I’ve suffered with many symptoms that began in childhood.

Unexplained abdominal pain, food reactions, diarrhea, a tic movement disorder and depression to name a few. By 20, I was dropping things because my fingers were painful and weak. Then came uterine fibroids and late-stage cervical pre-cancer. While it’s obvious now, at the time I wasn’t able to recognize my body’s cry for help or connect the dots between what I ate and how I felt.

In my late 30’s my health completely fell apart after a trip to Costa Rica. I endured crippling fatigue, weighed just 95lbs (at 5’6”!) and was covered in hives, yet doctors said I was fine because the basic blood tests were normal. No one attempted to figure it out. I wasn’t even offered a stool test. Instead, I was recommended antidepressants because they believed the illness was “just in my head”.

But it wasn’t …

I felt let down, shocked and devastated, afraid that I would never find a way to recover, but I kept searching. I found the right people who actually listened, shed light on my symptoms and ran testing. I became empowered to re-evaluate my choices including food, career, stress and relationships. I went back to school and earned a Master’s degree in Nutrition while I was still sick.

One step at a time I changed my life and reclaimed my health. Today, in my mid 50’s, I’m healthy, vibrant and in remission from autoimmune disease.