Lupus

Fun fact; I went to school for holistic health counseling. It wasn't something I was particularly interested in- but rather something I fell into. Now that I've learned so much, it's almost like I know too much. I get sort of bored writing about food and vitamins, which is a shame because I could write a whole book.

When it really comes down to it here are three major secrets that are hidden in the mountainous piles of books and research papers:

1. Don't eat anything too much but especially stay away sugar, and processed food.
2. If you give your body the tools to heal itself it will.
3. Mind/body connection is key

So this is the story of how I got into the Holistic Healing world. I spent 2 years being sick, 2 years working in a vitamin herb shop, and 1 year at a highly renowned school for Holistic Health Counselors.

It all started when I was diagnosed with Lupus when I was 16. In the beginning, the symptoms were mild. I just had a red rash across my face. Then it progressed to joint pain, and other skin problems. Things really erupted around the age of 19, when my immune system began attacking my bone marrow, causing it to stop making red blood cells. As it turns out, you kind of need those.

When it was finally discovered that I wasn't making any blood in my bones, I was nearly dead. I hadn't gotten out of bed in almost two months. My family thought I was just depressed, and urged me to snap out of it. One day my boyfriend had had enough and came bursting into my dimly lit room, picked me up out of bed and threw me into the pool in my back yard. There were a few people on the deck; some cousins, my sister and a friend, and as I emerged from the pool everyone looked at me with horror. I was so pale that I was nearly see through.

The following night I took a good look at myself in the mirror. My skin was peeling. My ears were ringing, and lights seemed abnormally bright. Something inside my head told me that I was dying. I told my mother that I knew that I was dying and she rushed me to MGH hospital the next morning- where they took my blood, not once but twice. The first time, they thought that it had been an incorrect reading because the red blood cell results were absurdly low.

I was then  rushed to the fifth floor of MGH to receive a blood transfusion. The Dr. said that if I had waited another day or two I would have died. I stayed in the hospital for what felt like forever, getting poked, prodded, biopsied, and pumped full of someone else's blood.

After a few weeks in the hospital I was discharged with an arsenal of meds; one of which was the dreaded Prednisone. This drug is works by disabling your immune system. It 's a miracle drug for those with autoimmune disorders, since it's our own immune systems that is attacking healthy parts of our bodies. It is however, a steroid, and it comes with a whole grocery list of awful side effects. Water weight gain, darker hair growth, stretch marks, hallucinations, mood swings, acne, and more. The solution to my health issue was much worse than the disease. I was absolutely miserable for months. I got to experience just about all of the side effects, and thought I would lose my mind along with my body.

Eventually, I decided that I wouldn't accept this as my reality. I spent months researching everything I could about alternatives to the pharmaceutical route. I had printed everything I could find online, and highlighted it all. I had books, and looked up specialists. There were charts and graphs. I was determined to take responsibility for my own health.

After a ton of research, I decided to begin with a change to my diet. I started with the Lupus Recovery Diet, which is essentially a vegan diet. You cut out dairy, eggs, meat, but also processed foods and sugar. It seemed easy enough, and I wanted to be healthy again so badly that I jumped right into it, and adhered to it very strictly. This got the ball rolling diet-wise. I later had to make an exception to the vegan rule when I found out about bone broth, which I drank on a daily basis.

Next, I found out about all of the different mind/body work that needed to be done. I tried them all, including: reiki, acupuncture, hypnosis, and massage. All of these were really helpful. What is very interesting to me, is the power of the mind/body connection. These therapies helped to get my mind and heart back on track. Without this key element of the healing process, I don't think I would have gotten well again so quickly; if at all.

Lastly I started taking supplements. I took a multivitamin (food based not USP), amino acids, antioxidants, glyconutrients, probiotics, and aloe-vera juice.

After adding the supplements to the diet, and the therapies, I began slowly weening myself off the drugs (not recommended) while getting my blood checked regularly. As weeks went by, I took less and less of my prescribed doses of the drugs. Meanwhile my blood work remained stable. I told my Dr. all along what I was doing with my diet and what supplements I was taking. He would always just nod and say "well it won't hurt" as if to dismiss it as not likely helpful at all. I didn't tell him that I was weaning myself off the meds (not recommended).

One day I stopped taking the meds completely. A few weeks went by without pills and I felt fine. I went to my weekly Dr's appointment to check my blood counts. and my Dr. glanced up from his clipboard and said- "everything looks good, so just keep taking your pills, and I'll see you next week. I told him I hadn't been taking them and for how long. He just looked at me in amazement and said: "well..... looks like a spontaneous remission".

SPONTANEOUS. REMISSION.


That was probably one of the best days of my life.