I Am My Own Health Detective

I came out as sick!

Last week I presented my journey to finding wellness for myself as a presenter at the Institute for Behavioral Health and Wellness Training's conference.

I named my little workshop 'Becoming a Wise Self Healer'. They operative word is 'becoming'.

I have had a lot of health challenges or what I label chronic, complex conditions.

I started with hypoglycemic reactions to the standard American diet (SAD) that plagued me in my earliest memories and was compounded by a fall at age 13 when I chipped my coccyx. Thus began lifelong back pain. And my struggle with my weight.

About ten years later, in my twenties, a hole in my upper jaw bone expressed itself requiring a year on antibiotics before surgery. The antibiotics caused chronic vaginal and bladder infections and led to systemic candidadiasis.

Then I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and interstitial cystitis. The next decade it was cough variant, viral induced asthma, depression, left piriformis injury and pelvic prolapse.

For twenty-five years I only had two teeth that touched, causing TMJ and bite problems. Menopause greatly impacted my ability to sleep and made weight gain even easier.

I did a lot to help myself: supplements galore, a variety of holistic treatments, conventional doctors, lifestyle change, yoga, mindfulness, pilates, and nutritional adaptations.

I approach my health challenges as a detective of sorts. I study functional medicine and integral healing modalities. I am a trained functional medicine health coach. I listen to about 10 webinars a week, keeping abreast of the latest research.

I am very excited about regenerative medicine. I am using NAD, hCG, urolithinA, creatine and a new generation of probiotics on top of many of the standard supplements.

Things have gotten and continue to get better in my body. I have let go of alot of the shame of having a sluggish body, sluggish metabolism, low libido and chronic pain.

Gone are the depression, prolapse, bite problems, and interstitial cystitis. Managed are the back and hip pain for the most part and I am working on the asthmatic cough. My weight is finally right and my libido is just peachy.

Becoming a wise, self healer is a journey. It means approaching myself with curiousity and compassion. It means trying a lot of things to see what works. It means joining my body and mind, heart and spirit.

What's your self-healing journey like?