I finally made it to 100% health. It took 9 months, food journaling, the amazing and never-ending support of my extremely loving husband, and many, many goof ups with food. At each and every stage of eliminating a food from my diet, we thought we had it figured out. But my healing would only progress to a certain point. The first item to go was peanuts. Then went eggs. Then aspartame, and that one was interesting. It's still confusing too, but I'll get there. And last but not least, corn.
However, with all these I still didn't quite get fully well. Now when I say I was sick, I know you don't even know what that means. On a high level, I simply didn't feel well. My brain was foggy, and I was tired all the time. But that wasn't all. For more than 3 months my skin was so severely deteriorated on my back that most clothing was painful. Bathing was a horrendous time of day. Showering felt like I was being belted, and at various points even bath water felt tortuous. My face was constantly peeling and for about 2 months the only thing I could do was continue to coat it with vaseline. I couldn't possibly imagine doing that now of course, but yes, I was using vaseline on my face, on about an hourly basis. My skin just wasn't doing what skin is supposed to do. The oil glands on my skin simply didn't work - for about 2 very long months.
Every doctor I went to said something more moronic than the previous. One said I was depressed. One said I "just had hives." One said to just eat rice and nothing else. Nothing. For several weeks. The next, said to use topical steroids until things get better and "be sure to moisturize after bathing." I already *was* using topical steroids on a daily basis, much to my dismay.
Dave took pictures of me in my various states of hives, or eczema, or whatever it is you want to call it. I debated about posting these online at various points during my struggle because I knew no one in my life (except my husband) had any clue at all what was going on with me. I decided that I simply was just not comfortable showing myself in that condition. Lucky for me, my work was 100% online and no one at work knew what was going on. A few knew I had something that was bothering me, but no one knew to what extent.
So where I am now? Well, to be honest, I don't know if I am allergic to eggs or peanuts. If I have a diet soda I react within sheer minutes of having just a few sips so whether it's the aspartame, or the corn (corn syrup and caramel coloring), it's not something I can consume again. I love chewing gum. In fact, I was absolutely addicted to Orbit Sweet Mint gum, but it has both aspartame and sorbitol so... that's out completely. I reacted the other night to salad. Was it the citric acid from the pre-washed lettuce (corn), or something in the salad dressing? I don't know. I have reacted pretty severely to items that have sorbitol (corn) so now that I am avoiding that, plus the other foods. I am well, though I seriously miss eating like a normal person. I also miss using mouthwash. Seriously, can't any company manage to make mouthwash without sweetening it with sorbitol? That's another fun food I react to pretty quickly. Not that mouthwash is fun, oh never mind...
But what does this mean? I don't even care if I am allergic to peanuts or eggs, but corn is a serious issue. There are more than 200 ingredients that "may contain or may be derived from" corn - and it is either discovered by way of trial and error, or calling the manufacturer. There is no requirement by the FDA to label things that may contain corn. It's also tricky remembering all the various things that may or may not contain, or be derived from corn. I even altered my vegetarian diet (thinking it was "safer") until I learned that some meats are injected with dextrose (corn).
I'm sure you are wondering, why didn't I get allergy testing done? That's just it, I DID. I was not a candidate for the skin testing, so instead I had several blood tests where they tested many different things in addition to, food allergies. The results came back with everything as "normal." Guess what wasn't tested? Corn. It's quite possible that it is the only thing I am allergic to but by making so many dietary changes (all organic and homemade) that my corn consumption continued to decrease and that's why I continued to get better - but not fully well.
So where does this leave me? I need to retest eggs and peanuts (though not at the same time of course) and then later on, test again, corn. In the mean time, eating has become a major chore and meal planning more difficult than ever. It may be many more months before I have solid answers to any of this, and the point from which I stand now is complete frustration. There are too many foods that are off limits, and my minor goofs have caused 3 days of serious discomfort.
In words of Ron Weasley, I think I'll just go off food for a bit.
from Amazon.
