HP’s Days 20-30 Healing & Food Summary

Can you believe we’ve done it again, for the 3^rd time! I was really excited to start this year’s Raw Vegan Challenge after having spent 5 months bed/house bound from a Red Skin “Flare”. I had gained a lot of weight due to fluid retention, lack of moving and some poor diet choices as a result of wanting to comfort myself. It’s interesting how food can be so comforting. Once I started to recover from the “Flare” I found it was hard to get motivated. My Thyroid went Hypo, my Cortisol levels went high, my Adrenals were fatigued, my “Lady’s days” had gotten all out of whack, I started losing hair, I didn’t really want to talk to or associate with people, I could barely walk for more than 10 minutes, I was depressed and lethargic. In fact I started going to counseling for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) in April because of the emotional effects of being sick for so long.

What are the positive results I experienced over the last 30 days?

Well I lost 10 pounds, the first 5 or 6 in week 1.

I haven’t fit into these jeans in four years!

My energy level has increased and is more consistent. I can actually wake up to my alarm clock, which I was unable to do since my most recent flare.

I was able to keep up a routine at the gym Monday – Friday, which was impossible during the earlier 5 months.

My skin seems more hydrated and clear, despite the fact that I’m shedding so much dead skin.

My skin has been shedding intensely. Though this sounds negative it actually means new tissue is being created and the damaged cellular tissue is renewing itself. The more skin that sheds the more quickly I heal.

Last week it became clear that my hair stopped falling out. My hair had fallen out in huge quantities around February which was around 2/3 into my flare.  In May my cosmetologist actually had to cut bangs, “fringe”. We hoped that it would help to cover the thinning areas of my crown.

I had visibly increased deeper detoxification results the Ionic foot-bath Detoxes I started doing last week.

Though I did experience junk food cravings and spotted for 10 days before my actual period, I had almost zero other PMS issues. My “lady’s days” usually come with lots of crazy PMS. Normally I experience 5 days of night sweats prior to my period. This month I only had night sweats for 1 night. I didn’t experience any PMS cramps until the 1^st day of my period and only the 1^st day. I was not bloated or constipated prior or during. I didn’t have any cystic issues.

I go for blood work this month to see how my endocrine system is doing now that I’m in remission from this past Red Skin Flare. I will have to send Christine an update once I get my results. In general my endocrine system will improve once a Flare has ceased, but maybe it’ll have recovered more rapidly as a result of the Raw Vegan diet changes.

How did your final days of the Raw Vegan Challenge go?

Day 15 was when I began to experience all the effects of detoxing from being Raw Vegan. It’s also when I experienced cravings for “bad food”, my eyes swelled, minor red skin flare, I got insanely itchy, minor infection around my ankles and I had “lady’s days” break-thru for 10 days.

My eyes are back to normal. They went into an allergy attack and then turned into a Red Skin Flare. The skin on my eyelids and around my ocular cavity actually hardened, darkened and then shed off.  So the skin is as good as new.

My legs are all still swollen. I do think that this is partly because I started going back to the gym and walk on the treadmill 2 miles, 5 days a week. It’s a lot to go from laying and sitting around to doing a lot of moving. I enjoy going to the gym and greatly benefit from moving.

My tummy recovered from its digestive issues with a little help from digestive enzymes. My skin in general has just been micro shedding like crazy. It is constant dead tissue coming off and renewing; sometimes several times a day. I’m sure this is why I’ve been so tired, beside the hormone issues and my trying to participate in a more normal daily routine. My “lady’s days” actually never started until the 26^th, but I was being giving warning signs for 10 days straight. I guess my body was a little nervous I wouldn’t be ready for it. LOL!

My itch level is all over the place. I had to take ½ of an antihistamine 3 days in a row around the 26^th. It helped me to sleep better through the night and to handle the itching. While I do NOT like taking medicine, sometimes I’m in such an acute stage that if I don’t mellow out, I’ll actually cause harm to myself from the scratching. Other than those 3 nights of sleep, I’ve been getting up 1-3 times a night. I’ve even had to take a bath in the middle of the night a couple of times. It’s starting to all subside now. And I realize this is all part of my body detoxing.

To aid the detox, I’ve been getting Ionic foot baths this week. Last year I did about 2 dozen foot baths over a 4 month period. I would only experience one decent detox every fifth foot bath. This week, my 4 foot baths have had greater results than the previous 2 dozen put together. The practitioner I’m seeing is amazed what a difference from eating Raw Vegan has made in my detoxing.

Meal summary of the 10 days:

Well, because I didn’t feel well from the 15^th-26^th I was kind of boring with my meal choices. I just kept up with my fruit, greens and nut smoothies. I was making salads of cucumber, greens, avocado, green peas and fresh herbs. I was eating the chocolate protein bites, raw vegan crackers and nut spreads for snacks.

I did go to the movies for a date night double feature. Thank goodness for packaged Raw Vegan Snacks at Whole Foods because I grabbed an array of items to snack on.

And my last 2 days were awesome with a surprise visit from a friend who made me vegan lettuce wraps and vegan sushi rolls to get me through to the end.

I’m proud of my accomplishment. I’m appreciative of everyone’s support and look forward to next year’s challenge. I’ve decided that I’ll stay 70/30 Raw Vegan for the summer (except for a couple of events that I have to participate in over the summer where most likely I will be making Vegetarian choices). 70/30 Raw Vegan means that I will be eating 30% of my food cooked, but of course vegan. My smoothies, salads and snacks have been so enjoyable that I don’t want to give them up. I do want to be able to have things like baked potatoes, vegetable soup, falafel and gluten-free pasta now and again. So this is why I’ve decided to only commit to 70% raw during the day.

I also don’t want to reverse any of the benefits I’ve experienced this month. Hopefully my health will continue to improve this summer and it’ll boost my immune system so that during the winter my flare potential for a Red Skin “Flare” will be less or not at all. We’ll see. I’ll have to give you an update.

Thank you all for your participation. We will be doing our next challenge in the spring next year. So STAY TUNED!!!

— HP
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You can read about my past 36 months at www.eczemancipated.com For more information on TSA/RSS, check out www.itsan.org, the International Topical Steroid Addiction Network.