Living with Autoimmune Disease: A Pharmacist’s Personal Chronic Illness Story by Katrin Olavessen-Holt
Living with autoimmune disease isn’t just a diagnosis. It’s a daily challenge that impacts everything from your career to your identity. In this week’s episode of The Wellness Pharmacist with Dr. Kat, I’m stepping out from behind the microphone to share my personal story with multiple chronic illnesses.
I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease as a teenager. After the birth of my first child, lupus joined the picture, followed by brain cavernomas and seizures. Like so many others, I faced years of being dismissed by healthcare professionals, told it was “all in my head,” and even faced sexism in pharmacy school while trying to build my career.
In this raw and heartfelt episode, I share:
- How I pushed through misdiagnosis and medical gaslighting
- What it’s like to be a pharmacist and patient
- How my lived experience shaped my business and coaching work
- What I want others to know about living with autoimmune disease and invisible illness
This is a call for more empathy, awareness, and advocacy. I want others to know that living with autoimmune disease doesn’t mean you’re broken. It means you’re a warrior navigating a system not designed for you.
If this story resonates with you or someone you love, I encourage you to listen and share. And if you’re looking for ways to manage chronic illness and fatigue, check out my upcoming mini course The Fatigue Fix, which was created for people just like us.
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