Pathway to Vitality - Exhausted
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 entrenched in a way of thinking about health, medicine, and outcomes that really was not productive.
Exhausted
That pattern of trying to use medicines and make traditional healthcare work for me went on for over a decade. Think about that - a decade of worsening pain and health problems. A crippling loss of function began in one seemingly isolated area of my body and spread to other areas until I was completely exhausted trying to restore my health.
My loss of function initially started with a food intolerance manifested as reflux. That reflux, I now know, was a symptom, a warning sign, and not the problem after all. From the reflux my symptoms and health problems worsened to include:
- Acid reflux
- Hiatal hernia
- Esophageal spasms
- Multiple food allergies/intolerences
- Autoimmune disease
My body was trying desperately to tell me something, but even with all my training I chose not to listen. I listened instead to the prevailing medical knowledge with which I was familiar, and things only got worse. To restore my vitality I needed a new lens through which to look. The new pathway was out there; I just had to find it.
What's Next
We'll continue to look at the 5 stages in my journey and reflect on how those relate to the general pathway to vitality. You can 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