Do I need to stay on my medications long term?

One of the clients in my 4 month coaching program asked me a great question recently that I’m answering here today. This client has Crohn’s disease, but after working together for a few months, she’s experiencing better digestion, no more stomach cramping, more energy, and feeling more in control of how to manage her symptoms - as well as a decrease in the incidence of flare-ups (#winning!).

This is wonderful because before we started working together, the path to healing felt like a mystery to her, and she didn’t know what would work and what wouldn’t. She had tried everything (many restrictive diets, the latest supplements, etc.) and felt like nothing was giving her sustainable results.

Now that she’s feeling so much better (after uncovering information about her specific needs and implementing some simple diet and lifestyle changes tailored specifically to her), she’s wondering whether or not she needs to stay on her pharmaceutical medications long term. This is a common question from my clients and one that I faced during my own healing journey.

Watch the video below or read on for my take on this important issue!

It’s Not All Or Nothing!

Many times when dealing with chronic illness, we think that we either need to go the all natural route (with diet, lifestyle, herbs, etc.) or we use pharmaceutical medications. But it doesn’t need to be one or the other. In fact, more often than not with chronic autoimmune disease, we actually need both!

As you go along and your symptoms change or improve, your need for medications might change as well. Remember that we’re all human beings in constant flux, and we need to be able to evaluate these things critically.

Come Prepared with Data

Many of my clients have concerns about effects of long-term use of their medications, so I suggest that they start a conversation with their doctor about the possibility of tapering off some or all of them if together they feel it’s appropriate. The best way that I’ve found to do this is to go to your doctor with DATA. Something that they can hold on to and understand, as opposed to you just telling them you’d like to get off your medications because you’re feeling better.

Going in with something like a symptom journal as well as any recent blood work or lab work can be very helpful. Starting a symptom journal is really easy to do, and yields powerful data and insight. You can download my free Food & Symptom journal here to get started.

Most doctors won’t suggest going off of your medications completely depending on your situation, but working together you can review any improvements or changes in your symptoms and come up with a plan based on that.

This is where the importance of being your own health advocate comes into play!

Everyone’s situation is very unique (even with the same diagnosis) so some people might need to be on a pharmaceutical medication for the rest of their life, and others might not. Getting clear on your needs, understanding your body and your symptoms, advocating for yourself, and starting a dialogue with your practitioner are all important steps in finding a plan that works best for you.

---

Are you dealing with symptoms of chronic fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune disease, pain or digestive issues?

You’ve gone to doctor after doctor. You’ve received some answers, have started on medications and notice some relief (thank goodness!) but are still left feeling exhausted, stressed, inflamed and not fully yourself?

Or maybe every test has come back “normal” and your practitioners have told you that there isn’t anything they can do, to come back when things get worse, or to simply manage your stress better?

If yes, then you are someone who would benefit form 1:1 holistic health coaching.

Health coaching is a necessary extension of the health care system in that together we have more time to uncover issues, implement strategies and assess outcomes together. Autoimmune disease is complex and to address it we need to come at it from all angles (pharmaceutical therapies from your doctor while also focusing on root cause factors like gut health, diet, sleep and stress). I offer accountability, a knowledgeable resource and most importantly support.

I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Click the button below to set up your free consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.

LIVE WELL PODCAST | Ep #22 - Caregiver Burnout When Caring For Others With Chronic Illness With Shonda Palmer

Shonda is trained as a holistic wellness coach, meditation mentor and Qi Gong instructor. She helps caregivers who spend their life taking care of everybody else learn how to take care of themselves using mindfulness and self compassion practices. Shonda lives on a small farm in San Diego where she raises teenagers, llamas, and chickens with her husband of 26 years.

LISTEN BELOW (AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE SO YOU'LL NEVER MISS OUT!)

Click here to listen in iTunes

Click here to listen in Stitcher

Or if you’d like to play the episode right now in your browser, use the player below:

Show Notes:

• 0:00 Intro

• 0:40 Introducing Shonda Palmer

• 2:00 Shonda’s story as a mother caring for her family and daughter with chronic autoimmune disease (Crohn’s Disease)

  • “This isn’t going to help me help them”

  • “I’m holding everyone together”

• 5:00 Shonda’s introduction to Mindful Self Compassion

• 6:30 What is caregiver burnout? Aka Empathy Fatigue

  • “What will happen if I am not well?”

  • You’re giving out more than you are replenishing

• 11:00 Where do you start once you realize you are burnt out?

• 11:50 The 3 pillars of Mindful Self Compassion and how to practice it in the moment of struggle

  • Mindfulness: kind and curious attention to the suffering you are experiencing

  • Common Humanity: opening your heart and connecting those in the world that have felt the same pain that you are currently feeling

  • Kindness and Compassion: extending compassion to yourself in this moment. “It will be ok” or giving yourself a “kind wish”

• 20:00 How these practice have changed Shonda’s life

  • Less reactive

  • Less overwhelmed

  • More energy

  • Showing up differently in the world

• 25:05 Outro

You can find Shonda on Shonda Palmer Wellness and Instagram. Shonda hosts regular meditation challenges to start a practice or deepen your existing practice.

---

If you loved this episode, I'd be honored for you to give me a rating on iTunes. This helps me to get content out to others who are interested in getting control of their health through diet, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment.

---

Are you dealing with symptoms of chronic fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune disease, pain or digestive issues?

You’ve gone to doctor after doctor. You’ve received some answers, have started on medications and notice some relief (thank goodness!) but are still left feeling exhausted, stressed, inflamed and not fully yourself?

Or maybe every test has come back “normal” and your practitioners have told you that there isn’t anything they can do, to come back when things get worse, or to simply manage your stress better?

If yes, then you are someone who would benefit form 1:1 holistic health coaching.

Health coaching is a necessary extension of the health care system in that together we have more time to uncover issues, implement strategies and assess outcomes together. Autoimmune disease is complex and to address it we need to come at it from all angles (pharmaceutical therapies from your doctor while also focusing on root cause factors like gut health, diet, sleep and stress). I offer accountability, a knowledgeable resource and most importantly support.

I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Click the button below to set up your free consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.

Are you "all or nothing" when it comes to your health?

I’ve been speaking with many clients lately who say they do really well with black and white guidelines. When they have clear restrictions on what they “can” and “can’t” eat. They may avoid dairy, gluten and sugar for periods of time during healing diets and although it’s challenging at first, they feel good with these strict boundaries because there is no ambiguity. When they begin to add in foods and things like travel, work events, holiday parties, and dinners at friend’s houses come up, however, they have a really hard time navigating this grey area.

It’s this gray area that I’ve been thinking so much about. This grey area is so important because really, it’s life.

It’s easy to hand someone a list and say avoid these “bad for you” foods and eat these “good for you” foods.  We know we should eat vegetables and avoid excessive doughnut consumption. But what prevents us from doing so on a regular basis? Where the real transformation happens and the real work gets done is in navigating the gray area with intention.

Watch the video below or read on to learn 3 ways to navigate this grey area and avoid the trap of feeling “all or nothing” when it comes to your health.

1. Get clear on your “why”

It is so crucially important to get clear about why you want to eat healthy or feel a certain way and what your real motivations are. For me, the reason why I don’t just go for it and eat chocolate croissants and macaroons every day (just some days) is because I have a genetic predisposition to autoimmune disease. I know how eating those foods makes me feel and affects me at a cellular level, and I do not want to feel that way.

Excess sugar, grains and dairy affect my gut, which affects my immune system and symptoms of autoimmunity, makes my skin break out, alters my mood, sleep and overall sense of well being. I choose to eat whole, nutrient dense foods 90% of the time because they keep me feeling great and not getting sick. That’s a very powerful “why” for me and makes it pretty simple to stick to my guns when choosing how to eat (note: his has been a lifelong journey to be sure). My why is different to yours though and it’s important to get clear on what’s true for you.

What is your why? Do you want to feel good in your body? Reduce symptoms of disease? Improve frustrating bloating? Maintain energy to run around? Look good naked? Take a minute to think about it and write it down.  If you first come up with “feel healthy” go deeper and keep asking “why” to get to the powerful core (there is always one).

2. Begin the process of tuning into your body

Many of us do well with protocols where someone tells us what to do and we follow that plan. But this means that when we stop doing the protocol or veer off track, we feel lost. Sometimes we need protocols to support us during different phases of our healing journey, but what we really need to do is become experts at listening to what our bodies are telling us and turning inwards.

“Listen to your body” might be an annoying phrase that you can’t quite wrap your head around. It’s in the same family as, “reduce your stress” or “self-care” or other phrases that sound so nice and simple, but can be hard to pin down when you’re actually trying to achieve them.

Listening to our bodies has become a vague and somewhat challenging task because we've gotten so used to looking outside of ourselves for information and guidance on how to feel better.

Instead of constantly searching and looking outside of ourselves for the answers, I want to talk about how to look within as the only way to really figure out what works best for you and your beautiful body.

Here are 3 ways to start this process of tuning in:

• 5 second body scans before meals to ask yourself these questions:

  • How am I feeling?

  • Where am I holding tension?

  • What are my symptoms?

  • What is my energy level?

• Getting quiet. Silence isn’t empty. It's full of answers. Breathing and meditating allows us to clear mental clutter so we can more fully listen to the signs and signals our bodies are trying to give us. I like the apps Calm or Insight for introductory meditation, or I practice my favorite 4-7-8 breathing technique.

• Complete a 5-day food/symptom journal to start the process of noticing how what you put in your body makes you feel. You can download it by clicking here >>

This is a process and it's like strengthening a muscle, so be patient with yourself! Let me know in the comments where you're at with this process of tuning in. What do you notice right now if you do a 5 second body scan? What comes up? If you complete your 5-day food journal and come up with some interesting insights, let me know!

3. Start with a good foundation

To be able to make good choices you need to know what works for you and what doesn’t.  We are all so different and thrive with different foods in our bodies. In general it is advised to avoid overly processed foods and refined sugars and eat a diet with lots of nutrient-dense vegetables. From there however, we must take into account our own unique bodies and needs. This involves tuning into your body and experimenting with what works and what does not.  

Once you really know how certain foods make you feel and you consistently incorporate foods that make you feel good while taking out foods that make you feel bad, you create a great foundation and your body responds accordingly. Once you have a solid foundation of health, it’s easier to veer off and come back to your baseline. You become more easily able to tune into how you feel and you know exactly how to bring yourself back. I work with people to uncover sensitivities and move towards a healthy, whole foods diet that works specifically for them in order to create this solid foundation. It can be really helpful to have a guide through this process so message me if you want some assistance!

I offer free, 30-minute discovery calls so click the link below to book in your free session today! In these sessions I help you get clear on your main health issues, figure out what’s standing in your way and create a plan of action tailored specifically to you.

LIVE WELL PODCAST | Ep #20: Chronic Illness and the Evolution of Medicine with James Maskell

James Maskell, CEO and founder of KNEW Health, is on the Live Well Podcast to speak about chronic illness, functional medicine and the evolution of healthcare.

James graduated from University of Nottingham with a degree in health economics. He’s the creator of Functional Forum, the world’s largest integrative medicine conference. He lectures and hosts internationally and has been featured on TEDMED, Huffpost Live, TEDx and more. He serves on the faculty of George Washington University’s Metabolic Medicine Institute.

James is the author of The Evolution of Medicine: Join the Movement to Solve Chronic Disease and Fall Back in Love with Medicine which provides step-by-step instruction for building a successful "community micro-practice", one that engages both the patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership focused on the body as a whole rather than isolated symptoms.

I love James’ work because his ultimate goal is to empower more doctors to transition to the functional medicine model which will allow them to run their own thriving practices, infuse more meaning and connection into their work, and get back to the business of helping people the way they’d always imagined they would.

LISTEN BELOW (AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE SO YOU'LL NEVER MISS OUT!)

Click here to listen in iTunes

Click here to listen in Stitcher

Or if you’d like to play the episode right now in your browser, use the player below:

Show Notes:

• 0:00 Intro

• 0:40 Introducing James Maskell

• 2:00 James speaks about the KNEW Health tour, traveling around the US on a big, green tour bus to facilitate the transformation of healthcare.

  • Step 1: Build an army of providers who provide predictive, preventative healthcare

  • Step 2: Deliver functional medicine in an affordable, accessible way

  • Step 3: Make this available and accessible to everyone

• 7:00 Addressing the cost issues and access to functional medicine

  • Breaking down the real costs of functional vs. conventional medicine

  • Lifestyle driven chronic disease makes up of 86% of healthcare costs

• 11:30 Therapeutic order in relation to chronic illness: do the least costly and least invasive procedures first

• 16:50 Becoming a custodian of healthcare resources in the cost sharing model of healthcare

• 18:30 How exactly does KNEW Health work?

• 23:57 Who is the ideal person that benefits from KNEW Health? Who does not benefit?

  • Get a free copy of The Evolution of Medicine: Join the Movement to Solve Chronic Disease and Fall Back in Love with Medicine by going to: goevomed.com/freebook

• 28:40 Outro

---

If you loved this episode, I'd be honored for you to give me a rating on iTunes. This helps me to get content out to others who are interested in getting control of their health through diet, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment.

---

Are you dealing with symptoms of chronic fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune disease, pain or digestive issues? You’ve gone to doctor after doctor. You’ve received some answers, have started on medications and notice some relief (thank goodness!) but are still left feeling exhausted, stressed, inflamed and not fully yourself?

Or maybe every test has come back “normal” and your practitioners have told you that there isn’t anything they can do, to come back when things get worse, or to simply manage your stress better?

If yes, then you are someone who would benefit form 1:1 holistic health coaching.

Health coaching is a necessary extension of the health care system in that together we have more time to uncover issues, implement strategies and assess outcomes together. Autoimmune disease is complex and to address it we need to come at it from all angles (pharmaceutical therapies from your doctor while also focusing on root cause factors like gut health, diet, sleep and stress). I offer accountability, a knowledgeable resource and most importantly support.

I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Click the button below to set up your free consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.