It’s September 1st today, that’s right. The first day of month 9 of the year 2014. It’s also a Monday, and a public holiday so I thought it’d be a good time to finally share with everyone what really happened to me.
To say that I have fallen off the bandwagon is trying to sweep things under the rug with a simple explanation. I was always trying to make healthier choices, even when I was indulging. Not that I’d want to use this as a proverbial excuse, but basically back in June when I was in the states…
I got sick. Mysteriously sick.
I started getting what I now know is eczema. I suspected for a moment, that somehow I picked up impetigo from dirty sheets when I was at a cabin at Camano Island, and that triggered an immune-response that cannot be tamed, but I can’t be sure. What I know though, that it was some kind of bacterial infection that lasted for months.
As a tourist, it was challenging to get healthcare, and so I did what I could by using over-the-counter remedies and other people’s old prescription creams. It made me think of all the reasons why the U.S. is a terrible place to fall sick while you are on vacation. At least in the U.K., you have universal health and if something happened to you, you’ll get treated without then killing yourself in the process of paying healthcare bills.
So I had all these dry spots that became infected. It was oozing a honey-colored liquid where there was a skin injury. It itched like hell and I felt like a leper. I couldn’t function, unless I popped an antihistamine, showered several times a day, and oiled myself from head to toe. I couldn’t sleep most nights, because the itching was intolerable, unless I knocked myself out with a Benadryl.
I even tried to detox. That worked right after, but if I were to eat anything containing shellfish, which is typical in Malaysian cooking, or have some nuts, it would flare up again. Based on those reactions, it can be gathered that, though I have never had food allergies before, I was now allergic to all the known ingestible allergens. Dairy, nuts, and shellfish were itchy triggers.
All of that made it so difficult for me to work out, so I stopped exercising. Naturally, that had consequences and it caused a lot of anxiety, which elevated my stress levels, which caused my weight to rise. So I was itching, tearing, oozing, not working out, and stressing.
As you can see in the picture above, I look inflamed, bloated, and I didn’t feel good.
When I got back to Malaysia, I thought maybe the humidity would help keep my skin moist. While it helped overall to relieve the incessant itching on the whole body, my wounds would not heal. Instead, I began developing other, newer dry spots that just won’t go away.
By now my stress level, when calculated was reading at 333 on the Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale. It also happens to be a very destabilizing time in my life, as there are multiple overlapping life-altering changes including a house move where we’ll be losing 3,000 sq ft of space.
Then last week, I went out to have dinner with my family, and my dad ordered this huge plate of big prawns that were absolutely delicious. My lips swelled up after I ate some. Never happened before, but all I could do is pop a Zyrtec, which helped bring the swelling down!
Downcast and frustrated, I called and made an emergency appointment with my dermatologist. So my official diagnosis is this.
Diagnosis 1
I probably have nickel allergy. Somehow, my body has gotten so sensitive that, I can’t eat food that has high concentrations of nickel, food that comes in a can, or food that’s been cooked in stainless steel anymore.
Diagnosis 2
I have confirmed eczema, with secondary infection on all areas affected.
Diagnosis 3
I have a candida fungus infection on a few spots on my face and arms (which I was unaware of, and only started when I came back to this climate).
So I was prescribed 4 types of creams and a fancy moisturizer that cost 85 bucks a bottle, told to apply the meds twice a day and the moisturizer 4 times a day. I have been told to cook in clay pots, and to cut out refined carbs and sugar as to not feed the candida. I was also prescribed antibiotics to clear my systemic infection.
It’s Day 4 now. My eczema spots have cleared up and are not oozing anymore. That sandy feeling on my lips is gone, and I don’t feel like a leper anymore. Although I still have a long ways to go trying to fix everything, I’m just glad there’s some progress.
I have no idea what happened to my health and I feel like Job in the bible.
Instead of complaining though, I will stay in faith and continue to thank God for what he is doing in my life. I’m grateful for family. I’m also grateful for all the people who love me. In a few days, I’ll have better more reliable help, too.
Now that the infection is gone, I’m going to get back to working out and eating extremely clean.
I wish I had a more linear story to tell, but life is like this. Sometimes it gets in the way and you fall sick mysteriously.
Anyway, that’s the reason why I look swollen and sickly. More importantly, I have already made a commitment to take care of my health and I won’t let setbacks take me down.
Maybe this is God’s way of humbling me, so that I never forget that good health is not purely by merit, but that it’s because He allowed it.
