Every Road Has Led Me Here

For many years I have struggled with my health.  Nothing "serious", but serious enough that it affects me on a daily basis.  The only way to understand my present situation is to undertand my past.  I will try to be brief :)

 

When I was younger (13-14yrs old)  I had annoying acne on my face and my back.  My pediatrican at the time prescribed me an antibiotic for my acne.  Back then I nor my mother knew the damaging effects of being on antibiotics for an extended period of time.  I was NEVER consistent with taking the pills so my acne never got better, but I was still adviced to take them everyday for about 3 years.

At age 14 I developed a small patch of ezcema on my left hand.  Everyone that has known me from then until now KNOWS what I am talking about, because it has been there for 10 years.  At age 16 I started developing digestive issues.  All of sudden I became extremely sensitive to fresh squeezed orange juice, so sad for me since that was my favorite part of the Christmas season.  We had 2 orange trees in our background that blossom every winter.  But literally the SECOND the juice went down my throat, I would end up with excruciating stomach cramps and pain.  The same food allergy then happened with milk.  At age 17  I was introduced to FLORA PILLS, aka probiotics.  These helped greatly when for 2 weeks I couldn't eat ANYTHING without getting sick.

 

Change the topic now to my "reproductive issues".  From age 14-17  I only had 1, maybe 2 menstrual cycles a year.  I never complained back then because not having to worry about cramps & bleeding was awesome.  But at age 18 I realized this can't be good and it definitely can't be normal.  I went to an OBGYN and of course they put me on the pill to "regulate" me.  All my bloodwork came back ok and all the tests were fine.  So for 5 years I was on birth control pills.

 

When Jess & I got married, I became VERY interested in all things HEALTH related.  I read and studied of hours and hours and learned all I could about how to eat correctly, what things are good & bad for our bodies, and how CRAZY UNHEALTHY our country is because of the chemicals, processed foods, high sugar foods, etc. that the FDA says is "ok & safe".  I changed my way of eating drastically and was so excited to see my health improve. And it did, well at least my digestive issues got alot better.  But strangely, my ezcema got worse and worse.  It has now spread to my ENTIRE palm of my left hand, both of my ankles, my neck, and my knees.  I just couldn't understand what was happening to me. I thought I was doing everything right.

 

Jess and I decided in MAY of 2011 that I should probably go off of birth control.  We both knew it wasn't good for my body and we knew if you want to ever get pregnant, you have to let your body rest from the artificial hormones that are in the pill.  So of course when I went off it, I went back to NEVER having a period.  In January of 2012 we made it one of our new year resolutions to get pregnant in 2012. And so the journey begins.  In Feb of 2012 I went to a different OBGYN and asked what can I to get pregnant if I do NOT have periods? He did an ultrasound and bloodwork and said "you have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and so you will only get pregnant if you take clomid"  I asked, "is there anything I can do naturally to make my PCOS go away?"  He chuckled at me and said, " So here is how clomid works...."

 

I left his office feeling angry, mad at my body for being so broken, and mad at doctors these days who never ask the question WHY.  Why do women get PCOS? and what can they do to get rid of it?

I went home and told Jess we are just going to do clomid.  He insisted that I try a different route.

So from February - May I tried every natural vitamin, pill, tea, etc. to try and make my body heal.  No luck.  Then I heard about this AMAZING herbalist named HARRIET that works wonders on people who are trying to get pregnant.  I went to see her in MAY of this year and she did her voodoo magic on me and told me i had all these issues with my brain, thyroid, parathyroid, pineal gland, adrenals, & ovaries.  She put me on a 4 month program of herbs and vitamins that i had to take morning and night. She assured me that after these 4 months, my body would be COMPLETELY HEALED from ALL it's issues, including my ezcema.  I asked her if what I eat is causing any of these problems, and she said "absolutely not".

 

I had a hard time believing that what i ate had no effect on my health issues.  I had done so much research about how ezcema was an autoimmune response to an allergy in the body. Gluten, Dairy & Sugar being to biggest offenders.  I had contemplated trying to cut these things out of my diet, but any time I tried, I got too stressed, scared, and gave up.  I decided to trust Harriet and I commited the next 4 months to taking these herbs & vitamins and patiently waiting.  I was so excited when I had a period 1 month after starting to routine.  IT'S WORKING! I had so much hope.  Then the next month went by, and the next, and the next. 

No periods... No improvement in my skin issues.

 

When I went back to see her in September, she told me ALL of my issues had cleared up and she had no idea why my body was not having regular cycles.  She also told me that my PCOS was gone.  She also told me that my skin issues were not related to what food i was eating.

I immediately went to an OBGYN to get another ultrasound to see if my PCOS was REALLY gone.

The called me back and said, "You still have PCOS"

I was so mad and frustrated that I had spent soooo much time and money with this herbalist lady who had unknowingly wasted my time.  I was ready to finally give in to clomid and just get pregnant.

 

But something inside me has always wondered WHY? I'm never satisfied with the doctor's answer or the medicinal was of "masking" the issues. I want to get RID of my skin issues, I want to have REGULAR cycles on my OWN. And I want to be healthy and get pregnant without something artificial helping me.  I just want to be in control of what's going on in my body.

 

...So every road has led me here...

My last and final attempt at healing my body.  I emailed a sweet lady who blogs over at http://enlightenedhomemaker.blogspot.com/

I told her my story and here is what she said to me:

 

Kimberly,

Your story is certainly not unique. There are so many women in the same boat and so many that have been totally healed. Your history is a perfect picture of a leaky gut and a body filled with yeast. Yeast issues and gut issues will most definitely mess up periods and fertility big time! There is no question in my mind that you have yeast after the years of antibiotics and birth control. It just goes hand in hand. Yeast will then cause food intolerances and eczema. My son used to have it head to toe and when we cleared up yeast and took away dairy and gluten, it was gone and has never returned. The fact that you are reacting to OJ is also a sure sign. You can get rid of yeast and you can get better but it will take a while and you have to be strict.
This is what you need to do to heal your body:

Treat for yeast
Get off sugar
Get off dairy
Get of wheat/gluten

Do this for a couple months at least. Be as strict as you possibly can.
Do a yeast treatment. One I love the best to start with is the Feel Good Foods kit which is $70. You can order online or I can get it and save the shipping. Do that for two months as well.
You won't feel good for a few weeks as the body clears the yeast. You need B complex, Cod oil , Zinc and D3. Those all help with hormones.
That is where you start. It is hard work. You might find the eczema gone within the first month. You might need more time. But, it will help you and without question, you need to do it.
You have a long history to correct but it can be done. Have hope. You are still young and you can be healthy again. There is a reason why your body is not having periods and when there is a reason, there is a solution. You just have to dig for answers, pray hard and work really hard. Those who do, always find the solution. Those that can't do the work continue down the path to ill health. I see it all the time. I see woman healed all the time who do the work. There just isn't a magic pill and thats what most people want. I guess it depends how bad you want it.

 

As soon as I read her email I KNEW this was my answer.  As hard as it sounded I knew it was the correct solution for my issues.  I feel confident that if I do this, I will be healed, and i will be able to get pregnant without clomid.  I will be blogging about my experience each week here on the blog.  And no, all of my posts will not be this long  :)

 

Next post will be all about CANDIDA (yeast) and how its overgrowth can cause ALL kinds of health issues.  OH, and 1 in 3 women have it  :)  So listen up, girls.