Ever since my childhood I have suffered from a few major health concerns. It all started with extremely sensitive skin where I would break out in large rashes all over my forearms and had chronic itchy legs. By puberty I was hit with severe cystic acne and was put on every single topical gel and antibiotic they had on the market. I tried every over the counter as well as prescription skin care product and nothing worked for me. My skin was broken out all of the time with massive bumps and white heads, which I would pop and they would leave a red mark for weeks. Due to the nature of cystic acne where my pimples lay deep under my skin and formed large "cysts" on my face, my entire chin and around my nose was purple. I ended up going to the last resort which was a drug called Accutane. Accutane's major warning was that it could cause suicide, and that patients especially teens, should be closely monitored while on the drug. The second major warning was that if a person taking Accutane were to get pregnant and have a baby it would be born disfigured. Because of the severity of this drug, I was forced to be placed on birth control at age 15 and was asked personal questions at every check-up about whether I was sexually active or not. Of course I was not, so it was really disturbing to me that I had to be on birth control when it wasn't even a factor in my life. While on Accutane your entire face sheds over and over again including your lips and eyelids. It was a pretty embarrassing journey and my makeup was always flaking off. This series of drugs cost my parents around $1,500 at the time because our insurance wouldn't cover it. Each bottle of antibiotics I was on prior to Accutane cost around $100 per 60 day supply, so my acne problem sure did cost a lot! I was pimple free for about a year and then my skin turned back to how it was before, only a little less severe. For years I tried every skin care product I could get my hands on trying to control this problem, and still to this day am dealing with acne.
When I hit High School I suffered from anxiety attacks and depression as well as candida. Candida, which is chronic yeast infections, actually started in my pre-teens when I started taking antibiotics for acne. Apparently when you use antibiotics they kill all of the good bacteria as well as the bad and so your body has no defenses for things like excessive yeast growth. I ended up having a yeast infection once a month which I treated with a drug called Diflucan. My body ended up building up a resistance to the drug so I ended up being prescribed twice the normal dosage each month.
Anxiety hit me at a very early age, around 12. The first week of school when I was 13 I developed stabbing pains in my back and couldn't sit in class. The doctors couldn't diagnose me, even though I was in excruciating pain, and it was only until a week later when I developed a blistery rash that went halfway around my body from spine to naval and over my shoulder that we realized that I had shingles. Shingles is a nervous disorder that is very uncommon in children and is seen more commonly in the elderly and in people over 40. The general consensus was that I was unable to cope with the work load placed on me the first week of Junior High and I stressed out so badly that I developed shingles.
My depression got pretty bad in my high school years, and I would have crazy thoughts of ramming my car into the side of guard rails on the freeway and all sorts of crazy things. My thoughts began making it hard for me to drive anywhere because of the fear that one day I would take action and hurt myself. I just couldn't get happy and so I went to the doctor and was prescribed the drug Zoloft and later Cefalexin. I took those drugs for a few years until one day I was driving and was listening to a radio show where a doctor who had been studying antidepressants for 30years and was not an advocate, questioned how people can think that a drug that works on your brain could only work on one part without effecting the rest of your brain. The discussion terrified me and I instantly stopped taking all of my antidepressants.
Later in High School I developed acid reflux so bad that I was prescribed a daily antacid that was supposed to help. It didn't. I was on it for years. I don't know why I kept taking it. Probably because of my fear of how bad the heartburn would get if I didn't take the drugs at all.
In college I began getting gastrointestinal issues where my body would either trap gas and I would get extremely and painfully bloated, or I would get stabbing pains in my intestines. I went to all sorts of doctors seeking an answer, including a gastrointestinal specialist and had a CT Scan of my pelvis and abdomen. $2,500 later I was given a clean bill of health and a "we can't see that anything is wrong" diagnosis.
Around this time I started listening to Anthony Robbins who is a world-renowned motivational speaker, and he changed my life. His way of looking at how we live, what we put into our bodies and how we think and act made more sense to me than anything I had every heard. He opened up a whole new way of looking at the world and got me to start taking action in the areas of my life and health that would completely alter who I was as a person. In listening to Anthony Robbins, I learned two very important things. First, my thoughts and actions are directly going to effect my health, and second, everything that I put into my body is going to effect the health and function of it. We've all heard the adage, "you are what you eat", but have you really focused on the idea of "you are what you think". My mind from a very early age was constantly in a very negative state. My health issues did not help with my confidence and I kept pumping my body full of drugs. My health problems were constant and nothing would work to get rid of them so I slipped deeper and deeper into a pessimistic attitude toward life and my own health. I began to feel helpless when it came to taking care of myself, and felt like the doctors couldn't help me either. With no luck from traditional medicine, what hope could there possibly be?
I started getting a thirst for learning more about healing my self through diet and exercise and got some books on the subjects and got a personal trainer. My first personal trainer introduced me to vitamins, minerals, supplements and detoxes. I ended up losing a ton of fat off my body and was the healthiest I have ever been in my life. The only foods I put in my body were unprocessed ones and I was drinking powdered "green drinks" to help alkalize my blood. I went on a few cleansing detoxes where I would drink a very strong tea for 3 days and eat no food and my colon would eliminate all of the waste in my body. It really worked and afterward I felt so clean and energized. The experiences I had in my life with this particular trainer fueled my desire to learn more about health and nutrition, and to this day I am deeply grateful for her.
For a few years in my early 20's I was obsessed with working out, eating super clean, detoxing and getting rest. During this period I was never sick, and I was not on any drugs. My skin and eyes were super clear and I didn't have any depression.
I continued my informal education by getting books like, "Secrets of Longevity: Hundreds of ways to live to be 100". I also started experimenting with different ways of cooking and eating. One of my favorite cook books that changed my way of looking at food is called "Raw Food: Real World". I also delved into "self help" books like "The Purpose Driven Life" and "As a Man Thinketh". All with the desire to get over the idea that my health is something so complicated that I need an expert to diagnose me and tell me how to take care of myself.
I am 30 years old today and have two children and another only 4 weeks away! Since searching out alternatives to traditional medicine and working on myself both mentally and physically, I have realized that health is not about treating symptoms. It is about taking preventative measures to avoid illness. We are all prone to hereditary factors that can cause disease. Medicine definitely has a very important place in our health. Some are more fortunate than others to be blessed with a life free of many of the common ailments that others face daily. I feel fortunate to have the knowledge I do about my health and about how I can take care of myself and my family. Through this blog I hope to share my journey to optimal health with all those willing to listen. Hopefully I can inspire people and change some lives along the way!
