Heavily Metalled Heavily Metalled

Meet our fascinating podcast guest, Dr. Kim D’Eramo, DO, a Board-Certified Emergency Medicine Physician who embarked on a transformative journey from conventional medicine to a profound understanding of Mindbody medicine and spirituality. With an innate sensitivity and intuitive nature, Dr. Kim recognized the profound impact of thoughts and emotions on health early on.After years in the Emergency Room, attending to acute processes and disease states with a unique perspective, she courageously left her career to establish a practice focused on Mindbody techniques. Dr. Kim’s own battle with a mysterious illness during medical school became a turning point, leading to a deep realization about the power of perspective and self-nurturing. Through this profound shift tin mindset, she not only fully healed herself, but gained invaluable insights into the root causes of chronic pain and illness. In this episode we explore the transformative power of energy, consciousness, self-talk and awareness in regards to the realm of health and healing. In this episode we discuss Dr. Kim’s personal journey, what true surrender looks and feels like within the body and how to change our physical selves back from an over-reaction to a multitude of stimuli, foreign bodies, chemicals and pathogens, to a non-reactive, nurturing state, where we can be truly healed from the inside out. You will learn more about balancing emotional needs with physical needs and how not to buy into the doom and gloom of your own story. You will learn how to be truly heard by those in your circle and how to team up with your mind and body, bringing them back into true harmony and healing resilience. Dr. Kim is generous enough to take us through a tapping meditation to release fear, disease and lack, helping stuck energy regarding our chronic illness to finally move through the brain and body, to finally help us achieve freedom from the bondage of chronic pain and succumbing to being a victim of our individual personal circumstances. 

In this episode you will learn:


Why fighting your illness and just “pushing through” never works. 


How to feel sourced, heard by physicians and reside in your own power. 


A tapping meditation and exercise to release pain and fear. 


That complete healing from a lifelong sentence of chronic illness and pain is TRULY possible. 



~Links and Resources~

~ Check out Dr. Kim’s website and resources here:  https://drkimd.com/

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~ Order Dr. Kim’s book The Mindbody Toolkit here: https://drkimd.com/book/

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~To learn more visit ⁠HeavilyMetalled.com⁠.

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Check out the “Heavily Metalled” resource page: ⁠https://www.heavilymetalled.com/resources⁠

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Follow Heavily Metalled on Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/HeavilyMetalled⁠

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Follow Heavily Metalled on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/heavilymetalled/⁠

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Subscribe to Heavily Metalled on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HeavilyMetalled⁠

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Check out our sponsor ⁠https://melisa.org⁠

***Many WONDERFUL, supportive special-interest communities exist for metal allergies and diet, hardware issues, medical devices, etc., online and on social media. They have many resources and often act as a collective think-tank. I owe many parts of my recovery to knowledge obtained in such groups. Search keywords to join these groups and find your tribe!***

Laura Duzett is a third-year medical student and survivor of a horrendous bout with dyshidrotic eczema. Soon-to-be Dr. Laura has just released an amazing and comprehensive new Low-Nickel Diet Cookbook that promises to be revolutionary. The cookbook features sections on breakfast, breads, poultry & seafood selections, desert and beverage options and more. The book was co-written with board certified physician and dermatologist Dr. Matthew Zirwas, author of over 195 peer-reviewed journal articles and a patient-centric practice dedicated to discovering the root cause of diseases and syndromes affecting the skin. 

The book and interview outlines which foods are considered lower and higher in nickel, and sets up three tenants of a successful low-nickel diet, with a foundation rooted in many diets that have been scientifically proven to have great health implications for patients struggling with chronic health symptoms. Lifestyle diets that were modified into this new, low-nickel approach include the following: The Low FODMAP diet, The Mediterranean Diet, Low Carbohydrate diets and loosely the GAPS diet protocol. 

The focus of the 140 recipes in the book are tailored to those who wish to not only try eating low-nickel, but also those who wish to try to eat recipes without gluten, grains, sugar and processed foods, although the book is written in such a way that those who do not wish to be as stringent are easily able to swap out ingredients and modify the included recipes to better-serve their desire lifestyle and taste preferences. The book includes low-nickel diet food lists, multiple approaches to the low-nickel diet for different lifestyle needs, and estimated amounts of nickel in common measurements for those who would like to customize their dietary ingredients. 

We discuss favorite foods, how the book came together, common struggles of the nickel-allergic patient in regards to diet, substitutions, and why Laura continues to recommend gluten and grain-free diet adherence. Further discussed is Laura’s favorite alternative to sugar, how extreme recovery and ability to return to a less-stringent version of the low-nickel diet is not only possible, but likely for many if not most in time. We discuss the diet, gut health, mast cell and histamine connections, as well as non-diet lifestyle modifications that really help the body to heal.

In this episode you will learn:


The three tenants of low-nickel diet success: 1) Reduce nickel intake. 2) Increase nickel release and 3) Be kind to your immune system. 


The mechanisms in dietary nickel that cause T-cell activation, inflammation and gut permeability and the surprising percentage of GI, GERD & other patients that may be exhibiting symptoms from diets high in nickel. 


What foods are generally recognized as safe for the nickel-allergic patient and how to incorporate moderate-nickel foods into rotations that will still allow you to eat a healthy diet below 150mcg of nickel daily. 



~Links and Resources~

~ Check out The Low Nickel Diet website & order the new book:  https://thelownickeldiet.com

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~ To see images that accompany this episode and sample recipe photos click HERE. 

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~To learn more visit ⁠HeavilyMetalled.com⁠.

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Check out the “Heavily Metalled” resource page: ⁠https://www.heavilymetalled.com/resources⁠

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Follow Heavily Metalled on Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/HeavilyMetalled⁠

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Follow Heavily Metalled on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/heavilymetalled/⁠

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Subscribe to Heavily Metalled on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HeavilyMetalled⁠

~

Check out our sponsor ⁠https://melisa.org⁠

***Many WONDERFUL, supportive special-interest communities exist for metal allergies and diet, hardware issues, medical devices, etc., online and on social media. They have many resources and often act as a collective think-tank. I owe many parts of my recovery to knowledge obtained in such groups. Search keywords

Dr. Nadim Hallab is the CEO of Orthopedic Analysis and a professor at Rush University Medical Center in the department of Orthopedic Surgery. Dr. Hallab is an expert in metal hypersensitivity and implant degradation, whose research encompasses immune reactions to implant debris, modular junctions, peri-implant cell toxicity, and material surfaces for controlling immune responses.

Over two decades, his group has made significant advancements in understanding implant debris interactions and improving implant performance. They've also developed renowned diagnostic methods for establishing metal sensitivity, especially as it relates to implanted hardware and medical devices.

Dr, Hallab is the author of over 100 PubMed articles on metal hypersensitivity in regards to orthopedics, has authored and published many other scientific journal articles and has spoken on these subjects nationally and internationally, also sitting as an expert for the FDA on device panel hearings and other meetings.

On this episode Dr. Hallab discusses the founding of Orthopedic Analysis, one of the world leaders in blood metal LTT allergy testing and the largest provider of this testing within the USA.

We delve into the medical community's views on metal hypersensitivity, Lymphocyte Transformation Testing's clinical validation, and why the "gold standard" patch test falls short in diagnosing metal sensitivity. We explore ongoing efforts to gain support from the FDA, NIH, and insurance providers for LTT testing.

We discuss differences between testing methodologies of the stateside Orthopedic Analysis lab, compared to overseas provider MELISA diagnostics and the overall provision and standards of LTT testing, as well as the different materials tested and tested against. Also concentration levels are better explained and a discussion on the shipping of biological samples occurs.

Further conversation ensues around the future of metal implants in healthcare, along with the options of coating implants with alternative shielding agents like titanium nitride and carbon fiber, to camouflage allergenic metals from identification by the immune system, which may be less ideal than previously considered.

The episode concludes with insights into the impact of COVID on the immune system and answers to questions from Metalhead followers.



~Links and Resources~

~ Check out the Orthopedic Analysis website https://www.orthopedicanalysis.com/

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~Access some of Dr. Hallab's scholarly and journal publications HERE:

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~To learn more visit ⁠HeavilyMetalled.com⁠.

~

Check out the “Heavily Metalled” resource page: ⁠https://www.heavilymetalled.com/resources⁠

~

Follow Heavily Metalled on Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/HeavilyMetalled⁠

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Follow Heavily Metalled on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/heavilymetalled/⁠

~

Subscribe to Heavily Metalled on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HeavilyMetalled⁠

~

Check out our sponsor ⁠https://MELISA.org⁠

***Many WONDERFUL, supportive special-interest communities exist for metal allergies and diet, hardware issues, medical devices, etc., online and on social media. They have many resources and often act as a collective think-tank. I owe many parts of my recovery to knowledge obtained in such groups. Search keywords to join these groups and find your tribe!***

Dr. Marco Caicedo is the Chief Operating Officer of Orthopedic Analysis, and an adjunct professor at Rush University Medical Center in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Dr. Caicedo has dedicated his life and career to the study of immune reactions in regards to metal hypersensitivity and is the author of many published scholarly journal articles on the same. 

We discuss the early-on resistance of orthopedic surgeons, immunologists and other medical peers to the concept of reactivity to metal implants, and go on to discuss how the immune system often views and regulates the presence of metal implants, small or large, and other foreign bodies. Inflammasome Danger Signaling is occurs as the body mounts a strategic response to encapsulate and rid the body, if possible, of the offending foreign material. Innate immune responses are discussed, where macrophages exposed to ions induce an inflammatory response. 

On the other hand, with adaptive immune responses which occur over a longer period of time, macrophages recruit more antigens, which send out signals to pick up lymphocytes and T-cells and it all spirals into an often out-of-control inflammatory response cycle. 

Type 1 through Type IV hypersensitivity is discussed–many times patients can present with MULTIPLE types of hypersensitivity reactions to the same allergen–along with the individuality of different patient immune systems. The same allergen present can manifest in a litany of different symptoms and syndromes from individual to individual, making it sometimes difficult to diagnose and categorize.. A discussion also ensues around allergy versus immune reaction, and how one is often mistaken for another. We also discuss allergy versus infection. 

We discuss headway that may be in the making in regards to the FDA and a 175 page document on metal hypersensitivity reactions, released in 2019. It is now documented that metal allergies are of concern, but there is still a long way to go. 

Metal implants and allergies are not going away anytime soon. They are actually on the rise. The secret is going to lie in more studies, more screening, more testing, more advocacy and more alternative solutions for implants and revision surgeries. 

Episode 16 will cover the actual LTT testing offered by Orthopedic Analysis. Stay tuned….

In this episode you will learn:


The difference between innate & adaptive immune responses. 


How patients with metal sensitivities frequently have severe reactions to additional metal constituents. These can be allergic responses OR immune reactivity. They can look the same, but are different. 


Treatments and implants on the horizon that may be of help to metal-allergic patients with chronic inflammation & increased options for materials & tolerance to surgical implants 



~Links and Resources~

~ Check out the Orthopedic Analysis website https://www.orthopedicanalysis.com/

~

~Access some of Dr. Caicedo’s scholarly and journal publications HERE:

~

~To learn more visit ⁠HeavilyMetalled.com⁠.

~

Check out the “Heavily Metalled” resource page: ⁠https://www.heavilymetalled.com/resources⁠

~

Follow Heavily Metalled on Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/HeavilyMetalled⁠

~

Follow Heavily Metalled on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/heavilymetalled/⁠

~

Subscribe to Heavily Metalled on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HeavilyMetalled⁠

~

Check out our sponsor ⁠https://melisa.org⁠

***Many WONDERFUL, supportive special-interest communities exist for metal allergies and diet, hardware issues, medical devices, etc., online and on social media. They have many resources and often act as a collective think-tank. I owe many parts of my recovery to knowledge obtained in such groups. Search keywords to join these groups and find your tribe!***

Mark Kennard lives in New Zealand and has suffered with severe metal allergies literally his entire life. 

He intuitively knew something was wrong from the moments he had his first immunizations and started reacting to the aluminum and adjuvants derived from metals, experimenting with more inoculations, just to prove the bizarre symptoms.

Physicians diagnosed him with a somatic disorder, accusing him of over-reacting. Not coincidentally, the further he got from the shots, the more symptoms resolved. 

Not long after he discovered his chronic fatigue syndrome was being caused by mercury and eating an over-abundance of tuna from tin cans. Magically, when he stopped, all symptoms cleared. 

Later Mark herniated a disc in his back, ultimately requiring a fusion surgery after PT did not resolve symptoms. He mentioned to his surgeon past complications with metals but was assured the implants were bio-compatible. He woke from surgery with immediate resolution of physical pain but days later started reacting with strange, unexplainable symptoms ….blood pressure issues, repeated bowel movements, fainting, vertigo, body temperature fluctuations, severe digestive issues & visual disturbances. 

Mark was able to put together that he was reacting to titanium dioxide, also that he was experiencing galvanic reactions from interplay between his amalgam fillings, and his spinal implants.

Not able to get a blood LTT lymphocyte transformation test, due to complications with getting the sample to the lab in time from New Zealand, he was left on his own to convince doctors that he was experiencing metal hypersensitivity. 

After years of fighting, asking for new surgeons and being outright dismissed by multiple medical providers, he was able to get his spine surgery revised, only to find out that fragments of the metal hardware were left behind, along with another foreign metal object…some of this would have to remain. He developed epilepsy, and life-threatening seizures with no prior history, becoming medication dependent to keep from seizing. 

Mark’s nightmare continued with a spinal fracture, another revision and a new allergy to bone cement. A surgeon sympathetic to his situation helped with surgery and revisions, even removing the foreign object, which Mark improved greatly from, but this removal wasn’t documented….it just “disappeared” as if never there, along with all of the symptoms it caused. 

Mark still struggles, but has an incredible and courageous story. It draws attention to how widely systemic metal allergies can affect the individual, permanently changing lives. 

In this episode you will learn:


Titanium allergies exist. They are serious and cause a wide variety of symptoms. 


How patients with metal allergies frequently have severe reactions to additional metal constituents. 


Just how prevalent the rejection of the occurrence of systemic metal allergies is within medical communities–a narrative severely damaging to patients and needing to change. 



~Links and Resources~

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To see the images that accompany this episode click HERE. 

~To learn more visit HeavilyMetalled.com.

~

Check out the “Heavily Metalled” resource page: https://www.heavilymetalled.com/resources

~

Follow Heavily Metalled on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeavilyMetalled

~

Follow Heavily Metalled on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heavilymetalled/

~

Subscribe to Heavily Metalled on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HeavilyMetalled

~

Check out our sponsor https://melisa.org

***Many WONDERFUL, supportive special-interest communities exist for metal allergies and diet, hardware issues, medical devices, etc., online and on social media. They have many resources and often act as a collective think-tank. I owe many parts of my recovery to knowledge obtained in such groups. Search keywords to join these groups and find your tribe!***

EP13 - Surgical Clips, Staples & Marker Removal Surgery for Metal-Allergic Patients w/Dr. Chris Cottrell, MD, FACS

Dr Chris Cottrell, MD, FACS, has been a general surgeon in practice for decades, currently living in North Texas. He grew to viral fame on TikTok with a video that showcased his surgical acumen with a DaVinci Robot as he tied a cherry stem in a knot with the robot, much to the delight of social media. The short-form video received over 6.3 million views. Dr. Cottrell has a great TikTok page, and enjoys dabbling in photography & videography, along with family & pool time. 

Dr. Cottrell is a member of a busy surgical practice and is well-known for several specialties: reflux & bariatric surgery. He also is a super passionate fan of robotic surgery, and educates other surgeons on effective uses of the surgical robot. In the past few years Dr. Cottrell has stumbled on a niche that has left him in demand by many metal-allergic patients: removing surgical clips, staples, and on occasion biopsy markers from metal-allergic patients. All but several of the patients have made significant recoveries from years and even decades of chronic pain and symptoms, thanks to Dr. Cottrell’s pioneering medical interventions.

Dr. Cottrell goes on to share some of his interesting surgical cases surrounding metal clip & staple removal—many clients travel from out of state to see him. 

A discussion regarding surgical opinions of staples & clips within the surgical industry ensues, and Dr. Cottrell voices that what is really needed for a significant number of medical professionals to get onboard are studies.

We discuss informed consent in medical and surgical settings, reviewing surgical consents and how patients can better advocate for themselves and communicate their allergies going into surgery. The purpose of the surgical time-out is addressed and there is discussion around when it is and is not important to use the surgical time out to address metal allergies. Also the importance of communication between various members of the surgical team is discussed. 

This episode provides VALUABLE information for anyone with chronic symptoms wondering if they have clips, staples or markers and if the same should be considered for removal. Dr. Cottrell is willing to consult with patients, physicians and surgeons around the world.