Where Are We?
In so many ways, we are entering brand new territory in how we as a society function. Increasingly, every sector of society is short staffed, which makes those of us needing products and services mad, scared, baffled or feeling hopeless.
Health-wise I’ve found it impossible to get timely appointments with specialist, even with my doctor calling (daily) and saying it is urgent. Some days when I’m feeling in a sorry-for-myself-dramatic-mood, I think, wow, I could die waiting for an appointment. My attempts to buy food and other supplies the bakery needs, or I need personally, are met with less than 80% success every single week. We get a few customers leaving us snarky messages about long lines. No one seems to answer their phone or emails any more. And there seems to be more than a normal amount of craziness out in the world. Clearly, we are in the midst of social changes, the results of which we can’t yet see.
Getting to the Root of our Health Issues
Yet, as we move into 2023, I’m feeling a greater sense of well-beingness than I’ve felt in a long time. This is to be distinguished, of course, from the business uncertainty I feel!
Why am I feeling better, despite everything, and all the unknowns? I attribute it to finding some health modalities that actually work!
There were many times in 2022 that I would go downstairs to see Debra Wood, my acupuncturist, and would burst out crying. Health-wise, I was really struggling and I seemed to react badly to everything I ate. In addition to all the auto-immune diseases I’ve been diagnosed with, I’ve had chronic SIBO for the past decade. Multiple rounds of antibiotics, targeted herbs, special diets –nothing really worked, except not eating food. Minimal exercise created pain in my muscles, bones and joints. Daily walking, or even yoga, something I’ve practiced for over 30 years, became impossible, except for the most baby postures. I’ve lived like this since 2019. Only sheer determination got me thru the pandemic, with all of its woes.
The US Medical System Isn’t Working for Many of Us.
When I sat in Debra’s office crying last summer, it made me realize I had to do more for myself health-wise. I simply couldn’t rely on the US health system. So I started a deep dive into health-science research. I read a lot about inflammation and its effect on the body, brain, mental health and emotions. And conversely how these things also create inflammation. In other words, it is a two way loop. There was an interesting article last week in The Economist about the Brain-Gut highway, which shows this information is slowly becoming mainstream. (The Economist actually has several articles on this topic.) And will hopefully trickle down into basic medical training programs!
Getting A Gut Biome Test
Last summer I got a Gut Biome test done. I choose Viome, because my research showed it was the most comprehensive. The results you get are three-fold: food recommendations, vitamins made for you, and targeted pro-prebiotics (not made for you – they have 11 combos and they choose the best formula for your gut biome.)
I’ve tried over the counter pro-prebiotics in the past, even ones supposedly good for SIBO, with disastrous results, so I was very skeptical that I could take Viome’s. For the first 2-3 months I modified my foods according to their recommendations. I had already gone back to a FODMAP diet (minus meat which I’m allergic to), and this one was more restrictive, again based on my personal gut results. It put most foods into the Avoid or Minimize categories, leaving me with lots of herbs and spices in my Superfood and Enjoy list. Meh, but I stuck to it.
I continued my deep dive into health science literature and Debra and I thought it was highly likely I had Systemic Mastocytosis. An allergist concurred, and promptly took 32 vials of blood! The blood tests were negative for that, but showed I was having an allergic reaction to pretty much every food I ate, including things like pumpkin, which no one is allergic to. (Allergic reaction = inflammation!) I was crestfallen. I wanted an answer. Plus, the blood work showed the possibility of other serious diseases.
Made for You Vitamins and Specialized Pro/Pre-biotics
While waiting for specialist appointments, I decided to try the Viome vitamins. I took half the recommended amount, because my gut is uber sensitive. I instantly had more energy, and far fewer aches and pains. After using the half dose of vitamins for 6 weeks, I started on the pro-prebiotics (after extensive research into each pro/pre-biotic in the formula!) Again, half dosage to start. Within a few days it was like I was a new person. It felt like a return to my old self. I was able to walk several miles a day without pain!
Nano-Current Technology
At the same time, Debra was using a micro-current devise and other modalities to treat and lower my inflammation and clean my blood. And those were helping immensely as well. While I still have diet issues, I don’t have gut pain or acute food reactions (at the moment!) I’ve slowly added in a couple more foods, which I tolerate with greater or lesser success, but they say it takes a minimum of 6 months to get your gut healthy, and my biome tests showed very high levels of inflammation.
Well-Beingness
And then one day last week, I had what I’d call a moment of epiphany, or complete knowingness. I remembered a trauma from when I was 3 years old and could literally feel in the body where I “stored” this trauma. I saw a flashback of my life, and understood how this held trauma shaped not only my life, but my chronic health problems. It was a moment of great esoteric insight that opened wide, and then slowly closed, but not all the way. Just enough for me to gently and safely pull on those threads, at my own pace, to see how they unwind. I knew the insight became available because I had begun to unpack the inflammation, leaving the physical, emotional, and mental causes revealed.
And this my friends, is how I have an underlying sense of well-beingness amidst the otherwise chaos of 2023.
