Sophia Health Institute

Just got back from there two weeks ago. My daughter has Lyme and because she's been so sick for so long, and really needs a body-mind-and-spirit renewal, we decided to go to Sophia Institute. Our naturopath has trained with Dr. K and agreed that the comprehensive treatment will have a far better chance of restoring health and not just getting rid of a few bacterial infections. Being sick for as long as she can remember has taken a toll on friendships, education, hope.

Making the appointment was lengthy because I wanted to be sure we got what she needed and that they were prepared for someone so debilitated that she wouldn't be able to manage more than a couple of appointments over two days. The trip alone was a big deal. When we arrived, it was a little disorganized, and the doctor she was to see was a half hour late, but the truth of it is, people don't fit well into hourly blocks, and we got the same extra time the next day.

My daughter liked the doctor; that was a big deal. I liked her too, because she was direct, didn't pretend this was going to be easy, and at the same time was certain my daughter will be well. No pollyanna, no simpering tone; just certitude. The first hour was conversation - history, symptoms, all kinds of things including the potential for the house we used to live in having made her sick in addition to Lyme. Etcetera.

ART was highly specific, and turned up no big surprises, but we learned about the interaction between long term infection and inability to get rid of heavy metals; she has many. Lymphatic system blocked. Thyroid no good (had blood test, but this is more specific). Fungi, viruses. Several other things.

Explanations were clear and just the right amount of information. We were given a protocol for treatment which was daunting. The next morning the doctor said, Yes, it's a lot. I said, based on talking the night before, No, it's not a lot. It's overwhelming for her. So the doctor shifted gears and spoke awhile about what's ahead in terms of sequencing, calibrating the treatment to what can be tolerated, the need for emotional healing, too, and more. This was not a lecture; it was interactive, yet the doctor definitely was teaching and supporting, and it was very helpful.

Then more testing, this time for nutritional status, organ function, etc. Another protocol in addition to the first. We discussed what to start, what comes first to keep from herxing, etc. What I, as the mother, wished for was that we could live there, LOL, or at least down the road, and that my daughter could see that doctor every day or two, because she was that solid a person, that knowledgeable, and supportive. But of course we are home now, working out the details of what to take, when, and all that.

Once things are well underway, we will probably arrange a telephone appointment, or the doctor will email with my daughter/me (she has trouble writing, since Lyme). And at some point it will be time to go again. I gather that it is unusual to see Dr. K. himself for several months at least because his other doctors can get people started and handle the more common things; and they reserve him for the greatest complexity and if things aren't going as expected.

I had the opportunity to work with him in a different context the very next week, doing Family Constellation Therapy, and was as impressed with him as I had anticipated. I have never, ever, met a person as accepting as he is (I am a psychotherapist and have worked and trained with other people for decades). He is a master at what he does, has a nice sense of humor, doesn't even really criticize his critics. He just is doing his job. I look forward to the opportunity for my daughter to work with him down the road.

I should say, too, that I honestly believe this is my daughter's one shot at getting well, and I wanted her to go to what my research and understanding told me was the best. For her, anyway (I'm not saying everyone should go there). She has been sick for so long, and I am not getting any younger; my life has been given over to helping her and while I am glad to be able to do it, I am not going to live forever and something has to be done. Her life has become so limited and small; friends have gone on to college and finished (she finished eighth grade and was too sick and cognitively impaired to go back). To not go full throttle on treatment, now that we know what it is, and that it is treatable, would be to consign her to lifelong disability, and that to me is unconscionable. I'll do whatever she needs in terms of help, and I don't want to be doing it at age 80. And, she wants to get the heck out of the house at last and make her own life. But right now she can't, and I think whatever speed we can muster to get this handled, the better.

Sorry this is so long. It doesn't say how successful the treatment is, because she just began. I did meet some others at the Family Constellation event, and to a person, they were getting better, feeling better, glad, encouraged me to encourage my daughter to do even the weird things. I asked them some questions, and their answers concurred with my impressions.

Post Edited (Twine) : 6/3/2015 2:51:11 PM (GMT-6)

@calexrose, you're welcome. It is very hard to evaluate these things, isn't it. Something I reminded myself of is this: research has demonstrated that when someone is unhappy about a service or product, they tell, on average, 11 people. When someone is happy with the product or service, they tell 4-7 people. Given the nature of chronic illness, the numbers may well be less for both, but the idea would still hold: people are more likely to voice their dissatisfaction than their satisfaction.

I don't mean that the dissatisfactions are not legitimate, just that they may seem to be greater in number than the satisfactions, because of the need to tell someone when things don't work out.

Something I think you (or anyone) can do is to inquire when you first talk with the clinic manager - about your needs and maybe making an appointment - about your doubts and reservations. I am certain she will not promise a cure, or complete satisfaction, but I found it relatively comfortable to describe the issues that I thought would make things work, or not; to tell her that No, my daughter is certain she will not be able to manage all that in one trip because she'll collapse and be unable to go on; and she was helpful, and modified the appointment schedule to something that was doable.

If someone told her they had read "X" about what happened at the clinic, of course she would be unable to comment directly about it, but how she did handle it might tell you something important about how your potential difficulties will be handled down the road. And in the end, the whole thing is a big fat gamble, since the world of medical care is woefully inadequate to meet the real needs of chronically ill patients with Lyme and associated issues. There is no set treatment, there is no exactitude, there is denial of chronic Lyme, there is politics, pride, and everything else in our way.

Lastly, I have to tell you that – on an emotional level – it was powerful, after almost two decades of bizarre symptoms, confusion, and anguish, to sit in a room with a doctor who just listened to the answers to her questions, did not doubt what we told her, did not look skeptical, did not try to fit things into the wrong diagnostic slots, did not wave us away or dismiss the suffering; who accepted my daughter and what she said about her symptoms and despair as legitimate, real, and painful; and she knew what to do about it. It was, to me, a profound relief.

Post Edited (Twine) : 6/3/2015 2:51:01 PM (GMT-6)

Twine, I am glad you are able to help your daughter, It is almost impossible to do this alone

Hi DM901DM,

I'm sorry, but that was Woodinville Visitor's one and only post and the last time they logged in. There's always a chance that they will see this, but after almost 2 years, it's not likely.

If there is some other way in which we can be of help, please do let us know!

I visited Sophia in the 1st week of August & stayed there for 4 days.

It's really nothing out the ordinary but yes, they do offer many treatment options not known to many.

Taking Ivermectin, Biltricide, DMPS injections, Artesnuate Injections and 35 supplements to take in a day.

Honestly, most NDs are there for the good pay & Klinghardt stamp. After a year or 2 they leave onto setting up their own ND practice.

Post Edited (DM901DM) : 10/21/2015 12:09:02 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Ala52 - welcome to our community!

I don't know any members who have gone in the past year...but there may be some that I'm not aware of.

Are you newly diagnosed with Lyme disease?
Feel free to share your 'story' with us here.


We encourage all new members to read through the thread at the top of the page titled: "new to Lyme?..Start Here!" It's packed full of useful information.
Even if you aren't 'new' to lyme - there may be some information you haven't seen before.

Jasperilla - how are you doing on the Dr. K protocol?

I know this is an older thread, but I had to chime in. I haven't been on this forum for quite some time, at first because my treatment with Colorado's Dr. K was going so well and I was in remission and didn't want to think of myself as a Lyme Disease person, then when I had a major break-down I started the DNRS program, and one of the major tenets is NOT to talk about illness and to avoid forums. Anyhow, this past year and a half have been a whirlwind in thinking my life was over, then miraculously finding myself on a path back to wellness. That path led directly to, and through, the Sophia Health Institute.

Without going into too much detail, I had a major breakdown and my immune system went crazy about a year and a half ago. All the rules of the road that had been the case my entire time through 6 years of treatment (after 20 years of undiagnosed illness) were pretty stable. Joint pain and swelling, debilitating fatigue, eye inflammation, rinse and repeat. Then one morning I woke up and for whatever reason...the rules did not apply any longer. I reacted to EVERYTHING. I developed massive full body neuropathy. I developed POTS. I could not sleep without being drugged by three different pharmaceuticals. And it all kept getting worse and worse, and my CO LLMD couldn't figure it out. I started to see a famous LLMD here in Seattle, and he couldn't figure it out.

Full of fear and uncertainty, and after having seen lots of negative reviews of Sophia, I decided to make an appointment there anyhow...and it saved my life.

Of course I didn't get in with Sophia's Dr. K immediately, but with one of his trained NDs. I'd never had ART done, and it seemed like witchcraft. But after my initial consultation, she'd found that on top of Bart and Bb (which I'd been treating for years), I had untreated Bab, parasites, mold, new allergies, and a couple different viruses showing up. She tailored an almost completely herbal and homeopathic protocol for me, based on ART (and, by the way, it looked nothing like some other protocols that people I'd know from Sophia had...so in my mind that put to rest the 'cookie cutter' argument...at least for me). And within a month, I actually was seeing improvements, as opposed to the free fall down into a bottomless pit. There was one set of symptoms that was still not budging, and in my next appointment her ART discovered an activation of endogenous retroviruses. We added a treatment for that based on her ART, and I saw some minor improvements. The next month, frustrated that I wasn't seeing more rapid improvement, she found an additional landmine via ART: Herpes Zoster (aka shingles) activation in the nerves in my face and head...that my immune system was too weak to push out to the skin. No wonder I thought I was dying. We started a conservative treatment for that and I made some small improvements.

At this point even she was a little frustrated at my rate of improvement, and got me on Dr. K's waitlist. Within a month, I had an appointment with him. Yes, he was running about an hour late for our appointment. No, it wasn't cheap. But...without getting any background from her or I as to what she'd found via ART, he found the EXACT SAME THINGS! The big difference was he was a little more cavalier about how to approach it, and used ART to find an even more aggressive treatment plan...my big issues being the retroviruses and the shingles virus, both causing symptoms in my mouth, face and head, rendering me disabled. The experience being on his table was amazing. He's a true healer and visionary.

Within three weeks on his amped up treatment protocol, I saw HUGE gains! And since he had confirmed my other ND's ART findings, I was confident that she was finding everything that needed to be found, so I could feel secure continuing care with her, after my special appointment with Dr. K.

She since moved on to a different clinic, but I'm lucky enough to live in the Seattle area, so I can freely visit her, or any of the many docs who have cycled through Sophia. And now that she knows I can handle a little more aggressive of a treatment, we've continued to make huge gains.

I still have a ways to go...and the viruses have proven to be extremely tricky to treat. But she has my Bart, Bb and Babs under control, we've done a successful mold and parasite remediation, we're doing a ton of work on gut healing and immune system repair, and we've kept the treatment almost completely natural.

I'm convinced I would be dead today if I hadn't set foot into Sophia a year ago, almost to the day. No one was able to figure out a couple of the key pieces of my puzzle, and their ART methodology allowed them to do so. Keep in mind, it doesn't have to be Sophia...but any LLMD/ND who has the tool of ART has the potential to be a life-saver when you've run out of answers, and I would risk the cost of it any day.

I'm happy to share more about my current protocol if anyone is interested. Yes, it is big and it is overwhelming and it is expensive...but it's all worth it to get my life back. The big new add is that they FINALLY found me ready (again, per ART) to add in Cistus Incanus tea. It has been really powerful so far, and I'm definitely in a herx cycle...but it just goes to show what a powerful medicine it is, that I've been in treatment now for 8 years, and am only just now showing up as being ready for it. I may comment more on my cistus journey in a different cistus thread.

My best to you all.

lymesingerinCO said...
I know this is an older thread, but I had to chime in. I haven't been on this forum for quite some time, at first because my treatment with Colorado's Dr. K was going so well and I was in remission and didn't want to think of myself as a Lyme Disease person, then when I had a major break-down I started the DNRS program, and one of the major tenets is NOT to talk about illness and to avoid forums. Anyhow, this past year and a half have been a whirlwind in thinking my life was over, then miraculously finding myself on a path back to wellness. That path led directly to, and through, the Sophia Health Institute.

Without going into too much detail, I had a major breakdown and my immune system went crazy about a year and a half ago. All the rules of the road that had been the case my entire time through 6 years of treatment (after 20 years of undiagnosed illness) were pretty stable. Joint pain and swelling, debilitating fatigue, eye inflammation, rinse and repeat. Then one morning I woke up and for whatever reason...the rules did not apply any longer. I reacted to EVERYTHING. I developed massive full body neuropathy. I developed POTS. I could not sleep without being drugged by three different pharmaceuticals. And it all kept getting worse and worse, and my CO LLMD couldn't figure it out. I started to see a famous LLMD here in Seattle, and he couldn't figure it out.

Full of fear and uncertainty, and after having seen lots of negative reviews of Sophia, I decided to make an appointment there anyhow...and it saved my life.

Of course I didn't get in with Sophia's Dr. K immediately, but with one of his trained NDs. I'd never had ART done, and it seemed like witchcraft. But after my initial consultation, she'd found that on top of Bart and Bb (which I'd been treating for years), I had untreated Bab, parasites, mold, new allergies, and a couple different viruses showing up. She tailored an almost completely herbal and homeopathic protocol for me, based on ART (and, by the way, it looked nothing like some other protocols that people I'd know from Sophia had...so in my mind that put to rest the 'cookie cutter' argument...at least for me). And within a month, I actually was seeing improvements, as opposed to the free fall down into a bottomless pit. There was one set of symptoms that was still not budging, and in my next appointment her ART discovered an activation of endogenous retroviruses. We added a treatment for that based on her ART, and I saw some minor improvements. The next month, frustrated that I wasn't seeing more rapid improvement, she found an additional landmine via ART: Herpes Zoster (aka shingles) activation in the nerves in my face and head...that my immune system was too weak to push out to the skin. No wonder I thought I was dying. We started a conservative treatment for that and I made some small improvements.

At this point even she was a little frustrated at my rate of improvement, and got me on Dr. K's waitlist. Within a month, I had an appointment with him. Yes, he was running about an hour late for our appointment. No, it wasn't cheap. But...without getting any background from her or I as to what she'd found via ART, he found the EXACT SAME THINGS! The big difference was he was a little more cavalier about how to approach it, and used ART to find an even more aggressive treatment plan...my big issues being the retroviruses and the shingles virus, both causing symptoms in my mouth, face and head, rendering me disabled. The experience being on his table was amazing. He's a true healer and visionary.

Within three weeks on his amped up treatment protocol, I saw HUGE gains! And since he had confirmed my other ND's ART findings, I was confident that she was finding everything that needed to be found, so I could feel secure continuing care with her, after my special appointment with Dr. K.

She since moved on to a different clinic, but I'm lucky enough to live in the Seattle area, so I can freely visit her, or any of the many docs who have cycled through Sophia. And now that she knows I can handle a little more aggressive of a treatment, we've continued to make huge gains.

I still have a ways to go...and the viruses have proven to be extremely tricky to treat. But she has my Bart, Bb and Babs under control, we've done a successful mold and parasite remediation, we're doing a ton of work on gut healing and immune system repair, and we've kept the treatment almost completely natural.

I'm convinced I would be dead today if I hadn't set foot into Sophia a year ago, almost to the day. No one was able to figure out a couple of the key pieces of my puzzle, and their ART methodology allowed them to do so. Keep in mind, it doesn't have to be Sophia...but any LLMD/ND who has the tool of ART has the potential to be a life-saver when you've run out of answers, and I would risk the cost of it any day.

I'm happy to share more about my current protocol if anyone is interested. Yes, it is big and it is overwhelming and it is expensive...but it's all worth it to get my life back. The big new add is that they FINALLY found me ready (again, per ART) to add in Cistus Incanus tea. It has been really powerful so far, and I'm definitely in a herx cycle...but it just goes to show what a powerful medicine it is, that I've been in treatment now for 8 years, and am only just now showing up as being ready for it. I may comment more on my cistus journey in a different cistus thread.

My best to you all.

This is great news, glad you had so much success

I’m curious about 4 things.

First, what was the resistant symptom you had?

Second, what does ART stand for? I don’t know this acronym.

Third, what did your protocol look like? What kinds of herbs did they put you on?

I’m assuming it was some combo of various herbs many among us have tried. And if so what do you attribute the rabid success you had to? Is it that ART is able to tell you exactly what combo of herbs works for each person, and if so how is that precision possible? Or is it that ART is able to isolate infections we didn’t know we have, like herpes zoster? In which case even if they have the advantage of accurately knowing which specific infections were bothering you, how could they design an herbal protocol to rid you of them so rapidly and which such precision? Most herbs are trial and error for easy person and take a long time to work.

Please understand I’m not critical, just trying to understand. I’m sick of western medicine’s false promises and alternative approaches like this intrigue me, but I need to learn more

Lastly, which brand cistus tea are you using?

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 4/9/2021 7:46:00 PM (GMT-6)

dcd2103:

As Girlie said, it stands for Autonomic Response Testing. You can do a web search (usually you have to include Klinghardt in that search or you get some results that aren't applicable) to find some more detailed information about it. Here are some examples:
https://www.naturaltherapycenter.com/autonomic-response-testing-art/
http://rhodakingston.com/art-dr-klinghardt

My personal experience with it: you are on a table and the doctor has hundreds of tiny test sample kits that include various pathogens, toxins, allergens, etc., as well as sample test kits of hundreds of different remedies. Through the course of one appointment, you will have each sample brought next to your body, and based on whether your muscle goes weak or goes strong, they can tell if you are having issues with that particular thing. Once they narrow down the list of things that are currently causing problems in your body, they start testing out different remedies. For example, if they found Borrelia active in my body, they might keep the borrelia sample close to me, and then bring Teasel next to me, then Japanase Knotweed, then Disulfiram, then Cat's Claw, etc., etc., for all known Borrelia treatments. In my experience for each weakening stimulus they find, they test upwards of 10 possible remedies for the weakness. The remedy or remedies that cause the body's muscular response to go 'strong' at the same time the weakening stimulus is introduced (in this case, Borrelia), guides the treatment plan. So, ostensibly, it would end up being different for every single person.

Believe me, it seems like witchcraft. But after a couple sessions, and seeing the results, I'm a believer. I'll give you one undeniable example:

My first ART appointment, my LLND found parasites that were causing my muscle test to go 'weak'. The treatments she found that made my muscles go 'strong' against the parasites were a combination of Alinia and Mimosa Pudica. I was skeptical, as no doctor in my whole life had ever mentioned the possibility that any of my symptoms were due to parasites. But...I did my 2 weeks on Alinia, and then started the Mimosa Pudica. At each monthly appointment she kept finding parasites via ART and had me stay on the MP. I didn't notice much of anything...but after about 3 months on the MP, I passed a foot-long worm. Yuck. I had my next LLND appointment about 2 weeks after this incident...and I forgot to tell her I'd passed the worm. In this appointment, she said, "Oh! It looks like you're not having parasites come up as a problem any more!" She found this via ART, and I hadn't even told her anything about passing any parasites. I was pretty much sold at this point...even if my other symptoms hadn't also been improving.

So, now back to your first question. My resistant symptoms: I had an absolutely unbearable pain and pressure that felt like it was a railroad spike driven through my left maxillary sinus, and a branching out of burning pain behind my left eye, into my left ear, and across my face. I also had inflammation and burning pain in all the tissues of my mouth, making it increasingly difficult to speak and to eat.

Finally, as to the combination of herbs: since ART works by addressing things by 'priority' (basically, what does my BODY think is the thing that most needs attention right now), we found things in layers. She first found the parasites, Babesia, Bartonella and Borrelia. The remedies she found, again via ART, that MY body knew would help with these four things included: Alinia & Mimosa Pudica (parasites), Cryptolepis (Babs/Borr), Sida Acuta (Bart/Borr), Houttiyana (Bart/Babs), Japanese Knotweed (Borr). She found a leftover sensitivity to Disulfiram which may have actually been why I was having full-body neuropathy in the first place, so she put me on a DSF homeopathic as well for about a month, and that blockage cleared quickly.

After a month on this protocol, at my next appointment the new things that came up were Coxackie Virus and Human Endogenous Retroviruses and Ehrlichia. Per ART, she added in licorice solid extract (generally good for a wide variety of viruses), a homeopathic interferon called Paximune (also good for a wide variety of viruses), and a homeopathic of various Lyme-related bugs called Lyme and co-infection nosode (to help modulate my immune response to Lyme and co-infections).

After another month, the mouth burning and face pain persisted, though other symptoms were getting better. That's when she found, additionally, the Herpes Zoster (shingles virus). For that, initially, she did a dose of Low Dose Immunotherapy to try to modulate my immune response to the HZ. Unfortunately, she over-shot the dosage by a bit, and it caused a huge flare...but it also meant that she had the right diagnosis.

My next appointment was actually my appointment with Dr. K. Like I said, he rushed into the room an hour late without checking my chart, and in his ART he found Borrelia, Bartonella, Retroviruses and Herpes Zoster. So he didn't find anything new. But he did test some new remedies to add to the mix. To everything I was already taking, he found improvement via ART with the following additions: Valtrex (viral), massively increasing the licorice dose (viral), Lemon Balm (viral), Baikalin (viral and inflammation), a powder mix called Retro-V (for the retroviruses), and Ivermectin (in this case, for viruses, not for parasites).

After this beefed-up regimen, I started to make HUGE improvements.

The only major thing that has been added to my protocol since then is Cistus Incanus tea, which I just started two weeks ago (this was due to the viruses still being reticent...all the other infections are no longer showing up in ART, but the viruses are still showing up).

I'm using a Cistus Tea from the Mediterranean, supplied by Linden Botanicals. I've really noticed a difference, although so far the difference is more in herxing, not in improvement...but I'm hoping that's just around the bend!

I hope this information is helpful! As always with the caveat that...this is just MY experience!

Cheers!

lymesingerinCO,

Wonderful story...and, very well-written. I enjoyed it and I'm happy you're doing so well.

I wish these type of clinics (i.e. ridiculously expensive) offered at least some sort of partial refund for people who don't improve to some degree. I realize that idea is fraught with problems, because not everyone is forthright, but it would be nice to know that one's financial downside is somewhat limited.

Your description of ART as "witchcraft" was funny and more charitable than I would call it. I have similar feelings about homeopathy. Nevertheless, it worked for you, so that's all that matters. I hope you continue to improve.

Best wishes,
Dude

Dude: I've thought a lot about the financial risk inherent in trying to get chronic conditions treated in general, especially since it really seems like western medicine is not as equipped to deal with chronic conditions/chronic infections as is natural or eastern medicine (my opinion based on experience, as well as observation on forums such as this one). And when we stray from western medicine, even those of us lucky enough to have good insurance find ourselves completely out of pocket.

I can't even tell you how much money I've spent in the past year without choking. It is a ridiculous amount. And I realize I'm lucky to have had the (rapidly dwindling) resources to be able to do so. At the same time, I know that if I'd not gone this route in treatment, I would not be getting better, and I would not be getting my life back. And when I get my life back, I'll be able to be a productive member of society again.

But...it's a real problem for many/most. And to go the Sophia (or similar) route can take a long, long time, as it will represent a true, down to the studs healing process. Based on just my experience, one of the problems is that things like this (Sophia, Hansa, etc.) aren't available everywhere, so people have to make a big trip, spend a week or two out of town, and stuff as many appointments and treatments into that one or two weeks as they can, to make it 'worth it'. In most cases, that ends up being way too overwhelming for the sensitivities most of us have, and it doesn't end up helping...and the protocol is quickly surrendered.

In my case, since I'm lucky enough to live close, I could go to my appointment, get my protocol, and in an hour I'm done paying for the month, and I have things spread out so I'm not introducing a ton of change to my system all at once. If they recommend any IV's for me, I can take one IV a week over the course of several weeks, and again, it doesn't get too overwhelming. It's worked really well for me. And I've been lucky to have local access to this type of clinic and diagnostic technology (full disclosure, my LLND, to whom I'm now completely committed, left Sophia and is practicing at another local clinic, and I followed her there...but I get the same standard of care as I did at Sophia).

I have recently learned that some of the more seasoned ART practitioners are able to do sessions at a distance, and I think THAT could be the answer for some folks, so they don't have to do the 1 to 2-week pressure cooker approach that is more likely than not to overwhelm them.

But, even at that, it does still leave the question of financial ability and possible remuneration. Frankly, no doctor will guarantee a treatment, especially since sometimes the problems with a treatment could boil down to patient adherence. It's just that it hurts the patient less financially to have a failed treatment that was covered by insurance. It's a problem. And through this terrible past year and a half, I've resolved that one of the ways I want to serve when I'm fully recovered and have all my faculties and energy back, is to look into setting up a foundation to raise money and provide scholarships to people who want to try these types of treatments, but who need some financial help. I also plan to start lobbying congress to get more natural medicine included in insurance coverage. I'm just one little person, and it's a big task...but you get enough drops of water and pretty soon you have a flood.