May this testimony serve you and give you hope as it did for me. This is my life changing experience and I’m forever grateful for my journey.
I’m currently 24 years old and I’ve suffered from acne since I was 11 years old. There is a stigma around acne and that it is “𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥” for adolescents and young adults to experience this. Everyone including my parents told me this and to not worry because it would go away once I’m an adult. Here I am as an adult and did they go away? 𝐍𝐨.
Let’s back track a few years to see what was affecting my body and causing this bacteria and inflammation of my skin in addition all my other health concerns.
I’ve always had a poor immune system and since my immune system was weak, it did not effectively protect my body from infections and diseases so at the age of 15 y/o I contracted infectious mononucleosis.
Epstein-Barr virus (HHV) in the herpesvirus family best known as the cause of infectious mononucleosis.
I would miss a lot of days from school and was ordered bed rest for weeks. I had a very depressing and anxious teenage life due to my health problems and trauma. I was always sick and in my innocent naive mind, I thought I was dying.
July 10, 2017, I was diagnosed with Herpes Simplex virus type 1.
Did you know most people naturally acquire HSV-1 by the age one or two and carry the virus with them for the rest of their lives even if it doesn’t manifest symptoms.
The herpes virus has no cure. It is just “maintained” with medication so outbreaks don’t flare and stops the virus from spreading. I was given Acyclovir tablets, which is a class of antiviral medication and I was told to take 2 for the rest of my life. I was 20 years old. Do you to know the common side affects of this antiviral medication? Headaches, nausea, hair loss, diarrhea, and weakness.
Anxiety and depression. Where do I begin. When I was 13 years old, I was sexually assaulted. I was never the same again. I didn’t care about life anymore. I walked around in denial and was silently suffering. Rumors eventually went around. I was bullied in school for it because I didn’t cry everyday and I seemed “fine.” I rebelled and had anger management issues. I was broken and hurt inside but had a mask on.
A year later I got arrested for burglary. I was drinking and smoking at this point. I knew, did, and saw things a regular 14 year old girl shouldn’t. My parents didn’t know what to do with me, they didn’t know 90% of what I was living through. I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I got bullied even more, kids at my school would threaten me and it was a living hell.
Years later, my faith in God expanded tremendously. I tried therapy and that was the best decision. My therapist motivated me to get my life back. I unleashed all the pain I had for such a long time and began to address it. She wasn’t a fan of antidepressants nor anxiety medication and I had no health insurance, so we took the natural route keeping it simple with mindfulness practices, journaling, reading, meditating, which I appreciated.
I made the decision to get certified as a personal trainer because exercise made me feel fully alive, unstoppable, and healthy. I specialized on the human gut and was then introduced to the first Mental Wellness company that had the first natural gut-brain axis protocol.
My perspective on health was completely switched around. My view on our ecosystem(body), food, diets, exercise, sleep, stress, medication, mindset, relationships was exposed to so much raw scientific information and I began to naturally heal myself.
I started by rebooting my microbiome followed by the gut-brain axis protocol. I struggled with hormonal imbalances and my gut was completely out of whack so it reflected on my skin, which points back to the gut-skin axis. Now that my gut is being restored, my body is producing more anti-inflammatory molecules to fight skin conditions. I noticed my energy levels were increasing and I am less anxious.
I switched to a Mediterranean style diet, I exercise 5 times a week, worked on my personal development, made sure I was getting adequate rest, managed my stress, and removed anything toxic in my life that was not serving me.
My immune system works incredibly now. I am not constantly sick the way I used to. My menstrual cycles are now bearable including the cravings and bloat.
I no longer take acyclovir medication for my HSV1. Outbreaks are highly individual, but can be caused by illness, poor diet, stress, or other medications. Doctors recommend stress management, adequate rest, nutrition, and exercises to prevent outbreaks and that is exactly what I have been doing.
There are no band-aid approaches when it comes to health. Moral of my story is you have to get to the root of the problem and the gut is the 🔑 to it all. It takes time but is absolutely worth it! Let’s not normalize pain and vicious symptoms. This is your body giving you a warning that it needs attention. We now have natural solutions that can improve the quality of life that we live.
If you are reading this and you can relate to my story in any shape or form, please reach out and let’s connect. There is hope for you too.
