Thread by @Nokuthula_PrEng

Anxiety related Illnesses have cost me my life progress due to lack of energy and focus.

Here is how I fixed it and now living my most happiness, goal driven and energic life….

🧵

1/

I have a belief that the majority of our youth is low key struggling to achieve their goals and live meaningful lives because they are held back by the lack of energy and focus caused by mental health issues and illness just like I was.

2/

The year was 2015, where I spent at least once or twice a month at the doctors’ offices due to illness

This continued for at least 6 years eventually, I accepted it as a normal part of my life.

3/

I became the girl with the medicine bag for everything ranging from:
✅Headaches,
✅tummy aches,
✅muscle aches,
✅sinuses,
✅flu,
✅heartburn,
✅constipation,
✅runny tummy
✅and bloating

4/

I would go through one bottle of Gaviscon in a week trying to stabilise my tummy

I would have Pandos 3 times a day to relieve the headaches

I would suck on Rescue and Rennie every hour hoping and praying they would relieve my discomfort as promised on the boxes

5/

But the relieve did not seem to last long enough.

I found myself seeking stronger medication which were prescribed medication.

But nothing seemed to heal me permanently.

6/

Every time, the doctor would tell me to either increase dosage or try a different brand.

I become frustrated and started to feel hopeless and helpless to my body.

My life started to feel meaningless, and this made me deeply sad and angry

7/

I felt like I was runner who was stuck in a wheelchair.

Trying to get up to run only to fall flat on my face.

I was not progressing in my life the way I knew deep down I was meant too.

I knew I had so much potential and so much to give to this world.

8/

6 years later of this life, being dependent on medication and feeling sorry for myself.

I got tired of being ill and I decided to start seeking permanent solutions to understand why I was becoming so ill.

Here is what I learned:

9/

Getting diagnosed with generalise anxiety meaning I lived in constant stress, fear, worry and nervous about everything.

For example, I remember during the 2019 National elections I was so scared the country would fall to civil war should any other party win the elections.

10/

Mind you, this was just a story made up in my head based on the NEWs outlets I listened to at that time.

Side note: I no longer listen to news. This has significantly reduced fearful stories in my mind

11/

Anyway, so I learned that living in constant stress, fear, worry, and nervousness causes the body to think it’s under danger

Therefore, it naturally seeks to fight, flight or freeze to stay safe.

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So, it shuts down functions such as immune system, digestion, reproductive and growth

Energy and blood are directed to the muscles and brain to find short term solutions so it can survive

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This state is okay for short term, especially if you are in actual danger.

But at some point, the body needs to return to normal functioning which happens after the threat has been identified and we are safe.

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However, this doesn’t happen if the threat is in our head.

And cannot be identified by the brain which is what generalised anxiety disorder does.

So, the body remains in fight, flight or freeze state and all the above functions remain offline.

15/

I finally could understand why I was constantly ill.

The functions I needed to keep me healthy and energetic were offline.

So I began my journey to finishing a permanent solution:

16/

I took a holistic approach and looked into:
☑️The food I ate
☑️The frequency I moved my body daily
☑️My thoughts and feelings
☑️My finances
☑️The resolution of my future
☑️And most recently, I learned inflammation was an overlooked culprit to my struggle.

17/

Inflammation is triggered in respond to threats such as bacteria or psychological or emotional stressors in preparation to protect and heal the body

18/

Chronic Inflammation has been shown to cause: heart disease, stroke, cancer, inflammatory Bowl Disease (ulcers, gastrointestinal system) and depression and anxiety

19/

Depression and anxiety result from lowered mood, fatigue, and lack of normal enjoyment of life.

The process to heal the body is a high energy consuming function hence the fatigue

20/

To reduce inflammation, I do more:
⬆️Exercise, yoga and meditation to reduce stress
⬆️Get good quality sleep
➡️Eat for health so my body is not vulnerable to infections from bacteria + virus
⬇️Reduce sugar consumption
⬆️Get good gut bacteria
⬆️Journal
⬆️Cold water exposure

21/
⬆️Breathing exercise
⬆️Process all difficult emotions

Our small habits compound and later result to either chronic disease or health

I lived on medication in the past and I do not plan to take that way of life into my future.

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Part of my strategy to reduce inflammation is reducing my sugar consumption.

I am today on my day 39 of #90dayswithoutsugar

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I have noticed my focus and energy levels are significantly higher.

I can make clear decisions and it has helps with stress management.

I am feeling so much happier, productive, and excited for my future.

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Reducing our stress levels helps reduce anxiety

Reducing anxiety helps us to have more energy to work on our goals and live happier meaningful lives

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I hope you take the following lessons:
-Anxiety might be delaying your progress
-So, reduce your stress levels
-Reduce inflammation using food, exercise, and your mind

You deserve to have energy to follow through with your dreams and ideas to serve humankind

26/

My mission is to help young anxious adults to achieve happiness, energy and focus so they can fulfil their full potential without reliance on medication and other substances such as alcohol or weed.

27/

I receive an overwhelming number of DMs from people seeking assistance to manage their anxiety better.

So I have decided to put together a course that will be helpful to everyone.

I will launch soon!

So be on the look out.

If you found this thread helpful, please retweet the first tweet so that it can be helpful to others.

https://twitter.com/Nokuthula_Truce/status/1567809155003564032?s=20&t=9KQXdHIJ2Opq61tdFF7FlQ

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