What happens in autoimmune disease? Why are some people more susceptible than others? Why does the immune system all the sudden become intolerant in our body? People who have autoimmune disease are kind of like canaries in a coal mine. Our immune systems are just more intolerant to what it considers to be a foreign thing, especially if it is something that builds over time.

We don’t necessarily have genes that turn on autoimmune disease but our genes are more likely to react to a foreign ‘invader’ in our body. So if you have a bunch of foreigners or things that look foreign, your body is more likely to react. A simple way to say it is your immune system is just very sensitive to things it thinks shouldn’t be floating around in your system.

You are not an imperfect being. Your immune system is special! Your immune system responds to its environment differently than others. Nothing you can do but it isn’t your fault either. I spent a lot of years thinking if I had eaten better or stressed less, I wouldn’t have this stupid autoimmune disease, I wouldn’t have lost my child but I don’t sit in that thought for long because I would just feel bad all the time.

Can’t do anything about the past. Know better, do better.

What you can do is figure out what is damaging your tissue that is causing your body to react. Fix that and then your immune system can calm down.

What is turning on your genes that are creating antibodies against your thyroid? Diet, lifestyle, activity level, stress, your job, toxins. All of these or one of these or several of these can be triggers. Things like heavy metals, chemicals, radiation, anticonvulsant medications, chronic infection, gum disease, consumption of rancid fats like vegetable oils, or having serious nutrient deficiency like B12 and B6 all can be factors in getting autoimmune disease.

You need to figure out what is causing problems for you. It could be one or many of these things.

The easiest place to start is to clean up your diet and lifestyle. Just doing that can go a long way to getting you to feel better. Maybe your best friend can eat like crap and feel fine but that just isn’t the case for you. It isn’t fair but you have to just decide if you want to feel good or you want to eat crap. It is a choice. You don’t have to switch to a 100% organic diet. You can just start eating real food. Start avoiding processed foods, fried foods, and avoid sugar. Sugar creates damaged proteins and could be enough to inflame your immune system all by itself. Another thing that creates damaged proteins in the body is that nice charring we get when we grill or fry meat. So good and yet so so bad for your body. Focus on getting in omega 3 oils from fatty fish if possible. I don’t like fish so I need a fish oil. Exercise. Just get moving. As we age, we lose muscle and if your meds are not optimized you also have to worry about losing bone density and having the potential for cardiovascular events so moving is really really important. Check out www.getautoimmunestrong.com - Andrea is a great human who’s focusing on helping people with chronic illness get stronger. Very doable workouts.

You don’t want to let this need for change drive you crazy. I did that. I went all in and it created a bit of an orthorexic eating disorder. I was so afraid of not eating clean. Honestly, I still am not thrilled about not buying meat from my farmers. Don’t stress yourself out, just do the best you can. But try to do better.

What I am talking about here is seeing the forrest for the trees. We need to look at how the problem trees affect the whole forrest. I know many practitioners who cannot do this. They don’t see the forrest for the trees. One person I knew said everything wrong in her clients was H. pylori, another only looks at genetics, another is only focused on a certain diet being the cure all. Run, don’t walk from someone who isn’t looking at you as a whole person.

That is one thing I liked about the functional medicine training I got in my masters program. We were taught to look at how everything in one’s life can play a role in how good or bad you feel. It’s usually not just one thing. It is a combo of things over time that creates the immune system reaction.

When looking to find someone to help you, ask yourself if they are interested in your story- not just what is wrong with you but how you came to be here in this situation. Do they want to know how you are living? Are they taking the time to know what is going on in all areas of your life?  Usually this isn’t coming from your clinic where your insurance is accepted. They just don’t have the time to know your story. If you are doing cash pay with someone, they should be taking the time to really know you. The focus should not be on the disease you have but on your health.