I just wanted to share my story about how MELISA helped me tremendously to finally figure out what had been causing my health problems, which I had been trying to resolve for the previous 16 years. I am eternally grateful for this technology and these caring staff members, who went out of their way to help me. Shout out to Julia Glendinning and Christa Davis for their amazing customer service and for genuinely caring about me and my health.

Back in January of this year (2020), I started to wonder if the stainless steel hardware implanted in my back for scoliosis 16 years ago could have anything to do with my health symptoms. I was experiencing terrible hives, that were basically always present to some degree, but more so when I would eat certain foods or drink alcohol. I had been trying for so many years to figure out why this was happening to me. I saw many doctors (allergists, dermatologists, gastroenterologists), tried acupuncture and tried so many different diets. I even saw a naturopath. But nothing I did worked. Having explored all these options, I started to wonder if the metal in my back could have something to do with the hives and other symptoms I was experiencing (extreme fatigue, dizziness upon standing, low blood pressure, anxiety, constipation, brain fog).

I started researching the topic and found that metal allergy could give a person these symptoms. In researching, I came upon the MELISA website. I contacted them and everyone I spoke with there was so very kind and went out of their way to take the time to talk at length with me. I decided to go for it and do the testing. When I got the results back, it showed that I was strongly positively allergic to nickel. I had already checked with the manufacturer of the hardware and 14% of what comprised the hardware was nickel. I felt so relieved having an answer and finally feeling like I had verifiable results telling me what the problem was. I had all of the hardware removed on 18 March 2020. That was about 2 months ago and I feel better than I have ever felt in my entire adult life and I don’t itch anymore! I’m almost off of my very high potency steroid ointment that I was having to use every night like lotion. My blood pressure went from 100/60 on average before surgery to 112/67 on average after surgery. The low blood pressure was the reason why I was so tired all the time and would get dizzy upon standing frequently. All of my other symptoms resolved as well.

Just to be clear, this was my theory; I had this chunk of stainless steel in my body for 16 years, which I was either allergic to before they put it in or developed an allergy to over time. Because my body was fighting something I was allergic to constantly, it was releasing a lot of histamine. Then, when I would eat certain foods (more and more foods fell into this category as the years went by) the histamine from them was just too much for my body because my histamine bucket so to speak was already so full from the constant histamine release, due to fighting the metal in my body which I was allergic to. This led me to itch constantly and not be able to eat much of anything without itching more. It took about 7 weeks to start seeing substantial improvement in my hives and other symptoms post op but it was worth the wait (see before and after pictures below). I took all of the after pictures at 8 weeks post op.

I can eat whatever I want now and I feel better than I have in my whole adult life. When my surgeon removed the hardware, he said he could see that it was corroding somewhat in there. He said he had had patients in the past whose hardware he took out that were corroding even more than mine and that when he took their hardware out, they got better. If you look closely at the photo I attached below of the removed hardware, you can actually see brown spots on the hardware where it was corroding.

I am so THANKFUL for my restored health. I honestly feel like I have a new body in so many ways. THIS is how a 33 year old is meant to feel. I feel normal. I feel energetic. I feel happy. I feel FREE! It took me 16 years to figure this out. I had doctors tell me “you’re never going to figure out what’s causing your hives.” Sometimes I felt like I would have been better off to take my co-pay and throw it in a wishing well instead of giving it to some of these doctors. But, here we are. I figured it out. The MELISA testing helped point me in the right direction and told me what no doctor had been able to tell me – the cause of all my symptoms.

I know fighting a medical battle, especially one where you are doubted constantly and feel poorly constantly, is so hard and draining. I know sometimes you want to quit fighting for answers because it seems like you’re not getting anywhere and are just getting worse no matter what you try…but don’t. I’m so happy I didn’t quit searching for answers even when the doctors told me it was useless to keep trying. MELISA gave me the answers I was looking for in order to finally make peace with my body and it feels amazing. I will never take my health for granted after going through this. If you suspect, even a little bit, that metal allergy might be playing a role in your health symptoms, I would say just do the MELISA testing. I’m SO glad I did.