chelation and SSRIs - Help!

[Guest guest]

Has anyone had experience with a child no longer tolerating their

SSRI while chelating? Our 12 yo is on fluoxetine (prozac) for OCD and

has tolerated it for 2 years. However, antidepressants have been known

to cause hypomanic behavior, which is what we are now seeing. Is it

possible that the chelation could have caused a change in his response

to the SSRI? (He is experiencing puberty, but I have not encountered

reports of kids just wacking out at puberty, so I really think there

must be some other cause.)

Background: We started chelation in April and have done 13 rounds

of chelation with DMSA (100mg every 4 hours, 3 on, 11 off). In July we

added 100mg NAC on off days. We are also GFCF plus the DAN-prescribed

array of supplements, including enyzymes and probiotics.

Since the beginning of September, we have seen increasing manic

behavior and volatility. We stopped chelation in mid September, but his

behavior has continued to worsen, to the point that he is now out of

school until we can find the source of the problem. He has tested

negative for dysbiosis and constipation, though his stools are very

pale. His foods and other things he is exposed to have not changed. We

tried lowering the dose of the prozac, but that just made him more

irritable and volatile. Our child psych has prescribed Topomax to get

him under control. (He wanted to use Seroquel, but we said no.)

I hope this is not too fragmented. Can some of you pick through this

and point us in a useful direction? I hate the idea of medicating a

behavior and not knowing the cause of it.

Looking anxiously for help,

in FL

[Guest guest]

> Has anyone had experience with a child no longer tolerating

their

> SSRI while chelating?

I have seen this with adults. It isn't unexpected.

>Our 12 yo is on fluoxetine (prozac) for OCD and

> has tolerated it for 2 years. However, antidepressants have been

known

> to cause hypomanic behavior, which is what we are now seeing. Is it

> possible that the chelation could have caused a change in his

response

> to the SSRI?

It might.

>(He is experiencing puberty, but I have not encountered

> reports of kids just wacking out at puberty, so I really think there

> must be some other cause.)

> Background: We started chelation in April and have done 13

rounds

> of chelation with DMSA (100mg every 4 hours, 3 on, 11 off).

> In July we added 100mg NAC on off days.

This is a really really really really really really really bad idea

and I would be a lot more suspicious that this is the problem than

that chelation is.

> We are also GFCF plus the DAN-prescribed

> array of supplements, including enyzymes and probiotics.

There are a lot of choices here, some quite harmful, most helpful.

Unless you spell it out we can't say much.

> Since the beginning of September, we have seen increasing manic

> behavior and volatility. We stopped chelation in mid September, but

his

> behavior has continued to worsen, to the point that he is now out of

> school until we can find the source of the problem.

This does make it pretty clear it is the NAC.

Try excluding sulfury foods from his diet and sulfury things from his

supplements for a week and see what happens.

Also next time he gets tested get a plasma cysteine done at Great

Smokies if you don't already know it (it is on the comprehensive

detoxification profile if you had that done). If you do, please post

it.

>He has tested

> negative for dysbiosis and constipation, though his stools are very

> pale.

Which is a sign of liver problems. Is he chemically sensitive? The

prozac might be beating up on his liver, or some supplement might be.

You might try inositol and tryptophan to get his prozac dose down and

let his liver recover.

> His foods and other things he is exposed to have not changed. We

> tried lowering the dose of the prozac, but that just made him more

> irritable and volatile. Our child psych has prescribed Topomax to

get

> him under control. (He wanted to use Seroquel, but we said no.)

Lithium, depakote, and tegretol work better in most cases. Also if

any of these are Rx'd, the FIRST thing to do is get him on a 100%

hydrogenated fat exclusion diet.

BTW, did he bump his head hard at any point during the summer?

> I hope this is not too fragmented. Can some of you pick through

this

> and point us in a useful direction? '

I hope the above is useful. Please provide more info as requested.

>I hate the idea of medicating a

> behavior and not knowing the cause of it.

> Looking anxiously for help,

> in FL

Andy . . .

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I have a question--Do you believe the OCD is related to the mercury? If not,

what would you say is the cause? My friend's child has OCD but his hair test

did not meet the test for mercury (Andy confirmed this). He is on Focalin

(like Ritalin) and he had rock bottom sodium and potassium on the hair test

pointing to adrenal problems. Does your child have adrenal problems?

[Guest guest]

,

I believe OCD can be related to mercury or other toxins. Remember drugs are

also toxins! I would suggest your friend look into some of the side effects

of ritalin and other stimulants. Look at some books and the internets site

of Dr. Breggins regarding this issue. My child was put on ritalin and

then became depressed, manic, obsessive, violent and self-destructive. Off

the stimulant she is NONE of those things.

Michele

[Guest guest]

> Has anyone had experience with a child no longer tolerating

their

> SSRI while chelating? Our 12 yo is on fluoxetine (prozac) for OCD

and

> has tolerated it for 2 years. However, antidepressants have been

known

> to cause hypomanic behavior, which is what we are now seeing. Is it

> possible that the chelation could have caused a change in his

response

> to the SSRI?

Yes, once metals are removed, some kids need less of medications, some

need to stop the medications altogether.

(He is experiencing puberty, but I have not encountered

> reports of kids just wacking out at puberty, so I really think there

> must be some other cause.)

> Background: We started chelation in April and have done 13

rounds

> of chelation with DMSA (100mg every 4 hours, 3 on, 11 off). In July

we

> added 100mg NAC on off days. We are also GFCF plus the

DAN-prescribed

> array of supplements, including enyzymes and probiotics.

Chelation [and enzymes, depending on which enzyme] also affects the

amount of certain supplements required. For example, many many many

kids no longer need high B6 once starting certain enzymes. Are you

giving high B6? What enzymes are you using? Consider reducing the

quantity of B6 and any other high levels of certain supplements, see

if that helps. I know high B6 is a common hyper/manic inducing

supplement for many kids.

> Since the beginning of September, we have seen increasing manic

> behavior and volatility. We stopped chelation in mid September, but

his

> behavior has continued to worsen, to the point that he is now out of

> school until we can find the source of the problem.

Chelation also tends to aggravate yeast, which sometimes does not show

up on test results.

Dana

[Guest guest]

> I have a question--Do you believe the OCD is related to the mercury? If not,

> what would you say is the cause?

I believe any toxin that can travel through the blood to the brain could cause

OCD. If it's in the " right amount " ...

Valentina

[Guest guest]

> I have a question--Do you believe the OCD is related to the mercury?

Yes.

> If not,

> what would you say is the cause?

Copper can do it too, and arsenic as well.

>My friend's child has OCD but his hair test

> did not meet the test for mercury (Andy confirmed this).

You can do a trial of chelation if you can't think of anything else.

As long as they don't have fillings it is easy to do. Tests can be

wrong.

> He is on Focalin

> (like Ritalin) and he had rock bottom sodium and potassium on the

hair test

> pointing to adrenal problems. Does your child have adrenal

problems?

>

>

>

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been remo

[Guest guest]

,

OCD sometimes occurs with ASD, but I don't know why, except that it is a

result of anxiety. His sodium and potassium are normal. I don't believe

the issue of adrenal problems has come up. Although, come to think of

it, adrenalin stimulates that " fight or flight " mode, which can be

considered anxiety. . . Hmm.

> I have a question--Do you believe the OCD is related to the mercury? If not,

> what would you say is the cause? My friend's child has OCD but his hair test

> did not meet the test for mercury (Andy confirmed this). He is on Focalin

> (like Ritalin) and he had rock bottom sodium and potassium on the hair test

> pointing to adrenal problems. Does your child have adrenal problems?

>

>