Living And Thriving In Remission

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Thank you, and to be back.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah, and I’m so happy for you, so proud of you to see your healing, to see the trajectory from being quite unwell to look at you now, living this beautiful, beautiful, productive happy life. So tell us about what makes you stay in remission?

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I do a lot to stay in remission. I probably do a lot more than most is what my doctors tell me. But I would say one of the biggest pieces is definitely maintaining a healthy lifestyle, a clean lifestyle, eating healthy, diet was such a huge part of my healing journey, making sure that I’m gluten free and eating really nourishing foods. I can tell when I kind of derail for my diet and now that I’ve healed, I can definitely indulge a little bit more on things, never gluten, but maybe like a gluten free treat or like some sugar and things like that. And I can just feel that I don’t feel as good. And then as soon as I get back on onto my strict diet, which is mostly paleo, I would almost say I’m borderline carnivore these days. I really, really thrive on high protein, high meat, high fat, my body is the happiest when I’m in that state. And when I get back on that, I feel so good, so.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Tell us more about that, about being more of a carnivore. What is it, what does your plate look like? Breakfast, lunch, you’re more of a grazer, and then tell us the difference between being more convo and–

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Absolutely, and it’s interesting, I spent this whole year kind of testing it out and doing labs to quantify if it was working for me and not as well. And so I would do experiments where I would do high meat in the morning, so bacon or ground fork or some kind of ground meat and do it with like some herbs and seasoning, eat that for breakfast. And then I would do, like for lunch, I usually do a steak. I’ll do steak or I like red meat at lunch. I’ll do steak, I’ll do lamb sometimes, sometimes some buffalo, do a big portion of protein with some healthy fats and then I’ll do some veggies, like some salad or tomatoes or cucumbers, maybe some broccoli or spinach, things like that. And then dinner, I usually do something a little bit lighter. 

Like I’m more of a three meal a day person. I’m not really a snacker or grazer. Fortunately, I think it makes it easy to just have three set meals. For dinner like, I’m usually not as hungry. So I’ll do something a little lighter. I’ll do either like a fish, sometimes like a little bit of chicken with some veggies. And then I might cycle in some cleaner carbs later in the day. So maybe some like root veggies or sometimes I do rice. I tolerate rice now, I don’t do it too often, maybe some potatoes, things like that, maybe like once a week. And so I noticed like in the mornings, mornings are where I really started compensating with like higher meat. And I noticed, like, I just felt so much better, had so much energy. I didn’t, if I was prone to like wanting a snack or eating something that wasn’t as good, that craving was completely gone. 

‘Cause I was so full from the fat and the protein. And so I did labs and every time I would do high meat versus something else for breakfast, say like, I would do maybe try yogurt out or try doing eggs, which were still kind of high protein, but not as much as meat. I noticed that my CRP would go back up and my TPO antibodies would back up. And when I eat bacon for breakfast and eat meat for breakfast, I feel good. And my CRP went down to one and my TPO antibodies went way down and I’ve done it three times as like a test, like over like the course of the year, kind of like alternating back and forth. I was like, is this real? Like, can I really eat bacon for breakfast every day? And I seem to thrive on it, so it’s crazy, like considering like all the science and articles and there’s definitely both sides of it. 

There’s people that are like, yes, you should eat this way every day and people that say, no, this is not healthy, but for me, I go based on how I feel, go based on how my lab work is looking and seem to be thriving on a more kind of carnivore style diet, which is ironic. I was actually vegetarian for 10 years before I got Lyme. And I think it really contributed to me being sick. I was eating a lot more gluten and not eating a lot of protein. And I was compensating by drinking a lot of extra coffee and I would drink five shots of coffee in the morning just to get going and I would drink more in the afternoon and like, that’s not healthy either, and I think it was just because I was having so much fatigue from not getting the right foods and nourishment that it just really was like wearing my body down, and I was compensating with these stimulants to just keep myself going, keep myself awake, which was just running me into the ground as well and wearing my adrenals out. So eating this way, I drink one cup of coffee in the morning and I don’t have to have any more like caffeine or anything else to kind of give me energy through the day. I do take T3 thyroid, which does help with my thyroid. It does gimme energy as well, but it’s ’cause my body is deficient in it. So I think between managing my thyroid, making sure that my levels are optimal with that T3 and then the caffeine and eating healthy, I feel great.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah, so this is a really important topic you bring up, first of all, I wanna stop and tell everybody what CRP is and what your thyroid antibodies are. So CRP stands for C, reactive protein and it’s an inflammatory marker, which will rise when the liver is under stress, and when other organs like the heart are under stress as well, but particularly the liver and the thyroid antibodies were a marker for Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis. So now, an important topic is vegetarianism actually. And I understand why a lot of people are vegetarians, I was one for about 25 years.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Oh wow.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Well, and I understand, obviously I understand being a vegetarian because I was one for so long and we want to be kind to the earth. We wanna be kind to planets.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I really wish it would’ve worked out. I wanted to, like all the ethics about it, I really connect with.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yes, it’s true. And I have many, many patients who come to me as vegetarians. It’s difficult to get back into a place of health.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yep.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

When they continue. And so, we talk a lot about eating sustainably for the planet, eating sustainably for us, people who want to say prayers of gratitude to the food, that they’re consuming.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Absolutely, and yeah. And to add on that, not all meat is created equal. So when I say I’m eating all this meat, I’m making sure that I’m very conscious of where I’m sourcing my meat from, and that it’s a farmer that practices regenerative farming, that’s gonna help our soil and help our environment that is not cruel to the animals, their grass fed, their fed will, and so, I’m being very conscious of that, like factory farm meat is not the same as a pasture raise meat. And even the nutrient differences in it, not only just like the land and the animals, but also the nutritional components of farm raise meat versus a grassed or pasture raise meat are completely different, the way you’re nourishing your body so it’s important to, I think not lump it all into one category and know that there are better ways to approach being a meat eater.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Very, very absolutely what you’re saying. So Erika, what would you tell patients out there? We have thousands of viewers and I bet you, a lot of them are vegetarian. What would you tell those who are vegetarian, but who are sick, and they can’t wait to see, to turn the corner? And if I say to them, would you consider having some grass fed sustainable meat, they say, absolutely no way. What would you as an ex patient, someone who was quite ill. Turn around, you tell people who are now suffering the way you did.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s a tough one because I feel like I was that person too. Like, I didn’t wanna eat meat. I was mostly vegetarian when I first started. And I think you really have to hit whatever your rock bottom is to realize that, you might have to do this, you might have to start with that. So I started by doing bone broth. I started doing maybe not so much red meats. I started doing like more seafood and like chicken and things like that to kind of try to integrate it. And then it was actually kind of funny with the red meat. I actually ended up just kind of jumping into that. I was going on a trip to Argentina and everyone was like, oh, you have to eat the meat there. 

And I was like, well, okay, I’m just gonna do it for this one week and go on this trip. And I kind of started eating a little bit before I went. And just as an experiment to make sure I wouldn’t feel sick on my trip and I could not believe like how good I felt like and I had no reaction, no stomach ache. I thought I was gonna feel sick, ’cause I was like, it’s been 10 years since I ate red meat. Like how’s my body gonna react. And I think that really taught me how much my body needed it and was missing it. And even though I didn’t wanna do it and I was resistant, I was like, well, I’m just gonna try it for this one week just to see how do, and it was like, I had something like in me that was, I couldn’t control. 

It was like, all I would crave was like meat and meat and meat. It was like my body finally was just like, oh my God, you’re giving this to me, I’ve been craving this for so long and needing this. And it was like something took over inside of me and was just craving it. So it was really interesting. And when I felt that and noticed that, I noticed how much my body wanted it and that it was very healing for me. So from that point on, I started integrating a little bit more, a little bit more red meat. And then now I’m on like the other end of the spectrum. Now I joke I’m like a T-Rex, but it’s just like, it’s like my body just thrives on it. So, I think hitting rock bottom, I think experimenting, like even if you don’t wanna do it, maybe try like a little bit and just seeing how your body reacts, you may eat it and it may not be good for you. 

It might be that you have a little bit and you’re just like, I don’t feel good, it doesn’t work for me. And then you’ve explored that part of it. But I think trying it and seeing what your body says and listening to your body to see if you can incorporate a little bit and then making sure you go after those like farms that are practicing well. Even starting off with like a little bit of bone broth, sometimes can be an easier way ’cause you’re not eating it, you’re not chewing. It’s more something that you’re sipping or using in a soup. like all the soups that I make, I use a bone broth base for. So that’s like another way that you can start to integrate some animal product and might be an easier way to transition into it.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Thank you for that.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah, it’s an important piece. So are you still on a healing journey? Or you are still doing any treatments?

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

It’s interesting, like a little bit, I would say I’m always on a healing really. Are we always healing? No matter, even if you think you’re healthy. So I mean, I do things to keep myself in remission. Like I don’t do treatments because I’m sick, I do them because I want to stay healthy. So I’ll do like a 10 pass ozone, maybe every two, three months just because I feel so good when I do it, and it keeps me like really optimal. And between that, if I’m feeling a little down or I’m still very, very sensitive to gluten, so that can really deplete my immune system. So if I’m feeling a little down or have gotten gluten a couple times in a row, I might do a round of like vitamin, CIBS with some ozone or some glutathione and things like that, just to kind of keep my body happy and healthy and I do them and I just get such a good boost. 

So I’m like, why not do it? Like I don’t wanna feel depleted ever. So I do those things more as kind of like maintenance. Interestingly earlier this summer I was feeling a little tired and fatigued and I was like, all right, something’s going on, like, I’m not quite sure what it is. And I always felt like I never completely finished my molds journey in detox, and I was feeling really cold to like kind of like, the Shoemaker protocol and like checking that and like wanting to do VIP spray to see if that could kind of like reset my immune system. So I went and saw a doctor here that does that. And he’s like, well, he’s like, I was like confident, I was like, oh, I’m just here to like do VIP, I’m on the last stage. I’m like, ready to go. And he’s like, well, let’s just go back a little bit. Let’s do some labs and make sure you’re really there. And I actually ended up testing positive for MARCoNS, which I was really shocked. So for the past six months I’ve been treating MARCoNS, and kinda doing that protocol. And I just re-swabbed in December, unfortunately was negative after six months of treating it with the EDTA spray. So now we’re.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Talk here for just a second, so those of our watchers who don’t know what MARCoNS is, it’s a certain kind of staph infection, which is common in the sinuses of people who are suffering from mycotoxin and biotoxin illness. So mycotoxins, as we know most of us, ’cause we’re here are the toxins that mold create and biotoxins are the toxins that other infections create, parasites, bacteria create biofilm as well. So those patients who tend to suffer from illnesses from these biotoxins we see that hand in hand, they have a certain kind of staph infection, very commonly in their sinuses. And it’s difficult to treat, it’s resistant to multiple antibiotics. So we have very specific ways, I have very specific ways to treat MARCoNS that it changes people’s lives. 

So people that test their sinuses often they find MARCoNS, the staph infection, and often we find molds in the sinuses as well and all kinds of other infections as well. And so infections in the sinuses can really affect the brain. Mycotoxins, there’s research that shows mycotoxins can cross the blood brain barrier. And of course we know inflammatory cytokines can cross the blood brain barrier. MARCoNS as well as all the other possible infections in the sinuses is very, very important, not only in treatment when somebody is still sick, but as well, when treatment is finished, you have lingering symptoms, you have brain fog or mental fatigue in a way. And it’s important to test for that. So go on it.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

So yeah, so I was surprised. I was like, oh man, I guess I am only on stage three of this whole journey again. So fortunately it’s cleared now, so now I’m starting bits. So I would say that that’s like the one treatment or kinda like healing thing that I’m still working on. And then, like Lyme unfortunately triggered on several autoimmune conditions for me as well. So I have celiac disease. So gluten I’m just so sensitive to it and that hasn’t really ever resolved since I’ve gone gluten free, like a microscopic gram of gluten will set me off for a week and I don’t get any digestive issues. I get all neuro issues, which I almost think sometimes are worse. 

So it’s like brain fog for a week, like a headache back here for a week. And it’s interesting because if I get glutened Monday at lunch, it’ll go away the following Monday at lunch and it’s like, it just kind of lifts. So that’s still a challenge to make sure that I am very careful. I’m so careful, but it just happens more often than I would like, unfortunately. So that, and then I also have Hashimoto’s which fortunately that’s being managed really well right now. And again, we talked about like how the high meat is like keeping my TPO down and things like that. So I feel like my thyroid is in a good place, but it’s just kind of always monitoring it, keeping an eye on it and the challenges of just living with autoimmune conditions unfortunately are just gonna be kind of ongoing, I think. And so I’ve been feeling a lot better since I treated the MARCoNS, like my energy has really risen, which was really nice. 

Like I already felt decent, especially like compared to Lyme, if you feel a little fatigued, it’s like nothing compared to what you’ve experienced with Lyme. So I think you just kind of think it’s okay or think it’s normal and it’s not until you do some things and get more energy that you’re like, wow, I can have more energy or I can feel better. So it’s always kind of surprising to feel that as you do things, how your energy can fluctuate. But as far as Lyme treatments, I don’t really do any, I don’t have any Lyme symptoms. I haven’t had Lyme symptoms for about four years now, I almost, yeah, about four years. So I don’t do any Lyme treatments or anything like that. It’s mostly just kind of managing my autoimmune conditions and then dealing with this little MARCoNS, mold thing and trying to reset my inflammation.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

And you don’t need to live with those autoimmune conditions. Underneath autoimmune conditions is most always a combination of some kind of bugs, infection and toxic. And I know you’re working on that still.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

And I expect to see your autoimmune conditions resolve. They do, they can.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

People go the rheumatologist and then, and I love rheumatologists. This is nothing case rheumatologists. Those were not practicing a functional method, they’re just given a, patients are given a steroid and then that’s it. But there’s so much more under these autoimmune conditions.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

And, them reversed when we do more detoxification, more killing off of infections, but it’s, of course we have to hunt for what those are.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

What it is.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

What the cause is, ’cause people don’t need to live

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

with autoimmune conditions that we can reverse them.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I’m really hoping that all the MARCoNS and kind of like this mold and VIP spray that I’m just starting is really gonna help with those things. So in my gut, I’ve been feeling really drawn to it for a while now. And I was just kinda putting it off till we moved into our new house. We moved into our new house in July and made sure to test it for mold and make sure it was gonna be perfectly clean, did like really extensive testing, and it was completely clear. So I was like, all right, now is the time to do it. I know my environment’s clean and clear and I can focus on this and not have any issues like if in case there’s any hidden mold or anything. So I think it was like the right time finally dive into it.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Good for you, yeah. I expected your autoimmune conditions reverse.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Oh, I would love that. Especially the gluten issue, man. That’s a tough one.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

That’s a tough one, but most of my patients, even after remission, they’re more sensitive.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

It’s just part of the nature of your structure of your people. So people do get to live a normal life, I think you are. A normal life, tell us more about that. But also, I want patients to know that even when they’re living a normal life, they have to be maybe more careful than other people because their constitution is more sensitive, but patients know how to handle that really, really well, so they can continue living a normal life.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Exactly.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah, tell us about that.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely a new normal. I’m not normal like I was before Lyme and everything, or I could just do whatever I wanted with no repercussions or actually there probably were repercussions. I just didn’t pay attention to them or know they were happening, is actually what I think was really happening. But now yeah, like you said, I definitely feel like I am more sensitive to things in the world, but I respond and react so quickly to them. So like if I go somewhere, stay at a hotel, I can definitely tell if it’s moldy or not. And I can get out of there as quickly as possible. 

Whereas before I probably would’ve just stayed there and like afterwards been like, why is my face puppy? Like, why am I tired? And like, not really know why and same with like foods and things like that. And I think you just, it’s a new normal, but you become like more resilient and you become so aware of like the signals and messages your body is giving you so quickly that you can act on it. So I don’t think that I’m ever gonna be as sick as I was because I wasn’t listening for the signals that my body was giving me for years. And now I’m so much more aware of like what things could be triggering it. And I start to know and feel like when certain things are, like if I have a cup of coffee that has mold in it, I feel like really nauseous and kind of like almost seasick, but I know that’s what it is. And then I can take some charcoal and detox and do things to like clear it outta my system as quickly as possible. 

Whereas before I would drink it and be like, oh, why do I have a stomach ache? I don’t know, and just go on with my day. So I think your new normal, you have a lot of things in your toolkit. And so you can use those tools that you have so that if you do have an incident or exposure or something, you can bounce back from it so quickly and you know exactly usually what it is. Also I feel like you have such a good team of doctors at that point too, that know if something more serious is happening, you can always work with your medical team and be like, hey, something’s not right, what do you think it is? Or let’s do some testing to see what’s going on. And also I think with your new normal, I generally do labs like every three months, usually just to kind of monitor things and see how things are going. 

So if something is off or elevated, I’m like, okay, what’s going on? Like, why I’m not feeling as good either, like with the MARCoNS thing, I was like, something feels off, I just feel more tired than usual. Like this isn’t normal, did some labs, we did the tests and then there was a reason for it. So I think you act on those things a lot quicker so that you don’t get so taken down into such a stuck place like you used to be. I think there can also be like a little bit of PTSD with it too though, like you wake up one day and like your knees like hurt or something and you’re just like, oh my God, what’s wrong? Like, is it Lyme again? Like what happened to me? 

Or like you have a few days where you’re like really tired and you don’t know why. There’s like, I have good days and bad days still. And like sometimes I have bad days where I just feel tired, I’m like, did I get gluten? Like, why do I feel so tired? Like what’s happening? And you can kind of spin out a little bit and freak out. But for the most part, I think we all have like, even if you’re healthy, 100% healthy, you’re gonna have a day where you just don’t feel 100% for whatever reason. So I think not letting your head kind of spin out into that place, is important too. Because well, that mental stress is like very hard on your body as well.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

So stress causes immune dysregulation, and I also notice when my patients become anxious, about what they’re experiencing, the symptoms become amplified, we can calm down the nervous system. There’s many techniques about coming down the nervous system, coming down the nervous system that is, and when we use those techniques to be meditation, breathing exercises, psychotherapy, acupuncture, grinding your feet in the earth, going to the ocean, going from the lake, prayer, all of these ways can calm down our nervous system, and once we get the anxious thoughts calm down, the symptoms are much easier–

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Absolutely.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

And they may have already passed by then too. So you put yourself into this whirlwind for no reason.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Exactly, exactly. I wanna talk a little bit about remission and I wanna explain to our audience what it means to be in remission. So, from tick-borne disease, that is, so when somebody is suffering, has suffered from Lyme, bartonella, babesia, ehrlichia, rickettsia, tick-borne relapsing fever, that is Lyme and co-infections and then they get treatment. If you’re told that now you’re Lyme free or you’re tick-borne disease free, it’s not quite true. What we can do is bring the microbial count down so low that your system doesn’t notice it. What we could do is modulate your immune system so much that your immune system can handle it. And that’s living a normal life, that’s in remission. 

And so when somebody’s had chronic Lyme meaning they’ve had Lyme for six months or longer and they’ve had treatment, there’s always gonna be a little bit left, right? And so when there’s stress, whether it’s a physical stress or emotional stress or another exposure of some kind, then there becomes immune dysregulation and the tick-borne diseases can flourish once again. So it’s really important to notice when you’re under of stress and then to begin treatment. I don’t mean treatment for tick-borne disease all over again, because that’s rather intense. I’m talking about treatment to manage the stressor, manage whatever is going on, modulate the immune system, and then you can stay in remission.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

So when you do that, then you’re not giving a chance for the tick-borne diseases to grow and proliferate again.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yep.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

So, Erika, tell us about recommendations you have for people.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah, as far as like, kind of like how to manage your neurological system, things like that.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I really like, a tool that I learned when I was right, shortly after I started getting my stem cells, because I knew part of the way for me to heal was gonna be to like manage my stress and manage my anxiety. And especially with stem cells, it’s such a long healing journey. You can spin out and be like this isn’t working, I don’t feel good yet, like why haven’t I healed yet? And kind of like really try to manage that. So at that time, I started doing biofeedback and doing HRV training, which was a game changer for me. And I worked with a practitioner, we would meet once a week. And it was kind of interesting ’cause at first, they kind of do a test on the first day to see like what your stress response is. And for me, like it can be like sweaty palms or you can like sweat or you can hold your breath or your heart can raise and things like that.

And for me, it was like, I hold my breath when I got stressed. And so we did a whole exercise on learning what my ideal, like breath rate is to kind of reset my nervous system and doing the heart rate variability so that my heart and my breathing could kind of sink in and it changed my life. And I still use it to this day, like all the time. I don’t necessarily do like a practice of it all the time, like I used to, like when I was learning it, I had to practice it every day and kind of get used to it. But now I find that if I’m in like a stressful situation, I can, no one even knows I’m doing it. I can just drop into my breath rate, kind of reset myself and calm my nervous system down. And that has been a really, really big piece for me. 

You mentioned acupuncture. Acupuncture is fantastic too. My body really, really responds well to it. And I went through like a really stressful period earlier this year when we were selling our previous house, life in, where we were at in Venice was really, really, really stressful and really awful. And my cortisol was like through the roof and I knew I had to like do something to reset it, ’cause I was like this stress is just gonna be really, really bad for my body. And first so, we moved to a place temporarily while we were waiting to move into our new house. And I literally slept for like a month. I would go to bed at like 8:30 and wake up like 8 the next day. 

I slept so much and I did the HRV, I practiced it every day just to kind of reset my immune system, reset my nervous system and just kind of like let myself decompress from that stressful time. And then by the time we were moving into our house, I felt so much more resilient, so much stronger. I like redid my labs and my cortisol went back down. So it was just amazing how even like external things like your environment or where you live or a stressful situation, unrelated to your illness can just really rev up your body so quickly. But having these tools, you can also quickly bring it back down and letting your body kind of reset from that. So I mean, HRV for me has just been a game changer and the biofeedback, so I highly recommend that. 

I know a lot of people really like DNRS, I’ve considered looking into that to see if it can help with my gluten reactions and kind of reset myself a little bit from that, it’s kind of a big time commitment. And I feel like for me, it’s difficult to find the time to do that. I think if someone is in a more kind of chronic illness state and not working and really, really sick, that might be a good tool because you have the time to do it and it can be something that can be really helpful and healing, and then by the time you start to recover and reach remission, you have that kind of tool in your toolkit and maybe you don’t need to do the full hour commitment to it a day. You can just kind of draw from it just like me with the HRV. Like I used to meet with a practitioner an hour a week and then practice for like 20 minutes a day. And now I can just use it when I need it. Like I don’t have to do it like the muscle memories there to use it. So things like that.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah, and that tool has become part of your being.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yep, yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I’m trying to get my mom to do it, she needs it. She’s probably gonna listen to this.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Tell us about emotional and mental health, how it affects remission.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah, that’s like a tricky one, some days I’m like really happy and thriving, and excited to be where I am and I accept my new normal and that I can’t do things, like certain things and things like that.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

What are the things that you can’t do in your new normal?

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Like traveling is a little harder just ’cause of my celiac disease, like being able to just like go out to dinner anywhere or grab a slice of pizza like on the go or eat whatever I want without like a hundred questions of what’s in it and how it’s prepared and being able to eat at any restaurant I want, things like that are really challenging still. And I think that it takes away a little bit of your freedom to have to be like on a restricted diet and things like that. And like with me, with gluten, it’s like really challenging because every single thing that I touch or put in my mouth even like lipstick or makeup, anything that can touch my mouth, could potentially make me sick for a week. So it’s like your life is kind of feels like a minefield with food because you’re just like, I don’t know if I’m gonna be okay or not. 

You can’t really like go to people’s houses for dinner very easily and like eat out at certain restaurants. So, and that makes it challenging, especially traveling too, I think is challenging. For me, that’s the biggest stressor and like hurdle of like the new normal, I think. Also this year has been, I mean the past two years, really with like COVID and things have been really challenging. Last year, I feel like was easier because I had already experienced like illness and like didn’t wanna be sick and everyone was kind of hunkered down and like this year things are getting back to normal, but I’m still being pretty cautious and it’s like, do I just trust that my vaccine works and go out and start living again and potentially get sick and get really sick? Or do I wait things out a little bit longer and see how things go? 

So like, I feel like that’s like emotionally wearing on me, ’cause you can’t just be like a normal person. Like I have friends that are just like back to normal, but they’re young and healthy and I’m like, well I have a lot to lose if I get sick potentially and I could be fine or I could be, maybe like I come out of remission or activate like the cytokine storm again and things like that. And it’s challenging to like kind of deal with that extra layer of like every decision you make, you have to put your health first instead of just being a little freer to make a decision to kind of do whatever you want. So that’s challenging. 

I feel like this past year has been a little more challenging ’cause in August it’ll have been exactly 10 years since I got Lyme and got sick and like really started this whole journey. And I already feel like I lost so much of my life. Like I basically lost my entire thirties to like illness really between Lyme, I had like one good year and then COVID kind of like trapped me at home again. So I feel like I’ve been trapped for like 10 years. So I’m really hoping that I can kind of like restart this new decade and year and hopefully things gets back to normal. I can just feel, be more comfortable, like getting back out in the world.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Absolutely. Thank you for being so candid with us. Yeah, there’s so many germs here. So how does emotional and mental health affect remission?

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I think I was really happy like right away. Like when I started getting into remission, like everything felt like new again or like you had like a new lease on life for like a new start. So I think in the beginning it was like, everything was like really exciting again, ’cause like even like exercising again or going out again and things like that. Like it was just like you had this like just feeling of like joy and excitement. Like everything was new. And I feel like now I’ve been in remission, like I guess like five years or so. I think COVID has really put a damper on it. So it’s like hard to tell, but I mean, for the most part, I feel like really happy and thankful, like most days. 

Like most days I’m like happy that my brain works and that my body works and that I can exercise every day. And even I went through like a little lull, like over the holidays, it was like really rainy and cloudy, and that really affects my mood and like emotional state and I didn’t exercise for like 10 days. And I finally, one day just forced myself back onto my soul cycle bike and moved, and I was like, afterwards, I was like, wow, I needed that because I felt so thankful that I could get on my bike and move my body and feel good after doing it. 

Instead of like when I had Lyme, if I tried to exercise, I would feel so tired. So it kind of like put things back in perspective for me that even if I had this little depressed phase with the rain and everything that it’s like, I have a lot to be thankful for. My body works, my body’s healthy and I needed to kind of like reset myself a little bit.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

I love that, so tell us more about the differences between when you were sick with Lyme, metals, mold, everything all at once. Like all my patients have all of them at once. Tell us what you experienced at that time in your body and in your mind.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Oh man, I was a vegetable. I was so sick, I mean, I pretty much spent my entire days in bed, I had to stop working, I had to stop driving. I definitely couldn’t exercise for years. Taking a shower would exhaust me for days. And I just remember we lived in aloft, we had blackout curtains that I had to keep closed ’cause the lights would be too much on my neurological system. And I would literally just lay in bed half the day, and like then I would have like some good days. So it was really confusing ’cause you’d have these days where you felt like almost normal for like a day and you’re just like, oh, am I okay, am I out of this? And then all of a sudden 99% of your days would be spent just feeling so sick. And it took two years for me to get diagnosed. So for those first two years I was just decaying so rapidly and going doctor to doctor, trying to figure out what it was. And then once I was lucky to find out that I had Lyme within those first two years and then we started working together and then just slowly the things started kinda peel back and I started having a little bit more life and little by little, I started to feel like myself again, like–

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Am so proud of you.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

for three years, right? We treated for about three years, yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

It was so hard. This is a healing journey.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Definitely.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

I Wish I could wave a magic wand. You are better now.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I know.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Right now. But it takes time.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

It takes time.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

You worked so hard, really I’m proud of you. I’m just so, heart sings when I see you like this. I see the difference between when I first met you as a patient and the life you’re living now. I mean, it’s just so beautiful to see thriving this way and so it looks like right now the main issues are food, right? And managing the weather compared, I mean, compared that to what–

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Totally.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

experience, I mean.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah, I mean the gluten thing is like rough. Like I think I spend about 30% of my life accidentally glutened, which is really high. And no matter how careful I am, so like, when that happens, I get really depressed, I get really anxious,I get really tired, I get achy, I have brain fog and I feel like I just like, can’t do anything. And it’s like, it’s kind of traumatizing ’cause it puts you back in that place. So like, not as bad, it’s night and day compared to like when a had Lyme, but then it’s like kind of triggering almost, ’cause you’re just like, oh well, like I don’t feel like doing anything and I don’t feel good. Fortunately the way I kinda get myself through it is like, I know it has an end. I know it’s gonna end Wednesday at noon and then I’m gonna be back to normal. And so I kind of focus on that and then just do supportive things, like sit in my sauna, do some detox parts, like all those kinds of things help kind of just help your body along to get out of it. But that’s the proof.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah, yeah. Do you feel like you can enjoy more of your diet now in general?

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, at the peak of Lyme, I think I had to eat foods that I wasn’t allergic to, that I could eat. I was allergic to so much, doing the AIP diet helped to kind of reset my gut and things, I think it helped a lot. And then after stem cells, all my allergies went away. I can even eat chilies now, which is like, I had an EpiPen for chilies. I still stay away from jalapenos ’cause those were like my really big offenders, but yeah. I can eat things with like red chili in it and I’m fine. And like I said, I eat mostly paleo, like the holidays or when I’m traveling, like the gluten free bakery or like, eat things like that. And it doesn’t take me down too much anymore. Like I bounce back fairly quickly, which is nice compared to before if I ate something like that, I’d be down for a week or more on top of everything else. So you definitely, your body gets stronger, more resilient. You can start to live an indulge in those things again, I wouldn’t like eat gluten free baked goods every day of my life, but like on vacation or like once in a while, it’s a nice treat to have and feel normal compared to all the other things you can’t feel normal with.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Erika I’m so happy for you. It’s such a thing to celebrate every day, really your life. Your life that you now have back, really.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Absolutely.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Really, so speaking of autoimmune paleo and paleo, tell us about your cookbook and tell us about the gift that you’re gonna offer.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Absolutely, so I have my cookbook Wandering Palette. It’s a 28 day meal plan of travel inspired paleo foods. And it was kind of interesting the way it started. So first of all, I mentioned traveling is challenging and going to different countries and being able to eat whatever you wanted. So the book kind of takes a lot of foods that I had on my travels and journeys even before Lyme and kind of creates a paleo version of them, so you can still enjoy foods that you may not be able to eat. If you go to those countries, everything is clean, super simple. 90% of the recipes can be modified for AIP as well, which makes it nice if you’re on a more restricted diet and yeah. So you can get that on my website. I have a discount code for everyone, it’s summit and you’ll get 10% off for the book as well and anything on my site, on my other merch. And yeah, I’m gonna start working on a second book as well. So I’m really excited for that. I’m working on my proposal now.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

What is the second book?

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

It’s gonna be also a kind of a travel inspired theme, but it’s gonna be circles around hosting dinner parties. So gathering with friends, especially as we’re kind of coming out of COVID. And also since I mentioned, like it’s hard for me to go to a friend’s house for dinner and things like that. So, we tend to be the host a lot. So kind of creating a healthy travel inspired meal based on different countries. And it’s gonna be kind of everything figured out for you, like the decor, a playlist, how to time your food, what you can prep ahead of time and things like that. So it’s gonna be based around gathering with loved ones and creating really healthy and amazing delicious food.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

That’s so exciting.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yeah.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Can’t wait to get a look at your book.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

I’m excited to work on it. I’ll let you know once there’s more details on it.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

And for everybody listening, I know some of my patients, a lot of my patients might feel too sick to cook or they wanna cook, Erika’s book is actually really accessible, the recipes are accessible, they’re delicious and she makes it really easy.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Super easy.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

So just hold right there.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yes, and it has a shopping list and everything figured out for you too. So you can buy your weeks groceries and have everything you need for all the recipes, if you wanna use it as a meal plan, or you can just do it individually. And one thing I should add, I know it’s challenging to cook when you’re sick and can be time consuming and you may not have the energy for it, but I highly recommend using like an Instapot or even like the ninja foodie. You can cook entire meals in there and just literally put everything in, press the button and it can help you like really eat nourishing foods, keeping it simple, also doing like one pan meals where you can just cook everything, put it in the oven. And that way, you’re eating healthy, you’re eating clean. You can even have leftover so you don’t have to cook the next day. And then that way, you don’t have to go for the takeout or something that’s not gonna be as optimal and you can really control your ingredients to help you heal.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Fantastic. Those are great tips.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Yes.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Yeah. Well, thank you Erika. I was so grateful here.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Thank you.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

And I have to say it again, I’m so proud of you.

Erika Schlick-Sinclair

Come on, thank you.

Nafysa Parpia, N.D.

Thank you.