About

As I think about when my journey started, I think I need to give you some background information. It took almost two years to get pregnant with our daughter. While I was pregnant with my daughter, my doctor thought I would have gestational diabetes so I had to check my blood glucose every morning. It was normal throughout my pregnancy. I did, however, develop a blood clot in my left leg when I was 6 months pregnant that went from my ankle to my groin. I was on Lovenox shots for the remainder of my pregnancy. After my daughter was born, my doctor was convinced I was going to end up with diabetes so I had to have my A1C checked. I don’t remember the exact numbers but after 3 months it had trended upwards so she started me on Metformin. I was on Metformin for years and it did NOTHING. At one point, I was pooping out solid pills. I talked to my doctor about it, and she said that my body was not utilizing them anymore, so I took myself off. Fast forward 3 years, we suffered two miscarriages 5 months apart. The first I thought I was 10 weeks and was only 6 and the second I thought I was 8 and it was under 5. We were devastated. My doctor thought it would be a good idea to see a perinatologist to have some testing done. The only thing they found was Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). The three main symptoms are, irregular or no periods (which mine were pretty regular), difficulty getting pregnant (okay, I had that one) and hirsutism which is excessive hair growth (I don’t have that—in fact, I only shave my legs once a month because the hair just doesn’t grow). I accepted that diagnosis and my doctor put me back on Metformin. Reluctantly, I took it. About a year and a half after that, I got pregnant with my son. I was then on Metformin daily and Lovenox shots to prevent a blood clot. We had a healthy baby boy. 

I really think my issues stemmed from the combination of these events. Because, truly, it wasn’t that I was feeling sick or that my cholesterol, blood pressure, or any other blood chemistry numbers were bad, but I didn’t feel good either. I had steadily gained weight, I felt blah in my body. I always had gas and stomach aches after I ate no matter what I ate. I had loose stools and constipation, bloating, and reflux. 

I had trouble losing weight even when I followed the strictest of diets. I was a member of Beachbody and did the 21-day fix diet and exercise program. I was successful at losing some weight and inches but was not successful at keeping it off. I fell back into my old habits and gained it all back and then some. Fast forward a couple of years and I tried the keto diet. Again, it worked to drop some pounds and inches but was not a long-term thing. 

The first month or two after starting the keto diet, I had the oddest of periods. I bled for my “normal” seven days then it stopped for 3, bled for another 14 days. Then my cycles were every 24 days after that. I mentioned something to my doctor, and she said as long as my periods weren’t 21 days it was “normal”. Along with my short cycles, I had breast tenderness before my cycle and heavy, clotty, painful periods. 

In February of 2022, I had my second round of Covid. I was watching a video by one of The Wellness Way doctors from Fond du Lac, WI. It was titled “Did you know that 90% of disease is Environmental and lifestyle related? It talked about how your toxic environment and feeding your body junk causes a lot of the illness we suffer from. Makes sense, right? Even armed with this information, I still didn’t think I was sick enough to make an appointment. 

July 2022, I FINALLY made the phone call and set up an appointment. I had a ton of questions to answer before my first appointment and it really made me think about how unwell I really was. 

July 25th 2022. My first appointment. I had to have x-rays and they made me wear a gown and these shorts that were too small (thank God they stretched). I was weighed (252 pounds!!) and my blood pressure was taken. I was so embarrassed by it all but I knew I had to do this. After the x-rays, I sat down with the doctor and we discussed the plan of action. I needed to have my food allergies tested, some hormone testing and a stool test. The blood draw was scheduled for the following week. I was given the Dutch hormone test and the stool sample kit. I had to test my hormones the weekend before my blood draw. The stool test if not done the day it is dropped off, needs to be refrigerated (Gross, I know!!!) 

The x-rays showed inflammation in my stomach and intestines. I could have told him that. I had a 7 day bender the week before, drinking a lot of alcohol and eating whatever junk I could get my hands on. I felt like crap the day of my appointment—very bloated and gassy. 

Now comes the fun part. MY TESTS!! The dutch test consists of peeing on what looks like a piece of paper that you have to let dry before folding them back up. You can only drink 40 oz of water the day of the test. You start the first morning by peeing on the paper. It’s almost like peeing on a pregnancy test, only messier. The paper drips and it’s a mess. I then hung my test kits on the windowsill of my bathroom. Thank goodness we didn’t have any visitors. Then you pee on the paper 3-4 more times. I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night to pee like normal so I could skip that one. 

The stool test was WAY more fun. I will never look at a French fry boat the same again. I had to poop in a French fry tray or boat and scoop that into different containers. UGH. So gross. 

The following Monday, I went in for my blood draw. The blood draw tested my hormones and my food allergies. 

My Test Results

A few weeks later, I received my food allergy tests. I had 9. They are barley, cod, cow’s milk, flax, hemp, sesame, pistachios, lettuce, and tomato. I didn’t think it was bad….until I thought about what these things were all in. Barley is in a lot of breads and beer. Cow’s milk is in butter, yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, cheese…all of my favorite foods and the ones I had been eating on the keto diet. I ate a lot of lettuce salads with tomato. And not to mention what tomato is all in. UGH!!! However, I thought since they were +1 with the exception of sesame which was a +2, that maybe I wouldn’t have to give these foods up. Guess what? They still cause inflammation and were making me sick. 

My Dutch test came back saying I was high in estrogen. Which is why I had the breast tenderness and heavy, clotty, painful periods. It also showed high cortisol.  My stool test came back with a potential bacterial overgrowth and a yeast infection and I wasn’t digesting my food well enough. 

My blood chemistry tests showed high WBC, high granulocyte percentage, high cholesterol, out of whack insulin, low vitamin D, high risk of cardiovascular disease. Yikes. I was “sicker” than I thought I was.