How A Naturopathic Doctor Changed My Life

I met my naturopathic doctor during a networking meeting I would attend regularly as a small business owner. She joined to try to grow her practice more and boy, did it work! I’ll never forget the words that resonated with me most when she said, “given the right tools, the body can heal itself.” I think that’s when the pivotal light bulb moment happened for me and my life hasn’t been the same since - in the best way.

A little background about me: I was sick more than the average child. I missed a lot of school, had chronic fatigue syndrome that pulled me out of school for 4 months during 7th grade and vascular headaches that pulled me out of school for 2 months in 8th grade. I had chronic asthma and relied on several inhalers, a nebulizer, steroids, and an allergy pill to “control”. I had chronic migraines that got so frequent, I learned to live a normal life even being in constant, severe pain. It got to the point where I would be taking migraine medication every other day, which you’re not supposed to be doing with those meds, by the way. I was also overprescribed antibiotics growing up. My doctor would give me antibiotics for a virus, admitting that it wouldn’t speed up the healing since they don’t work on a virus, but he would do it anyway because it gave us a placebo effect that we would feel better faster.

I was seeing a pulmonologist when I met my naturopathic doctor. I went to him with every intention of not being put on more steroids to control my asthma bu alas, he was also at a loss. So I went to up to the naturopath and said, “I’m desperate. I probably won’t like everything you will want me to do, but I will follow your guide 100%. You are my last hope.” I had truly run out of all other options throughout my life and knew there had to be more to life than constant sickness and unhappiness.

After an initial assessment, running bloodwork, and doing the U.S. Biotek 96 General Foods IgG Food Allergy Panel to figure out food sensitivities, we figured out I was having inflammatory reactions to gluten, dairy, eggs, and almonds. The foods people react to differs for everyone, so I strongly recommend you doing the test for yourself. Keep in mind, gluten, dairy, and eggs are very common inflammatory foods. Once we figured this out, I went gluten, dairy, egg, and almond free. It has been several years after converting to this lifestyle and I’m still going strong. Since I’m not allergic to these food groups, I still indulge once in a while, especially around the holidays. It keeps me going, knowing I don’t have to avoid these foods 100% of the time. But 95% of the time still takes an incredible amount of will power - especially for someone who lived on mac and cheese and pasta in general growing up.

In recent years, I have also worked to lower my grain and sugar consumption. Although rice and gluten free pasta are wonderful, I got into the habit of eating it too often again. I also relied on sugary treats (of which there are many in all dietary lifestyles!) become too much of a treat after stressful days, which became constant.

The first year after switching to the naturopathic doctor (I stopped seeing my “regular” primary care physician altogether) was rough. Every time I got a cold, seasonal allergies, or other sickness, I was training my body how to heal itself by not taking any over the counter medication. This was important since my body didn’t have many natural defenses to common illnesses due to being overprescribed antibiotics as a kid. Not only that, but I would take a supplement that basically speeds up the healing process by making you feel worse for a few days. This means if you’re stuffed up, the snot is coming out no matter how hard you try to keep it in. I started using a humidifier at night to ease my stuffiness and coughing. I was taking a very personalized high quality supplement regimen that still changes to this day, depending on what needs attention.

Not only did my headaches and migraines diminish to only a few per month, but over time, my asthma attacks, and how often I would get sick in general lessened. I’m so proud today to be able to say I am on no medication for my asthma. No inhalers, no nebulizer, no steroids, no allergy pill. It’s liberating. That liberating feeling is a big reason I started this blog. I’ve found so much success in implementing a bunch of holistic remedies and cleaner diet and lifestyle that it’s become a passion of mine to help others with this information.

My naturopath has become my confidant. Not only has she helped through diet and supplement changes, but she also helps me change my mindset around health and sickness. She introduced me to my craniosacral practitioner, who has been such an asset to further helping clear up my migraine headaches and emotional traumas. She introduced me to Branch Basics, a non-toxic cleaning product line and Berkey Water Filters to make sure my drinking water is free of impurities and toxic chemicals. She has changed my entire life by being an amazing provider and truly wanting the best for her patients. So if you’re anything like I was - losing faith in the healthcare system, feeling alone, and sick and tired of being sick and tired, give a naturopathic doctor a try. They just might change your life.

Related blog posts:

Craniosacral Therapy: What Is It & Benefits

Branch Basics: Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

Berkey Water Filter: An Honest Review

Wet Sock Treatment for Boosting Immunity