Mercury be gone!

I started my own chelation, round 1 of the Andy Cutler protocol on Friday afternoon.  It has been two full days so far and I have noticed a few random things, but so far, nothing traumatizing.  Although, I know that it can take some time to pull mercury from deep in the tissues.  It's possible I won't start seeing serious symptoms of chelation for a few rounds. Then when I add ALA (alpha lipoic acid) in three months, which is the only chelator that will cross the blood brain barrier, I'm sure things will heat up.  But for now, I am enjoying the ease of chelation.  Mood wise, I feel just slightly aloof, but no bad moods so far, thankfully!  That was the one thing I feared most, since I have to parent our two boys who are also going through chelation.  My poor husband is out numbered!  Thank goodness he's very calm and takes things in stride, without him, we wouldn't be able to keep it together with all the mood swings that often fly through our house any given day!

My mouth on the other hand, isn't handling the surgery trauma quite as well.  After a few days, the scab in the corner of my mouth was so tight I could barely open my mouth, the canker sore on the other side continued to grow in size and then to make matters worse, BOTH sides of my mouth developed huge cold sores that extend beyond my mouth!  On the right side I have the canker sore on the bottom lip with the cold sore directly above it on the top lip!  So they touch each other, which is lovely at night, it's like they literally try to heal together and I wake up with my lips feeling sewn shut.  This is definitely the worst part of the procedure, by far.  I think my stitches will heal up long before this mess is cleared up!  And talk about painful!!  So far the two bottom stitches have fallen out (dissolved) and chewing is increasingly becoming easier.  The part I expected to be painful hasn't been painful in the least!  I will still need to avoid crunchy foods for 7 more weeks.  I find myself learning the hard way which foods are considered crunchy.  I mean, it's obvious a carrot is crunchy, but a pancake, when it's toasted a tad too long, becomes a painful little "crunchy" item to chew. That is the only time I feel sensitivity in my teeth. 

As for symptoms during chelation, they are minimal and fleeting, but interesting to say the least...

• Bone pain on the outside of my left wrist/forearm area, very distinct feeling like my bone was bruised, sensitive to the touch, but I didn't bang it.  About 20-30 minutes into this feeling, it started traveling up to my elbow and then it disappeared as fast as it came on.
• Shortly after the forearm pain went away, I began to feel a throbbing deep sensation in the lower left side of my back, near my hip, but on my back not my side.  I immediately took some artichoke extract and the pain went away.  This happened again briefly today.
• Immediately after my third dose on the first day, I got a few waves of dizziness, enough to make me feel like I could lose my balance, if it stuck around, but it didn't.
• That first night, I had a LOT of sweating, enough to make me cold and wet!
• Swollen glands under my jaw popped up after chelation started.
• The numb/tingling sensation I was feeling in my left foot has returned full force today and, in fact, the right foot had a touch of tingling in it too!  I've never felt it in my right foot before.  The left foot was definitely much worse though, a lot like it was pre-surgery.  That pain had gone away since the day after I had the fillings removed and the cavitation cleaned.  It only returned when I started chelation, which I actually expected, since I am mobilizing metals.
• Today I noticed that a large purple varicose vein that I have had inside my left knee since I was pregnant with Gavin is fading enough to be just a faded spot.  The vein itself isn't showing anymore, at all.
• I also noticed that my left forearm, which had a very strange texture to the skin (almost like it was wrinkled along the entire forearm, as if I had been holding Gavin for hours and there was an imprint on the skin) is gone.  This is something I always thought was weird and again, has been there since I had Gavin.  When I first noticed it, I actually thought it WAS from holding Gavin too much, but it never went away, until now!  I tried lotions and hydration, nothing effected it.  I know it was there just two weeks ago.  I'm still surprised it's gone and keep looking at my arm to see if it returned.

Do you notice a trend with my symptoms above?  Dose anything in particular stand out?  Let me give you a hint, it involves my: forearm, foot/toes, wrist, vein, and hip/back.  Yup, that is just about every symptom.  They are all on the left side of my body!!  For years I also had issues with my left ear having pain and occasional tinnitus, which is now gone, so far anyway.  What I find interesting about this trend is that my largest filling (large enough to have been a root canal, but the dentist saved the nerve) was on the bottom left side of my jaw.  I also think the worst cavitation was the bottom left, the same side as that filling, not sure if that is just coincidental or if one had to do with the other.  That area where my wisdom tooth was removed had often become inflamed and irritated and it seemed to happen regularly.  I used to say it felt like I actually still had a tooth trying to come through the gums, that pressure you feel with a new tooth that makes you want to poke at and bite on the gum.  It was very strange, but I have since learned that this is a sign of infection.  This same location had problems immediately after my wisdom teeth were removed also.  A large shard of bone that was left in the jaw worked it's way to the surface and came through my gums.  It wasn't a fun experience at the time, it was shaped like a fish hook!!  Having dead bone in a wisdom tooth site is a sure way to end up with necrosis and infection!  My mouth in general had become a problem over the past year.  I was having a lot of swollen gum problems, although the dentist always told me that my gums were great and my teeth were the cleanest they have ever seen, so I couldn't make sense of this phenomenon.  Now, I get it!  And hopefully I will never experience this again, since the source is gone!  Cavitations and mercury!!

This is a very hopeful time in my life.  I've always felt good knowing I am helping my children become healthier, but my own health was always on the back burner.  I never had the time or energy for me.  Now, I am putting me on the front burner with the help of my supportive husband and I couldn't be happier about that!!