Episode 9: Talking with The Toxin Terminator, Aimee Carlson

Hi, I'm Dr. Tabitha, the functional gynecologist. I'm a board certified OB, GYN and functional medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey. And I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. I want to be your functional gynecologist. So welcome. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Dr. Tabitha, your host. Today we have a really great guest. Her name is Amy Carlson. She's known as the toxin Terminator. I got connected with Amy through a mindshare group that I'm a part of. It's full of amazing health influencers. And when I learned about her podcast, I was really excited to get her on as a guest. I want her to share her story and tell us how she got involved in trying to help other people regain their health by removing the toxins in their everyday lives. So I'm really excited that she's going to be here with us today. All right. Welcome, Amy.

Thank you, Dr. Tabitha. I'm so excited to be here.

Awesome.

Share how I got involved and what I'm doing now. And I know that there are so many people out there that are just like me seven years ago that we just have no idea what's happening to our bodies and what the exposures are in our houses that are maybe potentially causing the problems like they were for me.

Yeah. So were you a pretty healthy person before this, or have you always struggled?

I grew up in the automotive industry. I actually worked on cars for a living.

Oh, wow.

Certified mechanic. And so when I hear the word toxic toxin, you know, I think of things like used motor oil. I think the antifreeze, just your antifreeze is toxic to the body. And so I was exposed to lots and lots of exposure in my work of better than 30 years. And I had a lot of different things happening to my body that I was told were stress. You know, doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with me. And so it was either A, stress or B, it was just in my head, you know, at the time where I was, it's like, well, the doctors know what they're doing. I mean, you know, that's what we do. I come to a mechanic to fix my car. I go to a doctor to fix my body.

Right, right, exactly. So what was your turning point? When did you realize it was more than just stress.

I got invited to one of these parties, and I'm using little quote signs right now. We all know I'm. If you're of my genre, my age, you know, the big thing was Avon and Tupperware, you know, those kinds of parties. And I just. This friend who kept inviting me, I just pushed her off. Pushed her off. But for a year, she was relentless.

She.

She kept inviting me. So I thought, you know what? I'm gonna go to her party so that she'll leave me alone, and then I'll get her off my bag, right? And it happened to be on essential oils. And honestly, I thought that was kind of hippie stuff. It was far out there, had nothing to do with me. And, in fact, everything that they passed around, I thought stunk. I thought, why would anybody want to use this? This is ridiculous. But afterwards, you know, as she talked, she didn't ever talk about menopause, and she didn't talk about, you know, some of the things that I was experiencing with my body. And I asked her, I said, you know what? I don't sleep real good at night. And I think it's because I wake up in a pile of sweat, you know, and I'm just a mess most days. And I. I'm sure it's because I'm not getting any sweat. Do you have anything in your bag of tricks there that would help that? And she gave me something to try, and I went home, used it, and I had one of. One of the first nights of solid sleep.

Oh, wow.

So I went back to her, and I said, I don't believe in what you have there. I don't trust it. But I got some good sleep last night, so I'd like some more, please. So that's what started me down the road. And as I got more involved in learning more, I found that what was happening to me was endocrine disruption. I was exposed to lots of things within my home that were really messing with my hormones. So it was causing a lot of. I had migraine headaches that I lost vision on the left side. I had horrible menopause symptoms. I had things happening to me. Like, in my 30s, I had a full hysterectomy because I had issues with my cycle. And that was the solution was, well, we'll just take it out, right? And then, you know, we're not. Because I wasn't responding to any of the medical treatments that they were giving me. And so, course, you know, I'm like, all right, well, you know what's? Best. And so take it out. I'm not having any more children anyway. But I really think that my exposure in my work field was leading me down a lot of what I was experiencing. And then in the home, of course, my eyes got wide open to so many things that I had no idea, just absolutely no idea this stuff was actually causing problems for me.

So where did you first start to learn this information? Where did you dive into and find out all of this stuff?

Oh, my gosh. So the community I'm in with essential oils, they've got all kinds of classes they teach, but it isn't just about essential oils. It's about learning what foods fuel our body. It's learning about, you know, know, things that we need to do for our minds, you know, mentally. And then I, I started reading. I started reading a lot. I started going to pubmed.org I started reading research, I started talking to people. And so it just has been seven years of diving in and finding out that, you know what my thoughts, that if it's on the shelf in a store, it's safe for us. We're so delusional. Yeah, that's not true. It's just simply not. You know, we are our best advocates and, you know, we know our bodies best and everybody's body's different than the next person. So what worked for me may not be, you know, Sally over here's answer. You know, she knows her body best and is going to listen to what her body's telling her. Does that make sense?

Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, when you're telling your story, it sounds like just hundreds of women that I've seen in my office. You know, they either come to me after they've had the hysterectomy and they're still hormonally imbalanced. And, you know, they thought that was going to be the solution and they just look at me and go, why? Why am I not better? I'm not bleeding to death anymore, but I'm still miserable, having hot flashes, ripping my husband's head off, you know, so we want it to just be a quick answer and move on with our life. And it's really not. It's a lot more complex than that. You know, in your case is probably a little extreme. I don't think many women are mechanics. That's pretty awesome. I'm super impressed. But I want women to understand that it is in their everyday lives, in their cosmetics and their home care products and their cleaning products. So I want you to teach us That a little bit. What was the biggest thing that you were surprised was bad for your health? Do you have one thing that really was like, holy cow, I've been doing this all along?

Sure. So the biggest thing for me was cleaning supplies.

Okay.

You know, I had no, you know, you gotta think when you're cleaning your house and you need to open up a window or keep the door to the room open or don't close the shower door because it's just like, whew, okay, glad that job is done. Right. You know, in my podcast, my cover art, I'm in a hazmat suit.

Right.

You know, and I'm kind of poking fun at the fact that we're exposed to so many things, but I had no idea. I knew lung wise, you know, there was irritation. I knew through my job that cleaning products had, you know, we had the keep MSDS sheets on everything. Those are material safety data sheets.

Yes.

You know, we as consumers don't get those sheets on the products that are sold in the stores. But as a retail person, you've got to keep that in everything that you have within your facility, whether you're selling it or not. You have to have that because it's chemicals that you're in exposure to. So I knew cleaning, you know, had skin irritations and had lung irritations, but had no idea that they were endocrine disrupting. And they are some of the biggest endocrine disruptors that we just don't put two and two together. You know, we are seeing early puberty more and more. I know you've got to be seeing it in your practice or hearing. Yeah, definitely your, your parents will think about it. I used to have a little carry cart with all the cleaning products in it. Right. Because you've got, you know, your toilet, well, cleaner and you've got your bathroom cleaner, you've got your kitchen cleaner, you got stuff that you're cleaning your windows with. Well, all of that has endocrine disruptors in it. You know, now I use one product and quite honestly, you could use stuff out of your kitchen to clean with.

Exactly.

And not be exposed to anything. Right, exactly.

So just to clarify, endocrine disruptors, those are chemicals that the body sees as kind of like the hormones in our body. And so they bind to our hormone receptors and they interfere with our hormones ability to send their signals. And so it's very toxic to the cells. And it's hard to get that stuff out of your system. You know, it's not just inhaling it in your Lungs. It is getting into your bloodstream and attach to all your cells, receptors. So it's a big deal. So what kind of products do you use now to clean your house?

Well, I'm associated with a company called Young Living, so obviously I use their products. They've got a household cleaner called Thieves, which is fantastic because I buy one, I think it's a 14 ounce bottle and it lasts me a year. It's a capful that I put into about a 20 ounce oil bottle. Fill the rest with water. That's what we use to clean everything with. Very economical. I have 12 grandbabies. They open that up and would swallow it. I don't have to call poison control. I don't have to worry about those issues and I don't have to worry about when I mop the floors, those babies crawling around with their pacifiers and you know, whatever toys because everything goes in their mouth. Discovery. I don't have to worry about that. I don't have to worry about pets. You know, their little paws are picking up, you know, whatever is down on the ground. So that was big to me. But there's other options, you know, so vinegar and water is a great, you know, tool to use to clean with baking soda. If you need to really scrub on something, just a little bit of baking soda will scrub and clean stuff off. And that has no toxic, toxic chemicals in it.

So there's, yeah, that's wonderful natural choices.

For us to use.

And I think that we have gotten so carried away with cleaning things as well. Like, we really do not need to live in such a sterile environment. That is a new concept to us as human beings really, you know, in just this past century, living in such sterile, clean situations. And it hasn't benefited us really. It's ruined our gut microbiomes and caused all kinds of antibiotic bacterial resistance. And so yeah, we don't need to Clorox the floor and the cupboards and all of that. Like there's nothing living there that's going to hurt you. It's okay. We're all supposed to live with symbiosis with these microorganisms. So I think. Yeah, go ahead.

What happens? I had a brother with an autoimmune disease. I mean, not to get completely off topic, but you know, what the doctor said was when we bombard a virus with an antibiotic, that virus, think of it like a football game. So your defense has stopped them. Now they're going to go, huddle up and they're going to come back at you with a different play. And then, you know, you stop them again and then they're going to go huddle up and they're going to come back at you with another play. Well, that's what happens when we have too clean up environment. We have, you know, excess antibiotics. And not only are we treating our bodies with the antibiotics, but we've got antibiotics in our water sources. We have antibiotics in our food sources, you know, so we're getting antibiotics whether we're taking them orally or not, combining them in many sources that are coming into our homes. And what happens then when we got these viruses, these bacteria and these germs is we're just telling them, hey, go back and reform and come back at us again, you know, and then we'll, you know, and what happens is they, you know, eventually science comes to a dead end, you know, and I don't mean to be morbid, that like my brother, the last month of his life, there was not a medication that they could treat him with because they run out.

Yeah, no, it's honestly a real problem. It's we. And we've created it. That's the sad part. So it's time to take a step back and reevaluate how we're doing stuff. Right.

And I certainly, I never want anybody to live in fear.

Right? Right. That's actually my motto. No fear. Like live in love. Don't be afraid of things, but be educated and informed. Right.

We can go down a big rabbit hole. You know, when you start looking at toxins that we're exposed to, it's huge, it's monumental. And here's the beauty. God created our bodies so wonderfully. They've got a beautiful filtering system, you know, made from him or science, however you want to look at it. You know, this is how our bodies were created. What we have to do is to our very best to support that body to do its natural thing. You know, whether it's removing toxins, it's balancing hormones, it's digesting, it's fighting viruses that we're coming into contact with. You know, there's lots that we can do to give our body what it needs in order to live that healthy life. And if you're like me, you know, I'm in the 50 plus category and I'm wanting to age gracefully. I want, I don't want to be in a walker. I don't want to be, you know, decrepit. So I'm going to do the best that I can to have, you know, a healthy life.

Yeah. I love that. That's awesome. So you've been doing this Toxin Terminator podcast. You've had lots of guests on your show. A little bit controversial, a little bit, but very educational. And have you had people say to you, hey, you have taught me something. I've reclaimed my health. Like, here's what happened to me and thank you. Yes, you're probably hearing that all the time.

I do. And, you know, and that's why I do what I do.

Yeah.

You know, you're, you're in, you know, your business because you're helping and we have a deep desire to want to do that for people. And I, and I do, too. I want to share the knowledge that I was so freely given. Like you said, I bring on all kinds of views onto the podcast as long as they're dealing with getting rid of toxins in some way, shape or form. And so you get to decide what works for you. You get to decide how this is going to fit in with your lifestyle, your beliefs, your body. But yeah, I have so many people that, you know, write me a review. They'll come on my website, they'll go on my Facebook page, they'll contact me and. Yeah, and that's like, that's Cloud nine for me to hear. I had a gal that I worked with for a fairly short period of time, and she was hooked on hydrocortone and oxycontin pain, heavy duty pain medications. Her back was like a nothing but metal, you know, in her back. And she just had a lot of pain. And we worked with balancing the gut, you know, to help alleviate a lot of her pain. And within, it was about six months she got off all her pain medication. She's been off of it for better than four years now.

That's wonderful.

And it was a new life for her. And she's one of the testimonies, I believe that's out on my website right now because, you know, it truly was a new life for her because not only was she free of pain in her body, but she was also clear in her mind.

Yeah.

You know, there's so many other side effects that come along with that.

So I think we can learn so much from sharing our stories. I just, that's what I love about you and wanted you to come on here because I just think it's super important to hear whatever, what other people have gone through, you know, because you can learn from that. And what is the one thing that you wish your doctor would have done differently?

I wish he would have looked at me as A whole person.

Yeah.

I wish he would have talked to me about, hey, you're having this issue. What else is going on in your life right now? Talk to me. You know, I wish they weren't so pushed for time that they could really spend time with the individual. Because if I could have put the pieces of the puzzle together much earlier, you know, where would I be today? I don't know, but that's my story. But I wish they would. I wish we lived in a society where doctors really got the time that they. And they probably want the time with the patients just like we want them to have it. Right?

Right. Yeah. I will say, you know, coming from the world of conventional medicine, I was in that arena. I was forced and pushed to see more patients quicker, faster. And you don't even realize how broken the system is until you step away from it for a minute. And I guess that's one of the blessings. I had a back injury and I was off for four months. And I really got a lot of clarity during that time as to, wow, what I'm doing isn't the best for the patient and there's got to be a better way. And so I'm definitely grateful that I had that time and clarity. And so I want patients to understand that it's not that their doctors don't care. You know, it's that they're stuck in this broken system. And maybe there's one or two that don't care because they're burnt out. But overall, I think doctors do want to help. And all we can do is advocate for ourselves and keep asking questions and realize that your job does matter according to your health. What you eat matters, how you're moving, how you're handling your stress. You know, if you would have said, hey, I'm a mechanic and I'm exposed to all this stuff all day and started questioning, questioning, maybe that would elicit some stuff, but I don't even know because our conventional system is so system oriented that they're not dealing with this one system. They are not looking at the whole picture. So you're right. We need to look at us as a whole person, body, mind and spirit. And. And in our environment around us, like, how important is that?

Yeah, I talked about cleaning products and I changed that right away. And what I did laundry with those two things when I changed those in my home. I have not had a migraine headache, or a headache for that matter, for the last seven years. And I believe it's because I got fragrance out of my home. Yes, I don't have anything with fragrance in it anymore. And fragrance is such a huge neurotoxin, and we don't. I was the biggest person of going and buying all the bath and body works. They got a sale back up on it, and you have all of that. And it didn't bother me, but as soon as I got away from fragrance, it really bothers me now and totally understand why it was giving me the headache. And what I would tell your listeners right now, too, is that you may not even know what feeling good feels like.

Oh, yeah, exactly.

You know, because until you get there, you know, you think you're. I feel great. I was a runner. I ran half marathons when I got, you know, I. I'm out there physically active. I'm thin. You know, being thin doesn't mean you're. Healthy imagination. But I thought I lived a pretty okay life. And I was, you know, I was really surprised. And. Was it horrific? No. But was there simple little steps that I could take that made a huge impact in. Not just the. In hormone balance for women? Let's talk about that, because we're women, and I got to think that most of your audience is women. If our hormones are not in balance, we don't have energy, we don't have good sleep, we don't have good relationships because we're biting everybody's head off. Our tempers are short, you know, and we're miserable people.

Exactly. Exactly.

Ourselves. We're miserable to be around. And so we can do things that are going to limit those endocrine disruptors and take a look at some of the products and make some better choices. You know, it'll make all the difference in your world. My dad came to me. I was probably two years into my journey, and he said. And he does not believe in what I do in the least. He thinks I am. I think he thinks I am in like a tent singing Kubaya. I don't know. He. He came to me and he said, I don't know what it is that you've been doing the last two years, but let me tell you, I have not seen the spark in your eyes like I see it now. And your energy level is off the charts. And he's like, and I haven't seen that in you in a very long time.

That's awesome. That's awesome. Yes. So tell us your secrets. What does your day look like? What kind of stuff are you putting in your body and doing?

Well, number one, I've gotten rid of my top five things, like in the home are fragrance. Get it out of your house. Just look at the labels, turn stuff around and just look for the word fragrance. Get it out. Because it's not just fragrance that's in there. Phthalates are a lot of time included within that word because it doesn't have to be disclosed what's included in there. So get rid of that. I've gotten rid of phthalates and parabens and you know, the fragrance also too. On fragrance, don't buy unscented. Unscented is still chemically altered to get the smell out. So buy fragrance free.

Oh, good point. Good to know. Thank you.

I parabens, phthalates, fragrance, sodium lauryl sulfate, those things are all gone from my house. It took me over two years to get that stuff all weeded out, but I did. I don't do anything in plastics. Plastics have a lot of endocrine disruptors in them. So everything is glass that I use or stainless steel. I eat a very clean diet. I eat whole foods, organic. I personally, for me and how I feel, I choose to eat a vegan diet that's not for everybody. You get to decide, right. If you're going to do meat, just buy meat that's grass fed and doesn't have hormones and nitrates and all the rest of that stuff, you know, added to it. What else do I do? I have clean water. Not just what I drink, but what I bathe in. Because when we shower, we are taking, let's just call it a five minute shower if you're quick.

Okay.

You're opening up the pores to the body and everything is being absorbed through the skin which is our largest organ of our body. So we don't want to, to be absorbing all of the nasty chemicals that are in the water. And you can go to EWG.org is a website. That's the Environmental Working Group. They have tons of research out there and so many free resources. They've got a free app you can download on your phone and you can scan products or type them in. They'll tell you a safety rating on them.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Whether it's good or not, they've got where you can type in your zip code of where you live and they'll give you your municipality's water test, you know, so you can see what's testing in your water sources. So get. If you can't do a whole house system for water and I recommend reverse osmosis, then make sure you're getting. They have shower head filters that you can put on your shower heads to do drinking and shower head. That's easy to do.

Yeah. Great information.

Take the five pillars. I talk about five pillars. So we're thinking water, food absorption, air and mental, you know, so if you take care of those five different areas the best that you can, you're going to feel so much better in very short order.

Yeah, for sure. That's awesome. I love the five pillars. That's wonderful. So what would you say are the most common complaints that toxins are causing?

Oh, so the big things I hear from people is I don't have enough energy and I don't sleep. Okay, two biggies. Right. So beyond if you have a chronic disease, obviously that's gonna be your big complaint. Right. But beyond that, you know, the big things I hear is I don't get the sleep like I need and energy and focus, you know, but energy and sleep are the two biggies.

Okay.

That I hear a lot.

And would you say headaches and migraines are up there pretty high too?

They are. And if you had a. Here chronic disease is anything that lasts more than four months. All right, so if you've got headaches and migraines and it's been going on for better than four months, guess what, you've now ventured into the chronic disease category.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. And how many people, what's common? Oh, I got a headache. Well, I had a stressful day. Gosh, you know, I'm at the computer, I can feel the stress. You know, that tension that pulls in the back of the neck and the top of the shoulders. You know, we blame it on lifestyle, we blame it on stress. So, you know, that's why mental is a big part of the five pillars of living a toxin free lifestyle.

Yeah, yeah, I love that. So do people, do you work with people on your website individually to do.

I've always worked with people for the last seven years. I just never charged for it. Never. You know, it's just freely given. But I am getting, I'm walking into an arena now where I'm going to be charging for it. Now you can sign up and have a free assessment with me. I do a free 20 minute call. We can talk about what, you know, what's going on in your life and I can point you. Yeah, I think it might have something to do with what's in your home. Or maybe not. I don't always say that these are the answers. I also have a free toxic risk assessment on my website. Oh, good assessment. And you'll be surprised at some of the questions that I asked, you're like, huh, you know, didn't know that. And people have been surprised with their score. It gives you the score right away. And then you'll receive a series of emails from me that kind of I'll walk you through, you know, toxins. I'll walk you through kind of the top seven. I'll walk you through what toxic overload looks like in the body. You know, what are some of the common symptoms when things are just starting to build up? What does it look like when we're beyond just building up and where, you know, the body's doing more than gently nudging you? So you'll get a few emails from me on that.

Okay, and what is your website? Share it with us.

It's just my name, www.amy and it's spelled A I M E E Carlson. C a r l s o-n.com. you can listen to the podcast, you can join my Facebook group from there. You can take that free risk assessment from there if you want to talk with me one on one. Like I said, I do that free. Right? And that will always be free for a 20 minute call with me.

Oh, that is so wonderful. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Is there anything else you want to tell my listeners, Amy?

You know, I want people to leave here feeling hope. I want them to feel empowered. I, you know, you know, your body, you are your biggest advocate. You know, I can't read your mind. I don't know how your body is feeling. And so you have a voice and you can use it. I always tell people, you've always got a choice. You've got a choice of what you want to do. You can choose to still stay where you're at, or you can choose to feel better. And it's just one step. All you got to do is make one step in the right direction. We're going to get you an immediate result so that you're feeling better right away. Because when we feel good, it's easier to make that next right choice. When we're not feeling good, it's really hard to make those right choices.

I love that. You're right on. I mean, it's just baby steps. You just start one thing at a time. Just start switching out a few products here and there. It doesn't have to be a huge overhaul overnight. I think that freaks some people out, maybe, you know, having to, like, throw away all that money or whatever. But it's your health, it's worth it because it really does Make a difference.

And everybody's going to be different. I didn't throw anything away. I did a replace, you know, okay. As soon as I ran out of something, I made a better choice.

I love that.

And that's what I did. I didn't throw anything out. I wasn't gonna waste any money. You know, now that I'm down the road, it's like, I don't even think I'd give it away, because I don't. I don't want to give that to somebody else.

Yeah, I know.

But the thing is, every little step takes you in that right direction. And you can't eat one piece of broccoli and expect to drop 50 pounds. It's not going to happen. It's a step, and it's a work in progress. You didn't get to the state of health that you're in overnight, and you're not going to get out of it overnight either. I'll get you a quick win, but it's. It's just a win. It's not, you know, it's not the war yet, you know, so, you know, we can get some real quick wins, but it's all, you know, it's always going to be another step. Another step, Another step.

Yeah.

And it takes time. You just have to be diligent.

It does, but it's definitely worth it. It just makes it so much easier to handle that chronic disease and to heal and get rid of those symptoms. It's just amazing.

And you can see it. You know, we can see each other. Right? But when you work with people, And I know, Dr. Tabitha, you've got to see it, too. The biggest thing I see it in is in the eyes and in the skin. When you're healthy, your skin glows. It really does. It just glows. And your eyes, you can see it in people's eyes. And you see the devastation in people's eyes, too, Right? You see that pain, that suffering, you know, and. And that's what I want to light up. I want to light up that soul, you know? I want you to be happy. I want you to know that things can be better.

Yeah, I love that. I wish all you guys could see Amy. She's beautiful. She does not look a day over 40, so that's pretty impressive. So it's true. The toxins, they settle in our skin, they mess with our hair and our nails, and we just. We lose our spark and our glow. So she's right on about that. Well, awesome. So I'm gonna have all my listeners go to www.amycarlson.com and check that out. And you can also listen to her on her podcast, the Toxin Terminator. That's pretty awesome. Thanks for teaching us some stuff today. I think it's good, useful information.

You bet. I'm so, I'm honored. I'm honored every time somebody brings me on to talk about it's very humbling and I believe we owe it to those that are five step behind us. You know that, that I need to turn around and extend a hand and let's help, let's bring you forward too.

I love that. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. Have an awesome day you thank you all for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed Amy's story. I love the mission that she's on trying to help people detoxify their lives. And I hope that you'll consider doing that for yourself to reclaim your health. A few things that we mentioned during the podcast, the Environmental Working Group Dirty Dozen Endocrine disruptors. I'll have that link in the show notes as well as Amy's website link so that you can take her free toxic risk assessment. So once again, thanks for hanging out with your functional gynecologist. If you enjoyed this episode today, please consider giving me a five star review so that we can get those ratings up there and share this knowledge with every woman out there. Shoot me your questions on Facebook or Instagram @Doctor Tabitha or check me out on www.doctor Tabitha.com. i have a true cellular detox program that you can sign up for. There's a link on my website if you really want to tackle your endocrine disruptors and get those toxins out of your system. So rate my podcast. Come back in the to me again. Share it with your girlfriends, your moms, your grandmas, your sisters, everybody you know, ladies at the grocery store. Awesome. I will talk to you soon. Have an awesome day.