Anna wrote:The Quicksilver Scientific website (
https://www.quicksilverscientific.com/mercury-tri-test) raises some significant concerns about challenge testing, including redistribution of mercury into organs (Of course, there is the motivation to sell their own product!):
I am a big fan of Christopher Shade and Quicksilver. Of course he is trying to sell his tests and his products, but he also has very informative webinars(and I find his hyper-caffeinated style entertaining). If I'd been able to find a doctor in my state or within 6 hours drive who would order the tests for me, and even more importantly, interpret the results, I'd have had testing through Quicksilver. My FM doc, who is lackadaisical about everything, was not interested in opening a Quicksilver account.
Now I've learned that since I am in a Direct Access State, I could order the Quicksilver test and take it to LabCorps. But still, if I test with Quicksilver I'll be in a bind over the results. They may help me with that, as I have found them very supportive over the phone. I now have an account with them, and I am using the Liver Push/Catch system and also taking their liposomal glutathione to help with the detoxing.
FWIW, in several Bredesen Town Hall meetings, Mary Kay Ross who is the detox expert working with Dr Bredesen, has said that she generally uses the Doctor's Data urine challenge test. That was one of the factors in my deciding to go that route instead of having to find a different doctor who'd order the Quicksilver test. Plus cost...$160 vs $525
I think the mercury tri-test is great if you are trying to determine what your source of elevated mercury is.... ie , is it coming from fish or from fillings For me, mercury is not the big issue, while lead and cadmium are both very high. As I was calling around the continent, trying to find a source of DMSA, I did check with several pharmacists who all agreed that for lead, DMSA is the best chelation agent.
circular wrote:In other words, is their something challenge testing does right that is informative in a way that Quicksilver isn’t? Sorry if this was already made clear.
?
Anna may have better/fresher info on this than I do, circ, but from the research I did, there did not seem to be any advantage to Doctor's Data urine challenge testing over the testing that Quicksilver does in terms of yielding better information. A lot of people question whether a challenge with a chelating agent is appropriate and whether the results really mean anything. That was part of my confusion. In my situation, some sort of testing seemed important since I have had decades of known exposure to lead and cadmium based pigments; and I was careless about protecting myself from inhaling them.
It will be interesting to see if a year of chelation therapy changes my urine challenge results. My plan is to find a way to follow up with Quicksilver test to compare results. Will post results, of course!
While I was typing this, you posted a new question. The tri-test (hair blood, urine) is for mercury only. That is Dr shade's claim to fame.
They also offer a highly sensitive heavy metal blood test that covers all the other metals.