I strongly believe in natural wellness, and that generally, most medications we use are necessary only because modern humans don't diligently take good care of ourselves. Somewhere, we forgot that proper fuel and habits impact the performance of the suits we live in. I take my car to the car wash. I fill it with proper fuel - regardless of gas prices. I have the oil changed, the brakes checked, the tires changed. While I've never totaled up the cost, I would venture to guess I spend more money on caring for my vehicle than I do for my body.
Over the past couple of years, my body has started to change. I thought it was menopause, and geared my health efforts on restoring hormone balance. I sleep like it's my religion: 8 hrs regularly. I exercise regularly: 5-6 days a week including cardio and strength training. I try to manage stress load, work on good relationships, take time to meditate and decompress. Where I fail, is diet. Sure, I am maintaining a healthy weight, but I am 45 years old and still eat pizza, ice cream, chips, and candy; like I'm a teenager.
So back to the body changes: I am a lifelong runner. For the past 25 years, I have regularly run 5-6 days a week and for many years averaged 40 - 50 miles a week. Our family went through a traumatic life event that turned my life upside down. My children's father died, and I suddenly became a single mother of three teenagers. Every mother lives for her kids, but suddenly I was all they had. The weight of that responsibility was intense. What if I lost my job? What if I couldn't do all the things they still needed? Who would pick up the pieces if I failed? I worked full time, I was driving 100 miles a day to get them to respective schools and myself to work. This drastically impacted my running. I strung together running 20-mile weeks as best I could, but I would come home every day and just crash.
Time heals all wounds, and within a couple of years, we had a rhythm going. My oldest started driving, the 100-mile daily driving trips were over. I had more TIME to run! The problem was, I couldn't make a comeback. I was always breaking. At first, I thought it was just stress and deconditioning. I added in strength training, I trained very carefully. But still, I was not performing anywhere close to the level I used to. You could blame age - but my same-aged peers were still moving along while I was left behind unable to keep up, still frequently getting injured. Next, I thought it was menopause - hormones wreaking havoc on my cardiovascular system, muscles, joints, and bones. So, I started taking hormone replacement therapy. Now my hormones are in check, but STILL, I am piling up injury after injury and now new injuries are coming even before old ones heal. I am in chronic pain. It's depressing and taking every ounce of passion and drive to keep fighting to do what I love. Almost 2 years into this chronic pain situation, I begin to wonder if something more is wrong with me than stress or hormones, or aging. Maybe I have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or some autoimmune issue that is generating all this chronic inflammation? Maybe it's stress, but has my life really been that much more stressful than everyone around me? I find that hard to believe.
This is where I find myself today 2/29/2020. I have had some initial lab testing that raised an eyebrow at lupus. I have a strong family history of autoimmune disease, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis on both sides of my family. The next step will be to see a rheumatologist. The next step after that will be to start taking immunosuppressive drugs. The thought of that goes against everything I believe in. I believe that fresh air, peace, diet, exercise, and a good night's sleep cure most diseases. I have witnessed this firsthand over and over in my practice. Patients have bariatric surgery, they lose 50 - 75 - 100lbs and their medications start dropping off: no more hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, depression.
I am putting the brakes on this freight train, and before I dive any further into what is wrong, I'm going to focus on what I can do right. For the next 3 months, I intend to overhaul my diet and eat like my life depends on it. It kinda does. Running is that important to me. Living without chronic pain is too.
Over the past couple of years, my body has started to change. I thought it was menopause, and geared my health efforts on restoring hormone balance. I sleep like it's my religion: 8 hrs regularly. I exercise regularly: 5-6 days a week including cardio and strength training. I try to manage stress load, work on good relationships, take time to meditate and decompress. Where I fail, is diet. Sure, I am maintaining a healthy weight, but I am 45 years old and still eat pizza, ice cream, chips, and candy; like I'm a teenager.
So back to the body changes: I am a lifelong runner. For the past 25 years, I have regularly run 5-6 days a week and for many years averaged 40 - 50 miles a week. Our family went through a traumatic life event that turned my life upside down. My children's father died, and I suddenly became a single mother of three teenagers. Every mother lives for her kids, but suddenly I was all they had. The weight of that responsibility was intense. What if I lost my job? What if I couldn't do all the things they still needed? Who would pick up the pieces if I failed? I worked full time, I was driving 100 miles a day to get them to respective schools and myself to work. This drastically impacted my running. I strung together running 20-mile weeks as best I could, but I would come home every day and just crash.
Time heals all wounds, and within a couple of years, we had a rhythm going. My oldest started driving, the 100-mile daily driving trips were over. I had more TIME to run! The problem was, I couldn't make a comeback. I was always breaking. At first, I thought it was just stress and deconditioning. I added in strength training, I trained very carefully. But still, I was not performing anywhere close to the level I used to. You could blame age - but my same-aged peers were still moving along while I was left behind unable to keep up, still frequently getting injured. Next, I thought it was menopause - hormones wreaking havoc on my cardiovascular system, muscles, joints, and bones. So, I started taking hormone replacement therapy. Now my hormones are in check, but STILL, I am piling up injury after injury and now new injuries are coming even before old ones heal. I am in chronic pain. It's depressing and taking every ounce of passion and drive to keep fighting to do what I love. Almost 2 years into this chronic pain situation, I begin to wonder if something more is wrong with me than stress or hormones, or aging. Maybe I have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or some autoimmune issue that is generating all this chronic inflammation? Maybe it's stress, but has my life really been that much more stressful than everyone around me? I find that hard to believe.
This is where I find myself today 2/29/2020. I have had some initial lab testing that raised an eyebrow at lupus. I have a strong family history of autoimmune disease, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis on both sides of my family. The next step will be to see a rheumatologist. The next step after that will be to start taking immunosuppressive drugs. The thought of that goes against everything I believe in. I believe that fresh air, peace, diet, exercise, and a good night's sleep cure most diseases. I have witnessed this firsthand over and over in my practice. Patients have bariatric surgery, they lose 50 - 75 - 100lbs and their medications start dropping off: no more hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, depression.
I am putting the brakes on this freight train, and before I dive any further into what is wrong, I'm going to focus on what I can do right. For the next 3 months, I intend to overhaul my diet and eat like my life depends on it. It kinda does. Running is that important to me. Living without chronic pain is too.
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