WELLNESS TIPS
When Do You Need a Wellness Coach?
Here are the most common reasons people seek me out:
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Illness, injury, old age, or trauma has turned your life upside-down and you need objective support
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You’ve stabilized your health and want to try to increase function
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You need to improve your quality of life
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You need to rebuild and create a wonderful life with chronic illness or injury
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You need to improve symptom management and don’t know where to begin
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You need more from life with chronic illness than stability and survival
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You have tons of questions about life with chronic illness
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You have tons of questions about central sensitization
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You are feeling alone and need a teammate as you contend with your health challenges
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You need more from life with chronic illness than suffering or desperation
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You need support around relationships that your illness has negatively impacted
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You need help moving from health crisis to stability
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You need help with other aspects of life with chronic illness or injury
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You’re trying to plan and pace and are making little to no progress.
I can help. Check out my Wellness Coaching offerings.​
What Does a Wellness Coach Do, Exactly?
I believe that illness, injury, trauma, and old age are all portals to transformation. That is, they demand change—change of lifestyle, change of social and financial life, and often, a change of dreams and identity. This much change and uncertainty can feel chaotic and overwhelming. It can turn your life upside-down and inside-out. That’s where I come in.
Sometimes I may help you create action plans that are manageable and quantifiable, or practice coping or symptom management strategies. Please know, I don’t give medical advice, hook clients up with medical professionals, or tell clients what to do. I’m not the boss of my clients. I’m not in control. You are. And part of what I do is show you that, by listening, inquiring, and reflecting, to help you identify your needs and priorities and offer you objective and consistent support as you pursue your wellness goals.
You may wish to move from health crisis to stability, or develop a mastery of symptom management, or rebuild your life after illness, injury, trauma, or debilitating effects of aging strike—whatever your wellness goal, I help you get there, one step at a time.
Got Irritable Larynx Syndrome or Chemical Sensitivities?
Once you have the correct diagnosis from a medical professional, you can take steps to manage and improve your condition as much as possible. In my research, I have found very little information on living day-to-day with Irritable Larynx Syndrome (ILS) and have had to make strategies up as I go along. I found more info about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and started with figuring out my exertion tolerance threshold—this took months—after which I began trying existing strategies, as well as developing my own.
I have found some information about managing Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), but most of it concerns “Getting Clear” by moving to a desolate, chemical-free area (like a desert) for an undetermined amount of time. Not everyone can do that. In fact, most of us can’t, because of financial or familial constraints (or a general and perfectly rational fear of snakes, killer cacti, or scorpions). So how do we get by at home? In an urban setting? Without the ideal? How do we manage our symptoms and even start to desensitize ourselves to chemicals, without going to a remote shack somewhere or living in a virtual bubble, isolated from everything and everyone we love?
As a single woman trying to stay afloat in one of the world’s most expensive cities, I can tell you it’s not easy. But it’s possible, by working on things like this:
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Creating and using a bubble to your advantage
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Identifying and avoiding triggers
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Managing episodes caused by surprise triggers
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Desensitizing to triggers
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And more—depending upon one’s own unique priorities, triggers, and/or circumstances.
Are you trying to adjust to life with MCS, ILS, ME/CFS or other Central Sensitivity Syndrome(s) and don’t know where to start? Are you wanting to desensitize yourself or avoid triggers and are finding it all overwhelming? Check out my books and my coaching offerings. Remember, you’re not alone, and I’m right here listening to you.
My Road to Diagnosis
My road to diagnosis was long, foggy, and full of potholes, and it seemed endless. When I first got sick, doctors didn't know what was wrong. They tried increasing my asthma medications and introducing other medications, all of which caused more problems—anxiety, mood swings, insomnia, acid reflux—you get the idea. For months, my health got worse. My sense of smell became more and more sensitive, I developed a chronic cough and lost my voice, and I had increasing trouble tolerating strong scents, and synthetic fragrances and chemicals everywhere—even at home. All the while, my energy, stress-tolerance, and cognitive functions were decreasing, and I didn’t know why any of that was happening. It was a terrifying time.
Seven months passed before I met a doctor who recognized some of my symptoms and diagnosed Irritable Larynx Syndrome (ILS). I’ll never forget that day. I could barely talk and hadn’t been able to sing for months, and when he told me what was wrong with my throat and that he believed I would sing again, I burst into tears. I mean, really burst into tears. Like a floodgate opening. It was ugly, and beautiful. I was so very happy and grateful to finally meet someone who knew, at least partially, what was wrong with me.
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Another year had to pass before I met a doctor who recognized the rest of my symptoms and diagnosed Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). You guessed it—more tears! It is an amazing feeling to find, amidst all the confusion, rejection, and criticism, a doctor who not only believes your experience, but who recognizes your symptoms and can name the mystery.
All the above syndromes (as well as many others) fall under the umbrella of Central Sensitization, which is basically the process of the central nervous system becoming over sensitive and reacting in abnormal ways, most of which are debilitating and painful. Though managing these syndromes is complex and challenging under the best of circumstances, it is a wonderful relief to finally learn what is wrong. If you haven’t met that doctor yet, don’t give up. More and more medical professionals are becoming aware of Central Sensitization and sensitivity syndromes every day, and you can be proactive, too.
If you’ve already found professional medical help, have a diagnosis, and want to learn more about managing symptoms or coping and adjusting, check out my books or sign up for one of my coaching offerings. You’re not alone, and I’m right here listening to you.
About Amy Titani/Titan Amy
Years ago, I was exposed to unsafe levels of Volatile Organic Compounds and a mélange of particulates, fumes, dust and unidentified stuff (let’s just say the air quality was super substandard) while working at an internationally known green architecture corporation. (Yep, I said green architecture. I know, the irony.) Let’s call that corporation “Green and Sustainable,” or “GAS,” for short. The incident at GAS left me with Asthma and Central Sensitization, which manifested as three Central Sensitivity Syndromes: Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), Irritable Larynx Syndrome (ILS), and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS, aka ME).
GAS did not take responsibility. They misinformed the provincial workers compensation corporation and my short and long-term disability insurers, misrepresented the indoor air quality, and laid me off. Thrust into a battle for compensation that lasted over seven years, I lost my home, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and an active life rich with athletic pursuits, stories, songs, and people. Due to my illnesses, I also lost my ability to breathe in most public places. This took a toll on my sense of safety for quite some time. It has taken years, in fact, for me to adjust to life with chronic illness. And I’m not done yet. Adjustment, like acceptance, seems to be a fluid, ongoing process. Debilitation, too, exists on a spectrum, I’ve learned. Some parts of me may flail while others improve, and some may even attain a kind of superhuman strength, like my amygdala.
The amygdala is the part of the brain in charge of security and safety. It protects us by controlling the fight or flight reflex. When I think about the roiling sea of chaos, terror, and uncertainty I tumbled into following that workplace incident, I find it amazing that I survived. I suspect that my amygdala must be made of something indestructible, like titanium, because it is so strong, it keeps on fighting and protecting me, even when there is no real threat. My titanium amygdala never gives up. So neither can I.
I am Titan Amy.
(Do you hear dramatic music when I say that? Sometimes I do, and suddenly, I am no longer reclining in a beat-up poang chair in my basement apartment kitchen while my mischievous calico glares at me from her windowsill perch. Instantly, I see myself standing atop a high mountain, singing out loud like Julie Andrews in the hills of Austria, with the dawn of a new day breaking across the distant horizon, and a long, dramatic cape whipping in the wind behind me. Not a flimsy superhero cape. Something stylish yet warm, like cashmere, or alpaca. Yep, that’s the stuff, and it feels awesome!)
It was a tough road to get to my sweet spot on that mountain. To help others traveling similar paths while dealing with Central Sensitization and its syndromes, or other chronic illness, I wrote my books, LIKE THE CAT: Feline Wisdom for Healing and Transformation, and Central Sensitization and Sensitivity Syndromes: A Handbook for Coping, and I offer coaching to help you improve your quality of life and develop a positive sense of well-being, chronic illness or no. Check out my related posts and my coaching offerings for more info. In healing, Amy Titani / Fiona Lehn
Central Sensitization & Sensitivity Syndromes: A Handbook for Coping
While contending with my (thus far) incurable health conditions, I’ve come to believe that my life is an experiment. I test everything from sleep routines and herbal remedies for insomnia to brain supplements to mindfulness, meditation, the healing effects of art, music, daydreaming, poetry, chocolate . . . you get the idea.
I’ve also come to believe that life with chronic illness is best lived while walking the line between hope for improvement and acceptance of my current limitations. Part of that hope equation requires investigation, experimentation and inspiration. (I like to think every life requires such a balance, but I can’t say I ever thought about it before I got sick—Ah, revelation—great boon of illness!) These are two of the main reasons why I wrote my book, Central Sensitization and Sensitivity Syndromes: A Handbook for Coping.
The third, and perhaps biggest motivator for me to write this book is simply that so few people (medical providers and general public alike) know about and understand these conditions, and because of that, I had to struggle and suffer for far longer than any human should ever have to. I wanted to give people who have and who treat these conditions a primer that teaches the science and offers help in all the life arenas impacted by these conditions—social, psychological, financial, physical, etc.—and which offers hope,inspiration, and ideas for improving the patient’s quality of life.
Covering Central Sensitivity Syndromes (CSS) within the context of Central Sensitization (CS), this book provides candid personal experience, strategies for symptom management, suggested methods for coping, moving from crisis to stability, and long-term healing. I’ve stuffed the book with easy-to-understand science, personal essays, ideas, and resources that have nourished me with inspiration and support and served as catalysts for my own investigations and experiments during my quest for healing and living a happy, fulfilled life with CS and CSS.
This book is for people with CS and CSS, for your loved ones, and for caregivers and medical providers. I compiled everything I’ve learned about these conditions in my first five years of life with them so you don’t have to scour the web for information, so you can minimize the time you spend suffering with unanswered questions and upheaval, and move towards stability, and beyond.
Central Sensitization and Sensitivity Syndromes: A Handbook for Coping is available in print, e-book, and audiobook.
More Tips To Come
Stay tuned . . .
More Tips To Come
Stay tuned . . .
