I have learned so much from Ashley and Carlie Terradez and am so grateful for your work and ministry. I would not have this testimony if not for your obedience. Thank you. Thank you for following Jesus.
I struggled for many years with a myriad of symptoms that progressively became worse and worse. I stopped going to the doctor because I was told over and over – “We can’t find anything wrong.” I spent years with debilitating fatigue; every hour was a struggle to maintain adequate blood sugar levels. I could no longer exercise (my one hobby) due to unstable blood pressure and blood sugar levels. My muscles were in constant failure. They hurt and twitched. Along with environmental and contact sensitivities, I was down to 6 foods that I tolerated without having some kind of reaction whether indigestion, joint swelling, muscle pain, nerve pain, spinal cord swelling, brain fog, or memory loss. I had to be so careful about anything and everything that I put in my mouth or I would experience an exacerbation of symptoms.
I started doing my own research, adopted a very strict diet, spent thousands of dollars on different supplements, and practiced mindfulness and stress relief techniques. Although I did experience some very minor improvements, it was with great effort. The third naturopathic doctor I consulted with finally gave me a name – dysautonomia. The body system that’s supposed to regulate vital life functions – blood sugar, blood pressure, temperature regulation, fluid balance, metabolism – was failing – for no discernible reason. It was as if my sympathetic (fight or flight) system had been stuck in overdrive for so long, it was causing systemic failure, and nothing I did could slow it down.
Shortly after this, someone gave me the book God Wants You Well by Andrew Wommack. As I read it, it was like fireworks went off on the inside of me. I looked up Andrew Wommack and began devouring his online teachings. Eventually I stumbled onto the Healing is Here Conference on Youtube from 2017 and learned so much from Carlie about the goodness of God and about healing. I then began listening to Terradez Ministries as well.
In one of Carlie’s teachings, she talked about fear and I felt the Holy Spirit impress on me that I needed to tell fear to leave. The next day as I went to work, I realized something was different. I felt calm inside – something I couldn’t remember feeling since I was a very little girl. The constant unsettled, nervous feeling was gone. I began to try different foods and found I was able to eat them without a problem. Although I wanted to be like Hannah Terradez and be able to instantly eat anything I wanted, I found it to be a gradual process. In my frustration, I asked God why it was taking so long (2 months in after oh like 20 something years of dysfunction) and He showed me a picture of my house and it was trashed. He said, “You’ve had a squatter in your house. We’ve kicked the squatter out but it’s going to take some time to put things back to rights.” I settled in and it’s now about 2 years later. I eat anything I want without a problem. Nerve pain is gone. My joints don’t swell and hurt anymore. My blood sugar, blood pressure and fluid balance are completely stable. I’m tolerating a much broader spectrum of temperature extremes. I’m beginning to workout again and my muscles don’t ache and twitch anymore. Thank you Jesus!
In February of this year, I was asking God why I was still struggling to interact with people. Fear was kicked out so why did I still have this struggle with social interaction? How was I going to minister Jesus to people when I could barely choke out “Good morning” at the office? One night, I happened to read an article that described so many of the challenges in my life and I felt God telling me, “This is what’s been going on.” After struggling for a few moments with what He was telling me, I did what He said to do. As I called out this name, rebuking it and demanding it leave, I found myself crying with relief even though my mind was not quite convinced. Over the next few days, it was evident that this mountain I had been trying to climb my entire life was gone. Just like that. Gone. Removed. Cast into the sea. The article I had stumbled on described high-functioning autism particularly in adult women. God so gently prepared me for that moment and showed me the way to freedom. I have a bit of learning to do in the realm of social interaction but the bondage, this spirit of autism characterized by feelings of deep shame, is gone and the ability to move forward, to speak, is present. I feel like my life is just beginning. The name of Jesus is greater than fear and autism. God is so awesome!