Thank God for my Angel Nurse! My Arduous Journey Battling Toxins

I’ve been there. Exasperated. Frustrated. Seemingly nowhere to turn. My friends, colleagues and family didn’t understand the depths of my struggles. The doctors couldn’t figure it out. It was like I was fighting an unwinnable battle.

[tweetthis]As a Christian, I believe the Lord brings circumstances into our lives to grow and stretch us.[/tweetthis]

I also believe He can bring good out of bad. If I didn’t have that hope, I don’t know what I’d do.

I’m not a doctor, nor do I have all of the answers, but I’ve been a patient of many doctors. I don’t come out of the health industry. I come out of “Corporate America” – working a 9:00 – 5:00 job sitting behind a desk in a cubicle.

It’s my desire to help others and to bring awareness of what’s going on in this toxic world. That’s why I started the blog, Living Natural Today. It’s why I speak to people about toxins and it’s why I launched — after years of research — Out with Toxins, In with your Health: A 14-Day Online Program to Help You Minimize Toxins Throughout Five Rooms of Your Home. I have spent too many years, too much money, cried too many tears and have faced too many frustrations as a result of my health. I don’t want you to go down the same road as I did.

Heed the Warning Signs… and Don’t Take Your Health for Granted!

I used to take my health for granted. Not anymore! I used to think, “I’m young. I’m not the healthiest, but I’m fine. I’m even skinny. Why do I have to worry about a diet?”

[tweetthis]I didn’t realize that what we put in our bodies will either make us healthy or cause disease.[/tweetthis]

I just ate food for energy, or sustenance, not necessarily for health. I wasn’t going to have any problems from eating my Doritos and M&Ms, and drinking my diet pop. Well, I was wrong and I should have listened to loving roommates and family members who would comment about my dietary habits from time to time. I was stubborn and enjoyed those foods too much to give them up. But I think that’s like a lot of us. We don’t stop to take care of ourselves when warning signs and symptoms start to arise – a daily headache, feeling drained and tired in the middle of the afternoon, God forbid – having digestion issues! We’re too busy working, taking care of others, or just running from place to place like a chicken with its head cut off. If I would have heeded the warnings years ago, I wouldn’t have gone down this road.

My Early Warning Signs…

So how did it start? People ask me how I ended up here. I tell them there were so many factors. I can’t just pinpoint it down to one thing, but I do know there were multiple things which led to this.

For years, I knew I had some hormone issues, but never knew how to address them and I was managing, so it was okay. Then came the daily headaches. I’d pop an Ibuprofen, it would go away and things would be okay until the next day. Then came the chest pains while at work. I would tell myself, “I’m under some stress — it happens… I’ll just take an aspirin as I’ve heard that’s good for the heart.” All in the midst of this, my memory starting failing. I could remember things from years ago, but couldn’t remember what I had just read, or what I had for dinner last night — but again I managed. I might not have been able to multitask as much at work anymore, but it didn’t really phase me at the time. There were many other symptoms too – like losing lots of hair after showering, beginning to get allergies that I never used to have, being unable to gain weight (I know some people won’t see that as a problem and would actually like that, but it definitely is!), having some digestion issues and stomach bloating, having a daily sore throat, just to name a few.

Then in my late 20s/early 30s I remember being at a Super Bowl party. As we were all sitting there watching the game, I started experiencing vision episodes. My vision would become blurred to the point where I couldn’t see. It almost seemed like I was going to pass out, but I never did. (I had passed out several times before (which the doctors could never figure out why)). I had had some of these vision episodes before, but never for this long. I left the party a little concerned, but didn’t do anything about it. I didn’t know what to do, or where to turn and I didn’t know what was causing it.

Then I got engaged. I was busy planning a wedding and unusually busy at work during this time helping to coordinate a large multi-day event for a large number of executives and others traveling to our corporate office. It required longer hours and the timing couldn’t have been worse – the event was a few weeks before our wedding. Then a couple of months before all of that, I had 4 wisdom teeth removed and didn’t react well coming out of the anesthesia.

Well, needless to say, I somehow made it through. After getting married I ended up leaving that job to get a part time one and to also help my husband with his new business. On the last day of working at that job, I remember my voice going out. I tried walking around to say “goodbye” to everyone, but I could barely speak. Stress had taken its toll. One day, at the part time job, I experienced one of those vision episodes again while I was in front of my computer. I put my head down on my desk, which got others in the office concerned. My boss drove me home and insisted I go to the doctor.

“Perhaps it’s Anxiety…”

That started my journey of visiting doctor after doctor. I started with my family medical doctor, where I saw a few different doctors at the practice because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. It concerned them that my heart rate was really elevated, but the EKG came back fine. They sent me home with a heart monitor for a few days. That came back okay.

They sent me for ultra sounds, blood tests, stress tests, specialists, CAT Scans and MRI’s. Everything came back fine.  They finally concluded I had anxiety and sent me home with a drug — which my doctor said he rarely prescribed to patients.

Thank God for my “Angel” Nurse!

At that time, I used to believe everything a doctor told me. We were brought up to not question the doctor. They knew what was best, so I didn’t question him — and like a good patient, started taking the medication. It seemed to calm my heart a little, but I would wake up in the middle of the night dripping in sweat and I still had other vision episodes. In the midst of all of this, I went to a heart specialist for a stress test. Of course, it came back fine. I asked the nurse what other tests they could run, but she said, “there was nothing else they could do.”

She suggested I seek other alternatives, but didn’t say what. Weeks later, I called my doctor to ask about the drug I was on because of some of the side effects I was experiencing. I spoke to a nurse instead.

To this day, I call her my “angel nurse.” I don’t know who she was, but once she found out what I was on, she whispered in the phone, “you should try to get off of the drug because it will only make things worse.”  This was the first time I started to question doctors and the first (and only) time I had ever been addicted to a drug.

Getting off of the drug was horrible. I would wake up in the middle of the night having hallucinations. I finally had to have a professional help me to get off it. I’m so grateful for her and my angel nurse. I tell you this to only share my experience and frustrations. I’m not telling you this so you don’t listen to your doctor, but I do suggest arming yourself with research when you visit them. I know they mean well.

Doing My Own Research

So, after going down the traditional road and not getting any better and experiencing more symptoms, I started doing my own research. Believe me, I had a lot to learn. However, doing research when you feel like garbage is very difficult. In the meantime, I just got more and more frustrated as my body was deteriorating in front of me and I had no answers and no where to turn. On top of that, I started having symptoms of MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity), but didn’t know what was causing them, or even knew what MCS was at the time. If you’ve been in that situation, I totally understand. Those were bad days and I never want to go through them again.

MD’s, DC’s and Functional Doctors

I heard of a doctor who was an MD, but started her own practice helping people a little non-traditionally. After many visits and much blood work, she concluded I had adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and mineral deficiencies. She helped to point me in the right direction, but after a year under her care and not really getting any better, I was back at the start. Back to more research.

From there I went to doctors out of state and locally. They typically were DC’s. I realized that they had a better understanding of what I was dealing with. I learned there were two philosophies of care – MD’s were more chemistry-focused and studied what medications interact with what and DC’s were more biologically-focused. DC’s and functional doctors seemed to work better for me. Of course, there are good and bad doctors in each field. You just need to figure out who works better for you. I addressed the adrenal fatigue, had my mercury fillings removed, and started healing my cells.

Battling Toxins – We Live in a Toxic World!

Fast forward to today – the past 8-9 years have been a difficult journey, but I’m much better today then I once was. I still have health things to address, but I’m in a better place now to fix them.

So what were some of the things that contributed to my health difficulties? There were a lot — and an accumulation of toxins definitely played a significant role. You see, we live in a highly toxic world.

[tweetthis]There are approximately 85,000 chemicals and the majority have not been tested for our health.[/tweetthis]

Additionally, we have seen increased pesticides, added hormones, antibiotics and GMO’s that have been introduced into our food over the past 20 some years. Our world isn’t the same today as it was when our grandparents and great grandparents grew up.

But this blog isn’t doom and gloom, nor will it be. There are things we can do to minimize our exposures. I want to make you aware of the things out there that are causing hormone disruption and disease. I want you to be informed of things in your environment that can cause challenges to your health.  Ultimately, I want to inspire you to do your own research and dig into things further. I definitely don’t have all of the answers, but I do know what I have personally gone through. I want to encourage you to be proactive for the sake of not only your health, but for the sake of your families.

If any part of this story sounds familiar — perhaps you’ve personally experienced similar situations — or know someone who has, I encourage you to leave a comment below, reach out to me with an email (teresa@LivingNaturalToday.com) or consider purchasing my newly launched program, Out with Toxins, In with your Health: A 14-Day Online Program to Help You Minimize Toxins Throughout Five Rooms of Your Home.

You’re not alone. Wishing you abundant health!

P.S. If you would like to minimize toxins in your home, be sure to check out my 14 day program to do just that!

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