What If Your “Incurable” Autoimmune Diagnosis Is Actually a Protective Response Waiting to Complete?
What if the doctor who says your autoimmune disease is “incurable for life”… is showing visible signs that their own body is asking for help? 😳
Friday was International Integrative Health Day, so I posted this to my LinkedIN newsletter and it feels like the perfect moment to have this hopeful conversation.
I’m a holistic functional medicine practitioner who lives with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I’ve sat in the patient chair. I’ve felt the door slam shut when someone in a white coat says: “There is no cure. You’ll be on medication for the rest of your life.”
And I’ve also watched respected “experts” teach this old paradigm… while their own body was clearly crying out for deeper care.
That contradiction broke something open in me — and it’s why I’m so passionate about sharing a different story today.
The Old Paradigm That Keeps People Trapped in Fear
The classic message many people still receive is:
Autoimmune = a confused immune system that will always attack you
There is no cure
Best you can hope for is symptom management with medication
Hearing that can feel like a life sentence. Especially when you’re already exhausted, inflamed, foggy, gaining weight, losing hair, and just trying to make it through the day.
But here’s what the newer science (and thousands of lived experiences) are showing us:
Remission is absolutely possible. Constant flares are not inevitable. And many people are moving into dramatically improved (sometimes medication-free) states of health when they address the real root layers.
My Own Fear-to-Empowerment Turning Point
Five years ago I was diagnosed with a particularly concerning strain of H. pylori — the kind associated with increased stomach cancer risk. With both of my grandmothers lost to cancer and my mother a stomach cancer survivor… you can imagine how fast my nervous system went into full trauma response.
I could hardly breathe. My mind was screaming: “Am I next?”
What my doctor in 2020 didn’t emphasize (and what would have changed everything) was the nuance:
Most people have this and Most H. pylori infections don’t become cancer
Successful eradication is not always necessary yet can be possible
Lifestyle, terrain, inflammation levels, and the rest of the microbiome play massive roles in outcomes
(Deep bow of gratitude to Kiran Krishnan and others who’ve helped millions understand this microbiome complexity so much better.)
That experience became one of the biggest catalysts of my life. It pushed me to refuse the “manage symptoms forever” story and dive head-first into holistic functional medicine training.
The Cell Danger Response — A Missing Piece Most People Never Hear
One of the most empowering scientific frameworks I’ve encountered is Dr. Robert Naviaux’s work on the Cell Danger Response (CDR).
Here’s the core idea in plain language:
When a cell senses danger (infection • toxin • trauma • severe stress • nutrient depletion…), the mitochondria dramatically change their behavior.
They:
Downshift energy production
Shift into defense/protection mode
Trigger inflammation as a protective response
Pull resources inward for survival
This is brilliant and life-saving in the short term.
The problem comes when… for many different reasons… the body never gets the clear “all clear” signal.
The CDR stays partially turned on. Cells remain in a chronic low-level defense posture. And over months → years → decades this can show up as:
Persistent inflammation
Autoimmune patterns
Crushing fatigue
Gut problems
Brain fog
Hormone chaos
The long list of symptoms so many of us know too well
The beautiful, hopeful part?
This is not a permanent broken state. It’s a stuck protective response — one that can be gently guided back toward completion when we:
Remove ongoing triggers
Rebuild safety in the system (gut health • nervous system regulation • toxin clearance • nutrient repletion)
Give the body repeated, consistent signals of safety
That is exactly what good integrative, functional, and energy-aligned work is designed to do.
How We Actually Help the Body Complete the Cycle
In my practice we focus on highly bio-individual protocols that address the most common root-cause layers:
Comprehensive gut restoration (dysbiosis, infections, leaky gut)
Targeted nutrient repletion (especially minerals people are chronically low in)
Nervous system regulation & stress resilience practices
Anti-inflammatory nutrition that matches the person’s current needs
Environmental toxin reduction
Movement, breath, light, sound, sleep, and connection
Human Design alignment — so the person stops fighting their natural energy strategy and starts moving with their design instead of against it
When these layers are addressed with patience and consistency… inflammation comes down energy comes up medication needs frequently decrease and many people move into long periods that look and feel like remission.
A New Invitation – For Patients & Practitioners Alike
To every person who has ever felt disempowered by a diagnosis: You are not broken. Your body has been in a very intelligent, very ancient protective mode. And it is possible to help it feel safe enough to come out of protection and return to repair + growth.
To every integrative, holistic, functional practitioner reading this: Your work is revolutionary. You are helping people complete healing cycles that conventional medicine often never addresses. Thank you for holding the more expansive vision.
Today, on International Integrative Health Day, let’s make a pact together:
Less fear. More truth. More empowerment. More collaboration. More hope.
I’d love to hear from you:
What diagnosis once made you feel powerless?
What helped you start to feel in charge of your health again?
Who is one integrative/holistic healer you want to honor today?
We really are stronger together. This is how the new paradigm gets built — one self-empowered, honest, hopeful conversation at a time.
With deep love and respect,
Rev. Dr LaVeena B. Archers
ICONIC Human Design
