@sueinmn @gardeningjunkie I haven't had a great relationship with metals in my body either. I had some very old dental work with root canals, crowns and bridges that had been affecting my health. A root canal failed, and then another, and I made the decision to extract the teeth and get zirconium dental implants with a zirconium bridge to replace that. As soon as the 4 teeth involved were extracted, my asthma improved dramatically and I realized how much inflammation that was producing in my body. For the first time, I had no metals and my silver dental fillings had been replaced with safer resin composites by a biological dentist several years earlier, (but they had also cause autoimmune thyroid issues according to my doctor).
My metal free existence lasted for a few moths until I broke my ankle and received titanium plates and screws, and my asthma got worse again. 6 months after my ankle surgery, I developed chronic hives and I have to keep taking antihistamines or it comes back with large patches of welts on my arms, thighs or belly, or anywhere there is contact pressure like a crease in clothing. I have had pain and itching on my ankle, and I want to have the hardware removed. My surgeon said I had to wait a year for that, and the time is up, but I'm enjoying the summer and don't want to miss out during good weather. Taking antihistamines all the time dries out my mouth and lead to some dental cavities.
I have been a patient of an environmental allergy doctor and learned a lot about my health from him. He told me about the practice of Dr. Rea that pioneered the field which is the Environmental Health Center in Dallas. They do have some protocols for treating immune responses to implants, but I don't have experience with that. They are a resource for physicians and sell medical research volumes. Their website is https://www.ehcd.com/
There is also a provider search at https://www.aaemonline.org/. The blue button is in the top right corner.
The main difference in envirnomental medicine is to try to prevent a problem and they look for all sources of inflammation in the body rather than treat symptoms. For me that also means treating my allergies to inhaled pollen, dust, mold spores, etc. Does this approach sound like something you may want to try?
Jennifer, thank you for your information which could help many. Right now I have overcome several chronic diseases, Adult Leukemia and 3 types of eczema, all are in remission now. I attribute my health improvement to my anti-inflammation diet and also avoidance of specific contacts which testing identified. Cancelling my knee surgery probably saved my sanity. As I have written about in the past, my eczema inflammation was so extreme inside my skin I felt like I was being tasered: stinging, burning and itching. The sensations were more extreme at night when our histamine level is higher and I was at the point of suicide from lack of sleep. I'm glad I had the strength to keep searching for answers. I feel great today at 72. Yes I know my knee pain will return, but as I mentioned it's only limiting me in certain motions and I can still lead a productive life working around that with the current deterioration. Living with chronic pain is impossible to face 24/7. I absolutely cannot understand why Medicare will not require allergy testing for all the components in implants. This testing will immediately save Medicare the money to pay for the expensive surgeries, but more importantly this testing will save implant patients from the misery of living a life with a body at war with itself, a body rejecting a foreign body inside itself.