I never understood when I heard someone say, “I was fine until I went to see the doctor and then I was told I was very sick!” I always thought, “How could that be?”
Now that I understand health, habits, and human behavior a bit more, I totally get it. Sadly, most of us have little nagging symptoms that we either disregard, ignore, or simply think will go away. This can go on for months, years and even decades! We may, or may not go to the doctor because we think it’s no big deal. We say to ourself that we don’t want to be a hypochondriac by going to the doctor every single time you feel somethings not right. Or maybe worse yet, you do go to the doctor and they say, “you’re fine”. But if you wait too long to seek help, the illness can be so far advanced it’s not reversible anymore. Be an advocate for your health! Here are three reasons to not ignore those symptoms.
First, it’s always much easier to correct or reverse the problem in the early stages. Let’s say you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes. The root cause is likely reversible through diet and movement. You can nip the progression from Pre-diabetes to Type 2 diabetes in the bud before it’s had the chance to really create roots.
Secondly, when the symptom is more severe or starts to compound into other noticeable problems that generally means that the root cause is getting bigger or more systemic. So now you are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure and the doctor wants to put you on medication. This simply means that it will be harder for you to course correct or to reverse the symptoms. Now it will require more significant changes and more work, dedication and consistency to resolve the problem.
And lastly, you know that snowball effect. What was once little and a hardly moving snowball is building speed and growing rapidly. The root cause has now rooted itself in your body and has most likely caused other root causes to grow as well. Sadly, you are now dealing not only with Type 2 diabetes but most likely neuropathy, eye disease and other problems. Now, it’s going to take more drastic changes and you will have to be really diligent about sticking to a plan.
I’m not being Ms. Doomsday here. I’m actually an optimist as I know disease can be reversed or prevented through lifestyle changes. So, the sooner you catch any symptoms, the easier it is to correct. Ask a lot of questions of your doctor and if you aren’t happy with what you are hearing, go to another doctor. Or seek a health alternative like a Nutritionist or Health Coach to change your lifestyle, eating and exercise habits. Regardless, get that nagging little issue looked at and take a hard look at your lifestyle.
Lida Johnson, Health Coach at Head-to-Toe Coaching www.HeadToToeCoaching.com or Lida@HeadToToeCoaching.com 203.260.2880.