Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome back to Integrative lyme Solutions with Dr. Karl Feldt.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: I am so excited about the show that we have ahead of us.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: We have some phenomenal information that could save lives.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: You're gonna need to tune in to what's going on today.
[00:00:16] Speaker C: The information is jam packed, so don't step away.
Hello.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Thank you so much for joining Integrative lyme Solutions with Dr. Karlfeld. I am your host, Dr. Michael Karl Fe Belt. I've been in clinical practice since 1987. I've seen pretty much everything under the sun, worked with so many different Lyme patients, and I know what a devastating disease this is. That's why I'm doing this podcast to make sure that you are armed with the information that you need in order to be able to be successful in your struggle with Lyme. We'll be featuring authors, doctors, professors, and also people like yourself that have gone through the journey that you're going through, that have been where you've been and is now on the other side. And they get to tell their victorious story as to how they battle Lyme so that you can implement that in your life as well.
Be sure to like us and write a review on whichever platform that you're listening on. What that does is it enables other people to see us more so that they have access to this information as well. So I'm so excited that you're tuning in and get ready for this upcoming show. It is going to be amazing. Well, Amy Kurtz, I am so excited to have you on this segment of Integrative lyme solution with Dr. Karl Feld. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today.
[00:01:50] Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Well, your journey, I mean, you are a coach for people that are dealing with very complex health issues, but obviously that is not something that you just felt like today. I want to be coach. You started with your own journey.
Do you mind sharing a little bit about what that journey looked like?
[00:02:14] Speaker C: Sure. So for me, it started very long ago. I was 14 years old and growing up before then. I was very sprightly and full of energy. And I'm the youngest of three. I never wanted to miss anything that my siblings were doing. I. I was very energetic and joyful and didn't want to miss anything.
And then when I was 14 years old, I grew up in the Philadelphia area, just outside in the suburbs, and which I now know is the Lime belt. And I didn't know then, but I went to a field hockey camp. And after, like, about a week after I was Bending down to get my math textbook off the floor. And I felt this shooting pain that I'd never experienced in my life. And it shot up from the base of my spine to basically the base of my cranium. And it was really debilitating. And I kind of crawled into my dad's stomach study and said, I'm having trouble getting up. And that really was the start of me going from being a carefree child to a kid that was in pain all the time.
So my father is a very western minded doctor and I come from a lineage of them. And I was privileged and lucky enough to go to very good specialists. And, and it wasn't that it was a lack of trying, but nobody really could figure out what the root cause of the pain was. And I went to a neurologist. I, I had this, besides muscle spasms, I was having nerve pain and nerve sensitivity. And nobody mentioned Lyme like I saw a bunch of people. And nobody ever mentioned testing for acute Lyme disease. And so unfortunately, as this happens with a lot of people who don't have a full answer, I got put on pain management medication that was meant to alleviate this kind of invisible pain that I was feeling that nobody could find an answer for.
And being a 14 year old girl is hard enough, but from feeling totally normal and just like your peers to then feeling like you have to sort of mask this pain that you're always in is a humongous adjustment.
It demands a lot of you. And your whole life changes. I mean, anybody who's been through any chronic illness will know that when you get sick, your entire axis of your life and everything, that every part of you changes.
And so that happened to me young, but I was managing the pain the best I could. I went to physical therapy, I did acupuncture. It alleviated some, but not all. And, and then when I went to college, I just had a harder time bouncing back than my peers. You know, this was my new normal. So in some ways, at that moment in time, I thought, this is just me, which now I know better and I know differently.
I know the virus and it just really knocked me out. I just did not bounce back from even a night going out with my friends the way that everybody else around me did. And again, I thought, this is just me. I'm just more sensitive than other people.
And then after college, I went on a trip called Birthright, which is a trip to Israel.
And it was an amazing time in my life.
And when I was there, I got very debilitatingly sick. And I remember it so clearly. But I was climbing to the top of the mountain called the Masada and I couldn't breathe, I couldn't take a deep breath. And I remember being behind the eldest people in the group and just feeling like I couldn't keep up. I gained 30 pounds in 30 days. I couldn't go to the bathroom, I couldn't keep food down. I had hives all over my body. It was as dramatic, as intense as it sounds. And when I got home from that trip, I obviously every single signal and my body was saying sos, this is serious. I went back to what I knew. I went back to Western minded specialists.
Not for lack of going to what I considered to be the best people. And I feel very lucky to have been privileged to do that. But it was very clear to me that the answers weren't, that the situation was too severe too just not have answers. So it became very clear to me that I had to take my health into my own hands and look for solutions that were different from what I grew up around and believing in. And so that sent me from Western medicine to Eastern medicine. I've now landed somewhere in the middle. But it sent me on a very deep healing journey where I had a lot of diagnosis and I managed okay. And I went to so many functional medicine doctors and I have hypothyroidism, I had a parasite infection. These are all things that I have to this day. But I realized that I was better, but I wasn't better enough.
And during this point where I didn't really realize I was still treading water, I, I became a health coach. I helped a functional medicine doctor in New York City start a health coaching practice in his functional medicine practice because as being what I call a professional patient, I realized that there was a big gap in between how the patient graded all of the material on their own. When they felt so bad to begin with, it's hard enough to even make it to the appointment, let alone try all the things that they need to try to get themselves well.
And it was during that time that I started to write a book called Kicking Sick, which came out in 2017.
And it's really my love letter to any patient who struggled with chronic illness. I, I myself felt so alone and so isolated, being young and being sick and I really couldn't find any guide at that time that felt very uplifting and that showed people how to make something transformative and not totally sidelining and defining. And I really realized I have two roads that I could go down now, and I'm never going to give up on myself, and I don't want anybody else to do that either.
So the book provides everything that I had learned to that point. Now, what's interesting is the press for the book was beyond my wildest dreams.
But every night I would come home and think, I don't know how I'm going to have get the energy to meet this moment. And as the press went on and the book was launching, I really realized I don't have a handle on this.
And it's taking a lot of me to meet to meet this moment. And I would just be so tired at the end of the day.
And once everything had died down, I really had a sobering moment with myself where I thought, I've seen 35 doctors.
I don't have an answer. And I need to muster up the strength and the courage within myself to try again. And that doesn't just mean go to a physician. I know you know this like it's not.
It's so emotional to have to share your story and for over so many years to have people not have an answer for you and every person who struggled with chronic illness for decades, the way that I have, it feels like you're bringing the whole Harry Potter anthology of medical records to every appointment. It takes a lot to be vulnerable and to give it another shot and to pay for the help that you need. I mean, it's a lot.
And so I went to doctor number 36 and I told him everything.
And when we were done doing all the testing all over again, he said, I'm really clear what you have, you have late stage neurological Lyme disease and co infections.
And it was like every bone in my body knew that that's why I hadn't given up on myself and that it was true.
[00:11:11] Speaker D: Hello, dear listeners, this is Dr. Michael Karlfeld, your host of integrative Lyme Solutions. Today I'm excited to share an exclus exclusive opportunity from the Karofal center, where we blend healing power of nature with groundbreaking therapies to combat Lyme disease and its associated challenges. At the Karfel center, we're not just fighting Lyme. We're revolutionizing the way it's treated with cutting edge therapies like photodynamic therapy, full body ozone, IV therapy, silver IVs, brain rebalancing, autonomic response testing, laser energetic detoxification, and more. We aim to eradicate Lyme. Our approach is comprehensive, supporting your body's immune system detoxification processes, hormonal balance and mitochondrial health. Ensuring a holistic path to recovery. Understanding Lyme disease and its impact is complex, which is why we're offering a free 15 minute discovery call with one of our Lyme literate naturopathic doctors. This call is your first step towards understanding how we can personalize your healing journey, focusing on you as a whole person, not just your symptoms. Our team, led by myself, Dr. Michael Karl Filtz, is here to guide you through your recovery with the most advanced diagnostic tools, individualized treatment plans, and supportive therapies designed to restore your health and vitality. Whether you're facing Lyme disease head on or seeking preventative strategies, we're committed to your wellness. Take the first step towards reclaiming your health. Visit us at thecarlfulthscenter.com or call us at 208-338-8902 to schedule your free discovery call. At the Karlfield center, we believe in healing naturally, effectively, and holistically. Thank you for tuning in into integrative lyme solution with Dr. Karlfeld. Remember, true health is not just the absence of disease, and it's achieving the abundance of vitality. Let's discover yours together.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: So I've been treating Lyme disease for a couple of years. I feel like I have a totally different body, and that's where. That's where we are today.
It's a saga.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I'm just curious, you know, here you. You kind of grew up in the Pennsylvania area, and you go to all these functional medicine. Dr. You know, 35. You know, you know, that includes obviously traditional, you know, traditional medical doctors as well.
But how.
Because when you deal with these kind of symptoms that you're dealing with and living in kind of on the east coast, you know, I'm just curious why it took doctor number 36 to say something.
[00:13:58] Speaker C: Well, I think that sometimes some of the physicians that I saw didn't really piece together the parts from when I was young. It was more the health crisis that to me, just the strike three year out. And I grew up in the 90s. I don't remember anyone ever talking about Lyme disease. No one. I didn't know anyone that had Lyme disease. I.
No doctor ever brought it up to me. I just don't think that most people were talking about it or understanding how big of an epidemic it was becoming.
And then it wasn't as if along the way, when I was in my 20s, really struggling with my health, that people had mentioned it, but the testing that they were doing wasn't coming up positive. So it wasn't for lack of trying. It just was a lack of, I guess, knowledge around the disease. You know, there are a lot of doctors who will try to help you, of course, and then there are Lyme literate doctors. And unfortunately, I think everybody is still catching up to how fast this disease is growing and affecting so many people.
[00:15:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it is a moving target in a way, you know, because, one.
I don't think we fully understood Lyme.
It's still.
I mean, because there's so much complexity that comes along with it.
It's not like we're dealing with just one infectious agent.
It's usually a combination of them. And then also where, you know, each infectious agent, they. They behave differently in depending on which kind of environment they're in. So each individual obviously becomes very unique because each individual is a unique environment.
And so. So that. That's why it's a little bit of a moving target to. To try to figure out.
[00:15:56] Speaker C: I also think that, you know, for me personally, there were so many years where I was struggling with so many things, and I know that a lot of Lyme patients experience this, where they'll have a million symptoms, and that can make things or the picture less clear. You know, for me, I was a lot better, but I was still really struggling, and my symptoms were clearer also by the time that I finally got to the right doctor.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: And it's. It's just. I mean, I see that with, you know, Lyme patients that come to me. I mean, it. It's so exhausting. I can only imagine. I mean, 36 doctors, and you have your. Your binders, and you have your, you know, your Harry Potter, you know, you know, book series, you know, that you bring in, and it is hard, and you feel as an individual, as a patient, this is really important. I mean, all these pieces are important to try to figure out what is the solution, because you've gone to all these people, and they haven't really pinpointed exactly what's going on. So you hope that within all these symptoms and records and labs that, you know, they're able then to see, you know, this is what it is, and then cannot turn that magic switch to make a difference.
So how. How when they. You know, when you were then diagnosed or they. They said, yeah, I know what it is. Yeah. Did they run any kind of labs then or anything that they. That really said that this is what it is?
[00:17:33] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I. Maybe I left that part out, but we did. He did a million tests again, and that. That, you know, that was. That's pretty common when a new patient comes to a doctor's, they want to run their own labs and tests. And I did multiple kits and blood draws for Lyme disease because the doctor that I now see wanted to make sure that it. There was a synergy between, like, within the testing. So I did a couple different labs, and I think they're pretty well known within the Lyme community. I did hygienics, full panel, and Arman labs, and it came very clear across the board that I had Bartonella, Babesia, and Borrelia.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: And that's the thing, is that each lab, they look at different things. They look at Lyme from different angles. And so it is good then to do a combination of Lyme labs like you did, you know, Armen look at different things and what the hygienics look at and.
Or galaxy or, you know, which. Whichever one that you're using.
So that. That's why sometimes good to kind of triangulate, you know, the disease, you know, to try to find it that way. So how. I. I want to go back a little bit to, you know, 14 years old. I mean, that's tough. That. That is tough. I mean, here you're dealing with.
You're perfectly healthy, feeling fine.
And can you tell me a little bit more? I mean, you say pain. What. What. What does pain mean? What. What is that? And what were you experiencing?
[00:19:17] Speaker C: When I was young, yeah, I was really.
I would have consistent muscle spasms and muscle pain in my back, and I also felt this extreme nerve sensitivity where I would be doing my homework, and my mom would creep in the room behind me. Like, not in a creepy way, but she was, like, walking into the room quietly. And most people would never be distracted by that. But for me, it felt as though my nerves were jumping out of my skin and. And I'd never experienced anything like that before.
But, you know, it was mostly. I was a very. I loved to play sports and dance, and I was really into the performing arts, and I was acutely aware doing the things that I love. Unfortunately, that sent me into a life of feeling, like, I was always aware of specifically back pain.
I would.
You know, I was a very. I went from being a very active and athletic child to feeling, unfortunately, as if I was always aware of pain in my body. And sometimes that meant having to stop doing the things that I love, like sports, for example. I was very, very into the performing arts and dancing.
And I would just say that it affected me so much that I wasn't ever not aware of it. Even when I was trying to be a normal kid and do the things that I loved. I was just having to adjust to always feeling muscle tightness and pain in my back specifically.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: And I mean you were then on pain medication then being on pain medication in itself would have its own kind of implications as well, you know, so what, what implications would, you know, being on pain medication all the time have for you? I mean did you feel drowsy, you know, impact your gut? I mean what, what else was, was impacting you that way?
[00:21:29] Speaker C: I was on anti inflammatories and muscle relaxers and I really don't remember how much they, they affected me in a negative way. As much as I knew that they really helped me feel significantly better and to, they allowed me to, you know, live my life in a more normal way.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: And so then you went then to, to college and you're still symptom wise? Yeah, it was still about the same. I mean you're, it was just that you were not able to recover as well. You had to kind of pace the amount of activities you were doing.
But that, that was kind of the only, only limitation did you feel?
[00:22:16] Speaker C: No, I, Well I was always aware of my back hurting, so I continued to have that pain and like I said, I just sort of adjusted myself to, to just being as normal as I could with this extra ailment that really hurt most of the time.
Nobody until this point had ever mentioned diet or any lifestyle practices or anything like that. So I really just was doing the best I could with what I had at that time.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: And, and then you had the event then in, in Israel. Yeah, which, which was, I mean that was pretty life changing, you know.
[00:22:55] Speaker C: Yeah, very traumatic.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: Why do you, I mean how did you respond to that? I mean because then now it's time to. Because you're still on then the pain medication anti inflammatory and in order to be able to deal with your back pain. And then all of a sudden this, this happens when you are slower than the oldest person, you know, on, on the tour. So to say how, what, I mean what was your life like right after that?
[00:23:28] Speaker C: Well, I had slowly gotten myself off of the muscle relaxers and the anti inflammatories because when I was on my own after college I really started to learn about diet and I went to school for acting. So I was really trying to have the best energy I could. And also there's a pressure to look a certain way if you're going into that field.
So I Would say that my interest in it was more superficial. But then I was having a pretty profound response to it physically.
Going back to your question, after Israel, I felt like this tidal wave just sort of took over my life. And my entire life became about surviving and managing my health. And it sent me full blast into this medical maze where I was seeing so many people because the situation was so severe. It demanded it.
I was so sick, I could barely lift my head.
Like I said, my hair was falling out in clumps. I was having trouble catching my breath. My digestive system shut down. So it wasn't as if I could ignore anything anymore. It was very front and center, and it's terrifying. It's.
It's also tragic to be 25 years old and have to move back in with your parents and go back to the drawing board and try to figure out what's wrong. And that's a time in your life where you're supposed to be, you know, figuring out who you are and finding your wings. And for me, my young life went from that to navigating this really complex world of chronic illness.
So I would say that it was scary, but I just went full into fight or flight to figure out what was wrong.
[00:25:23] Speaker B: And so what would a day look like for you in that condition?
[00:25:27] Speaker C: Wow. I haven't thought about this in a really long time, but I was so fatigued that I could barely. I mean, I was resting all the time. I was sleeping all the time. And I had to adjust to a liquid diet. It. I had to.
I. I really became a professional patient. Yeah, it's a sad time to think back to. I really was really so ill and trying, you know, I was going to so many people, and I was so desperate that it felt like I was throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick. And I was willing to, like, give anything a try because I felt so, so desperate and so out of energy.
I did start to feel better once the thyroid disorder was diagnosed.
Just taking the medicine made me feel better much, quickly.
So that gave me more energy and fix the hair. The hair issue and a lot of the skin issues that I was having started to get better. But it was a little bleak for a little while because I was just desperately searching for answers and willing to try anything that I could possibly try to get better.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: And then when you wrote the book, Kicking the Sick, what state were you in at that time and what kind of inspired you to write it? You said it was kind of like a love letter, but, I mean, what inspired you and what did you feel that the need was out there for people to. To. To know?
[00:27:09] Speaker C: It's a great question.
I remember sitting on my bedroom floor from the house I grew up in, looking through all of these different books to try to find solutions to how to make myself feel better and live better with this new reality that had hit me so quickly.
And I couldn't really find anything that was uplifting. I couldn't find anything that.
That showed young people specifically how to take something very sidelining and potentially very defining and make it a transformative experience.
I could only find how to be sick and tired, basically. And I just was totally willing to accept that that was going to be the life that I was going to live at 25 years old.
And.
And I am. I got a little lost. What was the final part of the question?
[00:28:09] Speaker B: That's okay. Yeah. So what. What inspired you and where. What kind of. What state were you in, in. In your journey? And then also what. What did you feel was missing in, you know, what. What you were reading and what. What was.
You know, what. What hole did you feel that you needed to fill that was not out there by writing your book?
[00:28:31] Speaker C: Yeah. So I couldn't find anything that felt like an advocacy guide for patients to take their health into their own hands. And at the time, I was, like I mentioned before, working as a health coach in a functional medicine practitioner's office. And I could really see day to day what other patients were experiencing. And I knew that it was such a painful and isolating time for me and that. That I couldn't be alone in that. And yet, in the media and in resources that I would look to, nobody was really talking about it, but I knew inside myself that I couldn't be the only one. And then when I did research, I found that one in two people in our country had at least one chronic illness. So that's half of America. And I thought, why is nobody talking about this publicly? Why. Why does it have a stigma where it feels like it's something that should be private and not talked about if so many people are struggling silently? And I really wanted to be one of the people that, you know, shined a light on a very dark corner for a lot of patients. Because so much healing comes from saying it out loud and talking about it with other people and not being ashamed of it, because it's nothing. You ca.
Something that happened to you. And so it was really important for me to.
To. To write that, and it's really become a resource guide, and it includes all of the experts and thought leaders and doctors and healers that I learned from along my way and also a lot of other women who are patients with different autoimmune disorders. Because I wanted it to feel, you know, to save people time and money and resource, to be able to just look and even if they didn't have the cognitive function to read the whole book, which I certainly didn't for a long time, that they could look and find something that they. That would be hopeful and also empowering to make them, you know, step into helping themselves heal and feel better.
That was really the inspiration for, For. For the beginning of Kicking Sick.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: And you use the word empowering. Yeah, because a lot of times it is, you know, when you're dealing with something chronic and then you're looking for the expert outside of yourself to.
To kind of hand over your body almost to that expert. And can you please figure out what's wrong? Can you please fix it so that I can then bring back my body and feel normal again? I mean, how does.
What does it look like to be empowered in that journey? Because it is. You don't feel empowered when you feel that your body's rebelling against yourself.
[00:31:28] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. It's the most disempowering experience I think, that most patients go through. And it's so intense and it can be so painful that in a lot of. A lot of patients, if in my own coaching practice and that I've seen in that, in the doctor's office where I used to work, there's the real. A real desire for a patient to just give it to someone else to solve for them. And in that experience, you lose the part of yourself that you know knows your body better than anyone. And there are.
That's the thing is you were smart enough to know that something was seriously wrong. And I think it's a vital part of healing to have agency over your body.
The most beautiful part of it, especially that could have been a dark experience in your life, is that you get to help yourself get better. And that's what's was. That was actually what was liberating about finally having the correct diagnosis is I had a doctor, I trusted him, and he demanded that I meet him in the middle.
And that has been the most healing thing for me, that I wasn't allowed to not be a part of anything because it was up to me how fast I wanted to do the treatment. It was up to me to discover, well, how fast can I go or will I just railroad my body again? And that's a very empowering thing when you realize that there's so much lifestyle wise that you as a patient can do that can. You can change the way you eat, you can change your stress levels, you can change lifestyle practices. It can actually be a such a transforming experience. Like I would never wish any of this on anyone. However, there's a depth within myself and a connection to myself that I would have never had if I didn't go through such a saga with my health.
And it's been deeply enriching in a lot of ways on the other side of the pain. And I think that a lot of patients don't realize that there's so much that they can do to help themselves. And if they're seeing a functional medicine practitioner and an integrative doctor, that's the beautiful thing about it is that they can help you learn ways in which you can help yourself. But you will never ever get better fully if you don't step in and realize that you are such an active part of the healing equation. To fully heal, you need, we need doctors. We need a doctor to help us diagnose it, to give us the treatment. We need to trust them and they need to take us to the finish line. But only you as a patient can step up and decide that you're going to walk through it.
[00:34:26] Speaker B: So it's kind of like that, that game where you, you know, you, you tie your feet together, you know, in the middle and, and then you, you do a race with that.
[00:34:34] Speaker C: Yeah. So what is that called?
[00:34:36] Speaker B: I, I can't remember. But yeah, I, I just kept that picture in my mind as you were talking about, you know, you have to kind of meet, meet them in the middle. So you, you have to kind of run together, but you have to do a coordinated running, you know, the other person can't run without you. Yeah.
To bring forth effort as well. So.
[00:34:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
What do you think as a doctor? How do you see that in your patients for the ones that get better versus the ones that struggle to do. You see empowerment as a piece.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: Empowerment is huge, you know, and, and I, I, it doesn't matter what it, what kind of illness you know, you're dealing with if you're not in charge, taking charge of your own journey and, and you use the doctor as a, as, as a support, but it is, at the end of the day, you're the one that drives, you know, the, the healing process.
And yeah, so to, to me, that, that's huge. And obviously, you know, like you're saying kind of meeting Halfway, you know, lifestyle wise. I mean, that I've had, you know, patients that, you know, this was a patient dealing with cancer that I usually use this as a, as an example. You know, I was saying, well, you know, these are the foods that you need to stay away from. And yeah, individuals said, well, I, I can't not eat ice cream. And so then I, you know, then, okay, then we're not going to have the outcome we're wanting. And, and he wanted his ice cream and, and he ate his ice cream until he wasn't able to eat his ice cream anymore.
So, which, which is, which is sad. But, but that is exactly, you know, you as a patient, you need to take. Take that step and take that responsibility and do what's needed. And, and that, you know, that has to do with, you know, your, your thinking, your movement, your eating, you know, spiritual. You're taking the, the supplements or medication or whatever it is that that's needed and, and then doing, you know, having the right attitude, you know, being grateful, being. I mean, all these different things play a role.
So you as a person. Yeah. If you would meet yourself and coach yourself, you know, what would you tell yourself at which point, Right, right when you had that horrible experience in, in. In Israel, if you would have yourself sitting in front of you, you know, because obviously you've learned a lot since then. You, you know, if you would have yourself sitting in front of you, what would be the aspects that you would say, you know, this is what we need to do. You need, you know, you need, we need this. We need that.
[00:37:31] Speaker C: I would tell myself to trust my instincts and, and to never give up on myself and never stop until I found a doctor that I felt like really saw me and was knowledgeable enough to take me to the finish line.
And I would tell that girl, now that there's so much you can do right now, even while you're figuring out what your diagnosis is or how to feel better that you can do to start to feel better. And I wish that I had known that sooner because I would have drastically changed my diet and my lifestyle, tools and meditation and everything sooner than I had. And I think that that would have given me relief in some way while I, while I looked for the rest.
[00:38:22] Speaker B: And for, I mean, diet is such a huge part. You know. What, what in your mind would be a good diet for somebody battling Lyme?
[00:38:33] Speaker C: Well, I think that everybody is different, and I struggle with being prescriptive about it because I do think that that's an opportunity to really get to Know yourself and, and to figure out what actually makes you feel better. I also feel it's really important to not be just taking so much out, but rather starting with adding things in that could be really beneficial. But I think tried and true with everybody that I've seen and with myself certainly included that an anti inflammatory diet is really important and it makes a huge difference.
That could I guess be paleo, but really taking out inflammatory foods like dairy or gluten or corn or soy could be a really powerful place to start. It certainly was for me.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: And if, if we kind of set aside supplements and medications and all of that, what would you say would be kind of the next important thing to, to really address? You know, when diagnosed?
[00:39:38] Speaker C: I think stress reduction is so key. I think that getting sick and having a health emergency puts you into a state of survival that is really intense and really hard to wind up yourself out of. And for me, it was very hard for me when I started to learn to meditate. I really felt like I wanted to army crawl out under the door of the class that I took. And now it's something that I do almost every single day that I value so much.
Just creating a spaciousness within myself and doing a stress reducing meditation I think is really important. It's all about personal rituals for yourself and for me that's one that I would have never learned if I hadn't have had this experience. It's just not what I saw and, or what I knew. And I'm so grateful that I found it because that's, that's such a key. I mean people say, say self care, but it's really essential. Care is really what it is.
It's how are you going to take care of yourself like you would somebody that you love.
For me that's a big key. What would you say?
[00:40:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I mean the key is, and we know the impact on stress, how that increases inflammation and we know that the immune system is more prone to overreact when you are under stress. That fight or flight mode.
And one of the biggest issue a lot of times it's not just the pathogen in itself, it is the immune system's response to the pathogen. And a lot of times that is what really kind of puts a person down.
So to be able to address through diet, through lifestyle habits, through mindful meditation, gratitude journals, spiritual practices, it becomes so important when going through, when going through can or go through Lyme.
[00:41:44] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. For me I, I mean the treatment saved my life, but all of the other parts around it Made my healing very powerful.
[00:41:57] Speaker B: And, and so now the intriguing question is, what treatment saved you?
[00:42:03] Speaker C: So I actually have managed to treat Lyme completely antibiotic free, which I know, you know, some people have a really good results with antibiotics, and I just have a lot of GI issues. So my doctor felt, let's try herbs first. And they were extremely powerful for me. I started treating Bartonella first because my symptoms were.
It seemed like that was the biggest dragon of the three based on my symptoms and my test results.
So I started to treat with Byron White herbs called Abart and then MC Bar one by beyond balance. And then I added in methylene blue and I did that. I. I was so sensitive, I had to raise a drop a week to get to the full dose. That's how reactive I was. And I think that's the other thing is that the treatment makes you worse before you get better. So as a patient who's been through so much and has tried so many things that make you feel worse, it's to really believe. Except once you see, oh my gosh, I'm at the. I'm at the another apex, I just literally feel like I have a different body. It becomes worth it.
And for me, I really had to practice patience. Like, okay, this, this. I'm really sensitive to this treatment, but I clearly really need it, so I can't go as fast as I would like to.
And then I switched to the Babesia treatment. I did Artisinua and I'm doing Cryptolepis now. And then when I'm done treating that, I'll move to Lyme. But it's been extremely powerful for me. I mean, it's. I literally say I'm Benjamin Buttoning because I feel like I'm aging backwards. I. I am the only person I know that loves getting older because I feel better than I ever felt when I was young.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:43:59] Speaker C: I love it.
[00:44:00] Speaker B: That's awesome.
Yeah. And. And so when you're saying you have. You feel you have a different body. So I mean, what symptom Wise. Yeah, because here you're gradually increasing and with increasing, then you're kind of reacting to what you're adding or increasing with.
So how in that process did you then start to feel that you have a different body?
[00:44:23] Speaker C: After I got to the full dose of the herbs that I was doing, let's say I'll use Bartonella as an example.
I probably took me about two months on the full dose of the treatment. And then I remember this very specific moment where I was skiing with my now husband. And I was like, at the top of the mountain, like, whoa. That wasn't a struggle for me. That felt awesome. And I feel so alive, and I feel so free in my body in a way that I've never felt. So it. It came so free fast after such a slow climb to the top of the mountain. Let's just use that as a metaphor since I was on a mountain. But once.
Once it.
I realized it, I really felt different in every way.
Mentally, with my cognitive function, I could do more.
That's really empowering when something really makes a difference is it makes you want to go all the way.
But I just had a freedom within my body that I hadn't felt for so long, probably since I was a kid. Like a baby.
[00:45:37] Speaker B: Yeah. And you were that. Like you mentioned, you were that carefree, you know, child that wanted to experience and explore and do everything and just live life and to then be able to kind of get back to that, you know, as, you know, being older but younger.
I mean, that. That must be such an incredible feeling.
[00:45:59] Speaker C: It really. It's so liberating, and it's.
It's hard to believe when you don't feel well, but. And I was skeptical when my doctor said, you will get to a point where it's almost like you're at an apex in a mountain and you've hit this new threshold, and it will feel like you have a different body. And I didn't really believe him, but I trusted him. So I'm like, okay, I'm all in. Let's do this. And he was right.
And I'm so glad that I.
I'm so glad that I didn't give up on myself and trying to find answers, because it was so worth it. To the point where I saw a photo of myself from 10 years ago.
I was at the Mayo Clinic. I was desperate for answers, and I.
It made me feel sad. Like I could see. I felt like such a different person from the girl in that photo.
And that's very liberating, years later, to look back and say, wow, I've really come so far. I might not be all the way there, but look at how far I've come.
[00:47:06] Speaker B: Yeah, that's incredible. It's incredible. And. And you're. You're about so. So obviously, you know, kicking the sick. That. That's a book that people should definitely read because you. I mean, that.
That empowerment, that positive, you know, energy, you know, that. That we. We all need that as we're going through our journey. But you're Also working on. On your next book. You know, tell me a little bit about that.
[00:47:31] Speaker C: I'll tell you what I can. It's coming out in May 2026 with Hachette, and it's called but yout Look Fine, Trapped in the Hell Between Sick and well and how to Break Free.
And I'm. I'm very proud of it. It's different because it's mostly my story. The other book had 30 experts in it. And, you know, after Kicking Sick, I didn't have that much to say, and I never wanted to contribute anything to an audience that has so much thrown at them. And I just didn't want to give anything that wouldn't be totally fresh and helpful.
So I'm deep in the middle of writing it, but I'm excited for it to come out next year.
[00:48:16] Speaker B: Well, we're excited to see when it comes out. Yeah, that's going to be wonderful. Well, thank you, Amy. Any. Any kind of additional insights or something you feel is really important for our audience to hear and that we haven't covered?
[00:48:32] Speaker C: Yeah. I would say that if you are struggling with chronic illness, that it's really important that you have the right mental and emotional support in your life. It's not just about what you're physically going through. I. I think it's really imperative that you have a good support system around yourself and that you have people that you can trust and that you don't feel that you have to hide from in all of its messiness. And also professionals that you can talk to to have support through something that's really challenging and difficult. I don't feel that people talk about that enough. And I'm curious, do you. Do you agree with that or would you add anything to that?
[00:49:12] Speaker B: Well, I mean, we, we as.
I mean, studies show that loneliness kills more people than. Yeah. Than smoking.
Yeah. So we know that social connection, the.
Our, Our ability to have community around us, supporting us through our journey is so important. And when we're dealing with chronic diseases like Lyme, it becomes very isolating because people don't really understand what it is that you're going through.
And it is. Yeah, because like you're saying, yeah, people look fine. Yeah. Frequently the, the people battling Lyme, they. They look fine, but they don't feel fine. Yeah. And they are struggling in so many different ways. So if you, if your family members may not be the, the ones, you know, that are. Are able to support you or even spouse, then make sure you, you know, reach out to communities and look for communities where People can understand you and where you can have conversations and we don't feel isolated.
I think that is so, so important. And then having like yourself, you know, having a coach that's in your, in your corner to kind of support you through this journey, especially somebody that, that really understands. And I, I mean that I think is so unique, you know, with you doing what you do is that you can walk alongside with them and understand that your journey has been my journey. And so that I think that is. That's wonderful.
[00:50:54] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:50:56] Speaker B: Where can people find out more about you?
[00:50:59] Speaker C: You can find me on my website, which is amy kurtz.com or on my Instagram, which is underscore amy kurtz.com and send me a message.
[00:51:09] Speaker B: Well, Amy, this has been such a pleasure and, and thank you so much for everything that you're doing.
You bless you bless so many people. And so thank you.
[00:51:20] Speaker C: You as well. Thank you so much.
[00:51:29] Speaker A: The information this podcast is for educational purposes only and it's is not designed to diagnose or treat any disease. I hope this podcast impacted you as it did me. Please subscribe so that you can be notified when new episodes are released. There are some excellent shows coming up that you do not want to miss. If you are enjoying these podcasts, please take a moment to write a review. And please don't keep this information to yourself. Share them with your family and friends. You never know what piece of information that will transform their lives.
For past episodes and powerful information on how to conquer lyme, go to integrativelimesolutions.com and an additional powerful resource, limestream.com for Lyme support and group discussions. Join Lyme Conquerors Mentoring Lyme warriors on Facebook.
If you'd like to know more about the cutting edge integrative of Lyme therapies, my center of offers, please visit thecarlfeldtcenter.com thank you for spending this time with us and I hope to see you at our next episode of Integrative lyme Solutions with Dr. Karl Feld.
