The difference a year makes…

I know that is a very overused statement as a start to this post, but it truly fits all I’m about to say…

A little over a year ago, I was not doing well healthwise. My health first noticeably started going downhill in 2009 but I didn’t know what was even wrong with me then and it took many years, lots of appointments, procedures, and a whole lot of time and money to get any answers. I had just finished my second round of college, graduating with a 3.71 GPA in Criminal Justice, and was just getting started on having a career in a new field when I started noticing symptoms that really concerned me. I already knew I had Hypothyroidism and struggled with that, and also knew a lot of back pain but attributed it to being such a tomboy and very athletic growing up, along with giving birth to my five children. But, then I started having a lot more pain everywhere, started feeling like I had a bad flu bug too often, and was getting brain fog so bad, it actually cost me a job because I started losing my train of thought and would lose my words, sometimes midsentence. My speech would even slur at time’s, especially if I was overly tired…and I spent most of my time being abnormally exhausted. I was still in my probationary period at a new job within the court system and felt like I had a whole new and exciting life ahead of me, but because of my foggy brain, I wasn’t training well enough in one area for them to keep me, even though I was a great employee in every other way. I needed to be good in all the ways they needed me and couldn’t, if I sounded like an idiot when taking phone calls or talking, saying “ummm” all the time.

It broke my heart to lose that job and I was angry for a while. There were some viper like females that worked there who were awful and one of the HR guys sexually harassed me, so I blamed those people for it all, thinking they conspired against me, when in all honesty, maybe they hadn’t? I don’t actually know for sure, but the speech and mind voids definitely contributed to it and I know my boss had liked me and didn’t want to have to let me go…and I had a few people argue with her trying to talk her out of it even! That felt good, but didn’t save my job. It did push me in the right direction of finding out what was wrong and trying to find a solution though, and for that, I am thankful! Even though it took a long time to get answers and to get where I am now.

I’ve had to give up a lot because of my health. My career took me into many years of search and rescue work, emergency communication work, government work on the side, and finally, work in the medical field fulltime too, and I especially loved working at the hospital and doing the search and rescue work. Helping other people has always been my calling…I always thought it would be to help victims get justice, but I actually found saving lives much more rewarding. Almost five years ago though, I had to give it all up. I had to give up everything I loved and that made me feel useless, because I became too sick to do any of it any more. I was actually so bad, I could barely walk or do anything around my house. I didn’t talk about it or tell anyone how bad I was either. I just suffered mostly in silence and tried not to be a burden on anyone else if I could help it. I made constant excuses for not going anywhere or spending time with family and friends and was missing holidays, important events for my children like choir concerts and even their birthday parties. I hated who I had turned into and how I was feeling and looking, and especially, what it was doing to everyone around me but I was also too sick to care at the same time. I mean, I did care but I didn’t have any energy to do anything about it so had to just shove it deep down and not think about it. I felt like I was slowly dying and it’d be better for everyone if I did so they could all be happier without me around and it felt like everything in my life was completely falling apart and I had no way to fix any of it anymore. I avoided people because what good would I be to anyone else if I couldn’t even take care of myself properly? And I started feeling angry at people for asking things of me because they should have known how bad I was doing and understood I wasn’t well…even though I was trying so hard to hide that very truth from everyone! LOL Ridiculous, right? Although, some people did know enough and I do feel like they should have considered what they were asking of me at least a little, but still, I didn’t speak up because saying no or turning people away who need me, has always been a weakness for me. I should have been brave enough and strong enough to speak up and I didn’t. Instead, I suffered for many year’s before finally getting better about taking better care of me instead of everyone else around me and ignoring myself and my own needs.

Almost five years now, I have been homebound and rarely leave my house. I have had about every test possible, seen every specialist relating to my symptoms, have tried every medication they have pushed my way, have tried chiropractors, physical therapy, and even got so desperate for relief that I tried sampling medical marijuana and the CBD oil too and that is so NOT like me because even though I’m a firm believer in “to each their own” and “it’s not my business or life to make decisions on”, I have always been personally against marijuana. And honestly, after sampling it, I still am. It didn’t help me in any way. All it did was scare me, make me tired, yet afraid to sleep for fear I wouldn’t wake back up again, and that was after only ONE hit! I did give it several chances before deciding it wasn’t right for me though. The CBD oil didn’t help either. But, I am very happy if those things help other people and I’m not judging. It’s just not right for me or my life. I have found what is right for me with Young Living Essential Oils and supplements.

I first got into Young Living in 2001 and tried several different things but could only consider myself a dabbler all those years, even though I believed in them and their effectiveness and made sure to always have things like Peppermint, Lavender, and Clove around my house to name a few. I didn’t really go all in until last year in October. I was so tired of being sick and wanted my life back and I had tried everything else and nothing worked. I even stopped taking ALL meds, including my thyroid medication, for over a year, trying to see if my body would heal itself…and in some ways, it did. Getting off thyroid meds was very bad though! I didn’t notice any ill effects but I gained over 40 pounds while off it and when I went in for my yearly checkup, blood tests showed my thyroid was in crisis mode, so I would not recommend that drastic experiment to anyone! Anyway, in desperation, after my sister and a friend mentioned oils to me, I remembered how well the one’s I had tried worked for my whole family and decided to try one more thing. I had been spending so much money on expensive medicines and over the counter medicines previously so I decided to put that extra money I was now saving, into one last ditch effort to get my health back. I would actually be spending less than I had been, so it wasn’t going to hurt financially to try.

I went back to my books and research on natural remedies and essential oils to figure out what to try first. The two things I decided on besides oils, were Sulfurzyme and Thyromin. I had read really good things about the Sulfurzyme and since I was still off my thyroid medication, I thought the Thyromin might help too. I didn’t know what to expect or if it would help, but I didn’t have much more to lose anymore. I was nearing the end of my rope. I got sick so easy and was perpetually exhausted and felt like I had the flu almost all the time. Good day’s were very rare for me and I was afraid to be around anyone else for fear of catching something new all the time. My kids always seemed to be bringing home new “munguses”, as I like to call them. So, taking something natural to help assist my thyroid would probably be beneficial and the Sulfurzyme should help with everything else…It’s supposed to be great for all autoimmune disorders and I have Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia, and kidney issues. So, I tried it, along with getting the Premium Starter kit with a diffuser and some extra oils I knew I wanted and liked and a few I wanted to try because of their possible benefits for my individual problems.

I only took one Sulfurzyme and one Thyromin a day and rubbed the oils I got on the bottom of my feet, daily. After three week’s of being on them, I felt almost like the old, healthy me again! I had energy again and my allergy season was suddenly almost nonexistent. Of course, it was not long after this that I found out my thyroid was in crisis mode and got back on thyroid meds, so I honestly don’t know if my thyroid would have healed itself or not? I had put on so much weight, I was desperate to lose it again so chose synthetic thyroid medicine to make sure I could get that aspect of my health back on track, but all else, I have went all in with the oils and supplements, and even use them for cleaning, health and beauty, so it’s been a whole lifestyle change.

A year later, I am a healthier me. I am still trying to regain all of my health and lose the weight I’ve gained, but I feel at least 80% better than I did just over a year ago. Maybe even 90%, but it depends on the day. I’m still struggling with some things, but I feel like I’m on the right path again. Instead of grabbing for prescription drugs or over the counter medicines, now I grab my oils or supplements. When my allergies act up or I have a cold or flu…like right now, I rub some Thieves, Immupower, Rosemary, Fennel, or another one of my choosing that is good for congestion or fever, and put it on and have almost instant relief! I no longer use Vick’s Vapor Rub…unless I add oil’s to it, I use one of my many oils that is good for whatever my symptoms are. A little bit goes a long way! I also diffuse regularly to help prevent illness. For the most part, I have went this entire year without getting sick and the few times I have, it’s been mild and brief. A year ago, any illness I had came on strong and hard and would knock me on my butt for weeks or month’s and I spent the majority of every year, being sick. I went from that to barely getting sick at all and having everything be mild when it does hit me. It’s hard to believe they all work so well, but they do. And every month, when I place my order, I try at least one new thing. Just like my educational and alphabetical posts about each oil and their benefits, I’m mostly going in alphabetical order in ordering new things too. I want to try it all and see what I like and don’t like and what I feel works and doesn’t, mostly for me, but also because my desire to help other’s is still there. I don’t feel like I can offer anyone much right now but this is something I can do, for anyone interested. Even if they buy elsewhere, I can still offer advice and guidance, based off of my own experiences and then I am still somehow useful in this world. I feel like this is a huge opportunity for me to help other’s and not just an opportunity to get back to full health myself, so if I talk oils too much, I am sorry. If I don’t talk much at all, know I might be having day’s where I’m just struggling with my health or own life for a bit. I am taking things day by day and working hard on myself quietly, most of the time. I can’t offer much of myself right now but if you do have questions or need help, don’t be afraid to ask! I may take a few days to answer, but I’ll get to it. A year later, I’m surprisingly still here and improving my health a little every day! I owe it to Young Living! And my Native American roots which pulled me into holistic answers. I cannot believe how much better I am today, than how I felt last year around this time and too long before that! I am still a little angry it took me so long to try this because I wasted so many years and too much money on things that didn’t help. Better late than never though! 🙂