I got sick:
I grew up in Japan in the 60s-70s and I do not remember ever getting sick. I was a very healthy child never missed school. I lived in Australia and New Zealand for one year in ’84 and I did not get sick at all. But I started having a sensitive stomach, heartburn, and constant migraine headaches just 3 months after moving to the U.S. in ’87. Severe burning pain in my stomach woke me up at 2:30 am one night. Why do I remember the time? Because the pain was so severe and I did not know what to do. It was a day after my traveling insurance was expired! I visited the local hospital the next morning. The doctor pointed out the ultrasound while I was still laying down on the bed and told me that I was having a bleeding stomach ulcer attack. The doctor said it was caused by stress and she told me to take high doses of Zantac for 3 months. It was 1987. One tablet of Zantac cost me $2.50-. I had to take a lot for 3 months.
The severe burning pain subsided as long as I avoided acidic food like coffee, tomato sauce, citrus fruits, etc. But after 3 months of taking Zantac, all of my fingertips started to having tiny blisters. It went through the cycle of the formation of tiny blisters to very dry thick skin after the blisters broke and eventually peeled off causing me to lose one layer of skin. All of my fingertips were red and raw all the time. I visited more than a dozen dermatologists and all prescribed steroid cream and told me that I must have touched harsh chemicals. None of the topical steroid creams helped to heal my skin problems and it actually got worse. My typical day at the time started with opening up 10 band-aids to wrap my fingertips. This went on for 10 years.
Lightbulb Aha Moment -1- H.Pylori in the stomach:
Then one day, I was at a microbiology class at the graduate school and the professor began talking about a very toxic bacteria living in the stomach called H. Pylori and its symptoms. All the symptoms he was talking about was everything I was experiencing at the time! I rushed out of the classroom and called my PCP to get tested right away. The test came back “big time” positive. My PCP prescribed me the triple antibiotics for 2 weeks. The skin eruptions on the fingertips finally started to subside (I was also seeing a herbalist at that time). Looking back, I wish I knew about the importance of taking the correct probiotics during and after taking this antibiotic but I did not know back in 2002. What if my PCP knew about the importance of taking probiotics to protect gut mucosal lining while her patients are taking strong antibiotics. It could have helped years of misery after taking triple antibiotics which completely wiped out my precious gut flora which was not so many to start with like myself whom blood type A and HLA DQ2 SNP genes. I must have had H. Pylori bacterial overgrowth in the stomach over the years and it got worse by stress and U.S. wheat and A1 milk that my pancreas was not able to produce to break them down. If you are already my patient, now you know why I carefully check your hands and toes! The skin (especially the extremities) is the mirror of your GI track!!! By the way, I fired my PCP because every annual checkup, my complaint was always stomach discomfort and migraine headaches for 10 years straight but she only gave me the prescription. H.Pylori was found in the 1970s. She should have known if she practices medicine.
Migraine Headache:
When I started suffering from stomach issues back in 1986, I also started having migraine headaches, which often hit before, during, and after my period. I thought it would go away once I hit menopause, but it did not stop. During the 3 years of grad school, my migraines got worse. I thought it must be stress, and once I took a break after school it would get better. After grad school, I opened my first clinic in Lexington Center, and my migraines continued. Since my clinic was originally located on the sub-basement level, I thought mycotoxins (mold exposure) might be causing my pain, so I moved the clinic to the 1st-floor location. It was not the answer, and the migraines continued to get worse, also causing pain in my neck. In an effort to eliminate stress, I cut my working hours, took longer breaks between morning and evening shifts, and I decided to come home to eat lunch at home. I did everything I could think of to try to cure these severe migraines and stiff neck by seeing numerous practitioners. None of these changes and practitioners I saw helped me. My migraines were getting worse, and it had been particularly bad on Saturday afternoon, after seeing more than a dozen patients, one after another. As an acupuncturist, I am pretty good at treating patients with migraine headaches. If it is the acute stage, I can stop their pounding throbbing nature of a migraine headache with 2-3 needles (usually takes only 5-15 minutes). If it is already full-blown, at least I can calm it down without taking any western medication, but unfortunately, I am NOT able to needle myself. My husband (and other acupuncturists) tried but it did not help. I have spent thousands of dollars, going from one practitioner to another. I have suffered from this ongoing pain. What is wrong with me??? Even Maya, my golden retriever, always knew when I was having migraine attacks by my behavior when I came home – I opened the front door, immediately grabbed an ice pack, drew the shade down, turned out the light, and put peppermint oil on my temples. She usually brings her toy to play with me but stayed on the floor quietly instead. My husband would turn off the TV and tried to be as quiet as possible. I did not know what to do…
Lightbulb Aha Moment -2- Gluten and Migraine Connection:
Then, in the fall of 2013, a good friend of mine told me about the book called “Grain Brain” is written by the Functional Medicine Neurologist, David Perlmutter M.D. I always read any health-related books recommend to me. It was the book about “Brain and Gut Connection” in relation to the food you consume, especially gluten. Around the same time, I heard about Food Sensitivities Testing from a colleague. I read the book and took the test. I stopped eating all reactive foods include Gluten and Dairy. The result was astonishing! Week 1 – no migraine. I thought it was a fluke. Then weeks 2, 3, and 4 passed with no migraine even though I had a period. I was still skeptical because I could not recall the last time I had gone an entire month without a migraine. After eight weeks had passed, I was convinced the sensitivities to gluten and dairy caused my migraines. My primary “trigger” food was wheat (gluten), dairy (casein – protein), and eggs but the BIGGEST trigger was wheat (gluten). Later I confirmed the fact that I have +/+ homozygous HLA-DQ2 gluten sensitivity SNPs (genes) “very likely from” my father who died from the most aggressive type of stomach cancer. My mother has HLA but she does not have HLA-DQ2 SNPs. When I come home from long hours on Saturday, I was able to get a few loads of laundry done, clean the floors, and take Maya out to play at the park. I sometimes can even go out for dinner after a long Saturday at work! I have my energy back without having a debilitating migraine headache. After my discovery of food sensitivity, I have learned a lot about GI Health, toxic chemicals, and sensitivities. I brought all of the foods back 6 months later but am still eliminating gluten and dairy 100%. Now looking back, my migraine started when I came to the U.S. back in 1986. I had a mild headache on and off but nothing compared to the one I started having in 1986. My husband noticed that the fact that I did not have a hint of migraine sign when we spent 3 weeks with my family in Japan even though my sleep pattern was disrupted due to 14 hours of time differences here and in Japan. It was interesting to learn the fact that French bakers in Japan (my hometown is Kobe-city) import wheat from France, German bakers import from Germany, etc… The reason I did not get a migraine headache was that I was not exposed to U.S. wheat for 3 weeks. Then boom! My migraine started the day after we came back to the US. I blamed it on stress and menopause for a long time but I did not know the gluten and dairy in the U.S. were the real triggers in my case at the time. I do not have celiac disease but I am extremely sensitive to gluten (from wheat harvested in U.S. = heavily sprayed by toxic pesticide and roundup).
Lightbulb Moment -3- Sensitivities to Dairy:
Why I can have whole milk when I was in Japan but I get sick when I consume even 1 tsp of milk in the U.S.? I found the answer one day. It is the difference between the cattle bred to produce dairy. It seems here in the U.S.Holstein Friesian cattle are fed mostly corn, get antibiotics and estrogen hormone shots, and the grains produce A1 milk. In Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Europe Jersey cattle mostly eat grass, alfalfa, hay, and minerals that produce A2 milk. My stomach is able to differentiate A1 to A2 casein immediately. I met more than a dozen patients like me in my clinic and I was able to turn their health around and some delivered babies naturally within a year. That’s how powerful the foods influence the way we think, behave, crave, digests, etc. By the way, if you live in the Boston area, you may drive up one day to get the clean A2 milk products at Benedikt Dairy Farm. It is an organic farm near Manchester, New Hampshire. I can tolerate their product very well. For me, it is such a treat.
Peri-Menopausal Problems:
I found the answer to why I got a stomach ulcer, H. Pylori bacterial infection blisters mine on the fingertips (I still do not have enough fingerprint on the thumb), and Migraine headache. But after I entered the perimenopause phase, I started having different health issues starting with a Frozen Shoulder (left shoulder 1.5 years and right shoulder 2 years), Weight gain around the waistline, Palpitations, Insomnia, Hair Loss, Forgetfulness, and A1c and Blood Sugar has been creeping up. My PCP for 5 years was scratching her head saying that she does not understand why my A1c and Blood Sugar is higher than normal and kept creeping up every year despite my super clean eating habits and exercise routine. She also could not understand why my triglycerides and cholesterol are lower than normal but my blood sugar is consistently high. I have a clear answer for it now after I studied functional medicine for a few years. I was having adrenal burn-out (very high or very low cortisol – stress hormone) at the time and my poor thyroid was having a hard time functioning so that the liver was not able to convert thyroid hormone T4 to Free T3 (She never tested my FreeT3 but only tested for TSH). Instead, it was going to Reverse T3 (when I tested for myself, my Reverse T3 was very high) which ended up storing the extra pounds of fat on the belly. It caused my immune system to become low which led to more frequent yeast infections, sinus infections, intense sugar cravings which damaged the mucous lining of my GI tract which led to “not feeling well” syndrome. Live and Learn. I have learned a lot by making a lot of mistakes myself. This process led me to take Hashimoto Institute’s Thyroid training to learn as much as possible about Thyroid and Adrenal health.
Post-Menopause with Wracked Hormones:
I thought I knew everything to do with hormones but what I knew most about was hormones for women of reproductive age. The post-menopausal phrase hit me hard. When the ovaries shut down, adrenal glands take over to make cortisol to deal with stress for post-menopausal women. Since my adrenal glands were totally used up, there was no backup. Just like the generator you have in the house in case you lose power due to storms, my generator was not working. Looking back, I pushed myself too far in my late 40’s to the early ’50s when I was in the peri-menopausal phase. I ended up having wracked hormones when I became postmenopause at the age of 55. I truly understand the pain of my patients in perimenopause and postmenopause has to go through with their health issues due to this hormone shift. My patients in this age category are often working full time, taking care of their aging parents, grown-up kids, grandchildren, starting to think about retirement. A lot of decisions to make every day and everything starts getting overwhelming. By taking various training anything to do with menopause, taking many special lab testings, contacting my colleagues for help, changing diets, supplements, exercises, and sleep patterns, I somehow figured out to live like myself again in the last two years. Live and learn. I had absolutely no idea how difficult this phase of my life would be when I was in the early ’40s. This is our culture to work hard every day but we pay a big price later in our life. I treat adrenal health for every patient who comes to my clinic for that exact reason.
Functional Medicine:
When I was studying acupuncture at the early stages of my practice, I thought oriental medicine would cure most of the illnesses my patients had. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine began in China more than 2000 years ago. They did not have gluten sensitivity, lactose intolerance, insulin sensitivities, multiple chemical sensitivities, acid reflux, depression, anxiety, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and various cancer and autoimmune disease we have in the modern society. One of the well known Japanese acupuncturists I studied with while I was at NESA taught me the importance of treating the core issue like Adrenal, Thyroid dysfunction, and Sugar imbalances first in every single patient who walks into the clinic. She is totally right on that. Studying 2,000 years old TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) that I have learned at the school was not enough to treat patients who come with modern chronic diseases and medications they have been on. I thought I need to learn something extra along with oriental medicine to help to find the underlying triggers contributing to the patient’s illness. From doctor visit to doctor visit, blood draws to another blood draw, another MRI schedule, another medication on their medicine cabinet, and another round of antibiotics. There must be a better way to treat each of my patients who come with a laundry list of signs and symptoms. In 2013, I started pursuing various functional medicine training; I was able to see quicker progress with efficient therapies in my patients by looking at the health from the angle of Oriental Medicine and Functional Medicine. I have more tools to offer to my patients. The more complex the symptoms and signs my patients present, I am more excited to solve the problems. This is my story. What is your story?