Christine undergoing controversial chelation therapy this week
Earlier this year when Christine and I went to see Dr. Eric Westman at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina about some health issues Christine has been experiencing most of her life, he showed me a book that I didn’t realize the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins has even written entitled Dr. Atkins’ Health Revolution: How Complementary Medicine Can Extend Your Life. In that book there is a special section dedicated to a controversial therapy treatment for heavy metal poisoning that needs to be removed to improve a wide variety of health issues, including multiple schlerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), fibromyalgia, anxiety disorders, chronic joint pain, sleep disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and more.
It’s not surprising that Dr. Atkins would share about this equally controversial procedure nearly two decades ago with all the flack he caught from his low-carb diet concepts. But he’s not the only doctor who has touted chelation therapy to remove heavy metals. Look at all of these books at Amazon about this unconventional, yet seemingly effective means for improving the health and well-being of those who undergo it. And one of the biggest proponents of low-carb and chelation therapy today is an internist in Hilton Head, South Carolina named Dr. Joseph Hickey.
Dr. Atkins and Dr. Hickey met in person in 2003
In Episode 53 of “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube,” you’ll get to see what my wife Christine has been going through this week going through these chelation treatments at The Hickey Wellness Center in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Highly recommended by Dr. Westman, I have been nothing but impressed by what Dr. Hickey had to say about how he can improve health. While I am still highly skeptical that this is gonna actually help Christine, I am willing to do this to give Christine relief from the fibromyalgia, joint pain, panic attacks, migraines, and other health issues she has dealt with since the age of 9. But I look forward to interviewing Dr. Hickey about chelation for my podcast show very soon.
See where Christine and I have been this week trying to make her better in today’s video:
We will know more about the extent of Christine’s heavy metal poisoning soon and prepare for even more treatments in the coming months if it is as severe as Dr. Hickey suspects it is. This is not cheap and, as you might suspect, is not covered by health insurance. I liken it to chiropractic which was long berated by the medical establishment (and still is!), but was finally accepted as a necessary health care function that would be covered by insurance. The more success people find with chelation, the quicker it will be embraced or at the very least accepted as a viable option for treating a multitude of diseases. THANK YOU for your thoughts and prayers for Christine as she goes through this.
Catch up on all our previous YouTube videos and subscribe to our YouTube videos so you’ll always get the new ones as soon as they are posted. Send us your suggested show ideas and comments about the show anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.
Jimmy,
I wish your wife success with chelation. I have been following this treatment process for a while. You are aware that many have died as a result of this treatment, right? Be careful.
I wanted to tell you that my sister had suffered from similar ailments that Christine does, although not her whole life, and tried everything under the sun. (Interestingly, my sister’s problems mysteriously started a while after she had a type of successful bariatric bypass surgery.) It wasn’t until she discovered NAET therapy administered by a chiropractor that she got relief from chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, allergies, etc.. You may or may not have heard of it before. If not, you can visit http://www.naet.com to get details and find a practitioner, and I will be happy to hook you up with my sister by email if you want more details. I believe she spent around $500 for a series of treatments about a year ago. To this day, she swears it has cured her fibromyalgia, among other things. But you can be the judge. It’s worth checking out, if only for Christine’s sake. Lee
Jimmy,
Long time reader and fan here. I make my living writing for the alternative health and dietary supplement industry, and I encourage you and Christine to never give up. It is truly amazing how many complementary and alternative cures hold promise, that mainstream medicine either isn’t aware of, or scorns. I have seen major health issues in my own family turn totally around. You probably know this, but there are also oral chelation agents, not just IV chelation. I wish you both all the best.
Jimmy, have you considered your wife might have an allergy to gluten? I had all of her symptoms, but since going gluten free, I am “cured.” I suspected for a while I had gluten sensitivities. Now I avoid gluten like the plague. A book that really educated me is Celiac Disease – A Hidden Epidemic by Dr. Green (he’s an MD).
I used to think going low carb meant you avoid a lot of gluten – not always the case.
P.S. I agree with the first comment.
Please research chelation therapy thoroughly before you subject your wife to this. Some people liken it to quackery. I know Dr. Atkins advocated it. I also know Dr. Atkins was sued by the family of a woman who died of breast cancer under his care because she did not receive appropriate treatment. You don’t hear much about that. But it’s on the web if you care to research it.
Please be careful.
Hi Jimmy,
Best wishes to you and Christine…I hope this will be the answer you and she are looking for.
If it is not, however, has anyone ever suggested testing her for celiac disease? Since it runs in my family (and I have it, too), I’m very aware of the many ways it can manifest.
For me, it was mostly extreme joint pain, severe headaches, and often diarrhea. After I went gluten free, I had almost complete relief from joint pain within 2 weeks and no more headaches immediately. What also cleared up was a strange itchy rash I’d had on my ankles for years, that would never go away before. Ingesting any amount of wheat now makes for an instant return of the headaches, joint pain, diarrhea and the rash.
One of my sisters had fibromyalgia, then was diagnosed with celiac. After going gluten free, her fibro symptoms left completely with no meds. A return to eating any gluten brings back the symptoms.
One brother had extreme migraines and also lost so much weight they thought he had cancer. Much testing showed no cancer but eventually he was diagnosed with celiac. With staying gluten-free, he has returned to a normal weight and no more migraines.
As I said, I wish you both the best and hopefully an answer to health issues with what you are doing now…but just wanted to express my thoughts about possible celiac disease, too.
Christine and JImmy, I wish you both the best during this time of research and treatment. Keep your faith that the correct path will be placed before you and you will have technology guided by God on your side. I’ll be praying for both of you.
Shari
I agree with the others about celiac. My sister was just diagnosed with it last year, but she is still having problems. I had the blood test for Celiac and they came back negative. But I follow a gluten free diet and I can’t begin to tell you how much better I feel. By the way most people with celiac don’t have the “classic” symptoms. If my sister had been diagnosed earlier she shouldn’t have had to suffer like she is, diabetes, heart problems, and maybe now she may have autoimmune hepatitis.
I have hereditary hemochromatosis (iron overload). I am the first in my family to be tested and since then all of my siblings and parents have been tested and luckily they are only carriers. You shouldn’t have to suffer from this, and all I have to do is donate blood once a year, or sometimes twice a year. At first I had to have a bag of blood(500cc) taken out every week for a month and then every other week for another month to be (deironed). There is a genetic test for this, I would get your wife tested.
Good luck.
PS. I am so sorry to hear about your brother, God Bless you and your family during this difficult time.
Hi Jimmie, Would you ask Christine to take a look at the website called Stop the Thyroid Madness? (Janie, the list founder, has written a really good book now too, based on the thousands of people who’ve poured out their symptoms, misdiagnoses, treatments, and successes treating their adrenals and thyroids. It’s AMAZING how much weight retention, fibro, breast tenderness, plantar fasciitis, and other symptoms are ameliorated or cured by proper adrenal treatment, and thyroid treatment — and most docs only go by the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) test — which they admit is pretty inaccurate, but they go by it anyway.
Anyway, too much great info to summarize here: please go see!
Elenor
Will do, Elenor! THANKS!
–Jimmy
After reading this post I had to reply. I am from Savannah, GA. My parents and siblings still live there and shop in Hilton Head. I am an RN and have been administering IV chelation therapy at the Balance of Life Clinic for Dr. Clifford Sonnie in Medina, Oh for 3 years now. I have listened to my patients comments on recieving chelation. I have patients that IV chelation improved their ailments and others it didn’t. So I believe as anything else, everyone’s body is different and may or may not feel improvement though they may see objective, measurable improvement through Bioelectrical Stress Assessments. While receiving their treatments they sit around and discuss their treatments and how it has helped them. Their comments range from better eyesight to feeling younger and having more energy. Some admit to being able to think more clearly and to being able to control their diabetes and high cholesterol without medication or significantly decreasing the amount of medication they take. Some have a long family history of heart disease and sought chelation to prevent them from having it and are disease free and have happily surpassed their forefathers lifespan. Some have PAD and have been successful in their treatments to prevent future blood vessel blockages. What I have visibly noticed most is that the patients who have been receiving chelation therapy for years have a beautiful glow to their skin.
My parents come to Ohio to visit about once a year. My mother suffers from artheritis and the 12 hour trip makes her body ache. My father complains of always being tired. 2 years ago I started them on IV chelation and IV nutritionals when they came to visit. My mother called me when they got home to tell me. They drove striaht home the 12 hours. Once they got home they didn’t have to rest, they immediately unloaded their car then drove to Wal-Mart and grocery shopped and felt great.
So 3 years ago when I started administering chelation, I felt tired and groggy. I had the office tech do a BEST test and I tested positive for heavy metals, especially aluminum and cadmium. I was pregnant and then breastfeeding and did not recieve the chelation treatments. Finally, I have just now started the calcium EDTA. I can personally testify that for me, it did clear my brain fog. I can think clearer and feel more awake. I hope to get that beautiful glow. Only time will tell. Good luck with the treatments. I hope that IV chelation therapy works well for you.
-Nicole