Starting in my early 20’s, I started having mysterious digestive issues, which I finally identified as lactose intolerance, for which I started taking lactose digestant pills. Then later it was an unexplained cough, which was finally diagnosed as acid reflux. So I went on years of proton pump inhibitors meant for only short-term use (Prilosec, Prevacid, etc.). I also took repeated courses of antibiotics as so many women do! And I got food poisoning twice while living in Costa Rica. Bloating and poor stool quality became a regular occurrence after meals. Then in my 40’s, I was diagnosed with three autoimmune conditions: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (a condition where your body attacks its own thyroid gland and slowly destroys it), ITP (a condition where your body attacks the platelets in your blood leading to a low platelet count), and B12 anemia (where your body can’t digest B12 in the stomach and intestines). I had clearly destroyed my gut microbiome through all those medicines and was desperate to find a solution.
Doctors had no insights to offer about my digestive issues and just wanted to monitor my Hashimoto’s and wait for it to slowly eat away at my thyroid gland until I had to go on synthetic thyroid hormone medication. Um . . . no — not acceptable! My digestive were also getting worse (bloating, discomfort on elimination), and I started having stomach pain every morning upon waking.
I started experimenting with an elimination diet, and discovered that taking gluten and dairy out of my diet and adding in some psyllium husk fiber cleared up my coughing, stomach pain and digestive issues . . . for a time. I was also finally able to link the acid reflux to dairy – I was not only intolerant to lactose but also intolerant to casein, the protein in dairy products. After years, I was able to stop taking proton pump inhibitors without any more acid reflux or constant coughing.
But after a time, I started having digestive issues again and I still hadn’t addressed my most serious condition, Hashimoto’s, so I undertook a protocol for Hashimoto’s. After 6 weeks of the protocol, I brought my thyroid antibodies from 103 to 15! And in my most recent test, my antibodies were completely normal! With the help of a functional medicine doctor, I also learned the name and treatments for my digestive issue (SIBO) so that I could treat it naturally when it reappears. And most recently, I’ve seen a reversal in my platelet counts indicating I’ve reversed my ITP as well! And I’ve been tested for post-infectious IBS and had positive anti-vinculin antibodies, so I know that my SIBO is going to be recurring (which is is about once a year or so) and likely came from a food poisoning episode.
This experience has taught me that not only are health problems that the traditional medical system can’t solve solvable, but that sometimes we have to take things into our own hands, and do some careful detective work with our diets that can at times be difficult and confusing. My 5 years of advocacy work around healthy school food for children also helped me understand that sometimes you have to go against the system (the school system, the processed food system, the traditional medical system) to see powerful changes and improvements.
That advocacy work also led me to understand the important link between sugar and many health conditions, including weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. As I tackled my thyroid issues, I also was finally able to give up almost all added sugars in my diet while not feeling deprived or cutting calories at all and finally and easily lost the belly fat I had been carrying around since the birth of my oldest son.
After informally coaching a friend, and within 3 weeks helping her reverse pre-diabetes and break a binge eating disorder that she had had since she was a child, I knew that my next career would be in helping others overcome their health issues or lose weight that won’t come off.
Are you struggling with weight gain or mysterious or “untreatable” medical problems? Sometimes you need an advocate in your corner. To help you problem solve, to keep you accountable, to sort through the mountains of nutrition information, supplements and programs everyone is trying to sell you. My weight loss protocol is about eating real, whole food and changing the composition of what you eat without ever even thinking about a calorie so that you can break the cycle of insulin resistance and lose weight. It’s not extreme and doesn’t involve completely giving up any of the food groups! And when you’re done, my goal is help you maintain new habits for life so you never have to pay for another program or diet product, or worry about your weight at all!
Are you struggling with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes? I have a protocol developed by a national expert to reverse it – my first pilot client went from an A1C of 6.6 to 5.7 (from diabetic to the lowest end of prediabetic) in 11 weeks.
Are you struggling with a gut health issue or autoimmune disease? That’s my specialty!
Taking the first step is scary but I want to make it easy, so I give you a half hour free to get to know you, listen to your issues and hear how they’re impacting your life and health. Then I’ll share about health coaching and you can decide if it’s a good fit (no pressure if it’s not!) It’s a free half hour so you have nothing to lose. So if you’re ready to take the first step, you can schedule a free Breakthrough Session anytime online. I look forward to getting to know you!
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