WTF IS GOING ON IN YOUR BODY AND WTF TO DO ABOUT IT

So you feel like shit. And you don’t know what’s going on in your body. You may or may not have asked your doctor to check labs. They likely came back normal if your doctor was even willing to look into this and didn’t just jump to the conclusion that you’re depressed or need to gain weight. So what is really going on in your body?

The list of possibilities is LONG: 

• Hypothyroidism - an underactive thyroid
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis - an autoimmune thyroid condition
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
• Testosterone deficiency
• Progesterone deficiency
• Estrogen deficiency
• Estrogen excess
• Underactive adrenals
• Overactive adrenals
• Chronic viral infections
• Epstein Barr
• Strep
• Herpes
• Toxin overload in the liver
• Lyme disease
• Mold toxicity
• Autoimmune conditions
• Insulin resistance
• And the list goes on...

A common misconception is that you need your hormone levels checked to undergo treatment. The long and short of it is – you don’t. Labs aren’t the end all be all. Keep in mind I’m trained VERY differently than your typical western medicine practitioner in the fact that I’m trained to treat the patient NOT the numbers. What a concept, right? Based on the symptoms you’re experiencing in conjunction with your history I can tell you exactly what hormone levels are off and/or what else is going on in your body.

So what can you do to start unraveling the web of what could possibly be causing your debilitating brain fog or epically stubborn weight gain?

A key to figuring out this puzzle is an exercise I love to recommend: journal about your past medical history. I'm not talking the obvious things you would report in new patient paperwork at a doctor's office like surgeries and medications. I'm talking about the little things. Start with your childhood. As far back as you can remember.

I want you to sit in silence for a few minutes. Take some deep breaths. Meditate if it is in your wheelhouse to do so. I want you to get really, really present. Get really, really clear.

Now think back to the very beginning of your life. As early as you can remember. And think about your health history. Ask yourself these questions:

Were you a sick child?

Did you suffer from ear infections?

Strep throat?

Did you have to have tubes put in your ears?

Your tonsils removed?

Did you have the chicken pox?

Did you have mono?

Were you home, sick a lot?

Did you miss a lot of school?

Did you suffer from allergies?

Now think about when you first got your period. What was that experience like? 

How was your period from that moment on?

Did you have really bad cramps?

Heavy bleeding?

Mood swings?

PMS?

Depression?

Anxiety?

Did you miss school because your periods were so bad?

Did you suffer from acne as a teenager?

Did you have ovarian cysts that ruptured or caused pain?

Reflect on high school and college.

Were you sick a lot?

How did your immune system compare to your friends and roommates?

Did you miss a lot of school?

Were you hospitalized for anything?

And finally, how has your health been in your adult life?

Do you get sick often?

Miss a lot of work?

Do you get immunizations?

Have you had any reactions to them?

How are your periods?

How is your emotional health?

What are your chief complaints?

What symptoms have you suffered from for most of your life?

Take a deep breath. And let it go. 

I know that was a lot. But these are the first steps in figuring out what the fuck is actually going on in your body. 

Did you realize that you had recurrent strep infections when you were younger and eventually had to have your tonsils removed? Remember that you had major problems with your period as a teenager, but they seemed to have improved in your adult life? Recognize that you did have mono and missed about 2 months of school because you were so sick? Find that your immune system doesn’t really match up with those of your peers? 

You’re steps closer to getting to the bottom of it. 

If you’ve had vague symptoms throughout most of your life such as brain fog, fatigue, or mild depression or anxiety you are likely suffering from heavy metal toxicity that could have been passed down to you in the womb.

If you’ve had recurrent strep infections, or even just one, you could have chronic issues with strep living dormant in your liver or blood feeding off toxins just waiting for a time of high stress to be reactivated.

If you’ve had mono in the past, the Epstein Barr virus is absolutely still a part of your body, hiding out in your liver, blood, or even your brain, and wreaking havoc on your body. 

If you’ve had severe cramps and had to miss at least a day of school most weeks of your period when you were younger that’s a sign that your hormones have been off since puberty you likely have a hormonal condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). 

If you’re tired all the time and can’t lose weight you likely have a subclinically underactive thyroid, meaning your levels probably aren’t low enough for a doctor to diagnose you with hypothyroidism.

If your libido is low or you have vaginal dryness or pain with sex I can promise you that your testosterone levels are low.

If you work out all the time and never gain muscle or lose any weight or fat you absolutely are deficient in testosterone. 

If you never get in the sun without sunscreen your vitamin D levels are most definitely low. 

If you’re a human living in the US in 2021 you have problems with underlying insulin resistance in your body. 

Start your journal. Give yourself some time to really think about it and allow whatever comes up to come up. Most of us have been suffering for most of our lives and we didn't even realize it wasn't "normal."

I know what you’re thinking. It can’t be that easy. But it can! And it is. Who needs lab levels? 

Now, what to do about what comes up. 

Here are 3 tips that can help with just about all of the above conditions that you could be suffering from:

1. Eliminate gluten and dairy from your diet. I know, I know. It’s hard. But here’s the thing – gluten and dairy are inflammatory. If you have PCOS, if you have an underactive thyroid, if you have Hashimoto’s, if you have chronic EBV you should really reduce, if not eliminate the amount of gluten and dairy in your diet. It’s not helping and is only hurting you and making your symptoms worse. I have a lot of patients who say they tried going gluten free or dairy free and didn’t see any changes in their symptoms. To give it a solid try you really need to completely cut them out for 3 months. Otherwise you are going through the retoxification and detoxification process over and over and over again. Of course you’re not going to see any major changes. Not to mention there are SO MANY dairy free and gluten free options out there, but the problem is most of them are FULL of sugar and/or chemicals. Which brings me to my next tips…

2. Minimize sugar in your diet. We ALL suffer from insulin resistance. Like I said before, if you are a human living in this world, and especially the US in 2021, you are insulin resistant. It may be mild. It may be on a cellular level that doesn’t show up on blood labs, but you are. The incidence of diabetes is rising rapidly and there’s no question why. There is sugar in ALMOST EVERYTHING. If you aren’t checking your food labels or eating a whole food diet you’re getting sugar on a regular basis in more ways than you realize. Not to mention – we’re exposed to so many chemicals on a daily basis it regularly FUCKS with our endocrine system. More on that next. The point is reducing, if not eliminating, sugar in your diet is so important to help reduce inflammation, improve the way your body responds to insulin, and help get you feeling better quicker.

3. Minimize the amount of chemicals you’re exposed to. Start with your food. Learn about what different chemicals are that are pumped in most processed foods, and even things you wouldn’t expect like citric acid, gums, canola oil, etc. (I’ll do a post on this another day). Food Babe is a great resource for this and is where I get a lot of my information to make decisions for myself. Read labels. I can’t tell you how important it is to be aware of what you’re putting in your body. I think most people would be shocked to learn that even when they think they’re eating healthy, many, many times they’re not. I know my world was rocked when I first learned about the chemicals in our food. Take it slow. Ease into it. It’s a big transition. Move to swapping out your home cleaning products, cosmetics, and body products next. Don’t overwhelm yourself, but start educating yourself on this. It can make all the difference in your health. As always, I’m here to help if you have any questions or need any guidance about where to start. 

Again, Anthony William, The Medical Medium has been a key resource in my healing. Much of what I preach is from his teachings. His books are currently available under the "Shop" tab on my website. The book I started with was Medical Medium: Secrets Behind Chronic and Mystery Illness and How to Finally Heal and it's even currently on sale! To say reading his books was life changing for me is the most epic understatement. 

Want to deep dive further and get to the bottom of what is going on in your body and how to start feeling better ASAP? That's where I come in! Click here to set up a free 20 minute call with me.