My autoimmune disease
Autoimmune diseases are more prevalent today than commonly thought. It is a colorful mixture of chronic diseases with the common denominator that the immune system is directed against the body’s own tissue.
In other words, our immune system goes crazy – sometimes just a bit, sometimes seriously.
When I woke up with a thrombosis on my left arm for no apparent reason on Jan. 1, 2016, I immediately knew that I might be suffering from an autoimmune disease and should have my auto-antibodies (ANAs) determined together with an extensive blood work. In the eight months before, I had symptoms that seemed suspicious to me as a naturopath: night sweats, tiredness, joint and back pain, sudden sharp pain, hiccups with retrosternal pain, Raynaud’s syndrome, and swollen extremities.
Had I already suspected it based on the symptoms, there was no doubt now. I could not get up for a week and felt an unbearable, stinging pain. My head was fogged, tiredness made me barely breathe, my joints and muscles ached without exception. In this acute pain condition, the use of painkillers (ibuprofen) was without alternative. Since I do not take any other chemical medication, the desired effect was achieved relatively quickly and with a lower dosage.
The laboratory results then confirmed a mixed connective tissue disease. The rheumatologists advise me promptly to a “prophylactic” therapy with an anti-malarial agent (chloroquine). However, I decided myself against this “basic therapy” and decided to treat myself with naturopathic methods:
- As a first step, I determined in a holistic laboratory my values for amino acids, minerals, vitamins, gut health, hormones (including stress hormones).
- In the area of nutrient density, I had several shortcomings that I subsequently successfully complemented (and continue to do so with regular controls).
- In the gut, the balance of my intestinal flora was sub-ideal area. I had a dysbiosis and an allergic disposition. To remedy the problem, I performed several colon cleansings (colon hydrotherapy). I also took prebiotics and probiotics for complete intestinal repair.
- In addition, I take anti-inflammatory medicinal herbs and supplements such as turmeric, frankincense and omega-3.
- Based on my lab results, I have created a detailed program. Since then I have not had a single major boost. Except for my Raynaud’s syndrome, all other symptoms are under control. I’m doing sports again as before the illness and give myself regular courses as a fitness trainer.
In the area of autoimmune diseases, allopathic medicine is against healing or remission.
It administers drugs that have considerable side effects. Allopathic medicine is justified, from my point of view, in the acute stage of the disease, when internal organs are affected or for the advantages of the modern apparatus diagnostics. Even in those cases it can be administered parallel to holistic medicine.
If you have an autoimmune disease, you should become the “manager” of your condition.
You are the “boss”. Develop awareness and personal responsibility. Always listen to your body. Take care of your diet and mental health. Have a good therapist or doctor to determine the actual condition of your body by laboratory examination and take the necessary measures, which in your specific case make sense based on the laboratory results.
The allopathic medicine might be necessary in many cases. The naturopathic treatment can be, based on a case to case analysis, the basic therapy.