10 Things that changed the trajectory of my healing
I’ve had a few people reach out recently asking for help trying to find the best practitioner or decide if self-healing is the course they need to walk. This is an individualized journey and an individualized choice. Speaking as a medical practitioner, I should urge you to seek guidance from your medical team. Speaking as someone who has walked this chronic illness path and exceeded the expertise of my medical team at times, I understand the choice of self healing.
For those of you who are new here, I had a severe toxic mold exposure. It landed me in the emergency room one stormy night when my husband was out of town and I lost consciousness and nearly coded. It was the root cause of mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), systemic candida and a slew of other health issues. Hindsight is always 20/20, but my body had been leaving me clues for quite some time. The problem was I didn’t realize it and I didn’t have a medical professional on my team who was paying attention. It started as allergic reactions to what looked like bug bites and ended up looking like chicken pox all over my body. My office at work was sprayed for bugs because the welts would multiply while I was working. While it was insanely itchy, it was also painful. They would come & go for the next few years. A few months later, I had pneumonia. Months after that, I had a vulvar abscess and then 2 more. I started experiencing shortness of breath on exertion that no one could figure out. I had a drop attack while I was working that we thought might be vertigo but it didn’t make sense. Then a few weeks later the ER.
I was misdiagnosed in the ER and followed up with 3 cardiologists who all confirmed the diagnosis was wrong and my heart was healthy. Why did I see 3? Because the first one said they did not know how to help me, who to refer me to or how to help me get better. The second wanted to run more tests and gave me a referral to an autonomic neurologist. The 3rd suggested maybe all of this was not connected and gave me a referral to ENT.
After enduring, gaslighting & hearing I do not know how to help you, I began advocating for myself in the pockets of time where I had energy and mental capacity. I began reaching out, reading, researching and taking courses. Every encounter with a specialist or supplement/ testing company was beneficial in some way, shape or form. I have read books. I have taken many courses & week long master classes on diagnoses not widely recognized by the western medical community (MCAS, CIRS, toxic mold, heavy metal, lyme, confections, long haul, etc…). I watched for patterns, an occupational hazard as a physical therapist. I began to identify triggers. And I found solutions.
The 10 things that changed the trajectory of my healing:
Eating and preparing foods low histamine and low amylose
This was a good place to start to lower histamine reactions interfering with my mast cells trying to do their best to protect me. I was able to slowly figure out triggers and test new foods, personal care products and supplements as I began healing.
Healing my gut
This can be an individualized journey, but I have found healing gut junctions should be first and foremost for anyone experiencing inflammation. Inflammation can show up as migratory joint pain, headaches, poor bowel movement, high blood pressure, acid reflux (GERD), elevated cholesterol, etc... These are all signs your body is not excreting inflammation as well as it could to get the junk out.
I now have questionnaires set up to explore symptoms and efficiency of bowel movement; as well as access to testing. Feel free to contact me to set up a consultation to explore further: click here
Infrared Sauna
This was a game changer!!! Luckily, my body tolerated the deep penetration of heat even though it was reacting to the sun. I started low and slow 120 degrees and 10 minutes and began building. The problem was that my doctor missed how clogged my drainage pathways were before we began binding.
Clearlight Infrared Sauna was the best I could find in my research- click here for Clearlight Sauna (mention my name to receive a discount).
Therasage has portable infrared sauna with portable red light panels- click here for Therasage (HEALINGPHYSIO20 will save you 20% on your purchase).
E-bike and exercise moderation
This was not in the financial plan, but it has been worth its weight in gold. There is something so healing to put a smile back on my face and allow me the ability to rejoin group rides for the social interaction and camaraderie. In these moments, I did not feel disabled. The motor assist has allowed me to get assist so that cycling is not an added stressor.
I have to remind myself that exercise is a stress to the nervous system. I had to be willing to modifying exercise intensity and duration. Pilates reformer, super bands and stick mobility has helped with slowly adjusting resistance for myself and the clients I serve.
Leaving the place I was exposed
It’s a difficult thought to leave your job, your financial security, your friendships, your clients and your livelihood. However, every time I was removed, I had to follow the patterns that I was healing. And every time I was replaced into the environment I got sick and my anaphylaxis kept escalating. I had the hallmark ice prick pain and sores on my tongue & scalp. Pain so bad that you could not think.
Body Bio PC (Phospolipids)
If you have ever experienced toxic poisoning, you can understand the level of brain fog, short term memory loss and inability to concentrate. This was a game changer! Again, I had to start low and slow. Sometimes I can still feel the die off as I continue to heal, but I have found a helper.
Link for discount applied automatically in my Fullscripts account or through Body Bio- click to go to:
Fullscripts (my supplement store) discount automatically applied on purchase
Body Bio (save 15%: HEALINGPHYSIO-A)
Or we can explore an individualized approach alongside your care team
Believing I could heal
This is a difficult place to get to when you have been forced on the sidelines and your brain has been destroyed by toxins. However, seeing slow progress and believing you were made for more is imperative… and having friends remind you of these truths. This is something that takes repetition, even now.
Working to strengthen my vagal tone
I had been working on this for some time with patients prior to getting sick. I even reached out to two old professors about a research study I wanted to test a hypothesis about how to strengthen vagal tone because it is a direct correlation to parasympathetic strength. I could go on & on about this. Retraining your sympathetic nervous system to take a chill pill and allow your parasympathetic system to take over is where healing begins. I work all of my patients/ clients through these steps and have found a more systematic approach.
Supporting my lymphatics and gallbladder
I had pain under my right rib cage after my ER visit. I assumed it was the ridiculous pharmaceuticals they put me on. It got better and then it came back. I knew patients without a gallbladder needed TUDCA. I never assumed my gallbladder was an issue until later on in my healing when the pain came back.
Fullscripts: click here to create an account (discount applied automatically)
Body Bio: click here(save 15% “HEALINGPHYSIO-A”)
Manual lymphatic massage or dry brushing. Luckily, in my profession I had this education working with head, neck, breast & melanoma cancer patients. This is a beginning component in my root cause/ environmental coaching process and is very low cost.
Trampoline jumping, jumping jacks, step jacks or jump board on a Pilates Reformer
Meet yourself where your energy and financial situation will allow (step jacks and jumping jacking require no financial cost).
Inversion exercises to help the brain and sinus cavity drain
Stick mobility to help stretch and unwind fascia
Lots of ideas under my instagram page @healingphysio.pt
Purchase a stick here (save 10% “HealingPhysio”)
Children’s liquid, dye free, Benadryl & charcoal for mouth, skin & scalp sores and rashes
(These are in no discernible order)
I am still on this journey, but I hope this provides you some hope and help that healing is possible…
This is not medical advise. You should always consult your healthcare practitioner(s) for medical advise and what is best for your care. The purpose of this blog is to centralize and share information while connecting with others.