I thought that it was going to be this way…for the rest of my life.
My head hurt. My feet hurt. My face had a puzzling rash that was revolting and embarrassing. My 20/20 vision was blurred. My hair was thinning. My fingernails were increasingly brittle. My set weight soared to 40 pounds in just two years.
My physicians informed me that I had incurable symptoms and would most likely go through the rest of my life in the company of chronic fatigue, hammering migraine headaches, and baffling inflammation.
The distended abdomen, diarrhea, flatulence, and malodorous stools were a part of the everyday for me. I relentlessly mapped out the position of a bathroom from my proximity.
I was fat. Ugly. Slopping-looking. Run-down. Pale-complected. Forgetful. Moody. And, a miserable b_ _ ch.
Anxiety consumed me. I was a head case who experienced intense nervousness while driving to work and edginess while standing in line to pay for merchandise. I dreaded the next panic attack that would sometimes hurl me into the emergency room of a hospital.
I cried for no reason.
I felt faint, saw yellow spots, and steered clear of people that I had known for decades. I habitually exploded. My moods were becoming increasingly unstable.
I wanted a divorce. I hated my job. Everyone around me annoyed me. The color red pissed me off. Bright lights bothered me. I felt personally violated when someone near me wore strong cologne or perfume.
And so, the migraines, panic attacks, and inflammation raged on. My head felt like an expanding balloon. I was an outsider who was ambushed by the inside of my body. I did not recognize who I was – physically, aesthetically, psychologically, or academically. I was exhausted. I raced home from work everyday to stuff myself with pasta, cookies, ice cream, and bread. I ate sugar from the bowl. I always had hard candy in my pocket and granola bars in my purse. A few times per week, I would secretly stop at the store and buy potato chips, soft pretzels, and hoagies. I would tear into the food before I got home so that my husband would not know that I had just eaten a heap of food. I would devour my dinner with my husband and slip back for more. My belly would get big all over again, and I would have to change into my “big-girl” sweatpants for the remainder of the day. I would go to bed soon after eating and pull the covers over my head to erase the world.
I knew that something was seriously wrong but no medical professional would take the time to acutely listen to me. My long list of symptoms did not fit into a conventional paradigm of a 5-8 minute doctor’s visit. I was perceived as a complainer, a downer, and a hypochondriac.
Over the course of two decades, I desperately continued to seek out the acumen and conjecture of licensed medical professionals including a neurologist, gynecologist, ophthalmologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, dentist, hematologist, nutritionist, head and spine specialist, surgeon, allergist, family doctor, chiropractor, acupuncturist, yoga instructor, podiatrist, and nerve specialist. Some doctors advised me to take NSAIDS, Topamax, and birth control pills for the inflammation; others told me to eat white bread and applesauce because I might be getting a “bug”, and those foods would settle my stomach. The yoga instructor pushed vegetarianism, and the neurologist told me that I had a Type A personality that triggered the migraines.
I was continually informed that my symptoms were the manifestations of my thoughts and weaknesses of my character- my symptoms were allegedly assembled in my head and reinforced by the fly-by-night medical information posted on the Internet. The doctors continued to advise me that I was fine because my blood and urine tests, MRI’s, nerve tests, cardiac stress tests, DEXA scans, X-rays, and ultra sounds were normal. It was all in my head.
I was sent to a psychologist. I learned how to breathe from the diaphragm and apply the techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy.
I finally concluded, well, this is what it is like to get old. The body wears out. Intellect and energy decline. Everyone eventually winds up wearing glasses, getting fat, becoming a whiner, living a sedentary life, and drooling.
Yup, I drooled uncontrollably from the sides of my mouth – especially when I was sleeping.
Did I tell you that I was 39 years old at the time when my symptoms were on the rise?
Did I tell you that I was 200 pounds on a 5’7” female frame?
Did I tell you that I was an Honor’s Student throughout grade school, high school, college, and graduate school?
I tried to reduce the fatigue by withdrawing from the negotiable parts of my life. I dropped out of all of my graduate classes, hobbies, and relationships with family and friends. The aesthetics of my home deteriorated, and the neighbors complained.
I stopped doing all of these favorite things because all I wanted to do was to go home, withdraw from the world, eat lots of sweets, and sleep.
I continued to routinely eat lots of pasta, ice cream, candy, cakes, pies, and cookies because these foods provided a temporary sense of elation and short-term comfort.
One day, I was listening to a radio show and heard an interview involving Dr. Maulfair. I learned that he esteemed holistic medical practices and sensed that he challenged much of the conventional wisdom of the day. I listened attentively. I became excited. I wanted to meet this doctor. I contacted his office the next day.
I have been a patient of Dr. Maulfair for exactly one year. This past year has been quite a pivotal one in the area of healing.
In one year, Dr. Maulfair has helped me to get my health back.
Dear Dr. Maulfair,
Thank you for taking the time to listen to the compendium of my symptoms without using sarcasm or scorn.
Thank you for your wisdom to order the right tests to give me the opportunity to learn that the food including the pasta, cakes, cookies, ice cream, and bread I was eating was addictive and making me sick, tired, toxic, bloated, and inflamed.
Thank you for not persuading me to think that my symptoms were invented.
Thank you for giving me hope about my life.
And, thank you for helping to put the life back into my days and days back into my life.
In two uncomplicated appointments, Dr. Maulfair informed me that I have a leaky gut, candida albicans, and multiple food sensitivities. I already knew that I had celiac disease but I did not know that I was also a carbohydrate -addict who must completely avoid sugar, dairy, eggs, soy, gluten, legumes, grains, most fruits, and starchy vegetables.
As a layperson, I now understand that the leaky gut led to my autoimmune disorder called celiac disease.
The above-named foods are irritants to my body and deteriorate the mucous membranes. As result of a lifetime of consuming these gut-irritating foods, my gut is excessively porous and the damaged villi of the small intestines now struggle to absorb nutrients.
This lifetime of nutrient deficiency leads to anxiety, depression, and mood disorders in some people with leaky guts. As my undiagnosed, damaged gut continued to break down, whole proteins passed through the epithelial lining, crossed the blood-brain barrier, and created an immune response. As this was happening, the production of serotonin in the gut was further compromised, and I could no longer deal with the routine tasks of driving, shopping, or socializing. I cried excessively and without just cause because of the compromised production of serotonin in my gut.
I was fat because my body was starving for nutrients in spite of the fact that I was overweight and shoveled huge amounts of carbohydrates in my body every 60-90 minutes.
I was moody because I had toxins leaking from the gut and pouring into the bloodstream that even reached the brain.
I was exhausted because of the two decades of a wrong diagnosis that led to malabsorption including anemia. Living with chronic diarrhea had resulted in the dangerous depletion of vitamins and minerals.
I was losing hair, experiencing brittle nails, and noticing skin rashes because of dysbiosis. Abnormal bacterial overgrowth occurs and contributes to systemic inflammation.
Dr. Maulfair informed me that all of these symptoms would improve with changes to my diet, supplementation, IV therapies, and exercise.
Dr. Maulfair communicated a logical plan that I have thoroughly pursued since July 2011.
Some people may think that Dr. Maulfair’s ideas centering on the shifting of nutrition, supplementation, and IV therapies are a rough buy-in. To me, these changes are a gift, so I do not dare to complain.
As a result of experiencing improved health,
I love me.
I love my husband.
I love my family and friends.
I love living in my aesthetically pleasing home that makes the neighbors jealous.
I love my closet because I have lost 40 pounds, and I must buy attractive new clothes because I wear a Size 4/6 instead of a Size 16/18.
I love driving my beautiful car.
I love standing in the long lines at the stores.
I love my job.
I love taking a whole bunch of really cool classes after work.
I love my made-over pantry, which consists of grass-fed meat, wild-caught fish, antibiotic-free poultry, sea vegetables, and non-starchy vegetables.
I love that I no longer have to wear cosmetics to conceal my embarrassing skin rash.
I love how my head no longer explodes with inflammation, but now explodes with a plethora of creative ideas.
Dr. Maulfair has told me that all of the parts of my body are related.
Dr. Maulfair helps me to understand that my body is a multifaceted ecosystem whereby all of the parts are related. These parts are not something that should be divided into separate parts per the platitudes, politics, and pedigrees of the conventional wisdom in a doctrinaire system.
Dr. Maulfair continues to guide me back to health.
Dr. Maulfair, thank you.
IF/November 2011
