DTPA chelation. The process of chelation with Dr Richard Semelka. What to do and expect.

Th3e below describes what I want people to do in advance and what to expect with chelation with Dr Richard Semelka.

I am always present at chelation,and also always discuss GDD, what the individual is going to receive and what to expect as far as symptoms go, and how much treatment I anticipate they will need. We have 3 treatment rooms, the large communal room (which I prefer for the great majority of GDD sufferers, as described below), a room with a medical med, and a private individual room. Most people opt for the larger communal room, as it is friendly, they feel they are part of a crew, a collection of ship mates riding the high seas of GDD together.

Actually I think of this communal treatment in a room that resembles what you may think of as Dr Semelka's living room, as an advance in health care. I am very focused on stress being one of the most important negative factors in all forms of health and disease. Many with GDD have been isolated by the disease: their doctors don't believe them, and since their doctors tell them it can't be Gd causing them their symptoms, the doctors also tell the family. So essentially everyone is made to feel alone and 'nuts'. So putting people in a room together they get the comforting feeling that they are not alone, and part of a larger community of people who have gone through the same horrible experiences as they have (the disease firstly, and the dismissal secondly). Gathering them together as a mutual support group I have found extremely beneficial: like a scientific/ medical AA meeting, but with instant results.

So day 1 is generally the introduction to DTPA, and the introduction to Flare. We use a smaller dose of chelator and full standard iv steroids with methylprednisolone. We hand push the chelator in order to get a tighter bolus of DTPA to facilitate passage into the extracellular space. Most sufferers opt to sit with the group in the group room, and they share experiences, ideas, and various supplements that they have found helpful. A few actually have given out supplements to others. Supplements ofcourse that I approve of, like ginger oil as an example.

For the first chelation session, most individuals opt for 2 day chelation, so the second day will again be the same reduced dose DTPA and standard iv steroids.

Urine testing we always do as 24 hour pre-chelation (within a few days prior to chelation) and immediate post Ca-DTPA (after the first urination post chelation). We usually wait till the second chelation session to test urine, because for the second session we anticipate the individual will tolerate full dose Ca-DTPA. I prefer to see the full measure of what DTPA can remove, and Ca-DTPA is the more effective agent at removing the most Gd, and full dose, ofcourse removes more Gd than half dose.

I have received 15 GBCA injections, so I do get an enormous post chelation urine Gd elimination (even though I have not had a Gd injection in > 10 years). Interestingly I also get a massive cytokine response - but without symptoms, reflecting that this response is one of immune reaction dampening rather than pro-inflammatory, which is what GDD sufferers get. The amount (quantity) of cytokines appears to relate to the number of GBCA injections you have had, and not to how sick you are from GDD. This amount reflects the total quantity of cytokines that have been released by the amount of Gd that has been remobilized, and not the type of cytokines. We do not presently have a study looking at cytokines so we presently are not testing for them.

 Almost everyone I insist we give iv steroids to the first time around, even if they don't want to get it. The reason is: the only real problems I have had with patients, a full range of problems, is if they did not receive steroids. In people I am not sure if they have Gad toxicity (GDD) or Lead toxicity (LDD) I may opt not to give them steroids. I do that because I want to see if they have a Flare. No Flare, No GDD or No LDD (if they have not had a GBCA injection but are ostensibly sick from GDD-like, AKA Lead toxicity symptoms). To emphasize: if someone has GDD, by definition must also experience a Flare. No Flare of symptoms, no GDD (also no Lead toxicity if they are here for lead toxicity). I tell them, "you and I have to hope you get a Flare, because virtually everything else you have as an alternate diagnosis is not treatable to near-cure, GDD is.

As a side note, everyone has lead in them, but most are not ostensibly sick from it - what I would call Lead Storage Condition. Only those who truly have Lead toxicity react to the movement of DTPA picking up Lead in the tissues, pulling it into the vascular system, and out by renal excretion.

So if you are not sick from Gd or Lead you will essentially feel no unpleasant effect from DTPA chelation. You will however get the bonus of a significant amount of lead removed from your body, and Gd if you have had MRI with GBCA. So in essence you will get a heavy metal (partial) cleansing - which has to be a good thing.

No preparation needed. I don't want people to take random supplements for 3 days before and 3 days after, primarily because I do not want the other chemicals to compete with Gd to be taken up by DTPA. DTPA works purely as a cation-exchange chelator. So it will also pick up other cations, such as Magnesium or Manganese. If it picks up other cations, then as a result it will pick up less Gd. It is administered in its active form, and also eliminated in its active form, no internal modification into active form or metabolism. Ofcourse, as a secondary thought, pulling off cations from other drugs, doesn't in principle seem like a good idea. I tell people to only take important drugs that they need, through the course of chelation.

People who are sick ask me often if they should detox before getting chelation. I tell them no, if you have GDD then starting with chelation ASAP is important, but detoxing is something that maybe all of us should be doing all the time anyways, in an increasingly toxic world. So detox concurrently, but observe the 3 day rule of holding off pre- through post-chelation.

This is what to prepare for and to know, if you come to the center of the world of GDD chelation... but also what you should do/ask for when going elsewhere.

Richard Semelka, MD.