I cannot take being this tired but they can't find anything 'wrong' with me! What do I do?
It’s an excruciating moment when you know something’s not right in your body yet the doctor shares the reports from your blood work, and let’s you know that everything looks great.
“You’re just tired because you run after 4 kids all day.”
How do you like that diagnosis? It’s one I received 21 years ago from a neurologist. And I must admit, I winced when I heard it then, and I still do today.
At that time in my life, I only had 4 boys between the ages of 6 and 16. Maybe she was right. But somehow, this thought didn’t register as true in my gut. I felt and still believe, she only did what she was trained to do which is report on the the diagnostics.
This is my opinion which is based on personal work and life experiences.It’s not an easy thought given I have been under the impression that doctors are scientists?
And it seems to be the case! So, what happened to critical thinking and the scientific method?
Regardless of her beliefs, my body was still having a problem. So it dawned on me: what happened to testing her theory?
I introduce this question because it’s not an unfamiliar experience. However, the explanations for why a person is chronically fatigued differs depending on their individual circumstances.
Many people have kids. Was this doctor suggesting that they all live with chronic fatigue or was it she thought I was being naive and reluctant in accepting the responsibilities and lifestyle of being a parent? It took me a while to shake this incredibly odd diagnosis.
Truth be told, in the grand scheme of things, none of it mattered. I was tired of being tired, and the last thing I wanted was for my kids to remember me as the mom that always needed to nap and rest. So, I decided on what I did want and set out to change the course of my story.
What did I do?
I stopped letting fatigue and discomfort dictate my actions. By actually saying, “I will not let this interfere with what I want to do!”, I found it easier and easier to be more physically active.
I opted for a raw food diet
I adapted the way I was using essential oils to match my body’s needs, not replicate a book or website suggestion
I began looking at the way I judged myself, my body and life’s circumstances and shifted from saying something was ‘right, wrong, good or bad’ to identifying it as something that either ‘worked or didn’t’ This little shift took a tremendous amount of pressure off.
Speaking of pressure, I began building pauses into my day … mental pauses to be exact in order to experience a moment of peace and clarity
I researched health and medicine and created a course called “Breaking the Cycle of Disease Management’ (which I’m happy to gift you .. shoot me an email request for the link) and as I completed that project, I rolled into researching stress only to discover an identified system that is essentially ON 24/7 given the current emotional and environmental state of our world
Once I discovered the stress system, the game completely changed for me.
The question that inspired this post isn’t a ‘one and only’. I’ve been asked this question more times than I care to count. Yet this time, I was asked for peer reviewed studies that supported my explanation .. not because she didn’t believe me. On the contrary, she believed my explanation one hundred percent. She simply wanted to present my discoveries to her doctor.
As far as what I told her:
She has been living with autoimmune like symptoms for years.
allergies
rashes and hives
fatigue
depression
difficulty sleeping
weight fluctuations
food sensitivities
blood sugar issues
low grade pain
And yet, her blood work comes back within normal limits every time with the exception of her hemoglobin levels which show slightly low.
Because of the symptoms that she’s lived with consistently for years, I lean towards high histamine which is a neurotransmitter released from both mast cells and macrophages. Did someone mention autoimmune? These cells are produced by the immune system.
As the level of macrophages increases, the body produces a recently identified hormone called hepcidin. The role of this hormone is to regulate the release of iron from the liver. However, when the body stimulates the release of hepcidin, the release of iron is halted. Not to mention it has other functions that are affected by the stress system and other hormones which makes every body a unique expression to stressors.
Why does the release of hepcidin block the release of iron? To protect your iron stores from being scavenged by microbes. Now how amazing is that?
As the story goes with stress, and the release of macrophages, it indicates the body is triggered by some type of threat. However, it’s not meant to be activated 24/7. So, it stands to reason that nonstop systemic stress and the ceaseless storage of iron robs you of energy … also known as chronic fatigue.
Then again, this is only one explanation. As I began to expand my research for you into hepcidin, iron, anemia (bone marrow), calcium which requires vitamin D to facilitate its transport into the cells, oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction and glycolysis , ferritin, and finally activin, I threw my hands in the air feeling terribly cross-eyed and overwhelmed!
I struggled to wrap my head around how to make a difference with this post without confusing the hell out of you. And then it hit me. THIS is why conventional medicine costs so much money, yet, produces very few results in the area of degenerative disorders. They are constantly chasing the veritable rabbit. So, I stepped away until it hit me.
Scientists are trying to pinpoint the exact cause, in this case, of chronic fatigue. Yet, when you examine the bigger picture, there is a common denominator that no one is picking up on. No matter what chemical they identify as the culprit, it all comes back to one thing … the hormonal system.
Hepcidin is a hormone, Activin is a hormone. Bone marrow is part of the endocrine / hormonal system. Oxidative stress is pro-inlfammatory hormones, Vitamin D is a hormone that requires a functional receptor to be transported into the cells along with calcium. (as a side note, you and I both have a vitamin D receptor which is part of the epigenome and is easily altered when the stress response is activated prohibiting cellular uptake). Glycolysis is how the body produces cellular energy and just like vitamin D, is altered when the stress response is activated. And finally, ferritin is a protein that is regulated by the thyroid hormone, another source of energy. Not to mention, when the adrenals have been going full board 24/7, they default to the thyroid which is why we’re seeing an increase in thyroid issues.
As you can see, no matter how you look at it, low iron and / or chronic fatigue is due to a distressed body and an imbalance in the hormonal system. The good news is, integrating essential oils on a daily basis, helps with reducing inflammation and restoring balance, and even more so as you shift your mindset from the conventional model of regulating specific chemicals to one of trust and sourcing the entire system with remedies that empower its ability to heal naturally.
And now that I’ve said this, your essential oil options are going to vary depending from my suggestions for this person due to the issues your body is managing. Maybe you have similar symptoms as the ones listed above, although with unique differences. Then again, maybe nothing is the same. For this reason alone, it is unethical for me to suggest certain essential oils.
And then there’s the ever important question about whether or not you take medications. Drug injury is real and possible when mixing meds with natural remedies.
With this said, there are a number of essential oils that have a wide influence on the hormonal system, meaning they do not affect any specific chemical .. which is better for you in the long run. This isn’t to say, they can’t and don’t relieve your symptoms .. they absolutely do. The goal of revolutionary aromatherapy is to help you find immediate relief while setting the body up to be remarkably healthy for the rest of your life!
A list of essential oils that help the body round out hormonal responses:
moroccan chamomile
ylang ylang
elemi
myrrh
galbanum
copaiba
blue yarrow
cypress
vetiver
turmeric
cedarwood texas
benzoin
There are additional ideas, yet there again, the reactions in your body ultimately determine your selections.
With this in mind, I offer several ways for you to work with me.
1:1 coaching for 3 to 6 months
Aromatherapy: Beyond Bed and Bath
group coaching
BUT before you jump into any one of those, unless you’re ready now in which case you can email me to get started … OR sign up for a free discovery call by clicking on the second link to determine if I’m the coach and guide for you!
However, before you go, I have one final fact I’d like to share with you.
After that disastrous doctor’s appointment 4 years earlier, I successfully restored my energy levels and welcomed more kids into my family through adoption as well as by default when several kids from the neighborhood moved in due to a shitty life at home which brought the adolescent head count to 10!
You’re exhausting yourself by focusing on ‘the illusive rabbit’. Learn how to restore your energy and vitality with actions that align with patience and peace not force or control. THIS is how you harness your light and become your healthiest self yet!