Anna + Essential Oils
What Motivated Me To Use Essential Oils?
As a skeptic by nature, I have always wanted to see proof before accepting a position on anything controversial. That is, until I fell prey to chronic illness. At which point, I was willing to try just about anything and everything to feel better. After two years of illness, a diagnosis of Lyme disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and trying an array of different treatments, my skepticism of any remedy increased. I’m not going to lie, essential oils were DEFINITELY a “Hail Mary” play…but to my (and my mother’s) delight and surprise, they worked miracles!
My diagnosis came just as I was about to leave for Macedonia to teach English for nine months. When asked if I was still clear to go, my doctor simply replied, “You can be sick here or you can be sick there.” I chose the latter and started my Lyme treatment (Cowden protocol) while living abroad with my older brother.
A lot of my symptoms improved once I started taking Armor Thyroid, a natural thyroid replacement hormone, but many of my symptoms persisted.
The symptom that plagued me the most was brain fog because it resulted in:
- An overwhelming sense of depression,
- An incapacity to focus,
- A crushing sense of stupidity,
- An inability to address my growing health concerns,
- And did I mention the depression?
It was this area of concern that essential oils provided the most relief.
While I was getting by in Macedonia, my mom was back home looking for a “cure,” gathering as much information as she could find (I have no doubt that my mother’s dogged determination saved my life.) This is when she was introduced to essential oils; she dropped the “big bucks” and mailed me the doTERRA starter kit. She instructed me to put a couple of drops of lemon oil in my water throughout the day and to put two drops of frankincense under my tongue both in the morning and before going to bed – I reluctantly complied.
Skepticism Doesn’t Go Away Overnight
After about a month, I was out of frankincense, and if I’m being honest, I wasn’t persuaded that it had helped me any. The only real improvement that I saw was that I was able to focus more on things and had even started picking up books for pleasure reading (a pastime that I had enjoyed before getting ill.) However, I had determined that it was likely other things that had caused this improvement. Maybe taking the Armor Thyroid was alleviating additional systems or maybe the Cowden Protocol was finally having an impact.
My posture towards essential oils was about to quickly change.
After not taking frankincense for about a week, the brain fog returned. I was struggling to focus, found reading painful, and that heavy sense of depression had returned…I asked my mom to send another bottle asap.
Me Today = Oils + 100 Other Things
Essential oils were certainly a turning point in my health journey because not only have they given me relief from various negative health systems, but they have also given me hope that I can live a healthy and full life. I’ve tried a LOT of oils over the years, some of them worked and some of them didn’t. With that said, there is no question in my mind that the ones that did work were well-worth the trial and error it took to find them.
My health journey is far from over and it certainly involved (and involves) more than essential oils. But I will say that I’ve used a LOT of different products and protocols in the last five years and essential oils are one of the few products that have been in constant use throughout those years. They have allowed me to heal enough and focus in a way that has allowed me to dig deeper and work harder at living a well-rounded, healthy, and fulfilling lifestyle.
Oils, probiotics, amino acids, exercise, a nutrient-focused diet, a supportive husband, and a host of other things have helped me tremendously in my fight to overcome chronic illness. The goal of this blog is to pass along my experiences and to be a helpful resource to anyone interested in oils or struggling with personal health. Again, oils are not the “end all, be all” to clean, healthy living.
If you have questions about my journey or essential oils, please do not hesitate to message me.
Chris + Essential Oils
We All Have A Past That Pushes Us Forward
As a young kid, I suffered from crippling food and environmental allergies — so severe that as a four and five year old I would get paralyzing migraine headaches because something was cooked in peanut oil or because we roasted the hot dogs over the wrong kind of wood. If I ate the wrong thing, my throat would swell mid-meal, and I had chronic breathing difficulties with frequent bouts of bronchitis. Getting allergy tested and cutting several foods from my diet helped, but it did not completely spare me of allergy-related illness.
As a teen, my most severe allergy symptoms waned, which I mostly attributed to my participation in sports and a very active and mostly outdoor lifestyle. Sports, exercise, and fitness had permitted me to develop crucial strength and resilience, but there were still times that old issues would rear their heads and drag me down for weeks at a time.
Even as an adult, food allergies and frequent lung issues nagged at me and prevented me from performing physically at the levels I wanted and limited my participation in desired activities.
Lightbulb Moment: Gut Health Is Key!
Then in my thirties, something clicked while I was reading about the effects of gut bacteria on a person’s immune system and overall health. A light bulb went off that, for me, explained a ton of my different health issues as a young child and how I have been able to eliminate all of my known allergies and improve my overall immune function as an adult.
Feeding a healthy gut has opened the door for substantial improvement in my long term and sustained health. I have achieved this mostly through a committed approach to a healthy probiotic/prebiotic rich diet, consistent exercise, and an intentional effort to spend time outside often.
Why Are Essential Oils My Next Step?
As someone who wants to constantly be improving, learning, and pushing to the next level, there is always a next chapter. My wife introduced me to the latest addition to my balanced approach to health…essential oils.
As an engineer with, what I like to think is, a solid science background, I was pretty sceptical of the whole essential oils trend – I may have even been willing to call it a cult or snake oil. Even the name bugged me, “Essential Oils.” Part of my scepticism was rooted in what I still believe is a problem that still plagues the essential oil community – the marketing of oils as historic, mystic, and even biblical miracle cures instead of focusing on scientific results based research.
It was only through my wife’s and some like minded individuals’ solid and discerning research that I have come to believe that essential oils fill an important gap in what a balanced, healthy life means for me. Oils have helped Anna and I replace harsh artificial treatments that have nasty side effects with more natural and sustainable ones. Things as simple as using lavender oil in place of hydrocortisone for minor burns and itch relief, and the fact that a simple blend of essential oils has been more effective than anything else I have tried for getting cold sores to heal quickly.
Essential Oils + Conventional Medicine = Balanced Informed Health
Tying it all together, while I’ll never be convinced that essential oils can completely replace conventional medicines (I still have asprin in my medicine cabinet) I am a believer that for most of our everyday needs, an essential oil used properly, intelligently, and cautiously can give similar results with fewer adverse effects (like compromised gut health) than most of the conventional over-the-counter remedies available today.
My hope is that as my wife and I try things out ourselves and learn, we can pass on what works and doesn’t work for us, and that you will find our experiences a useful resource for you on your road to a healthy, abundant life.