For this reason, I have always been a fan of what has been called alternative medicine, complementary medicine, integrative medicine, holistic medicine, breakthrough medicine, and now functional medicine. Lots of names, but all referring to the same general philosophy, which is that in order to treat an illness, the underlying causes must be addressed, and we must look at the whole person, not just the diseased part. I feel so passionately and so strongly about this because it’s working for me, and because there are so many people suffering that don’t have to be.

The following 9 tips for addressing autoimmune disease were taken from an article on www.healthiertalk.com written by Dr. Mark Hyman, MD, founder of The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA. Dr. Hyman specializes in functional medicine. In his own words:

Functional medicine moves beyond diagnosis-based medicine to incorporate new research that for the first time allows treatment of the underlying causes of disease.

It works with the body’s natural forces to achieve a state of what Dr. Hyman calls UltraWellness—lifelong good health and vitality. Functional medicine creates UltraWellness by combining a broad range of treatments to help restore and optimize normal function and health, including conventional therapies, herbal treatments, and alternative methodologies, in one encompassing, patient-centered approach.

9 Tips for Addressing Autoimmune Disease

(If you really want to educate yourself on these issues, click on all the links throughout – Dr. Hyman’s blog is very informative.)

• ·    Read The Autoimmune Epidemic (affiliate link). This book will tell you why we have this problem, and how to fix it.
• ·    Find a functional medicine doctor who can help you address autoimmunity. (I suggest fining a center that specializes in this. There’s a comprehensive list of these centers in the back of Suzanne Somers’ book Breakthrough which I highly recommend.)
• ·    Get tested for mercury and other heavy metals.
• ·    Get tested for celiac disease (an autoimmune reaction to wheat and other gluten-containing grains), which causes over 60 autoimmune diseases. And consider eliminating other inflammatory foods from your diet such as dairy, eggs, corn and animal fats for a few weeks to see if it makes a different your symptoms.
• ·    Take immune-balancing nutrients and supplements, including vitamin D, essential fats (like EPA/DHA and GLA), and probiotics.
• ·    Practice deep relaxation daily through yoga, meditation, biofeedback, or anything that reverses the stress response.
• ·    Practice the precautionary principle, which says that we should avoid anything with the potential for harm. In the US, something has to be proven harmful before it is taken off the market. In Europe, something has to be proven safe before it is allowed on the market. This is also known as “better safe than sorry.”
• ·    Learn how to boost your body’s own detoxification system

Have you tried functional medicine? How has it helped you? If not, what’s stopping you?

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One of the core issues that has come up for me again and again on my own healing journey is the downward spiral that I’ve fallen into when I’ve been symptomatic. I’ll notice a new sensation in my body, or an old one I was never a fan of, and I’ll begin to ask myself what it means and why it’s happening…questions that can easily go down a road of negative thinking and old, not useful thought patterns about my illness. In times like these, I wished I had a CD of someone leading me into a generative state instead – where I was relaxed, calm, and confident about my body’s ability to heal. Since Devon has trained with some of the best hypnotists in the world, he happens to be an expert at that sort of thing, and this was the major inspiration for this product. The health trance we’ve created will reroute your negative thought patterns and lead you to a state that supports your system being in optimal health. I can’t wait until it’s complete so I can use it myself.

The progressive relaxation and white light meditation are essential for stress reduction, and as you may already know, stress is a major factor in flare-ups and relapses of any chronic illness. But more than that, this product will help you to redefine what health means to you. One of the ways it will do that is to charge your system up with GOOD feelings. Why? Because if you’ve got a chronic illness, you’re likely really good and really familiar with feeling bad. What we want to do is give you an equally powerful, equally familiar, equally intense experience of your body when it feels GOOD, which is the domain of white light meditation. Have you ever done this? It feels AMAZING.

I’ll be updating you on the progress of the product, but I just wanted to let you know it’s in the works and will be available soon. If you have any thoughts on what you’d like to hear or what you need, please let me know!