NBS #132: The Breast Implant Illness Conversation Women Need to Hear

What if the thing you did to feel more confident was quietly affecting your health?

In this episode of Never Been Sicker, Michael Rubino welcomes back Vivienne Reign for a powerful conversation about breast implant illness, plastic toxicity, beauty standards, and what it really means to age well.

Vivienne shares how she began noticing symptoms like brain fog, inflammation, food sensitivities, rashes, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, puffiness, and unexplained weight gain before discovering elevated plastic toxicity in her body. That discovery led her to question whether her breast implants could be contributing to her symptoms.

Timestamps
00:00 – What Is Breast Implant Illness?
01:15 – Vivienne’s Symptoms Begin
02:14 – Discovering Plastic Toxicity
03:00 – How Implants Break Down Over Time
04:20 – What Women Need To Know About Explants
06:24 – Why Women Get Breast Implants
07:32 – Alternatives To Implants
09:20 – Are Newer Implants Really Safer?
10:16 – Botox, Fillers & Toxic Beauty
13:00 – Food Is The Foundation
14:18 – Natural Alternatives To Botox
15:12 – Lymphatic Drainage & Red Light Therapy
17:15 – Stem Cells & Skincare
21:18 – The Rise Of Graceful Aging
22:59 – Why Health Is The New Beauty
25:34 – The Problem With Quick Fixes
26:20 – Weight Loss Drugs & Beauty Culture
28:15 – Your Environment Shapes You
30:37 – The Moment Everything Changed
33:02 – Stop Normalizing Fatigue
37:01 – Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore
37:31 – Functional Testing & Root Causes
39:08 – Investing In Your Health
40:23 – Your Body Is Your Greatest Asset
42:19 – Honest Conversations About Health
43:09 – Where To Find Vivienne Reign

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Vivienne Reign is a healthcare entrepreneur leading the next wave of medical innovation. She’s generated over $200 million in cash treatments revenue, founded 12 multimillion-dollar businesses, and partnered with doctors to scale 600 clinics across the U.S. She builds what others only talk about.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

My name is Michael Rubino. I'm on a personal mission to make sure that you don't get sick inside your own home.

SPEAKER_03 0:05

I knew there was something wrong. I'm just so relieved there's something that you can do about it.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Hello and welcome to another episode of Never Been Sicker. I'm your host, indoor air quality expert, Michael Rubino. And today's very special guest, welcome back actually, Vivian Rain.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be back.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Good to have you back. So first off, we're here to talk today about breast implant illness. Can you tell us what it actually is and how you've come to know that you had that originally?

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Sure. I will say that it's a lot of symptoms and it can appear different in different people. I mean, they've listed up to a hundred different symptoms. I can tell you what I was personally experiencing that most people suffer from is going to be things like brain fog, autoimmune responses, rashes, swollen lymph nodes, uh, increased illness. They get sick often. They have things like that going on consistently. And one of the things that happens with breast implant illness is it it escalates over time. So all of those symptoms aren't necessarily present right on the onset. You don't have a breast augmentation and then wake up the next day, right? It builds over time. It was really interesting to learn, you know, why that happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

How did you know that that that was affecting you?

SPEAKER_03 1:26

So I actually didn't know at first. I didn't know what it was. I knew overall I had some health issues that I was noticing. I had put on weight no matter what I did. I was having increasing sensitivities to food, fabrics, environments. I was getting rashes more often. I felt puffy all the time. My energy had crashed. So I was noticing all these things. And to be honest, I didn't know what it was. Out of the things I identified, I had gone through a list of cleaning up my nutrition, finding out I couldn't eat gluten, you know, removing foods that I was reactive to and it still the symptoms still persisted. It wasn't until I had a test that showed plastic toxicity that I thought something might be wrong. And the weird thing for me was I have really taken time over the years to clean up. I don't eat out of plastic and disposable containers. I don't store things in Ziploc. I drink only out of glass. You know, I'd done all the things. So where's this plastic coming from?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

So interesting.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

And then it dawned on me. I'm doing all these things to massively improve my health. And I've put two giant plastic bulbs in me. It seems so crazy to say it now, but how how crazy that I didn't even consider it.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

I don't think it's that crazy because I think it's wildly popular.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

It is. And it and especially was when I did it 14 years ago, right? And it was really interesting because I thought, oh no, one of them must have burst, right? I had an incident where my sister's dog really loves me and he's a giant 110-pound chocolate lab, jumped up and pounced on me. And I definitely felt something shift and it was really painful. So when I found this out about this plastic toxicity, I thought, for sure, I popped an implant. It's leaking in me, everything. I went and did an MRI and it wasn't leaking.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

Yeah, I went and saw a specialist and she basically gave me the understanding, which I didn't get until then. It's like, okay, say for example, they say uh plastic particles, PFAS, right? The forever chemicals leak into your water from plastic water bottles. She goes, the water bottle doesn't have a tear in it. The plastic actually degrades over time. And she explained that the same thing happens with an implant. And the reason you have to get them redone every 10 years is because the plastic actually just starts degrading from the moment it gets put in your body. It doesn't have to be leaking, right? And so that's part of the reason why the symptoms tend to increase over time because it's degraded further and further and further in your body. And now the really scary studies are about women who have these implants and are going in saunas now and trying to live these healthy lives of longevity and wellness, right? And they're taking and heating up plastic inside of them.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Sounds like a recipe for disaster. You know what I'm thinking about is like when you go to the Chinese restaurants and you get these plastic containers, and obviously if you reheat them in the microwave, right? Then the plastic leaches into the food.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

And people do that all the time. And I have no idea because it because we really have never been educated on this subject.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

Exactly. And then you're doing that in your own body. And I went to a fantastic doctor. And I think one of the things I would really want women to understand who are looking at this, and do I have this, right? And starting to evaluate their symptoms related to breast implant illness is there's a lot of different doctors out there who say they do X plants, which is the procedure for removing the breast implant, right? I went to the surgeon who had actually done my original breast augmentation many, many years ago. And he said, Yeah, I do X plant surgeries, no problem. And I went in, and what he actually did was not great at all. He goes in, takes out the implant, and then same day does a fat transfer, leaves in all the scar tissue and the capsule, right, that builds the scar tissue up around the implant because it's your body fighting off a foreign object, leaves that all in there and does a fat transfer the same day. When I researched and found my surgeon who specializes in explants and is doing large-scale research and publishing related to breast implant illness, she does the explant, she removes the implant, right? But then she goes in and does an entire, I believe it's called capslectomy, where they actually remove all of the scar tissue that's built up. And the reason that that's also important is as it degrades, just like in the water in your water bottle, right? As it degrades, that's where it's gone to. It's gone into that scar tissue as the implant has degraded. So unless you remove all of that, you're not going to be fully handling the problem. And then I did think it was really crazy. She said, no, I won't do a fat transmitter. That's simply where they take fat from other areas and kind of add back a little volume, right? She's like, I will not do that until after you've healed for a year to two because it's too much trauma on the body right away. This is a whole process of healing, which I found to be logically true, right? I mean, how can you do all of that to your body in one day when the whole goal is to actually heal it?

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Yeah, I'm not gonna pretend to understand what it's like to be a woman as I sit here before you here today, but obviously there's a reason that people get implants in the first place. Is it a confidence thing? Can you walk us through that process?

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Sure. I I think my story is typical of a lot of women where I had had a baby and I had my my baby young and I had nursed and I wasn't a a person who had much to begin with by way of cup size. And so after that, it was kind of honestly like two deflated balloons. And it just was a point of something I wasn't happy with with my body. Well, back then when I got this done, you know, nearly 15 years ago now, the it was a bit more Baywatch Pam Anderson for the people of that generation, right? It was a much different look that was kind of the fad at the time. And so I got them even bigger than I would have wanted at that time. The surgeon went even bigger than I'd asked for. And for a while it was fun when I'm in my 20s and whatever. But I don't think as I aged, I was comfortable with that decision either. It didn't fit, I don't think, my, my, my style or aesthetic or what I was going for. But I think that there are a lot of women who go and do this because they just want something a little different. And the augmentation allows for that. I think with what we're learning now related to implants, there are other options. The fat transfer is an interesting option. So that if you are at a place where you have had babies or you really aesthetically want to handle that area of your body, there are options that don't require you putting toxic plastics in your body. The, the, the fat transfer, it wasn't easy. I'm not gonna lie. It was a little bit more intense getting the fat, particularly if you're someone who doesn't have a ton of excess fat. Um, but it is a solution that would be more of a natural enhancement rather than putting in, like I said, plastic. I loved my surgeon. I loved her post-op care. And so what I would say for anybody going for even a natural solution is she had such a cool facility. My protocol after was very intense. I had to do 40 hyperbaric treatments two a day for three weeks after, just shy of three weeks, right? For 20 days, starting the day after surgery, because in order for it to work, you have to get the fat tissues to um revascularize and take and live, right? You need to keep those cells living. So she did that. She did lasers to help with healing. And then she actually, in her facility, in her building, has a food kitchen and she cooks fully uh anti-inflammatory food so that you remove inflammation from the body and really give your body a really great chance at healing. So I thought her overall approach to this was m way more in line with health and wellness than the decisions I had made 15 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

You know, it's so interesting. Obviously, plastic surgery is big business. Uh, you know, you hear a lot of these doctors are making arguments that, oh, the implants today are much safer than they were 20 years ago. You know, they they they've evolved, they've learned more. What do you what do you say to that?

SPEAKER_03 9:46

I think a lot of doctors used to say cigarettes didn't affect your health.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

True.

SPEAKER_03 9:50

And I think if we apply a little logic to it and we understand this is plastic in a human body, right? And then go in a sauna, heat it up, or have it degrade, you know, I think we are just now getting to where we're really understanding the consequences and just at the very beginning of starting to understand the consequences of some of those aesthetic decisions. You know, I I'm I personally, this is not gonna be popular with the people, you know, a lot of women, but I'm personally of the belief that we're just starting to see the problems associated with Botox and fillers.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Well, actually, I was gonna naturally lead into there. So obviously, you know, obviously implants are very popular, but so are lip fillers and all these other these other things. Botox, of course. Uh, and what is that like? What is that doing to the body?

SPEAKER_03 10:41

So Botox, I mean botulism, right? You're putting a neurotoxin in your forehead and numbing it. That's why the muscles relax and you don't have wrinkles, right? That's the basic of what you're doing. And I don't understand how you can possibly think putting a neurotoxin in your face is not going to be problematic to some degree. So uh confessions, this is now never been sicker confessions. Uh, I actually did, you know, just like everyone else, as healthy as I am, I I decided, this is quite a few years ago, to do Botox. I said, let's see, right? I'm starting to get older, I'm starting to see the wrinkles. Yeah, let's let's do it. And I did uh it twice. A few months later, I did a really intense Korean facial program, right? Where you had to do all these creams and all these things for a week solid and it really cleansed out your skin. And you know what? And why I never did it again, because that little voice inside my head was like, there has to be something kind of off with this. The places where they injected had giant purple nodes that came out of my skin. Almost like, I don't even know, I not pimples, but just these giant purple bumps of where that toxin was coming out of my skin. And that's me doing it twice ever. So I think if we're really honest with ourselves, there's problems associated. People are having the issues with fillers where the fillers they're putting in their face are continuing to expand over time, stretching out the skin. If you stretch something like that, you're gonna have to continuously feel it to that volume or more, or you know, you're not gonna have that plumpness, right? It's gonna look saggy. And so now these women are having to dissolve fillers. So I think we really need to start to evaluate as a society and women, and especially who do all these things, I think more so than men, um, what is really necessary aesthetically and what is actually not along the line of wellness and longevity for the for the greatest good for the long term in your life?

SPEAKER_01 12:45

I think that makes a lot of sense. And obviously, I think you know, people are searching for solutions to feel better about themselves ultimately. That's what it comes down to.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

And what what are some ways that, what are some alternative ways that people can do to feel better about themselves that don't include all these plasticides and uh neurotoxins that they're putting into their body?

SPEAKER_03 13:05

I love this question. I have been on quite a journey, and because of my businesses in the healthcare field, I get exposed to hundreds of doctors and have gotten to take some of the best data that I've gotten from each of them and put it together to handle a lot of areas of my life. I would say the first thing that I did and that I would tackle first if I was someone going down this journey is your food. You are what you eat, right? And it's gonna have the biggest impact on your skin, your aging, your organ health, your visceral fat if you dial in your diet. And I think if we get back to the root of like eating to live instead of like living to eat, we're gonna make better decisions. Our bodies weren't even made to eat three, four, five times a day, right? We were hunter-gatherers. We'd go out and hunt and eat once a day. And like our bodies just weren't made to stuff our faces like we do in our society at this point in time. And so getting that dialed in, removing processed foods, removing grains and inflammatory foods, just starting with those basics, getting in an adequate amount of protein, good water, it's gonna get you so much further. Cutting down sugars and alcohols, that's gonna get you further than anything you're going to do topically, right? But if you want something really fun that has been my go-to, because obviously I had this ethical dilemma where, okay, I can't put a neurotoxin in my face, but I don't want to have wrinkles. Like, what are you gonna do? So I did go on a big search to find a solution. And I found a good one. It takes a little work and obviously it's a different type of investment, but Botox and fillers aren't cheap. I started doing the buckle, some people say buchall, facial uh lymphatic drain massages. And what I did come to realize is that a lot of what we experience as this puffiness, both in our body and our face, has to do with a lack of uh proper lymphatic drainage. And when they do the buchall massage, it's basically like a workout and a deep tissue workout for your face. And they can sculpt your face and do a lot to alleviate, alleviate wrinkles, tighten skin, and things of that nature. And in doing so, I also learned how to use it's called a gui shaw. Do you know what a gui shaw is?

SPEAKER_00 15:27

No.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

Okay. It is this stone that has a curve on the end, and you can take it and run it along your face and basically move your own lymphatic system. And it's basically a daily workout for your face to keep it toned, plump, to stimulate collagen, things like that. And I know we discussed before, you know, a good quality red infrared light mask and some good facial products will get you very far. It just takes a little diligence.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

All right. So we've got the food obviously being an important foundation, probably probably the water you drink there you breathe, right? The the foundational human health stuff. And then you have uh red light therapy. You've got say the say the stone again.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

It's called um buckle massage or lymphatic drainage massage.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Okay. So we have the massage.

SPEAKER_03 16:15

And then But it's really specific. I think I'm doing a disservice by saying just saying the name. When I say they put gloves on and dig inside your mouth and mold in ways that it is not a pretty look during the massage, but it is a very different type of process. Yes. And they they get all of that moving. So it's a very, it's a very intense process, um, and and really is unlike anything of everything.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

I know what we're doing for Mike Tries It real soon. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

I love this.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

All right. So, okay, so we have the massage, we have the red light therapy, obviously the food, the foundational human health stuff, and then we have some topical things.

SPEAKER_03 16:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

All right, so I like my wife is very into skincare. I don't know what she does, but it takes her like 30 minutes at night before she actually gets into the bed. Yes. Sometimes I'm already sleeping, sometimes I'm awake, you know, it really depends. We try to watch some Netflix shows, never ends well. Usually one of us is sleeping within 30 seconds. Uh, but I'm curious, like, what are these topical treatments that people can do? Um, and how well do they work?

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Well, I think that there's a lot of quality products out there. It is somewhat of a saturated market, but I think that it's given the consumer a lot of really great choices. And there's a lot of off-the-shelf things that are really decent, but there are a few things that are kind of niche, which I do recommend. Um, one of the things that I was taught over time is exfoliating your face is really important. I didn't use to scrub, I thought that it was gonna damage your skin or create wrinkles. I don't know what I thought, but getting really a good uh exfoliator that you use more frequently than I thought was important. The other things that are really kind of on the cutting edge related to topical treatments are gonna be things like stem cells, right? Topically, a lot of people are using stem cells and derma rollers. I think that's really interesting. Some of the stem cells are plant-based and some of them are actually from um the healthy uh pregnant women who had C-sections who donate the cells and they are processed and then being able to be used topically. And if you're going to a medical grade type place, they use needling to get them in of some kind. Or if you're using them at home, they derma roller, which is just it all of those, all that means is the the uh depth of the needle that they're using varies whether it's a professional use or just an in-home kind of roller.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Yeah. So I've seen stuff on Instagram, uh, you know, like the reels and stuff, you know, the for you and I the needling thing, you know, I I've seen that. Uh can you explain a little bit about like what that is and and why there's benefits to it?

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Sure. So basically, the concept of needling of any kind is to be able to get the the cells through the dermis, right? And and in there to do the work. Now, I personally would not do a heated needle like a Morpheus type of needle. There's a lot of research coming out about how it's actually damaging to the skin, but there are much lighter versions of that that are done as medical-grade facials with these stem cell products. And the regenerative medicine products, as they refer to them, are really amazing because of the properties they have in the cells for collagen building, restoration, and repair of the skin, right? You're taking basically the cells of umbilical cords and placentas from healthy delivered babies that are donated by the mothers, and you're getting that quantity and youthfulness of those cells to be able to go to work on your own body. So that's what you're really getting when you utilize those products, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

That's really cool. You know, I uh I'm 37. I turned 38 very soon. And so I feel like I'm getting to that age where I'm gonna start caring about these things. Fortunately, I have paid very little attention to my skin. I say fortunately, I'm probably gonna regret it later.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

You're looking pretty good. You're doing good.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

This is what everyone tells me. You're gonna regret it later. I should have started earlier. My wife's 33, and like she's very starting early, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

I think that's typical though, of men and women.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Is that how that goes? Yes. Okay. So I'm not, I'm not just like an unusual creature.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

No, I think it's, you know, it's kind of one of the things that the women wear as their role in the relationship. And my husband sees me doing this and he's like, Do I need some of that? Do I need to be doing any of this? So I've kind of just taken it on as my role and I hand him here, do this. I try and make it simple but effective. Here, use this, use this, and use this. And he just loves it. And he'll do whatever I put in front of him. So I don't think it's untypical. You're doing good.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

What do they say? Like men are from Mars, women are from Venus, or something like that. We're like two separate aliens trying to figure each other out. Yeah, it's uh I yeah, I I guess I just don't have much of an understanding of like why I need to do these things or et cetera. Um, but I guess, you know, from my understanding, wrinkles are undesirable. Um so you know, then I anytime I like move my forehead and I get like wrinkles there.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

So me too, obviously. I have them. I don't, I don't use Botox. But I think I think we're entering a new era. There actually is a trend towards aging and wrinkles becoming a bit of a fashion, as opposed to the, you know, completely flat forehead that became the craze. There's something now happening that I love, which is graceful aging. And I don't, I'm I'm not 25. I don't wanna look like I'm 25. I do wanna age well and gracefully. Right. But I think that a lot of the the fashion, if you will, and the aesthetic that's becoming beautiful again is to age well and to age healthy. And I don't know about you, but I know my forehead wrinkles have been well earned from both my hard work in life and and my great times of laughing and smiling. And I've gotten to embrace them a bit more as I'm getting older instead of like shunning them as something that was bad. And I think us as a society trying to reevaluate what is beautiful is really important.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

I can agree more. Um, because basically I'm gonna accidentally uh be gracefully aging because I haven't uh been up on all the cool things that that you can do. But I think, you know, it really comes down to like what what does what do we all consider beauty? You know, because uh for me, I think beauty is more of an agreement societally, right? Like we all tend to find beauty in things that are personal to us, but then there's also the societal thing of like whatever we see on billboards all the time of like this is what beauty is supposed to look like or what have you. And I think that helps kind of form this perception.

SPEAKER_03 23:09

Agreed. I think that, you know, there's a difference. And this might not be popular, but I think it's true. I think we skewed way far with body positivity, where everybody was acceptable. And I don't mean that to shame anyone for anything, but I think what is attractive to me and what I hope society starts to find beautiful is health and people who are making good choices for their body. Simply because making those good choices, aging gracefully means you're taking care of yourself. It means you're you're doing what's needed to have the aging and the energy to be of help to your family, of, to society, to have an energy level where you're positive as a person. I mean, bad health choices weigh on you in many ways, and they tend to age people quicker. And so I think as a society, if we start to elevate health and elevate longevity, like we're kind of gravitating towards, and I'm loving it, I think we'll see aging in a different way. And I think instead of plastic bodies and a curated no-wrinkle look, we can start to admire health and wellness and what that actually looks like. I saw this really cool thing where the concept of what is actually um rich, like what the rich have, are actually things that you can't buy anymore, but that you can only get through diligence, right? And a and an ethic related to an area and have to be acquired through work. So, meaning what is going to be cool are things like to be physically fit. You can't cheat that, right? To to be healthy, to have uh health and and and a good complexion. You can't buy those things. They're done through consistently eating well, through supplementing your body, exercise. You know, you have to earn these things, and that's gonna look like what true wealth looks like.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

So interesting. Yeah, I mean, for many different reasons, but I I I tend to agree with that sentiment. I mean, as I look around me, uh, working in an industry, uh, talking to so many different people, um, there there is a lack of work ethic out there. Uh, you know, there's I tend to, when I talk to people and listen to their ideas, one of the things that I tend to grasp from people is there's this desire to like get what I want as quickly as possible. And obviously things don't happen overnight. And then you get into these like get rich quick schemes. Um, and and not just for money, but like that applies to so many different things. Um, for example, like obviously you can get a probably a weight loss drug, for example, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

And then that's a get rich quick scheme for getting the body type that you want.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Because you're you're getting there without putting in the work. And then what ends up happening is once you get off that drug, you gain it back, right? Because you didn't change the things that were required to change to actually make that sustainable. And you can really apply that to any area, whether it's money, relationships, et cetera. Like if you're not putting in the work, you're typically not getting the reward that you want.

SPEAKER_03 26:31

I think you are so spot on. We are seeing it right now where you have get beautiful quick schemes, right? And so you have these weight loss drugs that people are doing. They change nothing about their life. They drop a ton of weight very quickly. They have a sag, loss of muscle tone, a bone density, all of these things, which are going to have long-term health consequences. They stop and then they put it back on again. So I really believe true riches and true wealth in life is going to look like having earned health, having earned beauty, not buying it as a quick fix. Let's be honest. I went to Miami and I don't know if I had amnesia about Miami, but I guess it had been a long time. I went out there and it was a little ridiculous. It was the augmentations that were done to bodies looked cartoony to me. And it was getting so crazy that I hope as a society we've said enough is enough and that we really start to consider our bodies and health over this the plastic, get beautiful, quick game, because it's gotten crazy. And I I can think, I think we can all agree it doesn't end well and it doesn't look right. And I think collectively as a society, both men and women, admiring health is going to take us further than a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Yeah, Miami is a very flashy place. I remember being there in my 20s, uh, going to college in Orlando and driving down to Miami, you know, uh, I don't know, half once every six months or so. And uh yeah, it's a very flashy place. I see what you mean. It was wild what you're saying there.

SPEAKER_03 28:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

You know, um, and that's that's something that's interesting about the societal changes we're talking about is like, you know, obviously you get to these pockets of influence. And sometimes the influence is positive and sometimes the influence is negative. Um I think we really have to understand that the environmental factors at play, like we are going to be a product of our environment. The nice thing about it is you have the ability to change your environment. And I I say that actually physically and metaphorically. Uh, you know, for what I do, indoor air quality, we see this so much where people are at total effect of their environment. It's like, well, you can do something about it. You can change your environment. And it can be done with science. Well, also, if you live in a toxic area, I'm not gonna say Miami's like a toxic place or anything, just saying you happen to live in a toxic area and you feel like you can't you don't fit in quite, quite well, yeah, you can move, or you can you can move. You can take yourself out of toxic relationships, toxic environments in the home, outside of the home, et cetera. You're in a toxic club or school, you can remove yourself from that environment. And so something can be done about it.

SPEAKER_03 29:20

I agree with you. I think not only can something be done about it, but I think one of the easiest things people can do is decide to change their mind about what's beautiful to them, about what's beautiful about themselves. And I think that that kind of decision and power can actually influence the area around you. Not only can you remove yourself if you need to, but I think the inverse is also true that you can decide to change and influence others. And that power of that decision of what is health, what is beauty, what is important to me, what do I admire? And and taking a look at that as a personal check on yourself is something that everyone should do. And you have the power to decide what you admire, what you feel is beautiful, what you want to flow power to, and you can actually affect the area and the environment around you and the friends you hang out with too. And if you can't or it's not working, obviously remove yourself. I have loved moving from an area that I felt was aesthetically and what was important to them was a plastic beauty to an area where life and and being outdoors and eating well was a bit more of what was popular and admired and done in that space. So I I couldn't agree more with you.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Yeah, you you mentioned earlier about going down a specific path, right? And then obviously having a change of mind and you know, what was that catalyst for you?

SPEAKER_03 30:48

Honestly, it was uh aesthetic, uh, a picture of myself that I really didn't recognize myself anymore. And that's a tough moment. I think a lot of times we are who we know ourselves to be. And sometimes you go on through life and you don't realize what you physically look like isn't necessarily matching who you are or how you feel you're perceived. And it was a really harsh reality to see a picture of myself where I felt like I looked tired and puffy and overweight. And I knew that if I was honest with myself, I was tired. I didn't have the energy level. I wasn't able to function like I wanted. I was tired even just to work out. It was a lot to lift an overweight, out of shape, improperly nutritioned body. And it was starting to show in my skin color. And I just didn't look like myself. And I had to decide that I wasn't going to continue anymore, but it took a real look. How long did I go on before I had the moment where I saw the picture and was like, who is that? You know, I was 40 pounds heavier. I, you know, I just my skin didn't look the same. Nothing at my energy level. I would get tired by two o'clock in the afternoon and feel like I almost needed a nap. And I'm in my 30s. That that isn't an adequate existence for me. And I knew I had to do something about it.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

You know what I love about people, uh, as sentient beings, you know, we uh hello, I love the intuition that we all have. Um, and I I always love to validate that in people because obviously you had this intuition, you made a change. And it's that's where it starts. Like you have to make that decision. And that intuition kind of led you down that path. And um, you know, I get to talk to so many people all the time because they're typically dealing with challenges and I'm trying to help them overcome some challenges. And obviously, with what I do, it's typically related to indoor air quality. Uh, but it becomes a very personal experience because there's a problem and then you're looking for solutions. And to find the right solution, you're you're typically having deeper conversations about what it is that you're feeling. And that you could see how people are typically troubled, not only physically but mentally, of what they're going through. Um, and I think it's you having this change of heart and that catalyzing you to make a decision and and really change your life, I think is is so beautiful. Um, you know, and I appreciate that. I there's a darker side to that though, uh, what I which I want to confront. And um, the darker side is typically people normalizing what they're going through. Like I can't believe how many times people have said, Well, I am tired. But it but maybe maybe it's not, you know, my house, or maybe it's not, you know, what I'm what I'm experiencing. Because maybe I'm just supposed to be tired. You know, uh, I you have a daughter, uh, she's here in the room, so that's how I know. And um, you know I have a confession. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 33:51

I'm a grandmother. I have two grandbabies.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Well, now my mind's blown.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

So, yes, I have a daughter and I have two grandbabies, hopefully a third soon.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

So, one of the reasons that I brought up the daughter aspect is because as a mom, right, what I often hear from moms is, well, I have kids. That's why I'm tired. You know, I'm I'm I'm always running, running around, taking them to soccer, this, that, the other thing. I'm tired. And they normalize that, that energy. I I was curious, how did you normalize that at all before you finally realized that it that it wasn't normal?

SPEAKER_03 34:25

Of course. I think normalizing it is simply, if I'm brutally honest about myself at the time, normalizing it and saying, it's just this, it's just that. I'm a mom, I'm uh building my business at that time. My daughter's young, I'm running around, everyone else is a priority, is honestly simply a lack of confront and responsibility for taking care of myself. And the fact is, for people who are busy, you have a responsibility to those around you, to your children, to your future, your grandchildren, your future grandchildren, to your spouse to take better care of yourself and show up for them. And so really, it was a real a tough conversation with myself to look and say, I can create all the reasons why and the excuses, but the fact is it's not a good quality of life. And I'm not showing up like I should and like I could. And though it's hard, most things in life worth having are a bit hard. Right. And that's part of the journey. It's not easy, but it's worth it. And I think a lot of people don't necessarily put in the effort or take the leap because they look at it like I can live with it. I'm doing okay. And the truth is, in my work, I've got to see people who said that to themselves for 20, 30, 40 years. So probably the benefit of the catalyst for me being able to make that decision and get into action is I got to see day after day in all these clinics and with all these doctors, the patients that walk in 40, 30 years later than the people that dealt with it, right? And what that actually looks like at that point in their life. And it's not pretty. And doing something to avoid that pain or that future is definitely worth it if you look down the road at what that looks like at 60, at 70, and living 20, 30 years at the end of your life in pain and ill health and unable to move and enjoy life. That's a sentence I don't think anybody wants. But the truth is, then you better do something about it now. And I had the opportunity to get a very firsthand look at what that looks like when you don't make those decisions.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

And I'm curious for those watching who are trying to figure out are they in this position and needing to make some decisions and looking for a catalyst of their own, what are some of the symptoms that really if I'm experiencing, I should be looking out for and stop normalizing and start getting the answers.

SPEAKER_03 37:12

Absolutely. I think if you lack energy, right? If you lack mental clarity, if you're unable to make it normally through a day with a decent energy level, something's wrong. That's not normal. And I would say there's a few, obviously, I've talked about nutrition already, but there's some things that you can do to identify what is causing that. Get your labs done, not at your primary, invest in yourself and get a functional medicine doctor in your area to do a comprehensive lab panel and really tell you what's going on. Figure out your food sensitivities, what you're eating that your body shouldn't be. Mind blown, mine was spinach and cauliflower, thinking I'm eating healthy. Wow. Those two things are very bad for me in particular, right? Uh get a test to see if you have a gene mutation related to methylation. If you can't methylate, meaning you can't process the things you put in your body into energy correctly, 50% of the population has that.

unknown 38:09

It's a test.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

I'm one of them.

SPEAKER_03 38:10

Yeah. It's a test you do one time. You know, handle handle these basic things and you'll probably feel a lot different. Go to a doctor, the functional medicine doctor, a chiropractors are great at this to get you some basic supplementation. I would take those initial steps, and most people who do that have a completely different life. Obviously, obviously, if you have breast augmentations, I would take a look at the symptoms of breast implant illness and see how many of them you have. Obviously, that's an investment, but I think that you are your best investment. And it will return more to you than anywhere else you put your money in this life, right? So invest in yourself, you know, in in in improving yourself in all ways, specifically your health related to this conversation. Invest in yourself. You know, I think that the the truth is if we invest in ourselves, the return uh is a relatively quick investment return, right? The ROI is there pretty quickly. Bodies are pretty amazing how quickly they can rebound and heal themselves. So great ROI in a short time.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

Totally. Yeah, I think that's a really important point because obviously, look, it's they're a lot of this stuff is expensive. It is. You know, uh, I'm I'm usually recommending expensive changes in improving indoor air quality. You know, uh, we're usually recommending obviously people up level their food. And so if they're not eating organic, they really need to start thinking about eating organic. All of these things, right, cost more money. Seeing a functional medicine doctor typically doesn't take insurance because they're not bound by insurance companies that actually want to help you resolve problems. They're gonna tell you to order tests that aren't gonna be covered by your insurance, but that are really meaningful. I mean, the insurance things uh drives me nuts, just like that whole system's broken.

SPEAKER_03 40:03

But don't get me started. We don't have the time.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

You're right, exactly. But uh, you know, you there there's all these things that you need to do to take care of yourself to be cause over your own life. And I think absolutely, yeah, I think that's really important to harp on because um it's very easy to play the victim. You know, there's a lot wrong with the world we live in, and it's easy to get into that mindset, but there's also a lot right, and being able to live in a place and take control of your life is actually very powerful.

SPEAKER_03 40:34

The brutal truth is, and this is a conversation I've not only had directly with patients in the clinics, but I teach doctors to have there are exchanges and trade-offs you can make in life. And there is very often things that you're spending your money on that aren't doing any good for you, and I would say even doing bad for you. How much does it cost to eat out, to dine out? It costs a lot, right? How much do cigarettes and alcohol cost? A lot. A lot, right? And it's crazy to me how people will go finance a new car when they didn't need one, but they won't finance their health care, meaning like these cash services that are needed and invest in them. Because you're only going to drive that car for so many years, but you're driving this car your whole life.

SPEAKER_02 41:23

True.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Right. And so I think it's about a trade-off. And it starts to become about what you make a priority in your life and what you invest in.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

That's well said. You know, um, I really appreciate you coming down here again and having another conversation with us. I know a little bit different of a conversation this time, but it's really powerful. And I think, you know, I hope uh everyone watching really uh is uplifted by all the information you shared. Because I think, you know, it's really important that we look at things through the right lens. Um, you know, I know it sucks to be told that, you know, you got to look out for plastics and you got to pay attention to the air you breathe and the water you drink and the food you eat. And every day we're bombarded with conflicting information. Do this, do that, don't do this. Oh, you were doing that for four years. Good, that was terrible. Shame on you for doing that. You should have done this instead. Like, you know, it's it's a it's a it's a crazy game out there. And so I think um, you know, it's really important for for us to get an understanding of the positive sides of things and the changes that you can make. Cause I think that's really important, you know, the power in the decision and making changes.

SPEAKER_03 42:29

Well, I appreciate what you're doing here because I believe that people who tell it to you real and say the tough things to you are having the more difficult and caring conversations that others aren't having. And so, you know, that that brutal best friend conversation where it's like, hey, you got to do something this isn't acceptable is true love.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

Yeah. Well, thank you for taking time out of your very busy day to be here with us a second time. I really appreciate it. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your stories. I think it was, you know, it's really, like I said, really important for people to see.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

I appreciate you having me and what you're doing to expose people to this data. And that's my goal is I hope anything that I've shared helps somebody who watched this take action or or raise an awareness that can change their life for the better.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

And in case they missed the first episode, where can people find you?

SPEAKER_03 43:20

People can find me at vivianrain.com and find all about me. There's links to all of my social media. They can follow me at Vivian Rain on any social media platform. And I'm happy to have help anyone who wants to reach out to me directly via any of those platforms.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

Awesome. And thank you.

SPEAKER_03 43:37

Oh, I should say I spell my name weird. It's Vivian Rain, V-I, V-I-E-N-N-E.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

And last name?

SPEAKER_03 43:43

Rain, R-E-I-G-N.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Yeah. So please uh reach out to me. I'm happy to help.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

That's awesome. Well, if you didn't catch the first episode, you should check, definitely check it out. Because we learned a lot about red light therapy. And I think that is a game changer for those in need. And thank you for joining us for another episode of Never Been Sicker. I'm your host, indoor air quality expert, Michael Rubino. And until next time.