Over 26 years, multiple MRIs were used to detect plaques on brain and spinal cord. I finally tried an injectable medication for four years. Not only did the medication not help, it caused additional harm by causing scary heart attack symptoms once, painful injections nightly, lipoatrophy, and a wound that took 6 months and 6 visits to a wound care clinic to heal.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1984. Against the diagnosis and grim outlook provided by my neurologist at age 19 I am now thriving, symptom and medication-free. But it wasn't always this way.

One day in June 1984, home on summer break after my freshman year at college, I woke up with a creepy tingling in my feet which slowly rose to my chest. Later that day my parents and I sat in a neurologist's office where she made the dreadful pronouncement: I'm 99% sure you have multiple sclerosis (MS), and there's nothing you can do, except take medication and prepare for life in a wheelchair. By evening, my body went numb from the neck down and I had no sense of my body in space. For nearly six weeks my body remained completely numb. This was a devastating time for me and my family. We had little information about this mysterious MS and no idea what the future would present. We started planning for my life in a wheelchair. Thankfully by September the shroud of numbness started to retreat, but it took a full 2 years for it to vanish. And thus began my relapsing-remitting 26-year relationship with MS.

For two decades I suffered from symptoms including numbness and tingling, profound fatigue, legs heavy as lead, and searingly painful optic neuritis that landed me in the hospital 3 times in two weeks. I tried multiple lifestyle experiments including stress reduction, diets, medication and finally gut healing. Effective stress-reduction techniques helped greatly, as did removing sugar; but my holy grail was giving up gluten and dairy in 2010. Since then I have been completely symptom and medication-free.

Since reversing the MS in November 2010 I've been studying how it's possible that we can reverse and prevent any of the 150+ autoimmune conditions. I have also completed:

-Certification as a Functional Medicine Health Coach from the FM Coaching Academy

-B.A. at Middlebury College

-Dr. Datis Kharrazian's Mastering the Thyroid course

-Immune Dysfunction and Autoimmunity module with the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM)

-PSYCH-K advanced integration training

-HeartMath Mentor/Coach certification

-100+ hours of neurofeedback brain training

-Energy Medicine with pioneering energy healer, Donna Eden (who healed her own MS)

-Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course at Stanford University

-Self-care and forgiveness courses at Stanford University

Mentored With:

-A classically trained homeopath and 30-year veteran autoimmune holistic doctor

-A Functional Medicine nutritionist and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner

-A healing diet specialist

-A pioneering biohacker and biochemist

Practiced:

-Yoga since 1987

-Meditation since 1994

-Healing modalities including Nutritional Muscle Response Testing (NMRT), Biophoton Therapy, BodyTalk, PSYCH-K, hypnosis, and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

Transformed:

- My lifestyle, food and sleep habits

- Reduced my toxin burden

- Healed my leaky gut

- Lowered my antibodies

- Resolved nutrient deficiencies and adrenal fatigue

Found:

-Alignment with my purpose and passion

-The truth about healing at the root cause level

-Amazing levels of energy

Transcended:

-The MS diagnosis

Now I'm on a Mission!

I've just written a book called Beat Autoimmune, The 6 Keys to Reverse Your Condition and Reclaim Your Health with a foreword by Mark Hyman, MD

I help people access the information they need to make informed decisions on how to achieve and maintain wellbeing. I believe that everyone can find even a little more freedom, no matter where they are on their healing journey. Even if it's only a slight shift in perspective.

My mission is to empower people to reverse and prevent autoimmune disorders so they can live their most vital lives.

My website: palmerkippola.com is a place for information and sharing healing stories.

My private Facebook group, Transcend Autoimmune is a community of people seeking to heal and transcend their autoimmune diagnoses naturally.

F.I.G.H.T.S.™ for food, infections, gut healing, hormone balances, toxins and stress.