Here are the numbers for the last round where I prepared ALA:

Tonight’s numbers are:

Considering it has been over two-and-a-half months since the last time I packed ALA, I am not surprised it took me longer than it used to. What can I say? I am rusty and out of tune. The good news is that after nine-weeks on the same strength, I am ready to titrate my ALA up to 50mg. It’s just one more step along this long, winding path.

I am also roughly halfway through David Hammond’s book Mercury Poisoning: The Undiagnosed Epidemic. The book is a good read and I plan to publish my own review once I complete it, but if you can’t wait for that post, please check out the review Eric wrote over at How I Recovered. And while you’re there, check out all of his posts—a lot of good information can be found.

Multitasking: that thing we claim to be good at, but science has proven otherwise. I was so preoccupied with watching a show on the television that I forgot to time myself. It’s a good thing I remembered to actually pack my supplements.

Next week, round 26, is the next big step. I will increase my ALA dose strength to 37.5 mg, one step closer to the max. Once I max out ALA, I will then move on to DMSA titration.

I wish I could report on my positive results, or how I am feeling loads better, but then I would be lying. Every time I start to get down about my progress I remember that this is a marathon not a sprint. Many people have been down this path before me, and their journeys all lasted beyond two-years, with some stretching out three-years plus. Every slight, noticeable improvement along the way is a small celebration towards the finish line. I just wish I could see the finish line.

Here are the numbers for the last round:

Tonight’s numbers are:

I managed to get back down to eight-minutes. I would like to think that next week is when I up ALA to 37.5 mg per dose, but that is highly unlikely considering round 22 ended six-doses early. Looks like round 26 will be the next time I increase a chelator dose.

Here are the numbers for the last round:

Tonight’s numbers are:

An extra minute squeaked by, but nothing drastic to report.

Here are the numbers for the last round:

Tonight’s numbers are:

Eight-minutes looks like a new standard, and one I am fine with. In three-rounds (including this one) I will up my ALA dose to 37.5 mg per dose, marking it one step away from my goal of 50 mg. I wish I had more to write, but I currently do not. I am seriously considering writing a post following my 26^th round to cap my progress, but I need to wait to see if my progress is worth reporting on then.

Here are the numbers for the previous week, round 20:

And tonight’s numbers:

For the next four-weeks — including this week — I won’t be packing any chelator capsules. Both ALA and DMSA are at 25 mg doses, which is the dose I purchase them at. I can rest easy knowing that for the next month I will only be loading my pill planner with supplements.

Here are the numbers for the previous week, round 19:

And tonight’s numbers:

This week threw me a curve ball, as I had to open four new bottles of supplements. I am starting to wonder if those seals that declare “sealed for your safety” are there to protect you from the bottle’s contents. All kidding aside, this should be the last time I have to pack chelator capsules, at least for four-weeks. Starting next week I up my ALA dose to 25mg, which as luck would have it, is the same strength my capsules come in today.

Here are the numbers for the previous week, round 18:

And tonight’s numbers:

Whatever time I saved while packing supplements was absorbed by ALA preparations. Too bad I had to open a (almost impossible to open) bottle of ALA half-way through the capsules packing process. I may have actually bested my overall time from last week.

I just finished my 18^th Sunday night ritual. As I always do, here are the numbers for the previous week, round 17:

And here are tonight’s delightful numbers:

I wasn’t expecting such an improvement in my ALA preparation time. Sure, I would’ve been happy with shaving off a minute or two, but a 33% reduction is amazing.

It’s round 17, so time to post another time-fest for preparations. Here were the numbers for round 16:

And here are tonight’s delightful numbers:

You’ll notice that improvements were found in both preparations. The minute saved while preparing the supplements (I could only guess) comes from the fact that I only needed to open one new bottle tonight. As for the 10-minute shaving from my ALA / DMSA preparations, I believe that has to do with two things:

• I titrated up to 18.75 mg, which in turn means that I take 1/4 from each of three full capsules and and drop it in a new capsule. I then close the three capsules with 3/4 of the content remaining. This means I only have to create six-new capsules, with the remaining 18 coming from the 3/4 full capsules I closed back up
• The capsules could barely hold 25 mg of DMSA plus 12.5 mg of ALA. With the increase of ALA I could no longer combine the chelators into a single capsule. This means I don’t have to also add the DMSA to each capsule. Big time saver.

I have four-weeks of this routine before I attempt to titrate my ALA up to 25 mg. Once I successfully move up my ALA strength I will no longer need to create my own capsules for at least four more weeks, when I again attempt to titrate up my ALA to 37.5 mg.