Last week I threw my back out, and for the next couple of days I worked on recovering from my back spasm quickly in bed. For those couple of days I had to hold back on driving my kids to their activities, cooking, sococializing, or even sitting up to take client appointments. The hard part about being laid up in bed again (I am totally fine now) is the PTSD from when I was bedridden for a year with neurological Lyme disease and chronic fatigue. This is what today’s blog is about – the mental and emotional hurdles of healing.
I used to be bed ridden with chronic fatigue- sick and unable to function at all. It was hard to go to the bathroom, take a shower, or even walk to my kitchen. It was hard to stand for more than 5 – 10 minutes. My left arm where I was bitten by a poisonous spider felt like it was paralyzed. Every time I tried to move it I was in excruciating pain, so much pain that it would make my brain explode. While bedridden for so long I had times I felt depressed and was down on myself. When would this end? How much more of my life would I be spending in bed? Would I ever be able to live my life again, pursuing my dreams and goals?
My logical left brain of course knows that throwing my back out is a very temporary circumstance and nothing like being bed ridden from chronic fatigue and neurological Lyme disease, but somewhere inside me those old feelings of being stuck in bed and being a little down and depressed came flooding back. And that is the thing with PTSD- you never know when its going to pop up. I felt the hopelessness I used to feel start to creep back in through the remembering of those harder times. I am grateful I could reach out to my support system. My husband and my friends were quick to remind me that this very temporary back spasm would be done in a couple of days and I would be back to normal in no time.
I am sharing this moment I had with old PTSD because I know so many of you healing chronic illness also experience this in various ways, shapes, and forms whilst you are healing. The mental and emotional hurdles of healing are just as important to acknowledge and address as our physical symptoms are. We can all too often not put as much importance on the emotional side of healing because the physical symptoms are so debilitating. However, PTSD is also a symptom and can happen because we became chronically sick. Of course there are many other reasons for PTSD to occur, but I would not have had a flashback to being stuck in bed and the depression I felt had I never been bedridden and chronically sick for a year. That PTSD was from being chronically sick.
The Emotional Hurdles of Healing
This is something that isn’t talked about very often, the post traumatic aspect of healing from chronic illness. Once you have healed a part of you says I don’t want to go back to that, I won’t. So finding yourself in a similar position, or thrown into a situation where you are forced to remember old wounds, can be triggering. Being sick takes so much from you- time, energy, money, personal goals, and dreams. When there is so much living left to do and your life becomes unrecognizable, it is no wonder the negative experiences find a way to stay with you.
Before my recent back injury I was active in the life of my family- three daughters and a husband- I ran my business, was making strides in my health through extended Advanced 3:6:9 cleanses, and all of that came to a momentary halt. Of course I am OK now, but it still shocks the mind to say the least!
Something I tell the members of my Intuitive Healing Community is that you can change your experience of PTSD by how you take care of yourself when you are triggered. For example, I could have pushed through all of these feelings of crumminess, tried to find a way to compartmentalize them, or soldiered on with my raw cleanse, but I knew that my best bet was to take care of myself.
So that is what I did, I started to prioritize TLC and decided to stop judging myself. I took the pressure off regarding what I expected myself to get done, and knew that if I let myself take a step back I would be ready to take three more forward when I recovered. I stopped my raw cleanse and decided to eat cooked potatoes and focus on nourishing myself with healing foods.
Getting Unstuck
PTSD creates a physiological response to past memories that hinder us, there are ranging levels of it starting from mild hindrance to full-body physiological response (think harrowing experiences of war). You can treat the physiological aspect of PTSD with the right foods and supplements, and you can treat the mental and emotional hurdles of PTSD with the right self-care.
Last week, getting unstuck mentally and emotionally looked like changing the scene- if I cannot get up and move I will watch funny movies or shows, meditate on nature, look out of the window, take a relaxing bath, use essential oils just for a change of scent (which instantly helps me shift) and I will find ways I can still be productive by helping organize, doing email or something else. Knowing when to reach out and ask for help is also a big one!
A great resource on information regarding PTSD is Medical Medium Revised and Expanded– there is a great chapter on PTSD and how to recover from it complete with angels to call on and soul-healing meditations (these help you restore your faith and build back trust). He also has an updated chapter on PTSD in Brain Saver, in addition to a complete protocol list updated with brain shots and shock therapies. Find more podcast meditations here and more information here. I would reccomend reading both chapters- doing this is a healing experience in itself.
Physiologically, healing PTSD comes down to glucose and mineral salts (surprise!), you need to help cool the response in your brain and feed your nervous system with both of these. It is important to build up your glucose reserves so that your body has a buffer to these traumatic experiences. The Trauma, Shock, and Loss Stabalizer Shot is also a great tool to use.
Prioritize these healing foods:
- Raw honey
- Dates
- Mango
- Wild blueberries
- Melon
- Sweet potato
- Figs
- Papaya
- Persimmon
- Beets
- Tomatoes
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Tangerines
- Apples.
- Celery juice
- Mache
- Red leaf lettuce
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Avoid dairy and eggs, keep radical fats to a minimum
For my back pain, I used Ancient Minerals magnesium cream lotion, took extra magnesium glycinate, California poppy, Curcumin, Propolis, Mullein, Nettle and lots of Lemon Balm. I also used the matrix repatterning magnets on my back and within 48 hours, I was completely back to normal! After I was better I spent time outside in my garden and I prayed so many prayers of gratitude for bouncing back quickly.
I know that I am not the only one that experiences the mental and emotional hurdles of healing and there is comfort in knowing you are not alone. You don’t have to be fully recovered to know what this feels like, even just turning a sharp corner in your health can leave you with the painful memories of hardship.
The more time, positive experiences, spiritual and nutritional support you give yourself, the farther you will go and the stronger you will become. Take this as your green light to take care of yourself even more when you are triggered so that you can change your experience of PTSD, and know that I am here for you!
If you have experienced PTSD because of your illness, please share about it in the comments below.
To your health and happiness,
Muneeza
Ready to take your health journey deeper? In our Intuitive Healing Community, we focus on live group cleanses. With live Q&A, expert teaching calls, and ongoing support, you’ll gain practical tools and guidance for real transformation. It’s a supportive, affordable, and highly immersive experience designed to help you on your healing path. Learn more here.
