“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
– James Baldwin, Author & Activist
If you have been trying for any length of time to heal from an autoimmune disorder (or more than one!) you may reach a point where your healing has stalled or you feel like you’ve plateaued. Or, in some cases you may feel like you fully reversed the autoimmune condition(s); and then, much to your shock, frustration, and major disappointment, symptoms return, sometimes with a vengeance. What in the world is going on?! That’s a great question and there may be a number of reasons.
First, I empathize with your frustration. It literally took me 26 years to beat MS, and it wasn’t because I wasn’t trying hard. I just didn’t have a guide or a roadmap, or even the internet for much of that time. I was left to my own intuition and experimentation: lots of trial and mostly error. Finally, when I discovered Functional Medicine (aka “root cause medicine”) in 2010, I began teasing apart the big question, WHY did I have the MS in the first place?
The answer wasn’t (and is rarely) one thing. Functional Medicine uncovered a multitude of reasons, including food sensitivities to gluten and cow dairy, candida overgrowth from a lifetime of sugar, parasites from international travel (possibly sushi bars too), high levels of mercury from silver fillings (probably tuna too), mycotoxins from mold exposure growing up, plus chronic Lyme and co-infections, likely acquired while hiking in Vermont. I didn’t need Functional Medicine to confirm that I had an overload of chronic stress or early childhood trauma.
One by one, I tackled the list. Well, the stress and trauma I had already been successfully addressing for two decades, bringing MS symptoms down as I calmed my nervous system. The gluten removal was the lynchpin that reset my gut and unburdened my immune system, shutting off the MS expression. But I didn’t stop there. On a mission to lower my toxic load, I kept chipping away at the other root causes, knowing full well that any one of them has the potential to damage the gut lining and flip on the MS switch again. Today I remain symptom-free and keep my toxin bucket as empty as practical.
Here’s one of the biggest gems I’ve learned in the past thirteen years since reversing the MS:
You don’t have to eradicate every last thing on your list and I’m not sure you could if you tried. You just need to unburden your immune system enough to have it function properly and stop fighting YOU. In other words, you need to create enough margin in your toxin bucket.
Now I want to shine a light on all the reasons why you may not be fully healing. In my Functional Natural Medicine practice I collaborate with Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) who specialize in resolving the big root causes of autoimmunity, like gut imbalances, chronic infections, and toxic burdens. These are the biggest reasons we see time and again why people still have symptoms.
If you’re new to root cause healing, it makes sense that you haven’t uncovered your root cause(s) — yet. If you’ve already changed your food and you’ve reduced stress, but you STILL have symptoms, please know that there is almost always a hidden, chronic infection that needs to be addressed. Don’t stop with food and stress. Even root cause docs often don’t know that yeast and/or parasites rarely come out on stool tests, so you may be dealing with false negatives. Or, your doctor may not believe that chronic Lyme and co-infections are real. Or, many people don’t believe they’ve been exposed to water damaged buildings, and so mold is never considered. Other huge root causes that often get overlooked are oral health and unresolved emotional pain. What can you do? Use my F.I.G.H.T.S. framework as a practical checklist.
This category reminds me of the adage, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.” In conventional medicine, where toolkits are mostly confined to medication, it makes sense that you will be prescribed medication for symptom management. But I found this to be surprisingly true even in the natural healing realm. I saw an integrative doctor who believes everyone suffers from mold exposure, so his focus is predominantly on mold. I saw another integrative MD who is expert in healing Lyme, so that’s her main focus. Another integrative doctor doesn’t believe parasites are a problem, so parasites got overlooked. What can you do? Job one is to educate yourself and carefully consider ALL the potential autoimmune root causes. A comprehensive treatment protocol should include all the F.I.G.H.T.S.™ factors: Food, Infections, Gut health, Hormone balance, Toxins, and Stress. Full healing requires a mind, body, spirit approach, not a one-hammer-one-nail approach.
Some people in their eagerness to be well believe that healing should be both straightforward and speedy. The reality is, it usually takes longer than you would prefer, and maybe up to a third of the time that you’ve been unwell. So if you’ve had symptoms for three years it might take a year. What can you do? Check your expectations. How long have you felt the earliest inkling of symptoms? Do what you can on your own to address the F.I.G.H.T.S.™ factors, like removing SAD foods and food sensitivities, and addressing stress. If you can, work with a skilled root cause practitioner(s) to assess and treat gut imbalances, chronic infections, and other toxins like mycotoxins and metals. If you’re in the continental U.S. and are ready, willing, and able to invest in your best health, book a complimentary discovery call with me. I also include a number of resources to find all types of practitioners in the appendix of my book, Beat Autoimmune.
Some clients come to us after doing a parasite “cleanse” or a short-term Candida (yeast) diet and wonder why they are still not better. They may have felt better for a while, but then symptoms crept back, sometimes louder. What can you do? Know that a good treatment protocol takes time, therapeutic (high) doses, and a combination of herbs, supplements, and sometimes beneficial medications to eradicate entrenched imbalances like Candida, parasites, or mycotoxins. As one of my mentors, Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D, CNS, and author of Guess What Came to Dinner: Parasites and Your Health, has shared, parasite treatment might be needed quarterly to keep things in check.
It’s understandable that you might be disappointed if you’ve been at this a while and you’re still not better. Health anxiety is real and it causes added layers of psychological stress and physiological symptoms. What can you do? Take heart in knowing that symptoms are always messages from your body, letting you know that there are still root cause(s) to address. Do what you can to release symptom anxiety and worry about your health. Tapping (also called EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique) is a fast way to tame anxiety. You might even thank the symptoms for letting you know that there are still imbalances present and you just have not addressed them all — YET. Sometimes the best antidote for worry and anxiety is action. What’s one thing you can do right now to take positive, proactive action?
The root cause of feelings of unworthiness is usually early childhood trauma(s). The massive and important Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) studies proved that the more adverse events before age 18, the greater the risk of chronic disease even decades later. Negative core beliefs can cause us to stay stuck in fight-flight mode, stay inflamed, rely on poor coping skills, and neglect our own self-care. What can you do? Become aware and journal about any childhood trauma, and resulting negative core beliefs, behaviors, and biology. Explore trauma healing and consciously choose empowering words, mantras, and core beliefs. No matter what happened in childhood, you now have the opportunity to give yourself the love and compassion you deserve. You ARE worthy. It’s time YOU believe it.
This category is insidious because it’s impossible to live perfectly in a toxin-free bubble, nor would we want to. We are humans living in an increasingly toxic world. The biggest autoimmune triggers I see people resistant to remove include: medication, being 100% gluten-free, conventionally grown/raised produce and animals (think: glyphosate), and mold (think: mycotoxins). Each one of these culprits has been shown to harm the gut, keeping it inflamed and leaky. And, in combination, can be more toxic. What can you do? Minimize medication(s) and work with a root cause doctor to taper safely; be vigilant about being 100% gluten-free; chose organic produce or wild meats and fish; and deal with mold. A good starting point with mold is to find a good, qualified mold inspector who understands the health risks of mycotoxins and who will do a thorough inspection.
You can eat as cleanly as possible, take nourishing supplements, take saunas, exercise as able, and go to bed at 8 pm, but if you are NOT also tending to your mental/emotional wellbeing, healing may be incomplete or elusive. I know this category well from both personal and professional experience. My always-on stress reaction mode led to ongoing MS symptoms. And the converse was true too: consistent, daily, calming practices led to fewer symptoms and better health. Today to stay calm and grounded, I meditate daily, practice mindfulness and gratitude, get out in nature, and do conscious breathing exercises. What can you do? Find and stick with a foundational practice to calm and rewire your nervous system. Good options for nervous system calming include Wired for Wellness, Irene Lyon’s Smart Body Smart Mind program, Aimie Apigian, MD’s Trauma Foundational Journey, and Joe Dispenza’s online or live programs.
Did you experience childhood mental, emotional, physical abuse or neglect? Do you believe you have PTSD or unresolved emotional pain? The issues stay in the tissues until you allow them to come up and out. What can you do? Start by educating yourself about the ongoing effects of trauma and how you can heal. Two good and easily accessible books are Oprah and Dr. Bruce Perry’s What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing and Dr. James Gordon’s Transforming Trauma: The Path to Hope and Healing. There are many things you on your own: soft belly breathing, journal and draw, shake and dance, try tapping, and/or use guided imagery & hypnosis. There are many trauma healing modalities you can pursue with a skilled trauma therapist: EMDR, trauma therapy, somatic experiencing (SE), trauma release exercises (TRE), breathwork (holotropic, etc.), and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (e.g., MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine under the supervision of a well-trained guide).
As you can see, there are many reasons why healing may be stalled. Did you resonate with any? Or several? Take heart in knowing that symptoms are just messages inviting you to find and address your root causes. Have the courage to continue and channel any discomfort or anxiety to propel you to action. As you take action to unburden your immune system you will be gaining more margin in your toxin bucket, and that’s the healing and prevention path.
Above all, I want you to know that complete healing is possible. Keep going and never ever EVER give up!
Photo by Tom Blackout
If you live in the continental U.S. and are ready, willing, and able to invest in your best health, I offer Functional Medicine Total Health Transformation Programs over Zoom in collaboration with a skilled naturopathic doctor (ND). Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery call.
This comprehensive book is the first to explore all six of the critical lifestyle factors that are the root causes of autoimmune conditions – and the sources of regaining health. Foreword by Mark Hyman, MD
Palmer is a certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who has helped thousands of people reverse autoimmune conditions based on her own two-decade battle to successfully beat multiple sclerosis (MS). She’s the author of the Amazon #1 bestselling book, Beat Autoimmune, which has a powerful foreword by Functional Medicine pioneer, Mark Hyman, MD.
