You know your body better than anyone else, so advocate for it.

The Invisible Disease

Over the course of several years, I would periodically experience symptoms such as: tiredness, weakness, fever, brain fog, I couldn't concentrate, etc. Although I kept mentioning it to my family doctor he kept brushing it off and blaming it on the anxiety disorder.

I knew something wasn't right with me, so I kept bringing it up at every occasion I would get. I felt ignored, I felt as though no matter what I said, I wasn't being heard and to be quite honest I even started questioning myself and wondering if maybe I was wrong, maybe my doctor was right, maybe it really was just caused by the anxiety.

As time went by I started having more symptoms which my doctor couldn't explain. I even started getting nasty migraine which I had never experienced before and I could sleep for a crazy long amount of hours, even days and remain totally drained.

Thankfully, my mother in law told me that her doctor was accepting new patients so I called his office to see if he could see me. He took my case. He sent me for a series of tests and he even referred me to a neurologist.

It was so nice to be heard. I didn't know if he would figure out what was happening to me, but at least I knew he wasn't brushing it off.

A few weeks later, the neurologist revealed to me that I suffer from an autoimmune disease. I didn't know what it ment, but there was finally a name associated with what I was experiencing.

Once the doctor was able to determine what was happening to me, he explained the best he could, in terms I would understand, what an autoimmune disease was.

He actually told me that there are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases such as: Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's disease, etc.

Each autoimmune diseases have one thing in common, which is : the body’s natural defense system can’t tell the difference between your own cells and foreign cells, causing the body to mistakenly attack normal cells.

Another common thing about autoimmune disease is that there are phases of flare ups which means your symptoms may get severe for a while.

Symptoms such as: anxiety, depression, exhaustion, foggy brain, poor concentration, difficulty sleeping or sleeping a lot, weakness, recurrent fever for no apparent reason, joint pain, migraines, swollen glands, migraines, etc

Some people who suffer from an autoimmune disease have to be taken care of by a Rheumatologist, others by an Endocrinologistand people like me see a Neurologist, others may see a Nephrologist, etc.

My doctor said “science didn't know for sure what causes autoimmune disease and that there is no cure for it. But there are treatments.” which can help me manage the symptoms.

I asked him if there was anything I could do to help myself? His response was: “Just take care of yourself, eat healthy, rest properly, physical exercise but don't over do it, reduce stress and meditate.”

Ever since I was officially diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, I feel empowered, because whenever I go through flare ups, I am able to remain calm, knowing it's part of the disease. I call my doctor and we address it right away.

So, if you aren't feeling well and it's a recoring thing, I strongly recommend that you advocate for yourself, because no one on earth knows your body better than yourself.