Christine Sheaffer, CN, is the principle member and manager of White Mountain Resources, LLC. She is a Certified Nutritionist, and has studied extensively about the role of nutrition in the healing process. This study has included education and research, but more importantly is her personal journey from disease to health and wellbeing. Here is her story:

After a healthy childhood, I developed adult-onset asthma in my mid-30’s during a period of extreme stress and after a series of respiratory infections. The condition progressively worsened over the years, and minor respiratory infections became life-threatening events.

About 10 years ago it became clear that my MD could not help me get better. In fact, the more drugs that were prescribed to relieve the symptoms, the worse my condition got, and the more drugs were prescribed. It was a downward spiral.

Although the doctors told me I could not expect to be healed from asthma, I was determined to be well. I tried many alternative therapies over the years, starting with dietary changes and supplements recommended by my nutritionist, which I believe sustained my body through the ensuing years. My diet was high in vegetables and whole grains, and dairy and most meats were eliminated.

In additional to the nutritional approach, I tried many other therapies to help my body heal. These included magnesium intravenous therapy, vitamin B-12 and magnesium/B-6 injections, homeopathic remedies, acupuncture, body wraps, jin shen, yoga, meditation, and especially prayer. Some of these therapies seemed to help, but to my dismay, the asthma symptoms continued to worsen and became more chronic over the years.

Eventually, even as I did all the “right things,” to get well, my body became dependent on the drug prednisone (a drug with terrible side effects), and I was unable to stop taking it without dying. I required a nebulizer (breathing machine) several times a day, and in addition to the prednisone I was taking Proventil, Intal, Atrovent, Flovent inhalers, plus theophylline and other medicines I can’t remember. One day my personal physician casually told me that I would eventually develop emphysema and require oxygen (if I lived long enough). I had become disabled from the disease, and disheartened with the prognosis.

After a close brush with death in the local hospital emergency room (and hospitalization in the intensive care unit), I decided I had best make the best of each day as the next cold or sore throat could likely be fatal. It was apparent that my Creator had a better plan for me, because mine sure wasn’t working.

For years I had been fighting the disease called “asthma,” and losing, but the day I surrendered the battle everything changed. I surrendered my will and accepted things as they were. A great sense of relief and calmness settled into my being, as I accepted my life as it was. And from that peaceful place I saw the tremendous amount of life energy that had been used up in my war against illness. My life hadn’t turned out the way I planned, it, but I could accept it and enjoy the time I had left.

This does not mean I gave up on life. I continued to do things that supported my well-being: eating health-giving foods, taking supplements, the care of my spirit, and yoga. Three years ago, I visited a naturopathic physician. I was not seeking healing, but support in strengthing my immune system. My husband encouraged me to try a ten-week course of weekly intravenous hydrogen peroxide therapy. I had no hope, but I took the therapy anyway, and the results can only be called miraculous. My chest cleared up virtually overnight—when I woke up the next morning I no longer needed the nebulizer. I cannot describe the joy of being able to take a clear breath! Within three months of weekly treatments, I no longer required the drug prednisone, and I no longer required any asthma drugs after six months.

Today I am living a normal life, free of asthma symptoms. The only exception is when I get an occasional respiratory infection, which requires medical treatment. These occasions are becoming more and more infrequent. Otherwise, I walk, ride my bike and swim, with no asthma symptoms. I continue to eat well, use food supplements (MSM is important for asthmatics), keep animals out of the house, and tend to my spiritual life. I still have side effects from the drug prednisone that I am working to reverse.

This journey through illness and healing and taught me that illness is a sacred and often mysterious path. Healing can happen in unexpected ways. You never know when it will jump up and stare you in the face!