This isn't just about me,
let me tell you why.
My mother was diagnosed with Hashimoto's and went through the exact same issues with diets, protocols, supplements and doctors. I became extremely frustrated for her as I watched her try everything and still saw no results.
These surface level interventions were clearly not doing the job. It made her feel good for a short time only to bounce right back to square one.
ALONE, WE CAN DO SO LITTLE, TOGETHER,
WE CAN DO SO MUCH
THIS IS MY WHY
My Mother's Dark Autoimmune Story
For as long as I can remember, my mom constantly needed to visit neurologists for her excruciating migraines when I was growing up. Nearly every other day she was crippled from sheer pain.
So, imagine me as a 5-year-old child who had a mom that could never leave her bed and muster up the energy to do anything with me. She didn’t know what to do anymore for the migraines, so she lived on all sorts of pain medications.
My parents had just gotten married when I was born in 1987, but it turned south very quickly. My mom didn’t know how to find joy and peace in her life anymore. Between the physical and the emotional pain within the marriage, every day was a fight for her to find hope and happiness.
During one Wednesday morning, my mom sulked at the bottom of her bedroom closet beneath two rows of medications.
She took the dozen of medication bottles she had and dumped them on the bed.
She didn’t feel worthy enough to live.
But a magical moment happened….. something stopped her from continuing. She described it to me as of a wave of guilt and worry rushed over her.
She said, “What would happen with Justin if I was gone?”
The thought of her leaving me behind when I was already feeling left behind paralyzed her. It spared her life... and really mine too.
One night, she became violently sick, throwing up aggressively and felt like she had been stabbed in the gut. The ambulance arrived within minutes and I watched her get carried away by the paramedics as I sobbed and screamed, feeling completely confused and scared of what was happening.
And I still have flashbacks of that night...
Between the divorce, chronic migraines, a whirlwind of anxiety, anger and guilt, she had Hashimoto’s brewing inside for at least 20 years and didn’t even know it.
Sooner or later, the non-stop stress she had been living with came down like an avalanche one day and catapulted her into full blown, stage 3 Hashimoto’s that the doctors decided to finally diagnose her with.
After spending 6 years jumping around from one doctor to the next only to be told to keep taking her Synthroid or not being listened to at all, the fatigue, IBS, migraines, brain fog, hair loss and weight gain got exponentially worse. She felt more hopeless and more miserable than ever.
I had just enrolled in graduate school around 2013 to study alternative medicine for cancer when she was diagnosed. But after hearing all about these failures, I became incredibly frustrated.
I MADE IT MY MISSION TO
HELP HER FIND A SOLUTION
So, I spent 4 years training with my professors, studying, researching, and reading papers all about Hashimoto’s. I can’t emphasize this enough....
I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by how conventional medicine was feeding her so many lies. The amount of misinformation out there and how many hidden truths there were about Hashimoto’s that she wasn’t told.
Her naturopaths weren’t doing anything better for her either, unfortunately, I learned that they were just giving her 15 supplements, giving her a detox and telling her to cut out more and more foods.
At this point from what I had learned, I knew whole heartedly that there was more to Hashimoto’s than healing a leaky gut, doing a detox, taking 15 supplements, changing your diet and taking medication because that clearly wasn’t working out for her.
So, I began integrating different strategies that addressed the most important part of this disease that no one was doing!
Her immune system!
After applying these strategies consistently for at least 3 months, you wouldn’t believe it...
Her thyroid antibodies got down below 100 for the first time in 6 years, her bloating and constipation went away, she started losing weight again and believe it or not, her migraines finally went away - the exact issue no neurologist could have figured out for her. I was in complete disbelief but was so extremely excited.
To this day...
She is miraculously still in remission
and no longer suffers
Autoimmunity is complicated.
Everyone is different, but I know now that the biggest contributor to my mom’s Hashimoto’s was from countless years of STRESS. She had also had a type A personality, suffered from childhood trauma, emotional neglect, feelings of unworthiness, and lived an overcommitted lifestyle.
Her health problems affected me dramatically too. I was born during the peak of all of this and eventually became diagnosed with...Tourette's Syndrome.
Tourette's Syndrome
It is a tic disorder and involves involuntary movements. Surprisingly, I was able to heal it through my lifestyle, but it’s a reminder to me that my mom’s undiagnosed autoimmune disease, trauma and stress were responsible for my mental health disorder.
Childhood and early adult trauma is an ongoing problem I see in the autoimmune world. It’s a hugely missed factor. Because of my mom’s trauma and my own, it is a crucial component to healing autoimmune disease with our clients, and that’s why we focus on mind-body medicine.
Autoimmunity is much more than trauma of course, but it’s a highly overlooked and an under-recognized part that gets forgotten. Often, many people don’t realize they have it too.
Many women, and maybe yourself, are struggling exactly how my mom did. But I want you to know that I hear you, you’re not alone and you have our unconditional support.
The one thing I always say is...
"If lifestyle got you here,
then lifestyle can get you out".
THE AUTOIMMUNE REVOLUTION
The community where you can finally get answers and see change.
What to expect on the Autoimmune Revolution Radio
- How to recall trauma memories and what you forget
- How to make sense of thyroid lab results
- How to exercise for autoimmune disease
- 6 reasons why you can't lose weight and it's got nothing to do with diet
What to expect on the Autoimmune Revolution Radio
- How to recall trauma memories and what you forget
- How to make sense of thyroid lab results
- How to exercise for autoimmune disease
- 6 reasons why you can't lose weight and it's got nothing to do with diet
- and so much more...
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