My mom has Hashimoto’s disease along with many other diagnoses. Genetics are not my friend. At the age of 13 I began dealing with depression and anxiety and a terrible monthly cycle, so I was placed on birth control to “stabilize” me. Just like my mom was. After my second child, I developed postpartum depression and was started on anti-depressant medication. Just like my mom was. I was told I would have to take anti-depressants for the rest of my life, “It ran in my family’s genetics”. Another fun bonus, I was prediabetic, obese, and had been given the diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
I went gluten free, low fat, calorie restricted and exercised my heart out. That will fix the problem, right? No. I continued to gain weight and gain medications for increasing ailments. I went to the doctor many times, begging to have all my levels checked and rechecked… my mom’s condition always on my mind. I was told time and time again I was “In a normal range” “There’s nothing wrong with you, you just need to reduce the stress in your life” “Eat less, move more”. Being so depressed and trapped in my own brain, I never made the connection between food and health. The turning point in my journey was the birth of my last daughter. At 30 weeks 6 days (due to developing HELLP syndrome) I delivered a 2 lb 8 oz baby girl followed by a partial hysterectomy from a placenta increta (Yes really… not accreta). I bled out completely and received a full transfusion, 10 units total. (My older daughter saved my life during this time, but that’s a story for another time!) 2 and a half hours later I was finally stabilized, and my heart decided to keep beating. That’s when the real problems began. Over the next year, my weight ballooned close to 260 pounds. I was beyond depressed. I was taking 3 anti-depressants (6 pills) a day, as well as Xanax and valium “as needed”, which was at least 3 times a day. Trazodone for fibromyalgia, antacids, Zyrtec, Tylenol, Motrin and Excedrin Migraine daily. My doctor said all my blood levels were “in range” and I just needed to lower my stress, everything I would be fine. Eventually I had to change medications because the ones that I was taking were maxed out, yet they were not enough. A few months after the transition to the new meds, my less than attentive nurse practitioner asked me if I needed a break from my colicky baby. I said yes because I had not slept in weeks. She then called a 5150 (suicide watch) on me. Without explaining what it meant or talking to me about what it she intended to do, she blind-sided me and my husband. That was the moment I realized that I needed to take control of my own life and get myself healthy instead of relying on others to figure out what was wrong with me.
I began to research and found the Ketogenic way of eating. My husband and I wanted to do it right, safely and with the goal of health in mind. I went keto January 14th, 2019. In 8 months, I was able to come off ALL my medications! Medicines that I’d been on for 26 YEARS. Medicines for chronic headaches, acid reflux, fibromyalgia, allergies, depression, and crippling anxiety. I was finally feeling healthy and WELL. As a happy side effect, I have lost 100 pounds while my husband is down 75 pounds. He has stopped taking antacids, naproxen, Excedrin Migraine and Tums. After a lifetime of depression and anxiety, I feel amazing. My mind is not clouded, I feel like I can breathe and process life now. I feel so grateful that I am HEALED! I only wish I had found it sooner, perhaps avoiding HELLP and a hysterectomy at the age of 34.
November of 2019, our niece passed away unexpectedly. The trip was exceedingly difficult. I was more emotional than I thought I should be, so I went carnivore. Unbeknownst to me, this was the perfect timing. December 2019 my then 4-year-old (my preemie baby) was exceptionally sick. She was eventually hospitalized and diagnosed with RSV (At the age of 4?! Fairly sure it was another virus that we did not have a test for at the time…). Her pulse-ox was 87% when we made it to the ER. 3 days in the PICU on 14 ml O2, 2 days on the regular floor weaning down the oxygen. The whole time we were in the hospital, not knowing what the outcome would be or how long she could be hospitalized, I WAS FINE. I was able to handle the stress and uncertainty and I fully accredit that to my diet! The day before we went home, we made an amazing discovery. She had barely been eating, so the nurses brought her goldfish to encourage her to eat. She ate a package. Within 5 minutes, her pulse-ox plummeted back below 90% and she had a massive coughing attack. The light bulb went on. Once she came back home, we got rid of all the remaining carbage in the house and we took her keto. She had nightly coughing and asthma attacks until 2 weeks after her last food item containing grains, seed oils or sugar. Since that time, she has not been sick! Keto baby number 1!
My 14-year-old daughter has begun to show many of the same symptoms that both I and my mom had as teenagers. In the interest of breaking the generational curse of our genes, she too has gone Keto/Carnivore to balance her cycle, bring her emotions under control and even clear up her skin! Keto baby number 2!
Keto/Carnivore has changed the life of everyone in our immediate family. Whether it was reducing symptoms of ADHD in our 8-year-old or making the 6-year-old less aggressive (Keto babies 3 and 4!), it has helped everyone of us. We will be a keto family for life. I tell everyone that will listen about the power to heal yourself and be in control of your life and health again. Many do not want to listen, but I will keep speaking to the ones that do.
The Keto Family Impact
