It's Your Health

03/21/2026

Kawasaki Disease...

What you need to know in the comments below.

03/18/2026

Did you know there are two emerging disciplines that offer a new lens for understanding how our body responds to food?

These new disciples research and report how food can shape our genetic activity. Just because we have a family history of a disease or condition doesn't mean our body will express it. Research has shown our genes have switches that can turn on and turn off genetic expression. If we give our body what it needs and take away what is causing dis-ease we can allow our body to heal.

New research shows 85-95% of chronic disease can be reversed. Unfortunately this also means 5-15% of chronic disease cannot be altered with the science and technology we have today.

If a disease or condition expresses itself and we do the right things sometimes we can flip that switch, deactivate the gene, and regain control of our health.

How do I know any of this truly works?

My son has a rare genetic condition in which Traditional Medicine doesn't have a lot to offer. I have been able to provide him a better life by utilizing knowledge I have gained from the study of holistic medicine, functional medicine, natural medicine, herbal therapy, IV infusion therapy, and Functional Genomics, and more. The hardest thing for me to learn was "no one person can know it all." I tried. There is just too much new knowledge published every single day. Thankfully I have been able to make connections with individuals who know important health, wellness, and healing abilities I will never possess.

What are the two new and emerging disciplines helping us understand how the body works?

Nutrigenomics and Nutrigenetics

Nutrigenomics investigates how nutrients and food compounds influence gene expression. This field looks at how dietary inputs can activate or suppress certain genes, potentially affecting inflammation, detoxification, metabolism, and long-term health outcomes.

Nutrigenetics focuses on how individual genetic variations affect responses to specificnutrients. This helps explain why one person thrives on a high-fat diet while another gains weight, or why some individuals need more vitamin C or B12 than standard recommendations suggest.

Together, these fields form the foundation of personalized nutrition—an approach that moves beyond one-size-fits-all advice and into precision-guided dietary support based on a person’s genetic profile.

My primary focus of study right now is Functional Genomics, Nutrigenomics, Nutrigenetics, Metabolomics, and more. Understanding the metabolic pathway and using it to fill in the nutritional deficiencies for each individual truly offers individualized health coaching and client care.

Learning to Live Healthier

03/17/2026

I once had ALL of these symptoms, except ED. I have a RARE genetic epilepsy. I believe maybe it isn't as rare as they say. It is just overlooked, never considered, or dismissed because no one keeps fighting for a TRUE Root Cause.

In 2018 I suffered a brain injury from undiagnosed and untreated Epilepsy.

I have focal seizures. They are monitored by monitoring my prolactin level.

Once my seizures were controlled my symptoms slowly resolved

Today I know I have Mitochondrial Encephalopathy.

Traditional Medicine says there is no cure, no treatment, and nothing they can do to slow the progression of my disease. My history shows I have regained control of each flare because God pulled me into Holistic and Functional Medicine.

My hell allowed me to get my daughter and son appropriately diagnosed and treated. They also have a rare genetic epilepsy.

Never stop searching for answers. Find healthcare providers who listen. Look outside of traditional medicine for answers.



Monitoring prolactin is not standard of care. There are other causes for hyperprolactinemia which have to be considered and rules out. If all causes have been ruled out and doctors have no reason for the prolactin to be elevated then seizures can be determined the cause of hyperprolactinemia.

Am EEG should be performed BUT a normal EEG doesn't mean you're not having seizures. If just means you're not having seizures at the time of your test.

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/01.wnl.0000178391.96957.d0

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1659982/

https://publications.aap.org/aapgrandrounds/article-abstract/15/1/8/89918/Serum-Prolactin-Predictive-in-Epileptic-Seizure?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Additional information can be found online.

God had given me a complicated health history so I can use what I've learned to help others. Please check out my health coaching website....

learningtolivehealthier.com

03/14/2026

This is partially true....

Getting an accurate diagnosis is important as is getting the right treatment.

Reoccurring sinus infections, ear infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia can stem from untreated and undiagnosed allergies and asthma.

If you treat allergies properly then reoccurring sinus infections can be stopped

If you have bronchitis three or more times in a year you probably have asthma.

03/14/2026

Do you have an undiagnosed and untreated health condition?

Do you suffer from headaches?

Do you have unexplained symptoms such as "brain fog, zoning out, forgetting things?"

Focal Aware Seizures (Patient is conscious):
Motor: Jerking or stiffening of a specific limb, face, or body part.

Sensory: Unusual smells (e.g., burning rubber), tastes (e.g., metallic), or strange sensations like tingling or numbness.

Visual/Auditory: Seeing flashing lights, hallucinations, or hearing ringing/sounds.

Psychological/Autonomic: Sudden intense fear, joy, déjà vu, or a "rising" feeling in the stomach.

Focal Impaired Awareness Seizures (Consciousness is affected):

Automatisms: Repetitive, non-purposeful behaviors like lip-smacking, chewing, hand-wringing, or picking at clothes.

Behavioral: Aimless wandering, running, laughing, or screaming.

Cognitive: Staring blankly into space and inability to respond to others.

Post-Seizure Symptoms (Postictal Phase)
Confusion, fatigue, or tiredness.
Temporary weakness in the affected body part.
Speech difficulties.

Do you have ANY unexplained symptoms doctors can't seem to figure out?

Maybe it's seizures too deep within the brain that traditional EEG can not pick up?

Most doctors are not aware checking the prolactin can help differentiate seizures from other conditions. The trick is having the lab drawn 10-15 minutes after onset of symptoms. Thankfully now there are labs where we can pay out of pocket for such testing.

Mitochondrial Disease causes Encephalopathy. Encephalopathy can cause seizures.

In the past When I had an illness I would have headaches. My headaches are in the left temporal lobe. They are not classic migraine headaches. My hearing would become amplified. I would smell skunk or smoke. I would panic looking around the house for an outlet that was on fire. I would have terrible anxiety. I developed episodes of tongue biting in 2017. I don't have sleep apnea.

I went to neurology in 2012 concerned I was having seizures. I had Intracranial Hypertension. My EEG was normal. They didn't care what caused the swelling on my brain. With my health journey I have learned seizures can cause Intracranial hypertension. Doctors call it ideopathic because they "don't know what caused the Intracranial hypertension"

I had febrile seizures as a child. New research, at that time, showed febrile seizures as a child increases the risk of seizures in your 20's. I was told I was not having seizures because my testing was normal with the exception of mild Intracranial hypertension. I was given oral steroids which caused cardiac symptoms. This led to a cardiac work up and more medications which made my symptoms even worse. My history was not considered. I stopped everything , started on supplements, and headed down the path of holistic medicine. They refused to start me on seizure medication.

Mitochondrial Disease wasn't a word I had ever heard of until this past year. What I have learned with my most recent flare is that the medications I was prescribed back then are on the DO NOT take list for Mitochondrial Disease.

In 2017 I started having episodes of blurry vision. I was told I needed glasses. The problem is I didn't always need them. In hindsight the vision issues I had are consistent with visual changes from focal seizures.

My life fell apart in 2018 (6 years later). Thankfully God made me a nurse practitioner, nursing educator, and pulled me into Holistic Medicine in 2012. I was able to find answers on my own. The hard part was finding a doctor who would listen to me.

Neurology, Endocrinology, and Primary Care monitor my seizures by monitoring my prolactin. My prolactin was in the 200's when I suffered a brain injury from undiagnosed and untreated epilepsy in 2018. Neuropsych testing allowed me to find ONE doctor who listened and believed the story I presented with. He helped me get the right treatment.

Today I know I have Mitochondrial Disease. The exact variant remains unknown. My history is consistent with MNGIE and MELAS. It could be a metabolic myopathy. As for the exact variant I no longer care. I have control of this for the fifth time. That is all that matters until another flare occurs.

Vimpat is the seizure medication I take for focal awareness seizures.

I share my story in hopes it helps one of you. When traditional medicine says, "I'm sorry there is no cure. There is no treatment. There is nothing we can do except manage symptoms and watch this progress. Holistic Medicine says, I've got something we can try. I can't guarantee it will work but there is hope. Genetic medicine shows we can turn on and turn off our genes by changing certain things on our life."

It's Your Health and we have to create our own healthcare teams both inside and outside of traditional medicine.

I have added a couple articles below. A lot of doctors don't listen to their patients. If you take the research with you then they take interest.

In 2018 My prolactin was so high it didn't have to be performed 10-20 minutes after an event. My seizures occur during the night. My oxygen drops. My heart rate spikes more than double my baseline sleeping heart rate. The Oura Ring helped me document my heart rate and oxygen levels which lead to neurology starting me on seizure medication. My son is also on Vimpat for Pyroxidine Dependent Epilepsy and does well.

Checking the prolactin is not standard of care. You may have to fight with your doctor to get the test ordered. Fight if you must.

Seizure medication lowered my prolactin from 200's to 50's. Normal is less than 30. A year after starting on seizure medication I had to start on cabergoline for a suspected prolactinoma. Endocrinology said My pituitary is squished (empty sella syndrome). She suspects I have a small brain tumor (prolactinoma) since seizure medication alone did not lead to my high prolactin returning to normal baseline despite two seizure medications.

The second seizure medication we added was Lamictal. This was short term management. Today I know Lamictal provides Mitochondrial protection. I have tried to come off of the cabergoline. My prolactin rises back to the 50's as soon as we stop it. I was able to discontinue the Lamictal in 2020. With this last flare I had to add the Lamictal back to my cocktail this time not for seizures but for Mitochondrial protection.

Having my seizures controlled changed everything.

My most recent flare was caused by neurology discontinuing my Vimpat (seizure medication). This was the WORST decision EVER.

God gave me multiple health stories, made me a nurse practitioner, nursing educator and lead me into holistic and functional medicine so I can use the knowledge he has provided me to help others suffering as I once did

Check out my website at learningtolivehealthier.com

Check out the articles related to my post below....

Seizures and Hyperprolactinemia

https://publications.aap.org/aapgrandrounds/article-abstract/15/1/8/89918/Serum-Prolactin-Predictive-in-Epileptic-Seizure?redirectedFrom=fulltext

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/01.wnl.0000178391.96957.d0 #:~:text=Recommendations:%20Elevated%20serum%20prolactin%20assay,adults%20and%20older%20children%20

Seizures and Encephalopathy

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21590624/

Seizures and Intracranial Hypertension

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000202518

Learning to Live Healthier

02/25/2026

02/25/2026

02/25/2026

Importance of Sleep

When you are in a calorie deficit, getting 7-9 hours of sleep acts as a metabolic “switch” that tells your body to burn fat for energy instead of breaking down muscle for energy. Without enough sleep, your body enters a “metabolically groggy” state where it actively resists fat loss to conserve energy.

The biological reasons for this significant shift in fat burning include:

🗂️In a famous study from the Annals of Internal Medicine, dieters who slept 8.5 hours lost primarily fat. Those who slept only 5.5 hours lose the same total weight, but 55% less of that weight came from fat. Instead, the sleep-deprived group lost 60% more lean muscle mass. Essentially, adequate sleep protects your muscle and forces the body to pull energy from fat stores.

🗂️Sleep deprivation causes your fat cells to become 30% less sensitive to insulin in as little as four days.
📑The Rested State: High insulin sensitivity allows your body to efficiently process energy and access fat stores.
📑The Deprived State: Low insulin sensitivity leads to higher circulating insulin levels. Because insulin is a storage hormone, high levels signal the body to store fat and block the breakdown of existing fat (lipolysis).

🗂️Growth hormone is a powerful “fat-burning” hormone that also helps preserve muscle. The largest pulse of growth hormone occurs during the first few hours of deep sleep. Restricting sleep to fewer than 7 hours blunts this natural growth hormone spike, reducing your body’s ability to mobilize fat for fuel overnight.

🗂️Lack of sleep also triggers a spike in cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone.
📑Elevated cortisol signals the body to conserve energy and protects its “survival” stores (fat), specifically around the abdomen (visceral fat).
📑It also promotes the breakdown of muscle tissue to create quick glucose, further sabotaging your body composition.

02/25/2026

Very creative video sharing the Truth

02/25/2026

Part of my goal as a health coach is to help others navigate the healthcare system.

Knowledge is power. By sharing my knowledge I allow others to have power too