Allergies Episodes

After surviving breast cancer, Val Johnson believed she was finally moving into healing and recovery. Instead, what followed was years of escalating neurological symptoms, muscle spasms, severe pain, heart rhythm abnormalities, inflammation, weight loss, nervous system dysfunction, and repeated medical dismissal — all while breast and abdominal surgical clips and biopsy markers remained inside her body. In this deeply emotional and eye-opening episode of Heavily Metalled, Val shares her lifelong...

In this episode of Heavily Metalled, Shari sits down with Keslie to share a striking parallel in their journeys with Tarlov Cyst Disease and metal hypersensitivity. Both women underwent surgery with Dr. Rudolph Schrot M.D., Chief of Neurosurgery in Sacramento, CA—one of the few neurosurgeons in the U.S. specializing in Tarlov cysts—where metal craniofacial microplates and screws were used to close the exposed sacral bone where it was exposed and used to access the sacral nerves. What followed wi...

Madelung’s deformity is a rare congenital condition affecting the forearm, often treated with surgical implants. But for some patients, implanted hardware can trigger far more than a structural issue. In this episode, I’m joined by Stacey Parkinson, a young woman from England who underwent arm and wrist surgery for Madelung’s deformity—and soon after developed a range of alarming symptoms, including severe eczema, heart rate irregularities, chest pain and blood pressure instability. Less than a ...

Travel with Dewayne to North Texas where after 20 years of intractable pain due to metal allergy, he gets a DOUBLE HARDWARE REMOVAL (Lumbar and Cervical Spine) for his birthday! In a groundbreaking first for the Heavily Metalled Podcast, Dewayne comes to my hometown in DFW, and has this life-changing surgery with MY incredible neurosurgeon, Dr. Gregory Smith, D.O. I am with him, chronicling his journey every step of the way! When I met Dewayne, he was about to give up on life. I said “No way! “I...

Welcome to our Heavily Metalled Season 3 Opener and a Heavily Metalled FIRST! In this episode the renowned metal allergy expert Dr. Scott Schroeder takes metal allergy questions, along with Linda Nelson, CEO of MELISA Diagnostics, on our first ever community Q&A recorded LIVE, along with many questions sent in by our Metalhead audience! We’ve got questions about implants, surgeries, testing, diet, pre-operative preparation and much, MUCH more! In this episode you will learn: How you can experien...

In this groundbreaking episode of Heavily Metalled , we're joined by renowned orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon Dr. Selene Parekh to explore the revolutionary development of the metal-free 3D-printed Talus implant. As systemic metal hypersensitivity gains wider recognition, this innovation offers new hope to patients who may be allergic to traditional metal orthopedic implants or wish to avoid metal altogether. Dr. Parekh, known as the "Fantasy Doctor" for his sports injury analysis and as a tra...

Our guest today, Barry Walsh, has an incredible story about allergies to an IV filter, as well as spinal fusion hardware implanted after a 40 foot fall at a construction site. Prior to surgery Barry was a wealthy & successful construction contractor in New York City to many big name celebrities and organizations. After his fall he became homeless, gaslit, dismissed by medical professionals, locked up in psych wards repeatedly and lived in his car until a hero surgeon believed him and started re...

Our guest today, Debbie Heist Lambert is the author of the new book “Gadolinium Deposition and Toxicity: Humanizing a Life-Changing Event", as well as head honcho over at Living with Gadolinium, LLC. Debbie is a huge advocate for all medically injured patients. She is enthusiastic about ensuring that informed consent, truth and transparency become the gold standard for all things healthcare after her own life changed dramatically following the first, and then multiple injections of a GBCA (gado...

Our guest today, Shannon, has a remarkable story about allergies to an iliac vein stent (two actually) that she received after a May Thurner syndrome diagnosis. Prior to surgery to place the stent she had even informed the surgeon about her severe nickel allergy, complete with LTT test results, and woke from surgery to find out that she had received not only one but TWO nitinol stents instead!!!Nitinol is often comprised of nearly equal amounts of nickel and titanium and causes severe symptoms i...

EP31 - Sensiband Metal Allergy Test Kit w/Spine Surgeon & Inventor Mitch Reiter In this episode of Heavily Metalled , we’re diving deep into the Sensiband metal allergy test kit with inventor and renowned spine surgeon Dr. Mitchell Reiter. Sensiband is FDA Class 1 medical device and a groundbreaking tool designed to help individuals identify sensitivities to metals that could be causing systemic pain and other health issues.Dr. Reiter discusses his background and why metal allergies and allergie...

Our guest today, Julene, joins us in the middle of her knee replacement journey.After going early on for a relatively routine meniscus repair, working through physical therapy and all the things to recover, she wound up in an extreme amount of pain that wasn’t normal. Saw a new doctor in follow-up who advised a total knee replacement. Julene received three surgical opinions and all were in agreement. Julene chose the surgeon that asked about prior reactions to metal. About a month after surgery ...

The Low Nickel Diet and template for eating well with metal allergies is quickly gaining popularity among those sensitive to metals. Join us today for this episode with Gilda Capraro, the brawn and brains behind the super-helpful Low Nickel Diet & Lifestyle Facebook group. This episode is jam-packed with information to help you with all things diet and lifestyle as you navigate your nickel allergy and all that goes with it. Much of this information will be applicable to those who are also cross-...

This episode details relevant personal updates regarding Shari’s health status, surgeries, death of a prominent family member and an official statement regarding MELISA Diagnostics inability to currently provide metal LTT testing to US residents, as well as where to find alternative testing in the meantime. This episode also makes statements responding to serious allegations leveled at Shari regarding the production and agenda of the Heavily Metalled Podcast. Also the new YouTube Medical Misinfo...

Emily is working on her Bachelor’s Degree in Nutritional Science and is looking forward to completing a PhD in the same field a few years after graduation. Emily has been sensitive to metals her whole life, starting with a severe allergy to earrings and other jewelry as a child. In early 2019 she was talked into getting her nose pierced by a friend and was SUPER excited. Even picking out cute nose rings. Within months of that nose piercing Emily developed multiple autoimmune diseases and suffere...

Come learn about why YOU need to have the chronic infection & virus component on YOUR radar if you are dealing with systemic metal hypersensitivity and other chronic issues. Many with metal hypersensitivity could be dealing with Lyme Disease, Bartonella, HHV6 or EBV, worsening all systemic symptoms & immune status with NO idea. Systemic metal allergies are driven by antigens and T-cells, which put your immune system into rebellion and overdrive. With a compromised immune system so inflamed by me...

Maria Lappin, our guest from Michigan, is our incredible Season 2 opener. Her episode discusses a prominent lesion on the tip of her nose, diagnosed by multiple specialists, as aggressive metastatic melanoma. The lesion was, in fact, caused by a systemic reaction to surgical clips placed inside her body without her knowledge, her permission or being pre-screened for metal hypersensitivity, during surgery to remove her lymph nodes in conjunction with the Melanoma diagnoses. Her brave saga will le...

EP22 - Beyond the Metal: Holistic Dental Care with Dr. Michelle Jorgensen, DDS, FAGD, TNC, CNAS Dr. Michelle Jorgensen has a passion for not just the mouth but how it connects to the entire body, and beyond that, how the connects to the world! We discuss Dr. Michelle’s personal journey with metal toxicity to mercury amalgam, and how she almost became unable to practice dentistry, and had to put her practice up for sale. She tells us how she detoxed and how she uncovered her own MTHFR genetic mut...

Christian hails from Michigan and is a young Italian man, working as an engineer, who has a passion for soccer, being Italian and heavy metal music.. He describes himself as a formerly “happy-go-lucky” guy until spine surgery and metal allergies turned his life upside down. After the sudden onset of back trouble and searing pain, Christian worked through the traditional medical routes, until it was decided that he would need a spinal fusion.After surgery, Christian knew immediately that somethi...

OB/GYN Dr. Julio Novoa, who not only provides excellence in women’s health care but is renowned for his minimally invasive techniques, joins the HMP to discuss all things foreign body reactions, metal hypersensitivity, ASIA syndrome and beyond. Not only a OB/GYN, Dr. Novoa also specializes in cosmetic gynecology but might just shine as the brightest light in his concern for women’s safety and advocacy, who agrees more with a patient-centric model for healthcare as opposed to approaching medicine...

EP19 - Essure Sterilization: Life-Threatening Migration, Fatigue, Pain & Symptoms Our guest for this episode is a first for the Heavily Metalled Podcast….”Maria” is telling her story, choosing to remain anonymous, regarding almost a decade of pain, symptoms and difficulties surrounding the Essure permanent metal sterilization device, taken off the market in December of 2018 after a litany of deaths, adverse event reports and intense scrutiny. “Maria” was able to have her Essure removed via a ful...

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 le...

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 ...

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 Tik...

Cheryl went in one way for routine gallbladder surgery and came out another. Prior to surgery Cheryl liked the simple things in life: Outdoor activities, board games, hanging with her kids and watching Netflix. Cheryl had a history of jewelry and other allergies, but didn’t think much about it, and especially when going in for emergency gallbladder surgery. The surgery went well, removing a gallbladder with 1500+ stones, but a week after surgery Cheryl found herself suddenly not able to breathe ...