Siberian Solitude: A Woman's Fasting Journey to Conquer Late-Stage Lyme, with Dr. Michelle Slater, PHD

Causes or Cures

In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Michelle B. Slater, PHD about her book Starving to Heal in Siberia. After working with a team of medical experts, trying everything in the book and contemplating assisted suicide, Michelle went all the way to Siberia as a last effort to heal from late-stage Lyme Disease, a chronic illness that devestated her. She spent months in Siberia where she was monitored by a Russian physician and engaged in a rigorous dry-fasting routine, along with other more unconventional therapies. Michelle credits dry-fasting for putting her on the path to healing.
What drives a person to go all the way to Siberia to engage in an unconventional therapy that many would consider risky and dangerous? What did her team of conventional doctors, friends and family think? What do folks suffering with chronic illness do and feel if all conventional approaches to treatment have been exhausted, but the person just isn't getting better? Michelle answers that, and more, in the podcast.
*PLEASE NOTE: Eeks does not recommend anyone hopping on a plane to Siberia to try dry-fasting. She does not endorse dry-fasting. This podcast episode is not an endorsement of Siberia or dry-fasting or dry-fasting in Siberia. Eeks works in public health, doesn't practice medicine, and advises everyone to work with their team of doctors when it comes to overcoming a chronic illness. She didn't know much of anything about dry-fasting until she read Michelle's book, and there are currently no peer-reviewed published studies to support its effectiveness. She doesn't think she'd make it through the Siberia routine, but everyone is wired differently. (She once went to a juice camp where they ban coffee, but feeling like a tranquilized bear, she ended up breaking the rules and running to a mini mart to sneak some in.) However..., she recommends reading Michelle's book because it's a compelling close-up look of what it's like for someone struggling day after day with a chronic illness and what happens when a feeling of hopelessness starts to set in. This is a podcast (not news or advice or Gospel), and this episode is one woman sharing her story. (Apologies for the long disclaimer, but we need them in today's painfully reductive, slap-label-happy world.)
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