If you saw Celine Dion’s recent heartbreaking Instagram post, you’ve now heard of Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS for short). A rare neurological condition with “no cure”.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Céline Dion (@celinedion)
More and more, we’re hearing stories of celebrities and everyday people suffering from a long list of mystery illnesses (check out my past blog on Justin Bieber’s facial paralysis and the true cause of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome).
After months of canceling tour dates due to crippling muscle spasms, Dion now has her diagnosis. But she doesn’t have answers.
SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH
Over the years, I’ve seen thousands of people with the same story. First mystery symptoms, then a period of endless tests and questions riddled with prescriptions, and then a diagnosis comes. The diagnosis feels like relief, but it isn’t. At first, a diagnosis brings validation – “I’m not making this up, it’s REAL” – but then frustration sets in as treatment plans and medications fail to deliver.
For recovery, we need answers. We need the truth about the root cause. And we need the right tools to get us off the path of confusion and on the path of healing.
WHAT IS STIFF PERSON SYNDROME?
According to medical research, SPS is a neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease. Symptoms include muscle rigidity, painful muscle spasms, sensitivity to noise, stress, and temperature, and a decline in mobility.
Similar to other “autoimmune” conditions like Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia, there is no known cause and no cure. And treatments like pain medication, muscle relaxers, massage therapy, and physical therapy only offer temporary relief.
But every condition has a cause and a solution.
THE TRUE CAUSE
The autoimmune theory is wrong. Our bodies do not attack themselves, they attack pathogens.
Behind every autoimmune diagnosis is a pathogen. Herpetic viruses like the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) consume toxins in our bodies like toxic heavy metals, pesticides and fungicides, air fresheners, scented candles, colognes and perfumes, and natural flavors (which are MSG). They also feed on certain foods that we eat, including eggs, dairy, gluten, soy, and corn. The viruses then produce neurotoxins which inflame our nerves, causing countless symptoms.
Other factors play into chronic neurological illness like SPS as well. In Brain Saver, Medical Medium explores the factors involved with stiffness and what can lead to a diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome.
Body stiffness is directly related to high acidity in the body. Acidosis can occur when we are exposed to high levels of stress and adrenaline, chemicals, radiation, and acidic foods like coffee, vinegar, dairy, kombucha tea, and foods high in fat. Calcium protects us from high levels of acidity, and we lose it when our bodies become too acidic.
As calcium is lost from the body, calcium crystals can saturate connective tissue around nerves, muscles, and joints, contributing to severe joint and body stiffness found with conditions like Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and SPS.
When chronic acidity is combined with viruses and toxic heavy metals in the body, symptoms can become severe enough to lead to a diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome. Toxic heavy metals in the brain not only feed viruses, they interfere with electrical impulses and neurons in the brain.
Severe muscle spasms, characteristic of Stiff Person Syndrome, are specifically caused by EBV feeding off of toxic mercury in the body which releases a toxic byproduct that short-circuits neurotransmitters in the brain.
Read more on autoimmune symptoms caused by viral pathogens in Thyroid Healing by Medical Medium, or check out the Medical Medium Autoimmune Answers blog and the Medical Medium Neurological Symptoms Podcast.
HOW TO HEAL
To recover from conditions like SPS, we have to address the underlying causes: viral pathogens and toxins. Knowing the root cause is half the battle won. It brings peace, and a belief that healing is possible.
Viruses eat to survive, and removing their favorite foods is an important first step. These foods include: eggs, dairy, gluten, corn, soy, and canola oil.
Avoiding common toxic exposures also limits a virus’s ability to grow. These include toxic heavy metals, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, fragrances of any kind, MSG (natural flavors), and aspartame, which can trigger a viral condition.
Do your best to eat organic, and be sure to read every label to look out for flavors and other harmful food additives. And visit my Toxic Heavy Metals blog to learn more about common exposures and how to detox, which is critical to address for anyone suffering from Stiff Person Syndrome.
To address high levels of acidity in the body, avoid acid-forming foods like coffee, chocolate, black and green tea, kombucha tea, all vinegars, nutritional yeast, dairy, eggs, and foods high in fat (including both animal and plant-based sources). Bring in healing alkaline foods like celery juice, lemon water, aloe vera, apples, melons, cucumber, figs, parsley, and leafy greens to recover from and expel acidity.
You can also find all the information you need to get started on your healing journey by downloading my FREE resource: Your Roadmap For Healing Chronic, Mystery, and Autoimmune Illness.
HEALING FOODS AND SUPPLEMENTS
If you’re experiencing symptoms you believe are related to viral pathogens, bring the below foods and supplements into your routine for powerful healing benefits and nervous system support:
Healing Foods:
| Celery Juice | Cilantro | Coconut water |
| Thyme | Wild blueberries | Oregano |
| Bananas | Sage | Papaya |
| Rosemary | Raspberries | Atlantic dulse |
| Blackberries | Nori | Mangoes |
| Garlic | Red-skinned apples | Onion |
| Pears | Leafy greens (spinach, kale, romaine, green and red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, mâche) | Apricots |
| Steamed regular potatoes | Peaches | Sweet potatoes |
| Dates | Butternut squash |
Supplements:
| Core 7 to begin with: | For nervous system support: | For muscle spasm support: |
|---|---|---|
| Zinc | Curcumin | California Poppy |
| Vitamin B12 | Goldenseal | MSM |
| L-lysine | Propolis | NeuroMag |
| Micro-C | Magnesium Glycinate | Yarrow |
| Lemon balm | Nettle leaf | Red root |
| Cat’s claw | Barley Grass Juice Powder | |
| Licorice root | Spirulina |
GETTING OUR VOICE BACK
Celine’s story is a tragic example of how chronic illness takes away our voice, in her case quite literally.
Chronic illness can take away our ability to move through life with vitality and enthusiasm. It changes us as we adapt our lives in order to manage symptoms. It can rob us of the things that make us who we are.
Nowhere is this more obvious than when we are given an autoimmune diagnosis. “What do you mean my body is attacking itself? How can my body turn against me like that?” Who can we trust if we can’t trust our own bodies? Our confidence dips, our trust plummets, our anxieties increase.
But when we learn the truth – that the autoimmune theory is exactly that: a theory, and a false one – we can take our power back. When we apply the right healing tools we get a chance to remember how it feels to be who we really are. We remember the sound of our own voice.
We can then give voice to the truth that healed us in order to empower others, and give them their voice back in turn.
I pray that Celine, whose voice has inspired and uplifted so many, will find the truth, so that this beautiful God-given gift can be hers again. And so her story of healing can inspire and uplift us all.
To your health and happiness,
Muneeza
