MY CHRONIC ILLNESS RECOVERY STORY | How I’m finally getting my life back after losing hope
Daphney Hatz
86,337 views
For the past few years, I’ve had a mysterious chronic illness that just kept getting worse and worse… but all my labs were totally normal. I went to specialist after specialist, and I became more desperate for answers after each doctor told me everything is totally normal. This is the whole story, from beginning to end. It’s long, and it goes into deep detail. I’ll be posting shorter form content, but I wanted to start with all of it. So here’s the whole story of how I got sick, got worse, lost hope, and then was pulled out of the dark place to find joy, health, and life again. I’m still not fully recovered, but I’m getting stronger each day and that progress is everything to me. I’m not selling anything, and I’m not a doctor. Just a woman who found her cure.
0:00 Introduction
4:21 Disclaimers - I'm not a doctor, I'm not selling anything
7:02 Why I'm sharing my story
9:10 How it all started
12:10 Postpartum depression diagnosis
14:30 My initial symptoms of chronic illness
18:08 Iron deficiency - was this my root cause?
20:34 Starting The Iron Protocol
22:08 Getting iron infusions
23:06 Developing a tremor
23:25 ADHD - was this my root cause?
25:43 NSAIDS made me way worse
27:13 Migraines - were they my root cause?
28:47 Developing GI bleeding from the NSAIDs
33:50 Ulcers - were they my root cause?
37:42 SIBO - was that my root cause?
40:00 Trying the elemental diet with some success
41:45 Strange allergies develop
43:45 MCAS - was that my root cause?
44:50 Hitting rock bottom : the dark place
50:21 Seeing a functional doctor
52:40 My first major breakthrough with vitamin b12 injections
56:10 The honeymoon phase with b12
56:56 Paradoxical worsening - the second phase of b12 treatment
58:50 Getting diagnosed with PERNICIOUS ANEMIA
1:01:25 Insane vision improvements with b12
1:02:57 Checking my optic nerve
1:04:05 Getting diagnosed with cataracts at age 34
1:05:10 The b12 shots stopped working due to low folate
1:06:30 My symptoms of folate deficiency
1:10:30 Cerebral folate deficiency
1:11:05 The connection to MTHFR
1:12:43 The autism - folate connection
1:14:15 My cure - folinic acid
20 Comments
Of course you are depressed!! You get up and feel like crap every day, are suppose to feel good and happy ? Come on docs, use the same brain you went to school with.
Thanks for your testimony, Daphney. Glad you feel better now.
I am not a doctor, but I, too, have been obsessed for over 30 years, studying, researching... trying to connect the dots. I am a certified dietitian, with background in naturopathic and homeopathic medicine, etc, and above all a mum, desperately seeking for practical answers, trying to help my struggling ADHD an autistic children.
Too much suffering frustration, wasted and devastated lives... and, biochemical imbalances are often at the root of all chronic "diseases"! For example: About 80–90% of the body’s B12 is stored inside Red Blood Cells. So when a person loses a large volume of blood, they don’t just lose iron — they lose the B12 that was inside those red cells. This immediately lowers total B12 reserves. After blood loss, the bone marrow goes into “emergency production mode. ”To rebuild RBCs, the marrow needs: B12, folate, iron, protein, energy and if B12 was already borderline low, the sudden demand exposes and worsens the deficiency. When B12 is low, the marrow cannot produce healthy RBCs fast enough. This worsens fatigue, weakness, and neurological symptoms. Stress, shock, inflammation, and anaemia all reduce: HCl production, intrinsic factor, gastric mucosal integrity. This means the person absorbs even less B12 and folate, and other essential nutrients (aminoacids, etc )from food.
ALSO, B12 is required to “activate” folate - without B12, folate becomes trapped in its unusable form. This means: folate cannot support DNA synthesis, intestinal cells cannot regenerate, stomach acid production drops, zinc absorption collapses. Folate is required for rapid cell turnover. The gut lining renews every 2–5 days. Low folate → slow turnover → damaged villi → poor absorption of: B12, zinc, iron, magnesium. So low folate → low absorption of B12 and zinc.
Zinc is required for stomach acid production. Zinc activates carbonic anhydrase → HCl production. Low zinc → low HCl → poor absorption of:
B12, folate, iron. So zinc deficiency causes B12 and folate deficiency through low stomach acid.
Now, this might be the piece of the puzzle you are missing (or not), Daphney, in terms of biochemistry: B12 and folate cannot function without zinc‑dependent enzymes. So even if B12 and folate are present, low zinc makes them ineffective.
It's not good to supplement with zinc alone, as it will cause even more imbalances (copper, f.e.). It is a very delicate dance, the mineral "dance". It's always best to eat whole food, rich in zinc, and restore liver and gall bladder balance. But, zinc is a fundamental piece of the puzzle.
I don't have all the answers, but, getting closer and closer.
I praise you for your strength and commitment to make the world a better place!
God bless you, God bless us all!
Btw - you look like Rachel McAdams and speak like her as well. Just gorgeous. ❤
So grateful for your sharing
So thrilled you're recovering
So inspired by your courage
Thankfully, I can stay home, I have a wonderful husband, and a big HSA. I finally found a functional nutritionist who tested me for things I or my many doctors never thought about or subscribed to. Still don’t have any official diagnosis but I’m climbing out of the hole- slowly.
God will be done, I will be ok❤️
Thank you for sharing!
MY CHRONIC ILLNESS RECOVERY STORY | How I’m finally getting my life back after losing hope
Daphney Hatz
86,337 views
For the past few years, I’ve had a mysterious chronic illness that just kept getting worse and worse… but all my labs were totally normal. I went to specialist after specialist, and I became more desperate for answers after each doctor told me everything is totally normal. This is the whole story, from beginning to end. It’s long, and it goes into deep detail. I’ll be posting shorter form content, but I wanted to start with all of it. So here’s the whole story of how I got sick, got worse, lost hope, and then was pulled out of the dark place to find joy, health, and life again. I’m still not fully recovered, but I’m getting stronger each day and that progress is everything to me. I’m not selling anything, and I’m not a doctor. Just a woman who found her cure.
0:00 Introduction
4:21 Disclaimers - I'm not a doctor, I'm not selling anything
7:02 Why I'm sharing my story
9:10 How it all started
12:10 Postpartum depression diagnosis
14:30 My initial symptoms of chronic illness
18:08 Iron deficiency - was this my root cause?
20:34 Starting The Iron Protocol
22:08 Getting iron infusions
23:06 Developing a tremor
23:25 ADHD - was this my root cause?
25:43 NSAIDS made me way worse
27:13 Migraines - were they my root cause?
28:47 Developing GI bleeding from the NSAIDs
33:50 Ulcers - were they my root cause?
37:42 SIBO - was that my root cause?
40:00 Trying the elemental diet with some success
41:45 Strange allergies develop
43:45 MCAS - was that my root cause?
44:50 Hitting rock bottom : the dark place
50:21 Seeing a functional doctor
52:40 My first major breakthrough with vitamin b12 injections
56:10 The honeymoon phase with b12
56:56 Paradoxical worsening - the second phase of b12 treatment
58:50 Getting diagnosed with PERNICIOUS ANEMIA
1:01:25 Insane vision improvements with b12
1:02:57 Checking my optic nerve
1:04:05 Getting diagnosed with cataracts at age 34
1:05:10 The b12 shots stopped working due to low folate
1:06:30 My symptoms of folate deficiency
1:10:30 Cerebral folate deficiency
1:11:05 The connection to MTHFR
1:12:43 The autism - folate connection
1:14:15 My cure - folinic acid