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Hello, dear one. My name is Crissy Luna, Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Practitioner based in Los Angeles, CA. I teach women who suffer from debilitating anxiety how to combat it naturally by making significant diet and lifestyle changes. Anti-depressants just mask symptoms, numb our feelings, and have a slew of dangerous side-effects. I'm passionate about helping women who want to avoid another prescription, and who are ready to take control of their mental health.

 

My Symptoms

It all started for me in 2015 , when I started to suddenly get symptoms that the doctors couldn't figure out. Nausea, dizziness, and confusion would quickly turn into severe malaise, unable to walk, lift my arms, or speak clearly. I'd be awakened with fear, a racing heart, and I'd have strange, intrusive thoughts that I felt weren't my own. These episodes would happen several times throughout the day for weeks on end. The severe anxiety was almost unbearable. I couldn't work, think straight, or sleep. And, the suicidal thoughts were the most terrifying.

 

I made repeated visits to the emergency room and urgent care, yet my lab work would always come back as "fine". As did the x-rays, MRI's and CT scans - all normal. But, it was during my very last visit to the emergency room that really changed everything for me. I was begging the attending doctor to admit me. Every single time I'd try to eat, I was overcome with severe nausea.

 

"Please admit me," I pleaded. "I can't eat and I'm so hungry. Can't you see how much weight I've lost?!" I actually thought I was going to die of malnutrition, as I had already lost 20 lbs in two months. Later that night, the same attending came into the room and told me, "All of your labs and tests look fine. And, I was watching you walk around; you looked fine to me. But, I do see here in your chart that you went to psychiatry a few years back; something having to do with domestic abuse?" 

 

My Call to Action

That comment right there was when I knew I was all alone in this fight. I had no one on my side but my husband. The doctors had given up on me and wrote me off as someone with "just mental issues." But, I wouldn't accept that. I researched all I could about using food as medicine. I read as many books as I could get my hands on that had to do with healing diets and nutrition. I tried the raw food diet, blood type diet, Body Ecology diet, and the list goes on.

 

I enrolled in a health coaching course through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to learn more. I changed my care team to include naturopathic doctors, chiropractors, a colon hydrotherapist, a biofeedback therapist, a hypnotherapist, and even a shaman. It became clear to me that healing doesn't occur in a vacuum. I quickly learned that there was a huge gap in healthcare and that I needed to fill those gaps myself. Today's model is designed to treat symptoms only, to read numbers instead of listening to the patient's story, and it doesn't address the #1 thing that we expose our internal bodies to every single day - and that's FOOD.

 

My Background

But before all of that happened, I was always a sickly kid. I had constant ear infections, my tonsils removed, and tubes put in my ears all by kindergarten. I developed cystic acne when I turned 12 which just obliterated my self-esteem. I didn't think I was good enough for anyone. That mindset enabled me to make terrible life decisions, including staying in a physically and mentally abusive marriage for 14 years. Then my gut issues started in my 20's, which was also when my marital stress started spiraling out of control. Coincidence? No, more like a clue that everyone missed.

 

My family doctor put me on Paxil to help with the stress. He knew about the situation at home, and he was honestly just trying to help. But, it didn't help. It just numbed me. I no longer felt like myself. I wanted off, so I quit cold turkey which is something I would NEVER recommend. Anti-depressant withdrawal is a REAL thing, folks.

 

Towards the end of the marriage, I began practicing yoga and instantly fell in love with the way it made me feel inside and out. It gave me new confidence that I never had, and it gave me the strength to finally leave that destructive relationship. And in 2008, I left for good. It was a fresh start for me. I was finally able to be myself again, the person that I truly was. I shoved those painful memories into a drawer and locked it up tight so that it would never open again.

 

My Awakening

But, sometime later in my late 30's, that drawer started rattling. The monster was stirring. By this time, I had met my true love and we were married on 10/11/12. It was about 1 year into my healing journey and I was feeling pretty okay. Not great, but okay. But then the insomnia started in, which lasted for months. I was getting more and more fatigued and I looked gaunt with dark circles under my eyes. Nightmares, flash backs, depression, and anxiety consumed me. Those painful memories I tried stuffing in the drawer were intent on getting out, and I had no choice but to face them.

 

This felt like a huge setback for me, but it actually became a valuable learning experience. Gut health, thyroid disease, and PTSD were more connected than I had ever thought, and I could see first hand how much past trauma and stress can negatively impact your health. I started to incorporate meditation into my daily routine and reconnected with my own spirituality. It was when I applied targeted nutrition, according to my own unique physiology, and a healthy lifestyle complete with stress management and adequate sleep, that I really started to see a shift in my mindset and my health.

 

My Training

Today, I'm an allied functional medicine practitioner seeing clients privately or in groups via telehealth visits. I've completed my training in functional nutrition through my mentor, Andrea Nakayama, at the Functional Nutrition Alliance. I'm a graduate of her Full Body Systems program, as well as the Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Practitioner certification program both through the Functional Nutrition Lab.

 

Her teachings taught me that functional nutrition works to not just support, but educate the client in what’s going on in their body and how making uniquely targeted diet and lifestyle modifications will shift the terrain and help them to meet their goals - even their mental health goals! Yes, food, nutrition, and lifestyle have a significant impact on our moods, stress, and overall well-being.

 

My Transformation

I now teach women how to take charge of their own mental health so they can be their own hero instead of feeling like they're always stuck as the victim. I partner with my clients to show the connection between food + physiology and the powerful connection between the gut + brain. Using bio-individuality as a guiding principle to eliminate the foods that are causing their distress, using lab markers to bring in nutrients they are lacking, and treating the root cause of their condition instead of treating symptoms leads my clients to finding hope, having less anxiety, and living happier and healthier lives.

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You may feel lost and helpless trying to understand and manage your anxiety. But, you are not your anxiety and you can make change happen. It took a lot for me to get here, and it will take a lot for you, too. It really takes a special kind of woman to say, "I'm tired of being a prisoner to my anxiety, and I'm ready to make significant changes."

Let's partner together to heal your anxiety naturally.

 

Much Love,

 

Crissy

 

I would love to connect with you further and really start the discussion. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or even better - shoot me an email! I would love to listen to your story and see how we can partner together in getting you to a place where you feel happy, healthy, and like your old self again.  Click on my Services page for more information.