[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome back to Integrative Lyme Solutions with doctor Karl Feldt.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: I am so excited about the show.
[00:00:07] Speaker C: That we have ahead of us.
[00:00:08] Speaker D: We have some phenomenal information that could save lives.
[00:00:13] Speaker C: You're gonna need to tune in to what's going on today.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: The information is jam packed, so don't step away.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: Well, Ali Chandler, this is going to be so exciting. I'm so excited to hear your journey. Yeah. You've gone through so much, and here you are just blooming, doing amazing in your life and in your business. But it wasn't always like that.
[00:00:43] Speaker D: It was not. No. Thank you for having me. We were just talking before we started recording, and this is the first time I've really told my whole battle with chronic Lyme and some other conditions. So it'll be fun to tell my story.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: So tell me a little bit. Tell me a little bit about you. I mean, when did this whole journey start?
[00:01:06] Speaker D: Yeah, so it was going back to 2010.
I was actually teaching high school in Michigan, and I decided to take a backpacking trip over to Europe for the whole summer. I quit my job. I was going to move to San Francisco to go to grad school, and I wanted to just backpack with a couple of my girlfriends for the summer, so left the trip being extremely healthy, was working out five, six times a week, doing boxing and boxing, conditioning, lifting.
Came back from the trip just my health absolutely destroyed. There's a lot in between, but basically it happened on a trip to Europe completely overnight.
I can go into the details if you want, but it took me a couple years to really figure out what was going on, so it was a very surprising journey for me, but obviously, I've definitely learned a lot from it, but it was kind of a crazy Europe trip.
[00:02:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:13] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:02:14] Speaker C: So tell me. I mean, obviously, when all of this happens and. And it's hard and to figure out sometimes what did happen and why it happened. Yeah. Do you mind kind of going through what you realized and the terminal events and what impacted what and how it affected you?
[00:02:35] Speaker D: Yeah. So I was fine. You know, the first part of the trip, we were doing a kontiki tour or top deck, I think it was where you are just on a bus traveling around with other, you know, young people. I think I was. I must have been 26 at the time, so we were just going from country to country. It was an organized trip, and I remember the first time I really felt off. We were camping in the Alps in Switzerland, at the base of the mountains, and we were, you know, outside kind of doing some more rugged camping. A lot of our trip had been in hostels and hotels, and this was really just like the very rugged tent camping. So I woke up one morning when we were there, and I just felt incredibly dizzy. I felt like when I was walking, I was on a boat, and I just kind of a lot of neurological symptoms, a lot of brain fog, a lot of heart racing, which I never had, had issues with my heart before. And I just felt. I always described it as. I just felt incredibly toxic, like my body was fighting something.
I couldn't figure out what was going on, and so I tried to just relax. I, of course, told my friends, like, I feel pretty off. I'm not sure what's going on.
The next stop, we went to Amsterdam, and everyone, of course, is wanting to go out to dinner and kind of, like, walk around the city. It's a beautiful city for biking and walking and obviously great weather because it was summer. And I remember just sitting at my hostel, just pacing around the room, because I was trying to figure out if I needed to go to the emergency room, which. It's scary when you're on a trip out of the US, because you're not really sure where to go or kind of how the medical system or anything works.
And this was towards the tail end of our trip, so I decided to just, you know, stick it out. I did a lot of sleeping.
We went to, I think, Belgium the next day, and I don't remember anything about the trip from that point on. I remember absolutely nothing.
The last thing I remember, just being so sick for a couple of different countries and not really being able to participate in anything. And then we were on our way home, flying out of Ireland, and I remember waking up on the floor of the bathroom. I don't remember what happened before that. I woke up to a group of irish women trying to feed me and give me water, and, of course, were taking care of me, and they thought I had low blood sugar. They were trying to just. Maybe I was dehydrated.
And so I went back. They brought me to my friends who were still waiting by the gate. And I was like, I can't fly. Like, I can't even keep myself awake right now.
I was having what I now believe are SVT episodes. So my heart rate was randomly jumping up to, like 100, 8192 hundred 20, just sitting, you know, not exercising or anything.
And of course, just random symptoms. What I now know about Lyme symptoms can rotate, and it can mirror so many other illnesses and diseases. And so I felt like every day was something different. It was. Now my stomach was upset, now I'm having migraines, and now I'm dizzy. And the heart issues, for me were the worst of. And so I ended up making it back to the US, and I went right to the hospital, because I feel like I just arrived. My parents picked me up, and I was like, something is severely, severely wrong, and I need to go in and get seen.
So I went to the hospital. They did a bunch of testing, didn't test for Lyme. I do remember having a bite that had a slight bullseye. I said that to the hospital.
They didn't test me for Lyme at all. I didn't even think about it for a year or two after.
So they ended up giving me steroids and antibiotics because they were like, whatever's going on, we'll hopefully knock it out with one of these two. And that made me so much worse. So after that, I basically was bed bound. I wasn't hungry, I couldn't eat. I really couldn't even stay awake. Um, and so I was moving across the country, like, two weeks later to go to grad school, and I ended up still going. My dad drove out with me. Um, I remember just feeling absolutely horrible on the way there. You know, constant heart, things going on, but I'm a pretty determined person. So I was like, this was my plan. Like, I'm still going to go and figure it out. So that's kind of what happened. And then it was a whole process in a couple years, figuring out that it was Lyme. Many, many doctors, that's the whole kind of second half of the story, but as many people know who have Lyme, it sometimes takes a very long time to figure out that that's what's going on. So that's part one of the story of just kind of how it came to be, and sort of just the issues in, I guess, a lot of our conventional medical training, of just nothing, having great testing or not even knowing to test.
And so that was kind of how the illness happened. And then for the next eight, nine years, it kind of got worse. And it's up and down. There's peaks and valleys, of course, but something I dealt with for almost a.
[00:08:37] Speaker C: Decade, so that's insane. And out of curiosity, what were you going to grad school for?
[00:08:44] Speaker D: So I went for writing. I went to California College of the Arts in San Francisco. I actually taught writing, 12th grade writing in English in high school, and just decided I didn't want to teach high school anymore. I still did want to do writing as much as possible, but yeah, I went for writing and I just wanted to live in California, so it was great.
[00:09:06] Speaker C: Yeah, it's warmer there. So, I mean, how, I mean, here you are in Ireland and you're kind of waking up, no idea how you got there, and you have irish women catering to you, not knowing how you're going to be able to make it to United States, to even get onto a plane.
And here now you're driving across the country to start grad school. I mean, how did you manage that in that state? I mean, that must have been extremely hard.
[00:09:39] Speaker D: It was, yeah.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Hello dear listeners, this is Doctor Michael Karlfeld, your host of integrative lime Solutions. Today I'm excited to share an exclusive opportunity from the Karlfeld center where we blend healing power of nature with groundbreaking therapies to combat Lyme disease and its associated challenges at the Karfeld center were not just fighting Lyme, were revolutionizing the way its treated. With cutting edge therapies like photodynamic therapy, full body ozone IV therapy, Silver IV's, 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 minutes 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, doctor Michael Karlfilz, 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
[email protected] or call us at 208-338-8902 to schedule your free discovery call at the Karfeld center. We believe in healing naturally, effectively and holistically. Thank you for tuning in into integrative Lyme solution with Doctor Karlfeld. Remember, true health is not just the absence of disease, it's achieving the abundance of vitality. Let's discover yours together.
[00:11:42] Speaker D: So my dad really helped a lot and I honestly thought it was something that I was going to get over. I was almost positive. Like, oh, it's just a virus. Like, you know, I'm sick right now, but by the time I get to California, I'm sure I'll start feeling better.
And that wasn't the case. So my dad definitely helped a lot. He did most of the driving. I remember saying in Iowa with my aunt and having one of those heart episodes, just like, in the bedroom where I was staying. And I ran downstairs because it's a really scary feeling when your heart is in the. You're just sitting, like you're. Like, this should not be happening. And it feels like you're having a heart attack or you're not sure what's going on, because it's not something that's ever happened to me before.
So I definitely remember moments like that where I was just like, okay, like, this has to be some kind of crazy virus. Like, I'll be fine once they get there.
And I had actually part of this story. I had been dating someone long distance who lived in Monterey, so I was very motivated to get out to California. We had been dating for two years, and that was part of kind of the excitement of, you know, also be a couple hours from him in San Francisco. But I was excited to just be out there and be able to actually spend time with him. So that was helpful, just knowing that he was there. But it was. Yeah, it was a tough trip. And I definitely, like I said, it. It did fluctuate. You know, I would have. I would start to have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks. I remember some really extreme crashes.
I actually, on my instagram, there's, you know, memories that pop up where it's, like, ten years ago or 15 years ago, and I constantly will see something that shows, like, here I am with my acupuncture or acupressure mat and a green juice, and it's some caption about how, like, you know, I'm in a crash and I'm trying to stay positive, and I've never been someone who's stuck in that victim mindset. I tried really hard to just stay motivated and stay positive. And I, you know, I knew that one day I would be able to use my story to inspire other people, but it's hard when you're in it. So it definitely was a battle. And another kind of chapter of the story was probably three or four years after that. I had been consistently having these heart issues. And one day I woke up, and every time I stood, this went on for a couple years straight. My heart rate went. It was resting, 53 55, pretty low resting heart rate. And every time I stood up, it would go to 100. 5160. If I start walking, it's 180.
And so I eventually got diagnosed with pots, hyper adrenergic pots. And so that was a whole section of time where I was basically bedbound. Like, I remember, you know, just sitting at my husband at the time we ended up getting married, but I would just sit at his golf course. He was a golf pro, and I would do my work on the Wi Fi of the golf course from my computer because I was scared to be by myself. I was so sick that, you know, I couldn't. I couldn't even stand to make myself food. So I kept working full time and just kind of, like, sat. He would come out on his breaks or come out at lunch to check on me and see how I was doing. But again, like, that's what I was saying, as I'm not someone who was just going to let that affect my life. I was just kind of like, this isn't the life I want, you know, I'm going to figure this out.
But it is. Like, I really feel for people who are going through chronic conditions and just struggling to find their root cause, because it's devastating. You're just like, what? I've seen so many doctors. I probably saw 15 to 20 different specialists of all different kinds. Pulmonologists. I was having a lot of lung pain, neurologists, allergists, every GI doctors, ents, like, every kind of doctor, because I had so many weird symptoms. Um, and so that's kind of something that I just really hope that people remember that there is hope for them. Like, you can find your root cause, and then you can figure out how to treat it. But I just, you know, want to encourage anyone who's kind of going through that battle that it does get better and it can get better. It's just figuring out, you know, what to do and what path to take.
[00:16:39] Speaker C: Yes. Do you mind, for the people out there, you know, cause a lot of people, they. They got confused, you know, what. What could be related to Lyme, what is not related to Lyme?
And here you have all these different symptoms. You mentioned kind of the heart condition. You mentioned the respiratory.
What are all the symptoms? If you would just kind of say that these are all my symptoms, just going to go through them so people out there can see, relate to what it is that you may have been dealing with.
[00:17:16] Speaker D: Right? Yeah. So for a while, I was, and I'm sure some people can relate to this. I was tracking every symptom. I had a note where it was like, here's the time. This is the symptom I'm feeling. And then I would try to guess, you know, was it this food that I ate? Was it because I did an infrared sauna? Like, am I making myself detox? So I would say my worst symptoms were definitely nervous system related, which I didn't understand until later. I would have blood pressure swings. I would go from really low to really high.
Obviously, the heart rate is autonomic nervous system related.
I would get blood pooling in my legs. They would turn completely purple. When I would stand for more than a few minutes, from my knees down to my toes would be just bright purple.
I had a lot of digestive issues, a lot of food sensitivities.
When I was my sickest, I couldn't even go in a grocery store because I reacted to the lights. I reacted to the smells. Standing for that long, I couldn't do it because of the pots.
So a lot of sensory. It was like my nervous system was working overtime, and I couldn't process, like, if I walked by the chemical aisle, I would pass out because it was, like, too much for my body. I just couldn't. I couldn't do it.
So, yeah, a lot of heart symptoms, a lot of head brain fog, confusion. There are long periods of time where I don't remember anything that happened in my life just because I was so brain foggy. And it was hard for me to process any information.
And I would often get hives and rashes. I would get face flushing. I'm sure some people have had this where it feels like you have a sunburn at just random times. My face would turn bright red, and I would feel, like, super hot.
I had a pretty low body temperature. I think it was, like, 96 most of the time. But then sometimes I would get fevers. So it's just. It's. Honestly, it's difficult. For a couple years, I had severe burning in my lungs. Very severe. So every time I walked, it felt like if you go outside for a run and it's like winter, you know, like, the burning that you get in your lungs from that. I felt like that just walking to my mailbox. Um, so just. Yeah, I'm sure there were, like, hundreds of other symptoms. Um, one thing that actually did really help me was when I stopped tracking my symptoms, and then I started tracking gratitude instead, like, if even a small win, because I was focusing so much on the negative that it's like, what you're focusing on is what you were looking for. So I kind of spent a lot of time training myself on mindset and was like, even if I stand long enough to make myself a green smoothie today, I'm going to write that down. I'm not going to write down an obsess over every symptom because what is that doing? It's not helping. And I had given that list to probably 15 doctors. They're not going to read, you know, 20 pages of my symptoms. I can give them a summary. So that's something that was really helpful, was just thinking about, like, is what I'm focusing on impacting my mindset and impacting my healing. And I truly believe that it did. You know, it kept me stuck in that sort of, like, panic mode, which is, again, not great for my nervous system, which was already struggling.
And so just learning to track small wins. I remember one of them, I walked to my mailbox without. Normally I would have to sit down two or three times because my heart rate was so high. And so there was a day where I was like, wow, I just walked all the way to the mailbox and back. That was my reality. I spent almost two years completely bed bound because I couldn't stand and nobody really knew how to treat pots.
Where I was in California, I'd seen many cardiologists and different doctors because I have a more rare type of pots with the hyperadrenergic. It's high blood pressure, high heart rate instead of low, which is the more traditional.
But, yeah, that's a tip for anyone listening. If you're someone who's a symptom tracker, sometimes it. It helps to shift your mindset a bit and just try to focus on some of the positives. I know it's really hard, but that did help me in my healing.
[00:22:00] Speaker C: Yeah. And I know other people that I've interviewed that they.
Gratitude was what turned them around. Each step they were grateful for. I was able to do this step, and I was able to walk up the stairs, and I was each little. Each thing that, yeah, you just take for granted in your normal life, and they look upon each one as a success and just feel deep gratitude for being able to do that. And it's kind of like the body, then it programs itself to be able to do more of that, that you're grateful.
[00:22:37] Speaker D: Definitely, yeah. And one of the other things that helped me a lot was learning about neuroplasticity and limic system retraining. It's a pretty common thing in the world of lime and pots, you know, programs like DNRs, I did a lot of which is dynamic neural retraining system. I did a lot of things like tapping, like eft, emotional freedom technique. And all of them are focused on really reprogramming your brain. Not that, you know, it's just a mental thing, because obviously, people dealing with this, you have chronic infections that are affecting your immune system and your nervous system, all of your body systems. It's kind of overloading your total toxic burden. You have so many pathogens and things in your body that it just can't function normally.
But mindset things, neuroplasticity, just understanding that, I can at least do my part to retrain my body.
This is not what we want. Stop doing this. This is not the path we're going down.
Probably an hour of that, a day for six or seven months, because I couldn't do anything else. I was in bed. So I was very dedicated to that practice and meditation and just, you know, all of these positive gratitude affirmations. Like, I remember writing on post it notes, just simple things like, I'm healing and, you know, very positive messages and just posting them next to my bed where I was all the time.
And so I loved those in conjunction with sort of like the physical support of.
I actually worked on drainage, which is a huge thing that a lot of people don't know about. But supporting liver, kidneys, colon, because when you have these chronic infections, a lot of times those parts of your body aren't functioning properly, so then the toxins can get stuck in.
And I did parasite cleanses, I did heavy metals, I did chelation, which was a very intense DMSA. Had to wake up, I think, every 4 hours. I remember sending an alarm and taking these pills for pretty intense chelation, but I treated everything that we could think of that was a toxin, that was a pathogen, and it was hard. I did all of the supportive protocols where I did coffee enemas.
We bought a nice infrared sauna, wooden ones with, like, untreated wood, low emf, you know, all the things.
Um, and so I did a lot of Castor oil packs, a lot of dry brushing, just trying to support my lymphatic system and my liver. And, um, you know, some of the. The parasite cleansing for me was pretty intense, but I think for me, the parasite cleansing helped a lot. It did. It kind of, like, took a little bit of the burden off my body.
And Mimosa pudica is pretty crazy to see the things that can come out, rope worms and things like that. So that was a huge thing for me, is just kind of learning. Like, we can't just kill the lyme. We have to really support the body and the organs and get everything in place, and there's an order, and sometimes it depends on the person, like, what their labs look like or what they're dealing with the most kind of putting that order together that's going to support the body and also give them a little bit of relief. But it is not like people who have chronic Lyme are warriors. I am so sure of that, because there were so many dark days and so many nights and days where I felt completely hopeless, because I was like, I'm 27. I should not be having this life. I should be out with my friends. I should be at the beach. I live right by the ocean. Like, I lived in Monterey, which is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. And I could walk to the ocean in two minutes, but I couldn't walk. So it was just, you know, it was really frustrating. But I actually have kind of a cool story of how I got into the marketing I do now was actually from my Lyme doctor. So what I'm doing now is directly related to my, you know, the health struggles that I went through, which is absolutely amazing. And I'm so grateful that I'm in sort of this industry and being, you know, being able to support other people who are going through this. So it's pretty cool.
[00:27:22] Speaker C: That's incredible. So when we finally see gone to all these gazillion doctors, and none of them really knew what to do with you, no therapy that you were doing that they recommended were really kind of moving the needle. It was a lot of the things that you were doing on your own. So how. When did Lyme kind of become part of the picture? When. When was that introduced?
[00:27:51] Speaker D: So when I was in Monterey, I was. I had my whole team. I had, like, my acupuncturists. I had a chiropractor, you know, I had a naturopath I was seeing, and then I had a doctor who did a lot of the sort of, like, emotional and energetic and mental side of chronic illness. Her name's Trina Hammock. I love her so much. She's amazing.
But luckily, she happened to live less than five minutes from where I lived in Monterey.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: And what made you kind of start to shift away from. Because in the beginning, it was kind of medical doctors. Right. What made you start to shift towards acupuncture, nature, pattern, all of that?
[00:28:34] Speaker D: I think most of it was just feeling like nobody understood what I was going through. Like, nobody gave me answers. I probably spent two or three years going to all of these different doctors. I had done every test possible, just blood panels, stool testing, organic acids. I probably did all of them multiple three, four times.
Hormone testing. Really, everything I did, pulmonology, they told me my lungs were that of an 81 year old. I think it was an upper gi. I had to have my esophagus dilated, I had to get biopsies of that. There's just so many things people are like, oh, maybe it's this. Let's try this invasive test to see if that's what it is.
But, yeah. So I kind of turned to the mental, emotional side, because I just felt like I wasn't getting answers and nobody understood what I was going through. I mean, people could clearly see that I was sick. I didn't look sick. I looked like a normal 27, 28 year old. But once they see, you know, my heart rate and kind of the stuff that I'm going through, they're like, okay, like, that's definitely not normal. Um, but, yeah. Trina had happened to suggest Lyme, and she was like, I know this doctor, you know, go see him. And he did, um, a tick borne panel on me. I know testing is sometimes, at least back then, it was hard, because, conventionally, there's a certain criteria for affirming that you have Lyme. And sometimes it's difficult, sometimes it doesn't catch it, sometimes they're not accurate. So he did some testing with me, confirmed I had Lyme, I had borrelia, I had Babesia, I had Bartonella, I had ehrlichia, I had a lot of the co infections that go along with Lyme disease.
And so I had gone.
My husband at the time dragged me to a health retreat that this doctor was having, because they were down in San Diego, which, you know, that's not too bad of a drive from Monterey. So he's like, let's go down there. Like, you know, I started working with him and his team, and he's like, let's go meet him in person. Like, this will be great.
They were doing things like rooftop yoga, and I was like, I can't even walk to the car. Like, my husband a lot of times would carry me to the car, and I'm like, do you think I'm going to do rooftop yoga?
But we ended up going, and this is maybe a year out of grad school, so I made it through grad school. I graduated got married.
[00:31:15] Speaker C: That's incredible. I mean, that's what a feat.
[00:31:18] Speaker D: It really was. It really was. And I wrote a whole book. Like, you know, I did, I did everything that I had to do.
Got married almost immediately after. And so we went down to this retreat to meet the Lyme doctor I was working with, and they made a huge difference in my life. Like, they were the ones that did the parasite, cleansing heavy metal, you know, all the drainage support.
And I had been working for another person in the health and wellness industry at the time as a copywriter. And my doctor, I heard him at a lunch say, like, oh, we need copy and marketing help. And I just was like, that's what I do. Which was funny, because he's looking at me like this girl who can barely sit to attend this retreat and is really struggling just to be there, even just be there as an observer. And I was like, I want to get an interview. And he's like, oh, yeah, like, when you go home, just send me your, your resume, it's fine. And I was like, no, like, I want to be interviewed in person. Like, I want to work for you. I want to, like, work for the people that are helping me. And so anyway, he ended up hiring me on this retreat. So I'm very grateful that I went, even though it was very, very hard. But that's kind of what catapulted me into sort of like the, the marketing and supplement companies and the wellness space. So I worked, like I said, as I was sick, I was just laying in bed and I was writing articles and I was answering phones for him and kind of doing everything, learning the industry, and that was probably twelve years ago now. So that's how I got into what I'm doing, which I think is such a cool thing, because I think you can really take your story and inspire other people, and your purpose can come out of something that's really dark. And I feel like that's what's happened to me is, yes, I had quite a few years of really dark days, and I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what was wrong with me. But every day I get to wake up and I get to give back to the community that I spent so much time in. And I get to, you know, in my writing, I think there's a lot of empathy because a lot of times when I'm working with doctors, I'm speaking to patients who were me. Like, I understand how they're feeling, and I understand, like, how isolating it is to be chronically ill and even, like, to your partner because they're not experiencing what you're experiencing. So even your family, like, they can't understand. So you just feel like you're looking for your community of people who are going through the same thing as you because you feel like no one else, they might try to understand how you're feeling. And of course, they, they do try, but you're like, you can't possibly understand how I feel in my body every day. So it's nice to be able to sort of, like, give the words of encouragement and just like, hang in there like you're, you're going to make it. You just have to have a strong mindset to get through something like this. And you really have to have your community and your support around you, but you also have to be an advocate for your own health. You can't just rely on one doctor to say, like, okay, this is what's going on. You really have to understand and know how to communicate about your own body. But, yeah, just words of encouragement for people coming through it. Like, you're gonna make it on the other side, you're gonna make it out. You're going to be okay. You just have to keep fighting. And that's really, like, the mentality that you have to just get up every day and know, I'm gonna do what I have to do today. We're gonna, we're gonna get to the bottom of this, you know, but it's going to take time and it's going to take a great team and effort, and it's a daily practice.
[00:35:05] Speaker C: And how did your husband handle all of this? I mean, here you're young, newly married, and here his wife that he loves and adores can barely get out of bed, and he has to carry her from point a to b and kind of looking at this, is this what the rest of our life going to look like? How did he respond to of that?
[00:35:30] Speaker D: Yeah, I think he wanted to be supportive. He did do a lot of nice things for me. You know, he would pick up a smoothie or, you know, he would be supportive and, you know, I'll heat up the sauna for you, go, you know, do your practice, do what you're, do what you're, you know, you're supposed to do. I think because I was never healthy, and the time that we were together made it really hard because we dated long distance, I was healthy. Like, we would take trips to see each other and I was perfectly fine. This was before my trip to Europe, but as soon as I moved out there, the entire time I was in California, I was sick. So it's not as if we really got good time together where I was like a normal mid twenties, you know, and it fluctuated, like I said. So sometimes I'm early on, I would have, like, a month or two where I felt fairly normal. I would just have symptoms here and there. I would deal with them. It wasn't like it was taking over my life. Like, I remember early on going on a lot of dates, we would still go kayaking. Like, I was able to get out of the house and do things.
When I developed pots, it was a couple years into our marriage, and that was hard because that really limited my life. And I was someone who loved working out. I loved lifting weights. Like I said, I did boxing. I did. I was always on the elliptical. I was doing spinning classes.
And so to go from that being sort of like my main form of stress relief to I can't even stand or walk, that was hard. And that was hard for him to see as well. So there was another chapter of my story where we moved into black mold and I had another massive crash. Massive crash. I was going into anaphylaxis randomly, like once, twice a week. Um, that's when I had. I stopped being able to eat. I lost, I think, 36, 37 pounds in six or seven weeks. I just couldn't swallow. I was choking on everything. Um, because some days I couldn't even swallow water. I just. My esophagus stopped working. And it's also part of the autonomic, you know, the nervous system is controls how you swallow. And I just couldn't. I couldn't do it. And so I had multiple esophagus surgeries. Trying to fix it. Didn't really do anything.
And so that's sort of the end chapter of my marriage. We ended up getting a divorce, and I just feel. I feel like I needed more help. I didn't really know a ton of people in California, and it was a lot of pressure for him to try to, like, full time care for me while I'm dealing with the black mold, while I'm in the ER. So often having to get. I having to use my EpiPen, then having to get steroids, Benadryl, Pepsi. Like, it was a whole cocktail that. That I took every single time.
And, of course, like, at that point within the mold, that was a good six months before. Again, we didn't really know it was mold until a few months in.
I moved into a hotel by myself because once we found out it was black mold, we had a mold company come in and test, and they were like, the levels in the air are very high, which is, it's, you know, a little bit odd for black mold because it's normally in the walls. So if your air levels are high, it's pretty bad. And we were right on the ocean, this apartment, and so, so the end of my marriage was, you know, me living in a hotel by myself. My parents flew out, you know, intermittently as they could to take care of me. And I'm sure it was heavy, heavy stress on everyone in my life because I was just in and out of the hospital. And, you know, when you have Lyme already, as you know, like, your immune system is already so struggling, so. So someone else could live in the black mold, have completely different symptoms, maybe not even seem like they're affected. Someone who has a pretty high toxic burden.
It's going to hit them very hard, and it hit me very, very hard. So I ended up coming back home to Grand Rapids, just thinking, like, he's working full time. I need someone with me all the time because I went back and my pots came back worse than it ever was, and a lot of my symptoms came back. Symptoms with the swallowing and all of that. And so I came back to Michigan. My dad flew out, and we kind of like how I went out to California in the first place. My dad flew out, we drove across the country.
My husband at the time, and I had a dog who had a little beagle together. He was like, six months at the time. So he came with me back to Michigan, and I didn't actually know that I was never going to go back to California, but I just didn't. All my stuff was there. I left all my stuff, and then I ended up staying in Michigan, and we got a divorce long distance. But, um, yeah, I think I don't blame him at all. Like, he did the best that he could. It's very, very traumatic to have, to have that stress on a relationship. And I really think, like, he, he tried to help the best he could. It just wasn't enough. He couldn't, he couldn't have the responsibility of caring for me full time and trying to work and kind of, like, support us. So. So, yeah, it's a very, I know a lot of people who have gone through lyme and mold and everything. It's a huge strain on your partnership and your relationship. It's a lot.
[00:41:15] Speaker C: Yeah, that is huge. And exactly what you're saying. I mean, the frustration from my understanding, the frustration of the partner not knowing what to do and feeling inadequate, feeling like my love is not enough, but what I have is just not enough.
How so? Now you, you know, kind of that you're. You're dealing with Lyme at this point, right?
[00:41:42] Speaker D: Yes. Yeah.
[00:41:43] Speaker C: Yeah. So, so what, what. How did you get out of this? I mean, what, what did. What was it that took you through this and kind of got to the other side?
[00:41:53] Speaker D: So the. When the mold situation happened, I had done probably a year and a half of, uh, you know, the parasite, cleansing the metals. I actually had gotten quite a bit better at the time. And then the mold kind of knocked me back into the worst valley I'd ever been in. It was like everything came back and more and new symptoms.
And so I actually stopped at doctor Todd Watts's clinic on my way back to Michigan. We took a pit stop because he knew I was super sick. I was, at the time working for Cellcore, doing their content and marketing, and he did a lot of testing on me. And he was like, you have a massive strongyloides infection. Massive.
And so he gave me ivermectin. I took some other things that were supportive. And honestly, within a month, I was back at the gym. It was absolutely crazy. I mean, we did other stuff, too. I got out of the mold. I had done a bunch of, you know, detoxing from the mold and then taking some of the things that he had recommended. And I moved into an apartment by myself. My family was like, stay with us. We'll take care of you. And I was like, nope, I have to do this on my own. Like, I was not walking well at the time. I had my little puppy, but I knew that I wanted to.
I'm very independent and I was like, I don't want to move back home. I don't. I love my family, but I just wanted to be on my own. Like, you know, I think I was. When I came back here, I was 32, and I was like, nope, I'm going to get an apartment with my dog Parker, and I'm just going to figure it out. You know, I moved by myself into this apartment. I had neighbors who I pulled in to help me carry things. And because I had left all of my belongings in California, I didn't have a lot, you know, I didn't know that I was never going back there. So I had, I remember, had a teal yoga mat. And I had one couch that I ordered on Amazon, a leather couch. I still have it upstairs. And then I ordered one big plant, and that was all I had in my living room. I was sleeping on an air mattress for a while and, you know, just doing the protocols that I knew how to do. I was still doing the detox tools. I was taking the new supplements. And I honestly think a lot of it was, you know, it's a fresh start and it's going back to the place where I grew up. And I was like, that's a chapter of my life like, I do not want to revisit. It was a good nine years, ten years of my life where I was sick. And I just sort of made this decision when I came back. This is not the life that I want. Like, I, you know, I'm going to start over. I'm going to get better this time, and I'm sick of living like this. So I put all of my time into the limbic system of training, and, you know, every tool that I had learned in the last ten years, I sort of knew what I had to do. I just, you know, buckled down and did it. And certain days there was a gym in my apartment complex, and, and certain days I was like, I'm just going to walk there. Even if I can't work out, I'm not feeling good. I can't do it. I'm just going to walk to the door and then walk back. And that's kind of the mindset that I had where I set very small goals. And then I was like, I'm just going to go on the elliptical for two minutes and then I'm going to go home. That's it. And, you know, I did that for almost a year, and then I was able to lift weights. I was just, you know, slowly, and that's great for pots. I know it's very hard for people with pots to exercise, but it's actually really good for, you know, weightlifting and things like that for helping support your blood pressure and your, your blood vessels and everything.
And so that's, that's how I did it. I just, you know, small, small goals. And my mindset was like, I'm so tired of this. This is not the life I want. And I did everything I could and I did it completely by myself. You know, I didn't actually have any help at the time, so it was like, you know, it was very, very, very difficult, but I made amazing progress. And being out of the mold was so helpful. I moved into a, I think it was two year old apartment, so it off gassed, you know, most of the chemicals from being new and there was no mold in it, and so I had, like, a very beautiful space to heal. So, yeah, it was just me and. Me and my dog Parker, just in this little, tiny apartment.
[00:46:35] Speaker C: I love it. And it was probably good that you left all your things in California, because, I mean, all of them would have. You would have brought that mold into your clean space.
So that was a good thing.
[00:46:49] Speaker D: Yeah. I completely started over. I just would order things here and there as I needed. It filled my new little apartment and all new clothes. I barely brought anything with me, so it was just a new fresh start.
[00:47:03] Speaker C: And how are you feeling now? Where are you at now?
[00:47:08] Speaker D: Great.
[00:47:08] Speaker C: You're doing great.
[00:47:10] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:47:10] Speaker C: So this is just a distant memory? There's no physiological brain or anything?
[00:47:17] Speaker D: No. The only thing I sometimes struggle with is occasional heart. Like, I'll. If it's hot out and I'm doing stairs, I'll have, like, a little bit of that pots feeling where it's hard. Like, if I'm having to go to the beach, it's 85 degrees, and I'm climbing a sand dune, I don't. I don't feel great. But the only time I really notice it is in hot weather when I'm, like, you know, vigorously exercising. Um, other than that, like, I'm lifting weights five, six days a week. I'm. Today I did an hour of spinning. I walked my dog for 45 minutes, and it was just a normal day. Like, I got up early and was like, okay, like, what's the workout today?
So I really don't have barely any symptoms. I might have a day where I have a migraine or something that a normal person deals with, you know, like, it's nothing big. So, yeah, I would say I'm probably 95% better.
[00:48:15] Speaker C: That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, Ali is such an inspiring story and such a. And you're, like, the lime warriors out there.
[00:48:25] Speaker A: They're.
[00:48:25] Speaker C: They're truly warriors and conquests and.
Yeah, it's. It's incredible. I mean, you gotta. I mean, kind of. Just kind of move through with all your mind and all your soul and your heart and. Can I get through this? Because it. Yeah, it just seems so overwhelming. It's so much, you know?
[00:48:44] Speaker D: Absolutely. Yeah, no, I'm. I'm happy that I'm doing so much better and just sending all of the love and positive energy and light to anyone who's still suffering. And just know that we're here cheering for you and truly, like, feel your pain, and we know that you can do it. So just sending you, sending you all the good vibes for healing.
[00:49:04] Speaker C: Thank you so much allie thank you.
[00:49:07] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:49:15] Speaker A: The information this podcast is for educational purposes only, and it's 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're 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 Lime warriors on Facebook. If you'd like to know more about the cutting edge integrative of Lyme Therapies MyCenter offers, please visit thecarlfeltcenter.com. thank you for spending this time with us, and I hope to see you at our next episode of Integrative Lyme Solutions with Doctor Karlfeldt.
