In this inspiring episode of The Health Fix Podcast, Dr. Jannine Krause sits down with Karen Dwyer, a powerhouse of resilience and transformation. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 30, Karen set out to put her MS in check and along the way found she loved coaching others so she became the CEO and founder of the MS to Success Programโa groundbreaking coaching program designed to empower individuals with MS to reclaim their health and vitality.
As a TEDx speaker, award-winning wellness advocate, and experienced coach, Karen combines her personal journey with professional expertise to deliver a holistic approach to managing MS. Her program focuses on mindset, nutrition, movement, and community support, helping individuals live more, worry less, and feel great.
Iโm thrilled to share that Iโve had the privilege of being a guest speaker in her program, witnessing firsthand how sheโs changing lives. Tune in to hear how Karen put her MS into remission and how sheโs helping others rewrite their health stories.
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Instructions Included
Traveling soon? Looking to detox or reset your gut? Try one of Dr. Krause’s Fullscript plans.
What Youโll Learn In This Episode:
- The steps Karen took to put her MS into remission and maintain her health.
- Why caregiving and neglecting your own needs is often a coping mechanism.
- How assessing all areas of your life can reveal health-impacting factors.
- The reasons women are more susceptible to autoimmune conditions.
- The trade-off of saying โyesโ to too much and what it costs your well-being.
- The importance of individualized care in managing health conditions effectively.
Resources From The Show:
- Karenโs Webinar: mstosuccess.com
- MS to Success Program Quiz: Take it now
- Follow Karen on Instagram: @Iamkarendwyer
- Contact Karen: info@mstosuccess.com
Donโt miss this episode if you or someone you love is navigating MS or any chronic condition. Karenโs story is proof that with the right tools and mindset, transformation is possible!
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Podcast Transcript
0:58 – Intro
3:09 – Karenโs MS story
9:54 – Patterns Karen slipped into on the bad days
10:50 – Attempt at a vegan diet
14:12 – whole health approach
19:03 – An individual approach
25:05 – What Karen learned from MS
29:13 – Advice for someone recently diagnosed with MS
33:17 – Do you have to be perfect to do well
35:05 – Where to find Karen and MS to Success
[Preview] Two weeks was kind of like my top point because I was like the first few days. I was like, yeah
I’m so good at this. I’m so great. And then by week two
I kind of slowed down a little bit by week three. I was like screw this and I’m gonna have to try some of the other
There was a there was a really long time where I was starting and trying and failing and the more I did that I
Think I probably sunk into depression a bit if I’m really honest because I I felt really ashamed that
that I couldn’t get results from myself,
or I didn’t seem to be moving very far.
We actually have to slow down in order to speed up.
So it’s not about doing more or staying really strict or diet.
It’s about somebody falling back in love
with themselves and their health.
[Intro] Welcome to The Health Fix Podcast
where health junkies get their weekly fix of tips,
tools and techniques to have limitless energy,
sharp minds and fit, physiques or life.
JANNINE: Hey, health junkies on this episode, The Health Fix Podcast.
I’m interviewing a pal of mine, Karen Dwyer.
Now, she is the CEO and founder of the MS2 Success Program,
which is a transformative coaching program
empowering individuals with multiple sclerosis
to reclaim their health and vitality.
No, Karen has been a TEDx speaker.
She’s a award-winning wellness advocate
and experienced coach.
And she does combine her personal journey with MS
and her professional expertise to provide holistic,
practical solutions for managing symptoms
and achieving a amazing life.
Now here’s the fun part.
I’m part of Karen’s MS to success program.
I get to come in and talk about vitamins and nutrients
and all kinds of things, naturopathic medicine.
She has folks like Brad Yates,
the tap with Brad Guy, amazing.
She has such a great community of folks to help her,
her folks and it’s so much fun being part of Karen’s community
and I just love interacting with her crew.
So I was like, “Karen, we have to do a podcast
and share what you’re up to and talk all about MS
and how you’re getting such great success
in your personal story too.”
So Karen was kind enough to say,
“Yeah, I’ll come on and tell my story.”
And so this is a fun interview
And just a great message that you don’t have to have MS
to benefit from.
And especially though, if you know someone
or you yourself are experiencing symptoms of MS,
this is absolutely for you.
All right, well, let’s introduce you to my pal,
Karen Dwyer.
Karen Dwyer, welcome to The Health Fix Podcast.
KAREN: Oh, it’s so good to be here, thank you.
JANNINE: It has been a long time coming.
I am so happy that we finally connected to chat.
And folks, you guys are in for a treat
because Karen I’ve been doing each other for a while
and we have so many fun things
that we’re gonna tell you about MS today.
And really thriving with MS
because I think a lot of people get the diagnosis
and they’re like, oh crap, now what?
So of course I’m gonna dive in and go, Karen,
how did things unfold for you?
What was going on in your life when MS showed up?
And how did that diagnosis, what did it hit first?
what do I do now?
KAREN: Yeah, great question.
So there was a lot of stress.
And I see this with all of my clients
through usually something I can pinpoint it
to the day and the situations and it was a buildup.
So I don’t think it was just an overnight thing per se.
However, I think there was a chain of events
that had my nervous system go,
“Hey, screw you, look after me.”
(laughs)
So, I mean, there was so much going on at the time.
I had a partner who was cheating.
I was pregnant. I was managing a radio station. I mean, there was so much going on personally.
I thought it was just an overload on my nervous system. And I think, I don’t know, as females,
I think we’re wired differently that we kind of take people’s stuff and absorb it and like
compost and be like, Hey, I’ll make it all okay. And then I’ll make sure that you’re okay.
So I was trying to juggle all of these things that my system just went, you know what?
No, but somebody, my hands started going numb.
Might have the whole side of my body started going numb.
I couldn’t feel the heat sensation when I was in the shower.
So that took me to the emergency room.
I thought I was having a stroke at first.
Um, and so then they said the number of lesions on your brain would be normal for an 80 year old.
And I just hit 30 and I just had my second daughter.
So this was like, Oh, shit.
and what do you do? And so even then the other sounds, I say this laughing at it, I can laugh
at it now, it wasn’t funny at the time, but all of my clients say the same thing. I spent the next
while putting on this facade of, I’m fine, don’t worry about me, don’t treat me differently, I’ve
got this, we’re all good. So I spent all this time and energy, probably pretending to myself as well,
that I’m fine. And I was a mix of strength, though. I’m not going to let this overtake me.
But then on the other side, you know, the first thing in the morning and the last thing I’m like,
going to bed, that’s when the real thoughts came. That’s when the honesty with yourself
showed up for me. And it was like, oh, like, in the morning, I’d wake up and I’d mentally scan my
body. Okay, and my numb, I’ve got tingling, can I feel this? Am I going to be able to walk? Oh, my
Oh my God, all of this stuff, because when you Google these things, I didn’t know, I’m
kind of ashamed to say I didn’t know really what MS was when I was diagnosed with it.
And my only picture was someone in a wheelchair.
And so I was then thinking, when’s this going to happen to me?
How long have I got?
And it seems really infantile when I say it now, but that’s, that was my only understanding.
So every night when I go to bed, that’s when the real emotions would then come to me because
If anybody asked me how I was, it was like, I’m fine.
I’m fine.
Like, you know that I’m fine.
JANNINE: sure, like I’m fine, everything’s great.
I’m just fine.
KAREN: Yeah, it’s like, you know, that paddling swan, right?
Like it’s like floating on top,
but like pedaling like billio underneath.
But there was something there as well that said to me,
I’m gonna, I’m gonna, like, I’m not giving into this.
And I didn’t quite know what to do
because I did spend a lot of time googling
And that was not a good idea.
And then I joined a lot of like Facebook groups
and things like that.
That was definitely not a good idea
because most of them, and look,
there’s not many places to turn
because my neurologist would say,
or give me five minutes and say,
“Try not to stress.”
There might be some merit
in taking some vitamin D and that was it.
So I joined these Facebook groups
looking for inspiration thinking,
“Oh, I’ll maybe find some people
that might be able to,” whatever.
But what I found,
maybe it’s not everyone’s experience was that
they’re usually people projecting their fears.
And there’s nobody professional there guiding them
because it’s free.
You know, when something is free like that usually,
it’s not great.
And it’s just a place for people to project their fears.
And I get it.
That’s what I wanted to do.
But I started reading everyone else’s before I posted anything.
And I’m not sure I even posted anything in the end.
And it’s like, oh God, is that what I have to look forward to?
So that was, it was a really scary time.
There was a lot to juggle.
I hope I’ve answered that question.
I went to off on attention.
(laughs)
JANNINE: No, it’s perfect.
I think this happens to everyone
when they receive a diagnosis, you know?
And there’s a lot of controversies
whether having a diagnosis is good or bad,
but at the end of the day, like insurance needs it.
And sometimes it’s good to know what’s up, right?
But it’s that borderline between embodying the diagnosis
and having the diagnosis.
And it sounds like, you know, in your case, you were like,
“Well, I don’t like how these forums are going in.
Unfortunately, I see a lot of people who they dive hard
into the forums and I know I’m using the old word,
it’s Facebook groups really.
I mean, do forums even exist?”
KAREN: I don’t know, yeah, they’re Facebook groups really.
Most of them are Facebook groups, yeah.
Yeah.
JANNINE: And so–
KAREN: I know it’s scary.
JANNINE: Yeah.
KAREN: I think the thing that,
the thing around getting the diagnosis,
for me it was a relief in a lot of ways
because I didn’t have a name to put on how it was feeling.
And I couldn’t verbalize it.
So it was like something felt off.
Yeah, and then I’d all the personal stuff going on.
So it was like, well, of course I feel shit.
Sorry for cursing.
Of course I was gonna feel it.
That’s, there was circumstantial stuff
that I didn’t feel good,
but then there was something
that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
And so when I got the diagnosis, it was like,
“Okay, I’m not going out of my mind.”
At least now there’s a name on it.
Now I can do something with it.
And here’s what I wanna say, right?
Because it sounds very altruistic
and very inspiring when you hear it,
“Oh, I was gonna do it and I’m gonna beat this.”
Yeah, I felt like that sometimes.
But there was days when I was like,
“I just wanna go to bed and pull the covers over my head
and screw this and why me.”
I definitely had days and periods of time like that.
So when I say, oh, I knew, I didn’t feel like that all the time.
So just to be really honest.
JANNINE: Yeah, yeah.
I think it’s good for folks to hear that because we do hear people’s stories
where we’re like, yep, I made the decision.
I was going to beat it.
And we’re all real, right?
And I think a lot of us know better that there’s going to be some kind of,
you know, yes, good days and yes, we have bad days.
Now, of course, I always ask like when there was those bad days, you know, did you discover
like a pattern to them?
Did you figure like, okay, this is how I can navigate them, you know, anything in particular
to move out?
KAREN: I’m kind of laughing or smiling at what you just like as my first pattern was I’m going
to sit and eat potato chips and watch really crappy TV.
That was my first.
It was like, I just need to numb myself of this way.
I need to distract myself enough to not think and worry about this all day.
And that’s the first thing that I did.
So I ate all of my emotions and probably everyone else with around me as well.
So that wasn’t a great thing to do.
And then it wasn’t until, you know, well, I tried different things, right?
I tried becoming vegan.
I’m, I’m lazy.
I’m really lazy.
I do not have it in me to be a vegan.
I don’t.
I would love to.
I don’t, don’t have it in me.
And that’s not to be disingenuous
or to mock anyone that is.
I just, it’s a lot of work.
So I tried that for a while and I was miserable.
And I was cooking dinner for the rest of my family.
And then I was like salivating
and then feeling really sorry for myself eating
whatever food that I managed to get.
Then, you know, I tried,
anyway, I tried these really strict protocols,
really strict exercise protocols.
And what I found myself doing,
I suppose the only way I can relate to it
was like snakes and letters that would get so far
for maybe two weeks.
Two weeks was kind of like my top point
’cause I was like the first few days, I was like,
yeah, I’m so good at this, I’m so great.
And then by week two, I kind of slowed down
a little bit by week three, I was like, screw this,
I’m gonna have to try some of the other videos.
So there was a really long time where I was starting
and trying and failing.
And the more I did that,
I think I probably sunk into depression a bit
if I’m really honest, ’cause I felt really ashamed
that I couldn’t get results from myself.
I didn’t seem to be moving very far.
And I also felt like everyone’s eyes were on me.
You know, I felt like I had lights shining on me
of what you’re doing.
How is she?
coping well, and it was like, oh, I’m trying stuff.
And then somebody would say, oh, how is that juice type going?
And I’d be like, oh, I gave it up.
Oh, how’s that exercise thing going?
I’m not doing it anymore.
So it was like this embarrassment and then this shame.
And then underneath it, I was supposed to,
I was angry with myself, you know?
And it was like, what’s wrong with me
that I can’t seem to get it.
And it wasn’t until the ex walked out on Christmas day
that it was like I just had no cares left to give,
that it was in January and here comes the corny thing,
I did make a decision to make myself happy,
it wasn’t related to I’m gonna get myself better
’cause they were all great.
But I think it came down to it,
I knew it was time to remember myself
’cause somewhere along the way I forgot about myself.
And there was probably some martyrdom in it as well
because if I was looking after other people,
well, then I didn’t have to really think
or be responsible for myself.
And actually, that really worked because I kept failing.
So if I could help everyone else,
well, then I kind of got out of having to do that for myself
if that makes sense.
JANNINE: Yeah.
KAREN: So yeah, I made a decision to make myself happy.
I still have the journal that I wrote it in right there.
And I started doing small things.
I started researching brain health.
I started looking at neuroplasticity
all of those lovely buzzwords. But I started looking at what the things were that I could
do from home because I was smashed broke at the time as well. I was on an invalidity
pension, was living in my mom’s, two kids, no job. I mean, I was like, okay, I’ve got
to find some ways to help myself because right now I can’t afford to go to someone to look
for some help. And not only that, anything that I did look at was tens of thousands of
of euros, like stem cell, like there’s a thingy protocol.
And her program was like 15k and I did a little bit of research on it.
And it’s like a paleo diet, which is great.
But I needed someone to look at my whole health, not just diet,
not just movement or exercise or go hard or go home type approach.
I knew that wasn’t for me.
So I started researching all of these things myself.
And almost a year to the day, my neurologist who’s kind of like a mouse was like, what have
you been doing, Karen? And I’m like, well, take an extra vitamin D, practicing gratitude,
meditating, forgiveness, and these type of movements. And I’m listing these things and I’m kind of
rabbitting. And I’m like, is he going to tell me I’ve gotten much worse? Because at this point,
I had to come off medication because my body was breaking out in hives, my liver was seven times
higher than it should have been the count. So I was off medication and scared. And so when
he’s asking me this, I’m like, Oh, no, he’s like, Oh, whatever you’ve been doing, keep doing it.
Because all of your lesions have shrunk and they’re barely visible. And you’ve had burnout. I’m
like, I’m like, I’m I cured? He’s like, we don’t use that word. I’m like, am I in remission? Like,
I didn’t, I don’t know. So we don’t use that word. I’m like, you’re gonna have to give me a word.
Because yeah. And he’s like, well, sometimes people in their fifties or sixties, the disease
naturally fizzles out and leaves the body and you’ve had that so whatever you’re doing keep doing.
JANNINE: Interesting.
KAREN: Right?
JANNINE: Huh. I’ve never heard that the that MS actually naturally fizzes and leaves
the body.
KAREN: Neither had I.
JANNINE: That’s really interesting. I mean it’s also fascinating. I
don’t want to discredit all that work that you did where things were improved but I’m also like
That’s fascinating.
Yeah.
KAREN: I know.
And like, I came out of that neurologist stuff,
actually, I was crying so much that I dropped my phone and smashed it on this.
And so I remember thinking, did I hear that right?
Like, do I need to go back in and ask him?
Like, is it going to come back?
I did all of these thoughts, you know, and all of these worries and concerns.
And then I started looking at, well, because at the time, I wasn’t taking note of everything
thing that I was doing, it wasn’t a ongoing, it was like I was just doing it because it was just
you know day to day, week to week, month to month. So then I had to kind of retro go back and go
what have I been doing? You know, so all the things that I mentioned to him and then I
started documenting that a little bit more. And then I was like okay, well, what am I, you know,
once I got that news then I went back and got a job again because I wanted to move out of my
my mom’s, I wanted to buy myself a car, I wanted to get back into normal society.
And I did that and hated my job.
It was managing a finance company.
And what I found myself doing was any person that was in there that had a problem with
an issue, I was like coaching them, you know, right?
I don’t want to run this company.
I had no interest.
And so I published a gratitude journal that’s right there.
story then got into the media and then I had people calling me saying, “I heard you
for cure.” I’m like, “I do not have a cure. I don’t, but I’ll share with you what I did
in the hope that it might help you.” And so then I found every day I was getting multiple
phone calls and I was sharing my story and I’d be on the phone for up to four hours.
And then I might wake at three or four or five a.m. be like, “Shit, I forgot to tell them about
don’t drink tap water because of fluoride. And then my brain was like wired. So I started
like running these free online groups on Zoom before Zoom was even a thing. And then
and more and more people join and more questions. So then I started bringing in experts and then
I created a program and then I had to start charging. I gave up my job and now we’re in
26 different countries around the world. And we’ve like mindset and nutrition and movement and
self-care and sleep and your amazing self. And I still don’t understand how your brain has so
much information in there all the time about health and well-being and supplements. But yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
JANNINE: It’s an incredible story. And yes, you know, when people hear success in anything,
right, they want to model it. And this is something that I wanted to talk about because
the big deal that we kind of have, I think right now on social media, but also, you know,
you know, your program is not like this and guys, she has the MS to success program.
Just want to make that clear.
And yes, I make guest appearances to talk about or answer questions on vitamins and minerals.
But the one thing that we kind of have right now going on is in social media is that it’s
like, I have this program.
I run you through the same thing and you are going to get, you know, XYZ solution.
And I know that your program is not individualized on the person.
Yes, there’s general info, but can you speak to that a little bit in terms of how much
with MS is individual and how lifestyle and stress response and all those things play
in?
KAREN: For sure.
And thank you for saying that because you know what?
really irks me that there are so many things, programs, solution. And it’s
here’s I suppose the first thing to say, it is so great that there’s so many
people that want to help other people. And it irks me when someone says, this
is the solution. There is no one size fits all. There is not it is not possible.
So each individual has got to be acknowledged, their life, their circumstances, their values,
their beliefs, their traumas, especially.
All of that needs to be taken into account.
And let me give you an example.
The reason that it has to be personal, the example that I’ll give is we have clients
from all around the world, different backgrounds.
We even have clients who are medical practitioners who have MS.
One of them said to me recently, Karen, I couldn’t see the label because I was inside
the jar.
more training than I will ever have.
But because everyone has their blind spots,
we have patterns that we build up over life.
And we don’t know that maybe that thing
that we’ve been doing every day,
maybe isn’t good for us because it’s just,
so I’ve got to get to know my clients.
What is their life like right now?
What has their life been like in the lead up to this?
What does an average day look like?
And I don’t want to have this really intense program
where somebody feels stressed,
they have to stick to something.
It can’t be like that.
And the phrase that I use all the time is,
we actually have to slow down in order to speed up.
So it’s not about doing more
or staying really strict or diet.
It’s about somebody falling back in love
with themselves and their health
and loving themselves enough to prioritize themselves
and looking at what are the patterns
that I’ve built up over all of this time.
And this isn’t like,
“Oh, it’s your fault that you have MS.”
It’s not.
It’s life.
Life just comes at us.
And sometimes there might be things that are happening
or maybe doing, and either could be a possibility,
that just might not work for your nervous system.
And there could be lots of different things
that are having a result of.
The example I was gonna give was a particular client
that came in that has foot trap,
another client that came in that has foot trap.
The thing that worked for this client in getting rid of their cane was managing their stress.
That’s what worked.
Managing their internal dialogue, having conversations, conversations around boundaries in a really
healthy, loving way that had this person honored and everybody else honored as well, but that
she started to prioritize herself and say no to the things that didn’t serve her.
That was the thing.
Along with everything else being incrementally improved, right?
But that was the key.
That was the unlocking key.
it had to be a bit of everything. It wasn’t just one thing. Somebody else with the same issue,
she wasn’t eating enough food. She actually wasn’t getting enough food and hydration in day to day.
She was really good at, well, okay, at setting boundaries, but used to a lot of running around
after her kids. That was unnecessary. And so our approach is not just food, not just movement,
not just “oh think positive and have boundaries” it’s like “I can’t just be that.” In my opinion,
and I’m not saying that it’s true, okay, because everyone’s truth is different, in my opinion
and what has worked for my clients, and I’m absolutely open to hearing what other stuff might be as well,
but what works is when we look at those pillars of health, when we look at someone’s entire life
and lifestyle and get to know them because sometimes things come up in a conversation that I’m like,
“Ah, you never told me that this is happening in the background, huh?”
If we, for example, one client, we looked at everything and I couldn’t figure out why she was
not sleeping, right? We were doing everything around it. Turns out her husband snores really badly.
So she does not get sleep. We actually had to deal with her husband’s snoring and giving him a
solution so that she could sleep, so that she had the energy to get through the day, go to work,
all of the other stuff, but that was the thing that was going on. So it’s like there’s secondary
things that might be going on in life that you can try whatever diet you want,
whatever movement you want, but if that’s still happening over there, that cycle is still not being
catered or taken care for. And I don’t know unless you’re having contact with clients,
unless you’re assessing these things and having a conversation or personalizing health and
well being for that person’s life, well, then I don’t believe you’re doing a good enough job.
JANNINE: Yeah, I don’t know how you can if you don’t have a conversation with someone. And I think
that’s the biggest thing I was having struggles with that was with like the online programs where
it’s just like follow this protocol. You know, I was taught as an MD, you got to listen to the
story, right? And likely, you know, obviously we don’t like to use our lens of bias, but likely
you’ve learned over the couple, you know, course of the last few decades of experience, like
the biggest thing for you, like, you know, and I think we can take a lot from our own story and
the biggest things are conditions teach us, right? And we can take them and use them to kind of help
other folks uncover what, what they’re experiencing. And that sounds like definitely what you’re,
you’re up to. I’m curious what were like the top maybe two, three things that MS has taught you
so far, whether it’s your personal story or whether it’s all of the stories collective
with everybody. Just to give folks a sense of like, you know, I don’t think MS is any
different than any other common condition. I don’t.
KAREN: Yeah. Yeah. Um, what did it teach me?
that no one’s coming to save me.
I spent a lot of time looking for someone to fix me.
I mean, I put it out there.
You know, I want to find a solution.
It’s your responsibility to fix me.
And oh, that would be so much nicer and easier.
And it’s actually really hard.
I say that and, you know, I’m trying to lose some weight at the moment.
And I’m doing a really shit job at it.
Like, I’m, because I’m not being responsible for that.
that’s all I’ve hired someone to help me with it,
because I’m just not succeeding at it with,
so I’m saying that with like full transparency.
It’s like, sometimes I just don’t wanna be responsible
for those things in my life.
And so that was probably the biggest lesson for me.
What is the other thing?
I think, again, and this will go back to, you know,
even the ratio of women to men that are diagnosed
diagnosed with MS. It’s like a four to one pretty much ratio. Even chronic illnesses around the
world. There’s like an eight out of 10 or it’s eight to one. So I may have just gotten that wrong,
but it’s a similar like it’s eight out of 10 women will be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease
rather than thing, whatever that ratio is. And I think as a female, who’s a mom, who’s a friend,
who’s a daughter, who’s a business owner, for me learning that I have to prioritize myself,
even if it means saying no to somebody else and it’s uncomfortable. That’s heart when you’ve had
a lifetime of a different pattern. And one of the things, because all of my clients are female,
One of the things that I see very often is women wanting support and wanting help,
but they won’t spend money on themselves. I have a person that I spoke to recently and she’s like,
“Oh, I can’t do that because I’m taking my kids to Disney.” And I’m like, “Okay, I get that.” But
I’m like, “You are.” And this person, I don’t want to say exactly what they were dealing with,
but their mobility was going down fast and they’re really struggling with their health.
And I can’t want it for somebody else more than they want it for themselves, but the same way I
Had to learn those lessons as well and and it’s still it’s those micro moments and those micro decisions that we make when we’re like
Ha and the question that I use on my clients is when you get to you know some point like that ask yourself the question of if I’m saying yes to this
What am I saying no to?
And it’s tough because it’s easier to be like yeah, yeah fine sure. I’ll do that no problem
but it’s like actually what you need to say there is now.
And not be afraid.
I think they’re probably the two biggest things.
And then I think that coming back to,
you know, remembering yourself and loving yourself.
Like that’s sometimes loving yourself is the saying no.
Sometimes the loving yourself is having the hard conversation.
You know, it’s not all like,
I’ll give myself a bath and like candles.
It’s like, no, bringing real integrity to honoring yourself and your life and your health.
And it’s not easy.
It’s not easy.
JANNINE: It certainly isn’t.
KAREN: Yeah.
Healing is ugly.
And my feeling is ugly.
You know, people say, oh, healing.
It’s like, no, healing is like, it’s not some tears.
And times you don’t want to do it.
And you don’t like, but actually allowing yourself to go through it.
Obviously, you know, just in our own journeys, like healing sometimes just isn’t pretty,
right?
And we expected to be this like quick thing.
We’re looking for the quick fix.
We’re looking for quick answers.
We’re looking for solutions.
If you had some folks that were right in front of you right now and they’re like, Karen,
I just got diagnosed with the MS.
I’m not sure where to start.
Do I need to go right into a program like yours?
What should I do?
How should I figure out if I need a program or where to even start?
that I have the diagnosis. What would you tell them?
KAREN: Great question. Yeah, great question.
So I get a lot of people that will say, you know, “Oh, I don’t doctors do this,” or “Why
can’t my neurologist tell me this?” and it’s like, “Well, they’re not trained in that. They’re
trained in really specific things.” And they’re brilliant at their job. They’re really, really
great, but they’re not trained in nutrition or mindset or sleep or any of those things.
My, of course, I’m going to say MS to success, like, you know, come get proper assessments,
see where you’re at, you don’t want to go and follow some protocol that maybe you don’t need to do,
or you’re going down one pathway that actually may or may not benefit you. My thing is find the
who, find someone that’s done, whether it’s me or whether it’s someone else, right? Find someone
that’s already done it, but has a comprehensive program or guidance that will acknowledge you
and your lifestyle, right? So take some action as the first thing. Find the who. And with MS to
success, we don’t accept everyone, right? We have got to have people that want to take the action.
We’re not a restaurant, you can’t come and just order what it is. We will do the assessments,
but they will create a plan with you. And then we will guide you all along the way and we’ll give
you access to the experts like yourself, like our neurologist, like our functional medicine doctor,
like our neurophysia. I mean, we have all of the experts there, Wonder Woman Roof, and what we see
works is that when you have a personalized plan where you have all of those things under the one
roof, rather than a fractured approach of going to all of these individual practitioners, and then
nobody really knows what’s working or what’s not. Nobody’s really assessing. So what we find is
before people come to us, they’re kind of project managing their health, their researching,
their trying, then they’re trying to keep up with it and cheerlead themselves, and then they’re
trying to assess it and then they’re doing this, we’re probably a few things at a time. It’s exhausting.
It’s like being in a snow globe that’s being constantly shocked. You cannot see, you know,
you can’t see clearly. Was it you come to us, we do the assessment. We walk you through it,
we get to know you. I think that’s probably the most important part. We get to know you
and we guide you. Like we have up to seven live calls a week that you can tune in. You can hear
other people here, you know, experience the results that you’ve already got. And so you can lean
into people’s success already. That’s what I think is so important. So we have like personalised
plans and assessments. We have tools to help them execute their plan and then we have the support.
So that’s live across the week and then access to all these replays. That’s the secret to success
in my opinion. So it’s not a cookie cutter. It has to be personalised to you. That’s my approach.
And that’s what works with us. Yeah.
JANNINE: Makes sense, makes sense. And I think the most important thing, you know, going forward for folks
that I, of course, want to leave the messages and really have folks think about is like,
your health is individual. And, and, you know, obviously, at the end of the day,
figuring out what’s going to work for you has to be an individual decision, but also, you know,
just really taking the time to find the right solution. And I have a crazy coz in her trailer.
KAREN: Hi Brian.
JANNINE: He’s like, I want everybody to do the MS to success program. He’s like, I don’t even
care if you don’t have MS. This golden retriever wants to do it.
KAREN: We’ve had people ask if their
family or friends or anything else can actually come and do it, which is very sweet.
But sorry.
JANNINE: I think, you know, I think it’s great. You know, what you guys are doing is awesome. I’ve
enjoyed being part of your program and really just the loving environment I think is what
people really truly need to help with healing and really getting progress in the longer.
KAREN: Yeah, can I make one point before we complete? And I think this is one of the things we’re very
much about normal life. I’m not perfect. I don’t eat perfectly all the time. Like you know about
my absolute addiction to potato chips. I try and upgrade my cravings, but none of us are perfect,
and we don’t expect other people to be perfect as well. It’s like we actually want you to have a
really good life. We don’t want you being miserable. And I think that’s a really important thing to
say because I think a lot of times there’s this picture out there on social media that you have
got to be perfect all the time. And it’s not possible. It’s not possible. And I actually think it’s
quite toxic and unhealthy to try and have people live like that all the time. So just to finish on that.
JANNINE: Well said, well said, because yeah, I think we do have that idea that the folks who are
running these programs, the folks who have, you know, I’m going to call it thriving with
them as, you know, I don’t like the word, “cury,” they’re necessarily, you know, it’s
just the folks who thrive with the conditions that they have.
We do have this vision that like, yeah, they’re perfect.
They do everything perfectly every single day.
And yeah, I’m glad you admit that because I am.
KAREN: Oh, listen, I absolutely do not.
And nor do I want to live like that either.
Like I want to eat the cake.
JANNINE: I want the potato chips too. The two of us the potato chips and cake and pastries and bread.
KAREN: Little, you know, we can we can be great lots of the time,
but I’m going to be real as well.
JANNINE: Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, that’s that’s huge.
That’s huge.
And I think I think it’s very.
Relatable let’s put it that way in the long run
So let’s tell folks how to find you at MS success and how they can get some more ideas of whether you’re good fit to work with them
KAREN: Right, so we’ve a masterclass that I record and it took me months to make that’s at mstosuccess.com
Social media on Instagram. It’s under I am Karen Dwyer. We do have an MS to success page
I’m not very active on it at Facebook. I am Karen Dwyer or MS to success
Or you can email us at info@ms2success.com.
We’ll do whatever we can to support.
And if it’s not something that we believe we can help with,
we’ll be really honest and open with people as well.
JANNINE: Awesome.
I mean, that’s a huge thing.
And I think for a lot of people right now,
integrity is very important.
And I’m–
KAREN: [inaudible].
JANNINE: Yeah.
KAREN: Yeah.
For sure.
JANNINE: It’s important.
Thanks, Karen, for coming on.
I know we can talk for hours,
but I think this will be good to give folks
a really good sense of view and what you’re up to
and how they may be able to utilize your services.
KAREN: Awesome, thank you so much.
I always love chatting with you.
JANNINE: Me too.
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