Autoimmune Conditions – When Your Own Body Lets You Down

Autoimmunity is the system of immune responses within your body that works against your own healthy cells and tissues, with roots in several different systems in your body being in dysfunction.

Often, there will be one particular area of your body that is signaling more than others, causing your symptoms and the condition to develop. However, your autoimmune condition will always be a complex interplay of several systems in your body, along with several triggering factors, that have caused your condition to develop. Once your body has gotten into this category of immune system dysfunction, there must be several measures put in place, just to manage the condition.

How do you not just cope with the condition and its symptoms though, and move through them, into remission, and regaining function? The answer lies in discovering the root cause of why the autoimmune condition(s) developed in the first place.

I enjoy working with females who are struggling with autoimmune related conditions, such as:

  • Thyroid autoimmunity
  • Osteoporosis
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis/ Reactive Arthritis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Interstitial Cystitis
  • Osteoarthritis

To find a solution for any (or all) of these conditions, it is important to trace a timeline of potential triggering events for the symptoms you’re experiencing, as well as to gain an understanding of which systems in your body are the most out of balance, thus causing your symptoms.

Accomplishing this requires a very detailed analysis of your history, and any lifestyle factors that could be contributing to your current symptoms.

  • Have you reached a point with your autoimmunity that it is affecting your ability to carry out your daily life tasks?
  • Is it affecting your ability to work, to recreate, and enjoy your social life, and family life?
  • Are you fearful of the future, wondering if you will be able to function for your everyday life tasks, let alone be able to do the things you enjoy in life?

If your autoimmune condition has developed early in life, it is important to look at the predisposing factors, such as family history and genetics. On the other hand, if it develops in midlife, or later in life, it is often essential to look at which lifestyle factors are causing the aggravation to multiple systems in your body. Regardless of age of onset, looking deeper into the root cause is essential to heal from this… because:

Autoimmune conditions can go into remission, no matter how severe the symptoms. The key is to discover how to stop perpetuating the condition with your aggravating factors, as well as discover the true root cause of why you have the condition in the first place.

Functional Medicine and Autoimmunity

Any autoimmune condition involves looking deeper into gut function, and rebalancing it, as 70% or more of our immune system is contained in the gut. It also involves creating an environment for the body to heal. This environment is different for everyone, but will typically require:

  • Lowering stress levels
  • Moderating exercise levels (low to moderate intensity exercise several times a week)
  • Following specific nutrition guidelines, that are customized to your health condition (and potentially your genetics)
  • Creating an environment that is low in environmental toxins, as the toxic burden in our bodies, and the potential lack of clearing it, is a trigger, and perpetrator in au
    toimmunity often.
  • Getting plenty of sleep: i.e., 7-9 hours a night, and ideally 2-3 of those hours are before midnight

Each of these solutions to your autoimmune condition needs to be customized to you, your condition, symptoms, and factors that are contributing to the disease. The solution lies in developing a customized health plan for you, as well as working with a health care practitioner who will team up with you to guide you to a solution, over the long term, not just short-term symptom relief.

If you would like to discover a solution to your autoimmune condition that includes putting it into remission, and preventing symptoms from coming back, please give me a call.

I am available for a FREE 45-minute consultation to discuss this, and any other health concern that has been plaguing you.

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