Step 1: Open Drainage Pathways

This path will be different for each person, but there are always some general guidelines which I’ll be sharing here today. First and foremost, we always want to start with drainage.

When I say “drainage” I don’t necessarily mean “detox”. The drainage pathways are how we detoxify the body, but drainage of these organs needs to be supported and functioning well prior to doing any sort of “kill” or “detox” protocol. The drainage pathways I’m referring to here are the pathways of elimination (eliminating toxins that is): the colon, liver and bile ducts, lymphatic system, skin, lungs, fascia (or extracellular matrix), the brain, and the cells.

The reason it is so important to be sure these drainage pathways are working as well as possible as a first step is because stagnation of these pathways breeds sickness, and we need to be able to move toxins out of the body prior to pushing any sort of active detoxification. If we instead start with a detox protocol or a kill protocol, how can we expect all of the toxins to get out of the body? The short answer is, they’re not getting out. They’re just circulating around the body. Typically, this is why people feel so unwell and do not tolerate a detox or kill protocol. If you want to learn more about drainage, I wrote an entire blog post on it and you can read it HERE.

Step 2: Deal With Mold (if necessary)

Breast implants significantly impact how the immune system functions in a number of ways. They can contribute to autoimmunity; the immune system can react to silicone; they can cause an overactive immune response; and they can also suppress the immune system. Chronic exposure to mold can also impact the immune system by lowering immunity enough to allow other problems to ensue, like unchecked candida overgrowth, SIBO, parasite infestation, reactivated viral replication, and other stealth infections like Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia, (tickborne illnesses) etc.

Mold is a multicellular fungus that forms thread like structures called Hyphae and produces a type of toxin called mycotoxins. These mycotoxins burden not just the immune system, but the drainage and detoxification pathways as well. Mycophenolic Acid is a mycotoxin produced by Penicillium and it is so immunosuppressive that they made a drug out of it called Cellcept, which is given to kidney transplant patients so they don’t reject the organ. That’s how toxic mycotoxins are. There are over 200 different types of mycotoxins that have been discovered and we definitely don’t know everything about them. 

Mold can be found in and around breast implants in the body, but we also want to know where it’s coming from. Are you living in mold? Are you working in a moldy building? Is your car moldy? Or is it just colonized in the body from a past exposure? Either way, we need to know this information because if we don’t deal with mold properly as a second step, the rest of the detox and healing work will be an uphill battle. 

Here are some specific symptoms of mold exposure (not an exhaustive list):

• Fatigue, weakness
• Post-exertional malaise
• Memory problems, difficulties with concentration and executive function, seizures
• Difficulty holding urine (inhibits ADH release from the brain – this is what is inhibited when you drink alcohol). Kids who are potty trained will start bed-wetting again.
• Headaches
• Vertigo, lightheadedness
• Muscle aches, cramping, joint pains without inflammatory arthritis
• Hypersensitivity to bright light, blurred vision, burning or red eyes, tearing
• Cough, asthma-like illness (may “outgrow” when leave the home), shortness of breath, chronic sinus congestion
• Air hunger or unusual shortness of breath at rest
• Chronic abdominal problems including nausea, cramping, secretory diarrhea
• A propensity to experiencing static shocks
• Difficulty regulating body temperature/dysautonomia

This often overlaps with parasites, tickborne associated illness, and breast implant illness too.

If mold is not an issue (ruled out by testing), then we can move into step 3.

Step 3: Address The Gut/Parasites

Pathogens in the gut (like parasites, bad bacteria, and fungus) are an immune system invader and need to be addressed BEFORE detoxing the body. I’m specifically going to focus on parasites here because of the ripple effect they have throughout the body. Some parasites are microscopic. Others are visible to the naked eye. They can invade the brain, gut, liver, lungs, lymph, muscles, and other organs. They can even clog bile ducts. They use various tactics to evade and manipulate the immune system. For example, a single celled parasite can change the proteins on their surface, so the immune cells don’t recognize them. Some alter their form, such as changing into a protective cyst to evade the immune system.

Keep in mind that parasites are like a trojan horse. They harbor other pathogens, such as mold, Lyme bacteria, and viruses, which can also contribute to symptoms and make getting to the additional root causes beyond breast implants tricky. Parasites also harbor heavy metals and other toxic compounds because they tend to feed on the toxins in our bodies. Due to this fact, parasites aren’t the real problem. The real problem is the toxic terrain in the body (which breast implants contribute to), but we still need to do some clean up work around parasites because they are another source of exposure to so many toxins and pathogens as well as their impact on the immune system.

Once we’ve brought the parasite load down, the immune system in our gut can balance the microbiome and then we can take this work systemic (throughout the whole body) by addressing chronic systemic infections. So step three is really two-fold: addressing parasites in the gut and then taking that work systemic. THEN we can focus on detoxing our internal terrain.

Here are some common parasite symptoms:

• Abdominal pain
• Air hunger
• Allergies
• Anemia
• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Autoimmunity
• Bladder inflammation
• Bloating & gas
• Chronic fatigue
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Eye inflammation
• Fever
• Flu-like symptoms
• Food sensitivities
• Gallbladder disease
• Hashimoto’s
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Anal itching
• Leaky gut
• Low blood sugar
• Muscle/joint pain
• Nausea
• Nutrient deficiencies
• Seizures
• Skin rashes and sores
• Teeth grinding
• Vomiting
• Weak immunity
• Weight loss
• Feeling worse around the full moon

For more on parasites, check out THIS blog post.

Step 4: Systemic Detoxification

Most people want to (and often do) start with step four, probably because they have been told they need to detox post-explant and they just don’t know any better. They often struggle with a lot of detox symptoms that may be constant or come in waves, making it a pretty miserable experience. I also see people normalizing this experience of “detox waves” on social media. Feeling like garbage during a detox protocol is not normal. It’s not your body detoxing on it’s own. It’s a sign you’re not actually getting toxins out of the body, but rather just moving them around and auto-intoxicating. If this is you, you’re not alone. Remember, order matters, and this is one reason why it’s so important to have expert professional guidance. 

The truth is detox work doesn’t have to be this painful. We can accomplish this safely, effectively, and with minimal discomfort when done in the right order, with the right preparation and support, and with the right binders. I have written an entire blog post on this topic called Detox, You’re Doing it Wrong. If you want to learn more, I encourage you to check that out.

Step 5: Address Stealth Pathogens and Balance Immune Function

Your long list of health issues might have you searching high and low for answers if you don’t see improvement post-explant. Seemingly separate problems could boil down to one primary source – chronic Lyme disease. I say seemingly unrelated because people often don’t realize that there may be a connection between breast implants and chronic infections like Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease).

Breast implants, as a toxic exposure and foreign objects, create a toxic terrain in the body as well as contribute to an overburdened immune system. When the immune system is busy dealing with something that doesn’t belong in the body like breast implants, it may be more vulnerable to infections and once dormant pathogens may become reactivated and start to contribute to the big picture of chronic illness. Lyme disease has many vague, inconsistent, and hidden symptoms and can be difficult to treat. It can also mimic other conditions like arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome. And testing can be unreliable. Due to this, about half of the people with Lyme aren’t diagnosed. 

In step five we address any lingering chronic infections and toxicity like Lyme disease and coinfections. Part of this process includes balancing deeper immune issues by supporting the immune system’s natural ability to handle foreign invaders. The goal with this phase is to conquer chronic health challenges and optimize wellness for the long-term by promoting immune cell activity deep within the body, such as joints, organs, and the nervous system.

Traditional treatment often includes the use of antibiotic therapy. However, this may not be the best course of action. These pathogens are stealthy and have mechanisms in place to help them evade antibiotics, which results in them being driven deeper into tissues in the body. As soon as antibiotics are stopped, the pathogen is able to come out of hiding and wreak havoc again. Moreover, there are often side effects to these antibiotics including things like anemia, blood clots in the lungs, disruption to the microbiome, and intestinal bleeding.

Lyme bacteria love to hide inside parasites. Even if someone gets rid of Lyme in the rest of their body, the bacteria hiding in parasites can reinfect them. This is why the disease may come back, despite long and intense efforts to eradicate it. Additionally, antibiotics that may be used to treat Lyme don’t kill parasites. The Lyme inside the parasites is protected and will reinfect the host. It may be impossible to conquer Lyme without getting rid of the Lyme-carrying parasites because it’s addressing the infection in the wrong order.

The answer to tackling chronic Lyme disease and its coinfections is to support the main systems in the body that are overwhelmed and address all contributors to the disease in the right order. This means your drainage pathways have to be open. Only after this drainage is successful can you approach killing parasites, detoxing the body, and then conquering Lyme. Lyme is last on the list because going after it first will only put a heavier burden on your already overwhelmed organs.

These organs need to work well so they can help eliminate Lyme and it’s toxins from the body. Then we can target Borrelia burgdorferi and coinfections naturally using herbal formulas that are able to go systemic in the body, cross the blood brain barrier, encourage healthy inflammatory balance, promote normal immune cell activity, and provide antioxidants to help protect the body from oxidative stress. By supporting your detox organs first with drainage, you won’t be overwhelmed when the bacteria start to die. 

Addressing mold beforehand is also crucial as mold contributes to a significantly suppressed immune response, making it quite challenging if not impossible to successfully overcome Lyme disease long-term. This order of drainage, addressing mold, killing parasites, removing toxins, then Lyme can help you recover more quickly from chronic illness.

BONUS: Emotional Release + Limbic System Rewire + Scar/Body Work

When clients come to me for support and guidance in their healing journeys, they often only bring up physical issues or symptoms. Rarely do people in general consider how things like emotional health, limbic system impairment, and scars are impacting the body. However, trauma and negative thought processes as well as scars can manifest physically or compound existing health issues.

For example, a person may break out in a rash when under stress or an emotional crisis. At first, the person may assume the body detoxing or that it’s a pathogen that is triggering a herx reaction. Someone may even recommend detoxing the body or going on a “kill” protocol. While good and often helpful for a holistic approach, taking a closer look at mindset, trauma, and scars is just as critical, and oftentimes even more important than the physical areas.

Neuroplasticity and Limbic Impairment: Emotionally, the majority of development happens as a child. This includes neuroplasticity, or the forming and reforming of neural pathways. Children can easily learn and unlearn habits and mindsets during this time. While most neuroplasticity forms as a child, it can also be altered throughout life. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to modify, change, and adapt structurally and functionally in response to our experiences. One key area it changes as we age is by responding to damage, stress, and trauma. 

When the brain experiences a traumatic event, our working memory, which is housed in the prefrontal cortex, is radically compromised. Flashbacks to traumatic events and prolonged stress wear down the prefrontal cortex, resulting in long-term damage to prefrontal neurons. 

Chronic stress, described as exposure to potentially threatening or emotionally challenging stimuli, can also alter or injure the amygdala and plasticity. Chronic stress leads to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, responsible for many of the negative symptoms that manifest from stress or trauma.

The chronic stress response leads to limbic impairment and as a result, symptoms. We can do the work to remove or address different stressors including mental emotional, chemical, and physical, but that doesn’t always resolve the symptoms if the limbic system is impaired. The limbic system will continue to act as if those stressors are still present due to the memory of it and the neural pathways that were created based on your perception and response to the experience or stressor itself. And THAT results in ongoing symptoms. I’ll write a blog about this topic soon in order to give it the attention it deserves, but for now, just know that we need to rewire the brain for health and happiness. This is something that I often guide my clients through as a part of their healing plan.

Emotional Release: My favorite modality for emotional release is MBSR™ or Mind Body Spirit Release™. Here’s what my friend, MBSR™ practitioner, and past breast implant illness client, Satin Pelfrey has to say about it:

“Each time you have a significant emotional event or trauma, your body produces a unique cocktail of hormones, neurotransmitters, and emotions that can be stored within the cells. Your body remembers this specific blend and can be prompted to again release that unique combination of chemicals and emotions when presented with a trigger. This can create a positive or a negative experience, much like the smell of the perfume of a loved one creates a warm feeling inside or, conversely, a barking dog causes sweating or shaking in someone who was previously attacked. 

Most of these imprints are stored deep within the subconscious memories of the cells, so we are unaware that they are draining our energy and directing us to detrimental and limiting beliefs and behaviors. Often, we do not know what the original event was or make the connection with how we were feeling at that time. We just feel the impact and imbalance of the chemicals and emotions flooding our systems and our feelings and behaviors suffer as a result. 

Long-term exposure to low-vibration emotions (anger, grief, resentment, and loneliness) can have a detrimental effect on stress hormones. Being able to identify and mitigate these negative cellular memories can be very helpful in our ability to move forward from the event and subsequent detrimental patterns and beliefs. This can be achieved whether we are consciously aware of them or not by reducing their impact on our health and wellbeing and freeing up that space for higher vibration thoughts and feelings (love, connection, trust, hope, joy).”

You can check out her website and work with her HERE.

Scars/Body Work: We all have scars from breast augmentation and explant surgery, and many have scars from a lift and possibly from liposuction for fat grafting procedures as well. I personally also have scars from a laparoscopy, bowel resection, birth mark removal, and septoplasty, but scars can also result from injury. 

Scars are inflexible, much deeper and expansive than meets they eye, and cause functional impairment which may result in a multitude of symptoms and health conditions as well as referred pain, movement restrictions, numbness, and problems with drainage pathways, energy production and flow, cognitive function, etc. Scars also hold emotion associated with the experience that resulted in the scar itself. These issues can persist until the scar is treated appropriately.

Scar release work through deep manual manipulation can affect nerve tissue to help normalize sensation, increase blood flow to the area, increase lymphatic drainage, resolve pain, improve the flow of energy, and release the emotional trauma stored in those scars. You’re cupping and the like are not going to be able to achieve this.

Body work is also incredibly important alongside scar release. As scars are released there will be functional changes throughout the muscles and nervous system. These changes also generally occur when we have injuries, accidents, or overuse of certain muscles resulting in compensation and thus pain and dysfunction. We need to identify the muscular weaknesses and imbalances in the body and then reactivate proper neurological function for those muscles allowing the body to function optimally again. I will write a blog post specifically on scars and body work in the near future for a deeper dive.

All of these bonus strategies can and should be implemented throughout the physical work (steps 1-5).

Bottom Line: Order Matters & Get to the Source(s)

My goal as a holistic health practitioner is to identify and resolve root causes (from breast implants and beyond) and not just put band-aids on symptoms. But not just any route can be taken for full body healing. Healing starts with drainage. The strategy here is simple: support the body’s natural ability to remove unwanted factors through effective drainage and mitochondrial support. 

This is the reason I created The Explant Reset Program – to reset the body for long-term wellness, not just a temporary fix. This approach provides a clear roadmap to empower you to make changes, adjust, and move forward from the chronic illness putting limits on your daily life.

If you’d like to share your journey with me, discuss your health concerns, learn more about my approach and how I can help you heal, please apply for a discovery call below.

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Apply for your BII Discovery Call with Sarah HERE.

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Professional Bio

Founder of Reversing Breast Implant Illness. Sarah has a passion for restoring health that has taken her along a path from a practicing RN, to walking away from her conventional nursing career to become a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner, and Breast Implant Illness and Detox Expert. She believes the solution to Reversing Breast Implant illness is about more than just the explant and that we all need to take personal responsibility for restoring our health by addressing the root causes that contribute to chronic illness: toxicity, infections, trauma, and shame. Sarah’s “pain to purpose” is using her personal experience along with her understanding about the body to guide women through the sea of mis-information about Breast Implant Illness in hopes of finding their path to true and lasting healing.

Sarah was once quite happy and comfortable living the conventional life, but she began to look at things very differently when her body started failing her after getting breast implants. Within about six months of getting breast implants, Sarah began to see her once perfect health steadily decline. She began experiencing a myriad of symptoms which no doctor could explain. No one understood what Sarah was going through. She felt completely alone in this invisible illness because on the outside she looked fine. On the inside, the discomfort of living inside her own body was maddening.

Sarah soon realized she was looking in the wrong places, for the wrong things. If she wanted to fix her broken body, she had to stop looking to treat the symptoms; she had to start looking for a cause. It was time to take her health into her own hands and find real answers. She discovered that the root cause was literally inside of her.

Sarah believes there is always a greater purpose within our struggles, and she believes that purpose for her was to learn how to heal her own body so she could then help other women like her do the same. It is Sarah’s believe that the body has an innate desire to heal if given what it needs and she focuses on teaching natural healing principles. Sarah will teach you how to Reverse Breast Implant Illness, take back your health, and live vibrantly!

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