Before Your Diagnosis
What were your symptoms?
Today, even in the time of functional medicine - we have the same fundamental problem. Your symptoms led you to a health professional - typically an allopathic MD who then sends you for blood tests or an MRI, or an endoscopy, etc. If you are in pain you are given Prescription drugs to alleviate this until your next visit. Once the results come back (which could be months later) - they send you to a specialist or tell you after the results of those tests what they believe is wrong with you. In the last 20 years it has become apparent that the medical system believes that an autoimmune disorder is a condition that you can do nothing about - it afflicts you and you then must be on medications to manage the condition - for the rest of your life.
At the time I was ‘diagnosed’ with 4 autoimmune disorders it was the mid-90’s and doctors didn’t work this way - yet. I believe this was because big pharma had not yet created a drug for my ‘autoimmune’ conditions. Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome were my first two diagnoses and in those days they were looked upon as a pattern of symptoms in susceptible individuals. As usual with the medical system they would treat these symptoms with pain meds - and if necessary psych drugs if you were deemed depressed or not sleeping. The drugs would do nothing for the root health problem but would suppress symptoms. No one tells you that the drugs themselves had ‘effects’ (I refuse to say “side” effects, because the drug itself is poison) and soon enough your original complaints become more complicated. The body will change and the original symptoms are now different, with new ones. Numbness sets in and your identity shifts to managing your daily symptoms of your diagnosis (and drugs). By the time they told me I had Lupus after blood tests and eventually MS because of my loss of balance I was told I would be in a wheelchair by 40. A couple years later I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Interestingly on the breast cancer - again - the medical system said it came upon me because I ‘carry a gene’. There was nothing I could do about ‘getting it’, and now I must chop off body parts, take mustard gas (chemo), radiation (which is so poisonous dentists shield you with a lead apron while taking x-rays) and stay on ‘hormone blockers’ the rest of my life -just in case. The day I was told I had cancer I did not want to make a decision on treatment. I wanted to go home and think about it. But they would not have it! I was hounded - aggressively spoken to and fear mongered to the point that I almost ran out of the office.
Now at 65 and healed naturally (no chemo/radiation) - off all prescription drugs… looking back over my story as well as thinking of over 20 years working with many clients with autoimmune disorders and other diagnoses’ - I see patterns with the body and its functions. If I was to ask you - with whatever diagnosis or health complaints you have - WHAT are your symptoms, what would you say? Maybe you could take a piece of paper with two columns. One column will have the symptoms when they FIRST started in your life, maybe you were a small child? And the other column will be ‘now’. Now as in -however many years later- and/or after medication(s) for your condition(s). Here are examples or ideas to think about for your columns - (remember TWO columns - one before the drugs/surgeries (early days) - the other column after):
Have you always had a minimum of 1 bowel movement a day? Were you constipated as a child? Do you have bowel movements that vacillate between loose/runny and solid. Are they bright yellow and smell like chemicals?
Were you on Prescription Drugs as a child or prior to your condition now? Which ones were they? Steroid breathers or antibiotics for the dentist or strep throat or The Pill for example?
Did you eat all foods or did you crave/want certain foods only - was your diet high in carbohydrates to the exclusion of Meat, Fish & Animal Fats? Did you grow up on seed oils like corn oil, canola oil, soybean oil - drink sodas/energy drinks and did you become a vegan or vegetarian/plant based?
Stomach aches, Anxiety, Constant Bloating/stomach distention, Headaches, Sleeplessness, Body Aches, Vomiting/Diarrhea, Heartburn, Brain Fog (unable to focus), Diagnosed with ADD, ADHD (write down if given drugs for those conditions)
Have you been obese or severely underweight?
Do you or have you suffered from UTIs, Vaginal infections or Prostate issues? Problematic menstrual cycles? Do you have adrenal or thyroid irregularities?
Have you had your tonsils, appendix or spleen removed?
Have you had your gall bladder removed?
Do you sweat when you work out or are in hot weather or in a sauna? Are you always cold?
The above are examples of what every doctor should ask a patient, but unfortunately they do not. They will make their ‘diagnosis’ based upon your blood tests or other tests but do not usually cover diet, function of your organs (especially bowel movements-but might if you bug them-and then they give you a drug). I challenge every reader to actually look at your health symptoms. Personally, and as a disclaimer I will remind you I am not an MD, but dare I suggest that your diagnoses (even cancer) are undealt with symptoms from a body that is screaming for help? When you take an over the counter drug or Prescription drug to make those symptoms go away - you are not helping your body resolve its problem and quite possibly the drug has other effects. If you suppress symptoms long enough the body will try to “rob Peter to pay Paul” - until it can’t. Also - it is not popular to remind people that reaching for a supplement that is ‘natural’ to ‘kill’ the headache or to help you poop is not getting to root cause.
For most people who have been or are sick, the body’s elimination systems tend to recirculate toxins. The bowel is unhealthy and 2-3 bowel movements a day are not happening. Fecal matter remains in the bowel too long. A few years ago I created a short youtube video on the Anatomy of the Colon and why this organ is SO important to the health of the entire body - find it here - Anatomy of Colon
The Lymph system which should shuttle toxins out of the body is not moving. And the Lymph system has no pump. It is not like the heart which is a muscle. Most people who are suffering are not able to be as physically active as they once were and if they have a good day - get physically active - they suffer afterwards with debilitating body pain. Becoming magnesium sufficient is vital here. This would include a good form of magnesium by mouth - like Magnesium Glycinate (500 mg - 6-8 caps a day), and other good magnesium forms consistently taken through the skin - also called ‘transdermal magnesium’. Magnesium Sulfate (epsom salts) & Magnesium Chloride in flake/salt form taken via baths at least 2x a week - 3 c. of EACH per bath - as hot as you can stand it - do NOT keep adding more water to the bath. One main fill of the tub - and 30-40 min of soak. I have a recipe on Youtube for a tallow-based skin cream. This basic recipe is your base for magnesium cream. Once you have followed the video and created the basic cream - you will now add 1/2 cup of Magnesium Chloride powder (Pharmaceutical grade) to 2 TBSP boiling water in a small glass jar. Let it melt and cool with no Magnesium granules apparent. Following the basic recipe for the skin cream you will now use an immersion blender - right inside the Ball/Mason jar of the basic cream recipe - NOW - slowly pour in the melted magnesium/water liquid while blending. It should be warm - not hot - then pour it out into small 4oz jars - cap them and keep in fridge. If you would like to also keep some skin cream separate without the magnesium to just use for face/body you may do that too - here is the video for the skin cream - (there are links under the video to order products for cream) -
Tallow Skin Cream Basic Recipe
The liver takes a beating in our lives. Someone once told me if you take the letter “r” off of “liver” it is “LIVE”. Such a vital organ. So compromised by Prescription Drugs, Seed Oils and all the poisons in our world. EVERY sick or non-optimal health person can help their liver. Most people just say “I take milk thistle”. This is not optimum for me because I want the liver FUNCTION to be changed - not just taking a supplement that - again- the liver has to break down and assimilate. Instead I like to help the liver to “do” the work to make the good things happen. One way we can do that is via Coffee Enemas and increasing glutathione production. I have written other Substack articles here on Water Enemas and Coffee Enemas and why we do them - please scroll my articles and read a more in-depth treatise on why we do enemas and how they work. I also have a Youtube video on Coffee Enema vs. Water Enema. As a colon hydrotherapist for over 20 years I remind people over and over …. the liver and the colon are intimate. One helps the other - please watch my video here -
If you need to learn just how to do a water enema in general - I have a video here -
Also for the liver, lymphs and even structural bowel issues like diverticulitis, surgery scarring, detoxification and for other reasons - I recommend people use Castor Oil Packs as well as Castor Oil/Ozone Oil suppositories. My video on Castor Oil and its Healing qualities can be found here -
There are many types of saunas. They open the lymph system among other things - and please find my substack article here I wrote on Dry Skin Brushing as well. Many people know of Dry Heat Saunas, Steam Saunas, Far (and near) Infared Saunas etc. With my health recovery and the health recovery of so many others I cannot say enough about the Ozone Sauna. I have used Medical Ozone extensively to restore my own health and studied it over a 20 year period. There is nothing like it! I have two videos - One on Ozonated Oil and the other on Ozone Saunas - I will link the videos here below. Please check out my substack articles here on Medical Ozone Therapy and how it works and heals.
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This article has become too long and I’ve realized I’ve barely touched upon how to functionally help your body heal itself. I have not even mentioned the health of the small intestine - SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) - SIFO (small intestine fungal overgrowth), protozoans, pathologic bacteria, healthy bacteria, parasites, fungal overgrowth, etc. I have also not covered diet which is vital for any true health recovery. These important topics will be covered in future Substack articles… but I really wanted to get this first part down and I hope I have not bored you to tears! As usual, thank you so much for reading.
Wendy McPhail, CNC, FDN, CHT and ADAPT Functional Health Coach
www.nethersprings.com
Very good overview of how Healthcare IS today, and how it SHOULD BE today!
What a great collection of helpful information. Bookmarking this to refer to when I’m talking to clients, thanks!