Relapse

gives you, uh, my first sobriety date, which is in 2005.

Um, I, I, I relapse.

Relapse is a huge part of my story.

Um, I, I drink, uh, I, uh, I do a lot of substances, um, and, um, And those are my outlets before to cope with all the fears and discomfort under my own skin and also especially around me being gay and me being an Asian person.

But then today, like, in a program, I've learned to be okay with this, you know, and be happy that I'm born as an Asian and I'm born as a gay person, especially in San Francisco.

Relapses make life with MS unpredictable.

Understanding what they are, why they happen, and how they're best managed can help make a relapse less scary and easier to navigate.

Our guest today is Dr. Gabriela Karolidis, a board-certified neurologist and neuroimmunologist at Thomas Jefferson University, where she also serves as a clinical assistant professor.

That's why I'm happy to be joined today by Dr. Gabriela Karolidis, who's going to demystify MS relapses, help us understand why they happen, what's happening when they occur, and how they can best be managed.

In a moment, we'll meet my guest, Dr. Gabriela Karolidis.

Relapses make life with MS unpredictable.

Understanding what they are, why they happen, and how they're best managed can help make relapses less scary and easier to navigate.

Joining me today is Dr. Gabriela Karolidis, a board-certified neurologist and neuroimmunologist at Thomas Jefferson University, where she also serves as a clinical assistant professor.

And here is something that you will hear quite a bit in the rooms, whether it was in the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous philosophy or not.

Relapse is part of recovery.

And before you start crying, AA, that this isn't part of your principles, it wasn't outside of the rooms where I heard it.

It was in two different locations and others who've escaped the cult also witnessed not only this lie, but the nonsense that you have to be at rock bottom before you're ready to begin recovery.

You can begin the path to cure at any point in alcoholism.

The sooner is the better.

Relapse will never be a part of my life, AA.

I am cured of the affliction.

T cells control melanoma, keep the melanoma down.

Relapse only occurred when there was T cell perturbation.

So this messes up the T cells.

And the boosters cause this perturbation and therefore there could be the reactivation of the melanoma.

There is a real change in color between the preparation and the action stage of change.

And that's because this junction here is actually where you are at the highest risk for what's termed relapse.

Relapse, snakes and

ladders, snakes and ladders.

Yeah, we don't use that term.

I'm going to explain that in this episode.

So what is relapse? Relapse is a moment where your mind or your body was not able to hold a sensation and it forgot.

It didn't remember how a previous choice you made led to an outcome.

That's relapse.

Yeah, so you're going to screw up.

You're going to, you don't have to relapse.

Relapse can be a part of recovery.

Something that bothers me is when people say relapse is a part of recovery.

It sure can be, but it doesn't have to be.

Guilt can lead to amends, but shame tells a person they are fundamentally bad.

That's where relapse begins.

Relapse does not begin with a drink or a pill.

It begins with a thought.

The conversation widens into politics, cruelty, and empathy.