Are your choices creating a legacy of disease or a legacy of health? Good habits today may lead us toward disease prevention for future generations. As both an autoimmune mom and grandma I, like many of you, conquer obstacles through self-care strategies.

Given that it’s my job to investigate how to be healthy, you might think that I’ve come across a single magical key to finding balance, harmony, health, and longevity. And I’d love to tell you that after a blissful nine-hour sleep each and every night, I rise with the morning chorus of birds to perform an hour of yoga, followed by an hour of meditation.

My pity party didn’t last very long because walking and using my hands were not optional for me, as I was a full-time mother of two young daughters. I began to look at rheumatoid arthritis differently by accepting it as just one part of me rather than letting it define the sum of me.

When I was feeling strong, I could actually raise my arms above my shoulders, or lift my head off a pillow—Definitely not the standard I was used to. My mouth was affected more than anything else, and it was years before I smiled fully again (but I did)!

I faced the first of what was to be many conundrums as a parent with a chronic illness: do I do what is best for me, or my child? What if what is best for him is actually worse for the family unit as it entails such a negative impact on me that I cannot care for him to the extent I otherwise could?

While the answers to your woes may not come from your doctor or your thyroid hormone medication, you can still liberate yourself from the confines of standard prescription and regain influence on your Hashimoto's health care.

Once I got over my fear that if I really put my health and self-care first there wouldn't be time left in the day for any other activities and I would end up homeless and starving, I got down to business. As I’ve been exploring making changes in my life to answer the above questions, here’s what I’ve learned about what it takes to make self-care a priority.

Well, I’ve certainly learned a few things having fallen down the rabbit hole…and I’d like to share how to pop up on the other side with fewest brain cell defections as possible.

Nakazawa, an award-winning science journalist, was fascinated when her doctor went on to describe adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), a scientific breakthrough that demonstrates that kids who had experienced traumatic events in childhood often have lifelong recriminations from those traumas, including serious and chronic health disorders that can surface many years later.

Sure enough, he had Celiac Disease. He also had reflux, several ulcers, and was a complete digestive mess. It was no wonder he was angry! If my insides were this inflamed and awful, I would have been a bit crabby and unproductive too! This came right before his 7th birthday.

I believe that my son and daughter saved my life. During this difficult period of my life, all I wanted to do was go home and be a mother to my children. Knowing how much they needed me, strengthened my resolve to claw my way back to them.

Back in what seems like another life, I was a busy single chick immersed in Manhattan's social scene. It was such a hectic lifestyle that when I woke up one morning with weakness in my legs and tingling in my hands, I initially figured it was a result of all the the long days and late nights and not MS.

I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis almost 20 years ago now. At the time I was shocked, but didn’t really comprehend the magnitude of what this chronic disease meant with regard to my life, my husband’s life, and that of my children. As I reflect back on these years, I wish I ‘d done many things differently.

Through a long year of diving deep into these emotions and a lot of trial and error in the kitchen, I finally figured out what worked best for my body… And then I figured out how to tweak my favorite dishes to fit my needs

When I look at what made the greatest impression on me, it is certainly the very prevalent theme of women feeling exhausted and overwhelmed and, yet, telling me that they simply could not see any place in their lives to make space. Are we prone to taking on too much because we don't want to say "no"?

I was up at 6 am with the kids and by 9 am, I was lying on my floor asleep and drooling as the toddlers crawled around on mommy.  My hair was falling out, I was steadily gaining 2-3 pounds a month, my skin was turning to leather, I was depressed, my joints and muscles ached, and I was freezing cold all the time. My kids were losing their mom and my husband was losing his partner.

My body had fought and hung on for me for seven years (I thank it every day for that), and now I felt I owed it the same respect. Once I really cleaned up my diet, that’s when I saw the greatest improvements.  It was not easy, I won’t say it was, but it is worth it for the fact that I was able to get my life back.

Thanks to the fact that gluten-free dining has become a dietary trend, many people assume that I can “cheat” and eat small amounts of gluten. I struggle with how to make people understand that it is not worth it to repeatedly inflame my intestines to the point of risking lymphoma or, at the very least, feeling like crap and setting up residence in the restroom.  

Managing four kids while being sick has been difficult. Before I knew I had Sjögren's, I barely got through my day and always wondered why I was so tired or thirsty.

He has had one medical setback after another since his birth which precipitated visits to multiple specialists. At each specialist appointment, my “mom radar” always kicked in and I would ask, “Does this have anything to do with my autoimmune issues?” Amazingly, each specialist responded with a resounding “no.”