Should I give up? - Andy

[Guest guest]

I am feeling very discouraged. Moria pointed out to me recently that

the counting rules had been changed. How did I miss that? I can't

find a message explaining it. Why did the count for elements in the

normal range change so drastically (from 14 to 8)?

Mercury toxicity sounded like such a reasonable explanation for all

of our problems. I really had my hopes up. I had hair tests done in

December for myself and both of my sons. At that point, it appeared

we were on the right track, even if I was borderline toxic. Now only

my NT son fits as barely toxic. I feel completely lost. I'm not

sure if we should bother chelating or not. Can anyone give me any

advice?

DDI hair test results:

Kathy - 2 very high/low, 14 middle band, 7 above avg.

nothing toxic (only titanium high)

- 4 very high/low, 11 middle band, 9 above avg.

(1 of the very high was copper, which we have treated -

I assume this would leave only 3 very high/low currently)

high silver; slightly elevated (just into yellow) cadmium,

lead, tin

Ben - 4 very high/low, 11 middle band, 7 above avg.

very high antimony; high tin, cadmium, lead

History/ chelation side effects:

Kathy (depression, CFS, polycystic ovary syndrome, candidiasis) -

I have done 10 rounds with no obvious improvement, although my

husband thinks maybe some improved mood. At first I had increased

depression, irritability, yeast, and insomnia. Later I had canker

sores and a sinus infection. Recently I have had eye problems,

difficulty with eye contact, and a mild bladder infection.

- age 11 (HFA, depression, Tourette's)

Did 2 rounds. More depressed and crabby, bleeding gums. Stopped

when I realized we needed to treat his very high copper first. Mood

was noticably improved after taking taurine, so I assume copper has

been normalized. I was going to start chelating him again this

week. He is also on enzymes and somewhat GFCFSF, which helped mood a

lot.

Ben - age 4 (NT, but concerned about some sensory/behavior issues)

Did 7 rounds. Puts things in mouth even more than usual (tires

off toys, balloons, remotes, etc.), otherwise no reactions to

chelation.

It has been several years since my older son and I have been exposed

to mercury (that we know of). I understand it might take quite a

while to see improvement, if we were going to benefit from chelation

at all. How long is reasonable to keep chelating? Is there any hope

that trying a few more rounds will be worth it?

Or do I really need to give up and keep looking for other possible

causes? I really want to believe that chelation could be our cure,

but I know it's more important to find something that works.

Please - anyone - I don't know what to do next.

Kathy