Whatcha gonna do about it?

I've blabbered on a lot about what my experience of gut brain disconnect is, however this week I wanted to touch on how/what has helped me to start improving. 

Initially I want to give more of an idea of just how far everything changed when I got poorly. I went from being a regular gym goer, runner and walking my dog 3x a day to being unable to walk further than the end of our drive and having to be pushed in a wheelchair and struggling to even dress myself in the morning. Now even though i managed to make some improvements from this point, my progress to December was very slow. From getting my rough diagnosis, I was given a pathway forward, this consists of:

- Continuing aiding the symptoms with medication to enable some functionality
- Trauma Therapy (EMDR in my case)
- Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy 
- Working with dietitians/nutritionist to control weight loss
- Yoga and other nervous system calming treatments
- Gut lead Hypnotherapy

In summary, my consultant concluded that, and I quote, I need a 'team, not just a consultant' to manage my condition and help me get back to fighting form, or as close as I can do.

Off the back of this, I started down the path of being referred to each department and the wait began. In the meantime, I battled with the diagnosis in my head and tried to understand it. Unfortunately, the NHS mental health system is seriously overloaded, with the wait times for the specific level of treatment I required being 3 years (yes, you read that right, 3 years!) therefore, I had to seek help privately. Fortunately the wait time for the other referrals was no where near as bad, and I was already under the Dietitian/Nutritionist.

Off the back of this, I started alternative therapies including: Acupuncture, Yoga and using a device called 'Nurosym'. All of these focus on calming your nervous system, which ultimately is what is required in order for my body to help to heal itself. I noticed a large improvement, especially once I started Accupuncture and yoga, and this helped me to start to understand what is going on in my body more. From the small improvements I experienced, I have been able to start building myself back up by taking classes such as 'Chairobics' to try and rebuild some of my physical strength.

I think that's enough for today, but I plan to go into more detail about the steps that I am taking seperately on my healing journey (very corny to call it that I know, but feels appropriate).

Ta ta for now!

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