Ask Dr. Nancy

What makes you tick?

and

What makes you sick?

By Dr. Nancy Gahles, DC, CCH, RSHom(NA)

Allergy season is upon us. So the pundits say. But, is there really a season for allergies?

Allergies represent a broad class of symptoms specific to individual sensitivities. 

Oversensitivities exist to dust, insects, trees, plants, animals, all manner of nature in its developmental phases be it budding, blooming, dying, dormant. Allergies to the sun and the cold are common. 

The observance of physical symptoms in the presence of one or more of these triggers leads to a diagnosis of allergy. Avoidance is one treatment. Antihistamines to quell the cascade response of runny nose, watery eyes and itchiness is another.

We can be oversensitive to people, situations and environmental stimuli. Irritability, mood changes, joint and muscle aches along with sleep disorders and fatigue are symptomatic of this type of allergy. Indeed, any thing or anybody who causes you to react in a way that produces symptoms, mental, emotional or physical can be considered an allergen to you.

The key to understanding what determines your sensitivity is in knowing your Self.  What makes you tick? How are you comfortable in your own skin? What situations, places, people or things make you feel out of your comfort zone?  What brings your energy down?

These are the “allergens” to be considered. These are called “stressors”.  Stressors present a challenge to your system. Your body responds by prompting the adrenal glands to produce a hormone called cortisol in response to fight, flight or freeze signals. 

Often, cortisol levels remain high for long periods of time in the presence of ongoing stressors.  Adrenal fatigue is the result and it is one cause of symptoms of allergies or oversensitivities. The impact of stress is a spectrum that requires thorough analysis to determine what makes you sick. You are as individual as a snowflake and so are your unique sensitivities. 

What makes you tick, and what makes you sick are two sides of the same coin. 

Introspection, conscious awareness and a proactive lifestyle will provide you with strategies to increase your immunity.  Building resilience is a factor in attaining immunity to allergens and stressors of all types. 

Creating a Health Investment Portfolio that is diversified in asset classes that include natural healthcare practices and products along with conventional medicine is simply common sense. Investing in positive emotions can undo the effects of negative emotions and is a novel intervention. Homeopathy, the second largest system of medicine in the world, has a strong body of evidence-based research showing its efficacy for allergies. An integrative, collaborative model of care in this way produces a restoration of equilibrium, a return to health and a quality of happiness to one’s life. 

Well being. The anti-allergen! As I am fond of saying: “Happy=Healthy”.

Start investing in your self now!