Our bodies are marvelous beings with the tools and the know-how to let us know pretty quickly when something is wrong or out of balance.  The signs and signals are different for each person and vary in their intensity, but there are a several general indicators and telltale signs that indicate that things are out of whack and inflammation may be present.

Not all inflammation is bad.  In fact, it is much needed for the healing of wounds, tissue damage, and infections.  This type of inflammation is known as “acute” and it’s usually a short-term process in reaction to ease the burden of injury and it generally lasts for just a few days.  A series of progressions are initiated to limit the damage long-term and they involve swelling, remediation of the problem and regeneration (a fix!)  Think headache, hives, or a sinus or bad infection.  There are usually several stages involving redness, heat, swelling and pain.  This type of inflammation can and does mitigate long-term damage and saves lives.

Sometimes, though, the inflammatory response doesn’t cease or stop. The intense heat and swelling continues and soon enough becomes systemic – that is, it spreads throughout various parts of your body.  Think of a large forest fire that spreads and permeates and never cools down.  Your body is therefore in a constant state of alert, waiting for the next threat or “evil minion” to come.  Of course, it’s only possible to be in this constant simmering threatful state for so long.  Just like when a computer’s hard drive becomes overloaded, our bodies become taxed as a result of the constant elevation in stressors in our environment that often become part of our daily existence. 

Before you know it, chronic inflammation has set in, and at this point your body is giving you subtle clues about its disarray.  These hints often become so persistent and debilitating that your daily life is impacted.  Every individual’s journey is different but as an example, you may begin with generalized brain fog and fatigue and think it’s just a normal part of getting older – like I did.  These seemingly “harmless” symptoms may then transform into other issues like skin breakouts, rashes, hives, abdominal and chest pain, weight gain, depression, anxiety, insulin resistance, muscle weakness and hormonal imbalances (just to name a few!) 

It’s all too common to brush off fatigue or brain fog but at this point, for many of us, we really take notice and start to question our health and wonder why we’re struggling and feeling so terrible. This may be the juncture at which you reach out for help.  Countless doctors’ visits, tests, pills, band-aids and other temporary solutions.  You try them all because you’re so desperate; desperate to get better and feel like yourself again.  Sometimes you forget who you are and how you felt before.  Your memories are lost in an ocean of sickness, pain and isolation and you wonder if you will ever conquer this force and be well again.  Sometimes you are sent home with no resolution – no recommendations, no positive test results, no plan of action.  You may wonder if you are “going crazy” and if all of your symptoms are imagined.  Nobody seems to understand what you’re going through – or even care how bad you’re feeling.  Your doctor tells you everything is fine and your friends and family tell you to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and keep on keeping on. 

You see, the strangest thing about chronic inflammation, particularly at the start, is that your symptoms often don’t have a name or an origin.  While the fire rages and as physicians scratch their heads, the seemingly well-meaning people closest to you look at you with fleeting pity and tell you that they hope you get better soon.  When you should be at the prime of your life, you’re instead at the end of your tether – at breaking point – and need answers.  Your life as you knew it before depends on it.

It all sounds pretty grim and dire – and the reality is that it really can be.  Inflammatory cells that initially were helpful in the case of an infection, for example, become dangerous when they linger.  When inflammation is left to it’s own devices for too long and becomes chronic, it can trigger numerous disease processes.  It becomes like a state of emergency in your body which can promote lasting damage to your organs and internal systems.  Ouch.

 

What Causes Chronic Inflammation?

There are a variety of factors that can lead to chronic inflammation, including lifestyle choices, chronic stress, and environmental irritants.

If this all sounds hopeless … it doesn’t need to be!

 

What Conditions Are Involved?

Interestingly enough, many of the commonly-known illnesses and conditions that are prevalent in our society have their roots in chronic inflammation.  To give you a glimpse, the following disease processes are associated with this phenomenon:

 

Obesity

Cancer

Heart Disease

Stroke

Type II Diabetes

Arthritis

Ulcerative Colitis

Alzheimer’s Disease

Autoimmune Disease

 

How exactly does chronic inflammation lead to disease?  When our immune systems are turned up too high and the inflammatory response “simmers” for a long time, it continues to pump out white blood cells and chemical messengers that prolong the process.  These white blood cells, having nothing to do, set up residence in our cells, tissues and organs and wreak havoc on our bodies. Therefore, the immune system keeps fighting indefinitely even though no imminent threats exist. 

If this all sounds hopeless … it doesn’t need to be!

 

My Story

I recently traced my health history back to the start of my symptoms, and it was clear from my documentation and recollection that I went through three stages in my journey with chronic inflammation.  Again, these experiences vary based on the individual but I have named and classified mine as follows:

 

1).  Phase I.  “Warning Stage”

I had recently moved to the other side of the world for college and was in school for Pre-Med as well as working 30-40 hours per week.  The most significant change I remember in myself was brain fog and constantly feeling tired.  As I was young and “invincible” and was previously always high in energy, I dismissed these symptoms and told myself to stop worrying and keep going.  Now that I look back, these were warning signs and alarm bells telling me that something was wrong.

 2).  Phase II.  “Strange Symptoms”

So I ignored the little voice in my head and my body’s cries for help.  Enter Phase II!  Less than a year after I experienced the first warning signs, my body responded to my disregard and lack of attention with unrelenting and debilitating symptoms.  Over the next decade, I experienced everything from boils, eczema and dermatitis, depression and anxiety, food and environmental allergies that never existed before, hormonal imbalances, adrenal insufficiency, chronic urticaria (hives), joint pain and muscle weakness, multiple miscarriages and fertility issues to name a few.  As if all of this wasn’t enough, I felt so. unbelievably. tired.  I went to see doctor after doctor and had test after test with no resolution.  Though there are a lot of memories, one of my most vivid ones during this time was having a rare afternoon off and lying on the couch.  The TV remote was sitting by the television on top of the display unit.  I lay there contemplating getting up to grab the remote to change the channel and decided I didn’t have the energy to do it.  I wasn’t lazy by any means.  Just extremely exhausted and it wasn’t worth the effort.  The TV was probably no more than 15 feet in front of me.  I knew at this point that I had hit rock bottom.  I needed help.  I needed answers.  Fast.

 3).  Phase III.  “Answers/Disease”

When I was in the rock bottom phase and feeling so terrible every day, all I could think to myself was “this too shall pass.”  I knew at this point that the only way for me had to be up – and “up” would either show its face and present itself to me as feeling better (yes!  I really had to get back to myself one way or another) or I would find some answers and a resolution as to what was the matter with me. 

As it turns out, both of my wishes in the “up” category came true.  After more than a decade of battling with seemingly bizarre issues that didn’t seem to share a connection, I finally had a diagnosis.  An integrative physician discovered that I had an autoimmune disease.  Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I’m not one for labels, but I remember crying tears of joy that finally my symptoms had a face.  Everything that I thought I had imagined over the last decade of my life had a reason.  I wasn’t crazy and I wasn’t making things up.  Over the next couple of years, I went on with my life under my physician’s care, while having symptoms that ebbed and flowed from flare-ups to times I felt so good I forgot that I was even sick.  Then it hit me again that something wasn’t right.  Even though I was taking my medication, something wasn’t gelling.  I went back into my old days of feeling exhausted and in pain.  But now I had a new system.  My skin became extremely dry and I found myself having to blink several times to keep my eyes moist.  My new integrative physician at the time agreed that something was off, and immediately sent me for more tests.  Once again, I had a diagnosis.  I had Sjogren’s Syndrome.  Now I had not one, but two, autoimmune diseases.  After being such an “obedient patient” and doing what I believed was all I could do to keep myself well, my world came tumbling down.  I felt defeated and like such a failure and that there was no hope.  After all, here I was doing exactly what I’d been told to do and instead of getting better, I had created even more disease within myself and had become even more sick. 

At this point, the TV remote moment from years ago came rushing back to me – but this time I realized something.  It became clear to me that my grandparents who were well into their 80’s were in better health than I was.  During this moment of realization, I fathomed that I had once again hit rock bottom.  This time though, and with wonderful support, I had a different approach.  I came to the conclusion that I had to help myself.  Medicine was and is great and it saves lives every day, but it was not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth for me.  If I was going to make it into my 80’s, I had to look deeper within myself.  It was my responsibility to take my health and future into my own hands and figure out how to give myself the best chance at a great life.  My integrative physician at the time met with me for almost two hours discussing how diet, exercise and lifestyle factors play a huge role in disease (a concept I was aware of due to my health background) but it was only when I began to take a closer look and explore further did I become aware of just how much lifestyle factors in all realms play such a critical role in our health outcomes.

Voraciously curious at this point, I began to read.  And read.  And read.  And research.  And read.  And research.  While this became one of the most enlightening periods in my life to this point, I also really enjoyed uncovering the truth about my health and seeking solutions that would enable me to proactively have a role to play in my future life.  The further I went down the rabbit hole, the more I learned, and the more I learned, more and more about my health issues seemed to make sense.  Little by little, I began to make small changes in my life.  These changes included but were not limited to dietary adjustments.

Having come from more of a traditional health and nutrition background, it is an understatement to say that I (of all people!) was incredibly shocked (in a good way!) as to how much better I felt after changing my life. 

At this point, it was not enough for me to have found answers that complemented traditional treatment options.  I wanted to help others discover what I had found in a world that still downplays and is outwardly dismissive of the importance of lifestyle and environmental determinants of health. 

In addition to these changes, I went back to school to the Institute of Integrative Nutrition which only strengthened and qualified my new-found knowledge.

 

 Could This Be You?

You will benefit from working with me if:

*You’ve struggled to lose weight over many years with no lasting results (crash diets anyone?)

*You are experiencing “strange symptoms” that have no explanation (I’ve been there)

*You feel exhausted (tired is not the word!), hopeless and defeated (trust me, I’ve been there too, and I understand!)

*You’re in desperate need of a sustainable plan that is a whole lifestyle change and not a “fly-by-night fad” diet (not healthy or sustainable)

*You are healthy and seeking a long-term solution to proactively live a life of wellness in all aspects (seriously, this will change your life!)

*You are living with one or more autoimmune diseases and want to thrive and live your best life (with a supportive coach by your side!)

 

If any of the above describes you, now is the time to take action.  Your health and your future quality of life depend on it.

 

Get in Touch!

Click the  button below to schedule a free consultation with me.  I would love to hear your story, and map out a plan for us to work together.  I look forward to walking along beside you in your journey as you change your life.