Dr. Larry Wilson's Protocol

The sauna's three near infrared bulbs

I get asked a lot about my experience with Dr. Larry Wilson's nutritional balancing protocol. I first discovered his work while researching the sauna's ability to help detoxify metals. I loved the idea of sweating chemicals, mercury and other toxins out. Dr. Wilson is a big advocate of the near infrared lamp sauna, which you can build yourself. Four years ago I ordered the electrical heat unit portion of the sauna, and bought some pvc pipe to construct the rest. I still use it. It works great. I sweat loads, take a quick shower afterwards, and always feel calmer for the rest of the day. In Sauna Therapy, Dr. Wilson writes that sauna sessions will slowly bring the toxins out over 2 or 3 years of daily use.

Around that time, I sent off one tablespoon of my hair to Dr. McHaney (a chiropractor who works closely with Dr. Wilson) for the lab ARL to test. This was the first of many that I'd send. They send you back the results, showing hair levels of nutrient minerals and toxic metals. But hair test reading is a bit of an art form in that, for example, a low mercury level on the test does not equal a low mercury body content. There's a lot of inferring to be done in the analysis, and much experience is needed to do this. Wilson worked with Dr. Paul Eck for many years, and he is very experienced.

The overall summary of my two and a half years of Wilson's nutritional balancing therapy - and this includes the saunas, the supplements, the coffee enemas, the diet, the getting nine hours of sleep, and a little of the meditation practice - is that it was successful in excreting toxins and rebuilding my body. And that I learned a lot. And that Dr. Wilson and Dr. McHaney give very good advice on achieving health. It didn't take me all the way though, so I stopped. For example, my index fingers started swelling a little bit after two years on the program, and I didn't think that should happen. I do realize that Wilson says it takes years to repair damage and to regain health. And I totally agree with that. My protocol now is very similar to Dr. Wilson's, in that I do everything except his recommended supplements (which I do actually believe were helpful). I think I just wanted to try something else, something that would lose the metals faster. I eventually moved on to Andy Cutler's protocol, and then Chris Shade's IMD...

I thought I'd include some of my journal entries from that first year of doing Dr. Wilson's treatment. That way others who are thinking about doing the program, or those who are already on it, can see that it takes a while. And that there are ups and downs. Primarily I felt major, major fatigue. And that was one of the things I needed help with the most. But after a year, I had more energy! I learned that to get better, your body will spend so much energy detoxifying and repairing, and so you will feel doggone-tired. For a while. The key is to know that you're in it for the long haul, and to do your best, as Dr. McHaney would tell me frequently. From Dr. Wilson's website:

Even if one knows about the problem of toxicity, clearing out two dozen toxic metals, hundreds of toxic chemicals, and often dozens of chronic infections safely and quickly is a challenge.  Nutritional balancing science  specializes in this activity and gets amazing results by combining about 17 different detoxification methods in a unique manner.

As humanity improves its understanding of the body and how to heal it, I believe detoxification will once again take its place as a major requirement to heal the body and the brain.

I first learned about how we all have multiple chronic infections and don't even know it, from Dr. Wilson's Sauna Therapy book. I was surprised to read that then, but now know it to be true (I am killing stuff as we speak!). Here are some notes I took during that first year of nutritional balancing.

4.2

Chronic fatigue. Is how I feel lately. Skinny and veiny and fatigued. This could be the healing reaction from my sauna therapy. After reading Dr. Wilson's article on adrenal burnout I realize what's best for me is to rest more. To do less. Try for nine hours of sleep. Do only 45 minutes in the sauna. I am grateful to have found a doctor who should be able to help me through this. His name is Dr. Wilson and he wrote a book on sauna therapy. I sent hair to the lab to be analyzed and with this info he will hopefully help me.

5.10

Saturday morning. Depressed. Last night, insomnia, depressed, body so tired but mind with racing non-stop negative thoughts. I realized it feels like mercury exposure. Like maybe the GB3 digestive enzyme I've been taking for five days digests my food which causes candida die off which causes mercury release which causes, for me, depression, more fatigue, heart arrythmia, insomnia, tooth pain, hopelessness.

6.7

1. I'm not using the far infrared Sunlight sauna anymore. Will find out if Sunlight will accept its return. Wrote letter to the owners of company, asking that they credit me back because of the high electromagnetic fields the unit creates (30-50 milliguass). High magnetic field = not relaxing (even though I loved everything else about the sauna).

2. If they don't accept it I'll convert it into a near infrared lamp sauna as per Wilson’s sauna plans. Or just build his.

3.  I feel okay on McHaney's supplements, just started my second month for some of them.

7.12

I slept great Tuesday night. Then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and today: depressed, angry, crying, brain fog, so so so tired. I have racked my brain trying to figure out what else could be causing the sadness etc. I switched from coconut oil to fish oil because Dr. McHaney says coconut oil is a liver digestion problem for some. I've run out of about three of my supps including gb-3, the digestive enzyme, so maybe that explains the fatigue. I made brownies and I've been eating too much of these sugary things, like one a day. Not good.

And then this evening, as I finished up the sheep's milk yogurt in the fridge, a light goes on and I look at the yogurt label. Yup: active enzymes. Causing candida die-off, releasing mercury -  if that's what happens every time I take good bacteria - causing brain fog, forgetfullness, tiredness, depression. It's amazing how sensitive I am to that stuff. I ate a lot of it so might feel yucky tomorrow too. But at least I am pretty sure of the mysterious cause now.

And don't eat wheat, it depresses you. We know that. (Edit: I didn't go 100% gluten-free until 2011. I do believe that gluten is something that so many of us really need to avoid because it can maintain gut inflammation.)

11.3

Today a bit discouraged, probably because of healing crisis intensification, but I was thinking 'Am I doing the right thing?' I know I am but it does take time. Here is what I've noticed of late:

1. Under right eye, a stye/growth thing has gotten loose and seems to be on its way to falling off. Can't remember when I first developed that growth but it's been years. Will keep you posted on that. (Edit: that thing did fall off.)

2. A month ago a growth under my right arm pit  - half of it fell off into my hand, white thing. the other half was left. Felt last night in the shower for it, it's gone. no remnant even, no mark where it had been.

3. Complexion looks healthy, skin looks good.

Veiny hands which I attribute to even less body fat than before. Today at work Mary came up to me in the kitchen and said 'You've lost a lot of weight. You're not anorexic, are you?' with concern. I explained how I WANT to be plumper but in this healing period lesser quality tissue gets shed and you temporarily lose weight. I said check back with me in six months. But it's true: my butt is smaller, my breasts are smaller, I'm too thin.

Good energy in am, tired by lunch. could easily sleep. That's what I want to do most: rest. Haven't been depressed in a while which is great.

11.22

I have noticed:

Assembling the near infrared sauna

My left knee doesn't creak anymore going up steps, I'm less tired during day (tired at night though), I'm more content in general, more 'up'. I'm more moving towards what I want including doing the Project Nature course and homework for it. I'm more being clear on what works for me (Nature) and what doesn't (feeling cold and working in a cubicle). I'm more socially at ease talking with people, calmer. I sleep best if I eat something right before bed. Growth under right arm pit gone, don't know when it fell off. Growth under right eye extending outwards, looks like it will fall off. And I don't feel heavy walking up the stairs in the morning, or getting out of the car like I used to. I am seeing improvements.

2.16 I was so so tired, even in the morning. Now I know it's a healing crisis from my near infrared lamp sauna sessions of 50 minutes each night. So I skipped last night's session and feel better. Have been doing coffee enemas. They are quite helpful in releasing stuff. Dr. Wilson says they are practically vital.

My under eye stye fell off! And I have been doing NIA classes. Yes, I am back to exercising after many years of not. Thank you, Universe.

I have been doing the near infrared sauna almost every night for about a month now.

2.21

Feeling better, a little. Fatigued but not so heavily as a few days ago. Did an hour sauna last night. Am skipping it tonight. I'm realizing again how super important sleep and rest are. So at lunchtime I come home and take a short nap. On weekends too. And will get in bed by 9/9:15 nightly from now on. I like doing that because then I wake before the alarm and can just lie there for a few minutes knowing that I did my body good by getting lots of sleep that night.

I ate some cookies today that I baked with sugar and my memory goes bubbye after I eat some. Sugar does this to my memory. Hello yeast.

However, I've found progress: drinking Synergy kombucha and not getting brain fog. Also, last May was when I started the McHaney supplements and I started getting really down and tired and depressed. Sauna therapy made me tired but then I started the supplements and I got real down.

To minimize fatigue, tonight I will do a  THIRTY MINUTE AND NOT FIFTY MINUTE SAUNA. In fact 20 minutes for the next two weeks would probably be smarter but it's hard to drag myself out when I'm just starting to sweat because I love it so much.

3.5

My hands are freezing. You know, maybe I'm not better on Dr. Wilson's program. Whether I've mobilized too many toxins/metals and it's just one really long healing crisis,  I don't know, but I'm cold and down and no energy and foggy headed and I haven't even sauna'd for more than a week. I've sat in front of the bulbs for a little but not much. My sauna walls are down b/c we're showing the house to potential buyers and the homemade sauna with the wrinkled shrunken cotton canvas sheets doesn't look so great.

Hair test #4 results came back, and we see good changes.  I've dumped mercury, and am dumping aluminum now. I'm out of the  potassium/sodium inversion which is major, Dr. McHaney says. My energy is okay. I'm getting at least 9 hours in bed at night every night. I stopped saunas a couple weeks ago but am four nights back into it. McHaney said do 110 degrees max or will be fatigued. Am doing 40 minutes again nightly until I get too tired, then will get lots of sleep that night instead.

I'm feeling like I'm looking healthy lately: I'm juicing carrots, celery, spinach for last two weeks to help liver, mixed with lsa (ground flaxseed, sunflower seed, almonds). Ran out of Endomet supplements but will get more soon.

Liver flush last weekend. Got out lots of chaff and about 30-40 very small stones.

3.23

Tired. I have been taking McHaney supplements 3x/day since they came almost a week ago and I think it's caught up to me with more fatigue.

3.24

Not tired but depressed. Last night my belly was enormously bloated like it used to be back in those horrible years when I first entered this getting better thing - so bloated and clueless. When I go after the infections (okay, parasites), I get hugely bloated. You'd think these would be addressed by now with all of the work I've done.

Hair test results, one of many over the years

I am guessing that Dr. Wilson (who I'm going to call today) will tell me that his program will make my body inhospitable to parasites, and in fact I have seen what are probably parasites after c.e.'s, without doing the zapper or taking antiparasitics. It's been a year on his program and I'm ready to start building up again.

3.25

Talked to Dr. Wilson just now. He said:

Re: parasites - unless they're killing you, which they're not, I'm doing well, don't treat them. The program will gradually make my body not welcoming to them. Right now there's too much good food to eat. So don't try to rid of them until your body's ready. Saunas and coffee enemas help make them go. And GB3 will also digest the parasites.

Constipation - drink 3-4 quarts of water a day. Every morning he sits down and drinks 5-6 glasses of warm or hot water . If still not coming then eat a little something and that does it. I'm in a hurry in the am and that doesn't help. To go to bed early and wake up earlier and have a more relaxed morning is better. Can also try Endomet's dietary fiber tablets - 3, 3 and 3. These can be helpful for this.

Coffee enemas - 2 a day is not too many. just have bm in addition to this. the ce's are not dehydrating. you don't need to liver flush when you do these.

Veiny hands/emaciated - he has thin skin too. Skin takes the longest to heal. It's the last thing to heal. Which is fine because the most important things to heal, your internal organs, are the first to heal. I am losing poor quality tissue. Just make sure to take the epa/dha 300 and have other good fats every day.

Oral hydrogen peroxide therapy/ o2 therapy (I wanted to know his opinion on this) - don't need it. Don't do h2o2 orally, hard on stomach. Just do the program, it's all you need.

Still feeling cold - can try to up kelp to 2 3x/day to see if that helps. If it's too much I'll just get a little jittery.

3.31

Haven't done saunas in a while. Don't get exhausted any more. Yea, progress! When I start the saunas again I will know what's causing the exhaustion if i start to feel it again. I love going to bed at nine and waking up at seven.

4.24

I am feeling great! Happy, energetic. So glad about doing what we're doing - leaving cubicle job to go live somewhere else for the summer. Here's what else I'm happy about and what I've been doing:

McHaney's supplements 3x/day, c.e.'s, liver flushes every 3 weeks, eating coconut oil, sauna 30 minutes every night, want to keep going at night, have to force myself to go to bed! I'm not drinking coffee or tea, don't want them. And I've made a brave, exciting lifestyle change: I've quit a job that I didn't want, and I'm moving to another state. I would call that major progress.

5.29

Skin better, face better, me better. Detoxing is key.  I get tired in the afternoon, which I guess is toxicity sapping my energy, coming out because of saunas, Then I nap for twenty minutes and I am much happier and energetic.

Sugar makes my memory go bubbye still.

6.10

I am feeling great! LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE HERE IN JUNE OF 2009. Gotta write symptoms or you'll forget. Here are the lingering ones:

 - fatigue, especially at night (but way better than a year ago)

 - cold feet and hands even in 74 degree house (with a.c. on)

 - still run cold. an 80 degree house feels good to me

 - bowels aren't the most flowing, even on 15 GB-3/day

 - memory is bubbye!

 What i'm doing:

 - near infrared lamp sauna 30 min/day

 - 2nd day of lots of kombucha tea

 - mild outdoor exercise in sun at least 3x/week (walk/run/trampoline)

 - Dr. McHaney's supplements

 - c.e.'s

 - 3-4 quarts of distilled water/day

6.26

Got my hair test results back but not the right audio track on the cd interpreting them so can't tell you about that until a couple of weeks when McHaney gets back from vacation. I am actively eliminating a bunch of heavy metals though. It will be interesting to see if over these next four months my hair will absorb more metals from the kombucha.

6.29

So to deal with my hormonal issues, bio-identical hormone replacement sounds great, but you have to take them your whole life to keep feeling good. Not to mention needing to call your doctor every five minutes for her to adjust the dose. Dr. Wilson's article about it is online. I guessed right about what he'd say about it - YOU'RE NOT ADDRESSING THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM. YOU'RE ONLY TREATING SYMPTOMS WHICH CAN CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS DOWN THE ROAD. ONCE YOU GET YOUR BODY CHEMISTRY BALANCED THROUGH NUTRITION AND DETOXING AND REMOVAL OF HEAVY METALS AND CHEMICALS AND INFECTIONS THEN THE BODY CAN REBALANCE ITS HORMONES. I am going the slow boat to china way.

6.30

RETEST RESULTS - Dr. McHaney's comments:

My first test was April 2008 so I've been doing this for about a year. I've moved into fast oxidation. I am dumping off some lead, mercury, arsenic, nickel. Have dumped off aluminum. Wonderful changes, Dr. M says. Ratios of mineral levels are much better. Calcium/mg to 93% of ideal, wonderful change. Life changes: sold house, cut work hours, moved. Thyoid ratio: is now 2.38, 59% of ideal , thyoid faster so maybe that's why have some more energy but don't use it up. na/mg: 10.40 adrenals faster now too. na/k no 160%

Was only doing supps twice a day because of finances. He encourages 3x/day if possible, could move forward quicker. Suspects underlying iron and manganese (but did he mean copper?) toxicity, based on high aluminum level. Chromium has come up as has selenium, and zn, so good. Phosphorous still very good.

Doing 15 gb-3/day so great for detoxing liver. Shocked only have one bm a day but am doing c.e.'s so that's good. Doing near infrared sauna at night. Only one recommended for fast oxidizers. Keep doing that. Getting out and walking for .5 hours a day would be great. Continue distilled water, recommend 1-1.5 years. so maybe do it for 1.5 years because of toxic metals coming out. Regardless, do it for next four months until next hair test.

Yes can meditate in sauna with headphones, would be wonderful. Molasses high in iron (underlying iron toxicity) so don't do lots of coconut oil and molasses/cocoa, Dr. Wilson said.Wilson also suggested just do 1 tbsp acv a day only. Coconut oil is very yin so stop it. Yes could go up to 3000 mg/day vit d since my levels are low. Important to get at least 15 minutes/day of sun on solar plexus/belly. If cloudy, can do full spectrum bulb in sauna but sun on belly most important.

My symptoms - low body temp, low blood pressure, constipation, all signs of slow oxidation. They feel there's lots of room for improvement. Fibrocystic breasts= copper toxicity. And I'm having poor sleep because I'm  dumping off heavy metals.

Switching over to stress pak for fast oxidators: 1 1 1

Zinc 22.5 mg 1 1 1

Paramin 0 1 2 don't skip the lunch supps, can take 3 more at bedtime

GB3 5 5 5 or more

Epa Dha 1 1 1

D3 3000 iu/day or 3 tsps cod liver oil

Optional: Renamide helpful for detox of heavy metals, selenium too. Kelp 1 in am. Taurine 1 1 1 calming.

Evening primrose oil could try, good for fast oxidizers and for cysty breast. It works as an anti-inflammatory too.

The fast oxidizer eating plan is recommended:

1. hi quality proteins and organically grown fats and oils. and lots of veggies. steamed 2x/day.

2. root veg - turnips parsnips carrots

3. cabbage bok choi dark greens etc

4. no nightshades, very yin

5. 1 tbsp fat/oil every meal. olive oil/ fish oil/ full fat dairy. The less cooked fats and oils the better.

Almond butter on rice cake. Handful of almond /pecans /walnuts. Turkey, chicken skin. Fats provide sustained energy for the fast oxidizer. Protein each meal. Don't worry about having lots of meat. 2-3 x/day.  Avoid pork. No tuna, shellfish. No fruit or fruit juices.

Quinoa rice corn millet amaranth buckwheat, blue corn chips and  tortillas (hi in selenium and our soils are deficient in them). Grains don't give long lasting energy. The BEST protein for us is animal protein. Sardines and salmon, chicken lamb turkey eggs.