My Story
Hop in, because it’s a wild ride… although sadly, many of you will resonate with my experiences.
I was sick a lot as a kid, at one point I had strep several, yes, several times in a row and was on multiple rounds of antibiotics. When my menstrual cycle never regulated, my doctor put me on birth control pretty much immediately… that was their “solution” for me at 15 years old.
I then started to gain weight, was taking naps almost every day after school if I didn’t have sports, and developed migraine headaches. One day, on Christmas Eve, I was suddenly in extreme upper abdominal pain and my parents rushed me to the ER. I was diagnosed with Gastritis and put on a PPI, or proton pump inhibitor. This helped relieve my symptoms, but didn’t fix the CAUSE of the symptoms, rather, it most likely distanced me further from optimal health.
I got sick with mono around the time I left for college, and that sent me in to a spiral of chronic fatigue and deep depression. I’m talking SEVERE fatigue- I would go back to my room in between classes to sleep, and often ate out of the dorm vending machine because I had no energy to walk to the dining commons. I went to the doctor because my periods were still painful even though I was on birth control, I was continuing to gain weight and knew I “just didn’t feel right”. After a pelvic ultrasound, I was diagnosed with PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and was told to “not eat so many chips”. I began experimenting with my diet, and became vegetarian (which I now know was a big mistake), thinking that it would help… It didn’t, but I stuck to it after reading all about the horrors of factory farming. I started a low dose anti-depressant.
I got through college (with one medical leave of absence for suicidal ideation), still clearly suffering from depression as well as fatigue, had begun binge eating at night, and was fully Bulimic for a period of time my senior year, and continued to gain weight. At one point, during finals, I was hospitalized for meningitis. Doctors continued to tell me that my labs looked normal, but that they could give me an anti-anxiety medication. I refused, and, finally admitting to myself that doctors were not able to help me, I got off hormonal birth control too.
After college, I travelled to New Zealand, threw out my meds, and fell again in to a deep depression. Feeling very lost and pretty hopeless, I returned to the US and began working as a Personal Trainer. I knew that exercise always helped to lift my mood and clear my head… but my symptoms STILL weren’t being relieved at their root. The depression deepened, anxiety set in, and I was diagnosed with IBS.
Continuing to do my own research, I went dairy and gluten free, which almost immediately reduced the level of fatigue and brain fog I was experiencing. After reading about the Blood Type Diet, I slowly shifted my mindset around eating animals, and started adding meat back in to my diet, noticing some weight loss and continued improvements in energy levels and even mood.
Finally, in my mid 20s, sick and tired of being sick and tired, I had saved enough money to work with a functional dietician who ran a GI Map for me. I was positive for 2 strains of parasites, candida overgrowth, a chronic bacterial strep infection and low levels of beneficial bacteria. This was a HUGE turning point for me. I dove in to the work of healing my gut, investing the little money I had into learning more about my health, buying high-quality food, supplements for parasite eradication and other tools I needed to support this.
I worked, studied, and focused on my health through my 20’s, while everyone else was out partying and enjoying their youth. With additional functional testing, I discovered that I had tons of nutrient deficiencies, mineral imbalances, dysregulated blood sugar, massive leaky gut and systemic inflammation, high levels of heavy metals and mycotoxins (mold), low progesterone, low cortisol, low DHEA, and high testosterone. None of which doctors ever looked in to or were able to detect with their conventional labs.
I knew I still had a long road ahead of me - but I was hooked on healing. I became an Integrative Health Practitioner and then an FDNP, declaring it my purpose and mission in life to help others more efficiently and effectively navigate the underlying imbalances that contribute to chronic dis-ease.
Today, I am happier and healthier than ever before, I know that my capacity to feel good is exponential, that ease is my natural state of being, and that being healthy is a lifestyle. My practice is incredibly heart-centered and passionate; I am here to partner with clients who are ready to take responsibility for their own health like I did. I hope that sharing the details of my story is helpful, and makes whoever is reading this feel a little bit less alone. If you are out there struggling with chronic symptoms - please know that there is a path forward towards a better quality of life. If I did it, you can too.