Christina Tidwell was diagnosed with Adult Onset Still’s Disease at just 18 years old.
She had been feeling off for about 6 months before being given hormonal birth control and after that, things began to get worse. Weight gain, fatigue, feeling like she had a bad flu with high spiking fevers and chills.
One night while trying to sleep, Christina’s back completely seized up and she could hardly move or breath. Unable to call out because of the difficulty she had breathing, she was able to call her parents on the phone from her room so they could take her to the emergency centre.
The pain turned out to be a very scary pulmonary embolism from which she recovered, but the strange cycle of fevers, chills and exhaustion continued to happen. Christina was first diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis that was later changed to Adult Onset Still’s Disease and put on high doses of Prednisone, Plaquenil and later, biologics.
Christina still felt exhausted, lost a large amount of weight and felt like “a shell of myself”. Chronic illness happened so fast that it shattered everything she thought her life was going to be and she felt traumatised at how much her life had changed.
Determined to go to College and pursue her career as a Nurse, Christina decided that it was up to her to find a way to figure things out and keep going and she did. Even travelling to live and study in Australia to further her nursing career.
Over time, Christina gathered her care team together, took control of her health and decided to use her nursing background to shift to health and nutrition coaching so that she can help others through the chronic illness maze and take more control of their health.
Christina’s energy and passion is infectious and inspiring. Have a listen to her story here on the blog or find the Emotional Autoimmunity podcast on most popular podcast players and subscribe. If you love the episode, I would love you to leave a review to help me reach more people.
Christina Tidwell is a Registered Nurse and Certified Health and Nutrition Coach who helps people with autoimmune disease take control of their health through diet, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment. She came to this work largely because of her own experience with autoimmunity and navigating our health care system.
Christina was diagnosed with Adult Onset Still’s Disease at age 18 which presented with high spiking fevers, extreme fatigue, rashes and inflammation. When she was discharged from the hospital after her initial diagnosis, she realised there must be more she could do to support her health than just pharmaceuticals that were suppressing her symptoms. She began the journey to understand not just what diagnosis she had, but why this was happening in her body and it’s led her down a beautiful path of healing and deep connection to her body.
Christina lives in Seattle, Washington with her fiancé. When she’s not with her coaching clients you can find her experimenting in the kitchen with fermented foods, having dinner parties with friends, resting and meditating, and exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
Link to Doctor’s appointment checklist as mentioned in the podcast. http://www.christinatidwell.com/appointment-checklist
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Episode 17: Jameisha Prescod, Lupus, disability and not looking back.