In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO -- who goes by "Dr. Mike" on social media -- has an in-depth conversation with a fitness influencer infected with Mycobacterium after vitamin B12 shots.
Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):
Bea Amma: It's a constant mental exercise. I have to kind of like force myself and pull this positivity out of me. There were so many days in the hospital I was like, "Don't save me. I would rather die."
So many days on independent treatment I was... finding the will to live was very difficult for me. Those are the things that like I don't talk about super openly because I don't want to focus on that. I want to focus on how can I love my body more and how can I finally like beat this once and for all.
Varshavski: Bea Amma is a 26-year-old social media creator who has a story the world needs to hear. Being a young woman who cared about her fitness and image, she was sold on the idea of looking fitter and having more energy by getting B12 and fat-dissolving shots at a local med spa in California. Little did she know she would wind up becoming infected with a rare, drug-resistant, skin-destroying Mycobacteria, leading to a 3-year medical journey that is still ongoing. Throughout our discussion, she openly talks about her darkest moments -- both mentally and physically -- her call for proper regulation in the Wild West of the cosmetic industry, and most importantly her quest for self-love through post-traumatic growth. Please welcome Bea to The Checkup podcast.
I reacted to your TikTok. I saw that you went through this journey of developing scars and infections. How did that whole process start up?
Amma: It was one day in April. I was 23. I wanted to go get B12 injections as like an early birthday gift to myself. I was new to Los Angeles and I was working a lot. I was like, "Well, I have gotten B12 shots before. It helps with energy," and this place in specific that reached out to me on Instagram was like, "Oh, yeah. We have this amazing compound of B12 and deoxycholic acid." At that time, I was trying to become an up-and-coming influencer for like fitness and bikini modeling, and stuff like that, so my appearance was really important to me. I was just like, "Wow, this sounds amazing."
Varshavski: What were the claims around those injections? What were they saying?
Amma: Well, it was essentially Kybella, which is a fat dissolver, and that you also get the positive benefits of like vitamin B12 injections. The before and after pictures of their aesthetic Instagram did a really great job at selling it to me as well, and everything looked totally legit. It was in a Salon Republic. They added a really nice tattoo shop in the front of the building, like all-glass windows. Everything looked super clean. Everything looked super nice. They had all these fake certificates posted and I was like, "Oh, yeah. This is going to be great."
Varshavski: What, they DM'd you or they asked through friends? How did they reach you?
Amma: They found me on Instagram and then I got on their page, and I was like, "Oh, I see you do B12 shots." Then they were like, "Yeah. It's this amazing compound of B12 and deoxycholic acid."
Varshavski: And they were like "We'd help you with your appearance" in trade for what?
Amma: Well, they were just like, "Yeah, you can vlog the entire thing," and then I would get like credits if people came.
Varshavski: Oh, OK. Got it.
Amma: Yeah.
Varshavski: You were doing this because you were tired, hoping that the B12 injections would help with that, aesthetic improvements?
Amma: Yeah. I was being way too hard on myself when I moved to Los Angeles. I was working a lot. I started a new job and I was expecting myself to have this energy that I wasn't going to naturally have. I was overdoing the caffeine and I think my body was taking a hit. Instead of listening to my body appropriately, I cared more about the aesthetics and the hustle culture and mindset that I was pretty wrapped up in at that period of time. I was like, "Look, I'm going to look better and I'm going to feel better, so I'm going to do it."
Varshavski: That's a promise that I think anybody would want to hear, especially in this day and age. You said you did the B12 shots before. How did your journey of wanting to do supplement injections start?
Amma: Oh, yeah. So I did B12 shots one time whenever I started a new sales job and I loved the way it made me feel. I don't know if it was placebo or if there were definitely some real results there, but I did a YouTube vlog on my experience getting B12 shots. That video went viral and I was like, "OK, people like this kind of content, people are interested in this." Then, of course, like I had a lot of energy. I was crushing it at my sales job. So, of course, I move here and I'm feeling low energy, and I have a new job and I'm like, "I'm going to do that again and I'm going to vlog about it again." But this time it went left.
Varshavski: Sure. The idea of taking B12 injections, that initially start by taking oral supplements and then go to injections?
Amma: Yeah. I was taking oral vitamin B12 and I think this was, too, at a time where a lot of people were talking about B12 injections. It was starting to grow in popularity. This was about like 2019 whenever it really started to grow in popularity and that's when I first started getting them done. I liked it. I swear, it really did help me feel good. I don't know if I was deficient in vitamin B12 -- that's a question I get asked a lot -- but I think I have always kind of been like a sleepier girl. As somebody who is kind of already on the tired side, wanting to be this hustler and live a fast-paced life, taking things to "improve energy" or improve metabolism, it was attractive to me.
, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 11 million subscribers.