"As the pieces of the puzzle began locking into
place, it was absolutely mind-blowing!"
In 2013, I suffered a painful accident that affected my
upper neck and shoulders. Doctors sent me home with no x-rays or
tests, just some pain medication and a promise that it would
improve. A short
time later I began experiencing vertigo, an early onset of
menopause, extreme fatigue, and anxiety. I finally made a doctor's
appointment and learned that I had an underactive thyroid which
he believed explained my symptoms. Being on long-term medication was
personally not a road I wanted to travel, so I chose to take a more natural
approach. For 5 years I managed to support my thyroid with
essential oils and supplements, and although my TSH numbers were
only showing minor improvement, they helped to manage my
symptoms dramatically. In the summer of 2019, my vertigo
suddenly became more intense and I started experiencing brain fog,
vision changes and my anxiety began to take over my life. I
just knew that there was something else going on, but having lost
complete faith in the medical system which I felt were
constantly trying to push pills to suppress my symptoms rather
than healing the root cause of the problem, I began searching for the
answers myself.
In February of 2020, our 25-year-old son was
killed in a tragic workplace
accident and the entire landscape of my life changed in a split
second. All of the band-aids I was using to hold myself together
were suddenly ripped off, causing a very rapid decline in my
health. The grief and stress set the
wheels in motion and all of my symptoms became magnified while
new ones quickly began emerging. Less than 9 short months
later came the sudden and tragic loss of my sister. Her kidneys
had begun shutting down a few years previously, but she suddenly
took a turn for the worse. She was admitted to the hospital and
was to be prepped for dialysis. During what should have been a
very simple procedure, the surgeon clipped a major
artery, and
our hospital was not equipped to deal with it. She went into
cardiac arrest and passed away. We were in complete shock all
over again. Next to my
husband, she was my best friend and the biggest support system I
had during the loss of our son. I soon became a mere shell of my old
self, although most people would have never known my true inner struggle.
Moving Forward
My own healing journey has not been easy. Trying to connect the dots
and find the answers I needed to heal my mind and body was like
trying to find a needle in a haystack. By this time, I had developed widespread
pain throughout my body, chronic fatigue, poor sleep, hair loss, weight gain, anxiety,
depression, headaches, TMJ pain, brain fog, memory loss, tinnitus,
numbness in my hands and feet, circulatory issues, swelling,
digestive issues, restless leg syndrome, dry skin, sensitivity to
cold, and hair loss. Just to name a few. (*Insert eye roll). Frustration
soon followed as doctors only wanted to prescribe pills to treat each of
my symptoms individually, but with my long list of symptoms, let's
face it, I would have required another house just to store all of my medications.
Seriously. And with all of the side effects and interactions between these
medications, I knew this was just not an option. I was always
taught to follow my gut, and my gut was telling me that all of my
symptoms were somehow connected. If indeed this was the case, then treating the
symptoms separately was ridiculous. I knew I needed to find the one common
link in all my symptoms so that I could find the root cause. I
knew I needed to address that instead of masking the
symptoms with a plethora of pills. So, in my desperate need for
answers, I turned to Google, read more books than I had
probably ever read in my entire life, watched podcasts and registered
for information clinics. To be honest, I was so overwhelmed by
all the conflicting information that it made me feel even more
defeated in my quest for answers. I decided the only way I may
ever get the answers I was looking for was to return to school
and learn the right way. And at my age, that was a daunting
thought.
I dove into my studies at IIN (Institute of Integrative
Nutrition) where I completed a 1 year program and graduated as a
certified health and nutrition coach. I was blessed to have been
instructed by some of the world's leading functional medical
doctors and alternative medicine advocates. It was through this
amazing experience that I learned how everything is indeed
connected, just as the dots were finally connecting for me. I
took a very special interest in the field of autoimmune diseases
and hormones, along with the role they play in our health.
Autoimmunity happens when our body’s immune system gets
confused, and it begins attacking itself. Doctors are limited in
their training and treatment for this diagnosis, and therefore,
they can only treat the symptoms. Due to the lack of medical
treatment options available, anti-body testing is not done unless a
patient insists. These tests cost the healthcare
system money, and even if the tests confirmed high levels of
antibodies, there are no medications that will address these
conditions (except immune suppressing drugs which can cause even
more side effects and problems) which means separate
medications are still required for each individual symptom. Due
to this, our medical system considers testing antibodies as
a huge waste of time and money. I mean, "Why test for something
you can't treat?" It was at this moment that a light bulb went
on and the pieces of the puzzle began falling into place. It was a major
A-HAH moment! My sister had
several autoimmune diseases including Graves' disease and
Fibromyalgia. Her life consisted of taking pills for every
different symptom over the past 25+ years. Upon her passing, the realization of exactly
how many medications she had been taking completely floored me! I
suddenly realized that her kidney disease was not just some random
freak of nature or bad luck, but rather, it was caused by the
overload of prescription medications which in turn, overwhelmed
her kidneys causing Acute Renal Failure.
THIS became
my WHY. I did not want to head down this road and
I certainly did not want to lose another family member or friend
to something that could so easily be prevented!
Armed with this information and a newfound
determination, it not only lead me to the answers I was so
desperately seeking for myself, but in turn, has put
me on the path to helping others to prevent the same outcome. I
only wish that I had this information before I lost
my amazing sister. It was especially hard on me when I realized
that all of this could have been so easily prevented and she
could still be here with us today if I'd have only known what I know
now.
My Diagnosis
I always say be your own advocate. Tune into your gut instincts
... you know your body better than anybody. Even a good doctor
will tell you that. I was finally diagnosed with 5 autoimmune
diseases by a homeopathic doctor. I insisted that my medical
doctor run tests to confirm and the results came back positive.
Lucky for me, all of my training had taught me how to take a
functional approach to address the root cause of the problems.
Within weeks I was already feeling better and over time I began
to notice many of my symptoms disappearing, including my hot
flashes and other menopause symptoms.
That was only one bonus! Also being able to control my weight
(weight gain is another glorious side effect of an underactive
thyroid) was so much easier. Within 1 year, I lowered my thyroid TSH from 22 down to
5
and my antibody numbers also began dropping. Today, managing my autoimmune diagnosis allows
me to live my life symptom free, with so much more energy to
focus on my family and my business. I definitely understand how
hard the struggle can be, but I am living proof that autoimmune
remission is possible.
*Awareness Regarding the Possible Overuse of Medications:
If you want more information regarding the overuse of
medications and their long term side effects, please visit our resources page.
THE POSSIBLE DANGERS OF MEDICATIONS
