All eight of Health Rising’s recent recovery stories have featured different approaches thus far and so it goes with Amber’s story. Everything is different with Amber – she is different – and her pathway to wellness is different. Amber’s is the first story to prominently feature mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). She was also able to exercise vigorously for many years despite suffering from a wide array of ME/CFS-like symptoms. Like Jason, her relief came only after she’d embraced an alternative health approach to these diseases. It did not come quickly, but over time it did happen.
- My Recovery Journey from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) – Patrick’s multifaceted neuroplasticity, pacing, drug, and alternative health journey.
- A Patch On It: Melissa’s Amazing Cerebral Spinal Fluid Leak ME/CFS Recovery Story – cerebral spinal fluid patch.
- Adam’s BCG Vaccination Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Recovery Story – BCG vaccine.
- Can the Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine Reduce Symptoms of Long COVID? – vaccine.
- Lucie’s Surprisingly Simple Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Recovery Story – anti-inflammatory and rehydration.
- Up from the Ashes: James’s Severe ME/CFS Recovery/Recovering Story – CIRS-based treatment approach.
- A Rapamycin Resurgence: An MD Moves the Needle on his ME/CFS – Rapamycin.
- Jason’s Eclectic Mix of Treatments Returns Him to Near Normal Health After 16 Years with ME/CFS – alternative medicine treatments.
Amber’s story is taken from her account in “Mast Cells United: A Holistic Approach to Mast Cell Activation“. If you read the recent blog, “The Strange Syndrome: MCAS, ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, and Long COVID”, you’ve heard the first part of Amber’s story and might want to skip this first section and go to:
Amber Walker looked like the picture of health when she collapsed after a marathon, but this competitive swimmer, marathoner and world traveler wasn’t in good shape at all. In fact, she was already pretty much of a mess and had been for quite some time.
Her health problems occurred early. Digestive issues; abdominal pain; constipation; hives; rashes (she was diagnosed with chronic urticaria and took daily antihistamines); extremely sensitive skin; dermatographia; asthma; allergic reactions to dogs, horses, hamsters, rabbits, and cats, foods (pine nuts, chocolate, shellfish); repeated sinus infections (countless antibiotics); Raynaud’s disease: they all showed up pretty early.
Amber Walker’s saga with MCAS very likely began at a very young age.
Abdominal pains were a constant for her entire life, but in her teens, she began having abdominal attacks – intense periods of abdominal pain that felt like glass was cutting her insides – which left her experiencing mental confusion, anxiety, and even delirium, and sometimes left her unable to eat or drink anything for days. Numerous diets had no effect.
Next, a car accident was followed by swollen neck and groin lymph nodes, fatigue, and iron-deficiency anemia. She had her first, but not nearly last, experience with anaphylactic shock and a trip to the hospital after being stung by a yellow jacket. Then came chest pain, heart palpitations, low blood pressure, near-fainting episodes, urinary tract infections, severe cold intolerance and occasional heat intolerance, and constant sinus infections.
All this while being a competitive swimmer at the college level – training 2-4 hours a day. She was living proof that your immune system can be a mess without impairing one’s ability to exercise. After her eardrum ruptured, sending blood and pus flying during an airplane flight – she swam the next day. After she found herself gasping for air during a slow warmup, she checked herself into an urgent care clinic and found she had pneumonia. She recovered enough to enter her (last) swimming meet – but her lungs were never the same.
Despite having good oral hygiene, her gums receded to the point where her front teeth became loose and she had to have a gum grafting procedure. (Unfortunately, she couldn’t tolerate the pain medication – something that had started long before.)
In her 20s, she began experiencing numbness and tingling and episodes of weakness and vision, and problems with balance and vertigo. Sometimes they came for a while and then mysteriously disappeared. Brittle nails, white coating on her tongue, hair loss, night sweats, anxiety and depression, jaw pain, TMJ, frequent joint subluxations, IT band pain, knee meniscus problems, ankle and wrist sprains, plantar fasciitis – they all added up. A car accident left her with severe neck instability. In an odd accident, she fractured her tailbone while doing a jump into the river that her friends accomplished easily. (People with MCAS appear to be at increased risk of osteoporosis.)
Over time, she saw countless doctors… She also completed graduate school and traveled and worked in Peru, picked up some parasitic infections, was exposed to bed bugs, and flea infestations, was attacked by wild dogs, and was even kidnapped. Coming back home, her abdominal attacks worsened – and then she went on a trip to Australia and the far east, was bitten by a monkey, endured a series of rabies shots, and then ran the marathon and collapsed.
The Real Trouble Begins
Amber’s symptoms continued to pile up. Resting had saved her before but no more.
When we left Amber, she’d crashed badly after making it (barely) through the Boston marathon. She subsequently left her job and moved to Alaska. She was in her early 30s and doing poorly. Her fevers, brain fog, abdominal pain, and night sweats reached new highs. Her Raynaud’s “attacks”, which caused numbness – and interfered with her ability to work as a physical therapist – were happening over 10x a day.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms (obsessions with rules/routines, autism-like behaviors, the need to do repetitive movements to soothe herself) and poor tolerance of stimuli (bright lights, strong sounds) started showing up. She was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but meds for it and anxiety/depression did not help. Still, she was able to “power through” her symptoms for months at a time before crashing.
She saw doctor after doctor (she estimates over 100 specialists), many of whom told her it was all due to stress. She apparently doggedly plowed through the rejections, certain that something was wrong and that in the end, she would find it.
All through this, she maintained a veneer of wellness with her family, friends, and workmates. Certain that if she didn’t “use it”, she would “lose it”, she was determined to remain active (she was determined, period!): she kept running and engaging in physical exercise as much as she could – even as she knew it was making her symptoms worse.
At the age of 31, after a bad reaction to a flu shot during a time of high stress, she imploded physically. Now she was unable to exercise and even had trouble standing for short periods of time. (She would surely meet the criteria for ME/CFS now). Dramatic blood pressure and heart rate fluctuations indicated she had dysautonomia. A blood test indicated she had rheumatoid arthritis – and then a couple of months later, indicated she didn’t.
Her worsening gut symptoms resulted in an endoscopy, CT scan, and laparoscopy – all of which, to her mortification, were normal. She cut her work down to four, then three, then two days, and then finally quit physical therapy altogether, stopped coaching swimming, and then helped to open a paddleboarding company that allowed her to be outside.
Resting had brought her relief earlier but not this time. Her gastroenterologist, having exhausted his bag of tricks, told her there was nothing medically wrong with her, that gas was causing her extreme gut pain, and that her other symptoms were caused by, you guessed it, stress.
Antivenom therapy for her extreme reaction to bee stings amped up her symptoms considerably, left her with sensitivity to chemicals in the environment, and caused her to go into anaphylactic shock many times. Wanting to be able to enjoy the outdoors without possibly dying, she gutted it out for 9 miserable months.
A colonoscopy showed signs of Crohn’s and she was put on steroids, which worked for the first month and then didn’t. After a move to Seattle, a new GI specialist told her she didn’t have Crohn’s and more GI imaging revealed nothing. Meanwhile, her blood pressure kept suddenly plummeting (80/40) leaving her with multiple near-fainting episodes per day and her postural orthostatic tachycardia (POTS) (racing heart when standing or sitting) increased significantly. Over time, she found that any change in posture could produce symptoms. At times her heart rate would increase to 130-50 bpm when she changed position during sleep.
Adrenaline rushes from formerly innocuous things like a door shutting, or someone coming up to her desk, or falling asleep at night, left her on edge, and unable to relax or sleep well.
Her environmental allergies/sensitivities exploded. As sick as she was, she had to move several times over the course of six months when she reacted to mold or to the chemicals in her dwellings. She began reacting to her boyfriend’s car, perfumes, cigarette smoke, foods, etc.
On the plus side, she noted that antihistamines reduced her anxiety levels. On the downside, her hives were getting worse, requiring more and more antihistamines every day. Plus, she was experiencing more flushing, tinnitus, severe grogginess (bordering on narcolepsy), heartburn, hair loss, acne, and eczema (!).
Her list of symptoms kept growing and growing, but she was about to experience her first real turnaround in her health. With a new insurance plan, she was able to see a functional medicine doctor.
A Functional Medicine Turnaround
A diagnosis of histamine intolerance (MCAS) and MCAS treatments started to turn things around.
Her functional MD proposed that all her symptoms might be caused by histamine intolerance; e.g. mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). A low MCAS diet didn’t do much, but when she – unbeknownst to her doctor – decided to provoke her system with some high histamine foods – her symptoms flared big time, including 3 episodes of anaphylactic shock.
Further testing showed that she had small intestinal bowel overgrowth (SIBO), high liver enzymes, extremely elevated prostaglandin D2 (MCAS), and high mast cell levels in her gut (biopsy). High levels of antihistamines, a leukotriene antagonist, ketotifen, and low-dose naltrexone helped stabilize her (except for her gut issues) for the first time in years. She was also diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Her fatigue, however, remained unrelenting. When her SIBO did not improve, further testing revealed she had four parasites. Cholestyramine, however, stabilized her further and eliminated her POTS symptoms, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations.
Retrenchment
Throughout all this, she was quite busy – working on this book, working full-time on administrative tasks for her busy business, and giving paddleboard lessons while suffering from severe fatigue, environmental allergies, abdominal pain, migraines, etc. By the middle of summer 2017, she was back to essentially being homebound.
Next, she tested positive for Lyme and several other bacterial co-infections. (She doesn’t say what tests she employed for these and the parasites). Finally, with her health still in the pits, she cut out everything she could – her business, writing, photography – in order to concentrate on healing, and left Alaska. A brief stay in Washington – which left her living in a tent because of her sensitivity to mold – made it clear that it wasn’t an option and she moved to Arizona.
Abdominal Breakthrough
There, while plowing through patient forums, she finally discovered the root of her horrific abdominal symptoms – hereditary angioedema (HAE). HAE causes the blood vessels to leak, causing pressure in her abdominal cavity and resulting in severe pain.
It turned out that because people with HAE lack the enzyme to break down bradykinin – a chemical released by mast cells – HAE and MCAS can feed on each other. People with HAE have a strikingly higher rate of mastocytosis.
Getting the diagnosis was great – paying for the medication ($100,000/month!) – was something else. Insurance ended up paying for 3 treatments a month – significantly fewer than she needed – but at least she had some relief and finally an answer to her gut pain.
A naturopathic doctor provided more help.
Naturopathic Rebound
Testing with a new naturopathic doctor in Arizona revealed she had both active and chronic Epstein-Barr virus infection, heavy metal toxicity, hormonal problems, a high level of inflammation, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
She was put on thyroid medication and a long list of supplements. She started juicing twice daily, further improved her diet, began very light physical exercise, yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and regular IV treatments, including ozone. She was rigorous about pacing and healing. Within a couple of months, she was able to cut her mast cell medications in half, her anxiety lessened, and she started seeing some new hairline growth for the first time in 5 years.
Over time she added in colonic enemas, had sessions with a sound healer, attended psychotherapy sessions, and employed techniques designed to repair her parasympathetic nervous system.
Nothing had touched her HAE, though, and her debilitating episodes continued to increase. Plus, her headaches worsened, she was experiencing neck pain and stiffness, had difficulty swallowing, blurred vision, feelings of head pressure, and brain fog.
Then in the spring of 2018, a large ovarian cyst ruptured – leaving her feeling better (!) – reinforcing the idea that estrogen played a big role in her symptoms. Her HAE attacks, while frequent, diminished dramatically. Now she was able to go on walks up nearby mountains without a major issue.
THE GIST
- All eight of Health Rising’s recent recovery stories have featured different pathways and so it goes with Amber’s story. Everything is different with Amber – she is different – and her pathway to wellness is different. Her is the first story to prominently feature mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and her onset of “ME/CFS” and exertional intolerance came much later in her illness.
- Her story is taken from her book “Mast Cells United”. The first part of her story was covered in “The Strange Syndrome: MCAS, ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia and Long COVID” blog.
- She had health issues since she was young but was able to mostly power through them. After a marathon race at the age of 30, though, her health took a turn for the worse.
- Fevers, brain fog, severe abdominal pain, night sweats, and anxiety and depression increased. Then after a bad reaction to a flu shot her health imploded leaving her with marked problems with dysautonomia, unable to exercise, at times unable to stand, with environmental allergies/sensitivities, rashes, flushing, hair loss, and eczema. This time rest brought no relief.
- After a functional medicine MD suggested she might have histamine intolerance, she tested positive in multiple ways for mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), as well as small intestinal bowel overgrowth (SIBO). High levels of antihistamines, a leukotriene antagonist, ketotifen, low-dose naltrexone, and cholestyramine helped stabilize her (except for her gut issues) for the first time in years and eliminated her POTS, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations.
- She still suffered from severe fatigue, environmental allergies, abdominal pain, migraines, etc., however, and was soon back to essentially being homebound. With her health still in the pits, she cut out everything she could – her business, writing, photography – in order to concentrate on healing.
- While on patient forums she uncovered the cause of her debilitating gut pain – hereditary angioedema (HAE). The treatments were too expensive to use frequently but they did help.
- A naturopath put her on thyroid medication and a long list of supplements. She started juicing twice daily, further improved her diet, began very light physical exercise, yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and regular IV treatments including ozone and was rigorous about pacing and healing. Within a couple of months, she was able to cut her mast cell medications in half, her anxiety lessened, and she started seeing some new hairline growth for the first time in 5 years.
- She was still a long way from health though. Her headaches worsened and she was experiencing neck pain and stiffness, difficulty swallowing, blurred vision, feelings of head pressure, and brain fog.
- Then in the spring of 2018, a large ovarian cyst ruptured – leaving her feeling better (!) – reinforcing the idea that estrogen played a big role in her symptoms. Her HAE attacks diminished dramatically.
- Moving to Colorado she found a stable regimen of supplements that helped: ketotifen, magnesium, soil-based probiotics, estrogen-reducing supplements, selenomethionine, CBD oil, GI Detox plus, antioxidants, mushroom adaptogens, and vitamin/minerals.
- Then she found something called the CranioBiotic Technique (CBT) that dramatically improved her health. CranioBiotic Technique uses “muscle response testing’ (also known as applied kinesiology) a controversial technique that claims to be able to uncover hidden “health stressors” such as allergies, pathogens, toxins, and physiological dysfunctions.
- The practitioner then stimulates “specific neurovascular “reflex points” on the head and upper body. This gentle stimulation then purportedly retrains the brain to deal with these issues. No studies of this technique have been done.
- By the end of the book, Amber was still dealing with environmental exposures and still had chronic symptoms but was exercising regularly, engaging in international travel again, and had become a certified CranioBiotic Technique practitioner. Since then she has founded the Origin Wellness clinic focused on people with ME/CFS/FM, MCAS, POTS, etc.
CranioBiotic Technique Breakthrough in Colorado
She moved to Colorado. It took her three tries to find a house she could tolerate, but once there, her health improved. A new magnesium supplement helped with her gut motility. Dealing with viral and bacterial infections was important. Through trial and error, she’d found a stable regimen of supplements that helped: ketotifen, magnesium, soil-based probiotics, estrogen-reducing supplements, selenomethionine, CBD oil, GI Detox plus, antioxidants, mushroom adaptogens, and vitamin/minerals.
Her progress had been achingly slow at times, but it was real. Then she found something called the CranioBiotic Technique (CBT) that dramatically improved her health. CranioBiotic Technique was developed by Dr. Tony Smith, a chiropractor, who after a severe allergic reaction to a prescription that resulted in severe joint pain, became disabled and over time developed this technique.
The technique uses “muscle response testing’ (also known as applied kinesiology) a controversial technique that claims to be able to uncover hidden “health stressors” such as allergies, pathogens, toxins, and physiological dysfunctions. The few studies that have been done on it have apparently not been successful, but the technique is apparently widely used in the chiropractic profession and has been around for a long time. (I experienced it in the late 1970s).
It involves briefly exposing someone to a substance by putting it in their mouth or even their hand and then testing the strength of their muscles, often by using an arm-pull-down test. Smith used the results of the test to gently stimulate “specific neurovascular “reflex points” on the head and upper body. This gentle stimulation then purportedly retrains the brain to deal with these issues.
Amber’s CranioBiotic evaluation concluded that her immune system was still trying to deal with an astounding number of infections (EBV, Lyme and coinfections, clostridium difficile, strep, staph, toxoplasmosis, mycoplasma, aspergillus, candida, protozoa infections, and other viruses (!)).
While eyebrows may raise at the technique and the number of infections it purportedly found, Amber found that the technique “dramatically improved” her health, including clearing up her chronic orthopedic inflammatory issues. It should be noted that she was trained in Western medicine, and her book “Mast Cells United” is littered with scientific citations. In the end, though, she went with what worked, and what worked for her was the CranioBiotic Technique.
As she learned how to do the technique, she found it improved the health of many others as well. Calling it the most “effective resource” she had yet come across, she put aside her predilection for evidence-based treatments (those that have received formal study – her book is loaded with scientific references). As she transitioned from being a physical therapist to a holistic practitioner, she embraced it and specifically noted its application for people with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and fibromyalgia.
By the end of the book, she was still dealing with environmental exposures and still had chronic symptoms but was exercising regularly, and was engaging in international travel again. She also founded the Origin Wellness clinic, which provides telehealth visits and is focused on people with “fibromyalgia, dysautonomia, mast cell activation disease, covid and vaccine complications, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, migraine headaches, inflammation from mold, and chronic viral, gastrointestinal, and bacterial issues that influence immune system function.”
Takeaways
Amber demonstrated just how sick one can be – and have many of the hallmarks of ME/CFS/FM (fatigue, orthostatic intolerance, poor sleep, pain) – and still, for many years, be able to exercise (even as it induced PEM). She’s part of a large spectrum of intermixed illnesses (ME/CFS/FM, MCAS, long COVID, POTS, EDS, IBS, post-Lyme disease, environmental illness) that have fluid boundaries.
Looking bac,k she saw some exposures and events that she believes helped to push her health over the edge:
- Her body did not do well with vaccines (rabies, flu)
- Physical traumas (car accidents, insect bites (yellow jackets/bees), animal attacks (monkey, dogs), parasites
- Environmental exposures (4 hours/day swimming in chlorinated water; living in water damaged buildings)
- Repeated antibiotic use and a normal, not-so-healthy American diet (until her mid-20s)
- Pushing herself in sports, work and lack of sleep.
Although she was trained in traditional medicine, it did not help at all – and made things worse by repeated assertions that she was healthy and her problems were all in her head. Except for the HAE diagnosis, Amber’s pathway to health (or near health) led straight through the alternative health (functional medicine, naturopaths) field and it ended up embracing an unusual and scientifically untested technique – CranioBiotic Technique.
The discovery that she had MCAS – in spades – led to several treatments that helped stabilize her condition and eliminated her POTS symptoms, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations. Mast cell treatments were, however, not nearly enough and she abandoned working in order to focus solely on getting better. While the discovery that hereditary angioedema (HAE) was causing her horrific abdominal attacks helped her, her other symptoms pretty much continued unabated.
Working with a naturopath boosted her health. Thyroid medication and a long list of supplements, plus further diet tweaks, including twice daily juicing), yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and regular IV treatments including ozone allowed her to cut her mast cell medications in half, reduce her anxiety, and see new hairline growth.
Over time, she had slowly improved, but many symptoms were still present. CranioBiotic Technique, however, took her the rest of the way. By the time the book was published, she had not fully recovered but was back exercising and engaging in her passion – international travel. She became a certified CranioBiotic Technique practitioner and founded the Origin Wellness clinic which provides support for people with ME/CFS/FM, MCAS, POTS, and allied diseases.
Health Rising is not affiliated with Origin Wellness in any manner
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There’s nothing like a recovery story…
Amber’s story reflects another strong focus of Health Rising – recovery stories. It wasn’t that long ago that ME/CFS/FM was considered to be an irreparable illness that was immune to treatment. Largely through people providing their recovery stories we now know that it’s not true – that many people do, in fact, recover using a wide variety of means.
Health Risings Recovery/Recovering Story Section provides the details of over 70 recovery stories and more are popping up all the time. (We have at least 5-10 stories waiting to be published). If recovery stories are helpful to you please support Health Rising in a manner that’s appropriate for you.
I would like to know about Amber’s prenatal history. There is a field of study called the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. These studies suggest that harmful exposures that occur early in life, while tissues and organs are developing, may increase the risk of disease later in life.
I don’t think any ME/CFS researchers ever go back this far to determine who is susceptible to becoming ill with mast cell disorder or ME/CFS.
If I remember correctly, one of her doctors said that he/she thought that some of her ailments predated her birth.
Even if they did, it would not alter the course of treatment. There are no gestational drugs in allopathic medicine.
Hi Danielle, I am puzzled by your comment “there are no allopathic drugs in gestational medicine”. I was not suggesting that health problems caused by prenatal exposures could be treated prenatally (although there have been some cases where spina bifida has been corrected by prenatal surgery). Amber has two genetic disorders Elhers Danlos Syndrome and hereditary angioedema (HAE). HAE is a dominant disorder that may be treated, but not cured. EDS is a group of 13 hereditary connective tissue disorders. EDS is rare with less than 200,000 cases identified in the US each year. Both of these conditions will take lifelong management and at this time, there are no cures. Neither of these conditions are ME/CFS although there may be some overlapping symptoms
Oh, “her book.” Must be coming out soon.
Do I detect some sarcasm? 🙂 The blog is based on her story which she told in her book. The book is actually rather unusual in its depth and the many scientific citations she cites. It’s a good book! :
haha okay, I’ll take your word for it, Cort. It just seems like these “miracle-recovery-after-a-genuine-nightmare” stories always seem to show up when someone has a book or film or “health coaching” service to sell. But maybe this one is more legit, it did sound like actual hell.
I know! Another book – another sales opportunity! Her book is uncommonly thorough, though – which is what I like – nice meaty books!. She did her homework. 🙂 Thanks
Applied Kinesiology again? Yup, it’s been 30-50 years. Time to try and convince a new generation of it’s usefulness. I did it back in the day a few times. It works on what you believe to be true, subconsciously. So if you think you have a certain issue subconsciously, you’ll have a stronger muscle response than if you don’t, even if out loud you deny it’s a problem. As far as identifying treatments, a good Naturopathic DR will have the same results without the “games”. IMHO. CBT sounds like a modern version of acupuncture/ acupressure which does help a lot of things. I’ll stick with the insurance covered, thousands of year old, proven form myself. Japanese acupuncture, not Chinese. Unless you think more pain will help you. Electro-Stim acupuncture has helped my MCAS a lot, along with DAO and H1 blockers.
It’s been a long time but when I was tested was surprised at what showed up. I would hope the practitioner should test without telling the patient what they are testing. I would hope that’s the practice (???). Otherwise one would think the test could be confounded by what you’re suggesting.
Congrats on the electro-stim acupuncture – which we have not covered yet on HR – along with DAO and the H1 blockers. (I’m finally starting a trial of antihistamines.)
I remember clearly being asked questions which I always thought was confounding as well (and the reason I thought it was quackery). I’m not sure how it would work if the practitioner just thinks the question and gets a response? That’s even more strange. 😉 Good luck with the antihistamines. It’s a trial and error thing, like everything else with these syndromes and takes some time to calm things down but along with a histamine restricted diet and DAO it really helps!
My practitioner doesn’t tell me what he is testing when I take in all my supplements. In fact, he tries not to look at the labels beforehand so that he is not influenced, and just dumps things in two piles – helpful, not helpful. He looks at them when he has finished.
Good!
Did something similar to what I guess you’d call applied kinesiology, just for viruses and with testing cards, and without seeing the card my arm would pick out the right ones every time (EBV, HHV, toxoplasmosis usually).
Chlorine by the way is a halogen which affects the thyroid but you probably know that Cort?
Spoiler: all of the cards read EBV, HHV, and toxoplasmosis. (I’m surprised Lyme wasn’t in there.)
I’m kidding, of course, but what mechanism would explain the validity of diagnosis by card-picking? What study has validated it? Just as in Applied Kinesiology, there is no proof and no known mechanism.
I went to a practitioner many years ago who used AK. With some samples, she applied pressure to my hand slowly – easy to resist. With other samples, she pressed down very quickly – impossible to react quickly enough to resist.
“See the difference in reaction?”, she asked.
Yes. Yes, I did. And it was very easy to understand how she was gaming me.
It would be very easy to demonstrate the validity of AK, by applying a controlled force, but no one will ever do it.
She showed me the cards, there were like 40 different ones 😉 (Including lyme, of course). Went there around 10 times and I made sure not to share with her when I knew already that a bug had returned because my throat was sore and my temp slightly elevated. Which vanished every time after treatment. She always applied the same amount of light pressure, yet once every few times my arm would just drop down. After we got rid of toxoplasmosis I got a rash all over. Been to a bunch of such types and some were scamming me but this was the real deal, no study, just my own experience. But I totally understand your skepticism, even as a ‘believer’ I think it’s wacky-doodle.
I’m glad you’re watching out for scammers and that you’ve had success with your current provider.
I don’t understand the bit about the rash. Is that a sign of something?
Of toxoplasmosis, according to my GP but we checked my blood and it was negative. Not current, this was 2 decades ago.
I am very happy to hear of Amber’s recovery! I saw Dr. Tony Smith four or five years ago along with one of my friends who has Lyme etc, ( I have CFS). Neither one of us noticed much of an improvement. From what I remember, this could mean that our issues are from or involve a non-pathogen source such as heavy metals, chemicals, left-over-mycotoxins etc, or that they involve a pathogen that he doesn’t yet test and treat for. I do believe it can work as my x-sister-in-law went after I did and her health was dramatically improved. I also talked to a woman in my town who was helped along with her son and husband with significant food intolerances, etc. Decades ago I would have assumed it was fake medicine but I now believe it can work, just not for everyone.
Hi Cort thanks for this in-depth review. Do you have anymore information on when the book is coming out and where we can purchase it? Thanks, Emma
The book is actually already out and you can find it here – https://www.amazon.com/Mast-Cells-United-Holistic-Activation/dp/1733711708/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2M7PGF6WPGKM3&keywords=mast+cells+united&qid=1687899184&sprefix=mast+cells+u%2Caps%2C474&sr=8-1 Good luck!
This could be me.
Thanks for posting this Cort.
I can take this to my doctor!
Encouraging but also, very difficult to get help here in the u.k
My osteopath uses applied kinesiology to diagnose where the problem is. Occasionally I take in all my supplements and test, to see just what I am needing at that point. My intellect has trouble with the whole concept, but my experience is that it works! We found one supplement (an amino acid) that gave me ten years of extra energy until I had a relapse and now it’s a slow process to improve again.
Interesting story, can relate to some of it but the amount of things wrong that were discovered is staggering and intimidating for people suffering similar issues ! its a long story already but it would be interesting to find out more specific details for example about exactly how and why her MCS started and what helped it to resolve if it did, does she still have mold sensitivity ? those are two problems that I have been struggling with this year, aswell as food reactions which is somewhat relevant to this story too but perhaps not quite the same. Perhaps hasty on my part but I already decided MCAS is not my main issue but it could play a minor role, I eat a lot of high histamine foods and it doesn’t seem to make a difference to how I feel, but sugar and carbs does make me feel worse if I eat a lot too many times in a row or at the wrong time. I avoid dairy entirely and try to minimize wheat / gluten.
I don’t understand how Amber has been able to exercise despite of PEM. Can Amber or Cort explain that? Unless I missed it, here isn’t one in the article. I consider myself “recovered”, but I still have to pace (when I’m vulnerable to PEM) because PEM is still debilitating enough to knock me out the next day. I’m not sure if it qualifies as MECFS if you can exercise.
I’m very sure my neck issues are connected to many of my many issues.the reason I say this is because recently I changed to a higher pillow, couldn’t believe the remarkable difference.
I was hit from behind while sitting in my truck waiting for a green light, the other vehicle going 30mph.
My head went clean through the rear window of my truck.1990 chevrolet,(THAT 1990 TRUCK HAD NO HEADRESTS FROM THE FACTORY…DONT EVER BUY ONE!!)LOL
I was knocked out cold, taken to hospital in an ambulance and was given an xray on the advice by the nice police officer that followed the ambulance …he sat with me throughout and actually raised his voice at the Dr. That told me to go home and take Tylenol….that’s how I got the xray that revealed arthritis from my 1st car accident.i suspect the arthritis is blocking critical flow of lymph etc from leaving my brain.i will check out the cervical treatment she claims helped her.
She didn’t mentioned any thing about her travel to Africa and what she experienced there during her stay.