I awoke one morning over twenty-five years ago with a devastating illness that left me completely disabled for many years and fighting for my life. It completely and dramatically changed my health and life as I knew it.
I awoke feeling extremely shaky and with the sensation that my head and upper body were completely disconnected from my lower body. At the time, I was an alcoholic. I also had a history of heavy drug use and an eating disorder. I knew deep inside that my body was on its way out, and the realization of this, along with having absolutely no knowledge of if or how I could reverse it, was the most frightening experience of my life.
As the weeks went by I began to experience severe anxiety attacks—constant jittery, shaky feelings that left me completely unable to function. These lasted 24 hours a day and for many years. I also had daily, crippling neck and chest pain, horrific insomnia and fatigue, an inability to concentrate, and severe hypoglycemia. I had food allergies that landed me in the hospital and environmental allergies that practically caused me to “live in a bubble.” I also battled with depression, PMS, headaches, and constipation.
I spent 2 1⁄2 years on complete disability from my job and I spent every day of this in total fear. I felt as though every second of the day I had to focus on compelling my body to stay alive. During this time I saw twenty-five medical doctors. Most of them were very disrespectful to me and my condition. Very few tests were done to determine what was wrong, although a prominent infectious disease specialist did eventually give me the vague label of having an autoimmune disease. At the time I became ill, AIDS, M.S., fibromyalgia and even chronic fatigue syndrome were all diseases that were widely unheard of and unknown in the medical field. I was told I would have to learn to live with my symptoms and I was given some drugs to try to decrease them. I knew deeply that more drugs, albeit pharmaceutical ones, would be the nails in my coffin and that this was not an acceptable answer. The answer, however, was something I didn’t have.
Living with my symptoms was not an option for me. I concluded that I had two choices at this point: jump off a bridge, or travel down a different road. Obviously I chose the latter. I was given the name of an alternative medical doctor practicing experimental medicine. I spent a number of months seeing him but received no benefit from his program. Later on he was sent to jail for his practices.
My second experience in alternative treatments was with a nutritionist who recommended dozens of supplements and a high-protein, anti-candida diet. His program was very much like the majority of programs I see offered by most alternative health practitioners today. This program led me physically into an even deeper black hole. The next person I saw was a homeopath who thought I was dying from AIDS.
I moved on from this man after many months of seeing minimal improvement. All told I went to twenty or more alternative practitioners, including herbalists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists—all in search of a way to feel normal again. (Only later on when I was completely healthy did I realize that my “normal” was actually very unhealthy.)
I spent ten years looking for health. I tried every anti-candida diet on the market along with all of the supplements that were recommended then, as they are today, to treat it. I even took an illegal drug from France when none of the others worked. I was put on anti-allergy diets, fasts, and given tons more herbs and supplements. I spent two years having all of my amalgam fillings removed. I spent four hours a week sitting in a doctor’s office with an I.V. in my arm delivering oxygen and mega-nutrients, including very high levels of vitamin C, into my body. I had vitamin B-12 and gamma globulin shots in my behind. I did over 400 enemas and some 70 colonics. For seven months I ate nothing but millet, vegetables, and rice protein powder. I went on dairy-free, wheat-free, enzyme-rich diets for years. I properly combined meals. I practiced visualization, affirmations, meditation, biofeedback, and deep breathing. I exercised frequently, as I had been doing when I first became very ill.
I took anything and practically everything that was recommended then, as it is today, to eliminate my symptoms.
I didn’t improve much on any of the above programs that I was thoroughly and strictly committed to. I only began to see considerable changes when I decided to take the matter into my own hands and when I started to apply the principles that I am teaching you. When all else had failed, I decided to go back to school to continue my studies in nutrition. During all of the years that I had been sick, I had been reading about alternative health and attending as many health seminars as possible to learn how to heal my body. I spent thousands and thousands of hours trying to figure this all out.
I learned how to heal my bowel and how to safely but aggressively eliminate the enormous storage of acids/toxins in my body. This accomplished a healing of my body that all of the other programs—which only treat the symptoms of an acidic/ toxic body—never would or could accomplish.
My journey was very long and painful but it was by far the best thing I have experienced in my life. It gave me a life. Today I am healthier than I have ever been. I have no more neck or chest pain, no anxiety, no depression, no constipation, no hypoglycemia, no PMS, tons of energy, no insomnia, and no difficulty maintaining my weight. I have not drunk alcohol in 20 years and find abstaining from it to be completely effortless. My eating disorder mentality is gone. By healing my body I am now able to eat healthfully—in fact I crave healthy foods—without following a strict diet. I tolerate high levels of wheat and dairy when once even the smallest amount left me crippled for days. I do not need extra supplements to maintain these results.
My healthy body—and not a diet, exercise, or a bunch of supplements—keeps my weight down and me feeling fabulous. My fear of becoming ill with cancer or any other disease and of losing control of my weight is completely gone. These outcomes are priceless.
Today I am passionate about and committed to helping others attain the unbelievable physical and mental health that I have. I have helped many clients achieve this even when all else has failed. I have helped many clients eliminate conditions that modern medicine calls incurable. I hope to one day sell millions of copies of this book. The more people I can help the better. I would love to open healing centers for women with fertility problems and people with alcohol and eating disorders. And one day, I will give back to less-fortunate communities and individuals through a non-profit organization aimed at educating others how to heal their bodies. I have been given more than one can imagine, and I have much to give back.
– Donna Pessin
