10 Years Out From The Diagnosis – My 10 Essential Lessons - The AutoImmune Hour

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
If we have an overactive system,a highly inflamed system, if we have
an overactive mind, if we haveanything like that going on, it can
be all but impossible to actually meditatedo some mindfulness work. So don't beat
yourself up. If you're ga,Sharon, I've tried that, it didn't
work. It's okay. Give yourselfspace and grace. Cue music, places

(00:32):
and everybody places. We're starting inthree two. Welcome to the Autoimmune Hour,
where we look at the rise ofautoimmune disorders. I've brought together top
experts that range from doctors, specialist, nutritionist, researchers, and even those
recovering from autoimmune to bring you thelatest, most up to date information about

(00:53):
autoimmunity and how to live your lifeuninterrupted. Thank you for joining us here
on the Autoimmune Hour with Sharon Sale. Always seek sound, legal, medical,
and or professional advice regarding any problems, conditions, and any of the
recommendations you see here or read hereon the auto Immune Hour, Understanding Autoimmune
and Life Interrupted Radio. Join theAutoimmune Hours Courage Club. Sign up now

(01:14):
at Understanding autoimmune dot com. Nowback to your host, Sharon Sailor.
Welcome everyone to the Autoimmune Hour.I'm Sharon Sailor from Sharonsailor dot com and
as always, from Understanding Autoimmune dotcom. And it's my honor and pleasure
to be with you here on anotherbrand new episode. We're mixing it up
a little bit. For the firsttime in over a decade, we're not

(01:37):
having a guest. I'm just goingto give you my top ten tips for
the things I've learned over the lastten years of doing the Autoimmune Hour.
Plus you know what, we're rightabout that anniversary date of my first diagnosis,
and well, I won't say myfirst diagnosis. One of my tips
is all about understanding your medical history, so we'll get into that because oddly

(02:00):
there were diagnoses all the way backyears, decades ago before I've got the
actual what i'll call the big diagnosis. How's that so anyway, I hope
you've got a cup of tea.I've got my cup of tea here and
we'll be enjoying it together, andthank you for being here, and let's
get started. I did write someof them down, so sorry about that.

(02:23):
I'm just trying to sort through myfavorite ones, and the first one
that comes to mind is one ofthose big ones, and because it's important,
but it's often overlooked and completely misunderstood. And I am still figuring this
one out. We've had numerous nutritionistson the show. So the first one

(02:45):
is I say, adopt an antiinflammatory diet and people are like, what's
that mean? The problem and whyit's so crazy making is it means something
different to everybody. It's all basedon our lifestyle, our genetic all sorts
of things. So we can't justsay boom, eat these twenty five things
and you'll be perfect, right,that's the crazy thing about it. So

(03:09):
there are certain ones that you canget tested for. You can get tested
for food sensitivities in a variety ofways as well as you can also know
yourself. Does it give you anupset? Tell me when you eat it.
I've talked to a few people whosay, shortly after eating with X
y Z, I get a runnynose. I thought that was interesting too.

(03:30):
Okay, maybe there's something inflammatory aboutwhatever you were eating there. And
so there's so many diets to tryand understand. Like I said, it
can be crazy making. At onepoint I got down to I know it
was under ten foods that I waseating and that can't be healthy. It
wasn't healthy, and so as Ibegan to explore it and do some of

(03:53):
the testing and diagnostics for understanding whatI could eat what I couldn't eat,
a few things I found was tomix it up. Don't eat the same
thing over and over and over again. I haven't had them as guests on
the show, but I've talked tovarious people who one woman only ate rice
and a couple of other things.Now, I'm not saying that rice is

(04:15):
bad for a lot of people.It's not. Some people it might be,
but it was that she was eatingunder five things day in and day
out for a long long time,and my goodness, that just frightened me,
because what nutrients are you missing out? And there is also some research
that shows if you eat the samefood over and over again, you begin

(04:39):
to build up sort of a toleranceto it. And so you wouldn't want
to get to her cheek or someapples, and but her response to one
of the five things you're eating rightnow. I found a wonderful website,
and this isn't sponsored at all.I really should reach out to them and
have them on the show, becauseI found their website so fascinating. It's
called what the bleepdoieat dot com andyou put it in there and whether you

(05:01):
want anti inflammatory, or gluten free, or oxalate free or lectin free,
just this whole long list you cancheck them off and then it will come
up with foods that are in thepositive categories, Like if you're wunning gluten
free, we'll show you a wholevariety of foods that are gluten free.
And I just found that so delightfuland in some ways a little distressing because

(05:26):
I was like, Wow, Ididn't know that was one of those food
groups or whatever. So there's somany things we can learn about anti inflammatory
diets. But like I said,I'll reach out to them and see if
we can have them on the show. But I found that a fun site
to help me understand the things Icould eat. We've also had all sorts
of nutritious We just had VJ.Hamilton on, and we've had Sally Norton

(05:48):
on the oxalate diet, the antioxalatediet gal and so just a ton that
I'm blanking on several of the otherswe've had, but just go through going
understanding Audaman dot Com. Go throughthere and search for nutritionis and you'll see
a whole variety of shows on thereto talk about that. And so the
number one thing that I have foundthat it has helped me the most is

(06:08):
understanding my diet, what I caneat, what I should stay away from,
and what I can eat in limitedamounts. See that's the thing.
Some people say, yes, no, black white, Nope, there are
some foods that you can eat inlimited amounts. And so it's not all
about oh woe is me, Ican't eat anything because one of the things
is we have to keep our bodystrong. That's the way it heals.

(06:30):
Right, So anti inflammatory diet isnumber one for me. Let me bring
up my notes here again and theni'd see number two. I took about
managed stress. I did not realizeten years ago when I got diagnosed the
stressful life I was leading. Irealized I was on the road over two

(06:50):
hundred days a year. I lovethe corporate training work that I do besides
this podcast. I absolutely adore myclient and I love traveling to meet them
and seeing wonderful, exciting places.Yet I didn't realize the toll it was
taking on me. Flights here andthere lack of sleep, sleeping in different

(07:11):
places, not being able to sleep, which, by the way, sleep
is one of my top ten thingshere, but we'll get to that in
a minute. To manage stress,although one of the things I learned about
managing stress. You'll often find injust the regular types of conversations with people
about stress, they'll say, oh, meditate, mindfulness exercises, things like

(07:31):
that. You know what, ifwe have an overactive system, a highly
inflame system, if we have anoveractive mind, if we have anything like
that going on, it can beall but impossible to actually meditate do some
mindfulness work. So don't beat yourselfup if you're going Sharon, I've tried

(07:53):
that, it didn't work. It'sokay. Give yourself space and grace.
Maybe just ten second, set atime just to stop, take a couple
of nice deep breasths, let itgo. Yeah, sometimes that's all you
need. Other times, go outfor a walk, hug a tree,

(08:16):
find a beautiful flower garden, andjust spend some time in it, observing
the butterflies in the bees. Sitby the ocean as one of my favorite
ways to relieve stress. So justfind the way that works for you and
give yourself permission to do it.Too often, I find that we're in
such a state of busyness, helpingothers, helping family, work, et

(08:39):
cetera, that we don't realize howmuch stress we're under until we actually do
take a few moments for ourselves.And I know the first few times I
started doing that, I really hada hard time relaxing because I didn't know
what it felt like to relax anymore. I had totally forgotten what it felt
like to have a stress free body. And remember, it's also anti inflammatory

(09:03):
because when we relax, our bodygoes out of fite flight of freeze or
deep stress and goes into rest anddigest. And rest and digest is where
healing happens. So my second tipis adopt a life of where you're managing
stress. Ideally, we'd like tobe stress free, but hey, I'm

(09:26):
a mom, a grandma, workingwoman too. I get it that's probably
not going to totally happen. Sogive yourself space and grace and give yourself
a big hug too. Something aboutthose big hugs are awesome, So give
yourself a big hug too. Let'sjump forward to number three, and that's
where I say, prioritize sleep.Sleeps really hard. Sometimes when you're feeling

(09:50):
maybe your body hurts, you've gotinflammation, It even hurts to just like
flat, let alone, walk ormove. Maybe you've got nerve pain.
A lot of autoimmune conditions that havenerve pain to have stomach pain involved with
them, So I get it.Sometimes prioritizing sleep is really hard. But
I've found finding a sleep pattern thatworks for you and understanding the circadian rhythms.

(10:15):
Wherever you are with that, lookup circadian rhythms and figure out which
ones work for me. My bestone is if I'm in bed between nine
and ten PM. I know thatsounds so old fogy, doesn't it,
But for me I found the bestIf I'm in bed by nine or ten
pm, I have some time toread, and yeah I don't once I
don't, because sometimes I do.We have to give ourselves space and grace.

(10:39):
I try to read paper books witha light because there's a lot of
science out there how the light ofour screens can really mess with all the
sleep hormones and really just regulate oursleep. So prioritize your sleep. Make
it a ritual, maybe a bathbefore bed at ups and saw bath before

(11:01):
bed, maybe just slipping on somenice water. I know you probably want
to stay away from anything else becausethey have found that if you eat too
close to I'm sleeping. Also,your body's too busy digestion and can't go
into relaxing. So take that inthe crowd too. So many tips,

(11:22):
so many ideas. And also wehad Mikaela Giles on a couple of weeks
ago now and she talked about ifyou wake up at you know, two
three am continually like clockwork, that'san issue with your cortisol and need to
relax stress. Because cortisol is thestress hormone. So if you're consistently waking

(11:43):
up in the middle of the nightfor a reason that you're like, I
don't know why I'm waking up.Sometimes pain will wake up, got it,
Sometimes having to use the restroom,got it. But if you're consistently
waking up about that three o'clock timeevery morning, you might want to consider
why you're what does all this spikingand go back to step number two about

(12:03):
managing stress. So also check outMikayla Giles there. I think it was
a couple of weeks ago we hadher on the show, and she gave
some awesome tips for us to understandall about managing our stress response. So
anyway, let me see where arewe now. Those are my top three.

(12:24):
I had to take notes because Ihad so many things I've learned,
we've done. I think this isepisode four hundred and eighty five if I'm
not mistaken, So that is justa lot of learning. And then I
had to prioritize all these Okay,if somebody asked for just one, what
would it be? And definitely thatwas the anti inflammatory diet. But let

(12:45):
me bring up my next one here. Oh yeah, number four. I
have to admit this one. I'vehad to really discipline myself because it's not
something that I get it at theintellectual level, but at the motivation level,
get regular exercise. At the motivationlevel, it's hard. I get
it some days, you know,some days I can get all the way

(13:11):
through my to do list, andother days I'm just happy that I made
a cup of tea. So Iget it. But any exercise helps.
It really keeps the joints lubricated,It keeps us fluid and flexible, and
the body really does need to move. It was built to move So even
if you have limitations in your movement, there's always certain things that you can

(13:33):
do. And so anytime Beth Martinwas on the show a few months ago,
and she even talked about visualizing moving. So, say you've got a
condition that you're saying, Sharon,movement is not easy. I can't do
it right now. I always liketo say right now, by the way,
or not yet, because that leavesopen the possibility that leaves open to

(13:54):
our unconscious mind and our manifestation mind, we can make If I say not
right now or not yet or soon, I'd be able to leaving open the
possibility of healing. And I'm gonnago tan gentle as you guys know,
I don't do it just with guests, right, I do it here.

(14:15):
But this possibility of healing concept isreally important to me because when I was
diagnosed ten years ago, I wasgiven a set of stats that were scary,
scary, scary, awful, andpretty much, you're gonna be like
this the rest of your life.You're just gonna go downhill from here.
It's too bad, so sad,what a shame. But there was nobody
offering me a hope. You knowwhat, within three years, I was

(14:39):
off a lot of the awful meds. I was definitely in remission, and
I was definitely on the road tohealing. And that was three years into
my diagnosis. Here we are atyear ten, and while I know I'm
not healed, I don't really care. I'm doing really great and in so
many ways I'm healthier than I wasbefore the diagnos which, yeah, you're

(15:01):
going dash here, And that makessense obviously, because what got you there
didn't happen overnight. It's not likesomething you catch and you wake up in
the morning sick. The thing aboutautommune conditions is they creep up on us
slowly, and we may not noticethem, or we may get used to
them. Maybe you have a slightnerve pain, or maybe you have a

(15:22):
slight stiffness in your hands, andyou just kind of like, oh,
I just got to keep on going, and you get used to them,
you make those little things you're newnormal, and then all of a sudden
you're surprised by a diagnosis. ButI like to say, why are you
surprised if you think, in hindsight, it'd probably been creeping up for quite

(15:43):
a while, right, But letme get back you can tell me how
much I avoid. I am notnaturally do exercise, but I have found
going out and walking is one ofthe things I love to do. I
love to call up friends, goout for a walk, do anything like
that. I love walking in naturemost but sometimes that's not possible, so

(16:03):
it's just around the neighborhood and that'sgreat too. And I like walking alone
too, that's fine. I havefound that audio books or listening to music
something like that speeds up the timein my brain about my exercise. So
doing anything like that, you canyoga, swimming is great for a lot

(16:25):
of people. Yes, you've gotto have access to a pool or a
lake or something like that, butall of those sorts of things. So
just make a list of what youlike to do, what you used to
like to do. Maybe maybe you'relike Sharon, I haven't thought about exercise
in years. Something that I cando consistently. Make a list of what
you used to like to do,and how can you incorporate little bits of

(16:45):
that into your new system and maintainingsomething day in and day out. And
some days for me walking some daysI can make it around the block and
I'm happy, and other days Ican make it several miles and I'm happy.
But just getting out there and havingthat consistent habit is important. And

(17:07):
speaking of walking, and right nowwhere I live, it's in the hot
of the summer. Stay hydrated.We had Dana Cohen on years ago.
We're going to have her back onbecause she has a brand new book coming
out in September, So yay Dana. I'm really excited she's going to be
on pretty soon for us to talkabout all the new stuff she's learned about

(17:27):
hydration. But go back and lookup doctor Dana Cohen if you want to
see that show that all about hydration. But stay hydrated and talk to professionals
about do you need electrolyte supplements oranything like that, what things should you
stay away from, And also avoidthe sugar reed drinks because they actually dehydrate

(17:49):
you. And one thing I learnedrecently was they actually tend to dry out
your mouth, which can cause dentaldisease. So it's just one more But
anyway, that's one of the thingsthat I think is critically important is stay
hydrated. And it's not about onebig drink, going away for three hours

(18:11):
and then coming back and having anothergreat big drink. I found it easy
is to have a big bottle andjust sip it through the day. It's
really easier to get it. ButI have one of those bottles that's marked
with how much is in there.That way I can keep score. I
was staying it with unmarked bottles fora long time, and I never was
really paying attention. I don't know, maybe it's the competitiveness part of me,

(18:34):
but I liked seeing the water godown on the line. I'm like,
yes, I'm getting all the waterI need every day. So check
in with your healthcare professional and findout the best ways to hydrate yourself.
But I say stay away from thesugary drinks because they definitely not only spike
your sugars in your body, whichcan mess up with your digestion and your

(18:56):
detoxification as well as we get olderweights, right, I know they taste
good, but treat yourself every sooften. I'm not saying I'm not one
for absolute elimination of most things,because I think after a while, if
we feel that we're depriving ourselves ofsomething. I don't know about you,

(19:17):
but I tend to binge then,so I'm like Okay, I'm going to
do as much as I can moderationand be very mindful about it. So
when I make the choice, Imake a conscious choice, not an unconscious
choice, to have something right.And then after dehydrated. That's number five.
My goodness, we're just blowing alongon these. Number six is similar

(19:41):
to the anti inflammatory diet, andI guess I should have put it higher
up the list because it could besort of an addendum to numbers one.
Number six is focus on your guthealth. They say, interesting thing.
They always call the gut the thirdbrain, or is it the second brain,
I can't remember, but they're sayingthat there's three brains, and the

(20:02):
gut really talks a lot to thebrain. And I recently learned that this
nerve does this two way communication.Usually nerves go from the head down and
then sometimes go back up to thebody, but this nerve goes all the
way through the gut and it goesback up to the brain, telling like
a two way telegraph. I foundthat so fascinating that it's not just the
brain telling the gut what to do, like time to get the food in

(20:26):
here, time to digest. It'sa two way communication. So the brain
knows what's going on and the gutknows what's going on. So that really
makes sense. About all the timeswe've heard about trust your gut, what
your gut saying, those sorts ofthings are really true. And so that's
a tangential thing I'll get into ina second, because one of them I
didn't put on the list I reallyshould have, and it's called trust your

(20:48):
gut. So many times I've beenin situations where something was recommended to me
and I'm just like, m I'mglad it works for you, but not
for me. That's just not mything or something about it. It just
telling me it's not right. Includingmeeting new medical professionals and going you know
what, I don't think this medicalprofessionals for me, that's great. I

(21:12):
like to say I fire them.That's a little bit strong. I just
say thank you and I'll take myleave. I'll find someone else. It's
more in aligne with how I wantto live, more in line with respect
for my choices. I personally findit hard to someone who's very dictatorial the

(21:32):
fingerwag you need to do this andthat, and then scold you if you
don't. I really want a teammember, so you guys can choose the
kind of person you work best withand thrive best with. But I say,
you know what, trust your guton all things like that, on
healing modalities, on team members,health, team members, suggestions from other

(21:53):
people. Gosh, I don't knowhow many times I get from other people
just either walking down the street orand casual conversation trying to give me health
suggestions. Some may be good andsome may not. So trust your gut.
Okay, But let me go backto gut health really quickly. I
find that understanding your food allergies andwe talked about that in the anti inflammatory

(22:17):
diet, but understanding that the restand digestion part is critical to our healing.
If we never focus on our guthealth and the microbiome and what are
we putting into our gut, isit healthy? Sometimes probiotics work for some
people, so check with your healthcareprofessional do you need those? There's actually
tests you can take that will tellyou what you need, So check with

(22:41):
your healthcare professionals on those sorts ofthings, as well as allowing your gut
just to relax. You can't digestif you're in a constant state of frantic
movement, frantic I got to getmy to do list done. You can
see how these are all intertwining.Right there's on your sleep. We talked
about rest of getting into rest anddigest, and here in gut health.

(23:04):
To have healthy gut microbiome, wehave to get into rest and digest.
We have to be able to relaxas well as Sometimes medications will disrupt our
gut microbiome. So ask your medicalprofessionals if any medications you're taking or they
want you to take, how itinteracts with your gut health, because that's
critically important too. Oftentimes the guthealth is overlooked. But for me that

(23:27):
was one of the major things thathelped me heal. Was really focusing a
on nutrition, the anti inflammatory dietfor me, and the anti inflammatory diet
is not like a single diet.It differs with your body, as I
said early on, and then justgetting a healthy gut, a gut that
can digest easily and comfortably, andunderstanding how the digestion process works that you

(23:52):
really just don't put in food minuteafter minute all day long. There is
a process and a rhythm to ourbody. Find your process and your rhythm
and flow with that. That's whenyou got will become healthy or sometimes God
is really involved in autoimmune diseases,so it's an important to focus on that
as well. And I want tomake sure that we have time. We

(24:15):
need to take a quick commercial breakand thank our sponsors for today's show.
It's so important. And if you'rewatching this on YouTube and you haven't subscribed
to YouTube channel yet, please doso. It's an understanding autoimmune I would
really love it. We're trying togrow the show. We've been doing the
show for over ten years and oneof the things I would love to do
is continue to grow YouTube. Forthe longest time, I was having trouble

(24:40):
getting the videos adited to a qualitythat I wanted. But now with all
the new technologies, it's so mucheasier for me to get videos out there.
So if you're on YouTube, pleasesubscribe and share the show and the
channel with others, because we reallyneed to get this message out that you
are not your diagnosis and you arenot alone. So we'll back after this

(25:00):
quick commercial break. The autow ImmuneHour will return after these messages from our
sponsors. It's great sponsors like thesethat keep this show coming to you every
week, be sure and stop byunderstanding autoimmune dot com to learn more.
Own Times TV imagine becoming a superinfluencer. Reinvent yourself, invest in your

(25:26):
brand, and then manifest your successwith a robust, spheric approach. Own
Times Media and Broadcasting offers a uniqueand multifaceted way to become the spiritual and
conscious influencer you deserve to be.By putting your message across our powerful platform
with its proven record of integrity andexcellence through our produced shows, Own Times

(25:48):
offers the opportunity to become a socialmedia TV personality, a radio show host,
an Own Times magazine columnist, anda syndicated podcaster all in one shot.
By live streaming your show on HomeTimes TV and broadcasting it across the
extensive Home Times Radio and TV networks, you become more than a host.

(26:10):
You become an ambassador and a forcefor positive change. Own Times Open yourself
to the possibilities. If I couldbe you could be me just one hour,
if we could find a way toget inside each other. Is mine.

(26:34):
Welcome mile in my shoes, Welcomemill and my shoes. Well before
you abuse, greta side and accues, welcome all in my shoes. Welcome
back everyone to the Autoimmune Hour.I'm Sharon Sailor from Sharing Sailor dot com

(26:56):
and Understanding Automuvening dot com as youknow, and thank you for being with
me here tonight. It's just metonight sharing my top ten tips that I've
learned about recovering from autoimmune And sinceit's the tenth anniversary of my diagnosis,
I thought, what better time totalk about it. I've loved doing the
show I've Got Home four hundred andI think this is four hundred and eighty

(27:19):
five shows out there where we've talkedabout all manner of things. It's just
been amazed to me how much I'velearned and the wide variety of healing that
I've done that I didn't think wasinvolved with autoimmune at all. And so
number seven, See, some ofthese are a hard time when you have

(27:40):
to number things, because I thinkthis one's critically important. Is two parts.
The first part is understand yourself andthe second part is advocate for yourself.
And remember we just talked about trustyour God. That's part of understanding
yourself. But one thing I've learned, and I learned this I think in

(28:03):
about year five of the show wasthe importance that our past history, medical
history, trauma history, school history, all sorts of things plays into how
we got where we are. It'samazing to me how past traumas stick in
our body. If you haven't yetand I haven't ever had him on,

(28:26):
I would love to have him on. And that's doctor besil Vanda Kolk has
a wonderful book called The Body Keepsthe Score. Absolutely love that book because
it talks about trauma and how itgets stuck in our body and can play
into our health, either if wemanage it well getting well, or if
our body's keeping all this score onthese past traumas and hurts and things that

(28:48):
happen, it can keep us ina condition of less health. And so
I found that book so fascinating tounderstand how even things that aren't like bumps
and brute but our traumas from thepast, terrible scary things or something like
that get stuck in your body.It's fascinating. I've told the story on

(29:10):
the show before. Years ago,I had a massage therapist. She'd been
working with me for years, andso she knew me pretty well and knew
my body pretty well, and Ikept coming and complaining about my shoulder,
and finally one day she said,we've worked on the shoulder for a while,
and I just have to tell you, if you just take that knife

(29:30):
out of your back, you'd befine. And I had to stop,
and I was in shock, andit made so much sense because that time
I was going through something where Ifelt I had been stabbed in the back
by someone, and you know,I had to work through that and deal
with that and come to terms withthat and release it, and then you
know what, my shoulder got better. Now I'm not saying that's everybody's shoulder

(29:53):
problem. You can definitely have injuries, etc. Etc. But it's just
one of those things. So thinkabout, like, are there other underlying
issues besides the actual physical manifestation.And we've had Sarah Payton on the show
numerous times, and one of ourfavorite topics is unconscious contracts. And these

(30:15):
are the kinds of contracts we makewith ourselves and other people. Sometimes they
can be like I'll stay quiet andkeep myself small so my parents won't yell
at me. We make that anunconscious contract as a child, and yet
it doesn't service as an adult yetwe're still running from that same contract,
still operating from that same contract.So those sorts of things are really important

(30:37):
to know. And if this sparksan interest with you, go to Understanding
Autoimmune dot com and search for SarahPeyton p e YTN and you'll love all
of those shows we've done with herbecause understanding how we resolve and work through
our past traumas and how that playsinto healing our body is one of the
key components in my healing. Thatwas a huge aha moment for me.

(31:03):
You can also check out doctor DavidClark. We had on the show Amazing
Man, a retired gastine oor knowlogistwho talks about the same thing about our
gut holding tight and how holding ourtrauma sort of swallowing our problems. Ever
heard that phrase can keep us fromhealing in the way we want to heal
as well as there again, MkaylaGiles and Jessica Jimison from Origins Collaborative Care

(31:26):
have been on the show. Theytalk about that too, plus so many
others. Because I'm fascinated about thedeep healing of trauma and understanding that,
I think I made it number ten. We'll talk about some more about that,
understanding yourself and advocating for yourself,being able to set boundaries, even
with medical professionals. I know WhiteCote authority was a big thing for me.

(31:48):
And yet the day I finally saidto a very well respected and i'm
sure great person, but we justdidn't get along. We didn't see eye
to eye. It was their wayor the highway kind of person. And
I really wanted to know why amI doing this? What can I expect
as results? What else should Iknow about this? I really wanted to

(32:09):
know a lot. I don't liketo be surprised with my help. When
you get an AUTOIM and diagnose it, sometimes that's the biggest surprise, and
then you need to know what amI going to do with this? So
advocating for yourself, learning to setboundaries is really important. Like I say
on the show, I don't reallyfire them, but I have been known
to fire doctors. Now I don'tlike get mad or anything like that,

(32:31):
but thank you very much, andthat's not for me. Thank you very
much. Walk out the door andfind someone else who's more aligned with your
philosophy of healing. And the morewe take control of ourselves, it's interesting
to me. The stronger we get, the less stressed we get, and

(32:52):
the more we can set boundaries,which is part of advocating for ourselves.
Know what you want and stand upfor it. Okay, it's critically important.
Okay. So that's all about numberseven. Number eight. I want
to read it here because I wantto make sure I get them all right.
I wish I could memorize these things, Guys, I don't, but

(33:14):
let's display Number eight I wrote downis consider alternative care, and that could
be anything from acupuncture to massage,to physical therapy to getting a walking buddy.
Okay, but consider alternative therapies andcare. Yes, the allopathic medicine

(33:37):
is good, and yes there arealso natural ways, naturopathic doctors, massage
therapists. I mentioned acupuncture, I'vementioned all sorts of other ways. Sometimes
even therapy is good because there isa lot of trauma in a diagnosis.
I remember when I heard the wordof my diagnosis and I read the book

(34:00):
Body Language of the doctor whose headwas down and didn't want to make eye
contact with me. It's one ofthese reading the paper. She knew what
it's said. Why'd you have toread the paper? She didn't want to
make eye contact with me because shedidn't want to tell me the bad news.
That's pretty traumatic. So sometimes thetherapy or grief counselors those sorts of
things. So consider alternative therapies thatcan help you. And there's also things

(34:23):
like functional medicine to just throwing theseideas out there and just sit with yourself
a little while, explore them,research them, and see which one resonates
with you. And trust your gut. Remember we talked about trust your gut.
Let's see what else did I say? Oh yeah, I wanted to
talk about dietition and nutritionist. Thingslike that critically important to add to your

(34:45):
team. So make sure you havea well rounded team. And I like
to call my team my team becauseit takes more than one in my mind
to understand all the nuance of what'sgoing on with you. Because a lot
of times I've found, and thisis not a bashing, it's just something
I found that if you get aspecialist in one specific thing, they know

(35:08):
that a lot, They know thatreally really well, but they might not
know what the other thing is orthis thing is, or they might diminish
that thing like poo poo or whateverit is, and for myself and for
a lot of people I've talked toin these over four hundred episodes, autoimmune

(35:29):
is kind of like medical wacamole.It is really hard to diagnose one specific
thing. And I have found,and the research bears this out that if
you have one autoimmune, you probablyhave another one or so. More so
to be aware of that, becauseone thing I learned early on was explained
to me that autoimmune conditions are hardto diagnose because so many of the symptoms

(35:52):
are similar. So imagine like aspace a river that was described to me
as like a river of symptoms thatare all very very similar, like joint
pain, muscle weakness, headaches,fatigue, those sorts of things, right,
and it's not until you get asymptom that creates a big wave either
up or down. They said,I don't know what kind of wave we

(36:14):
go down, but whatever they weredescribing this river, and you get a
big wave of a symptom that reallyscreams one specific diagnosis or maybe two,
but it really you have to waitfor this blip before you can really get
a definitive diagnosis. And that isso frustrating at times, but sometimes just
knowing that it's probably an autoimmune condition. There's so many interventions you can do

(36:37):
without an actual one hundred percent diagnosis. Remember I said, the anti inflammatory
diet, proper sleep hygiene, managingyour sleep, cool rooms, fans in
the room if you want, butmake sure it's not over your head because
sometimes that dries out your eyes.I'm going tangentle again, aren't I,
Guys, But consider alternative care andbuild your support network. And that's really

(37:02):
important. And I see those twocombined. But the builder support network is
also communities such as the Courage Clubon Understanding Autoimmune dot com or watching our
show or other shows. There's many, many great shows out there about healing
modalities, and sometimes just knowing thatyou're not alone, like you're not the

(37:24):
only one going through it is helpful. I know that seems really counterintuitive,
but for me it was helpful whenI found out, Oh, you grieve
too, Okay, so that's notnormal to grieve, right, So it's
important to understand that a nice supportnetwork is very helpful. However, I'm

(37:47):
going to put a great big asteriskthere, make sure it's a positive support
network. I have found many supportnetworks and I'm not going to name any,
but they're out there, and you'veprobably fallen into a few that are
one big dark hole of woe isme, and everybody's in the woe is
me, and they just keep digging. As my friend Don would say,

(38:08):
he says, if you're in ahold, quit digging. And I have
found some support communities are not sosupportive. How do we enhance our life?
How do we encourage others? Howdo we move beyond this? How
do we grow even if it's justlike one little step at a time.
How do we change our situation forthe positive? How do we maintain hope

(38:30):
and faith? Right so, whilesupport networks and communities are incredibly helpful,
choose wisely, and if it doesn'tfeel right, back to trust your gut.
If it doesn't feel right, thankthem, bless them, and move
on and find your spot. That'scritically important for me is building a support

(38:53):
network, and I feel I haveit here on understanding aut immune I get
so many wonderful emails and when Ican help, I absolutely love to find
someone. I've been known to finda few experts and have them on the
show just to answer very specific questions. I find that absolutely wonderful. And
I think having a support network,even if it's family and friends, although

(39:15):
I have to say sometimes family andfriends do their best to understand, but
honestly, if you haven't been inour shoes, they don't really understand why
you were able to say yes,I can go to the farmer's market with
you tomorrow or Saturday or something likethat. And then Saturday comes and you

(39:35):
realize, you know what, mymuscle weakness is back, or my stiff
joints are back, or I knowit's too hot outside and the heat will
affect me, and you have tosay no. Sometimes people who haven't gone
through that, haven't walked in yourshoes, don't quite understand. Even if
they try to understand, you needto love them and bless them and thank

(39:57):
them. And finding a support networkwhere some one who knows what you're going
through is helpful because sometimes it justconfirms your sanity. And sometimes we need
that, definitely need that. Andso that was number nine, and I
want to jump to number ten beforeI run out of time here on the
clock. I'm so enjoying this.I think maybe we'll do more of those.

(40:21):
If you want more of those,please leave some comments. Saying what
you'd like to share and talk about, and maybe I'll do some more of
these ones. I have to tellyou though, secretly, I really was
scared to do this alone. Ireally talked myself into it. I thought
about calling a few of my friendslike Bab Martin, Sarah Payton, Liberty

(40:45):
Forest. I mean, I canjust go on the list. I just
went down the list and I said, no, Sharon, you know one
of your biggest fears. And Iknow it's funny because I interview all these
people every week every Friday at sevenpm, right, But one of my
biggest fears was can I do italone? Can I share what I've learned

(41:05):
over the last ten years alone?So I know I'm not alone because you're
there. If you are there,please share in the comments that you're there.
I'd love to know that you're there. I try to respond to all
the comments, and if I don't, please don't take it personally. Sometimes
life intervenes, but I really appreciateyou being part of my community. I

(41:27):
want to talk about number ten,and really I had like fifteen or twenty
of these things, and number tenI find important and a way and a
little scary. Oh when I learnedall about it. We had Sharon mcgrill
on. She's been on a coupleof times. You can it's mcriil Sharon
mcgrill. Check her out at Understandingof Immune dot com and look for her

(41:51):
because she really gave us a coupleof two or three great shows on reducing
environmental toxins. I was so surprisedat how many things really can interrupt our
healing, interrupt our intocrine system,can cause inflammation and can keep us sick,
and they're like hidden, absolutely hidden, And never before in the history

(42:15):
have we had so many chemicals,so many artificial things out there, and
even in our diets. I wantto go back to number one about the
anti inflammatory diet. One of thethings for the ten years I've learned is
about processed foods, and when youread the back of those, how many
things there are really or not healthyor can our known disruptors of our systems,

(42:39):
of our digestive systems. So that'sreally important to know. We'll have
some other experts on because one ofthe things I wanted to talk about besides
the sugars, as I mentioned therefined sugars, things like refined oils and
all those sorts of things I'm learningmore and more about that can really be
disruptive to our healing process and likeall things in moderation, but just to

(43:01):
be aware of it and to beaware of how your body responds to it.
Your friend's body might not respond thesame way. That's what's so fascinating
and difficult about an autim mooon diagnosis. One person's diagnosis, the word may
be the same. Let's say lupus. Lupus is in with one person,
and you're going to be talking tothat person and they're having a completely different

(43:24):
experience than you. So that's whyI say it's important to have a good
medical team behind you to help youunderstand all these little nuances of what works
for you best. I wanted totalk about these environmental toxins because it's not
just like as I mentioned, thechemicals and the processes, foods and all

(43:45):
those sorts of things that we haveto be mindful of and what can our
body take and what can our bodytake, but also things like mold.
Wow. We had Maria Fatimana.She is an amazing woman and this was
a few years ago that we hadher on and she's a national geographic explore
no botanist at no botanist. That'sa lot hard to say. And she

(44:07):
came on and she is an amazingwoman. We have to have her back
on. It's been a while sinceshe's been here, and my goodness,
I'm thinking of all these people wehave to have back on, right because
I want to catch up with them. I find it so fascinating. So
anyway, she had exposure to toxicmold in her home, and yet she

(44:28):
is still able to go out intodifferent jungles of the world and do her
work. This amazing work she doesand helping indigenous people, so it's an
amazing job. But she's even witha mold toxicity problem, she's able to
regulate her system enough that she goesout into all these amazing places. I
just find it fascinating. And wehave also had mold experts on I read

(44:53):
back up a little bit. Ilike those survivor to thrivers stories like Maria's.
I love those stories. If youhave some ideas, or you have
your own survivor to Thriver's story,throw it in the comments and let's chat.
And so we've also had mold expertson talking about how do you know
you have mold, how do youknow that it's a mold that could be
harming you? And how do youeradicate it? And so those are really

(45:17):
types of things to think about.Is are there environmental toxins in my home
in my greater world? Do Ilive in a place with high air pollution
or not? Can I even beit? And I know a few years
ago we had a lot of wildfireswhere I live. Oh my goodness,
I was so glad that I hada home that has all sorts of protection

(45:37):
mechanisms in it that I could breatheair without all of that environmental smoke.
That was just crazy. And sobeing prepared would be my last one if
we had another eleven, like knowyourself and be prepared for it. Be
prepared. Oh my goodness, it'sbeen so great. I really appreciate shade

(46:00):
all of you. I'm going tosign off now. That's my top ten.
Then have a whole lot else toshare besides my top ten, but
do share in the comments if youhave others that came to mind, or
if you have a favorite show ora favorite guest that you want to be
on the show, and if you'rewatching us on YouTube. Please subscribe.
We really appreciate it. That helpsthe algorithms help us grow. I've had

(46:24):
the domain for a while and Ihave to be honest. As I mentioned
before, video editing is not mything. I'm not that good at it,
so I took a while to reallyget the show off and running.
But I'm so thankful to all ofyou community because since January, I've really
been focusing on using more video.And yes, of course you can hear

(46:44):
this on audio. On all themajor audio release places, you'll hear the
show as well, but I've reallybeen working on doing that on video too.
I think there's something community building aboutus being able to chat like this,
and so please subscribe if you're onYouTube. We've grown the show almost
over one hundred percent since I reallystarted focusing it on in January, and

(47:07):
would love to keep growing it.There's some magic numbers that these different algorithms
make you hit before they really startgetting it out to the larger community.
And I do hope that we canget to a larger community because there's so
many people suffering from autoimmune and theydon't realize they have it, and if
they just have a little bit ofknowledge they can take control of their life.

(47:30):
They can know they're not alone andbe part of a supporting community such
as ourselves here. Thank you forbeing part of the community. And as
I always sign up, have agreat week, whatever your adventures, and
yes, be sure and have someadventures, because that's what makes life so

(47:50):
sweet. And get out there andenjoy your life. I'll see you next
week. Enjoy the information provided onthe Autoimmune Now are understand Sanding Autoimmune and
Life Interrupted Radio, including the websitesUnderstanding Autoimmune dot com and Life Interrupted Radio
dot com plus social media is foreducational purposes only, which you read,
hear, and see on the autoImmune Hour, Understanding Autoimmune and Life Interrupted

(48:12):
Radio and its websites and other mediaoutlets is based on experience only. The
information should never be used for anylegal, diagnostic or treatment purposes.

All Episodes

10 Years Out From The Diagnosis – My 10 Essential Lessons

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Stuff You Should Know

The Joe Rogan Experience

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}10 Years Out From The Diagnosis – My 10 Essential Lessons