My Healing Story

I wish I could say that my greatest health accomplishment came from my weight loss of 90 lbs back in 2011, but that was simply just the beginning of discovering what my body was truly capable of. May of 2013, I had just graduated college, landed my dream job, moved in with my boyfriend, and was truly on top of the world. I knew this was the greatest time of my life, which is why I found it so strange that I began experiencing unexplainable, debilitating symptoms. Gradually, as I started my new job and started making my way as an adult in society, my health took a serious turn for the worse. I first noticed painful digestive distress at work and at night before bed. My daily workouts couldn’t keep the weight or bloat from my stomach, and my energy wasn’t what it used to be. After a serious bout of mono that left me bed ridden for over 10 days, my immune system had officially crashed. I knew something was wrong and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

At this time, I was eating a low calorie diet to maintain my weight loss from college and was very confident that what I was eating was good for me. Smoothies with whey protein for breakfast, fruit for snacks, salads for lunch, etc. I should have been in the best shape of my life! This is what I told doctor after doctor when I went in to explain my fatigue and constipation. My primary care physician seemed concerned after all of my blood work came back normal.

He told me, “It seems you may be struggling to adapt to the responsibilities of adulthood. Have you ever considered antidepressants?” EXCUSE ME?!

2015, So toxic due to moldy living environment and bacterial overgrowth in the body. Skin was always yellow, hair was thin, and eyes were puffy.

If anyone here knows me personally, you know that I am the furthest person from depressed. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I said no thank you, yet he continued to write me a prescription. That began the year of prescriptions that I never picked up from the pharmacy. Birth control, thyroid hormone replacements, and antibiotics were all recommended and each one made me feel worse and worse. It wasn’t until October 2015 I had my first answer.

Even after receiving normal test results for my thyroid, I decided to go to a specialist due to the long history of thyroid disease in my family. My endocrinologist took the same blood tests, and came back with the same normal results. I begged him for an answer and he decided to check one last thing! He pulled out his sonogram and found that my thyroid was not only covered in scar tissue, but it was extremely inflamed. He asked me if I had ever heard of the autoimmune disease: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This was the beginning of my new calling in life.

Autoimmune disease is an incurable disorder where your immune system can be easily triggered by a number of outside sources to attack your bodies’ own healthy organs, tissue, and cells.

It is one of the most common, undiagnosed health issues in America and could take most people up to a decade of symptoms before a doctor can get to the bottom of it. The problem isn’t with the organs themselves, but the immune system wearing away at them until they can no longer function normally. That’s when a doctor can finally find a diagnosis; by the time it’s too late. 

2016, inflamed from the alcohol with brunch dealing with brain fog and fatigue.

I was so excited to finally have an answer and ran home to google this new information. The recommendation he sent me home with was to try going gluten free and see if it helps. Little did I know gluten was only step 1. Weeks with no gluten, and barely any results left me frustrated and defeated. The only thing that made me feel better was doing research online and discovering multiple bloggers with autoimmune disease that had found answers and recovery through the PALEO DIET by removing inflammatory foods and allowing the body to heal while your immune system stays calm. I knew I had to dedicate myself to this to see if it would make any difference. After a month of absolutely NO gluten, dairy, legumes, grains, soy, or refined sugar, I began recognizing parts of myself I hadn’t seen in years. My stomach settled down, my energy bounced back, and a cloud that constantly lingered over my head cleared. I could focus on conversation and have energy to pay attention to movies again. I didn’t realize how much I had been suffering until my symptoms subsided. Unfortunately, this was only short lived and after a few months, symptoms began popping back up again and again. The normal paleo foods I was eating continued to cause digestive distress and the headaches, body aches, and infections came back with a vengeance. I had definitely seen improvements, but I knew it was time to begin getting down to the root cause of my issues because there was more going on than Hashimoto’s alone.

After tracking down an infectious diseases doctor in June of 2016 who laughed at my face when I told him I suspected a bacterial overgrowth, I was done with doctors who were unable to help me. I received a recommendation from a coworker for a holistic doctor (applied kinesiologist/chiropractor) in town and knew this was my last possible hope for finding answers to why my gut looked 6 months pregnant, why half my hair and eyelashes were gone, why my skin was dry and yellow, why I felt anxious and depressed in social situations, why I couldn’t stay up past 9 PM without my eyelids forcing themselves shut, why I had to stop working out because it only made me feel more fatigued, why I was getting sinus infections every other month, and why I had a permanent hangover after even one or two alcoholic beverages. After 5 minutes talking with my holistic doctor, I immediately burst out in tears. Her words exactly were,

“I know what’s wrong with you, we’re going to fix it, and you’re going to get better.”

No one in 4 years had said anything like that to me, and I believed her. I had lost much of my hope throughout trying diet after diet and not finding permanent answers to what would work for me. I was exhausted trying to figure it out on my own. At age 22, no one should have had to deal with questioning their own sanity, and health, and my goal is to be there for anyone who feels alone at the beginning of all of this. First off, know that you’re not crazy!! There are answers and what you’re feeling is real.

Symptoms are a bodies’ way of sending you a sign for help!

2017, underweight dealing with gallstones, stress, missed periods, and extreme blood sugar dysregulation. Trying to enjoy myself at Paleo FX, but became dizzy and fatigued after too much sugar.

Anything you experience that isn’t normal, is your body crying out to you. I began seeing a Naturopath in 2018 on top of my Applied Kinesiologist and the two of them have helped me discover, heal and manage leaky gut, autoimmune disease, SIBO, parasites, gallstones, Epstein-Barr Virus, a hiatal hernia, mold toxicity, traumatic brain injury, MTHFR, candida-overgrowth, and more. Everyone has their own puzzle to put together and mine was impossible to do alone. That’s why I made the decision to get my NTP certification from the Nutritional Therapy Association in order to be my own health advocate and understand what was going on inside of my body. I had no idea how this education would inspire me to help others on their road to wellness and I’m so excited to have the strength now to begin educating people with the information I’ve been lucky to experience first hand.

I strongly encourage anyone questioning any health issues to NOT GIVE UP, stay positive, and stay consistent. Healing the gut takes 18 months with the help of a health care professional! I found myself sensitive to a long list of things including blueberries and cinnamon for a while, but as your body heals….the sensitivities clear and you’re able to discover what your relationship with food will look like for the long term.

I will never say anything about this was easy, except making the decision to put my health first over anything else!

There are so many nights I had to say no to social plans because I knew I would wake up the next day and feel worse. I gave up alcohol, caffeine, and eating more than 25 grams of sugar in February of 2016 and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But in the end, I’ve been able to grow stronger as an individual and have been able to learn and uncover the truth about exactly what’s going on inside my body. If I experience any kind of symptom, I know exactly what to do and how to fix it. Bone broth, avocado, collagen peptides, coconut butter, and apple cider vinegar are my best friends and I will never go anywhere without an Eating Evolved midnight coconut chocolate bar. I have mastered the art of shopping for the cheapest organic produce, and conveniently cooking without making a mess in the kitchen every day. I work a full-time job and have to bring breakfast, snacks, and lunch in my non-toxic glass tupperware to work every day with confidence knowing every decision I make is one that will benefit my healing journey; including getting no less than 7 hours of sleep every night and chugging over half my body weight in ounces of filtered water.

This blog isn’t a place to wallow in self pity about all the foods and activities I can no longer be a part of, but celebrate how absolutely free and amazing I feel every morning when I wake up with energy and strength to be the best version of myself.

I have learned more about myself through this journey than a person probably learns about themselves throughout most of their life. I am here to say that I have nothing to hide and wish to be an open book to people struggling with their own healing journeys. All I want to do is help people find the answers they’ve been searching for and be able to tell someone one day, “I know what’s wrong with you, we’re going to fix it, and you’re going to get better.”