The beginning.....
I've always been one of those 'ill' children. Constant infections, viruses, breathing problems and catching whatever was going round to a degree where it was serious. You know, life-threatening! I guess you could say it started with my death! I was 2 weeks late and died in my mothers stomach because I had the cord strangling me! My mum didn't see me in my first 3 days of life because of how ill I was. Could my health been pre-ordained because of this, I don't know?
Crohns Disease
If I had known how my easily swayed my health was, being so sensitive, I would have decided not to have the MMR, but we just weren't given the details as we were the guinea-pigs for the new vaccine. Every year in my school was given it, without questions on your health or the past. I had already had both types of measles but no-one questioned it. It's what the government said was safe!!!
A little background here....I had the following in succession; collapsed lung, measles, German measles, a 3 month long stint of glandular fever where I couldn't get out of bed, dress or leave the house and I'd been given the Rubella and TB vaccines (TB is in the family). I had the MMR at 15, then at 16, I started the contraceptive pill. Then, I became VERY ill.......
- I couldn't eat
- I couldn't stop being sick
- I couldn't stop the constant trips to the loo, where I spent most of my time
I thought this was all down to the pill, which I stopped after a month but nothing changed. I think it was a succession of contributing factors that can be likened to dominoes falling down one after the other.
For 6 months this carried on, with trips to the doctors feeling like they thought I was a liar! At first they thought I was doing this to myself (namely anorexia) and then they thought I may have hepatitis C, but all blood tests came back clear, so "it must be a stomach infection!"
After 8 months of being so ill, I was losing faith in the system and myself. But an answer came to me whilst trying to make sure they didn't fob me off any longer! I was desperate for help and this wouldn't be the first time I'd begged for help to be told that the Doctor didn't know what could be done for me!
My GP decided we should test for serious gastric illnesses. The tests I went through seemed like they were from the dark ages. It was frightening, exhausting and I felt my life was running away from me. I couldn't go out for worry of being sick or having 'an accident' in public. I withdrew from society and this has happened so many times since, I've lost count!
Test results showed I had Crohns disease in my colon, duodenum and stomach. It's an inflammatory bowel disease that can happen anywhere from the mouth, all the way through the digestive system. There is no cure and its a bit like being told you have cancer, because it can go into remission, but after having it for 10 years, they have to screen you for cancer, because that's where it sometimes leads.
Time goes slow when you're in agony
So between the ages of 16 and 19, my parents would have to look after me like I was a kid, because I couldn't feed myself or go out without them. There were quite a few occasions where I nearly died. I was in hospital ever year from then, up until the age of 23. During this time, I was going through college, met my ex-husband, had 2 children, completed my apprenticeship and continued to work as much as I could (obviously, with lots of time off).
The negative impacts my illness had were numerous and longlasting ....
- I had to give up my A-Levels due to Crohns
- I had to give up my career
- I got bullied at work, which put me in hospital, unable to walk and in so much pain, it made me pull my hair out. I also came close to dying from blood poisoning
- Every experience I had at Colchester Hospital were the worst you can imagine and almost unbelievably involved tripping over a dead body, nurses refusing to treat/help me and calling me a silly little girl. I was ready to end my life that night.
- My problem with food still exists today
- My pregnancies were very rough. I lost 2 stone with my first at the beginning
- I nearly died during childbirth and after
- My baby died in childbirth and was brought back to life
- The medication side-effects were as bad as the illness, one of them sent me into anaphylactic shock, which took 8 hours to get me back to normal (another near death experience)
So, as you can see, it's been a rough ride and this doesn't take into consideration the mental health impact that this caused me. I will explain about that on another post. I'm 36 and the stories I could tell you would definitely fill a book!
Why am I telling you this?
Well, I hope you can imagine the real life story I'm portraying here. I became mentally ill while pregnant with my first and it never really got picked up until I had my second, because I reported myself to the NSPCC and I was helped by the charity Homestart. I started anti-depressants after dragging my heels for years, as I believe in and prefer natural alternatives. I was obsessed about my children never going through what I had and this began my research into Homoeopathy, complementary therapies and anti-vaccination.
My children were given the best natural alternatives to combat serious allergies and physical ailments. I think because I was so ill and my pre-deposition, it caused the problems they had and I had researched that my children were 50% more likely to get Crohns. I knew I couldn't give them vaccines if the MMR had made me so ill (it contributed, but I agree it probably wasn't the only thing that caused my Crohns) so I had to look after their health. I'm so glad I did, because I don't think my second son would be here today if he had had vaccines (he has serious life-threatening allergies, like egg, which they culture some vaccines on).
So I'm telling you my story for many reasons;
- Awareness
- The happy outcome
Yes, I'm free of Crohns
I was given the good news after 13 years of suffering, that it HAD disappeared! We were all amazed because it's a disease. It's not supposed to just go! I believe it was many things that helped, so I can't say for sure how I cured myself, but I can tell you what I was doing to help. By the way, they now class me as having IBS, because I still have some toilet troubles and stomach bloating/pain. But they are so much better now that they don't change my life like they once did!
What I did to help myself;
- Homoeopathy for years
- Reflexology for years (very good at regulating my hormones and overall health)
- Counselling (this helped a lot, once I found the right person)
- Change of diet and supplements (I took meal replacement shakes for 1 year which I think gave my system a break) for all round health
- I stopped taking some of the medication for the Crohns years back (I do not want you to stop any medications, I just listened to my body to find out what was making me worse. Don't make any decisions without speaking to your Doctor)
These are all my own opinions and I didn't make any rash decisions until I knew I was supported with the alternative treatments that worked for me, so these might not work for you. I am very sensitive so it took a lot of trial and error to get where I am.
Helping others
Lots of my friends are aware that I have a lot of knowledge about health and have many contacts for lots of natural treatments and supplements. I'm not trained and can only do this for friends and family, so I had to think of a way to help people without going through years of training in just one discipline when all what has worked for me is in so many different subjects.
Last year, 2015, I realised I had so many products in my cupboards I could open a shop (lol!), And I know what each one does! I realised this could be my dream occupation if only I could find a partner. I counted the products from different companies and saw an interesting correlation. I buy from 3 main companies and 2 of them allow me to be a distributor and get free training!
Heres a picture of my products lol!
So I'm learning lots about all of the products now, so I can understand everything I need to help others. I have a link to my store on the top right and the other companies products I will reveal later on.
For now, all I wanted to do was tell you my story and hope that it helps you in some way.
Tomorrow I will be writing about my Bipolar and I hope the insights will help you too.
If you have any questions, do ask in the comments or message me directly through my
Facebook page.
