Written by Landria Voigt
Discover one woman’s courageous journey getting her autoimmune disease into remission with integrative medicine.
There was a point where getting out of bed and taking care of a baby and a toddler felt as doable as climbing Mount Everest.
Being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and then lupus in years past was becoming a very bad dream. I couldn’t wake up without a flare that lasted for months. My hands were so stiff that I couldn’t bend my fingers without help from one hand to the other. My exhaustion wouldn’t go away no matter how much sleep I got. And then there were the fun bathroom issues that were so constant, I couldn’t leave the house. After three months of living this way, taking numerous prescription meds, and steroids, I realized I had to take my health into my own hands with the help of integrative medicine practices.
As far as my diet, I took the top inflammatory foods out, as well as any foods that were hard to digest for me. My diet went from “whole grains” and skim milk to a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and sugar-free whole foods diet with nourishing gut healing foods. This included lots of good healthy fats like ghee and coconut oil.
While I had to be strict for a while until my body got a break from the foods that were aggravating my gut, I also had to allow it time to heal. After all, I had been eating foods (unknowingly of course) that my body was intolerant to for my whole life.
Fast forward after practicing this new diet and looking into more integrative medicine ideas…
One-week post diet change: I went from being in the bathroom up to 30 times a day to 3, which is normal. My hands didn’t look like claws when I woke up in the morning.
One month: My energy had returned and hands were no longer stiff.
Four months: I had so much energy I trained for, and ran, a marathon. I’m not a runner for what it’s worth, but I felt so good I just couldn’t stop running. My exercise recovery was so fast. And my joints, knees and hip, no longer hurt.
Years later, I no longer need the Nasonex Flonase I took for years every spring. I don’t nap every day like I used to, even way before pre-diagnosis. I haven’t had bronchitis in 8 years, my ADD is all but gone and my focus is 100 percent better through this functional and integrative medicine practice. I’ve healed my gut well enough to now have spicy foods, and some other foods once in a while, minus gluten, that I never thought I would be able to eat again without a negative reaction.
Being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease sucks. It is scary and depressing and can make you feel like you are dying. But the good news, no, the great news, is that you can take control of your disease. And I can help you do that in a realistic and completely satisfying way through integrative medicine. I love the way I eat and can’t imagine eating any other way.
Here’s to taking control of your health!
