Nutritional Healing Center of Ann Arbor

Kelly and I have went down many roads seeking better nutrition, whether it be a fad diet to making sure we eat all organic foods. No matter the choice, we still get sick, don’t lose or maintain weight loss or just have no energy at times. For me personally, I have been taking Zyrtec for allergies for at least 2-3 years and anytime I have tried to stop taking Zyrtec, I would wind up sick. This in itself has bothered me and I had been looking for an alternative solution(neti pot, vitamins, etc.. ) but none seemed to truly help.

About 6 months ago, Kelly was telling me about a nutrition doctor that treated symptoms with nutritional supplements. She found out about him from a co-worker Ann, who had been seeing him for some time and her results have been great. I recall the night she talked about going, showed me his card…and right then I knew this was a possible solution to my allergies and Zyrtec. I made an appointment the next day to see Dr. Schmidt at the Nutritional Healing Center of Ann Arbor.

Not knowing a lot about nutrition response testing, I can tell you I was skeptical to say the least after my first visit. In fact I initially doubted the whole process to be honest, but there was something very sincere on their promise that they could make my life better. They promised to help me stop taking Zyrtec and help me with other symptoms like sleeping better, stress levels, occasional night sweats and restless leg syndrome. They sent me home the first day with some information and I made weekly appointments for the first ten weeks. What did I just sign up for I thought? 😉

After my second visit I was buying whole food supplements from them. The brand they carry is mainly Standard Process, which is a company that gathers all if its supplements from Organic Foods. The pricing does vary, but really it is much more affordable than just buying random vitamins from a health store. Most of the vitamins I take are around $10-$15 a bottle which last for 60 days or even more. Plus, you are taking supplements that your body is asking for and not just randomly taking vitamins. In my mind it was a win/win situation because I was already taking vitamins, spending more money on them in the store and were they helping me?

Besides taking proper supplements, there were diet changes that needed to happen for my body to start the healing process. The main items to avoid are processed foods and sugar, sticking with mainly raw veggies, fruit, meat and eggs. With my allergies I went on an Anti-Viral diet that eliminates dairy, wheat, most nuts, and so on. Was it challenging? Even though we eat organic foods, I can’t lie and say it was easy, it was not. There were temptations daily, especially since Kelly had not gone to see Dr. Schmidt yet. But I reminded myself that I am making a committment not only to my health now, but my future health when our son grows up.

Getting into my 3rd and 4th visits I started noticing a difference. For one, I was sleeping much better. In fact most nights I was sleeping 8-9 hours with not waking up. I was still taking Zyrtec, but my night sweats were near gone and the restless legs were getting better. By my sixth visit or so the restless legs were gone, night sweats gone, and my sleeping each night was just amazing. My energy levels were always high, but this new source of energy was just amazing. In previous posts I have talked about weight loss, but since seeing Dr. Schmidt and changing my diet, I dropped some 25lbs in a span of a month. Simply amazing!

In mid-September I did a mountain bike ride called the TTC, it’s 50 miles of fun! But I always seem to get leg cramps on this ride no matter what I try, and this year was no different. I had a scheduled appointment the day after with Dr. Schmidt and mentioned the cramping. He gave me a supplement that my body was asking for, which essentially my body was draining itself of calcium and magnesium and in turn causing my cramping. Sounds logical but how do I know if the supplements worked? A few weeks later I completed my first century ride, but this was not my first attempt and previous attempts failed because of leg cramping. but not this time. I took enough supplements the day before and during my ride and never once had leg cramping. Can you say awesome!

Another milestone was getting off Zyrtec! It was an early October appointment, and I recall Dr. Schmidt saying…are you ready to get off Zyrtec now? My reply to him was simply, I have been waiting for you to ask that question. Dr. Schmidt explained to me that I might get sick or have some post nasal drip, as the allergy medication tends to cause these things should you try and stop taking it. Well, he didn’t lie…he was right. And along with the post nasal drip came itching and some small rashes popped up. After googling side effects of Zyrtec, well let’s just say I was not alone. The next few days after cutting Zyrtec out were not tough, but not easy. I think by the 4th day the minor rashes were gone, the post nasal drip was going away. Just needed the itching to stop…which it did by day 7. And there it was, after about 2 months of seeing Dr. Schmidt I was off Zyrtec! And to think most of my problems were all being caused by processed foods and sugar. Food or should I say nutrition that my body needed to heal itself. And now today, I am going on 4 months without using Zyrtec and never plan to again!

Between October and now, I still see Dr. Schmidt every couple weeks and go in should I feel a cold coming on. I am feeling amazingly better, no longer take any medication, and my supplement list has dwindled down. Initially I was taking a fair amount of vitamins to help with healing, but now I take 3-4 vitamins in the morning and another 3 throughout the day. Just the thought still brings a smile to my face. 😉

Just before Christmas, I came down with a 102 fever and my body was achy. What would a normal doctor do? Drink fluids and rest…what did Dr. Schmidt do? Gave me supplements to knock the fever down every hour and it did! I rested still, but was not feverish at all. Two days after seeing him the fever had broke but I was still fighting off the viruses. For those of you who do not know, I didn’t either, the flu virus is about 8 different viruses all combined. So more supplements subscribed and by day 4 I felt normal again. I believe I had the full blown flu…and it was treated with nutritional supplements. Keep in mind I was back to work after 2 days!!

So am I still skeptical about nutrition response testing? If I said no, I would be lying to you but there is not a doubt in my mind that they have made my families life better. And time and time again Dr. Schmidt and his team at the Nutritional Healing Center of Ann Arbor prove that their methods, while different than standard medicine, simply work. Any skepticism I had initially is just simply all in my head. My journey for better health has become overly successful with their help and I can’t even fathom how much better things will be years down the road. Thanks Dr. Schmidt, you rock!