Pathway to Vitality - Enlightened
This series of blog posts examines my personal journey to health after being diagnosed with a progression of chronic health conditions. In my previous post in this series, I mentioned how I had been simply exhausted from years of suffering with ever worsening chronic health conditions.
Enlightened
At this point I decided it was time to take a different approach. After all, 15 years of medication and blindly following the conventional medical approach had not proven successful. I realized that the traditional treatments were not working. So, I declined my health care provider’s recommended therapy and started seeing alternative health practitioners.
I saw one alternative healthcare practitioner for two years and gained valuable insight from him, but I was spending over $500 a month on supplements in addition to his appointment fee, which was not covered by insurance. At times I felt they were just throwing supplements at me to see what might work. I also believed they were simply substituting herbal or vitamin products for prescription drugs in an effort to treat symptoms in a more natural manner. While I did show some improvement, there was still no insight as to a cure for the underlying problem.
Traditional medicine by itself was not working. Neither was alternative medicine. I had realized that if a pathway back to health was going to be found then I would be the one to find it for myself, based on my particular needs, my individual situation, my unique genetic make-up and my ability to understand what my body was trying desperately to tell me. What I needed was more education.
What's Next
We'll look at the 5 stages in my journey and reflect on how those relate to the general pathway to vitality. Also check out our in-depth articles on preventing and healing chronic diseases utilizing a Functional Medicine approach.
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Wishing you good health!
Mike Woodley, R.Ph, FAARM, FMNM