The Reason(s) for this Website

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and have no background or related degree in medicine. This is only an account of my personal journey to restore my health.

I am a quiet, shy person by nature; someone who is not often noticed in a crowd. Here and there I have tried to speak up and give advice when I feel like my knowledge could be helpful to others, but have often felt it fell on deaf ears. So, this website is another way for me to try and share knowledge that has helped me to restore and maintain my own health, in the hopes that I might be able to help others struggling as well.

I believe that the majority of people want to live full and productive lives; and to become the best version of themselves. But that is hard to do when you feel tired, rundown, or other health challenges get in the way. So I want to begin with my own personal journey to restored health. Although I'm still striving to get to the best version of me, I have come a long way through what I've learned across the last 25 years.

So here we go...as a child, I was always very active and lithe. I think it's safe to say that I was one of the many undiagnosed cases of ADHD. My legs were constantly moving and I had a lot of energy. My mother told me she kept me in activities year round, because otherwise I was literally bouncing off of everything! I also craved sugar a lot as a kid and would even go as far as to sneak into the pantry and eat sugar cubes by the handful. With a youthful metabolism, that wasn't an issue for me. I simply burned it off. I was fortunate that I did not develop diabetes, but I mention this "craving for sugar" because of what occurred down the road a little farther.

So, despite consuming too much sugar, I was a pretty healthy kid, other than experiencing various ear infections, flus, and viruses, such is common for the average child. But the turning point in my health journey came my freshman year of college when I developed a severe case of mononucleosis (mono). I quickly became severely ill and was hospitalized for several days. I experienced severe swelling all over my body, but especially in my face and neck, making it difficult to breathe. I was put on steroids and a variety of medicines to decrease the inflammation.

Eventually, I recovered from the severe illness, but I believe that was a turning point for me, where my health took a definite turning point for the worse. A few years later, a year or two into married life, I fell down some icy stairs and experienced a hairline fracture in my hip. Although that healed, I was left with widespread aching and pain throughout my body. After many months of specialists and tests, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, food allergies and lupus. This is where the journey to restore my health began.

Initially with these diagnoses, I was told that there would be limitations in my life. Specifically for fibromyalgia, I was told to stop working out because I might cause permanent damage to my ligaments and muscles. To treat lupus, I was encouraged to get on strong, potentially dangerous drugs like Plaquenil - an anti-malarial drug that can potentially cause blindness if used long-term. Being in my early 20s, I initially listened to the doctors and followed their recommendations. Eventually though, my gut told me this direction, of applying standard medical protocol, was not what was best long-term for my health and well-being.

So after going from doctor to doctor who only treated me symptom to symptom, I was frustrated to continually find that few doctors offer truly coordinated care that looks for root cause(s) instead of just treating symptoms. Thankfully, I received a referral to see Dr. Edward Conley at the Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Autoimmune Clinic of Michigan. This series of visits opened my eyes to the root cause of my illnesses and so many others. I finally felt like there was hope. Hope that I could restore the energy and well-being I experienced in my youth. Hope that there was still time for me to restore my health so that I could grow into the best version of myself.

And the things I've learned in my personal health journey and similar stories I've heard from others is what I want to share with others who are struggling, or know someone who is struggling to restore their health. Some of the areas I want to focus on are:

• The role of gut health in overall health and well-being. Did you know that at least 70% of your immune system is found in your gut?

• The role of sugar consumption and yeast overgrowth (Candida overgrowth) on your gut health.

• The role of food allergies and sensitivities in your overall health.

• The role of inflammation in countless, if not all diseases.

• The role of hormones in diseases and illnesses, both physical and mental.

• The role of nutritional deficiencies and problems with absorption.

• The role of adrenal fatigue on your overall health.

There are other topics that will be touched on on this site, such as how our depleted soils have led to mineral and vitamin-deficient foods, and how food additives can affect our health, but these are some of the major areas I've needed to address personally, during my own journey to restored health.

With this website, the intent is not to advertise or necessarily promote particular medical professionals or supplements and treatments, but to simply share what has worked for me and many others in regaining control of our health and improving our lives for the better. My hope is that in sharing this information, I might be able to reach others who are struggling to figure out answers to questions like: "Why do I feel this way and how can I feel better?"

I just want to reiterate that I am not a medical professional. At the heart of what I believe is that there is a happy path towards restored health that involves both traditional and natural medicine combined. There are still many situations where people with advanced-stage diseases should seek out traditional medicine for consultation, diagnosis and treatment, but there are steps that can be taken to improve underlying conditions and basic overall health, by becoming better educated in how our body's work and how external and internal factors affect our health.

Wishing you all well on your journey to better health! ~Melissa