EP 108: Why Healing Lyme Has to Include a Mind, Body and Soul Approach

 Mimi:
Welcome to The Lyme 360 Podcast, for all things related to Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses. I'm Mimi MacLean, mom of five, founder of Lyme 360, and a fellow Lyme warrior. Tune in each week to hear from doctors, health practitioners, and experts, to learn about their treatments, struggles, and triumphs, to help you on your healing journey. I'm here to heal with you.

Mimi:
Welcome back to The Lyme 360 Podcast. This is your host, Mimi MacLean. And today we have on Christine Arseneau, and she has been in the healthcare industry for over 14 years as a pharmacist, functional medicine certified health coach, and cannabis consultant. She's an entrepreneur who thinks outside the box, after overcoming a lifetime of chronic Lyme disease. She went from being too fatigued to walk her dog around the block, to running multiple businesses, including Lyme Support, which she founded in 2019. 

Mimi:
She supports clients who are suffering from Lyme disease and chronic complex health challenges, so they can achieve higher energy levels, better sleep, and improvement in symptoms of chronic disease, through her transformative program, such as Surviving Lyme, 90 Days to Navigate your Disease and Reclaim Your Health.

Mimi:
It has been almost five years since she completely healed herself from chronic Lyme disease and multiple co-infections. Her philosophy is, "True healing comes from within, in that, by addressing mind, body and soul, you can overcome symptoms and live a vibrant life, full of purpose."

Mimi:
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Mimi:
Christine, thank you so much for coming on today. I really appreciate it. I'm excited to talk about your journey, because I think that helps a lot of people, but then also what you did with your experience with Lyme, and how you're helping the Lyme community now with your Lyme support group, so thanks so much for coming on, Christine.

Dr. Christine:
Yeah, I'm happy to be here.

Mimi:
Yeah. So, let's start out with, I know we probably could, all of us, can spend hours talking about our experience, but I would love just a condensed version of how long you had it, how long did it ... What path, the modality, kind of helped you get better, and where you are in that journey?

Dr. Christine:
Yeah, so I was bit by a tick when I was nine years old, didn't get the diagnosis until I was 29. So, a lot of things happened during that time. A lot of skin issues, gut issues, things that were normal, like mono, strep throat, but I just seemed to kind of get everything and get it more intensely. But I didn't really know what was going on until I had some big things go wrong, like later in my 20s, I had a miscarriage and then a rare form of cancer that developed after that. I had a hospitalization with meningitis. 

Dr. Christine:
So, after those bigger things is when I really started looking into underlying issues. And by the time I got my diagnosis, I was just completely fatigued. So, fatigue and pain were my main issues. And, so, I was able to get tested and get some answers. And I used mostly a holistic kind of approach to healing. I didn't do the traditional antibiotics. I used a functional medicine approach. I had a lot of gut issues, so I had to heal my gut first, before I could even really do anything else.

Mimi:
You made it, you kind of said, "Oh, I got diagnosed," whatever. Did you happen to already go to a Lyme doctor, or did your normal doctor know to test for Lyme?

Dr. Christine:
So, interestingly enough, I was a pharmacist and a health coach, and I kept seeing people with Lyme disease. And I didn't know I had it, but I kept helping other people that had chronic forms of Lyme disease. And then I was in the hospital with meningitis, and I asked the infectious disease doctor if she would test me for Lyme disease because I thought it was weird that I was young and healthy, and I kept having all these issues. And I thought, "Well, maybe there's something underlying going on."

Dr. Christine:
Well, needless to say, she refused to test me, told me chronic Lyme disease doesn't exist. And then the holistic doctor that I was working with professionally, he kind of urged me to get tested. And, so, he ordered the IGeneX and Fry Labs and some other tests for me, and that's how I was able to get to diagnosis. 

Dr. Christine:
So, I was fortunate enough to already kind of know that, yeah, I know about it, know what doctors weren't really going to be able to help me and which might be able to. So, I kind of had a head start in that way.

Mimi:
Oh, that's great. And then, so, where would you say you are in the ... Are you at 100%? Are you still struggling?

Dr. Christine:
I would say I'm at 100%. I've been well for close to five years now. And for me, it was a distinct moment, where I went from having Lyme disease to not having it anymore. It took me about four years to heal. I went through this immersive process, and there was a point where I just made the decision to heal. I became aware of a subconscious belief that was keeping me in that pattern of being sick. I was able to just let go of that, energetically. And it was like from one day to the next, a miraculous healing kind of thing, where I was just like, "I no longer have Lyme disease. This is not my identity." And I was able to let go of that sick identity.

Mimi:
Are you in the camp that you can get rid of Lyme, or are you more in the camp of Lyme is kind of like EBV, where it just goes dormant, and you can control it?

Dr. Christine:
I think you can get rid of it completely. And we'll get into this about our words, but I don't use the word remission, not for myself, because I feel like that's just asking for it to come back. That's just like living in fear that there's this predator inside your body that's going to jump out at any time.

Mimi:
Yeah. And you've never had a relapse?

Dr. Christine:
I've never had a relapse. No. I'm not perfect. I have things that come and go or health issues, like dandruff or different things, but no actual symptoms, no pain and fatigue.

Mimi:
Your joint pain has not come back?

Dr. Christine:
No, I mean, I've had other injuries to my joints and inflammation from specific things, but no, it has not come back.

Mimi:
Well, it's weird because I, with my Lyme doctor, I got treated, and then maybe six months into the treatment, I was Lyme-free. But then, every six months I go back, and I do my testing just because she likes to do that. And then it came back that my Babesia is back. So, it's like, did it come back, reemerge? Or did I get reinfected again? Who knows? But it was interesting, because I thought it was gone, and I was feeling like it was gone. And then, as soon as she started treating me again for the Babesia, with the herbs, it was when all my pain started coming back. It was almost like I was [inaudible 00:07:03] again. I don't know if I relapsed, or if I just got reinfected. I don't know, but ...

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. I think it's hard to tell, and I think your environment's really important too. A lot of people get to the point where they're better, but then they're exposed to mold or have other issues. And it's really about the whole resiliency of your entire body and your environment too.

Mimi:
Yeah. And people don't talk about this, but I do feel like it's sexually transmitted, or so if your spouse or even your kids, it's kind of like mono, like if you're sharing the same glass. Who knows? None of it's been proven, but there has to be something said for that, if you're in the same household, maybe you're all passing it into each other?

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. I mean, there is scientific data that shows it's probably sexually transmitted. And, so, if you're going through treatment, and you're having unprotected sex with a partner who could be carrying it, you could just be reinfecting yourself.

Mimi:
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Okay. So, you got better, and then you were already a health coach before, is what you said. So, then you decided, "Okay, I'm going to take my career and my coaching and kind of focus it around Lyme, since I've been down this road, and it's not very well understood." So, tell me about lymesupport.com.

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. So, my company's called Lyme Support. And basically, like you said, I noticed that people just weren't recovering, people that had Lyme disease. They were still sick, and it's really misunderstood in our traditional medical system. So, I just knew this was an area I needed to focus on.

Dr. Christine:
And, so, I help people by basically helping them, supporting them as they find their own way to healing, because I don't believe that there's one right protocol for everybody. I think healing is really individual. And, so, I do that through my coaching and also by referring them to holistic hospitals that do the extreme whole-body hyperthermia. 

Dr. Christine:
And, so, I created a guidebook and really kind of give them information on how to prepare for that and how to sustain their results. And then I do one-on-one coaching, and usually people start out in my 90-day Surviving Lyme Program. It's really individualized, customized, and giving them the tools and resources and education, so they can choose treatments that are going to work for them. 

Dr. Christine:
And then there's six steps that I guide them through. But a lot of it is mindset work. Because of my training as a pharmacist and health coach, we do supplements and sleep routines and stress management. And basically, there's a wide array of things that we can cover. It just depends on what's most pressing for the client at the time, to really move the needle in their improvement in their symptoms.

Mimi:
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, so, I'm curious. Which hyperthermia do you recommend? Is there only one in particular, like the one in Europe, or do you recommend ones that are down in Mexico or ...

Dr. Christine:
Yeah, so there's two hospitals that I work with. There's St. George in Germany and Sanoviv in Mexico. And I feel that both of their protocols are safe and effective. They use the Heckel bed, and they get you to the 106.9 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours, and they do it in a safe manner. 

Dr. Christine:
And then it's a whole two-week or more protocol. So, they're doing detox and fixing nutrient imbalances and doing other things as well, giving antibiotics during the hyperthermia. So, it's a whole set protocol that they have data for.

Mimi:
Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's great. And then what else, I mean, you say it's very individualized, which I agree with. So, your 90-day group, is that one-on-one, or is that an actual group setting?

Dr. Christine:
It's one-on-one. Yeah. I just find that it's so different for everybody, and I really have to meet clients where they are. Some are really focused on maybe changing their diet, while others are really more focused on the mindset piece. So, it really depends on the client, so it can be pretty different. So, I find that I can have the most impact if I work one-on-one.

Mimi:
That's great. If someone were to call you today, like a friend and say, "Hey, I just got diagnosed with Lyme." Besides joining your Lyme 90-day program, what else would you recommendations would you give them, as far as things they can do from home, the low-hanging fruits that empowers somebody? I feel like there's a lot we can do as individuals that we don't have to seek medical help for. So, I would love to just kind of pick your brain about that.

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. It's interesting because in my training as a pharmacist, I was very much focused on the physical body. Yet, in my own healing, it was the mindset and the emotions and the spiritual part that really was needed for me to heal. 

Dr. Christine:
And, so, I would really emphasize mind, body, spirit, that it's not just focusing on the physical body. I think the mindset I see a lot with Lyme patients is they just get stuck in this, "I need to kill the bacteria." 

Dr. Christine:
But healing is about so much more. So, I would definitely highlight things like nutrition, diet changes. Usually gluten-free, dairy-free, things like that, can really help in the healing process. Your environment, molds tends to be an issue for people, heavy metals, things like that. 

Dr. Christine:
And then the mindset piece, I would say, is key because we have so much power in our words, the words we speak to ourselves, the words we speak out loud, and just being really, really mindful of that. And then I would just say tapping into whatever's going to have the biggest impact for you in your healing. For me, it was going out into nature, the sunlight, vitamin D, grounding, getting my bare feet on the earth, the sunshine, fresh air, helps me be mindful. There's so many different lifestyle things I could incorporate when I went into nature. 

Dr. Christine:
So, just kind of finding that thing for you, and it's really about having balance in your life. And a lot of times when we're sick, there's something in our lives that isn't serving us. And it might be that we're not setting boundaries with certain people, and we just have to be really cautious of everything that we're ingesting. So, not just food, but media and our relationships.

Dr. Christine:
And basically, you have to kind of take a look at everything in your life and start with anything that you can change that you have control over because we have more power than we give ourselves credit for.

Mimi:
No, it's true. I mean, it's like you said, it's almost take a piece of paper or a notebook from when you wake up to when you go bed, and everything that's kind of toxic in your life, you got to get rid of, if it's your laundry detergent, if it's the food, if it's people, if it's your job. Go down the list, right? Anything that makes you stressed out and unhappy, you got to get rid of it because you're not going to get better until you learn how to let go of all that stuff that's toxic in your life.

Dr. Christine:
Exactly. Exactly. Letting go. That's one of the steps in my program actually.

Mimi:
Yeah. It's so true. It's so true. Okay. What else have we not covered that you would like to cover?

Dr. Christine:
I think the mindset piece a little bit more, just that there's also this mentality that we are battling something, like we're warriors, we're bad weather, it's Lyme disease or cancer, just the language that we use. And I find that's that's not really conducive to healing because it puts us in that flight-or-fight stage where, really, if we're able to make peace with our body and have that self-love, we can get further, and it can take less effort.

Dr. Christine:
So, I don't like to use words like fights and battle, and it comes to a point where it's like your body becomes the enemy, and you're living with an enemy, breathing, sleeping with an enemy. 

Dr. Christine:
So, if you can instead frame your vocabulary in a different way and learn to make peace with your body and learn to really tap into that self-love, I think that it's a gentler way of healing. It seems to take less effort, and it seems to just really nourish your body. We have this incredible innate ability to heal ourselves if we just give ourselves the right tools and the right nourishment.

Mimi:
What would you say, because it's often referred in the Lyme community, Lyme warrior. So, what would you replace the warrior with, because warrior is kind of ... It's giving the kind of thinking that you're a warrior, that you're fighting. So, is there another word that you would use instead?

Dr. Christine:
Right. Well, it gets really tricky because you don't want Lyme disease to become your identity. So, even joining support groups and things, it gets really tricky because it then becomes your identity, and you form a community. And yes, it can be really helpful because this community really gets you, and they can support you. 

Dr. Christine:
But sometimes, people get addicted to the different stress hormones and their identity of being sick. So, you really want to make sure that you're in a community that's dedicated to getting well, to no longer having the Lyme disease. You have to kind of have that separation. 

Dr. Christine:
So, I like the word thriving, so going from surviving to thriving, but I don't even know that I would say Lyme-thriver. I don't think you should really identify with the Lyme at all. For me, when I was healing, I stopped saying my, when I was talking about Lyme disease, because I didn't want it to be mine. I didn't want it to be my identity.

Mimi:
Yeah. No. And I think one thing, I have talked to some people, I've reached out, and I've gotten on the phone with them, and it's funny because ... It's not funny, but sometimes I'll be like, "Ooh, they're not going to get better because they're so angry."

Mimi:
And they're angry that they're in this situation, and we've all been there, right? It's taken six years of my life. Sometimes, it can make me sad if I think about how much pain I've been in, or how much I've been robbed of opportunities with my kids or ... So, you get angry at it. 

Mimi:
But then, at the same time, you got to be like, "Wait. Why? There's a reason why I'm on this journey. There's a reason why my body's telling me something. Something's not working in my life, and what is it, and what do I need to change?"

Mimi:
It's putting you on a different direction or different path, and maybe that path is better than the path you were on. And so you just got to be open to that path.

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. And I will say it's not just positive thinking. We can't just repress all of our feelings and be like, "Think positive. Think positive," because that just doesn't feel right in our body. So, that's not the answer either. We do have to acknowledge where we're at and acknowledge our pain, and it is hard. It is a lot that we're going through, but also, to be aware of our thoughts and our mindset and shift that when we can.

Dr. Christine:
And for me, after everything that I went through, it's like I see the tick as my spirit animal now. It showed me so much, this whole journey that I was on, I would've never went on this journey if I didn't have all of these illnesses. And it made me really dig deep and really look into my spirituality and emotions and mindset and all these other things.

Dr. Christine:
And now, I don't let anything in my life if it doesn't serve me, and so much so, I moved 13 times last year because I wasn't happy where I was, and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. And I was like, "I'm going to explore until I find what I'm looking for." And that's what I did. 

Dr. Christine:
So, it's a lesson that I take with me now. And I know that if I don't have certain boundaries, if I let things in my life that aren't serving me, it's going to make me sick in one way or another. I don't know if it's going to be Lyme symptoms coming back or another illness or what, but I think when we have physical symptoms, it's a sign that something in our life is not in alignment with our soul.

Mimi:
But I do have to say, it is frustrating, though, as positive you want to be, the fact that Lyme is not recognized in the medical community, and there's no cure, as far as one-fit-cure answer or even like, "What do you have?" So, you just feel like you're on this ... these rabbit holes that just kind of ... And you just ... There's no ... Like right now, it's like, "Hey, I thought I was better," but I am in so much pain because my pain has come back, that I can't move my right arm. It's frustrating because it's like everything that I've been learning and talking to people, still nobody ... And I have some of the best doctors in the country, and they still can't figure out how to get rid of my pain or what even triggered it.

Mimi:
It is definitely frustrating that you're like, "God, how ... Why can't this go away? I'm paying all this money to these doctors, and I still have pain. How is that possible?"

Dr. Christine:
For me, it was about ... It was really about self-healing and finding practitioners that helped me kind of tap into my own self-healing, instead of giving my power away to others to fix me and to just to try to kind of think of things in a different way. And I don't know. I guess I just kind of gave up on the medical system a long time ago.

Mimi:
But I'm talking about Lyme doctors too. I'm not talking about alternative. But even now, it's like I've done ... I have my laundry list of everything I do every day from ozone to coffee enemas, to my BEMER mat, to my ... everything. I got my 15 things I do, and I've been doing it for the last month, and I still am in pain. And I'm like, "Okay. What else am I missing?"

Mimi:
It's frustrating. It's a frustrating disease, but yes, you do have to own it. And at least I'm out of bed, and I feel fine, but it's just ... It's definitely a long process. Right?

Mimi:
As far as your mind-body connection, what do you recommend? Is there any program that you have used for people, or do you have your own program, as far as meditating or any of the other [inaudible 00:20:19] share or any of the other kind of programs that are out there?

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. I think it just kind of depends what resonates with a person. A lot of breath work and different meditation techniques can be helpful, things like tapping to kind of release energy and let emotions go through. I like Wim Hof breathing. Yeah. Just breath work, for me, being in nature, things like that. There's also an active form of meditation called Inside Out that a colleague of mine developed, which I find really helpful. So, yeah. There's a lot of different tools that just kind of depends what resonates with the person.

Mimi:
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. This is great. So, lymesupport.com, is where you could find Christine to work with her. And I have done the hyperthermia, so I recommend that. 

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. That really helped you. Right?

Mimi:
Yeah. It really helped me with my neurological symptoms. I would say, it buys you months. I don't think it was a forever thing, because of the life cycle of Lyme. But I do think it gave me a reprieve of six months of being like, "Oh my God. I feel so good," so that you can catch your breath and kind of ... But for me, it wasn't like a ... It definitely helped me reverse a lot of my neurological symptoms though, too.

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. Yeah. That's huge.

Mimi:
Yeah. So, Christine, this has been awesome. Thank you so much for your time. lymesupport.com is where you can find Christine and work with her. Because I have a lot of people that reach out and saying, "Who should I work with?"

Mimi:
And I do think, there's so many ... You got to just have your personality fit. But I think finding somebody that's had Lyme is huge, because they can understand what you're going through and the innuendos of it and everything that kind of goes goes with it.

Dr. Christine:
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I did create a free training as well. So, if you go to lymesupport.com/heal, H-E-A-L, they can access that training. And it's all about mindset work and things you can start implementing right away to notice shifts in your symptoms.

Mimi:
Okay. Good. Awesome. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Dr. Christine:
Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you.

Mimi:
Each week, I will bring you different voices from the wellness community, so that they can share how they help their clients heal. You will come away with tips and strategies to help you get your life back. Thank you so much for coming on, and I am so happy you are here. Subscribe now and tune in next week, if you want to learn how I detox and you want to check out my Detox for Lyme checklist, go to lyme360.com/detoxchecklist. You can also join our community at lyme360 Warriors on Facebook and let's heal together. Thank you.