Healing as a Family: From Gut Issues to PANDAS Recovery with Taylor

When Taylor—a registered nurse—first came to Hey Hey Mae, she was dealing with years of gut struggles and unexpected mold exposure. But her journey quickly became a family one. After resolving her own GI health, she turned to help her young daughters through eczema, digestive issues, sensory sensitivities, and eventually PANDAS and chronic infections—all before age five.

In this episode, Taylor shares how functional testing, client root-cause work, and steady support helped transform their family’s health. From the first GI protocol to her daughter finishing immunotherapy, it’s an honest look at what’s possible when you heal together from a traditionally trained Mom. 

Instagram: @heyheyelizabethmae
Website: www.heyheymae.com

Transcript

Elizabeth: 0:01

Hey, you're gonna be okay. I'm Elizabeth Mae, and my functional health practice helps people heal when they've exhausted traditional options. When no one else can figure your health challenges out, my team helps you resolve symptoms and restores your health. You're listening to my podcast where we'll hear stories of healing chronic illness from a root cause approach. Welcome back to Hey You're Gonna Be Okay. Today I'm talking with Taylor, a registered nurse whose background is in conventional medicine, but whose own health challenges led her down a different path. Taylor first came to us for support for her own digestive issues, and but as she worked through gut healing and we worked through family challenges, uncovered mold in her home, her family story kind of began to unfold in unexpected ways, and we got to work in different ways with her family. So after the last few years, um we've seen kind of dramatic improvements in different realms, and we're gonna talk through that improvement mostly around her young daughter's health, um, where we resolve chronic kind of GI issues, GI concerns, sensory sensory issues, and some pandas issues popping up for her. So we're gonna explore what it looks like to move from that traditional healthcare background or like a mindset in a different space, right? We all are in a traditional healthcare background here in America, but it's different when you have training, when you have like really thorough understanding of um that traditional mindset, if you will, coming into functional medicine and just really how Taylor and her husband's persistence and willingness to dig deeper brought about opportunity for healing for their family in a different way. So thanks for talking with me, Taylor. I'm excited to kind of unfold the parts and help people see their own journeys and your family's journey.

Taylor: 1:45

Sure. Happy to be here.

Elizabeth: 1:47

So I am curious about, you know, when we first connected, the beginning of your journey was about your health and your um struggles at that point. So kind of just in the beginning, like what brought you to talk to us and and what brought you to the clarity call? What was going on there?

Taylor: 2:01

Sure. Um, so I have a long history, family history of GI issues. And um, I started having abdominal discomforts when I was quite young and had my first endoscopies when I was 19 years old and was on a regular scanning schedule, and um I had done a lot of my own research and tried juicing for weeks at a time, and you know, had a very strict diet at different phases of my life. And ultimately what happened was I had had my five-year scopes, everything looked good. I had um gone out to a fair and had some food and ended up with like an acute infectious uh bowel from that, and um ended up going to the ER, and there was really nothing that they had to offer, just you know, time and drink lots of fluids and stay hydrated. And so I followed up with my um my doctor, and he said, You have post-infectious IBS, and I said, Okay, well, what can we do about this? And he was like, Well, this could be six months to a year, you're just gonna have to wait it out. And there was really not much offered. Um and I had been following you for a while and just starting to become much more interested in a more holistic approach to wellness, and um simultaneously was learning about mold, and my daughter had some different issues, and ultimately um I just wanted to dive into a different approach because I didn't feel like I was getting where I needed to be um with conventional medicine.

Elizabeth: 3:45

So day to day, like things were okay-ish. You had this history of GI stuff, but it was really like that acute infectious flair that was the thing that kind of pushed you over the hump into saying, like, I gotta work on this stuff. And you were postpartum, I mean, relatively postpartum. Yeah.

Taylor: 4:00

So um, my daughter was my youngest daughter, was two at the time. I had post-infectious IBS, which was just significant stomach pain, severe abdominal pain and bloating throughout the day. I had a lot of exhaustion um postpartum. I would wake up in the morning and feel tired, and by 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, I would need a nap and was just dragging to take care of my kids. And um, yeah, it was it was a tough time, and we were doing some remodeling on our home, and I was painting the bathroom where the mold was, and then I broke out in these severe welts all over my face, my arms, like my whole leg. And it that was kind of my breaking point where I had been on the fence for a while, and then when I started having these uncontrollable welts and hives all over my body, I that was kind of my breaking point where I knew I needed to do something different.

Elizabeth: 5:03

Yeah, because I do remember we talked a couple of times before you guys move forward on your care, and I was I was curious kind of what were hesitations in that season or like it is a whole different world in many ways, like how we think about things, the testing that we use, the way we approach resolving things. Like typically with the IBS type situation, you got what you're gonna get. Maybe you'd get an antibiotic on top of that, um, or an extra colonoscopy check, but you'd already been through lots of scopes and checking.

Taylor: 5:29

And so I do understand that it's totally different to like trust a new space, but um yeah, I'm just kind of curious if there are any other hesitations that you have or um if you remember I was kind of how you felt it is, it's the it's a different way of thinking, it's different testing. And if you do, you know, your standard conventional research, they'll say, Oh, these tests aren't quality, or you know, this isn't proven as you know, as scientific evidence that this will work and it's a financial commitment. And you know, the other piece for me was I found you through social media, and so then that was kind of like, okay, is this legitimate? And um absolutely, you know, but your posts were solid and they made sense to me, and you know, finally it was like, yep, I need to just try something different, and it was a leap of faith, and I'm so thankful that I did it.

Elizabeth: 6:24

Yeah, yeah. I kind of feel that way the same because when I originally got sick, traditional medicine had nothing for me besides like you have mono, just go lay down. And I was like, uh, I have a toddler and a newborn. Uh lay down, it's not an option for me. So I have to figure something else out. So I totally, totally get that. So once you got into care, um the discovery of the mold was kind of like pretty quick after the intake. And I remember talking the intake about the girls and kind of how there was some eczema stuff going on, and then you had the rash situation that you mentioned. So um, we're not gonna spend a ton of time on you, but what was it like to go through your initial GI protocol? And you worked with Abby on our team for yourself and for your girls. So she's been really your primary care person, but um, and for people listening, like working with one of us is working with all of us because we all look at labs, we all consult on every case, we're all constantly talking about what are we doing? You're just spending that one-on-one time with um an individual practitioner. But what was it like to go through that GI protocol and that little stint of work at the beginning?

Taylor: 7:21

Um, honestly, I saw improvement so quickly that I it just I was excited. I was excited for something that felt substantial and that I was already seeing changes. I was learning a lot about holistic health and wellness. Um, Abby was attentive and available and incredible. And I would say, you know, the challenge is the financial piece, and then also it's it can be a lot to manage the protocol and manage supplements. And um, we ended up moving very shortly after I started. And so then it was like managing the the protocol while moving, and it was summer, and so there was a lot of a lot to learn as we were going through that. Um, but it became easier and easier, and you see your health start to improve, and you just feel like, oh my gosh, this is so worth it. I'm so glad I'm doing this.

Elizabeth: 8:21

Yeah, yeah. That's a lot to manage a move, and like you guys were dealing with you guys moved out of mold, maybe, and but you still have all the stuff to sort through, you have all the the moving pieces, and then you know, when you've lived in mold too, like you don't feel great, and your brain doesn't exactly work fantastic either. So I'm sure that challenge was in the middle of things as well. Um, and it can be tough. So you did get, you know, you'd had two daughters at that point, you did end up getting pregnant, I think, like after at the very end of that gut healing phase. And I just kind of curious if you felt like that pregnancy was any different than previous, or how how, if any, there was a difference there um in kind of how you felt after working on your gut versus before.

Taylor: 9:04

Yeah, so I so my first pregnancy in 2019 was fine, it was totally normal, it was great. And then I got pregnant with my second daughter nine months postpartum, and I had a horrible pregnancy, and it was looking like pots, and I went to the ER numerous times with tachycardia, and I couldn't get out of bed for the first 20 weeks because I would just feel like I was gonna faint. Um, and so then after doing the work with Abby and your team, I had um I got COVID and it was like, okay, this is kind of a shock to the system and was doing well, and then got pregnant afterwards. And the first trimester was the typical tired, and now I had two little little bit older kids, still toddlers. I was chasing around, so I was exhausted, but my pregnancy was wonderful. It was, um, I was able to maintain my diet and you know, maintain some supplementation to support my body through that. And I previously had used, you know, unisom and Tylenol and these various things that the OBGIYN would recommend for my symptoms. And I used absolutely no medications in my third pregnancy at all. Um, it was my best labor, it was my best postpartum. It was substantially improved.

Elizabeth: 10:30

That makes me glad. Because like you can feel better day-to-day gut-wise, but when you have like such a long thing, like being pregnant for me is a very long time. And then to be able to come out of it postpartum and feel well and feel well having two little kids plus the third baby. I think that that is like really a bigger payoff than even getting rid of the daily discomfort stuff because that can be a really hard season. And physiologically, what's going on in our body informs how that happens, how how or how not, you know, postpartum depression shows up for us, or how we feel physically, how we recover physically is really informed by you know our total health. So it's been a while since we did that, and then it's you know, you were pregnant, you had baby, it's been a bit since then, but you know, how are you feeling like now? Did that work hold? Do you feel like after several years of on and off for you?

Taylor: 11:21

Um you're still in the um, you know, this phase of life. So yeah, my youngest just turned one in August. And it's been, you know, I I never did the immunotherapy piece that you guys do now, and everybody else in my family has. And I like I still feel there's a little more work to be done for me. And I know, you know, just from learning from you that pregnancy can change your immune system. And I think that there's a piece of that that, you know, impacted me and that has affected me. Um, but overall, things that I were I was dealing with before are are non-existent. For example, the severe abdominal pain, um, the severe exhaustion and fatigue where I could not get out of bed. I would have phases of insomnia that I don't have anymore. Um, but I I truly believe the biggest takeaway is just how to better take care of myself. You know, it's like I'll go through these phases of, okay, yeah, I'm having a little uptick of stomach discomfort, and how can I modify my diet? What supplementation can I bring in to support my body? What stress, you know, and relaxation techniques can I bring in? And that foundational wellness knowledge that I gained lasts through seasons of more stress.

Elizabeth: 12:44

Yeah, because it's not gonna stop. We all have kids, we all have lives, we all have all the things, and we're all recovering from early life things, you know. Like this is a part or season of life where there's always gonna be stuff popping up. And I think my goal always is that we're equipping clients to not need us over time so that you're not coming back, you're not staying here forever, you have tools that you can employ. And sure, sometimes we get sick and things pop up, and that's what sick day calls are for. But otherwise, my goal is that you know you leave care able to care for yourself and for your family better than when you came in. So that makes me glad. Um, we started care for you, and we quickly started care for your little girl. I think she was about like two and a half when we started, maybe like that fall after we started for you. So tell me a little bit of like her history, what brought you in to get going on her and just where she started.

Taylor: 13:32

Sure, yeah. So she was my second, she was my most challenging pregnancy. Um, just I was very ill. Um, and she I had concerns about her well-being very early on at nine months. Um, she started developing eczema, she um wasn't responding well to vaccines. Um she I would compare to my first, and you know, she wasn't talking as quickly. She just certain things that as a mom, you're like, is this normal? Is this just the second kid? Um, but when the eczema popped up and the only solution was steroids, I started doing a little bit more of a deep dive into what's causing the eczema, what does this mean for her immune system? And again, being um being a nurse, I had access to you know, peer-reviewed articles through our hospital database. And so I started piecing things together and realized that eczema is not just a no big deal skin thing that all kids get. It it actually was quite concerning that there was something more going on with her immune system. And I felt that a baby should not have significant impairment to their immune system that would lead to these things. And so um other symptoms she had, she had chronic diarrhea her whole life. Um, she when she was a baby in diapers, she would have a bowel movement and her skin would be welted by the acidity or you know, whatever it was that was in her body. Um and so I early on at one when we transitioned off of breast milk to whole milk, cow's milk, the eczema really flared. And so I we pulled back on that and and um realized also that gluten had an impact and we pulled back on gluten, and we um basically cleared her eczema doing that, but we still had these residual upset stomach stomachs. Every night she would complain of a tummy ache. She would be very bloated by the end of the night. And um, and my other daughter had some strange labs and constipation. So after working with your team, it was just like, you know, I saw these incredible benefits and I wanted to get them on board and get them started as well.

Elizabeth: 15:56

So for your older girl, she was really having like lots of GI stuff in the eczema. Those are the two big things. And I think it's interesting that you mentioned even going through research in a hospital setting and finding information about how eczema isn't just an exterior skin problem, that it's connected to the immune system, it's also connected to the gut. Because you already know we see so many people who really just get here because they're trying to avoid steroids, not because they're understanding a bigger picture. But it's always fascinating to me to be reminded that that same information that we really work off of as the principle of like how we resolve skin challenges is available to those who are prescribing steroids as the only solution. It's really not the only solution. So when we begin skin stuff for the most part, we're looking at the gut sometimes in one or two ways. And we did look at her gut in two ways and found, you know, she had bacterial overgrowth, and you guys had had the mold in her spurs in your life too. So we were really kind of looking for that. And she did have a pretty significant Clostridia overgrowth, which is in that C. diff family, it's spore-based bacteria that's gonna take advantage of a body who's been in in mold or exposed to fungus, and we saw the poor GI function on paper, we saw the overactive immune system, um, and evidence that food reactions would be going on. And in that beginning scent, because we worked with her for a bit, right? And then we had another season where we came back in. That first scent, how did she respond to the early protocol for the GI symptoms? How was it implementing that for someone so small? Because it's one thing as an adult, but she was like two and a half when we started.

Taylor: 17:28

Yeah, so both my girls started, one was two and a half and one was four. And we started with the mold diet piece. That was kind of the first piece that we brought right in. And it was challenging. I mean, we saw some real attitude and trying to bring in these foods and cutting the sugar and probably some Herx type things going on for the first two weeks. Was like, whew, this is this is rough. But then after two weeks, it was incredible. It was astounding in just two weeks. Watched my older who had horrible constipation start having regular bowel movements, and my younger, who had chronic diarrhea, start having regular bowel movements. The bloating was down, she didn't complain of tummy aches as much. Um, the food sensitivities and the food um aversion stopped. So all of a sudden they would ask for seconds for protein, and they were tolerating vegetables, and they weren't asking for snacks and for you know sugary things, which we didn't have a lot of that anyway, but still that was what they gravitated towards the the fruit or the grapes or the and so yeah, it was very quickly we saw improvement um in their GI and through norovirus and all of these viruses that kids get at school and preschool, they their GI status has stayed very strong and has never regressed to where we were when we before we started. I mean, it's been it's been solid. That's great.

Elizabeth: 19:06

You know, and something we talked about too early on in Clarity Call stuff around the girls were just genetic pieces that were part of the puzzle. And I always like to speak to those when they're here. So we talked about how MTHFR, if you're in a functional space, you're learning about this stuff, was part of you know, some of your and your husband's makeup, so therefore we can assume or deduce or even test to know that it's part of the girls. But really, the thing I always want to emphasize is that's like one part of the puzzle. There's so many pieces to piece together, and that's not really like a determining factor if someone has MTHFR, but it informs how we work with someone to help them resolve whatever challenges they have going on. So was she having a lot of food reaction stuff like throughout her care? Or did you feel like, oh, these things are also improving as the skin is improving, or what was that part like for her?

Taylor: 19:56

Yeah, no, she um they both they both were pretty good eaters. They just became more picky eaters. And so as we did the protocol, that faded away significantly, and they would eat more, which was impressive too. They, I mean, they would eat more quant quantity of quality foods, vegetables, proteins, eggs, these things that they, you know, would maybe have a one or two bites of before. And it wasn't it wasn't a problem. It just was like, this is my meal, and they would eat it and they were great. Um, but yeah, she she really just seemed like a happier child because she wasn't uncomfortable, she wasn't painful and having these, you know, stomach aches and stuff like that.

Elizabeth: 20:42

Quick break. If you've been curious about homeopathy, this is your sign to try it. At Hey Hey Homeopathics, we've created liquid remedies for everything from sleep and skin to digestion and beyond. Safe, gentle, and designed for real life. And if you're a practitioner, our preferred professionals line opens the door to powerful tools like no sods, miasms, detoxers, and more. Anyone can shop, but professionals can apply for exclusive access. Visit Heyhey Homeopathics.com and start your path to natural healing today. Yeah, a lot of time those food aversions are they can be related to pathogens, so strep can create a lot of picky and preferential eating. But also most of the time in kids with gut stuff, skin stuff, they just literally don't feel good. And when you don't feel good, you're not interested in eating more, or you're not interested in eating hard to digest foods like protein. And it really can turn around for them really quickly because if you know, if we can see what's there pathogen-wise, we understand what consequences that brings to the body and how we can kind of resolve those so we can get, you know, more comfort quickly while we're resolving the challenges. So that's good to hear. So we did that beginning stint, things were better skin-wise. I could see she was kind of pushed out of care and you guys were gone for like about a year. And then there was an issue where you all collectively shared a fun GI bug. There was some pink eye that stacked on top of that. I was reading congestion, ear infections. It was kind of like you little snowball after the GI bug, and you hopped on a sick day call. Um tell us about where she was at that point when you guys came back in and were kind of like, something's not right.

Taylor: 22:12

Yeah, so we um, so that was January of this year. And so we through the the last winter, the girls hardly got sick after we had done that protocol. They were doing amazing. They one of our kids was in preschool. Um, and then this year, both girls were in preschool, and yeah, we got hit so hard last 20, 2024 winter, fall, um, with just numerous bugs. And um we were really tired. We had then we had a newborn at the time, and we were just trying to hang on. Um, we were still eating really healthy and trying to, you know, be healthy across the board, but it was just one cold after another. And at that point, we started noticing some real strange symptoms arise, um, sensory stuff, um, not wanting to wear certain clothes that progressed, some OCD behaviors with her hair being static y, um, and just and the OCD thing was the thing that finally clicked for me that this was not normal. And I actually said OCD to my husband. I said, you know, this is this is like OCD. And then I was like, oh my gosh, like, wait a minute. And because I had known you guys and followed you, I had learned about pans and pandas and was aware of it. And so then things just like started clicking for me very quickly, and I was pretty shook. I was tearful and like, oh my gosh, there is much more going on than just a cold. Um, and so yeah, that that led me to reach out for the sick call and kind of get things going.

Elizabeth: 24:07

Yeah, and so she really, I mean, you've been trying things too, like you'd work through some homeopathy, like cold crush, and working on some, like they'd had pink eye, I think, and you'd done some supporter on that too, and you were throwing your tools at it, but you're totally right that it seemed like at that point the preferences were more than preferences, they were kind of sensory struggles for her and the OCD and the mood swing pieces. Um, and there were sleep struggles at that point too. Was that that was happening then?

Taylor: 24:34

Yes, severe. All of a sudden, so yeah, we the first cold was the end of November, and it was pretty much non-stop with something from November until almost March, probably. But yeah, GI bugs, conjunctivitis, adenovirus. Um, and so it at one point my husband said, you know, I she I think she's just ignoring me, she's not listening to me. And then, you know, that was another click for me of like, maybe she can't hear us. And, you know, she had she was having chronic ear infection. So we went in and saw an ENT. And yeah, sure enough, she had she did have decreased hearing and she had fluid in her ears. And um, you know, we would bring her in to the doctor for certain checks, and it was just like, yep, another another virus, and kind of send us on our way. There wasn't a lot of testing happening. There was no try this. Um, and so then, yeah, in January, when at first it started with like, I don't want to wear socks, and it was winter and we live in the snow, and then it was cut cut the tags off of all of my clothes, and then no more underwear, and then only these two pairs of pants work, and only this shirt. And then it got so bad to wear. If she wanted to leave the house with me, and I would just say, go pick any clothes you want. I don't care what you wear, just put whatever you want. And I walked into her room after maybe 10 minutes, and there were four or five pairs of pants on the floor around her, and she was curled up in a ball crying because nothing felt good. And I was just like, Oh my gosh, like this is not a defiance, this is not uh, you know, baby being like, I don't want to do that. She literally could not tolerate what she felt on her skin. Um simultaneously, she had this obsession with static in her hair to the point where it kind of started out with like, she would brush her hair, she would ask, like, is my hair static-y? And it's like, no, babe, you know, that's a little little hair growing, you're fine. And then it got to the point where she would carry a brush around, wetting her hair down, brushing her hair, crying if any hairs were sticking up. And it just became an obsession. It was a it was OCD. Um, and and then from there, once I reached out, I would then I could see all of the pieces, all of the symptoms come unfolding. Like all of a sudden, she had regressed and and started wetting the bed and having accidents when she had been potty trained for years. Um, that bedtime became very difficult. Afraid of the dark, afraid of being left. Um, you know, it was maybe a 15-minute bedtime and it turned into two hours, and we couldn't keep her in a room, and she was hysterical. Um, she started talking about dying all the time, and she'd have her two little stuffies, and like, is this one gonna kill this one? I mean, it was just bizarre, bizarre. She was afraid of getting hurt. She used to ride her scooter like a wild woman all over, and then she wouldn't even step on it because she was afraid she would fall and get hurt. Um, it was just numerous, numerous things that just became really, really challenging.

Elizabeth: 28:03

Yeah, and I think it's such a grace, and it's why like sometimes I feel like I'm literally talking about pans and pandas like every other week. But truly, if you're not familiar and your kid has a regression like that, I mean I have two boys. Sometimes one is like a little in a better place than the other one. They swap places, like it's easy to say, like, oh, there's a little phase, we're just kind of working through some things, but that symptom load really matches out to hit the pans pandas. And so when you guys did a sick day call, I'm sure when Abby said, like, we need to explore chronic infections through the full pathogens panel, which is pretty expensive. Um, at that point, you had the privilege of understanding and getting and seeing the pandas piece, and so maybe it felt differently than you. But sometimes families come in and we have to introduce the whole concept, and it feels really bizarre that your kid would have been fine, and then we regressed into super preferences that were making things really difficult, and sometimes it's hard to be gracious when that's going on. The sleep stuff, her obsession with death. You know, a lot of times we see with with Lyme and with strep, we see a real fixation on death, whether it's concern over their own death. Sometimes I see adults who are like, do a clarity call and they're like, We'll get back to we're planning our will, we have to get that in place. And I'm always like, I'm sorry, you said what? Because there does become like a very interesting fixation on that, or being harmed or harming um can come along too with strep. So all of those things definitely were were adding up for her. Um, and testing came back, and you guys found, you know, pretty much exactly what you thought was gonna be there. Something was there was Lyme, um, there was strep, Epstein Barr, Cytomeglovirus, which is very similar to Epstein Barr. All those things were there, and you previously mentioned too, just she'd had some poor vaccine responses early in life, and so that was a part of concern for her. When we talk about immune triggering events, there's turning points, and it sounds like that winter of illness and GI bug that was a turning point, but also if we could. Back in her history, the eczema really that appeared after nine-month vaccinations. Is that right?

Taylor: 30:06

Yeah, she had had some vaccinations, and yeah, I that's what I attributed it to, and probably the mold too. I mean, I think it was a just a very dysregulating environment for her for her little body.

Elizabeth: 30:19

Yeah, both are triggers for sure. And so we kind of fast forward, we're here with these infectious pieces. Also, looking back, we can kind of look and say, like, okay, probably the strep was there when this when the X in the piece was there. Um, probably these other pieces were there. But what was it like for you to hear those results after observing and dealing and living in the dysregulated kind of environment with her when you got the test back?

Taylor: 30:42

You know, it it was nice to have an answer and a starting point to work from. Um, you know, I I did bring her in to see her pediatrician and asked about pans and pandas, and she's like, you know, this is a black box, and you know, we can do rounds and rounds and rounds of antibiotics, but it's not something I know a lot about. And she was very transparent about it. And I knew already that that wasn't gonna be the approach I wanted to take. Um, but I did I did want to pursue every option of treatment for her and and understand what my options were. Um, but I I trusted your team and I had worked with you. And so I knew that there would be something to offer. And that was the biggest thing for me is that I when I brought her to the pediatrician and I'm in tears and very concerned for my child's well-being, I didn't go home with anything. There was nothing to even start and try. Whereas my first call with Abby, she was right on it. It's like, I'm I want you to start this supplementation. We're gonna do this, we're gonna, it was at least something to do, to try. And even those before we did the pathogen test, those first supplementation that she brought in, I saw improvements right away. And, you know, as a mom of a young baby and and hearing like your child probably has brain inflammation, that's scary. Even being a nurse, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's really scary. And when she recommended the pathogen pathogens test, even though it was expensive, and I just knew that I wanted to be proactive and I wanted to be getting on top of these things as quickly as possible. I did not want to play the wait and see approach. I wanted to be proactive. And so yeah, it was I was appreciative of, you know, the let's try this and let's do these, and this is the plan moving forward. And I just, you know, felt like I knew the path.

Elizabeth: 32:50

Yeah, that's good to hear. And the proactive approach, I mean, obviously, we're doing this work. This is our career, this is the work that we do. But gosh, if we could have more families when it begins or be able to see signs earlier, see signs of pathogens crossing into the brain and beginning brain inflammation, especially when a child is like under 10, because the immune system is still developing and figuring out what pathogen and what's their body. Um, and then the body's still developing. So you think about the brain directs and runs all organ systems. If it is struggling, if it's inflamed, if it's dealing with pathogen issue, development is impacted, can be delayed. You know, it can be really pervasive how it's not a simple infection crosses into the brain or is really ghost systemic, but it is kind of that in the beginning. And taking early action also helps for recovery to be a lot faster. But I know in the beginning, one of those things I think Abby equipped you with was the pandas mix, which is now called brain inflamed. Um, did you feel like that was one of the things that helped? And how did it help? Or do you recall? I guess that was earlier this year. I'm sure you can remember.

Taylor: 33:56

Yes, I can remember very well. Yes. Um she the the story that comes to mind with the with that was it was her it was her fourth birthday, and she had been so excited about her Lion King birthday, and her family was in town, and it was time to go to the park to go to her birthday. And she literally crawled behind the chair in the living room and was like hiding in the corner because she was all of a sudden just a flood of anxiety. And I tried to talk to her, she was in tears, it was heartbreaking. And I ended up using the brain inflamed, and I gave her a few drops and just kind of let it set. And within a few minutes, she was crawling out from behind the chair and let me hold her. And we kind of talked, and you know, it's time to go to your birthday, you're gonna have a great time. And I dosed her again in the car, and we got there, and she was great, she was amazing. She got out, she had fun, she engaged, and yeah, that was like, whoa, okay, that really helped, and we still use it, you know, even though we've made drastic improvements, we still use it at times.

Elizabeth: 35:14

So it's definitely has like multi-purposes. I mean, I'll use it if I have a headache sometimes still, because it can help in that direction. But I always think it's a good tool. Sometimes if someone's skeptical even of pandas and we're just educating them and there's a lot going on, I'll say, why don't you try this next time there's an episode? And this does not mean it's like diagnostic at all, but if we get a shift with that, then we know it means designed to address brain inflammation, the symptoms of pants and pandas. If we get a shift with that, we know there's definitely more um reason for us to keep digging. So she had test results, you guys were starting to implement those early pieces, and then we moved into the immune therapy process for her earlier this year. How did that process go for her? I know she's close to the end, but how how did that start off and what's progression looked like?

Taylor: 36:00

Yeah, so she's only has four weeks left, which is amazing. Um, like I said, the piece that Abby brought in right away to support the brain inflammation, we saw improvements and shifts there. And then we've done various phases now, and um it's just been wonderful to see her heal and these symptoms drop off and fade away. And she is just a happy four-year-old now. And um, I would say it is a long process, it can be a slow process, but what eased my heart was that I wasn't seeing her get worse. I was seeing, you know, we would have days where it was like, oh my gosh, there she is. And then we'd have hard days. And even still, there's still some residual stuff, but it is so much better. I mean, drastically better. Um, bedtimes are not as much of an issue as they as they used to be, as far as you know, two hours of out and out and out in tears. And we've done different shifts to support her. And if she wants to sleep on the floor in our room, she's absolutely welcome to do that. And if she wants to sleep in her room, she can do that. But once we put her to bed, she goes to bed, she doesn't come out. Um, she is a wild woman on her scooter again this summer. She we're camping and she's cruising all over the place and she'd fall and cut open her knee and be bleeding and get a band-aid and she'd be right back out there, just like a kid should be. And um the fears and anxieties aren't there as much. I would say she still has a little bit of separation anxiety, but we this is the best drop-offs she's ever had at preschool. She doesn't cry, she doesn't cling. We have our little, you know, these are the three steps we do every time, and that works for her. And um it's just been wonderful. The sensory stuff is significantly improved, where you know, she wouldn't wear jeans, she wouldn't wear socks, she wouldn't wear under like all of these things, and now she'll wear all of the clothes that a child should wear. And, you know, there's occasionally where she's like, oh, this is tight, or I don't like this, and we will do funny stretches with her or say, let's give it five minutes and see how you're doing in five minutes, and then in five minutes, it's not a problem. Um, and so that's great. The OCD about her hair that improved rapidly. Um occasionally she'll come out and she has wetted her hair down, but it's not a she's never asking, like, is my hair sticking up? Is it static y? It's not an obsession anymore. It's just like, oh yeah, I was in the bathroom and I wet my hair down. Um yeah, the the this food stuff, she had some like food sensitive, not food sensitivities, but like picky eating kind of flared. That's gone. All the bed wetting and accidents that she was having, that's gone. Um she's trying to find her voice. She was very kind of almost like a selective mutism piece came on board. That's improving. So it's just been amazing, amazing to see her little personality coming out.

Elizabeth: 39:20

I love to hear that. I had an adult mom recently on the podcast say we worked with her teen son, and she said kind of his onset of symptoms was like kind of around pre-puberty, but she's like, we felt like he just like went into a little shell. And then as we work through the protocol, I was like watching a like a sailboat, like the sails unfurl and him like come out and just be like a present being again. And I think that really is like such a good depiction of it because that's kind of what it is, and it's bizarre if you've not seen it, maybe, um, where there just becomes this like little regression back into a shell, so much fear, so much panic and anxiety. And it's really the way the immune system is trying to help, it's trying to go purge pathogen from the body, but in doing that, the inflammation that is causing the brain makes the personality, you know, the function of the body kind of be very inward and reclusive and afraid. And it's nice to hear, because I see it every day, as you work through the protocol, you get these glimmers, you get more and more glimmers over time. And there may be aggravations in the process, but for the most part, the glimmers, you know, outweigh the aggravations that come alongside. And really, in a child under 10, because that immune system is still developing, you have a lot more glimmers and you have a lot less aggravations because their body's finally like, oh, this is what we were supposed to be doing. We were supposed to be attacking the lyme and the strep, not allowing it to live here. And now you see really, really big changes um over time. And it is interesting too how you can be not all the way done, but you can still be in a really good place. So she's close to the end, but really has made a very big shift. Um, I appreciate you sharing the clothing thing too, because sometimes I'll share on Instagram like screen grabs of people's feedback for the week and they'll be like, She's wearing a shirt, she's finally wearing underwear. And I'm like, if you don't really understand pans or pandas, you're probably like, Wow, really weird work Elizabeth and her team do. But truly, yeah, if you've experienced it, you absolutely know the sensory preferences can become, gosh, like just so pervasive in all parts of life because it's like the sensory experience when you have chronic infections is very it's just intense. And that's the that's the fruit of that is you don't feel like wearing whatever or it was preferences.

Taylor: 41:34

I would say I I felt like she was tortured. I mean, the sensory piece was like, oh my gosh, she uh her hot and cold temperatures were significantly off as well. Um, I remember one time putting her in the shower and she just started screaming that like it hurt, you know, and so it's just that was torture to watch that piece. Um and I remember one time it took me an hour and a half to get her out of her bathrobe because we got so bad that that was the only thing she would wear for a few days. It took me an hour and a half to one, okay. We're just gonna put pants on, and then she would distract, and then 30 minutes later, let's try this shirt and then distract. And yeah, it was it was hard.

Elizabeth: 42:20

And that's hard too when you're parenting too with their small kids, because when there is medical issue going on of any sort, as a parent, it requires you to tend more, but the behavioral pieces that come along with pans and pandas are not really like anything else, like the amount they require from a parent to have to pivot the family dynamic, the siblings have to accommodate and to be able to regain basically your sibling or daughter is really important and just kind of profound when you've experienced pans and pandas because it is really, really pervasive. So looking back on the process and you've been through other processes and you work in a conventional model, what really stands out the most about like working with our practice through the various different seasons and with different people in your family?

Taylor: 43:06

Um again, I think that there the proactive approach is is huge for me. I if I'm going to spend money to go to a doctor or to go to a practitioner, or I want to see change. I want it to be, I want there to be a positive outcome. And you know, I started to have a hard time going to conventional doctors, and I would spend money and there would be not there would be nothing to offer. There was no even try this. Um, and so feeling like I have you guys in my back pocket to call when something is that I need help with something, and knowing that there's gonna be something to offer is huge for me, first of all. And then now, you know, working with myself and my my kids, it and seeing the change and seeing the progress, um, I know that it works and I know that it's a healthy approach. There's not a bunch of side effects that are gonna cause harm, you know, and have we're not gonna see something else flare up later that we didn't anticipate because we're using pharmaceuticals that have side effects or you know, these things, these more holistic, natural-minded wellness options that build on your foundation of health knowledge that you can then use again later in life when you see something flare up with your child or yourself. Um, it's just this lasting approach that actually works.

Elizabeth: 44:37

If you've been wanting to transform your health but don't know where to start, I've got you. My full color cookbook is much more than recipes. It's a 300-page crash course in healing through food. You'll get 125 plus gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free meals the whole family will love, plus step-by-step guides on shopping smarter, improving digestion, and making your kitchen a healing place. It's gorgeous, practical, and designed to make healthy living simple. Grab your copy at heyheymae.com/cookbook and start changing your health one delicious bite at a time. Yeah, yeah. I think a lot of times, you know, like our generation, we were kind of the beginning, like the first generation after labs really became such a big part of traditional medical care. And there wasn't, there's like that wisdom that didn't maybe pass the same as like how to care for your people. Because a lot of things we use are plants and herbs and how to eat well and how to, you know, time food or how to care for the body, like through just practical everyday strategy. And a lot of the things we use really are just very simple food-based nutrients, and homeopathy is in there, um, lifestyle habits are in there, but it's really just a lot of learning how to take care of the body, and then there are the more advanced pieces of how do we address this like immune dysregulation part. But I think a lot of times we just weren't taught things, and to be able to have tools to lean on is just like really, really empowering, if you will. Yes. Um, yeah, because you're right, there's not always a lot of options when you're at the doctor given. And if you want to take those even, we see all the time. We've seen clients rotate through 10, 12 medications with no response to any of them. And so sometimes that can feel too like a dead end of like, okay, well, if I can't go there, and I've tried what they have to try, where does that leave me? And there are other options. Uh so you've been through the GI stuff, the mold stuff. We've done pants pain this season for you. What advice would you give another parent who's like dealing with any or all of these things?

Taylor: 46:38

Um, I yeah, I tell people all the time to to go to you guys and to check it out because um I think that we need holistic approaches, we need root cause approaches to to healing our kids. I think that, you know, one of the pediatricians I had talked with along the way said, you know, talked a lot about all the toxins in our food and water and this and that, and that was the cause maybe of the eczema and various things. And it's like, sure, that's a piece of the puzzle too. We live in a place today where my grandparents, you know, were never exposed to the toxins that my kids are exposed to. And I think that we we have to be open to different types, alternative approaches to wellness now, because conventional, unfortunately, in my opinion, what I'm seeing is it's it's for you know the critically ill, acute care type things. But if you are dealing with a young kid who needs some support, I think that the the holistic natural approach is ideal for a small child, especially where you're not bringing in a lot of pharmaceuticals with side effects and things like that that might have other detrimental effects.

Elizabeth: 47:57

Yeah, if I'm in a car accident, I would very much so like to be in the ambulance to the hospital or when my kids break their arm. That's where we're going. But there are other strategies that can be more effective for other run-of-the-mill chronic, continual kind of things. So, what about the timing? How long things take, um, and just the effort it takes to see results. If you have thoughts, encouragement about families kind of thinking, like, can we do this? How long's it gonna take? You know, another thing we're gonna try.

Taylor: 48:28

Yeah. Um, I think that we live in a world of instant gratification. And I think that that is maybe a draw to conventional medicine, where it's like, here's this pill, and you know, or you know, I hurt, so I'm gonna take ibuprofen, and now immediately I don't have pain or these things. I think that that's what we've we're used to, and that's what we want. Um, but I don't believe now that that is the answer to true healing and wellness. I think that, you know, it takes a long time to get sick, and it takes a lot of exposures and immune dysregulation. And I think that to truly heal on a deeper level, it does take time. Um for me, I feel like your team has been really wonderful about um kind of laying out the plan, and I've never felt lost in it. I've never felt like, okay, now what's next? Or I'm overwhelmed by this next step. Um, I felt very supported and it was very clear and easy to follow. So even though, you know, yeah, it takes months, I would expect that. I would expect that it's gonna take months to heal my child who's, you know, can't put clothes on anymore or is so fearful that she won't get on her scooter because she might fall down and scrape her knee. Like I would expect that it's gonna take the body some time. So I I you know, I encourage, I definitely encourage other families, you know, especially with kids, like to do this this approach. I think it's incredible.

Elizabeth: 50:03

I would say from this side too. I mean, I'm watching everybody in the practice all the time. Children progress relatively quickly. You may not get full clearance and full, but the glimmers that occur relatively quickly that very quickly kind of reassure you that, like, okay, we're moving in the right direction because we've not seen progress like this. We've not seen this little girl's personality in a while, but we're seeing it. Those things happen relatively quickly, and so it does feel like absolutely any investment in functional care, because insurance isn't in the dynamic, like you are responsible for all of it. Feels very daunting, but I will say, even for my own experiences in functional spaces, that relatively quickly you're seeing glimmers of assurances that something is happening in the right direction, and that part is really helpful and is a goal for us. Like you come here for care. I want you to feel like you are receiving care, you are receiving benefit early on, and that's always something that we're discussing when we're discussing client cases. What moved this one ahead sooner than this one where they were very similar? Um, and that's really important to us. So the girls have gone through some of the immune balance. Well, she has gone for sure through the immune balancing process. Thoughts on that just versus like your processor, you know, it is more costly in some ways and it's more time and more it's a marked time block. Um, would you do it again with her?

Taylor: 51:23

Oh my gosh, yeah, absolutely. I recommend this to anybody who's dealing with um chronic illness that is not moving with conventional medicine or somebody who has long-standing symptoms that are not improving. Absolutely.

Elizabeth: 51:42

What about lessons that you've taken away either as a mom or in your own journey when we were working on your health? Like, what's maybe been a bigger lesson that you've learned, or maybe what's been hardest even about this process?

Taylor: 51:54

Um, I would say, like I said, you know, starting out as a nurse. Um, I've been a nurse for 12 years now. Um some of the things that I've done with my children, I never in a thousand years would have thought that I would have gone that approach. But I think that the biggest lesson for me was just that it's really important to be open-minded and it's really important to um be willing to try something alternative for your family, for your child, um, because I think that I think that the truth of root, you know, finding the root cause and and truly getting well um requires more than what's offered in conventional medicine, typically. And the other piece too is that, you know, even though it's a long process, um, for me, I I just didn't want to see my child going backwards. I didn't want to see my child getting worse. If we could just, you know, if we've froze in some of those really hard days, but she wasn't getting worse, that was a win. You know, I mean, we see young kids in the health of America and the health of our people, and you know, people have these horrible chronic illnesses and you know, terminal illnesses and chronic illnesses and comorbidities and all of these things, and take handfuls of pharmaceuticals. And for me, it was like if we could just freeze and her not get worse, that's a win. And but you know, we continue to move forward and we see her improve, and that's all we could wish for and hope for.

Elizabeth: 53:35

I think you mentioning the state of like health in our country is very notable because if you have not experienced chronic health or you've not been up close to someone who's dealing with issues, if you've not been around children who have chronic health issues, whether it's eczema or ongoing infections or epilepsy or you know, all sorts of different issues, um, you may not really realize like the day-to-day strain. I think pans and pandas is one of those things where, like, as a parent, if you've not seen it, if you've not supported a friend who's gone through something like that, it's a real bizarre, far-fetched, like very difficult to empathize with thing. And I do think it's really important that, you know, as we grow, we're able to offer support to families in that way. But I think also we who have experienced it need to offer encouragement to one another because it is a really, really lonely thing. Um, even just working through gut stuff, like it's isolating, you don't feel good, you're like, you know, moment by moment is not great. And um, I'm curious, you know, how you felt like you and your family was loved well through that experience. Like, what are ways other people can see, you know, someone caring well for a family walking through this sort of experience and and you know, model that in another friendship or relationship where they see the same.

Taylor: 54:47

Yeah, so I do feel like it is um if you're not surrounded by people who are more natural-minded or more familiar with alternative approaches to wellness, it can be really challenging. So for myself, I am surrounded by nurses and conventional medicine people. And honestly, it does feel lonely, and I've really kept it to myself for the most part. Um, you know, our family is very aware of the situation. Um, some I think are maybe more accepting of the path that we took, and others maybe are not. Um, but they also see that that our daughter's making great improvements. And so, you know, I think that that's a testimony in itself that that it's working. Um, but I I I want to, you know, teach people about this and and I want people to be aware that there's other alternative options that are that are very helpful. Um, but it's a hard, it's a hard path because you don't want to offend people. People think it's woo-woo or you know, not evidence-based. And frankly, in today's um climate and atmosphere, it people can be very opinion opinionated about what they think and if if it seems feasible or evidence-based, and and so it can be hard. It can be hard.

Elizabeth: 56:20

Yeah, yeah, it is true, and I think it is sometimes I have to say to families, like, you know, has where you've been gotten you progress, and if it hasn't, then sometimes you do have to be bold and you have to do something new, and also at the same time, you gotta push to find people who do things similarly, so you're at least not in a crowd of you know, one person doing something different, and you're in a community that can support and understand or has we may not all agree on all things, that's probably almost never gonna happen. But you're at least in a community who's dealing with things relatively similarly, so you're not parenting alone, you're not parenting kind of in a bizarre woo-woo vacuum, if you will. But also, man, when you get down to it at the end of the day, if you really look at our process through a conventional lens of like conventional lens is just looking to diagnose, right? They're looking to deal with the biggest problem and then extinguish it. Okay, they have big tools to extinguish. And we're looking to resolve the issue that we see, but to build health at the same time. A lot of times things that we'll do are very similar, but the things that we do to build are the things that allow a person to stay and remain healthy. And those things I think really are the big important difference. But a lot of times we're using, you know, traditional medicine uses antibiotics or antibacterials. We're using the same things, kind of we're using herbals or we're using homeopathy to drag the body to deal with a bacterial challenge. It's just like, what is that? What do those two processes do to build or tear down or interrupt other systems or fortify the whole body, you know? And so in many ways, they have common ground, but um, not everyone really understands that the same way. So yeah, the community piece I see is definitely key.

Taylor: 58:03

Yeah, I think there's a shift. I think that there is a shift happening where people are becoming more open to alternative medicine and and different approaches to health and well-being. And I think that homeopathy and this approach to to wellness is gonna be become more and more common and prevalent.

Elizabeth: 58:21

I think for me it's like irrefutable ultimately. Homeopathy, that portion of our care is what really saved my life when I was very sick. And so for me, the proof's in the pudding all the time, and I just kind of say sometimes, like, you know what, why don't you just try an intake and see how it goes? You don't have to do anything past that, but to experience an embodiment of a different approach is really powerful. And I think it's notable too. You know, we're um kind of in the mid-south here. I'm in Kentucky, our practitioners are across the country, but we see clients all over, and you're on the West Coast, and there is a different um community or openness. Um, but also there's still some of the same ideas that are here, and it is interesting working with clients everywhere, like where things are more normal or is very foreign, or you know, it's just interesting for us to see kind of the difference. But even being on the West Coast, like there's still plenty of people who are not understanding, accepting, forward thinking, etc. So I'm sure, you know, same challenges our other clients face, you all have faced as well. But I appreciate you sharing a lot, um, sharing your own story, sharing your girls' experiences, sharing kind of how your traditional medicine intel and experiences have shaped your um willingness and confidence in this system and just being transparent and taking time to do this. So I hope other families are able to see little parts of their story in your story, um, in your girls' story, so that they're able to kind of move towards getting more glimmers of progress as opposed to being stuck where they are. So thank you. Thanks for listening. I hope you're leaving encouraged, curious, and hopefully if you. Learned something, I'd love for you to share this episode with a friend. Hey, we're all healing together. You can learn more about my practice, our team, and what it's like to work with us at heyhey mae.com. I teach lots on Instagram and answer questions each Monday. My Instagram handle is @Hey Hey Elizabeth Mae. You can watch these episodes and more on our YouTube channel at Hey Hey Mae. Learn about and enjoy our homeopathic line at heyheyhomeopathics.com. Happy healing.