Five Ways I Manage My Autoimmune Conditions

Hi, I’m Jess and I’m a 29 year old woman living with a mixed vegetable soup of autoimmune conditions.

A bit of background for you: in 2014, after about five years of feeling very unwell and being gaslit by my family about it all being in my head, I was diagnosed with coeliac disease. After modifying my diet to be gluten free, I noticed a huge improvement in my symptoms.

In 2022, I received a diagnosis of Complex PTSD, which looking back was definitely not a surprise.

In July 2023, things started going downhill again, albeit in a different way. There is not enough time in the day for you to read or me to write my list of symptoms but just know I was the most unwell I felt in my life.

In October 2023, after an emergency endoscopy and colonoscopy, I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis and IBS-M.

In August 2024, after a seven month wait for a rheumatologist, I was diagnosed with Limited Scleroderma, Fibromyalgia and Antiphospholipid Syndrome. When I received this news, I realised the roadmap of my life was going to be very different to the one I pictured before getting sick.

So now I have given a spiel of the same calibre of those at the top of recipes online, here are my five tips for managing autoimmune conditions. Disclaimer: these might not work for everyone as bodies are different, but feel free to try them and let me know how you go via my Instagram, chronically_jesslee.

1. Anti-Inflammatory Focused Diet

Surprise surprise, my top tip is to get yourself on some form of anti-inflammatory diet. It does not need to be the complete anti-inflammatory protocol given that is SUPER restrictive and a bit overwhelming, but in my eyes, every little bit counts.

Now, I don’t have any formal training in nutrition or dietetics, but anecdotally I can tell you that since going gluten, dairy and refined sugar free, I have felt a lot better and my C-Reactive Protein levels have gone from two to less than one.

In case you don’t know what C-Reactive Protein is, it is protein your liver makes – the higher your levels, the more inflammation you have in your body.

I guess the biggest thing here is to listen to your body and try different things. The aim of the game overall is to reduce inflammation and improve your gut microbiome. There is a LOT of information on the internet about what you can, cannot, should or should not eat with autoimmune conditions/chronic illnesses and I acknowledge it can feel easier to just shut down. Trust me, don’t.

What I’ve learned works for me after listening to my body are the above, avoiding gluten, dairy and refined sugar, as well as coffee and too much meat. I eat lots of vegetables, sauerkraut, whole grains, seeds, hummus, nuts, chia pudding and eggs – after living my life with this lifestyle, I would never go back to eating the way I did before.

2. Naturopath and Supplements

I would scream this from the rooftops if I wouldn’t get into trouble: if it is accessible to you, get a naturopath in your care team. Before getting sick, I thought naturopathy was ‘woo woo’. I was at my wits end when I found my naturopath and now, if I could go back in time, I would have had one in my care team many years ago.

They run different or modified tests, have a holistic approach, want to get to the root of the issue as opposed to naming what is wrong and throwing medication at it. Most importantly, they will get you on the right supplement protocol for you

I see a lot of information on the internet these days relating to supplements for people to take if they have x, y or z condition. After working with a naturopath who tailor made my supplement protocol to suit my body and needs, I worry about the dangers of taking the wrong ones and throwing different levels out of balance.

For those who are sceptical of the role of supplements in the management of chronic illness: I am not on any medication for any of my illnesses and solely manage them with supplements. After a few days of not taking them, I notice a BIG different – pain, brain fog, fatigue, focus, general malaise.

If you take anything away from this, please get a naturopath on your care team. I genuinely thought I was dying and if I did not find my naturopath, I would be so much sicker than I am today.

3. Prioritise Your Mental Health

I cannot believe it took me so long to get back to a place of prioritising my mental health. I was so consumed by the feeling of dying, documenting all of my symptoms and planning my life around my illnesses, that I failed to realise my mental health had been suffering for over six months. Realistically, it took getting diagnosed as well as my partner communicating to me he felt our relationship morphed to revolving around my health to act as a defibrillator on my mental state.

Since prioritising nervous system regulation, deep breathing, psychotherapy appointments and feeling my feelings, my health improved significantly. It is as if a weight was lifted which I wasn’t aware I was carrying – how freeing!

A theory my psychotherapist had about the existence of chronic illness in my life was (and still is) that mine are a result of trauma and a lifetime of nervous system dysregulation. In hindsight, that makes a lot of sense to me.

If you do not have psychologists/psychotherapists in your area, or you tried them but did click with them, another option is to find one online. I live in regional Western Australia and my psychotherapist is based in New South Wales. All of my appointments are via Zoom and whilst I was initially sceptical about being able to connect behind a screen, I am glad I pushed through the scepticism – my psychotherapist is brilliant and the sessions have made a big difference to my mental health.

Given these services are quite expensive, if they are not financially accessible to you, my suggestion would be to find podcasts by trauma informed psychologists – a favourite of mine is The Psychology Sisters on Spotify (not affiliated). Whilst it won’t be tailored to your specific circumstances, trauma informed psychology episodes may give you a bit of insight as to what is going on with your body and what you can do to feel a bit better.

4. Self-Compassion

I spent so much time being angry at myself for what my body couldn’t do – it was exhausting. Little did I realise that all of that internal ableism and resentment was making me sicker by the day.

It took me a long time to learn how to be kind to myself and to be honest, there are still days where I struggle. What I ask myself on those days is “Would I speak to my friend like that?” and if the answer is no, why on Earth am I speaking to myself in that way? Putting it into perspective like that really helped me practice more self-compassion.

When I have days where inner criticism is rife, I try to remind myself I am doing the best with the tools that I have, I am worthy of love, and I am not a burden; I deserve to be here and deserve compassion. I operate on the assumption the more I tell myself these things, the truer they will be for me.

5. Move Your Body

I am my worst enemy for this because there are days where I just cannot get myself up and going but guess what? Every day I don’t move my body, I regret it.

Whether it is going for a walk, working out in the gym, stretching in bed, somatic rocking, pottering around the house: any movement is good.

It might take some time to work out what actually works for your body and what won’t send you into a flare. That’s okay – be patient and kind to yourself. What I’ve had to remind myself as I get back into my exercise journey is not to push too hard and that there’s no point in having an ego about it. Slow and steady wins the race here.

While it was a couple of years before my health declined, in 2020, my body felt unstoppable. I was getting paid to exercise as part of my job and more often than not, I was exercising (running, HIIT, weight training) for two or three hours per day – no exaggeration! I think this is why I’ve struggled with checking my ego at the door when it comes to exercising. When I continued to just push myself, I would go into a flare every week or couple of weeks. Now I’ve found a more stable and appropriate exercise routine for my body, I haven’t been in a flare for what feels like months and I’m getting stronger by the day.

There’s not really much more to say about this – just do it in any way that makes your body sing.