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IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN TRAUMA AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE? | Nina Cesena
IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN TRAUMA AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE?
If you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, it is very likely you’ve been told by a doctor that there is no known cause.  That is what happened to me.  In 2003, I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura.  (A rare condition where your immune system attacks the platelets in your blood).  The very word “Idiopathic” literally means, “We have no idea why this happened.”

But I knew….I knew in my heart exactly what had happened.  STRESS!   Toxic Levels of Stress!  At the time, I was going through a divorce.  To say it was a “difficult time” would be an understatement.  I was in therapy.  My counselor said I was “depressed”.  The truth is every time my phone would ring, my heart would race, my stomach would drop, and I couldn’t bring myself to answer it or check the messages.  I was so filled with constant anxiety, I had a hard time eating and I lost a significant amount of weight.  My family was worried about me.  Just as I was finally putting the pieces back together, BAM!  Autoimmune disease struck me!

I didn’t realize it then, but I had undergone a traumatic experience.  I began to wonder if there was a link between trauma and autoimmune disease. Of course, not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will end up with an autoimmune disease.  However, the more people I talked to who had been diagnosed with autoimmune illnesses also seemed to have experienced some sort of trauma….a sexual assault…loss of a spouse…loss of a child…  I knew people who had suffered these traumas and struggled with various autoimmune conditions.  

It turns out, I was on to something.  Although current research doesn’t prove that trauma is a direct cause of autoimmune disease, it can be shown that extreme stress does cause physical changes in the body.   Severe stress can raise the body’s cortisol levels which can cause inflammation and impair the immune system.  The immune system can be so out of balance, it can be both underactive in some ways and overactive in other ways at the same time! It could potentially trigger the onset of an autoimmune condition you may be genetically predisposed to.  

My ponderings cause me to wonder:  If the domino effect of stress and trauma could be the root cause of an autoimmune disease….  Is it possible to reverse the physical condition by healing the trauma and managing our body’s response to the stress?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!


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Meet Nina Cesena

 
Chronic illness STINKS!  A battle with autoimmune disease left me “immune compromised” after the loss of my spleen, which happens to be an integral part of our immune system.

I won the battle with autoimmune disease and got into remission…but my immune system was still thrashed! I fell unwell ALL. THE. TIME. I was a classroom teacher and a mom of school age kids. Every icky thing that went around seemed to find me. There were winters I forgot what it felt like to feel “well”.  I wondered what my future was going to be like….Was I going to be a victim of my immune system forever?
Then…I began to wonder if there were ways I could support my immune system naturally. I’m a skeptic. If I’m going to try something new, I need to know “how” and “why” it is going to work! I did a ton of research…and tried something I hadn’t tried before.

A few months went by…and I realized I had made it through an entire fall-winter season feeling WELL! That was 7 years ago!!

Now, I live my life confident in the power of my immune system. I don't worry that every germ is going to catch up with me. I don't fear NOT having a spleen!
 
I’ve learned so much since that first winter seven years ago! Chronic illness or a weakened immune system can make us feel out of control and even trapped! I’m on a mission to help others empower themselves to take control and gain freedom.

Come join our group of wellness warriors!
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