Just Diagnosed with an Autoimmune Disease? Start Here: 3 Key Areas to Focus on for Your Health and Healing Journey

Practical Steps to Help You Navigate Life After Your Diagnosis

The diagnosis can suck the air from your lungs, or it can be a welcome relief. People take an average of 4.6 years and see five doctors to get an autoimmune disease diagnosis.

During this time, they can go years with unmanaged symptoms. This situation results in further complications. Getting that diagnosis now means you can work toward remission through treatment.

Yet, managing autoimmune diseases with medicine is only one piece of the puzzle.

Research shows we have more control over our health through lifestyle and self-care than we earlier understood. This is true regardless of the diagnosis or specific disease. This responsibility increases for us as patients.

Yet, it also empowers us to take control of our health journey.

Lifestyle factors can trigger autoimmune diseases. Poor diet, stress, lack of sleep, and sedentary behavior worsen symptoms.

The good news is that there are things you can do to improve your health while managing an autoimmune disease.

1. Ruthlessly Focus on Self-Care by Enabling Your Support Network

Medications can take several months to be fully therapeutic. During this time, managing symptoms and pain is your primary focus. Until you can get the disease in remission, you need more rest–even hours more at times. Taking care of yourself is crucial when managing an autoimmune disease.

That’s where your support network comes in. The extra help can be a game-changer when freeing up the time to care for ourselves. To do that, we have resources to allow your support network, like Give In Kind.

Self-care often gets de-prioritized, though, even when we have help. We are doing many other “more productive” things, but self-care is critical to your overall well-being.

Use the idea of #oneaction to commit to a self-care activity and amount of time, and set a timer. Maybe it’s a 10-minute meditation session each morning or an hour-long yoga session several times a week.

Don’t get caught up on the duration; taking that one action is important.

2. Take Care of Your Head to Care of Your Heart

Chronic illness can take an emotional and physical toll, so it’s important to focus on your mental health. The decision to take care of your mental health can come with many preconceived notions and stigmas.

Still, there are small things you can do to support your mental health. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic commitment.

Believe it or not, these small moments of self-care can have a significant impact on overall well-being.

Journaling a few minutes every day can help. Noting what you’re thankful for in the Gratitude app is beneficial, too.

Taking time out for mindful practices like meditation and deep breathing also contributes positively to mental health.

Social connection is a considerable part of our mental well-being. Your family and friends will support you in their ways.

Still, having people who truly understand and empathize with your autoimmune challenges can help tremendously.

Our Invigorate Facebook group is an active community of autoimmune thrivers and advocates who can empathize and support you anytime.

When looking for more support, seeing a therapist can give perspective. They offer tools to help you navigate challenges accompanying chronic illness.

When looking for a therapist, ask around for someone who specializes in chronic illnesses. You can often read about therapists’ specialties on a practice’s website.

You can also call to speak with an intake coordinator directly. Take advantage of telephone or video conferencing to make scheduling and attending appointments easier.

3. Clean Eating: Diet is Critical to Reducing Autoimmune Disease Symptoms

Our Invigorate community ranks diet and nutrition as the most influential factor in their health journey.

The food we put into our bodies has a significant effect on our physical health and mental well-being. To promote optimal health, eating a clean, whole-food diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, and seeds is essential. Meat can be fine, but we focus on produce and seeds for simplicity.

Their antioxidants and nutrients help your body fight inflammation. They also support your immune system. A good action is to add a green smoothie or salad to your daily intake.

An important part of nutrition is hydration. Over half of our bodies are water, up to 60% on average.

Our water intake is a critical factor in supporting many bodily functions, like lubricating the joints, delivering oxygen throughout the body, preventing kidney damage,

restoring fluids lost through metabolism, breathing, sweating, and removing waste. Despite hydration’s role in our health, it’s been reported that as much as 75% of the population is chronically dehydrated.

How much water should we be drinking?

We should aim for at least one-half of our body weight in ounces daily. To make it manageable, take one action. Fill up your water bottle.

Drink one more bottle today than you otherwise would. Good hydration coupled with nutrient-dense whole foods should help improve symptoms.

*Bonus: our bodies are made to move, but you don’t have to do intense workouts to reap the benefits

When first diagnosed and symptoms are erratic, exercise can seem insurmountable. Yet you don’t need to be doing HIIT workouts six days a week to experience benefits from physical activity.

Light stretching and walking can increase heart rate. These activities lubricate joints and support the range of motion. This is vital for overall health. When you feel ready, you can try many low-impact options.

Exercises like yoga, Pilates, and strength training can improve muscle mass and support overall health.

By adjusting your routine to your fitness level and disease activity, it’s easier to be consistent in moving daily.

Take it #OneAction at a time, especially early on.

We can actively improve our health and well-being by managing our lifestyle. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when living with an autoimmune disease.

Still, small changes like getting more sleep or eating healthier foods can significantly affect overall symptom management.

Additionally, it creates a support network of family, friends, and professionals. This will guarantee you have people to rely on if your illness feels too much. This allows us to devote time and energy to care for ourselves–emotionally and physically.

A balanced diet, adequate rest, regular exercise, and mental health care contribute significantly. These efforts help nearly anyone with an autoimmune disease. It improves their quality of life and gives them a chance at remission.

The most important thing to remember is that it doesn’t all happen at once. Focus on #oneaction at a time to keep it manageable.

Recovery takes time and effort. Adjust your activity level to match your current state rather than just pushing through. This way, your recovery will go much smoother.