My Story

My name is Nina Marie, I am a photographer, digital compositor, and web designer.  I love art, my husband Tim, my family & friends, and my cats, but I also love cooking and good food. I have been posting my vegan meals on my instagram and facebook for years now, but people begged me to start this blog so I could share these recipes with you, so here it is!

Let me tell you about my story…
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome & Lyme Disease:

In 2014, I became really sick overnight, with an illness I now know is called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. This basically means the autonomic nervous system is not functioning properly.  POTS patients will have tachycardia upon standing, accompanied with heat intolerance, digestion issues, exercise intolerance, etc.  Research has found that POTS patients tend to display lower than normal blood volume and have circulation issues (arteries constricting/not constricting properly, believed to be autoimmune related).  As a result, anytime the body needs a large amounts of blood flowing to a certain area (ex: pumping blood up to the brain when standing instead of gravity pulling it down, blood going to the limbs during exercise, or blood being sent to the gut to digest), symptoms begin because it does not have enough blood to send everywhere.  Lightheadedness and dizziness begins, then adrenaline is pumped out by the body to promote circulation, which produces side effects such as extreme panic, severe shakiness, numbness, weakness, tunnel vision, confusion and brain fog, etc.  But there is much much more going on than just that, it gets very complicated and there is still much research being done on dysautonomia.

POTS is not a well known disorder, so doctors where frightened when they saw me.  They did not understand why this was happening to me and they did not know how to help me without offering drugs.  I saw over 10 different kinds of doctors, had all kinds of tests performed (EKGs, Echocardiogram, 24 hour heart monitors, blood tests, ultrasounds, MRIs, etc), but I was always left without answers.  I looked like a perfectly healthy 21 year old woman., but on a daily basis I would experience lightheadedness, a racing and irregular heart rate all throughout the day (going up to 160bpm just from standing, going up to 200bpm from skipping in the halls, then it dropped to normal 70bpm when laying…), numbness and tingling throughout my body (at random, sometimes it feels like someone is squeezing my scalp or touching my hand? Lol like a ghost touch), air hunger (like I wasn’t getting enough oxygen from breathing?), and body tremors that I could not control, followed with a sense of severe anxiety (thanks adrenaline).  The inner fight or flight panic that I experienced is the most terrifying feeling I have ever had.  People who knew me knew that all of this was not normal for me, and I knew something was really wrong inside without a doubt.  Little did I know the battle my body was facing…

There was something that all of the doctors failed to test for, but my mom was not going to let it go. Throughout all of my tireless research, I knew that Lyme disease was one of the main illnesses that causes POTS, but I told myself that I couldn’t have Lyme because I never had a typical rash or high fever, and I thought I would be dead if I left it untreated for this long anyways.  But two years into this illness in 2016, I was still experiencing symptoms (thankfully to a more tolerable degree), and decided to finally get myself checked for Lyme disease.  I found one of the top Lyme disease doctors in the nation and had him test my blood for Lyme disease.  The blood results came back revealing that I had antibodies against Lyme specific protein in my blood sample (BTW the only way your immune system can make antibodies is if it came in contact with the bacteria in your body).  Still in complete denial, I send my blood to the most accurate Lyme disease laboratory in the country, IGeneX, and once again the results came back, this time showing even more antibodies to the bacteria.  I had so many markers that it was now official, I was CDC positive for having had LYME DISEASE!  I had finally discovered the true cause of my POTS.  Lyme disease is caused by a very intelligent spirochete bacteria that is known to damage the nervous system and the immune system (which would make sense in my case that an autoimmune reaction and faulty nervous system could have been the result).

That means that I had Lyme disease in my system UNTREATED and UNDIAGNOSED for 2+ years, and I did not die…
So I Praise GOD!!

That discovery was 3 years ago now.  Since then I finished multiple rounds of Antibiotics (both natural and traditional Doxycycline).  With time I am slowly improving from when I first got sick 5 years ago.  I still get symptoms from things like going a few hours without eating, I have exercise intolerance in the form of tachycardia, I experience heat intolerance that makes me feel like fainting from a semi-hot day in the sun, etc.   Ironically enough, exercise has been proven to be helpful in reducing POTS symptoms by building blood volume and improving circulation, but since I got sick I haven’t been able to run like I use to (I use to run 5 miles a day in Crew).  Last year I adopted a husky named Ashka to help me along this journey.  Both her and I have heat intolerance (huskies have a thick winter coat so they don’t do heat as well as the average person, just like me!), and she forces me to exercise just about every day, winter or summer (both of us are getting more exposure to heat this way too, which should build our tolerance). I’ve been walking for miles every week with Ashka, and I wouldn’t have the confidence to do that in the woods alone, let alone the drive to do it without her either.  Plus she takes my mind off of this illness and she helps me focus outward instead of inward at symptoms I might be experiencing.  So I am glad she is part of my healing regiment.

This disease has been by far the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with in my life.  I have learned FAR beyond what I ever imagined from trying to understand all about sickness in hopes that I could find something to cure me.  Full recovery is going to take time, but I cannot wait until I am 100% over this hump in my life!  If you are struggling like me, HAVE HOPE!  I believe recovery IS possible, and that YOU are your best doctor, believe in yourself and if you think something is wrong, don’t give up searching for answers. Until then, I take joy in eating good food that tastes great and will help aid my body in healing 🙂

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
-Romans 8:24 – 25

 

My passion to cook…

My love for cooking came 5 years ago, right before I got sick when I moved into a new apartment and faced the challenge of having to feed myself.  I didn’t even know how to make pasta or rice, but I got hungry and realized Mom wasn’t going to cook for me.  So I learned real fast ;D

I am now a vegan (with the exception of farm-raised eggs), but I was not always. I grew up on a farm and in a family that ate meat with every meal.  In college I realized the harm I was putting my body through by daily eating dairy, meat, junk food, and I educated myself on the effects of GMO’s, pesticides, and dairy/meat products to the hormones of a young woman and inflammation in the body.
The benefits I have received from living this new lifestyle has greatly out weighted any temptations to ever return. My excruciating painful period cramps subsided to a more tolerable level, and my acne and over-sweating issue improved dramatically a year after my diet change.  I also mostly gave up on contemporary medicine (except for emergency situations only) and found my healing (from sicknesses I’ve gotten like food poisoning, strep throat, stomach ulcers, etc) in herbs, hydrotherapy, exercise, diet and prayer in God.

I did not have to compromise on great taste to do it!

This lifestyle has made me a healthier and happier human being, not to mention how much more environmentally friendly it is, and most importantly, morally correct.
Personally, I am a Christian. I believe God created animals for us to have dominion over, which does Not mean dictatorship.  We have a responsibility to God’s creation and ought to treat everything with respect and dignity, which is Far from what the animals in the Food Industry receive.  Their bodies are treated as product and as a result, they are torture and recklessly killed to become the next BigMac on McDonald’s menu (you don’t want that kind of blood on your hands).  How much better is it to live a life that doesn’t take the life of another?
I hope these recipes will inspire you to continue your journey to a happier and healthier YOU!

God Bless,
-Nina Marie
www.ninamariephotography.com