months ago I found out there was still a small piece of mercury hidden under a composite filling in my mouth so I'm not sure if the ALA chelation helped before that point.

I'm doing really well, but still have a long way to go, but I'm so far away from the hell I was in ~3 years ago that I can't complain. Life has been very accommodating and low stress, and I feel very blessed for that...

Just please listen to your body if you start a maintenance dose of iodoral after you are stable on your meds. Even if its a small dose you might not be able to handle the toxins it releases, which could be even worse than the bit of fluoride in the florinef. Over the years, the worst thing I've done is not listen to my body and do things based on principle...and I would just grin and bear the symptoms and it really only made things harder in the long run.

4 Iodoral tablets a day? Even one, which contains 12.5 mg of iodine is a huge amount. One is 83 times the RDA.

Thats too much damn Iodine birdlady, that can throw other things off VERY MUCH! Thats way too much, sorry you overdid it IMO. I take some Kelp and get too much, I can't imagine that much iodine being good for you nor helping you out at all.

Sean, some people do believe that high levels of iodine do detox heavy metals and has some other health benefits.

http://www.iodine4health.com/

Yes but how much and for who? It is very tricky it seems on that end of things JK!!! If you take too much it can mess other things up and mess you up worse IMO, which 4 of the pills she took a day very well could have. Seems I did a whole lot better before any vitamin pills at all, wonder why? When I started it all went downhill later on, I know they can help but are isolated pills that good for you? If so then in what dosages.

From what I have read, I do believe that mega dosing of iodine can be beneficial IF your body can handle the toxins (bromine, chlorine, fluoride, mercury) that it releases. I don't believe mercury toxic people could handle all those toxins coming out so fast which is why it made her worse.

I am willing to try iodoral, but only after I'm not getting a reaction to ALA anymore, which is probably going to be a while. For now I think my daily intake of ~4xRDA will keep me going.

That is only your opinion, Sean. I think it is best to start slow and see what happens.

Maybe the recommended allowance for a women should be higher. Iodine is one of the best defenses against breast cancer which is on the rise.

If someone is getting a severe reaction to iodine, then you need to evaluate your diet and environment for major sources of exposure. Do you still have amalgam in your mouth somewhere? Are you drinking Mt. Dew, gatorade, energy sodas etc. You are also exposed to bromide as a flame retardant, cleaning agent in hot tubs and many many many other things. Bromide is found in most flours and breads. Do you use fluoridated water, toothpaste? Are you drinking and showering in chlorinated water? All of these exposures will cause more problems!

I used iodine WITH all 8 amalgams in my mouth. I don't think I stress that point enough! I didn't know any better back then and certainly never heard of Dr. Cutler!

There are plenty of women who have beaten thyroid cancer or reversed a thyroid condition with large doses of iodine. That one doctor did a study on how many toxins are eliminated through your urine and it is absolutely unbelievable. These people were excreting bromide and fluoride after 3 months worth of 3 iodoral tabs/day. Obviously we don't know their diets or their exposures, but it certainly suggests that it was coming out of areas other than their thyroid.

Read this and look at the table on page 3.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_2003_May/ai_100767875/

You gotta remember that bromides, fluorides, mercury, etc...build up in pretty much all of our endrocrine glands, which are immeasurably important for our bodies health because they produce hormones that allow us to adapt to our environment and so much more.

Iodine is the only way I know of to get rid of the bromides and fluoride, so this is why it is extremely important, but you have to consider your mercury burden, as redistribution is a cause for serious concern IMO. I would love to be able to take 1 tab of iodoral, and think I will once I get most of the mercury out of my system, but right now it would cause me so much pain and discomfort and I am not willing to take the risk of mercury redistribution as Lugol's solution caused some very very nasty side effects when I was using it.

honestly Birdlady, if you are not strong enough to handle chelation I would very very careful about taking any iodoral, even 1/2 a tab, as if you dig yourself any deeper, you might have a very hard time getting out of that hole.

Iodoral is also expensive. I found the Source Naturals Potassium iodide 32.5 mg tablets that are much more reasonably priced. Using half of one is much more economical than an Iodoral tablet, although it isn't so easy to divide them in half evenly.

I think iodoral has iodine and iodide which is what makes it better. Both have different functions in the body.

No I don't have Mercury in my mouth anymore, I don't use the toothaste nor drink the water with Fluoride in it, I do drink Gatorade though and I noticed you put that on there, whats the deal with that if you can explain? I don't agree on single minerals in high doses for a long time as that can throw off mineral balances in your body, deplete one or excrete another in competition over time, thats a fact on alot of minerals. I know too much Iodine can be bad for the thyroid and too little as well, a fine balance would be key in a whole food IMO. If you do a detox thats fine IMO, but how long and at what rate? All questions, just listen to your body and make sure you are taking it slow as you said and not causing too rapid a detox which us already toxic people might not be able to handle. I am interested on the think you said about the soft drinks though and Gatorade, that sounds interesting to me. I do shower in regualar water, but I can't be perfect and still have to live a life in some ways. I know we are getting toxins everyday and thats a given in this society, eating better and trying to eliminate bad thing after bad thing if you can seem to be key.

The only reason why I am defending iodine is because I've seen others improve drastically. One women cured cancer with it!

There is bromide in gatorade, mt dew, and any other citrus drinks that have a milky appearance to them. They use it to suspend the solution, so that it doesn't settle to the bottom. It's usually listed as brominated vegetable oil (BVO).

People have cured cancer with lots of things though, Cayenne being one of them and alot of other things. Are you alot better after the three pills a day you take? Didn't you lose some hair? I mean not everyone is the same, was she mercury toxic when she cured her cancer too? Is it safe everyday long term? What does it do to other things in your body mineral wise? I am worried about long term use of things like this in high doses, it is a legit concern correct? I am one to say what does it do for you though in high doses and how do you feel? I didn't know that, thank you for telling me about the Gatorade, I will consider that! Thanks there Birdlady I will try to stop drinking it and just drink water now.

I'm not taking iodine anymore. Why? Because I've started on 2 different prescription medications and need to know what's causing side effects to report back to my doc. If I add in iodine, I won't know if it's just a detox effect or if I'm taking too much HC.

Yes I lost some of my hair because I still had amalgams in my mouth. That would be like taking DMSA on Cutler's protocol and wondering why you are getting worse. You shouldn't be taking the iodine with amalgams in. Period.


I have no idea.



Well we know the thyroid needs iodine to function properly. Without iodine you get goiters, cancer and autoimmune thyroid conditions (hashimotos and graves). That is why I say, start low and work you way up to see what works for you. It's the same with DMSA. Some people can start off with 25mg every 4 hours without any effects. Others have to take doses as low as 5mg.



I felt like my body was going through a massive detox. A detox much stronger than the DMSA, but remember, I had amalgams in my mouth. Those symptoms might have been mercury getting pulled from the fillings. I was a total idiot to take iodine with amalgams in my mouth, but I didn't know any better. All of the docs I had talked to told me amalgams weren't an issue.

While on the pills, I had more energy. But it came with a price of severe migraines (bromide detox), boil-like acne (bromide detox) and feelings of unreality (bromide detox). I had to salt-load to get rid of the symptoms. Towards the end of my iodine trial the symptoms were much much better. It's been so long, that I cannot remember exact details and I wasn't blogging back then.



I used to drink gatorade too. I was always told it was so good for electrolytes. lol

If you aren't comfortable with taking iodine, then don't take it. That's really all I have to say about it. I'm not a doctor and have never claimed to be all-knowing. I think taking cilantro, kelp and chlorella is stupid. There are too many possible contaminants in the kelp. You cannot rule out the possibility that you are reacting to a contaminant, instead of the iodine itself.

I agree on contaminated products, you have to get tested ones (Some Kelp is tested Birdlady). Iodine is too risky in high doses for a long time IMO, minerals are balanced and get thrown off by others in higher doses, in Magnesium which I love has a cap IMO as far as dosage goes. I would rather use foods for cleansing or healing, alot more gentle IMO and better for you. This is just my opinion though on these things, other may think otherwise or do otherwise and I wish them the best no matter what they do. What do you think about Salts? I took Himalayan salt for a few days and felt horrible detox after that, I made Sole water with it (Read on that) and got rapid detox, similar to other things I used and had to stop taking it! Has that ever happened to you from simple clean salt?