For most, a wellness journey isn’t a straight, linear path. There are often highs and lows, peaks and valleys, and forks in the road. My journey has been no different. Struggling with infertility led me to the discovery I had Celiac Disease and changed the trajectory of my life.
When I was young, I had horrible allergies, and eczema, and was always tired and needed a lot of sleep. My doctors said it was because I had allergies so my body was always fighting and healing itself.
In my mid-twenties, I was diagnosed with Iritis, inflammation of the Iris, the colored ring around the eye’s pupil. It was another signal from my body that things were out of balance. It would get so bad that sometimes one flare-up would last over six months and take multiple rounds of steroid eye drops in combination with oral steroids to get it under control. At the time, my eye doctors would tell me it was just how my body was expressing stress. I struggled with chronic Iritis for over a decade.
After getting married in 2011, we started trying to get pregnant and it just wasn’t happening for us. Because I was already 35, after six months of intentionally trying to get pregnant that wasn’t working, I went to my doctor for testing. My OB did blood work and my thyroid was a little “off” so she sent me to my primary care physician for additional testing to see if I needed thyroid medication. When I saw my PCP for a physical, my blood work all came back normal, including my thyroid. I asked if everything was normal, why did I have chronic bloating, digestion issues, extreme fatigue, brain fog, difficulty getting going during the day (I was SO tired in the morning and didn’t feel like myself for hours into the day), chronic iritis, acne, joint pain/swelling, and infertility? My doctor said, “let me test you for Celiac Disease”. Sure enough, it came back positive.
The nurse from the practice called to tell me I tested positive for Celiac Disease and that I should adopt a gluten-free diet. I said, “that’s it?” I wondered if I needed to see a specialist or if there was anything else I needed to know to help my body heal. But she said no, a gluten-free diet was the treatment. There was no discussion about what it meant to have an autoimmune disease or how to heal my gut after who knows how many years or decades of undiagnosed Celiac Disease. This was the first time I decided to trust my gut and take my health into my own hands. I went ahead and made an appointment with a GI specialist (Gastroenterologist). Good thing I did because I learned the first step to diagnosing Celiac Disease was the blood test (which I did with my PCP), but the second step for diagnosis was a biopsy of the intestine via endoscopy. Had I adopted a gluten-free diet as my PCP recommended without getting the biopsy, I may not have had an official diagnosis since you have to be consuming gluten to be accurately diagnosed.
After my endoscopy, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in March 2012 and adopted a gluten-free diet. I was actually relieved to have a diagnosis so I knew how to treat it. Feeling awful had become my norm for so long that I was excited to see how things would turn around for me. I was also trying to get pregnant, so I thought I would adopt a gluten-free diet, my body would heal, and I would get pregnant. That didn’t happen, at least not for a few more years. While many of my symptoms did go away or lessen with a gluten-free diet, such as the bloating and some digestion issues I struggled with for years, most of my other symptoms persisted. Because I was now in my late thirties and desperately wanted to get pregnant, I began learning everything I could about autoimmune disease and inflammation so I could help calm my immune system and increase the likelihood I could get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy.
I started going to acupuncture in September 2012 because I learned it could help with infertility. That was my main motivation at the time. Not that my overall health wasn’t important to me, but I really wanted to get pregnant and I knew my biological clock was ticking, and unfortunately, time was not on my side.
My acupuncturist helped me to learn more about leaky gut (AKA intestinal permeability) and how my diet and lifestyle choices affect my immune system, and autoimmune and inflammation symptoms. In an effort to heal my leaky gut, in addition to gluten, I began to avoid soy, oats, eggs, and sugar. Some symptoms went away, but many of them persisted, including the fact that I still wasn’t getting pregnant. My incredible acupuncturist was also doing a lot of research on my behalf trying to get to the bottom of how I could heal my body and asked me if I had heard of the Paleo diet. I began to research the Paleo diet and came across the Autoimmune Protocol.
The Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) uses diet and lifestyle to regulate the immune system, heal the gut, and give the body an opportunity to heal. Following AIP gives us a way to address inflammation in the body and calm the immune system by avoiding foods known to cause irritation to the gut, replacing them with nutrient-dense foods. AIP works by addressing hormone regulation, nutrient density, gut health, and immune system regulation. The first phase is to eliminate foods that stimulate the immune system for a time to allow the gut to heal and our symptoms to subside, and eventually begin the reintroduction period where we add foods back in and watch how our body reacts to them.
There isn’t a one size fits all type of diet that is going to work for everyone. Following AIP allows us to create a healing diet customized to our unique body because we discover the foods our body negatively reacts to. AIP doesn’t only focus on diet changes for healing and reducing inflammation.
Dietary changes alone are not effective; lifestyle factors are just as important.
Everyone approaches making changes differently, often influenced by many factors. Because I was still struggling with infertility and was now pushing closer to 40, I was motivated to do whatever I could to heal my body so I could get pregnant.
I decided to give the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) a try and didn’t look back. My autoimmune symptoms began to subside and the lab work done by my Reproductive Endocrinologist was improving.
I not only made diet changes, I learned how important lifestyle choices and self-care was in treating and managing autoimmune symptoms.
I starting to implement lifestyle changes such as prioritizing quality, restorative sleep, practicing self-care, focusing on my connection and relationship with others, reducing my toxic burden by switching to safer household cleaning products, household items, and safer skincare and beauty products, and I continued to go to acupuncture once a week.
One of the great gifts of infertility for me was that it really helped motivate me to learn how to take care of myself. I had to learn how to heal my gut and the chronic inflammation I had been experiencing for so long so I could give my body a chance to heal and have a fighting chance at getting pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy. I learned the role lifestyle choices played in managing chronic inflammation and autoimmune conditions. It wasn’t all about the food I was eating, stress management, getting quality, restorative sleep, practicing gratitude, connecting with others, laughing, and so much more also had an impact on my health. Had I not struggled with infertility, I would not be where I am today on my health journey.
After following AIP and implementing lifestyle changes, I began to feel better. After several months, I felt better than I had in decades. The biggest surprise and blessing was after four years of trying to get pregnant and with the help of modern medicine, we had a positive pregnancy test! We couldn’t believe it!
Now, I have learned to listen to my body and respond to its needs. I have been able to reintroduce many things restricted on the AIP to create a customized healing plan for my body. I prioritize lifestyle choices that keep my inflammation symptoms at bay.
Throughout my journey I had to do a lot of research on my own. There was a lot of trial and error to see what worked best for my body. My hope is that I can use my experience and education to help you.
Navigating through autoimmune diseases can be tricky, overwhelming, complex, and empowering. I started Melanie Snyder Wellness to share what I have learned along my journey to fertility and continue to discover today to equip people with the skills and tools needed to become their own advocates and take charge of their health. My health coaching practice, website, mailing list, and blog are designed to help people cut through the overwhelm, reconnect to their bodies, and restore balance through nutrition and lifestyle choices to achieve and maintain optimal health throughout their lifetime. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover – join our community here!
