This is not medical advice. I am not a doctor, just a mom with a child with autism. I am sharing what we do.

I have been writing a series on Chelation and I thought that posting my actual schedule would be helpful to those just starting with Andrew Cutler’s method of chelation. His method calls for small frequent doses of ALA(Alpha Lipoic Acid) and/or DMSA(Dimercapto Succinic Acid). ALA is required DMSA is optional for mercury, but required for some other metals.

Schedule

I do this for 2 weeks and then we take a week off. If I don’t take the week off her yeast gets to bad to handle.

Monday
9am
12pm
3pm
6pm
9pm
1am
5am

Tuesday
9am
12pm
3pm
6pm
9pm
1am
5am

Wednesday
9am
12pm
3pm
6pm
9pm
1am
5am

Dosage

First & Second Round

DMSA Only- DMSA is optional ALA is required, I started with DMSA to remove lead. 1/8mg per pound (in our case that equaled roughly 3mg)

(read more…)

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Being a veteran biomedical mom, I have dealt with most issues of autism, or studied them to see if it applied to, or could help, my child. I have a ton of ideas for articles I could write, but I thought it would be fun to find out want you wanted to know.

I have added a poll to my sidebar. Please vote! If something isn’t listed, post a comment, I would love to hear what you think!

I choose to chelate my child using Andrew Cutler’s method and I did this without a Doctor. You can buy ALA and DMSA over the counter. The biggest problem I ran into was finding the supplements in a low enough dosage so I could evenly divide them as needed.

Cutler’s method calls for 1/8 to 1/2 mg per pound. You always want to start a supplement with a low dose and then work up. So I would take my child’s weight, (30lbs), and divide by 8 and that will give me 1/8 mg per pound, in our case that equaled 3.75mg. The smallest ALA capsule and DMSA capsule that I could find was 25mg and that was difficult to find in itself.

Here are the links to where I purchased these items:
Kirkman’s ALA 25mg
Vitamin Research Products DMSA 25mg

I will discuss how I divide and administer these in a post I am currently writing called Chelation Station.

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I have been chelating my child with Andrew Cutler’s protocol for more then a year now. I began without a DAN Doctor and then began seeing one many months later. I choose to pursue Andrew Cutler’s protocol calls for small doses of DMSA and ALA every 3 hours during the day and 4 hours at night for 3 days. You then take 4 or 11 days off. It seemed to be a gentle safe way to chelate.

I began by getting a hair test. I posted about that here Sophie’s Hair Test. I knew that Sophie had mercury exposure, so when I took the test, what I was looking for was other toxic metal exposure. Sophie showed some lead and ALA does not remove lead so I started with 2 rounds of DMSA alone and then added ALA after that. I give equal amounts of DMSA and ALA

Sophie was around 30lbs. Cutler recommends that you use 1/8 to 1/2 mg of ALA or DMSA per pound of body weight, per dose. I started at around 3 mg and slowly worked up to around 8 mg. I found ALA and DMSA in 25mg capsules and divided them up to meet those doses. I will discuss dosing and administering the supplements further in an upcoming post called Chelation Station.

Sophie did not have much of a reaction from chelation for the first 11 rounds. I was told to continue and that sometimes it takes that long or longer to see results. I did notice her yeast seemed to flare up terribly during chelation. I managed her yeast with No Phenol enzymes and GSE.

Doing chelation for 3 days on and 4 days off will only work for us for 2 rounds then we take 11 days off so that we can recuperate. The yeast just gets too hard to control if we go any longer.

My daughter has a slight strabismus (crossed eye) and I noticed during chelation her eye will crossed more. Crossed eyes are a symptom of mercury poisoning. I also noticed she is spacier during chelation days. I then noticed that up to a couple of days after chelation she is spacey and out of it.

After the spacey period passes we see results. Sometimes it will be increase in speech, sometimes an increase in eye contact. The changes we have seen vary, but they are definitely there. It is by far the most effective treatment we have tried. These survey results convinced us to pursue chelation http://www.autism.com/treatable/form34qr.htm

These are Andrew Cutler’s Books on chelating. He also has a yahoo group called Autism-Mercury

Tori at GF/CF blog tagged me today for a meme. What’s a “meme”? I didn’t know either!

Here are the rules:
(1) I must link the tagger (Tori, in this case) to my blog and list the rules; (2) I must share 7 weird bits about myself; and (3) I must tag 7 new bloggers and make them aware with a comment in their blog.

Allrighty then! Here are 7 weird things about myself:
1. My Dad left when I was very young to join a cult, he is now a Christian pastor, but I can still sing a complete Hare Krishna song.

2. I am a 3rd generation CBS soap opera watcher, a tradition I will NOT be passing down!

3. I organized 3 large Christian music events, 2 of which had more then 17 music groups.

4. I have a BIG sweet tooth, I like 5 tsp of sugar in my coffee.

5. I am extremely double jointed, I can put my hand out in front of me and twist it in a 360.

6. I am very girly, butI love hard physical work, like tiling floors, roofing. I rarely get a chance to do those things though.

7. I have rebuilt a Corvette’s carburetor by myself.

The seven bloggers I am going to tag to do a “Meme” are:
1. His Mercy is New
2. Musings from Graceland
3. Training Hearts at Home
4. The Towne House
5. My 3 Little Lights - At Peace Academy
6. Mama’s World of Autism and More
7. Chicky Momma

Well we have gone through the bad period and we are finally on the other side. Now I can calmly examine what could have triggered this. If you have read the other post A Bad day in Autism Land and yes its my fault and Any Better in Autism Land Today you will remember that Sophie was crying and inconsolable, stimming, teeth grinding and overall very irritable. I was not sure if the problem was yeast, viral die off or a supplement intolerance.

On the second day of her problems I removed all medicines and supplements except her acyclovir and her probiotics. It took 4 days for her to feel better and return to normal. I then started adding back her supplements and then I tried the lysine which is the supplement I was afraid she was not tolerating.

Drum roll please…….. She had no reaction to the lysine! So lysine intolerance was not the problem. This means it was probably viral die off. She has not had a reaction from yeast die off that was ever that severe and we have battle yeast continually from the start of Sophie’s autism, so I don’t think it is the yeast. If this was not a supplement intolerance, this was something new.

I have long suspected viral problems with Sophie, and I am hoping to see some break throughs soon with this treatment. Her yeast is still very bad, I know that yeast flares up when treating viruses, what I don’t know is if yeast only flares if you are damaging the viruses or will it flare up if you are just giving viral medicines?

Sophie has also had the 2 bumps on her head. They are red with sort of a crust over them. I though at first it was yeast or something like cradle cap, but these have not gone away and it has been 6 months. Her doctor didn’t seem to be concerned, but I will bring it up at the next visit. My thoughts are, could this be viral?

I will try to get a picture and post it soon. Sophie doesn’t like me to get anywhere near it so I will have to be sneaky, it must be sore.

One of the first things I wanted to do when I started to suspect my child had a problem, is to take an online test, or quiz, anything to help me figure out if she had autism. Now I use this evaluation to determine where she is. I always complete a test before a visit to the DAN Doctor to see what progress she has made. It can also be used to evaluate the effects of treatment.

The scale is goes up to 100. 100 being more autistic characteristics. Sophie’s numbers haven’t changed much. She is in the mid to upper 70s, moderate to severe autism.

The test has 4 catagories, and only takes a couple of minutes to fill out. Here is the link: http://www.autism.com/ari/atec/atec-online.htm (scroll down to see it).

You will get the results in your browser right away, and you can also have it email to you. Here are Sophie’s latest results:

***TOTAL AND SUBSCALE SCORES***
Total Score: 74
I. Speech/Language/Communication: 13
II. Sociability: 22
III. Sensory/Cognitive Awareness: 12
IV. Health/Physical/Behavior: 27

**I. Speech/Language/Communication
1. Knows own name: Very true
2. Responds to `No’ or `Stop’: Not true
3. Can follow some commands: Not true
4. Can use one word at a time: Very true
5. Can use 2 words at a time: Very true
6. Can use 3 words at a time: Very true
7. Knows 10 or more words: Very true
8. Can use sentences with 4 or more words: Very true
9. Explains what he/she wants: Somewhat true
10. Asks meaningful questions: Somewhat true
11. Speech tends to be meaningful/relevant: Somewhat true
12. Often uses several successive sentences: Not true
13. Carries on fairly good conversation: Not true
14. Has normal ability to com municate for his/her age: Not true

**II. Sociability
1. Seems to be in a shell - you cannot reach him/her: Somewhat descriptive
2. Ignores other people: Very descriptive
3. Pays little or no attention when addressed: Somewhat descriptive
4. Uncooperative and resistant: Somewhat descriptive
5. No eye contact: Not descriptive
6. Prefers to be left alone: Not descriptive
7. Shows no affection: Not descriptive
8. Fails to greet parents: Very descriptive
9. Avoids contact with others: Somewhat descriptive
10. Does not imitate: Very descriptive
11. Dislikes being held/cuddled: Not descriptive
12. Does not share or show: Very descriptive
13. Does not wave `bye bye’: Very descriptive
14. Disagreeable/not compliant: Somewhat descriptive
15. Temper tantrums: Very descriptive
16. Lacks friends/companions: Very descriptive
17. Rarely smiles: Not descriptive
18. Insensitive to other’s feelings: Very descriptive
19. Indifferent to being liked: Somewhat descriptive
20. Indifferent if parent(s) leave: Not descriptive

**III. Sensory/Cognitive Awareness
1. Responds to own name: Somewhat descriptive
2. Responds to praise: Very descriptive
3. Looks at people and animals: Somewhat descriptive
4. Looks at pictures (and T.V.): Very descriptive
5. Does drawing, coloring, art: Not descriptive
6. Plays with toys appropriately: Somewhat descriptive
7. Appropriate facial expression: Very descriptive
8. Understands stories on T.V.: Very descriptive
9. Understands explanations: Not descriptive
10. Aware of environment: Very descriptive
11. Aware of danger: Very descriptive
12. Shows imagination: Very descriptive
13. Initiates activities: Very descriptive
14. Dresses self: Not descriptive
15. Curious, interested: Very descriptive
16. Venturesome - explores: Very descriptive
17. Tuned in - Not spacey: Somewhat descriptive
18. Looks where others are looking: Not descriptive

**IV. Health/Physical/Behavior
1. Bed-wetting: Moderate Problem
2. Wets pants/diapers: Moderate Problem
3. Soils pants/diapers: Moderate Problem
4. Diarrhea: Not a Problem
5. Constipation: Serious Problem
6. Sleep problems: Not a Problem
7. Eats too much/too little: Minor Problem
8. Extremely limited diet: Moderate Problem
9. Hyperactive: Not a Problem
10. Lethargic: Minor Problem
11. Hits or injures self: Not a Problem
12. Hits or injures others: Not a Problem
13. Destructive: Not a Problem
14. Sound-sensitive: Minor Problem
15. Anxious/fearful: Minor Problem
16. Unhappy/crying: Moderate Problem
17. Seizures: Not a Problem
18. Obsessive speech: Serious Problem
19. Rigid routines: Minor Problem
20. Shouts or screams: Not a Problem
21. Demands sameness: Minor Problem
22. Often agitated: Moderate Problem
23. Not sensitive to pain: Not a Problem
24. Hooked or fixated on certain objects/topics: Moderate Problem
25. Repetitive movements: Minor Problem

When a person is exposed to mercury, the mercury only stays present in the blood for a short time, but it stays in some other tissues, like brain tissue for a lifetime. When testing for mercury, blood will only show a recent exposure, so how can you test for it?

The way to test for mercury is to not really test for the mercury itself, but you look for what it does in the body. One thing that mercury does is it impairs the bodies ability to transport minerals effectively. So in testing for mercury toxicity one way is to look for that impairment.

Here is how you do that:
First get a hair element test. Doctors Data Inc. can do this test for you and you do not need Doctor’s order for this, you order it yourself. Make sure you order the Hair Elements and not the Hair Toxic Element Exposure Profile. Here is the link http://www.doctorsdata.com/test_info.asp?id=1

Here is the number to order by phone
800.323.2784 (USA & Canada)
0871.218.0052 (United Kingdom)
630.377.8139 (Elsewhere)

When you order the test, they will send you out a kit with instructions and you collect the sample and send it to them with payment, ($109 last time I checked), and they will email and mail the test results to you. If you are a member of the yahoo group Autism-Mercury and you mention it, by phone, then you can get a discount. You have to ask for it or you will not get it.

Sophie’s Hair Test Results (May 2007) Sophie met the rules for Mercury toxicity by having 4 or more “Essential and other Elements” in the red.

When you get the results you apply these counting rules to them. Hair test counting rules

This method was developed by Andrew Cutler Ph.d.
His books are in depth about how to test for mercury, symptoms of mercury poisoning and how to treat it safely.

No, not in the slightest. Sophie woke up crying and continued being fussy and emotional the whole day. She has a rash above her mouth today and her lips are chapped and bleeding. I am pulling all meds today except for the acyclovir and probiotics.

To top it off my darling husband called an hour before he gets off work to say that he thinks he coming down with a migraine. He hasn’t had one of these in around 15 years, but he had the flashing lights and visual disturbances that come before one. So he came home early and went to bed.

So that brings me to my beautiful 10 and 8 year olds. I have been trying to let them watch more shows. I am a bit of a TV Nazi, but they have met new friends this year and they really want to fit in and “all the other kids can watch this and that”. Well I was trying out a new show they had watched a couple of times and it was horrible. Completely inappropriate topics for my children. I homeschool and I am able to shelter them a lot and I take full advantage of that. So I told them they can no longer watch this show. Tears and drama followed, mostly from my 10 year old. My 8 year old just started making a new website which she wanted my help with. HA! Yeah like I really had any time to help with anything. I knew I had to though, and I found the time.

Finally things have calmed down, my husband is still sleeping, my big girls are playing a computer game and my Sophie is cuddled up on the couch watching Pooh’s Heffalump movie on her little DVD player. She never made it out of her night shirt today, but I actually got some eye contact and a smile! Everything is finally quiet and I am going to relax, drink a glass of wine and maybe read that Christian fiction novel that I started 2 months ago. I thank God for this time of peace today.

Sophie isn’t have a good day today. I am not sure what is bothering her. It could be several things. She is having major yeast problems. The ketaconozole isn’t effectively controlling her yeast during her viral treatment. I have been giving a few drops of GSE, along with no fenol and biotin and this may be causing die off.

Ok this is were I lower my voice, turn my head and mumble. So I also added lysine today. I know, I know, I just added Virastop yesterday. I know better then to try a new supplement so soon after adding one. She is already going through all this viral die off on top of her yeast flare up. I don’t know how many times I have tried to get away with this and failed.

So here are her problems today. She is grinding her teeth, her visual stimming is really bad right now and she is hand posturing. She seems irritated, non compliant, emotional. She is humming a lot and having some vocal “tics” and her crotch seems to itch. Her eye contact isn’t as good as it usually is. Most of those symptoms scream yeast, but is it overgrowth or die off or both?

Autism is complicated.

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