My Story
As long as I can remember, I didn’t feel good in my body. I was sick through most of my childhood with Strep Throat and on antibiotics continually from September to May every year. I depended on nose spray for congestion because I couldn’t breathe clearly without it. I never had the kind of energy healthy kids had . . .I was exhausted all the time. By the time I was 22, I was diagnosed with a systemic yeast infection, food sensitivities, and a uterine fibroid. My cycles were too short and my periods were heavy with cramps that kept me in bed. At this point I was only able to eat 4 foods without a reaction. My energy was so low that I couldn’t even work. It took all my energy to just do basic things.
Then I got pregnant and things only got worse. My blood sugar became so unstable I began passing out and was diagnosed with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). After I had my baby, I never bounced back. My energy didn’t improve and neither did the hypoglycemia. After my second baby, I continued to feel worse. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, dysthymic depression, and anxiety disorder. My life was so out of control, and I couldn’t see a way out.
I was desperate for answers. . .
After seeing all sorts of practitioners who could not help me, I found a Naturopath who introduced me to herbalism. Using herbs, my Fibromyalgia disappeared, my energy improved, I was able to eat more foods, and my depression lifted. My health was moving in the right direction, but I still struggled having enough energy to get basic things done or have a life.
Over the next decades, I continued to search for relief from my shifting but worsening symptoms.
My eating started to spiral out of control. I gained 50 lbs. Thankfully my Naturopath recommended an anti-fungal diet and protocol, and I was able to lose the weight.
In searching for relief from my anxiety and panic attacks, I found Health Kinesiology. The techniques from my first class stopped my attacks in their tracks. HK empowered me to make changes that I wanted to make, but was too overwhelmed to do. It relieved my anxiety and brought me immense emotional peace.
Then I started having severe constipation; no one could tell me why. With herbs, I learned how to manage it and “live with it.” But it was a warning sign for things to come.
In 2008, I crashed again. . .
I had already been on a “gluten-free” diet for a few years, but then my body started acting like I was eating it. I was sick and inflamed, and my energy was completely gone again. I couldn’t move without pain and my joints were very swollen. I realized I needed to remove all grains from my diet, and I slowly returned to my usual low-energy state, and the pain and inflammation left.
Things in my body seemed to be manageable. Then, out of the blue, I started having severe abdominal pain and every trip to the bathroom was diarrhea. I knew I needed to find answers to these issues. I couldn’t live like this. I began the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. My diarrhea and my horrible pain stopped within a few days, but then I was back to constipation!
In 2011, I began looking for ways to shrink my uterine fibroids, silently growing all these years. Their growth had distended my belly and strangers started to ask me if I was pregnant! I went to an OBGYN and was told my belly was the same size as a 33-week pregnancy. In October, I had a hysterectomy and my removed uterus weighed over 10 lbs. In 2012 I had another surgery to repair the many hernias under my hysterectomy incision. My surgery blood work also showed that I had high blood sugar now! I needed to know how to find the causes for all these problems in my body. This led me to Functional Diagnostic Nutrition.
Today I have abundant energy, a pain-free gallbladder, enjoy eating many healthy foods without pain or other consequence, and blood sugar that’s always in normal range. Learning to use all this information for myself has been the key to feeling fantastic!
