I went to see my first Naturopath and was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (this is when your immune system attacks your thyroid gland thinking it is a foreign object).  This still didn’t explain all of my symptoms. It didn’t explain why my sinuses were getting worse and I was dependent on Otrivin to live, or why I had tiny white spots showing up on my skin (they showed the most when I would become tanned as the spots would remain white), or why I was still seriously struggling with chronic and extreme fatigue plus many other symptoms. I survived by drinking coffee all day long from morning till evening.

 

Fortunately, I was able to move into an apartment my parents had in their house and got help from them with transportation and meals.   I was unable to prepare the healthy meals & snacks I needed. I needed help as I wasn’t living.  I went to my second functional doctor who was great at helping my thyroid gland, however he prescribed medication for my adrenals that caused symptoms of Cushing’s disease (when cortisol is too high and remains high).  When I figured this out I started to ween myself off which caused symptoms of Addisons disease (when your cortisol levels drop too low and remain low).  My blood pressure dropped and I started having what I affectionately called inner waves mixed with a weird dizziness. For a year and a half it was like I was walking on floating docks almost all the time. This kind of turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it led my new naturopath to check for things that can affect both the endocrine system and nervous system. That’s when we discovered that I had MARcONS in my sinuses (Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus). This realization brought up the memory of a thermography scan I’d had done on my body that showed inflammation in my sinuses. That was an ah-hah moment. Turns out that MARcONS (which science has thus shown comes in as a co-infection with either an auto-immune disease, Lyme disease, and/or a chronic mold infection) suppresses the endocrine system which both the thyroid gland and adrenal glands are a part of. It also lowers MSH levels (Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone) which leads to sleep problems by lowering melatonin levels. It creates a reduction in anti-diuretic hormone which causes frequent urination and also makes you thirstier.  This was another ah-hah moment as I was always having to pee. Also, MARcONS can decrease melanin which is what gives your skin colour and lets you get tanned to protect the skin from the sun. Yup, the tiny white spots on my skin also finally had an answer. We attempted to get rid of the MARcONS but it didn’t work. Even though I did have an auto immune disease, my naturopath decided to test for mold to rule it out because I had lived in three apartments that had had water damage happen while I was living in them. One of which had black mold that I tried to battle with bleach. I did not know then that it only takes 48 hours for someone with a weak link in their immune system towards mold to become infected, that women tend to be more prone to becoming infected with chronic mold issues and that dried up mold can be dangerous because it doesn’t die but becomes dormant until it comes into contact with a moist, warm environment like the body. 

 

It was so frustrating, I just wanted my life back. I felt so useless, a burden on my parents and the rest of the world. I wanted to be able to help myself somehow. I didn’t realize I was, just by not giving up on  getting to the root of my health issues. I had plenty of time to think, when my head was clear. I dreamed of finding a way that would help me to make fresh healthy foods on my own. Something like a mix that was easy enough to do by myself but nothing on the market contained the top quality, organic, whole foods that could help my body heal. The challenge I came across often with other dry food mixes were that they were often stale and sometimes rancid. This means the nutrients are oxidizing, fats are turning rancid & you're left feeding your body free-radicals that it has to try to clean up. I also noticed the great majority of baking mixes contained a lot of low fibre flours and a lot of sugar in various forms. The flours they contained were higher on the glycemic index like white rice flour, sweet rice flour, potato flour and tapioca flour. These can spike your blood sugar & provide little in the form of nutrients or fibre. I knew I couldn't be alone in the world. Others who suffer health issues &/or food sensitivities must feel frustrated too with the lack of available healing foods to help make life easier, especially when it's hard enough to help yourself when you're exhausted or sick. In my frustration I dreamt of starting Yummy Goodness.  I became excited for the day when I could help others to make fresh, healthy, organic, whole foods that are high in fibre, nutritious, delicious and easy to make at home. And thus, Yummy Goodness was born!

 

However, it was very slow to become a reality as I was still dealing with the fatigue and the brain fog and the poor sleep quality. Then a new symptom started, nausea. I was having a hard time eating anything. As a result I started losing weight instead of continually gaining weight but not in a healthy way. Thanks to my training, I understand the hormone Leptin (basically the bodies long term fat storage hormone).  When leptin levels rise we create a new higher set point of fat storage in the body which makes it difficult to drop our weight down below this new set point. For a couple of years I was watching it on my lab work constantly go up as my weight went up even though I eat fairly clean, healthy and organic. Finally my mold test came back and it was positive. I had three different types of mold out of all the types that the lab tested for. One was so high my naturopath hadn’t seen levels that high before. Guess what mold does to leptin levels when you have a chronic infection for years?  It raises them. Ah-hah! 

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I’d like to say that I have removed all the mold and I’m in optimal health but I hope to say that soon. My brain fog has started to diminish since starting my anti-fungal protocol. My sleep has improved, I even have some nights where I don’t wake up in the night at all. Plus, I have more energy to focus on my passion, Yummy Goodness, and getting it out to others who need that extra love and support along their healing journey. I hope that my story helps others out there to not give up on their health and to keep digging to get to their root cause(s). Feeling better is possible and you are worth it!