Wow this thread took an interesting turn.
First of all, emotional poster (crunch), it would be easier to respond if your posts were less histrionic. It seems like this a personal issue for you so maybe it isn't exactly possible for you to come at this from a logic based perspective. I am sorry that your family member has been dealing with a chronic pain/fatigue issue. I know that really stinks.
I think you may have misread (or more likely misinterpreted because I wasn't specific) but I said "Most of those diseases aren’t real. The ones that are are wildly misconstrued by patients and the public in general." The ones that are not "real" or are so wildly misused by her were specifically: "chronic EBV infection, and "MTHFR mutation."
Chronic EBV is a syndrome where a patient is unable to clear their viremia during an infection and remains with mononuceleosis symptoms for an extended period of time. It is INCREDIBLY rare and they are usually quite ill for some time. However it does not present as "on and off" symptoms from "reactivation" for years as Kelli has described. We unfortunately have seen "alternative" practitioners or basically quacks use situations that like this and Chronic Lyme to bring in clients. Chronic lyme does absolutely not exist even though it got so popular several societies put out a joint statement about the misleading term. People who suffer from a constellation set of debilitating symptoms often are desperate for a cure and latch onto hope. It is easy to let a patient believe because they have a positive antibody titer, that their symptoms can be attributed to that. Unfortunately, a very many people have been exposed to EBV and whether they had mono or not, their serum remains positive for the antibodies. While not as high as a prevalence, the same goes for Lyme. This is mostly an example of disingenuous practitioners taking advantage of a vulnerable and desperate population (which isn't the population's fault, but it doesn't make the diagnosis real).
The issue with the "MTHFR mutation" is actually a new one. With the advancement of personal genetic mapping, people have found new niches to essentially rip people off and push sham treatments. A lot of the 23andme or ancestry tests that map your genome come up with certain polymorphisms that some people have and others do not. Most of the time these are clinically insignificant. But, cash rules the world so quacks have started proposing to people willing to listen that their harmless genetic variance is a disease. And guess what?? They offer a treatment at a reasonable price. This clown Ben Lynch (who is a naturopath which means they know nothing about medicine) has been identified as a key player in the scam.
www.forbes.com/sites/brittmariehermes/2016/11/14/genetic-sequence-exploited-supplement-industry/#36b529e92e67This post is getting long quickly so I will be more brief with the rest of her examples which include "leaky guy" and "SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)." The former associated with inflammatory bowel disease or intestinal surgeries which as far as know Kelli does/did not have. And the other is a diagnosable and treatable condition. However sometime it gets thrown into the mix of patients who have chronic non specific GI symptoms. She may or may not have actually had this. Who knows.
I am not denying the existence of fibro, CFS. I see them everyday. However as others have explained to you Kelli diagnosed herself with it, treated it with some random cure, then admitted she did not actually have it. I do not know the exact sequence of the events as it is not relevant to my opinion of her. It does go to show her playing fast and loose with diagnoses, treatments, and alternative treatments. And as you have alluded as far as we know there is no cure. So when I see her doing intense workouts with full makeup and donning Lulu lemom yoga pants, I am skeptical of the degree or even existence of her disease.
You are being a little unfair with your speculation of the level of my empathy. I see patients every day with DEBILITATING chronic illness. They are not on national TV or doing spin/hot yoga classes on social media. They usually look like %*$# and miserable. Maybe because I am exposed to the sickest of the sick, I may have a little less tolerance for those who ham up their symptoms. I know I absolutely do when I feel like they are doing it for social media influence and likes/followers, and subsequent advertising money. She is clearly doing this. Hence her plugging fancy UNREGULATED supplements and her quack doctor diagnosing made up diseases while on AVP instagram takeover when she should be discussing volleyball!?
It's also possible that some of you defending don't know that discussing psychiatric disorders is literally a staple of social media influencers. I can go find you 10 insta-hoes who have long videos or posts about their anxiety, stress, gut problems, yadda yadda in about 5 minutes. This is a common method used by them to seem more human and relatable to their target audiences thus increasing their one and only goal, exposure and money. If you are a bit older and don't give a %*$# about social media, I wouldn't be surprised if this trend was unknown to you. As someone who treats patients with real disease it's probably affects me more when I see people inflating their medical problems essentially to furthur advertising reach.
Any longer for this post and the site will crash. I apologize for errors/typos.
To the guy who keeps harping on my lack of broadcasting career? I don't even know what your point is. I don't have to work for CBS to know she sucks at her job as nearly ever poster has agreed (even the ones defending her as a person). If you think being a incompetent broadcaster who's pretty and has a lot of social media followers is success, be my guest.
To the guy who doesn't want his doctor to say dude. Your prerogative. Usually I want the physicians I work with and see myself/family to be competent more than unnecessarily formal(on a online forum no less...not even with a patient).
To the guy who likes his doctor saying dude.
My man.