As you are well aware of now, I had a health crisis that started (unbeknownst to me) last fall. Many of my issues stemmed from a genetic disorder called MTHFR and I was unaware that I had it. It was this genetic disorder and our miscarriage last year that triggered a terrible response in my body. It made me into somebody I had never seen before. Memory loss, dizziness, weight gain, blackouts, the whole gamut. I didn’t know what was going on and the scariest part was that I thought I was dying because I felt so foreign. I was unrecognizable even to me.

It was that abnormality that was the catalyst that set me free from a season coming to an end. I just didn’t know it yet.

But, talk of the seasonality of ministry, work, and focus is for another day.

Let’s get to the nitty gritty of today’s topic…

Today on the blog, I want to share with you 5 of my favorite things I implemented that helped get me back to my old self… and really, an even better version of myself.

 NAT MUR 

This stuff was the rockstar in the very beginning of my treatments. Natrum muriaticum (Nat Mur) can be mistaken for common salt. It is a form of salt but it is a version in it’s truest, purest, unadulterated form. It’s even more pure than the popular “sea salt” which to many of us today is deemed the salt of all salts. It’s sourced from deep, deep, deep in the ocean.

My doctor’s first course of action was to work on the debilitating grief and depression I was walking through. This was the treatment for that. It was this remedy that helped me to mentally tackle everything else I needed to address. It lightened my mental load and allowed me to focus.

This was a short term treatment and thus only needed to use it for a short season.

CORTISOL MANAGER

Oh boy, this one is by far my favorite long term treatment. Being as high strung and stressed as I tend to be it was this aid that helped my cortisol levels to balance out each evening. I take these about 15 minutes before bed and awake the next day without any grogginess. It’s not a sleep aid. It’s simply allowing your stress hormone to regulate.

Naturally our bodies should be able to do this. But, at times, they just don’t. The burdens we are carrying are just too big. So, this helps to keep our hormones in balance.

Integrative Therapeutics – Cortisol Manager – Sleep Support with Stress Reducing Ingredients including Ashwagandha and L-Theanine – Vegan – NSF Certified for Sport – 90 Tablets

I started off taking 2 pills each night. At this time, I’m taking one. My goal is to soon take them only as needed such as during the height of a stressful season. My body has responded so well to these and everything else I’m doing that I can now fall asleep very easily (something I had a terrible time doing before).

THORNE PRENATAL VITAMINS

I had tried various prenatal brands over the years and none of them seemed right. Although, I did really like the New Chapter Prenatals because they could be taken on an empty stomach. But, after my MTHFR diagnosis, I learned that NONE of the ones I had ever tried were the right ones for my body. Who would have thought?!?! I mean, all prenatal vitamins are made the same right? Wrong!

Folic acid is a vital component at the beginning of every pregnancy that helps protect a growing fetus from neural tube defects, etc. So, every prenatal brand out there has some level of it in their recipe. Folic acid by the way is the synthetic version of folate. Another way to look at it – folate is God-made; folic acid is the man-made version. Make sense?

Thorne Research – Basic Prenatal – Folate Multivitamin for Pregnant and Lactating Women – 90 Capsules

The problem is that because of MTHFR my body doesn’t process folic acid. So for all of those years, I was taking prenatal vitamins and folic acid supplements that’s weren’t effective in their purpose… insert a face of irritation here.

So, my naturopath switched my specific brand to Thorne which contains actual folate and not the synthetic version.

B – VITAMINS

Ok, so our need for B-Vitamin is more well known. But, did you know that B-Vitamins aren’t all made the same, either?!? These guys also contain folic acid (which again, my body doesn’t use). However, there are a few brands out there that contain folate instead.

INNATE Response Formulas – CoEnzyme B Complex, Comprehensive Enzyme Profile, 60 Capsules

I’ve been using INNATE brand and had great success with it. Thankfully, I was already using this brand so my doc didn’t need to change that one. That news was a win! Woohoo!

NO ELECTRONICS BEFORE BED

Yep, you read that right. I had to learn to go to sleep without TV. If you know me at all, you know that I HAVE TO SLEEP WITH THE TV on. Each night, I’d set the sleep timer and off to sleep I went. Well, that had to change.

Funny story…

The week after I had my initial appointment with my naturopath, my family went on vacation to the Outer Banks. I had been working hard to implement all of my new regimens and cutting out lots of obligations. I was doing well.

I arrived to the vacation house heart all aglow with excitement for family time, sand in my toes, and time to disconnect with all the bad in my life.

And then it happened… I went into our assigned room to find NO TV…

My flesh immediately went into panic mode… literally.

The heart palpitations started, I was irritable, and somewhere in the emotional madness, I pulled Brooks aside and whispered, “Can we go to the Walmart and buy a small TV for the room. The cable hookups are already there. We just need the TV. Besides, we need a new TV for our bedroom at home anyways.”

Yep, those words came out of my mouth. And his response was, “No.”

God has a sense of humor and He’s definitely in the details. This whole “no tv at night” thing was the last thing on my list to really focus on and CONQUER.

But, I’d procrastinated about doing it. So, God took over. He wanted me well and able, too.

So, that week, I learned how to fall asleep with no TV. I can only give credit to the Lord for helping me to overcome that addiction-like habit. He shut the door to the temptation and I tell you the truth I had less of a hard time getting to sleep that week. GLORY BE TO HIM who is in the details.

Since then, I believe I’ve watched TV in bed only a handful of times. I noticed during each of those times that I ended up having to turn it off manually instead of waiting for the sleep timer. It’s truly a miracle.

Disclaimers:

Consult your physician before starting any new regimens and/or incorporating new supplements or the like into your diet. What was discussed above is specific to me and was advised to only me through my doctor.

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