My Healing Journey

TLDR - Over about four years, my health slowly declined until I reached a breaking point where I absolutely needed to fix it. I then spent over three years dedicated to learning everything about health and fully healing myself. There were many ups and downs, and many things I would have done differently. I hope to use my knowledge and lessons learned to help others heal much quicker and with fewer expenses than I did. I truly believe everyone has the ability to heal.

Note: I'm not a writer, so this might not be a smooth read. I'm posting this in the hope that it helps someone else going through similar health issues and gives you the confidence to heal.

The Decline

In June 2014, I moved into an old house with a washer that drained into the center of the room. The slow drain caused water to sit for hours, leading to my initial exposure to mold. I began feeling "off" at work—unwell but not severely enough to take action. I also developed digestive issues, experiencing diarrhea from many foods but dismissing it as insignificant, so I continued my usual diet.

In July 2016, I had my first "flare." My dad was undergoing cancer treatments, and I had just visited him in Anchorage, Alaska. The stress of his illness, coupled with the most stressful period at work I'd ever faced, took a toll on me. My company's software project was struggling, adding to my anxiety. After visiting my dad, I flew to LA for the 4th of July weekend with friends, then headed back to Kansas City, dreading the work ahead. During the flight, I had a panic attack, and my body went into a state of constant tension and inflammation.

Before this, I had never considered myself anxious, always feeling calm and relaxed. For months, my muscles felt constantly tensed, as if I were holding 30-pound weights with outstretched arms. Unable to identify this feeling, I called it anxiety. I sought help from my doctor and a therapist, but nothing eased the tension, inflammation, or brain fog. The daily struggle began to wear me down, leading to increasing fatigue. I had always been energetic, requiring little sleep and able to power through any situation, often aided by coffee. However, coffee now exacerbated my symptoms, intensifying the tension and inflammation.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I had triggered chronic inflammation in my body due to toxins from my environment and the substances I had been ingesting. This reaction was partly because I'm among the 25% of people who cannot effectively break down mycotoxins (note: now that I’m at the end of my journey I realize this is not a genetic destiny and my environment and lifestyle is what actually changed my gene expressions and made me more susceptible). The accumulation of these toxins in my body caused mitochondrial dysfunction and an inflammatory response that went unchecked for so long that I ended up in a near-constant state of inflammation. This inflammation also led to mast cell issues. Mast cells release histamines as part of the immune response, but my body no longer knew what was appropriate to react to, triggering reactions to common foods and environmental smells. This ongoing inflammation, along with the mast cell and histamine response, impaired my digestion and caused brain fog, fatigue, rashes, heart palpitations, and more. This relentless burden on my body also contributed to mitochondrial issues, further exacerbating my fatigue and brain fog.

Fortunately, in August 2016, shortly after my first flare, I moved out of the old house and into a new one without mold issues. However, that same month, my dad passed away, adding to my stress from both work and my flare symptoms. There are many tools to manage stress, but when your body isn’t functioning properly, those tools are less effective. Over the next few months, my symptoms came in waves. I struggled to explain my feelings to friends, often just calling it anxiety or saying I felt "broken." Over the next year, the constant tension, brain fog, and anxiety began to ease slightly, likely because my body was slowly detoxing in the safer environment.

In August 2017, I purchased a condo above a parking garage connected to the storage area for each unit. The complex had a water leak, causing mold to grow over all my stored belongings. This was my second mold exposure, leading to more flares of constant tension, brain fog, and anxiety. For the next few years, my symptoms fluctuated. My digestive issues worsened, and I embarked on a journey to "heal my gut," but nothing seemed to help.

My digestive issues dominated my life. It was a topic no one wanted to hear about, and I felt alone. I went nearly two years without a solid stool and wished I could talk about my issues with someone other than a doctor. Friends dismissed my concerns, telling me to stop talking about it, making me feel isolated and unheard.

In August 2020, I purchased a new house, about 100 years old, with an updated interior but a musty, dirty unfinished basement. Over the next few months, my symptoms worsened. My fatigue and brain fog became so severe that driving felt unsafe. Simple tasks like grocery shopping became daunting, as I constantly felt on the verge of passing out. By early 2021, I reached a breaking point and realized I couldn't continue living this way. I resolved to figure out what was wrong with me, consulting as many doctors as necessary to uncover the cause. It had been over four years since my initial flare, and I had been assuming all along that my gut was the main source of my symptoms.

The Breaking Point and Health Journey

I began my health journey with my gastrointestinal doctor, who ordered a colonoscopy and endoscopy. While the colonoscopy results were normal, the endoscopy revealed that I had Barrett's Esophagus—a condition where prolonged acid reflux causes stomach cells to grow in the throat, potentially leading to esophageal cancer. As a precaution, I was prescribed a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) to reduce stomach acid production. This diagnosis was surprising since I never felt significant reflux symptoms, though in hindsight, I did have minor indicators.

Upon starting the PPI, I began experiencing chest pain. My doctor dismissed this as a normal side effect of the medication, advising me to live with it. However, the pain I was feeling turned out to be heartburn, which I had never experienced before. The PPI not only caused heartburn but also made me feel full quickly since my stomach acid was insufficient to digest food properly, worsening my overall condition.

Concerned about these new symptoms, I consulted my primary care doctor, who reiterated the necessity of taking the PPI due to my Barrett's Esophagus but warned against long-term use because it could potentially lead to cancer. When I asked how to eventually discontinue the PPI, the response was vague and unhelpful, leaving me frustrated and hopeless.

Western medicine seemed to be failing me, so I turned to a naturopathic doctor. They explained that stomach acid is essential and that many people suffer from reflux due to insufficient stomach acid rather than an excess. Attempting to stop the PPI on my own led to constant throat burning. The naturopathic doctor recommended a combination of supplements, but these only exacerbated my symptoms, causing severe brain fog, fatigue, diarrhea, and rashes. Every suggested treatment seemed to trigger more burning throat pain and other symptoms, making it difficult to find relief.

At this point, I couldn’t enjoy socializing with friends. My constant inflammation and fatigue made social situations extremely difficult. I couldn’t eat anything not prepared by myself without triggering a flare-up. Even when I tried to hang out without eating or drinking, I felt like I could pass out at any moment. On top of this, talking was extremely painful due to my chronic reflux. After a day of struggling through work meetings with a sore throat, the last thing I wanted to do was talk more and cause more pain. I wished I was normal enough to hang out with my friends, but it wasn't worth the pain it caused my body. I used to be fun and energetic, but now I felt like a depressing raincloud, and I knew no one wanted that around them.

Determined to find answers, I had multiple tests taken and discovered I had developed Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth (SIBO). This condition occurs when bacteria from the large intestines migrate to the small intestines and start digesting food prematurely, which likely made me feel worse. My diet became extremely restricted, and at one point, I weighed as little as 118 lbs (prior fit weight of 155 lbs). Despite this, I had some optimism, believing that treating SIBO would alleviate my issues.

Working with a naturopathic doctor, I initially tried an herbal route to eradicate SIBO. For two months, I endured the symptoms and burning throat, hoping each day that tomorrow would be better. Unfortunately, after retesting, my SIBO results were worse.

My diet had a significant impact on my symptoms. Almost everything I ate triggered a reaction. Even "healthy" foods like vegetables would cause flare-ups, brain fog, or extreme diarrhea. I tried nearly every possible diet, and my options gradually narrowed to very specific foods.

While dealing with these issues, my mom was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. I already had Barrett's Esophagus, a condition that can lead to esophageal cancer, and I had no way to prevent my throat from burning daily. Things were not looking good. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her, so I drove to Iowa to spend a week at a time with her. Although a 6-hour drive isn't typically a big deal, my body was so fatigued that I felt like I could pass out at any moment. The drive felt like an eternity as I struggled to stay awake and fought the anxiety that my body might give out and cause a crash. Most people would drink coffee to stay awake, but that only flared up my chronic inflammation. In December 2021, my mom passed away.

I still needed to resolve my SIBO, so I returned to Western medicine. A new GI doctor prescribed two different antibiotics, which I took in two one-month rounds. My symptoms fluctuated between feeling much better and much worse. It was a pretty awful experience, but in the end, I did feel somewhat better, though not all of my symptoms were resolved. I had hoped curing my SIBO would fix everything, but I found myself lost again by March 2022.

For the past year, my life has been consumed by waiting. I kept thinking, "I just need to wait another month for my next test," or "Just a few more days until the test results come back and I'll finally know what's wrong." I endured painful medications, convincing myself that suffering for a few more weeks would fix everything. Each day, I told myself, "Tomorrow will be better," but it never seemed to be. I went from wishing there were more hours in a week to wishing the year would end, hoping the next one would be better.

Determined to find answers, I underwent more tests. At one point, I was diagnosed with SMAS (Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome), a condition where two arteries pinch off the duodenum (small intestine). This gave me a glimmer of hope, thinking it might explain my chronic reflux and other symptoms. However, further testing indicated that SMAS was unlikely the cause, and the mystery continued.

Enjoying life has become incredibly difficult. Socializing with friends, being energetic, and trying new things were my greatest joys. Now, when people ask how I’m doing, I’m faced with a dilemma: do I tell the truth about how awful I feel and risk bringing everyone down, or do I put on a smile and pretend everything is fine? I used to be fun and energetic, but now I can't even fake it anymore.

When I decide to socialize, I face a tough choice: eat like everyone else and suffer from my throat flaring up and my body inflaming, or bring my own food. Bringing my own food seems simple until I pull out plain pressure-cooked chicken with nothing else. No one says anything, but I can feel the judgment. Some people try to cater to my dietary restrictions but don't understand the extreme measures needed to prevent a flare. For instance, I once joined a group for grilled chicken legs, only to find them soaked in BBQ sauce. They probably thought, "He's overreacting; he'll be fine." However, food additives can trigger a flare that lasts for hours or days. Ultimately, it's safer and easier to cook my own meals.

I started wondering if this was all mental, so I learned meditation and mindfulness techniques. Maybe I was thinking myself into these symptoms. While everything I learned was helpful, nothing actually made me better. All my free time was now dedicated to figuring out what was wrong with me. I read book after book on diet and mindfulness practices and listened to countless podcasts, hoping to gain some knowledge on how to fix myself.

At this point, I'm at a loss. I'm sensitive to almost all foods, medications, and supplements. Nothing makes me feel better, and I'm fatigued all the time. If I don't stick to a strict diet of chicken and minimal steamed vegetables, I flare up or have even worse reflux. Eating over a certain amount of food also causes a flare. Doctors have no additional ideas for what could be going on. I'm completely losing hope that things will ever get better. Over a year ago, I decided my life wasn't worth living like this and needed to figure things out. Since then, things have only gotten worse. It's difficult to work, difficult to socialize, and I'm in pain every day. How long can I continue like this? No one is able to help me. I'm left to figure this out by myself, completely alone.

I used to drink quite a bit and joke about "dying" when hungover, but I knew I wasn’t actually dying. Now, my body feels like it's slowly breaking down over the past few years. My fatigue is worsening, my throat pain is more extreme, and my digestive problems are escalating. When your body continues to decline for an extended period without relief, it feels like you're truly dying. Things are never going to get better, and your health only declines. You have nothing to look forward to because you're in constant pain. Things are only going to get worse until ultimately, this is the end.

I've been labeled a complainer. I'm in pain every day and just want to vent to others. People don’t realize what's happening to me and think I just need to "get over it." When it goes on for so long, people get numb to hearing it and just want you to stop complaining. They probably think this is in my head: "You are looking for perfection. You just need to get over it and accept your health won't be 100%." People don’t understand how ignorant that statement is. For someone living at 90% or even 80%, that would be easy to say. If you lived literally years under 25%, you would understand why I have dedicated my life to finding optimal health. I need to figure out how to get my life back.

I've always been very independent and never relied on anyone. This is the first time in my life that I need someone. I need doctors to tell me what's wrong, but no one has any idea. I need people to talk through these crazy things happening to me, but no one wants to listen since it doesn't impact them. This is the first time in my life I need others, but no one is here for me. No one is going to figure out what's wrong with me, and no one wants to listen to what I think might be happening or helping. I'm on my own to solve this puzzle.

I was never a big reader, but now I consume everything I read like my life depends on it—and I truly believe it does. I find everything I learn so interesting. Sometimes, I share this health information with friends, like a kid on Christmas sharing all the cool toys I got. For me, it's information that could literally save my life. But I immediately see their interest leave the conversation. None of my friends are as sensitive as I am. They don’t need to follow these health suggestions as closely as I do. It's unrealistic for me to expect others to be interested in this stuff too.

I have tried multiple different diets, including vegetarian, paleo, carnivore, low histamine, and many more. The thing that made me feel the best, though still awful, is eating nothing but lean meat. The best I could manage was eating chicken thighs and limiting my food to minimal quantities per meal. This routine helped minimize my "flare-up" symptoms and reflux, and maintain a "normal" stool. Here’s what my day looked like to have a decent day:

• Wake Up: My throat is raw from reflux throughout the night.

• Breathing Exercises: I immediately complete 10-15 minutes of breathing exercises to reduce inflammation.

• Positive Intention Setting: Follow breathing exercises with 2-3 minutes of positive intention setting, mentally affirming that I am getting better and my throat will heal. I feel pretty good for a while before my symptoms return.

• Supplements: Take supplements at specific periods throughout the day.

• Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Complete vagus nerve-stimulating activities before each meal to help stimulate digestion.

• Meals: Limit my food intake to 2 chicken thighs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. More food or higher fat content worsens my reflux. Normal "healthy" foods give me intense diarrhea and trigger flare-ups.

• Food Freshness: Ensure all food is freshly cooked. Foods that sit out or even in the fridge accumulate histamines, which cause reflux and flare-ups.

• Post-Meal: Stand or walk after each meal to reduce reflux.

• Cold Shower: Take a 2-minute shower in the coldest temperature I can tolerate to reduce inflammation and lower throat pain.

• Timing Meals: Eat 3-4 hours before bed to reduce reflux.

I have consulted multiple gastrointestinal doctors, functional practitioners, dietitians, primary care doctors, and naturopathic doctors. Everyone has ideas about what I should do, but no one has identified the root cause of my issues. At one point, I was taking 23 different prescribed medications and supplements.

My flare responses are not always immediate after eating foods, making it difficult to identify what is good or bad when I introduce too many things. I have to do my best to reduce variables. I started a spreadsheet to track the exact time I had different foods and supplements along with my symptoms. After months of troubleshooting, I'm slowly piecing things together and finding a regimen to be somewhat "stable."

I've heard people talk about their friends who are labeled "hypochondriacs" with comments like, "There's no way they can be that sensitive. It's all in their head." I know people put me in that exact same category. Initially, it was difficult listening to these ignorant remarks. I remind myself that I might have thought the same thing until I experienced these health issues. Until something impacts you, you probably won't believe it.

In one situation, I became sick with diarrhea and nausea (normal sick, not "flare" up sick). I was offered acetaminophen and didn’t want to take it. Everyone judged me for not wanting to take it. I've tried probably 200+ medications and supplements on this journey, and the majority cause reactions. I'm also already taking 15 or more medications and supplements a day. It took months to figure out a regimen that would make me feel somewhat better without reactions. The small chance this med might make me feel a little bit better is not worth the risk of flaring me up and setting me off balance for days. (Not to mention the harm of acetaminophen, but that's a topic for another post.)

After listening to countless podcasts, I learned about CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome). People with CIRS are unable to detox mycotoxins, causing their "toxin bucket" to fill and putting their body under chronic inflammation, which leads to many additional symptoms. This seemed like it could be causing my issues, so I dived into it. None of my standard doctors had heard of this or the inflammation markers it measures. I ended up paying out of pocket for the testing and discovered that I do have CIRS. Thank God, I thought, I finally have new hope for identifying the root cause of my issues.

CIRS is typically triggered by mold but can also be triggered by other factors. I had my home tested and found it was off the charts. I thought I had truly found the root cause of my symptoms.

Over the next month, I began the remediation of my home and treatment. At first, I felt better but then started to relapse and feel worse. We paid thousands of dollars for the remediation, but after three months with no progress, I tested my home again. The numbers were still extremely high. I spent a week at our in-laws' home and felt like I was actually starting to heal there. This confirmed my suspicion that mold was my trigger. We had to choose between spending tens of thousands of dollars for more detailed remediation or moving.

We decided the best thing to do was move, so we put our house on the market. During this time, I couldn't stay in my home, so I went to my in-laws' house, and many of my symptoms improved. I finally found a safe place. I also began working with a CIRS-specific provider, who explained that most people take over a year to fully heal. I started taking medications to help me detox, but my body was so sensitive that I could only take a fraction of the recommended dose, which would delay my recovery.

I was also effectively homeless, switching between places to live. Most places caused flare-ups, and I only had two places where I did not have symptoms. The only way to recover is to be in a "safe" environment for months, and I hadn't spent more than five days at a time in one. We finally found a new build home to purchase, and I have hope that once we move in, I can fully heal.

Things are better in the new home, but healing is very slow. I feel like I can't get "over the hump." I research health daily to ensure I'm doing everything I can to get back to normal. I started seeing a biological dentist and discovered two cavitations where my upper wisdom teeth were extracted, but the bone never healed. This can be a place for toxins to flourish. Maybe this is what's preventing me from getting over the hump.

I continue with the protocol in my new safe home. I'm slowly feeling better each week as I have my cavitations treated with ozone.  I'm able to increase my detoxing medications and now am taking half of the suggested dose of cholestyramine. I also increase my antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers. I am now feeling quite a bit better. For the first time, I think I may actually get through this.

Although I'm feeling better, I decide to visit an allergist to confirm if I have MCAS, as it's often associated with CIRS. After completing the tests, I receive a positive diagnosis for MCAS. The allergist recommends standard antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers. When I inquire about addressing the root cause and reversing the condition, he just gives me a blank look and insists, 'You need to stick to these medications.' At this point, I shouldn't be surprised anymore when I hear responses like this.

I also have a new endoscopy taken. They find I do not have Barrett's Esophagus. Was this just a failure on my original GI provider's part? Probably. At this point, I have lost faith in my Western medicine providers. They don't try to get to the root cause of your problem. They only want to give you medication to band-aid your symptoms. If I had only followed my normal doctors' recommendations through this whole process, I would likely be on 30 medications and unable to work or leave home.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I’m about six months into living in a ‘safe’ environment when I start to learn about quantum biology, circadian rhythms, and the importance of mitochondria. I discover how the environment impacts gene expression, the importance of specific wavelengths of light at specific times of the day for proper bodily functions, and when to avoid and block artificial light. I also learn about grounding and the importance of EMF mitigation, and ways to support the mitochondria to increase energy. I notice almost immediate improvement with my lighting changes—my mood is better and my fatigue begins to resolve, although it takes a few months. I'm still extremely sensitive to supplements, so I can't fully dive into suggested mitochondrial supplements, but the ones I do try offer temporary relief.

I’m feeling better but still not "over the hump." I take a GENIE genomic expressions test to determine which of my genes are over/under-expressed and what my specific triggers are. I find that mold is no longer a trigger (probably because I’ve been out of exposure for nine months now), but I am still having issues with Actinomyces. After hours of research, I learn Actinomyces can start to grow on your skin after you’ve been exposed in a water-damaged building. I’m now literally reacting to myself. I go through an Actinomyces cleaning protocol along with a daily shampoo and body scrub, which also helps.

I'm now over a year into my new "safe" living environment and am learning what the true foundations of health are. I feel significantly better but am still sensitive to many things around me. If I do everything perfectly, then I feel pretty great. If I slip up and come in contact with a trigger, then my day or days could be ruined before getting back to baseline. How do I desensitize myself to all these triggers? I learn about NAET and energy desensitization. It sounds extremely "woo," but at this point, I have nothing to lose, so why not learn about it?

During my first appointment, the provider uses muscle testing to determine key nutrients I am sensitive to or have a bad response to. I had experienced muscle testing before, but this took it to a more detailed level. I thought, "why not," and went through the desensitization process. This involved testing 16 key nutrients and then going through a weeks-long process to desensitize my body to them. I honestly had little hope, but near the end of the first few treatments, I could already see results. I was feeling better and was no longer sensitive to some of the vitamin supplements I had. I started to believe this stuff is real. Over the next few months, I worked with my provider to desensitize myself from other things like outdoor allergens and specific foods. There were some inefficiencies with the process, but it was clear this was real. I was extremely excited to learn more.

I was now feeling significantly better and confident I had the ability to fully recover. I knew it would still take time, but I now understood the foundational elements required to achieve health. Despite doing everything right, I still had these sensitivities. How could I stop being so sensitive to things? How do you change your gene expressions back to ‘normal’ after years of being up and down-regulated?

It wasn’t financially feasible to continue desensitizing myself through individual treatments, so I was determined to find a way to self-heal and desensitize. My provider introduced me to the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). This involves tapping on specific meridian points while reciting a specific phrase to change your mindset about something. I found I could use it to desensitize myself from specific items. It didn't always work, but it was a second and cheaper option compared to NAET. I wondered what else was out there.

I learned about Joe Dispenza and his ability to use the mind to cure people of disease. It sounded like make-believe to me, but so did NAET initially. His technique involves meditation and emotional focus to make significant changes in your life, including curing diseases. I had already learned that your environment impacts your genetic expressions. Now, I was learning that your mindset and emotional feelings could also affect genetic expression. As someone who considered themselves unemotional, this was a challenge for me. I started experimenting with everything I had learned and realized there were many overlaps between different areas.

I was now confident I could heal myself and was determined to continue learning what else was out there. It was crazy to me that many of the ‘woo’ things I was learning had real effects. What else was out there? Why doesn’t centralized medicine use any of this?

I began meditating daily and wanted to learn how to muscle test myself to identify ‘bad’ things and desensitize myself from them. I started reading about “vibrational medicine” and exploring other holistic approaches. Over time, I developed efficient processes to desensitize myself from various triggers and discovered that I could desensitize others too. Was this the final piece to fix myself?

Finish Line

I’m finally there, at the finish line. Three years ago, I hit rock bottom and truly thought my life was over, destined to decline until the end. Instead, I spent over three years learning about health and reversed what was deemed incurable. I’m no longer a slave to medications and supplements. I've discovered many ways to heal and am determined to help others avoid the constant pain I experienced.

This is the start of Healing Foundations, where I will share the best ways to heal. Most of these foundations are free, and there are many things I would have done differently or skipped altogether. I've realized that many people focus on making money rather than genuinely helping others heal. While working with various providers, I found that although they offered some helpful information, none had experienced conditions like CIRS, MCAS, or chronic fatigue themselves, so they couldn’t guide me all the way to recovery.

I hope this content helps you learn from my mistakes and heal yourself with much less expense and time than it took me. You have the ability to heal and will one day reach the finish line as I did.

Looking Back

Looking back, what caused me to become unhealthy? The short answer is: everything. There is no single cause of illness; everything works together. Here’s a list of reasons that contributed to my decline:

• I was always a "work hard, play hard" type of person. Why did toxins, processed foods, alcohol, and other harmful things not affect me sooner? I didn't practice any circadian rhythms or mitochondrial support techniques. People probably wondered how I kept going. I believe my positive energy and mindset helped counter all the negative things I was doing to my body. (until it compiled too large)

• Constant stress from work was my gateway to negative thought loops. I slowly became a negative person, losing the positivity I once had.

• I traveled a lot, staying in high-EMF airplanes and hotels. Long nights and inconsistent days significantly disrupted my circadian rhythm. The mitochondrial dysfunction and circadian disruption compounded over time.

• As I became more negative, my energy levels dropped. This, along with circadian rhythm and mitochondrial decline, made me more susceptible to toxins and slowly overburdened my natural detox and defense systems. As my This then and changes in gene expression.

• As my internal, external, and mental environments shifted, my gene expression changed, increasing my susceptibility to the dangers around me.

• This put me in a revolving cycle of declining health, making it nearly impossible to heal and get myself back into homeostasis.

What would I do differently? 

Follow and learn the information I have mapped out in the foundational diagram on my website.

https://www.the-healing-foundations.com/