What you may not know about me is that autoimmunity was one of the ways that I discovered my body was holding trauma, and I had not known. During a work-up for severe and chronic fatigue, we found my ANA or Anti-nuclear antibodies were very high. Those are antibodies my immune system had made to attack my nucleus where my DNA is held. A visit to the Rheumatologist ended as it has for many of you: We will wait until you develop the other symptoms of an autoimmune condition and then diagnose you. There is nothing you can do but wait and see.

I knew that autoimmunity, fatigue, anxiety, and depression – all the things that I was struggling with at that time were strongly associated with adverse childhood experiences. But I had never thought that I had trauma. Early detection of my autoimmunity is what started me on my journey to what I do now, leading others through the sequential integrative approach to creating a biology of safety. Yes, I have reversed all my autoimmune markers.

That’s why this topic of early detection of autoimmunity with a history of trauma is so important to me. If you are someone who has had adverse childhood experiences or other trauma, you will want to listen and take notes for learning the importance of early detection and what other risk factors are more important for you to mitigate than others. If you know of someone who is at higher risk of autoimmunity due to their adverse childhood experiences or other trauma, you will want to share this episode with them.