My Story

I get asked a series of similar questions all the time. One of them is, "Wow, you look amazing! You also seem much happier than you used to, what have you been doing?" Another is, "You seem to know quite a bit about this health stuff, why are you so passionate about it?" And my personal favorite, "Which high school do you attend?" (I am turning 30 next May.)

I went from having multiple high or low blood sugar readings every day, to having on average 1 high or low blood sugar reading a week. My A1C, which is the measure of average blood sugar over 3 months, went from 7.5 to 6.2.

I had a standing prescription for anti-vomiting medication, and I had to buy Depends at Costco because I went through packages so quickly, due to severe digestive distress. Then I went on the Paleo diet, and my Celiac disease is in full remission if I stick to the diet. Now I only have digestive distress when I catch a virus, and that happens rarely.

At one point I was on 12 medications to treat my bipolar condition, and none of them improved my moods or quality of life. It was at this point that I was institutionalized for several months, because I was suicidal. Now I am on one mood stabilizing medication that works beautifully for me, and I have had no depressive episodes in the past year and a half.

I used to commonly go 3 months at a time with no period, and then when I did have a period, I had to be on high doses of prescription pain meds just to get through, and I was completely non-functional the week before and the week during my period. I now have completely regular cycles, and I only need hemp-extracted CBD oil on the first day of my period to completely relieve any pain symptoms.

I had severe migraines anywhere from 2 to 12 times a month, for which I had to take very powerful narcotics, because I was allergic to the entire class of commonly prescribed migraine medication. Now, the last migraine I had was a year and a half ago.

I had severe recurring acne that never disappeared, even with a full round of Accutane. The drug was later recalled and banned on the US market for a period of time. My symptoms improved, but I received much less relief than was advertised for the drug at the time. When I went off dairy, my acne production completely stopped, and I don't get acne around my periods anymore.

I had to drop out of high school due to poor health, and was unable to complete any college or vocational courses I signed up for due to severe health problems. I was completely unable to hold down a job, volunteer, or have any hobbies because I was unable to function well enough to do any of those things. Now, I run a blog, read a 350-page book in two hours, give tea classes and presentations, and will have gone to 3 conventions this summer, all on different topics.

I used to be 5 feet and 2 inches tall, and weigh 230 pounds. Here is a picture of me then:

I am now 5 feet and 2 inches tall, and I weigh 172 pounds. Here is a picture of me now:

A year and a half ago, I was at the end of my rope. I began seeing Lora Torres, my acupuncturist. I have all her contact information listed on my Resources page, under Booklist. She is the one who thought I probably had gluten sensitivity or Celiac disease. She immediately wanted me to go off gluten and dairy. I read Grain Brain and Wheat Belly, then Wheat Belly Total Health. That is when I went off grain.

Immediately, I noticed that my digestive misery disappeared. Within 6 weeks, I had no digestive difficulty at all.

I was still eating dairy, and it took another 6 months of gentle urging by Lora before I finally cut out dairy. I was definitely one of those who have a severe dairy allergy or sensitivity who was chemically addicted to it. Immediately all my acne cleared up completely. Acne may not seem like such a terrible thing to some people, but I urge people to consider this: if this is what dairy is doing to my outsides, what is it doing to my insides?

At this point I read Missing Microbes and Brain Maker, and added live culture food and drink to my diet. I also started taking probiotics that Lora picked for me. I noticed still more improvement in my symptoms, especially dramatic emotional improvement. I believe that the culprit may have been gut dysbiosis caused by glyphosate or something similar. I have a blog post titled Roundup: Why It's Killing Us that has a link to a scientific article that talks about glyphosate and how it causes gut dysbiosis leading to diseases like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Than I read The Paleo Solution, and after I finished that I quickly devoured The Paleo Approach. After that I became interested in reading one of the first books written about the Paleo diet and I read The Paleo Diet. These books were such a boon because they gave me so much structure and knowledge about how and why I reacted to certain foods the way I did, both positively and negatively. The Paleo Approach, especially, has such wonderful information about how to heal and reduce the symptoms of a whole wide range of autoimmune, immune, and metabolic syndrome diseases that modern allopathic medicine has no way to treat, except to cover up the symptoms. My advice to people who have any of these diseases is to start with that book, even if you don't read any of the other books that I did and recommend. That book changed my life.

My symptoms are now improved anywhere from 50% to 100%, depending on the issue. My acne is gone, my Celiac disease is in remission, my cycle is regular, I don't get migraines, I rarely have either high or low blood sugars and am using a third of the amount of insulin I used to use over a three day period, and my bipolar disease is in remission with the help of Geodon and the Paleo diet, live culture foods and probiotics, targeted nutrient supplementation, and and regular massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, and homeopathic treatments.

What is your story? What are your struggles right now with your health? What has improved your quality of life and given you hope that you are not stuck being sick and miserable? Please contact me with your story and let me pray for and root for you as you make your own journey. You are not alone!

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