This is me on July 5th the night before I started to get sick. I wont bore you with the details, so here are the highlights...or should I call them low light of what happened.
I broke out in a mystery rash over my entire body on July 6th. After 2 trips to urgent care I was put on steroids for what the doctors diagnosed as an allergic reaction. Over the next 2 months I saw 5 different urgent care doctors on 7 diffrent trips to UC, saw my primary care physcian, got 9 viles of blood drawn, saw 2 dermatologists, and got a double ear infection when the rash spread into my ears.
Here are just 2 pictures of what the rash looked like. These were taken on my "good days"...on the bad days I couldn't move.
In late August while on my last round of steroids I decided to do my own research. I found a book called The Candida Cure by Anne Boroch. It talked about the cycle of illnesses that happen when your body is thrown off balance while of antibiotics and steroids. Considering I had been on steroids the majority of the last 2 months I thought the diet she suggested couldn't hurt.
I gave up soda and sugar first. Then I gave up almost everything else, essentially it's a Gluten Free-Casein Free diet. I basically ate vegetables and seeds for the first few weeks. As I became use to my diet I started adding in substitutions...like brown rice pasta instead of regular pasta, GMO corn tortilla chips instead of my usual chips.
I stopped my steroids on August 30th and to my surprise and happiness the rash did not come back like it did when I went off the steroids the times prior.
I also watched a movie called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead which is a documentary about 2 men going on a juice fast. The movie is amazing and I suggest you watch it as soon as possible. I'm pretty sure I had what the guy in the movie suffered from but thankfully I caught it early instead of being on steroids for 9 yeas like he was.
I have lost 30lbs and I feel great. I still follow a Gluten Free Diet and I don't drink anything but water. When I do eat Gluten I feel like shit, my stomach bloats out so I look pregnant, and I get a few itchy dots again. I'm still not 100% sure what happened to my body this summer and I don't know if I ever will.
Here's a before and after photo. On the left I am 161 lbs and on steroids, the photo was taken August 28th. On the right I am 131 lbs and not on any medication, it was taken November 6th.
Hopefully I can get back into blogging now. While I will still write about my husband and I on our adventures here in California I will also be posting about my new diet and better health too.
Thank you for stopping by and continuing to read my little old blog.
