When Sanchita Gupta came to me, she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and was on Tecfidera. But her balance was off, she looked weak and anaemic, had low vitamin D & B12 levels and no energy.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks the brain, central nervous system and spine. For every person, the disease develops differently. There are vision problems (optic neuritis) for some or extreme nerve pain in the calves of the legs and shakiness (tremors) for others. However, the entire medical community is in agreement that the disease is incurable and even with drugs, over a period of time, the patient’s quality of life will progressively decline.
Sanchita’s first email to me was, “I am a 22-year-old girl who has recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. No medications have been started as of now since me and my family have come across the first case of such type. I got admitted to Max hospital for a week and they went on with steroid therapy. Then my bhabhi from Hong Kong who is undergoing your treatment for rheumatoid arthritis recommended your name. Ma’am, please revert as soon as possible. I would love to start with your therapy really soon and take my first step towards a healthy and normal life.”
Sanchita is just a few years older than my own daughter, and so my treatment had an emotional connect. I asked her for the details I needed so that we could start her healing journey. Despite her pain levels and fatigue, she is one determined girl and wanted to continue her studies. “Ma’am, I am preparing for my entrance exams, and study for 5-6 hours a day at home. Also, I have enrolled in French Classes thrice a week. I am keen to join an internship programme but I don’t know the timings so please adjust my routine to these.”
I was quite shocked. Other cases of MS that had come to me were just at home, not doing anything, and they took time to heal. MS patients have very high levels of fatigue, which she was obviously fighting with her strong mind. As part of my healing for autoimmune diseases, rest and sleep are absolute essentials for treatment because we cannot allow fatigue to set in, as it hinders the journey of healing.
And so we began. Out went inflammatory foods specific to MS and a step by step healing plan was introduced. It was difficult for her as she could not digest anything initially. She vomited and felt nauseous for the first few days. I modified the routine to add more cooked foods to settle her stomach. Slowly she settled into her new routine. There were lots of nutritional supplements, and none of her favourite foods was there. She is a young girl, and I had to be very strict because it is easy for young and enthusiastic kids to deviate, but she didn’t. And it paid off. In 3 weeks, her first level of improvement began to show, via improved energy. I told her categorically, no travel, please rest a lot and started her on some joint and muscle building exercises, some balance yoga asanas and some pranayamas. I was happy with her progress and knew that if she rested, she would improve more. And then one day, I suddenly got a call from her saying she was at her grandparents’ place, what should she eat? Her exuberance and full-of-life attitude were irresistible. Instead of scolding her (I’m good at that!) I laughed and gave her the options. That’s when she realised that my health plan wasn’t all that restrictive, and wherever she went, she would be able to find foods she could eat! Once she understood her universe of healing foods, she sought them out and increased her horizon. I emailed her some tasty recipes within that universe, and she experimented and began to explore more.
I had told Sanchita to take it easy, but she continued with her classes, would step out for 15 min and do a skype with me and go back in. The only thing she listened to me was for her internship. For that, I had to do a counselling session with her and her father, explaining to them that if she gave one year of her life to treatment and rest, she is a young girl, she will have her entire life and quality of life back. They understood and dropped the internship.
Through the 3 months that we were actively together (though the treatment is for one year), she kept showing signs of improvements. Headaches improved, the balance came back and she realised that she could live a full life! “At 7 months, my balance is almost perfect now, I used to feel under confident of crossing the road earlier!,” she wrote to me a few days back. “My vitamin D is so much better, but my doctor is unconcerned about keeping levels in range. How can they not know about the connection between vitamin D and autoimmune diseases?” she asked. “I went to visit my doctor this weekend for a regular check-up and was surprised to know that she has no qualms as to whatsoever I eat. She said to eat anything you want to. Your Vit D level is now balanced so stop taking it now. She didn’t tell me to start with Vit D supplements in the first place. It’s because of your plan that I was on it. Then she told me to have curd and milk in large quantity so that I can have Vit D from natural sources. Just out of curiosity I asked her if I can have dairy products since I knew they are inflammatory for me, to which she replied you can have anything you want to. There are no restrictions. How can doctors be so blind and ignorant to the concept of inflammation? Why do they never want to cure the root cause of the problem? Nevertheless, I am truly grateful that you are treating the root cause. It’s been 7 months that I have been following the whole plan and on a scale of 1-10, I would say I have reached 7-7n half already, and I am sure, next few months will have me reach to perfect 10 in terms of healing 🙂 More power to you :*”
Sanchita’s inflammation is down, her energy levels are soaring, she’s experimenting with food and life. She’s living the life she deserves, that a 22-year-old young girl deserves. She refused to believe that her disease was incurable and she would be debilitated and stays determined to keep her MS away. The depleted myelin sheath remains damaged, though further demyelination has slowed now, and the minerals, nutrients and muscles around it have given alternate strength to the area as part of my nutrition, functional training and yoga, and so she doesn’t feel the lack of balance or the pain and inflammation she used to feel in those areas. Her nervous system functions better as a result, and the nerve vitamins and good fats to restore the nervous system to normal functioning have given her a new lease of life.
This young girl’s brave and uninterrupted spirit needs your blessings to carry on. She already has mine.
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