April 29th, 2009 
Mom Before I get into the protocol we’re using to recover Nicholas, I just want to mention that Andy’s books, Amalgam Illness and Finding Hidden Hair Toxicities have been two of the most helpful books I have purchased yet. (Best place to purchase them is from noamalgam.com) Amalgam Illness has a wonderful section all about supplements and I’ve referenced this section more times than I can count. He explains the plateau many parents experience while chelating – and why you should continue because you will start seeing gains again.
The Protocol:
Dosing – 1/8 to 1/2 mg of DMSA (and then add in ALA after a few rounds or months if there was recent mercury exposure) per pound of body weight. So, a 50 pound child’s dose would be 6.25 – 25mg per dose.
Dose Frequency – Every 3 hours from Friday through Monday (including overnight – you can stretch to 4 hours while asleep, but no more)
We chelate every weekend unless I need to sleep through the night without getting up to give him his dose or if we have something else going on. Some parents do every other weekend.
Many people ask me how I possibly get up in the middle of the night to give him his dose. Well, I have no other choice. After researching other protocols, I felt that this was the one that was safest. I know there are others who give their child DMSA every 8 hours and still see gains, however, I have also heard from many others that this worked for a while and then they hit a wall and their child regressed. The problem with infrequent dosing protocols is that the half-life of the chelator is not taken into account. For example, when you give doses of dmsa every 8 hours for 3 days, this is what is happening: dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution > dose > redistribution. When you dose properly in 3-4 hour intervals, this is what is happening: dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > dose > redistribution. You want to minimize redistribution as much as you possibly can.
Getting up does get easier, I can assure you. On these weekends, my husband and I take turns with the night doses – I take the first one (and sometimes I stay up researching, then go to bed) and then he takes the 6am dose – so at least we both got a descent stretch of uninterrupted sleep.
Many people have also asked me about yeast during oral chelation because they have been made to believe that yeast would be uncontrollable. We were told by a DAN that our only choice for chelation would be IV because my son is a gut and yeast kid. Well, in our case, he could not have been more wrong and unfortunately the strong-arm technique to get me to subject my son to IV’s (when taking him for bloodwork was a nightmare) and not even agree to oversee my son’s case for a trial of this protocol just ended up in him losing a patient – and a recovery story.
The yeast has not been what I thought it would be – and in 31 rounds, we haven’t skipped weekends because of yeast or gut issues – NOT ONCE. I have Nicholas taking 40mg of Biotin every day split into 4 doses of 10mg. Nicholas is also taking 900mg of Enhansa now (best supplement EVER!) and 2 caps of Klaire’s detox probiotic, 2 culturelle and a dropperful of Living Streams probiotics. That’s it.
The key here is to start slow – making your child sick or intolerable does not mean you are going to recover him/her faster. Giving larger doses increases your chances of gut issues, yeast flares, etc – and you will have to stop chelating to deal with these issues – so in the end, it’s just not worth it. You want to find a dose they are comfortable with so you can continue to live your life while chelating. This is not a race – and this process can take you 1 or more years, so keep telling yourself… This is not a sprint, this is a marathon.
How do you split up 25mg capsules? Well, some folks open the capsule out and dump it onto a clean surface and split the piles into equal sizes (using a razor blade, credit card, etc.). If you want a 5mg dose, you split a 25 capsule into 5 equal piles. Exact measurement is not required — the dosing frequency is more important than having a 5.25mg dose and then a 4.75mg dose.
Others, myself included, will take 5 teaspoons of juice (I use 4 25mg dmsa caps and 2 25mg ALA caps now for 5 doses) and will mix all of these capsules up very well. I will then put one dose in a syringe that hold’s a teaspoon and do this 5 times. I put the syringes, tip up, in the refridgerator until I am ready to give the dose. (I do this when I need to give dose 1, so that the last dose has only been in the fridge 12 hours. Longer than this, you can start losing potency from what I understand. Then when you are ready to give it, squirt it in a cup or whatever you are giving it in and you’re done. Using an acidic juice, like orange, works best.
There are suggested (required, really) supplements that your child should be on prior to starting. They are probably getting many of them in their multi-vitamin, but check just to be sure. As with all supplements, add one at a time so you if your child is reacting to one supplement in particular.
Calcium: 5-20 mg/pound divided into four doses over the day
Essential Fatty Acid (fish oil or flax, see notes above) 1 to 3 tbsp/day
Magnesium: 10 mg/pound divided into four doses over the day
Milk Thistle: ¼-1 cap (20-80 mg) per dose/ 4 times a day
Molybdenum: 5-20 mcg/pound divided into four doses over the day
Selenium: 1-2 mcg/pound/divided into four doses over the day
Vitamin A: 5 RDA’s/day. Be sure to consider if your EFA is a source
Vitamin B: 12.5-25 mg/4 times a day
Vitamin C: 5 to 20 mg/pound per dose/4 times a day
Vitamin E: 500 IU/day
Zinc: 1 mg per 2 lbs + 20 mgs divided into four doses over the day.
Want support from other parents using this protocol?
Join us on this group:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AndyCutlerChelationForAutism/
A great post from Andy:
Andy’s post about recovery percentages, etc.
March 21, 2010 – Edited to add:
Change the variables and you’re not doing Cutler’s protocol…
Cutler’s protocol is not just simply dosing dmsa & ala every 3-4 hours. If you change any of the variables, you are not necessarily following Andy’s protocol. I’m getting more and more feedback lately from parents that concern me, so I just want to clarify a few things in hopes that it helps…
1. Night dosing IS required. Skipping the night doses or deciding to dose at midnight, then 8am – is NOT this protocol. Eliminating the dose in the middle defeats the purpose of doing the protocol as you are now creating several opportunities for the redistribution of metals versus the one per round stated on Andy’s protocol.
2. If you start with high doses, versus the 1/8th -1/4 mg per pound, you are not increasing the amount of metals that are going to be pulled as much as you might think. The whole point of the protocol is to dose low so as few side effects are experienced as necessary, not to make yourself or your child miserable. You DO NOT start a 40 pound child on a 25mg dose. We saw results with 8mg! Have a little faith before you go overboard with the dose.
3. The top dose is 1/2mg per pound. Again, you are not increasing the amount of metals that are going to be pulled as much as you might think. The whole point of the protocol is to dose low so as few side effects are experienced as necessary, not to make yourself or your child miserable.
4. Giving a “sprinkle” of ala or dmsa is not Cutler’s protocol. Capsules should be divided into the doses you intend to give. I hear of parents opening capsules and just giving a sprinkle of each not knowing how much they are or aren’t giving. If you cannot eyeball the contents of the capsule to divide into the appropriate dose, ask your dr for a script and get them compounded to the correct dose.
5. Starting an aggressive anti-viral protocol at the same time you start chelating is not recommended. Most find that waiting to start addressing viruses until after round 50 makes life so much easier for all involved.
6. Do not assume that your child does not have yeast issues. If you are chelating and not seeing gains, it could be that any gains you would see are hidden by yeast. Get on a good anti-fungal, whether it’s natural or rx and see if that clears it up.
7. Adding products like NDF, NDF+, chorella, cilantro, etc.Adding any of these to Cutler’s protocol is not a good idea. You can search Autism-Mercury’s archives for Andy’s explanation if you so choose and I would actually recommend you doing just that. For me, there is not enough research about any of these being a true chelator doing more than just moving metals around. Using dmsa and ala have worked very well here.
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Great post !
Thanks Maya!
As you know, I’m headed this direction, but I’m confused… your post says the protocol is Dosing – 1/8 to 1/2 mg of DMSA (and then add in ALA after a few rounds or months if there was recent mercury exposure) per pound of body weight…” However the file in the yahoo group says, “this detoxification protocol uses alpha lipoic acid (ALA), an over the counter nutritional supplement, and may optionally also use DMSA or DMPS.” So, I guess I’m asking a “chicken & egg” question 😉 Maybe it doesn’t matter which we start with?
Summer – the file says that because you can do Cutler’s protocol with ALA only as many are doing/have done. Many have found that they have had a better experience using dmsa only first and then adding ala later.
Michelle, do you begin Friday after school and continue until early Monday morning? If you are going to be out during a dosing time, you carry a syringe(s) in a cooler? Just trying to get a handle on the logistics and any supplies I need ahead of time. So far it seems just syringes is all I’ll need — and OJ!
Yes, I begin Friday after school and continue right up until he leaves for school on Monday morning. Now, I just carry capsules – but prior to him swallowing capsules, I carried around the syringe with an icepack and we did well with that.
Hi, I want to start AC chelation for my 13 yr old. I am looking for a doc who will supervise the same. Kindly guide me with neccessary information.
Hi!
Great post, thanks for writing this!
We’re doing mHBOT with our son (following Dr. Ns protocol). We are still on day 7.
After the 2-week break, we’ll start AC chelation,
I couldn’t find in your blog how you combined the two. Could you give me a hint??
Thank you so much!
Sincerely,
Fernanda
Fernanda,
You’re welcome!
Not sure what you mean, but we dove whether or not we were chelating. There were times when I took the supplements in with us to give them at his scheduled time.
Hope that helps!
Michelle
Yes, that helps a lot! Thank you!
I meant to ask if you kept the mHBOT protocol while chelating (2 X 1.5 h). When say you gave supplements while in the chamber, do you mean DMSA/ALA also?
I wondered if that wouldn’t be too harsh on the little ones. My son has just turned 3…
I have just read this in a thread: ‘HBOT constricts blood vessels. Doing HBOT just after chelation can decrease the flow which is undesirable after the chelator is administered.’
If that’s correct, I’m thinking there’s no way to fit a dive between two chelation doses without having this ‘side effect’, since you need to give them every 3rd hour.
Perhaps this isn’t such a big problem with mild HBOT..
Thank you for your help!
Sincerely,
Fernanda
followed the
Thanks so for such an informative blog!!! much appreciated! We are starting Cutler protocol this weekend. Have been prepping his body for several weeks – and ready to start!
Few questions wondering about:
Length of Rounds
How successful do you think we will be (as in low side effects, etc.) if can only do “63 hour” rounds. We live in VA and county sends son (via van) to school up in MD, so he doesn’t get home until 4:15pm on Friday and leaves on Monday at 7:40pm. If we start right at 4:30 we can have 63 hrs. for an average round. On long weekends and holidays we can do more, right?
“Delivery” of Chelator
In your notes you say “squirt it in a cup or whatever you are giving it in” …. just wondering – can you just squirt it in the child’s mouth directly from the syringe?
Ehansa – noticed you are a big fan too!!! we used for several weeks but stopped just this week due to worries about large sulphur burden – particularly in light of doing chelation. Did/does Nicholas have sulphur concern too and you just figured benefits outweighed negative, or was it just non-ssue?
thanks so very much for sharing your expertise, hope and time!
Sara Breaux
Sara,
I think if you can only do 63 hour rounds, you have to do what you have to do. Yes, on longer weekends, you can go longer.
Yes, you can just squirt it into their mouth from the syringe.
No, enhansa provided only benefits.
While your chelating, don’t stop looking for other ways to help your child. I guess, what I am trying to say is please don’t put all of your eggs in the AC chelation basket, I truly do not believe anymore that it is the key to recovery – and I used to really tow that line. After doing almost 100 rounds, we moved on to homeopathy and IT WAS THE BEST THING WE EVER DID. I wish I had moved onto homeopathy sooner, I truly do.
Good luck!!
Michelle
Hi there
Very new to this, You are an inspiration enjoy you life. I look forward to that life. Just have an appointment with pierre in two days. Now just a quick question to clarify. i will start with 1/8 dose of DMSA in the first few rounds to lower body burden the add in ALA. Now when I add in ALA do I add in 1/8 of ALA. Or should the total dose of both chelators be 1/8? An also is there a possiblity of your phone number. My email address is xxxxxxx@msn.com i would really like to talk to you. We are desperate for any help.
Joy
Hi Joy – I emailed you…
what im confused about is the supplementation of omega 3’s : which are usually very high in ala’s ( over 60% per dose for flax seed oil at least), but we shouldn’t take ala’s for the first three months according to him
also does the supplementation begin when we introduce ala, or before when we are just using dmsa
The ALA used to chelate is alpha lipoic acid, not found in the omega 3’s — those are 2 different things.
I don’t comment on this protocol anymore – while it was useful to a degree, it did not recover my son — if I had relied on this protocol, we’d probably still be chelating now. But, I will say that your supplementation should be in place PRIOR to starting dmsa or ala.
ok i have 100 mg pills *over the counter* my son is 48 lbs. and 6 yrs old. his dr advised 100 mg in the am and 100 mg in the pm for 3 days on 11 off, but i think going slower and lower is better. how would i do this with my 100mg pills i have? if i do 1/2 mg per pound that is appx 25 mg every 3 hrs correct? so if i started at 4 when he got home from school friday when do i give the last dose? is that right?
Hi..we are about to start AC Chelation for our 4 yr old daughter with ASD..
I would like to know, if you did AC Chelation under the guidance of a DAN doc or did you refer to AC Cutler book and do it on your own..? Could you suggest me DAN docs who follow AC Chelation protocol as we don’t live in US , but willing to travel for consultations..
Thanks.
Apologies for the delay in responding. I no longer recommend the AC protocol, but when we did it, we did have the support of a doctor. I did refer to Andy Cutler’s books while following his protocol.
After reading your article on the Andy cutler chelation protocol, I saw your last comment saying that you no longer recommend the AC protocol. Could you please tell me why? Is it harmful/not effective/something better? I was planning on chelating my two daughters very soon and now I am a little worried. Thank you for your help. -Sarah
When we first started out recovering our son, the people associated with that protocol stated over and over and over again that 100 rounds (weekends) of chelation would recover a child. We did almost 100 rounds and my son was no where near recovered – and he wasn’t a severe case to begin with. As time went on, these same people moved the goal posts out further and further saying children needed to be chelated for 4-5+ years. We did see some progress with the almost 2 years we spent chelating him – but once the metals were gone/reduced, chelation was not going to fix the damage which was already done. At the point where we were, it was draining to get up several times a night, not even sleep right because you’re worried about sleeping through a dose (and ending that round early) – and I started reading things and questioning what I knew about these people who were championing this protocol. At that point, I had a close friend who had left biomed behind because she couldn’t get her son to take the supplements – and she wasn’t forcing that issue even if it had the potential to help him get better – she turned to homeopathy and without all of the chelation, without all of the thousands of dollars of supplements and expensive DAN doctor bills – her son had made tremendous progress. I also had another close friend who used homeopathy and her son made tremendous improvements as well. I decided to give this a shot knowing I could always start chelating again if I needed/wanted to. It was a night and day difference – and it was the best decision I have ever made. Both of those boys are recovered as is my son.
One of the things I’ve learned through everything is that there are so many people/moms out there that have turned this into a money making opportunity. So you have to be careful with what you’re reading or being told, as I am sure you know. I know several mothers in the community who claim their child is recovered and having met them, this is truly not the case. Some of these mothers have turned into homeopaths – and they are not homeopaths, but are causing more harm than good – so if you do look into this route and decide to pursue it – please make sure you find a certified homeopath and check on credentials. Same thing with the Cutler protocol – look into those who are advising you.
Hope this helps!
Would you recommend Pierre Fontaine? We need a homeopath on board to help us with speech. We just started ACC and only 4 rounds but like you said most parents claim that the way to recovery but it looks like its not the case. Can I email you ? I will like to talk to you please. my email is poksvt@gmail.com Thank you.