The Case:  Meghan O’Rourke spent years describing her symptoms to her doctor only to be told it was something inconsequential or all in her head. After years of feeling alone and abandoned by the system she started to see a functional medicine practitioner. Finally, she was getting the real answers to what was going on but it took years to undo the damage done by dismissing the issues. She wrote a book about her experience to help others feel less alone.    The Investigation Many people dealing with autoimmune diseases or rare genetic issues find themselves beyond the textbooks of traditional medicine.  This can lead to being given false diagnosis (like, dry skin or hormonal shifts due to menses), or being sent off to specialist after specialist without any diagnosis. When you are caught in this loop, it seems like treating the issues is impossible and the journey can be emotionally draining.  The most heartbreaking part is that women who find themselves in this situation start to question if there are any answers out there, if maybe it is all in their head, or if they will ever feel well again.  This is often when they find me and I’m always so glad when they do and I can help to solve their health mysteries. I feel it’s my purpose to help them get out of despair and on the road to health.   The Invisible Kingdom Meghan O’Rourke is on the same mission. In her book, The Invisible Kingdom, she shares her own journey and what it took to reclaim her health. She shares this story and everything she learned along the way so that others will know that they are not alone and that there are answers when you know where to look.  The book is completely aligned with this podcast, so if you’re a long-time listener, you’ll understand why I had to have her on the show.  In this episode, we break from our usual podcast format so that Meghan can share her inspirational story.    Meghan’s Personal Health Mystery Story For over 10 years, Meghan dealt with health issues that no doctor could explain. It started with neurological symptoms like when she started to feel electrical shock sensations run up her leg. The doctor told her it might be dry skin. Then she started to experience vertigo, fatigue, daily hives, brain fog, joint pain, and excessive night sweats. While certain symptoms were treated others were blamed on stress or she was told not to worry about them.  Much like gaslighting, she started to question whether she was actually feeling these things. She started to buy into this message that something was wrong with her mind. She started to blame her diet and that everything she was experiencing was somehow her fault.  Eventually, she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. She was also diagnosed with a genetic condition as well as Hashimoto’s. This is when she realized that it wasn’t all in her head and started to understand the scope of suffering by those whose symptoms are dismissed.   Shifting Away from Conventional Medicine Meghan’s medical struggles changed course when the sister of a friend (who is a nurse) suggested that she see a functional medicine doctor. The first thing they did was run labs that no conventional doctor had even considered. This was how the thyroid anomaly was found leading to a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease.  Even though she was starting to get answers, it was difficult for her to let go of the belief that conventional doctors were the ultimate authority on health. Many people experience this because we are raised to trust traditional medicine and to be skeptical of alternatives. But, the more she started to view her body as a whole system, the more she was able to understand the role the individual symptoms were playing in her overall health picture. She started to figure out the root causes of her symptoms.   Lyme Disease Diagnosis Lyme disease had been the root cause of several of her symptoms. She’d had a number of strange rashes at different times but they weren't classic bullseye rash known to indicate Ly