Speaker 1 0:00
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Speaker 2 1:20
Welcome back to Let’s Talk wellness. Now. I’m your host, Dr, Deb, and today I want to share with you something deeply personal. It’s a chapter of my life that changed everything for me, how I went from diagnosis to healing, from fear to strength. This is a journey of navigating the unknown, facing the unsettling reality of chronic illness, and ultimately choosing a path that aligned with my beliefs and my values. My story is about facing the diagnosis of MS multiple sclerosis and going against the grain by choosing a different path for anyone out there feeling lost, isolated or misunderstood in their healing journey, this episode is for you. I hope that by sharing my experience, I can inspire others to take control of their health and find their own paths to healing. So let me take you back to the beginning. Life was really busy, and I was doing all the things I loved. I was running a busy medical practice. I have six businesses. My career in healthcare was flourishing. I was educating practitioners and training them in functional medicine. My children were grown, but I was loving every minute that I could with my grandchildren, and I was doing a ton of traveling and just really living my life to the fullest. But something wasn’t quite right. I started experiencing these strange symptoms that came out of nowhere, or so it seemed. It all began with this deep, relentless fatigue that no amount of rest could fix. Now it was easy to blow off the fatigue, because it was COVID, and I had been sick with COVID twice. I knew that post COVID Fatigue was a real thing. We were just learning about long haul COVID, and I was busy. I wasn’t sleeping much because I was busy and I was stressed and I had lots to do, but I’d sleep and I’d feel like I never even closed my eyes, there was this constant brain fog, this kind of mental exhaustion, where even the simplest tasks felt overwhelming. It took me much longer to accomplish things that it had in the past. Taken me half the amount of time, and then the tingling started. It began with my toes. I love to walk, so I would be walking, and all of a sudden realized that I couldn’t feel one toe then another toe. And as we all do, we can make excuses for it. I simply thought that my socks weren’t right and my shoes, so I’d stop and I changed them, and then it must have been my shoes. Maybe those were bad and I needed new ones. Or the ones I always walked with suddenly weren’t good anymore. Or maybe it was the road and I wasn’t used to it, because I wasn’t walking on the road as much I was walking in the woods more. And then that sensation started to spread. All of a sudden, it would be a brushing across my leg, and then the brush across the face that felt like a feather. My muscles began to feel really weak, and I felt like they could. Betray me at any moment, I kept pushing it aside, telling myself I was just overworked or maybe a little too stressed, but deep down, I knew that there was something else going on. It was like my body was trying to send me a message, one that I wasn’t quite ready to understand. As I tell all of my clients, if you don’t listen to your body, your body will begin to speak louder and louder to you, and eventually it’ll be screaming at you. And I knew that, so I didn’t put it off too long, but probably a little longer than I should have. I finally decided to see the doctor. And I went to see my orthopedic specialist, who I trust, thinking this is just a bad neck issue. I’ve damaged my neck before. I’ve had multiple car accidents, multiple whiplashes, and I have a lot of degeneration. It must just be a bad neck. When I sat down to tell him my symptoms, he looked at me and said, Deb, you’re a very smart woman. You know what’s going on?

Speaker 2 6:28
my neck is bad, and I just need a little cortisone. I’ll be fine. When he sat down and pulled up next to me and closely got into my face and said, Deb, I think you have MS, and I remember looking at him very perplexed, because that was not on my radar anywhere. I remember feeling a little numb as the words sank in, and it was if the air had been sucked out of the room. At that moment, my husband looked at me, I looked at him, and I was filled with fear and dread, but I had to be strong for my husband. I didn’t want him to know how afraid I was, but I couldn’t help but think about what this would mean for my future, for my family, for my career, would I lose my independence? Would I become a burden to those that I loved? It was a devastating moment, one that I’ve had to share with clients numerous times, but it is very different. Sitting on the other side of the desk hearing those words, my doctor’s solution was very straightforward, let’s go get a brain MRI, let’s see if what I suspect is correct. And we laughed and joked about how he just wanted to see if I actually had a brain or not. I agreed, and I got in the car that night with my husband, not knowing what to say, not knowing how much to share. My husband doesn’t work in the medical field. He doesn’t know what’s coming if this is truly ms, but I do. We drove quietly for about 20 minutes, when he finally looked at me and said, What does this mean for you? What’s going to happen? And I sat back, and I shared with him what could potentially happen with Ms. I could lose function in my limbs. I could lose function of my brain. I could end up in a nursing home because no one would be able to take care of me, and that’s what we could be looking at right now.

Speaker 2 9:06
And we drove quietly for another 15 or 20 minutes as we went back to my office. And as I always do, I put on a smiling face, and I went back to seeing my clients, pretending like none of this happened, all the while in the back of my head, truly being worried about what I had just learned. So I did the brain MRI

Speaker 2 9:37
and December, 23 2020 22 i Two. I got the call from my orthopedic doctor who said, Deb, you have white matter brain disease. It’s in the prefrontal lobe, and this confirms, MS, I want you to go see the neurologist. And the good news. Is, this is early stage. You’re young, you’re healthy, and this can be treated with immunosuppressing drugs, and we can manage your symptoms. And I sat back and laughed and said, Thank you, but that’s not the route that I’m interested in taking in my world MS is a few other things until proven otherwise, their toxins, their infections and their nutrient deficiencies, mitochondrial deficiencies and viruses.

Speaker 2 10:40
So I’m going to go this route, and I’m going to find out what’s actually causing my white matter brain disease before I take on an immunosuppressive therapy. He encouraged me to not wait to get treatment, but he understood, and as wonderful as he is, he shared with me his last bit of encouragement, and said, I’m here if you need anything, if it doesn’t end up being ms, let me know, and we’ll take a closer look at what’s going on physically for you. And at that moment, I had to call my husband and let him know that the diagnosis looked like it could be. Ms, and he immediately said to me, Deb, you know the most brilliant people in the world in this field, you know how to heal yourself. You’ve healed others. We’ve got this. And then he proceeded to tell everyone in my family and my friends that I had been diagnosed with MS, which I wasn’t quite ready to admit to people, but I also understood in that moment that he needed to share and he needed to have support, and he needed To know that things were going to be okay. So I did what I do best, and I began to do the research and look at all of the things that could potentially trigger ms, and take them one by one to identify what is the culprit? And what I realized after all these years of practicing, when we’ve been taught MS is tick borne disease, until otherwise proven that MS is so much more than that. It is infection, it is toxins, but it’s also traumatic brain injury and non traumatic brain injury, and it’s also a mitochondrial dysfunction. And all of these things put together, put us at risk for neurological conditions like MS and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, and we don’t aggressively address these soon enough, in my opinion, we treat what we can treat, and then we just kind of put that to the side and wait until symptoms come, instead of being proactive and looking at the brain every year and seeing what’s going on with it and what changes are happening with it, so we can catch these things sooner than later. A $300 MRI would have changed that day for me sooner than later. So here’s what I chose to do. I chose to step away from the conventional approach. And that was not easy decision. It came with risks and doubts and the weight of going against the standard medical advice, the weight of my family saying, Are you sure you want to do this? There are so many people that get better with Ms. They all knew someone, the lady down the road that had MS that was debilitating, until she took the drugs, and they all looked at me and said, This is your health journey. You get to do this however you want. But I couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that there was another way to do this. I knew I needed to understand that root cause of my symptoms and not just mask them with immunosuppressing drugs. So instead of accepting the regime of these immunosuppressive drugs, I chose to do that research into alternative therapies and explore more natural, holistic approaches. I spent countless hours studying, consulting with friends and colleagues and putting together the treatment plan that would address the inflammation of. The immune system and the issues that were driving my symptoms. This wasn’t a quick fix by any means. I became the guinea pig, but it was about giving my body a chance to heal. I focused on detoxification of the body, reducing inflammation and rebuilding my immune strength. The journey wasn’t just about healing from MS, but it was about healing my entire self. One of the things that I did was radically change my diet. I committed to a strict, anti inflammatory, nutrient dense diet that was free of processed foods, sugar and dairy. I focused on eating whole foods, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and highly induced fats, good healthy fats.

Speaker 2 15:59
I also learned about the importance of supplements like omega threes, magnesium, vitamin D, all which support my nervous system and reduce inflammation. Now, I have been doing this for 25 years with my clients, but this was a different level. We all know about supplementing with these things, but finding the exact right source, finding the exact right dose for each individual person, that is where individualized medicine shines. Next. I turn to detoxification. I realized that years of environmental toxins have built up in my system, possibly contributing to my symptoms. I had bad detox genes. I had worked in moldy buildings. I had remodeled a cottage that had black mold, and I didn’t use all of the proper equipment to remediate that process and that property, I started using binders to help remove the heavy metals and toxins from my body, and I incorporated practices like infrared sauna therapy to help me sweat it out. I also did IV chelation. I did nutrient IVs to help remove the toxins and rebuild the myelin in my brain. Another significant part of my healing journey was discovering the advanced power of herbs and some of these natural supplements that I have used forever. I love adaptogens, like ashwagandha, but I wasn’t using them to help manage my stress and my cortisol levels, I used things like turmeric and ginger. They became staples as part of my anti inflammatory properties that I used. And as I worked to create this treatment protocol, I tailored it to my needs on a regular basis. And then there was, of course, the emotional and spiritual aspects of healing, which was just as important as the physical. I began practicing mindfulness and meditation to help me manage stress and reconnect with my inner self. This was transformative for me, it allowed me to tune into my body and listen to what I needed and foster that sense of peace and resilience that I hadn’t felt in years. I am a trained Shaman. I know how to do these things, but I wasn’t doing them on a regular basis for myself, I dove deep into the world of spirituality, deeper than I had ever done before. I knew there was a part of me that felt like this came from a previous life, like it was a contract I had but hadn’t fulfilled before, and I needed to fulfill it today. So as I worked along the physical I also worked along the spiritual side, looking at my guides, my angels and the people who could tell me what was actually going on, what belonged to me, what belonged to my previous self, and what belonged to others in this world that I had been carrying with me. Some people call this being an empath. This wasn’t quite like that. It was very different. I felt in my soul that this was a connection from someplace else, and I learned that it was still staying the course. I wanted to be honest that this wasn’t a smooth journey. There were times when I questioned everything, when I wondered if I was making a mistake by not following the conventional path. I had relapses where this. Symptoms came back, and there were days that I felt defeated, but every time I faced a setback, I used it as a chance to learn more about myself and my body. Each challenge reinforced my determination to keep going, to keep pushing for the answers that would lead me to that true healing. I learned to recognize the warning signs of a flare up and take preventative steps to support my body. I discovered the importance of rest self care and not pushing myself to the brink like I had done all these years in those dark moments. What kept me going was hope. It was the hope that I could regain control over my health and live a full life, and slowly but surely, my health began to improve. I was on a mission to learn how to crack the code for MS, not just for myself, but for others as well as I tested I found that I had the trifecta. I had it all. I had tick borne diseases, at least six of them. I had mycotoxins, I had heavy metals. I had nutrient deficiencies. My mitochondria was not working the way it should. And by putting the pieces together and doing the trials and the errors and finding what worked and what didn’t, I was able to craft the perfect ms protocol to regain my health and restore my brain as many symptoms subside, I realized that my journey was about more than just overcoming a diagnosis. It was about finding strength, resilience and the courage to create my own path. This experience taught me that healing isn’t always a straight line. I’ve known that for years with my patients, and I’ve told patients This, however, when it becomes yourself and you have the tools in front of you, and you think you have the knowledge, you think you could go from zero to 60 in three seconds flat. But it doesn’t work that way, not even with the best practitioner, it’s a winding road filled with lessons, growth and self discovery. I became my own advocate through this journey, and I found a renewed purpose to help others on their healing journey. For those of you listening, I want you to know that you’re not alone. If you’re facing a diagnosis that feels overwhelming, or if you are navigating a health journey that seems impossible, remember that there are options. You don’t have to settle for a treatment that doesn’t align with your values or your vision of healing. You have the power to explore alternative paths, to educate yourself and to make the choices that are right for you. Thank you for being here today, for sharing this part of my journey, and I hope that by opening up about my experiences, I’ve inspired you to take control of your own listen to the wisdom within your body. Healing is a possibility, and you deserve to feel empowered by this path. If you’re interested in learning more about my story, the treatments I explored and the protocols I’ve developed, my book is available, and it dives into a deeper version of what I’ve shared. It’s my hope that it serves as a resource and a guide and a source of hope for anyone navigating the complexities of chronic illness. Thank you again for turning it tuning in to Let’s Talk wellness now, remember your journey to wellness is unique, and there’s no one size fits all. Approach. Stay curious, stay hopeful, and most importantly, stay in tune to yourself until next time, take care and be well. If this episode has encouraged you and you think it can encourage someone else, please share it. You.