I healed my own chronic illness (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) holistically with with help of Functional Medicine and Manifestation. When I was 21 years old at University studying for my postgraduate degree, I got sick with a viral infection (which I truly believe I got from inhaling toxic fumes when I stepped outside my house for a walk and several trucks passed me and I instantly felt sick). From that point onwards I just didn’t feel right for the next 6 months. Fast forward six months, I had just came back of holiday in and within one week I couldn’t get out of bed. It was as though my body was waiting for me to return home from vacation before it decided we can’t do this anymore, we can’t keep operating in a fight or flight response and living the life you currently are. Within the first 2 weeks I intuitively knew what I was dealing with. Chronic fatigue syndrome aka adrenal fatigue whatever you want to call it. Chronic fatigue is like an umbrella term to label a set of symptoms, but it is incredibly REEL! Someones root cause for developing chronic fatigue can be different from one person to another. I was so fatigued I couldn’t leave my bed to shower, eat or brush my teeth at the start, which put me into a deep depression because my body wasn’t functioning. I remember calling a help line because I felt so low and I just needed somebody to talk to, during this call the line got disconnected. I don’t know if they put the phone down on me or the signal just cut, but as soon as that happened I had a realisation that nobody was coming to save me, but myself.
As a now 22 year old fresh out of University, it felt like my life was falling apart, and essentially it was. But this was honestly life changing for me. I had to quit my job, I had to stop exercising and I had to simply just had embrace this next chapter of my life which was - healing. My main symptoms were deliberately fatigue, brain fog to the point I couldn’t look at screens for too long without wearing sunglasses, I had anxiety and muscular pain. My symptoms were also brewing following the viral infection, this also looked like night sweats, irritability, irregular cycles and acne. I already had an interest in nutrition (studying it at university) and alternative medicine and the holistic world. I feel like I was already in a position where it was easier for me to start figuring out the missing pieces of the puzzle to get myself well again, because of my current knowledge and understanding at that time. After a while I started working with my own naturopathic doctor, I needed support and guidance on my journey. I had gone to my GP and ended up in A&E a few times during the start of my journey with sicknesses. No doctor could figure out what was wrong with me. I received a referral letter in the post for a chronic fatigue support group, I put this letter straight in the bin because I didn’t want this to be my reality. I also tried to connect with a few people on social media who were dealing with chronic fatigue to see what they were doing to get better (ironically after I healed I went to reach out to these people again, but they were still in the same position mentally and physically, this is not pleasant to say, but a lot of sick people enjoy the victimhood of being sick and accepting that as their reality, I will touch on this another time). Working with my naturopath looked like running Functional Medicine Lab tests, I did the DUTCH, Stool Test and got my Thyroid checked to start with. My hormones were on the FLOOR and looked like someone who was double my age, it didn’t look great! I also had some bacteria overgrowth and we worked on my nutrition, lifestyle habits (what I could do) and supplementation. But, what was also important for me was regulating my nervous system. Looking back I lived a big portion of my life in and out of a fight and flight response which was severely damaging to my body and was crippling my health. As my energy levels and brain fog started to gradually increase over the next few months from the protocols I set with my naturopath. I started attending therapy sessions and this unlocked another level to my healing journey, doing EMDR, CBT and Hypnotherapy sessions. I also started learning as much as I could about the mind, body and soul connection. This looked like learning about manifestation, the Law of attraction and dived into the works of Dr Joe Dispenza, Bruce Lipton, Gregg Braden, Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra etc (if you know, you know!), but Joe was the main guy for me at that moment in time. I started to research about the impact childhood trauma can have on chronic illnesses, Epigenetics and spirituality. I had a HUGE spiritual awakening.
I also came across the Medical Medium, if you have heard of him or haven’t, I will leave that to you to form an opinion on him. But I started to implement his celery juice recommendation every morning on an empty stomach, while also following the protocol set by my naturopath.
I surrendered my ego and started to accept this new phase of my life. I worked with my therapist to help me work through my trauma (who I still see today, because she is amazing!). I changed my lifestyle around physically and mentally and became the new version of me, the person I was meant to become. When I had to stop exercising at the start of my journey, this was SO hard for me, because prior to this my life and identity at the time was a “gym girl”, who trained 5 days a week following a bodybuilding style, and had done this for 5/6 years, but it was the best ego death for me.
I could talk about this ALL day, but this is essentially what my journey looked like and it took me 9 months to feel “well” again. You don’t need to wait until your health and life falls apart like I did. You can start working on your health today, if you know something is off, see to it!
In summary, I surrendered my ego and who I thought I was and where my life was going, accepted what was happening to me, but didn’t accept it as my reality forever. Addressed my emotional health to regulate my nervous system to no longer live in a chronic fight or flight response. Changed my nutrition to suit my needs and added in certain herbs, vitamins and minerals, and ran functional medicine tests so I could see how my body was currently operating which helped me to tailor my supplement protocol and embarked on a new spiritual journey.
Whatever you are going through right now, just know you are never alone and always remember that you are your own self healer ❤️
You’ve got this 🦋