My Diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis | Healing Through Functional Medicine
My Journey
So if you haven’t noticed already, we admittedly talk A LOT about health stuff over here. What the heck is a lil’ bridal biz talking about nutrition and fitness for?! We’ve both been through a lot collectively in our healing journeys but more recently, things have been significant and life-changing for me in particular. Well folks, let’s get into it…Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2021 and managing it has become an integral part of my life. I have learned SO MUCH along my healing journey - seriously life altering things. I would be remised if I didn’t share my journey not only out of true transparency (I just think everyone should be more vulnerable and talk about things because then we recognize we’re not alone) but also to share the knowledge I’m gaining in hopes it might be valuable to others dealing with autoimmune issues or any other health struggles. I have seriously valued others’ stories immensely during this time of ‘figuring things out’ and I thank you for sharing them with me!
So, MS…
Multiple Sclerosis looks VERY different for each individual. It’s a culmination of many seemingly random symptoms, the onset comes from a multitude of factors, and everyones story is as unique as them which makes it pretty darn challenging to diagnose or predict progression. Woof.
This is MY STORY…
In March 2021 I was sitting on my bed chatting on the phone when I had an electrical pulse zap up my right arm, into my face and I momentarily slurred my words. The right side of my body went numb and tingly down to my toes in a literal instant - to put it into context it kinda felt like when your leg falls asleep. But it just never woke up. 24/7 tingles.
I began experiencing what I now know to be ‘flare ups’ on the left side of my body on and off throughout that summer (the numb, tingly sensation). I would get ‘zingers’ which are electric bursts up the body when I would bend my neck a certain way or look down. The sensations would escalate with certain types of exasperated movement (running or walking for an extended length of time). Chronic joint pain and body aches set in and would worsen in the evenings, affecting sleep. Brain fog, balance issues, instances of blurred vision - basically a myriad of symptoms that seem super,duper rando.
After lots of pricking, prodding, MRI’s and a definitive spinal tap, I was FINALLY diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis 6 months after the initial symptoms. I have lesions on both my brain and my spinal cord (brain lesions correlate to cognitive impairment and spinal lesions generally correlate to movement impairment) and the symptoms correlate to where the lesion is located on your brain or spine. So my right side numbness is most likely linked to a big ‘ole lesion on my spine if that makes sense. Because of the vast number of lesions that were found (I was told there were too many to count), the length of time the right side of my body had been numb and tingly, and the fact that it hadn’t gone away (at this point it had been over 8 months) - I was told that the damage that had occurred thus far was both permanent and irreversible.
My neurologist went over medication options which could slow the progression of the illness but I wasn’t getting a guarantee from anyone of stopping it, not to mention many of the drugs came with trade off’s of other symptoms and risks. I want to be clear that I am NOT anti-med. Medicine can work magic and I’m all for integration. Like I said, everyone’s journey with MS is very different and you should do what you feel is best for your body. This is a VERY personal choice. My gut was not feeling super comfy with meds; it just didn’t feel like the right fit for me and sometimes you just gotta follow that intuition.
I took it upon myself to look into alternative medicine - if you haven’t noticed I’m a little ‘woo’ to begin with so it wasn’t a huge stretch for me. This is where I found my way to FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE. Functional medicine introduced me to the idea of addressing the root cause. WHY do I have MS? What caused it? I felt SUPER called to this because I wanted to understand. I found a certified Functional MD who had experience healing other autoimmune patients. I was interested in the concept of looking for what is off in my body and addressing it.
The basic thought is if we work on healing the root cause, there’s a good chance my symptoms would subside and a belief that we could STOP the progression and possibly even REVERSE some of the damage by building myelin back around my nerves and shrinking lesions through supportive nutrition. THIS perspective felt worth exploring. SIGN. ME. UP. Food as medicine. Movement as medicine. Mindfulness as medicine. A trifecta of generally basic things that have HUGE impacts on your body and its ability to heal.
After my diagnosis I felt a huge loss of control and by focusing on what goes into my body, I gained a sense of control back, which felt really good to me.
Thus, began my journey with Functional Medicine…
Food As Medicine
Getting the vitamins your body needs and is lacking through nutrient dense foods.
Autoimmune diseases are correlated to inflammation so the first crucial step was to cut out inflammatory foods (sugar, gluten, dairy, processed foods, etc.). I follow the Wahls Protocol (Terry Wahls is a boss) diet which was designed specifically for MS and other autoimmune diseases. It eliminates inflamatory food but what I LOVE about Wahls Protocol is that the focus of the diet is structured around what you SHOULD eat. Food is fuel and it’s the nutrition that you’re putting in that is doing the healing so there is a recommended 9 cups a day of nutrient dense fruits and vegetables (dense all the juicing). I’m a big list person so I keep a note in my phone and check off the bubbles throughout the day and find it SUPER satisfying. By the time I eat everything on the list, I’m honestly not hungry enough to crave anything else…
3 cups leafy greens
3 cups of color
3 cups of sulphur rich veggies
Yeah, that’s A LOT of fruits and veggies.
As someone who doesn’t necessarily thrive in the kitchen, I started with a goal of learning just a handful of recipes that fit the criteria and built on from there. The ‘Wahls Protocol Cookbook’ was a great place to start. After you get a few basics under your belt - a skillet, a soup, a salad, a smoothie, a juice - it’s easy to modify those recipes and expand. Once you learn how many GF and DF alternatives (hello chickpea pasta and coconut milk) you really can easily sub anti-inflammatory ingredients for things you already make and love.
A blender and a juicer (Sarah and I both use this one) were HUGE game changers for me and I use them daily. There are A LOT of greens to fit in on Wahls, and drinking them honestly is my fave way to do it! I have a green juice and a smoothie every day loaded with spinach or kale (we’re eating a ridiculous amount of kale) and a bunch of nutrient dense goodness.
I tested high for pesticides on my environmental toxin test so how I shop for food changed. I try to buy everything organic however budget is a reality. When I need to pick and choose I go by the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen list. These are yearly published lists of the foods grown with the most pesticides and the least. I buy the dirty dozen organic and the clean 15 non-organic if need be. I soak all of my produce in vinegar when it gets home to remove any pesticides and get them extra squeeky clean!
Movement as Medicine
What is in motion, will stay in motion.
Okayyyy as someone who was pigeon holed as Baby Spice basically their entire life, transitioning into Sporty Spice was one of the more challenging aspects of my journey but has surprisingly catapulted me into becoming my absolute FAVORITE version of myself thus far. I wasn’t ‘not’ moving before, I just wasn’t moving as much. When faced with the possibility that you * may * lose the option to move as you want one day, you suddenly want to do ALL THE THINGS. And thus I did… I have a theory that what IS in motion will STAY in motion so bring on ALL the movin’ and groovin’ folks!
The key to starting to move is figuring out what movement you enjoy - because if you enjoy it, you’ll do it. And that’s kinda the point. I started with running and unfortunately that was NOT my jam plus it exasperated my symptoms. Yoga is what I already enjoyed so I decided that was my place to start and I just did more of it. Instead of the 3 practices a week I had been accomplishing I set a goal for 5. Sometimes at home on my living room floor during sewing breaks if my time was limited or if I wasn’t up for hitting the studio. Something is better than nothing.
I began searching for other forms of movement I might enjoy and quickly learned that it’s WAY more fun to do things together! I started pulling pals in and trying what they liked to do on for size. I soon collected a plethora of accountabilibuddies and hobbies. Ice skating, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, downhill skiing (yes unfortunately this journey began around a Wisconsin Winter so I leaned in hard) rock climbing, weight lifting, spinning… ALL THE THINGS. Now on top of my 5 yoga classes a week I started integrating 2 friend hangs a week that centered around movement rather than grabbing a beer (well let’s be real, maybe a GF beer after). #balance
Before I knew it I was moving every friggin’ day and enjoying the heck out of it. Not only did I get stronger physically (check out these pipes, bruh!) but mentally as well. I felt a huge mental shift - my anxiety dissipated, I had more patience and my mind felt more clear. By integrating friend time, I was in turn building a community too.
All in all it has been one heck-of-a really amazing transition. I honestly enjoy moving SO MUCH now and I can’t wait to see what other adventures it takes me on! (paddle boarding, surfing, ski sprites, who knows!) The possibilities are endless.
Mindfulness As Medicine
Stress reduction, meditation, and therapy.
Stress and anxiety…woof. It’s absolutely bonkers how your mental state can have physical effects in your body. Cortisol is real, ya’ll. When your body is in fight or flight your energy isn’t being evenly distributed and the things that need healing get ignored. Stress and trauma cause inflammation which as we know is NOT good for autoimmune (or anyone).
I began to take serious account of stressors in my life and eliminating them. The fist thing that had to change was how my days were structured. That hustle mentality. Taking on extra projects to chase the money, 12 hour work days to get it done, cutting it too close to deadlines and spinning out. All. Bad. Things.
Now that it was a non negotiable for me to fit meal prep and movement into my days, time was essential. This led me to focus on what moves the needle. I let side projects go that I had taken on for additional income because at the end of the day, health and wellness are THE MOST VALUABLE things. I would make a little less money but have a little more time.
Rather than sewing for 8 hours straight I began restructuring my work days to integrate movement breaks, smoothie breaks, and juice breaks. I took note of what my highest productivity hours are - personally mine are 7am -2pm - and I crash around 3. I start my days with the most important task of the day, when I’m at my highest value output. I know my lowest energy point is 3:00 so I have a reminder on my phone for a daily affirmation to pop-up (I use Storyteller by Morgan Harper Nichols) and this is where I also do my daily meditation (Insight Timer has great guided meditations). I take a break and habit stack around noon. I do some weight bearing movements or stretch at the studio before I eat lunch and take my mid-day vitamins. These small changes of organization suddenly made work days feel really good.
Taking time for breaks made me come back to my work more focused. I was calmer, had less anxiety, my communication style changed – CHILL LINDS in the house! And newsflash: by putting MORE energy into LESS projects they grow quicker. linyage and Velvet Raptor started picking up more momentum than ever, I was enjoying the work more, and feeling. my. best. self.
Meditation and therapy have both been beautiful assets to this journey. Learning how to work through stress and anxiety in healthy ways is invaluable… your mind can really get stuck re living the past or be anxious about the future. Staying present is the key to calm but also really, really challenging. Having a regular reminder or check in with my therapist or practicing a guided meditation helps to get me grounded and reminds me to ‘be where your feet are’ which has been my consistent mantra since the very beginning of this particular journey. My therapist knows it well…
And that brings us to the results that have me over the gosh darn moon!
After three months of consistency with my nutrition, practicing mindfulness, and integrating daily movement all of my symptoms are completely GONE and my progression has STOPPED!
Did I cure my MS? No. I’m not sure that’s entirely possible. But are we managing symptoms and stopping the progression without meds? HECK YES we are!
There clearly was a lot of support behind my efforts and I do not discredit that in the least. I am blessed with a hugely amazing support system of friends, family, and doctors who have showed up in beyond amazing ways and 100% of those humans have also wiped my tears on days that Strong Linds was lost,so bless all of ya.
Okay so that was a fairly extensive breakdown, hope you’re still with me. But I want to re-iterate that this was a journey. It has entailed lots of hurdles, steps, and challenges. There wasn’t immediate gratification by any means and has taken A LOT of work (like it felt like a full time job at first) but after 6 months of building habits and staying consistent, I achieved the results I was working towards and have grown in ways greater than I had imagined for myself.
Building these habits have become my most valuable tools not only for healing but for major self growth. I have become a much stronger, braver, and healthier human and I am so friggin’ proud of myself for PUTTING. IN. THE. WORK.