Recently I decided that it would be a good idea to have my 8 year old son tested for mercury toxicity. Not only did he recieve vaccines as an infant but has had 8 amalgum based caps in his mouth since the age of 2 1/2 due to genetically inherited terrible teeth :( Currently he has issues with severe short term and long term memory (they are all but non-existant), life altering problems with gastrointestinal pain, sleep challenges (night terrors, insomnia, sleep walking and talking), intermittant incontinece, and an array of social and learning issues (although the local school district refused Special Services as testing, although it shows cognitive deficits, indicates that he is above average in intelligence and CAN do age and grade appropriate work. They have no comment on the fact that he is on a kindergarten level in writing and mid first grade level in math). :? Anyhow… my questions revolve around getting his mercury levels tested. Professionals look at me like I am from another planet when I have requested this. What is the best way to test, blood, urine or hair? What levels should I be looking for? How do I convince his pediatrican that it is necessary? What other things do I need to know to make sure we get accurate levels? I am getting huge resistance from the medical community in regards to my concern over this so I don’t trust those involved to give me accurate information. Thanks in advance for your knowledge in advance. :D ( interestingly enough, my son has recieved a large amount of antibiotics, much of it before and up to the age of 4.)
Re: Dad.... or anyone with info......
Thanks again Dad for sharing your wisdom :wink: I will discuss this with his pediatrician today. Wonder if his state insurance will pay for it…… ? I will let you know what I find out.
Re: Dad.... or anyone with info......
My insurance covered both testing and the subsequent treatments, less my co-pays. It is just about the only thing directly related to my boy’s condition that insurance DID pay for. Autism is excluded by name from coverage.
Mercury is a difficult metal to test for unless the exposure was acute and very recent. In the typical metabolism mercury clears the blood fully within weeks, the digestive organs within half a year (give or take) and from the CNS in a couple of years. One form of excretion is into the hair (although most mercury is cleaned by the liver/bile transport and comes out in the stool. So unless you are talking about a significant exposure event, conventional testing will be inconclusive.
Recent studies have suggested that a significant percentage of autistic children do not have a typical metabolism (go figure) and instead of gradually clearing the body of toxic metals they retain them. If this is the case with your boy, he will need the assistance of a chelation agent to clean up.
The only way to determine if he has significant mercury in storage is to do a chelation challenge. The dr. will have to prescribe DMSA for a 3 day treatment. On day #3 you will collect a stool sample as well as a 12 hour urine sample and these will be tested for mercury. (Just for good measure, he should also be tested for lead, arsenic, copper, aluminum, antimony and zinc.) Should any of these metals be found to be in elevated levels, a full treatment of chelation may be called for.
Just for the sake of getting the truest picture of the situation, when you get the script for DMSA, pick up a bottle of ALA (alpha lipoic acid) from the vitamin section or health store. This is an anti-oxidant that which allows DMSA to better pull metals from across the brain barrier, a place that mercury loves to store.
Some studies have suggested that the lion’s share of autistic children have profound issues with toxic metals, others suggest perhaps about half. For much more detailed information, please see the yahoo group autism-mercury. Good luck to you and please let us know how things go.