If your goal is to age well, knowing your toxic load and lowering it is a practical, measurable step, alongside hormones, metabolic health and nutrition.
“Chelation” comes from the Greek word for claw. A chelating agent grabs onto a metal ion in the bloodstream, forms a stable compound with it, and carries it out of the body through the kidneys or the gut. Different agents have different affinities: EDTA is most often used for lead, DMSA and DMPS for mercury, lead and arsenic. Depending on the metal and your situation, treatment may be delivered by IV in our Corona Del Mar clinic or as a prescription you take at home under our direction.
This is not a spa detox. Chelating agents are prescription medications, and they can pull essential minerals along with toxic ones. That’s why chelation at PRIME always starts with testing, always includes mineral and kidney monitoring, and always sits inside a broader PRIME 360 Health Plan™ rather than being sold as a standalone drip.
When testing confirms elevated lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, aluminum or other metals, chelation is the most direct way to bring those levels down and stop them from doing further damage to nerves, kidneys, blood vessels and hormone-producing tissue.
The protocols we build around chelation support the liver, kidney and gut pathways your body uses to clear all toxins, not just metals. Patients often notice this as more consistent energy and a clearer head.
Heavy metal burden rarely announces itself. It shows up as fatigue, brain fog, headaches, numbness or tingling, mood changes, digestive trouble, and stubborn inflammation that doesn’t respond to the usual treatments. When metals are the driver, removing them is what finally moves those symptoms.
Lowering your total toxic load is one of the levers we have for supporting healthy aging. It is the E in PRIME: environmental exposures shape how you feel and how you age, and we treat them seriously.
If you’ve been told your labs are “normal” but you still deal with fatigue, brain fog, neuropathy, headaches, joint pain, mood changes, or inflammation that won’t settle, heavy metals belong on the list of things to rule out.
If your goal is to age well, knowing your toxic load and lowering it is a practical, measurable step, alongside hormones, metabolic health and nutrition.
None of these confirm heavy metal toxicity on their own. Testing does.
A full course is typically a series of sessions spaced days to weeks apart. How many depends on which metals were found, how elevated they were, and how your follow-up labs respond. We don’t lock you into a package; we treat to your results.
Kidney and liver function labs before starting and at intervals during treatment
Mineral and electrolyte monitoring with repletion built into the protocol
Follow-up heavy metal testing to confirm levels are actually dropping
Dose adjustments by your doctor based on response, not a fixed template
A clinical team on site during every infusion
Meet with your PRIME Health Coach and doctor to review your symptoms, health history and likely exposures: home, water, diet, work, hobbies, dental work and past illness.
You don’t, until you test. Symptoms overlap with dozens of other conditions. If you have a plausible exposure and symptoms that haven’t been explained, a targeted blood, urine or hair analysis is the way to find out.
Under medical supervision, with testing first and monitoring throughout, yes. The serious complications you may have read about came from unsupervised use, over-the-counter products, or treating people who never had a confirmed metal burden. That is exactly what our process is designed to prevent.
It depends on the metal. EDTA is most often used for lead; DMSA and DMPS for mercury, lead and arsenic. Your doctor chooses the agent, dose and route (IV or oral) based on your results.
It varies with the metals involved, your levels and how you respond. Most courses run as a series of sessions over several weeks to months, with retesting along the way. Your doctor will give you a clear estimate in your health plan.
We don’t offer chelation as a heart disease treatment, and the research doesn’t support it for that purpose. We use chelation for confirmed heavy metal burden. If heart health is a goal, our longevity and heart health programs are the right starting point.
Some oral protocols are taken at home, but only when prescribed and monitored by your doctor. Over-the-counter chelation products are not FDA-approved and are not safe to use on your own.
No. Insurance generally doesn’t cover functional or environmental medicine. We offer no-interest payment plans and can provide a superbill you may submit for possible reimbursement.