Navigating chronic illness can be extremely frustrating, time-consuming, and generally a big PIA. 

Finding a doctor that is a good fit, waiting for the appointment, the previsit anxiety. Afterward, fighting with insurance and the pharmacy over medication coverage, and then playing go-between trying to get the prior authorizations approved. Paying for ALL of the copays after you hit your high deductible and then adding in all the other out-of-pocket costs.

The list is endless and a huge headache.

Getting care when you are suffering should be easy. It should be empathetic or at a minimum respectful.  It should be a healing experience.

One of my missions in life is to help you better communicate with your healthcare team.

Let's dive into Part 5 the 5 secrets that your immunologist may not quite have the time to talk to you about during your office visit.

Click here to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 if you missed them.

So let's recap the five things your immunologist will want you to know.

Number one, immunology is not as easy as some may make it out to be and some people who call themselves immunology experts may not really know what they don't know.

Number two, your history is vitally important. As in the timing pattern, types of symptoms you're experiencing are more important than your test results.

Number three, your immune system may be misbehaving but may not meet criteria for a specific condition... yet. Keep a good journal of symptoms, and keep touching base over time with your care team. Most important, don't get discouraged (easier said than done). We are here to partner with you and to help you find an improved quality of life- however that may look for you and what your goals are.

Number four, inflammation is like a fire.

Number five, we have more power than we realize in managing our health through lifestyle.

Would you believe that 80% of our health is estimated to be based in our daily habits, and only about 20% is really determined by our genetics?

So how is this the case?

What we're learning is that our daily habits, what we're eating, different substances we're exposed to, our sleep, and our microbiome infections. All of those things have the power to turn on and turn off our genetic code.

Even though we may have particular things written in our code that predispose us to conditions, we have some element of power in turning the expression of those on and off. And interestingly, what we're finding out is that some of those on and off switches may take place in generations prior to us and are passed down to us from our parents.

For instance, there was a study done on people who were starving during World War II in the Netherlands.

There was a population of people that were barricaded off. They had no food during a significant period of time.

During World War II, they were living off of tulip bulbs, which are not terribly nutritious, and actually toxic in larger amounts if ingested.

Some of these women were pregnant and what they found were that children born to these women, who were in these really terrible circumstances during World War II, were small babies. They were born smaller than expected because their moms were starving. That's not terribly surprising.

But as these individuals grew up, they were more prone to being overweight or obese. More prone to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes, all of these different switches that were signifying the body was in a starvation mode.

Trying to hold on to fat and calories to survive, were turned on in the offspring of these women, who were exposed to these conditions, while the baby was in utero.

We're learning more and more about the power of our habits in our health, and so what I would encourage you to do is slowly but surely work on making some improvements to your daily habits to help support your health and healing. I aim for 1% improvements every day.. some days it happens...others it doesn't.

Keep in mind we cannot (and should not) control everything-- these are circumstances in life that just happen. 

I am a big proponent of what can you add, as opposed to what can you take away in particular as it applies to nutrition and food. 

Because in those circumstances, if we're adding things that are going to add great nutrition, add great fiber and phytonutrients are aka nutrients from plants to our diet, that's going to just by the nature of eating more of those things decrease some of the things that are less advantageous as a result.

Some other ways we can work on improving our habits are through our neuroscience or using our brain. We can break through self-sabotaging behaviors. Break out of those loops that we have. That we keep getting caught up on negative thoughts, creating negative feelings, creating negative action, creating negative results.  When you break through those cycles and break out of that loop, that is where the real power for lasting sustainable change can occur. This happens by being aware and mindful of what you're doing.

That's the first step just really being aware of what some of those 60,000 thoughts we have in our brain every day are when you were able to take a moment, be mindful of those thoughts. Be curious about them. You get to know yourself better. And what I would encourage you to do is, to come at that process with curiosity and love in your heart.

Because really, the whole purpose of that exercise is to get to know and love yourself on this deep, intimate level. When you come at life, and at yourself from that deep knowing and loving, you make decisions that are inherently better for your health and healing. When you can approach this exercise with nonjudgment, acceptance of where you are, and acceptance of where you want to go, it's incredibly powerful.

So, we have tackled the five things you're immunologist wants you to know and I want you as your take-home message to really start thinking about how you can take a proactive approach to your health and healing.

If you are ready to start redefining success with Sjogren's or however your immune system is misbehaving on your terms.
My 60-day program will take you from foggy and fatigued to clear and confident.
And if you want to learn more about what that looks like and or think about working with me, you can visit www.successwithsjogrens.com for more information.

Would you like to work on Nourishing Your Body & Mind? 

Join our Master Class Webinar this upcoming June 1st & 2nd.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT HERE!