When I became pregnant with my third child (Rachel) in September 2011, I was on pharmaceutical medication for depression, bipolar disorder and ADD. I have struggled with symptoms of these illnesses pretty much my entire life. I have also struggled with chronic UTI's (Urinary Tract Infections), especially since getting married and having children.
During the early weeks of my pregnancy, I experienced such strong fatigue that I was sleeping 18-20 hours a day. Now, I know you might be thinking that maybe I was just letting myself sleep this much, but even when I tried my hardest to be awake I would end up having seizures and falling asleep again no matter where I was or what I was doing. Basically, I was not functioning well enough to even take care of myself (like eat enough, shower, change my clothes, etc.), let alone my two oldest children.
It didn't take long for me to determine that things were unacceptable. While family and friends did what they could, there was not enough accessible help to deal with that much disfunction. Worst of all, I was too tired to take the time to explain to people what was going on. No one (besides us) really knew how bad things were, because the only time I would talk to or see people was when I was awake and feeling well. If you only saw someone and talked to them when they were feeling fine, you would not be able to determine truly how things were for them otherwise.
I thought, at first, that maybe my body was just getting used to pregnancy again, but my fatigue and severe chronic pain kept causing too many issues. I should also mention that my meds had already contributed to my 60+ lbs of weight gain over the previous 4 years and in order to just keep my mood issues at bay I had to increase dosages and adjust my medication several times a year. Along with many other health issues that seemed to accompany the medications, I was still not in a place mentally or emotionally that I could maintain healthy relationships or deal with normal daily stressors. I also still felt a lot of the "guilt" that comes along with mental illness and had almost completely abandoned all good active spiritual practices such as personal prayer, scripture study and church attendance. I spent a good portion of my awake time trying to fix things. I finally realized that only God could give me the answers to my problems, so I prayed. Now, I don't mean to sound pious at all, I certainly had my moments where I cursed God (I do regret ever doing it, even though I never truly meant it), but I just mean to let you know that I do know that it was much through spiritual inspiration that I was led to traditional foods and living.
The first step I was inspired to take was to get off of the medications. I know that most would say I should have done it under the supervision of a doctor, but I was inspired to specifically get off of the medication without the interference of a doctor. I will always stand by that because I know it was by the Spirit of God that I was instructed to do it that way. I started weaning myself a little by reducing the dose of one medication every few days. After the first couple days of a lower dose, I felt a bit better. It was obvious that my pregnant body was fatigued because the medication was a poison to it. Now, as a disclaimer, I am not suggesting that everyone on prescription medication should just quit taking their meds, I am only telling my story. Anyway, the prompting to just jump of all the medications completely came to me, but I doubted it and kept the slow weaning going. I went back to feeling just as terrible, so I prayed about the previous prompting to quit "cold turkey" and it was confirmed to me that it would be the best way. I was warned that it would not be easy and that I would go through a seemingly lengthy detox period, but I wanted and needed the fastest and healthiest way to get off of the medications that were creating more problems than they were solving.
I would like to say that everything turned around really quickly and that I felt great and life just got better, but it didn't. My detox period (which lasted almost my entire pregnancy) was quite miserable and very difficult. However, it taught me to deal with my issues in a natural and healing way. I also realized how truly addicted I was to all of my medications. Although I had immediately and completely quit taking the ADD meds (which were narcotics) as soon as I learned I was pregnant, I still had cravings for them and the other meds throughout my pregnancy. In fact, some days, even when things are not so much of a struggle, I still crave certain of those medications (especially the ADD narcs). I used to be too ashamed to admit that I was addicted, but now I realize that it is not necessarily a sin to be addicted. It is however, wrong to give in to the addiction, which I did not and still do not do. I must also point out that while I was addicted to prescription medications, I never abused them. There is a big difference between the two-- addiction can cause one to abuse something. I took my medication according to my doctor's instructions, which is not abuse.
The second step I took was to look for alternative methods of dealing with mental illness. I was a little at a loss at first, so I did what most people of my generation do-- I "Googled" it. I was led to www.alternativementalhealth.com. I encourage everyone to check it out. If you do not struggle with mental illness yourself, I am sure someone you know does (even if it is not "diagnosed"). I started reading the material available on and through this inspired site. A lot of it talked about nutritional issues like vitamin and mineral deficiencies often being the possible cause of mental illness. I suppose I always knew that had something to do with it, but it never made sense (or worked) for me to simply supplement with a pill. This provoked me to spend most of my time for the remainder of my pregnancy researching the matter.
The third significant step came when we were driving somewhere and I was talking to Richard about how I thought it would be cool to raise livestock at some point. I suppose my interest in it mostly came from being very involved in FFA in high school. It always made sense to me that people should get more in touch with agriculture, since it is a strong foundation in agriculture that will bring abundance to any people or nation. We passed a field with a few cows in it, so the thought of a having a dairy cow jumped into my head. I got excited and curious and jumped onto some local classifieds on my phone to see how much a dairy cow would cost initially, but quickly found myself confused at which kind of dairy cow I would want. So, I did some research on dairy cows and came across the website www.realmilk.com. I read through quite a bit of their information because I found it intriguing. I was then led to the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) website. I then became very passionate about learning all I could about the topics I frequently saw discussed on the WAPF site.
Over the next few months, I spent several hours a day researching nutrition and health. I would pray each day that I would come across the most timely information for me and my family. We found a source for raw milk and began purchasing it and consuming it quite regularly. We have since converted pretty much entirely to a traditional diet and I have read most of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and some of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price.
Our lives have only been getting better and my health has improved drastically. I could easily make a long list of issues that I previously dealt with daily as a struggle that I now either don't have to deal with anymore or I can more easily take them on as challenges. We get sick much less often, to a lesser degree (shorter illness, less suffering, etc.), and I have much more energy (without the use of strong energy drinks or other caffeine sources as I felt stuck using while on medications and eating modern foods).
I strongly believe that anyone that dismisses the changes we have made in our home has never really tried them in their own for any length of time. A lot of people are not convinced that the types of changes we have made could or would be very relevant for themselves or their own families, but they are not the people that have done the tremendous research that I have done as a mother and eater. Our modern society has made us so far removed from our food that it is such an inconvenience to prepare and/or cook all our meals ourselves, so we let someone else do it. I am not saying that we should only ever eat food of our own making, but I am saying that we outsource too much of our lives. If we understood our food and learned to enjoy our food more, we would want to stay more connected to it and the preparation of it.
My two biggest recommendations for any person that wants to even try to explore a whole new world of health, vitality and closeness with their family are:
1. Eat a 100% grass-fed steak. They taste AMAZING! AND they are way more nutritious! They also do not need hormones or anti-biotics to grow well and stay healthy, so the meat is a lot safer. We get ours at Utah Natural Meat, but I recommend that you look for a source near you if you live very far away from Salt Lake City, UT. Once you taste how great a grass-fed steak is, you will want to find out the awesome nutritional value of it. (Red meat and saturated fats are not bad for you!!! To say otherwise is to promote propaganda that stems from the companies that profit from you avoiding good, quality animal fats & protein.)
2. Do the research. Learn about your food. Even if you decide that you are just fine on the standard modern American diet (whichever version you currently subscribe to), you need to know that our food rights are in grave jeopardy. I believe that you have the right to eat at MacDonald's several times a week if you choose to eat that way, but I do not think that my access to nutrient-dense foods (such as raw milk) should be the cost of promoting big business interest. Raw milk is the most heavily regulated agricultural product after marijuana because the FDA and USDA like to claim that it is "inherently dangerous". Well, according to their own statistics, a person is 22,000 times more likely to get sick from any other food than they are from raw milk. This number does, in fact, take in to account that about only 3% of Americans currently drink raw milk, so it is not just about the fact that only a few people drink it. If they (government agencies) are trying to not only tell us what to feed ourselves and our families, but they are limiting our food choice with their policies-- we are in big trouble with all of our other human rights. I encourage you to not only watch the many enlightening food documentaries released in the last few years, but please take the time to read an article or two a week from the WAPF journals. Go ahead and question what they say and reference the studies they talk about. I have done this enough times to know that I can trust what they are talking about. You don't have to spend several hours a day on research as I did, but make it a point to educate yourself regularly about the issue of your health and nutrition.
I really hope and pray that the information I put on my blog will make a difference in at least one person's life. I have no underlying motives to promote the kind of lifestyle that I live. I will always be open and honest about my choice to feed myself and my family food that I deem suitable for the miraculous temples that God has given us. I believe I have that right of stewardship for my family and I will do anything necessary to protect that God-given right and duty. Please post any comments or questions you have about what I have written. One day, I hope to finish writing and publish my book about my story and the reasons I believe in what I do. Take care and bon appetit!
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