My Journey With Psoriasis
I will begin by saying that I don't necessarily love sharing this with the world, but I want to help anyone who may be suffering with this nasty skin disease more than I want to keep it quiet. And since this blog is about being honest and real - here it is!
I was in my freshman or sophomore year of college when I first noticed my head was insanely itchy. Not a normal itch that goes away after a simple scratch, but instead one that was constant, miserable and flaky. After a couple visits to my doctor, I was finally diagnosed.
Psoriasis.
I hate that word. Just saying it makes me cringe.
For those of you that don't know what psoriasis is, it is an auto-immune skin disease that causes red scaly patches (also called lesions) on your body, commonly on your elbows, knees or scalp, but can easily cover someone's entire body.
It itches like poison ivy, flakes terribly, and burns like its on fire.
Thankfully my case is fairly mild, but it has still effected my life in negative ways through the years, and I am here to share some of my resources and the things I have used/learned to gain remission and nearly 100% clearing of my few lesions.
This disease is often triggered by stress, as it was in my case, and can also show it's first appearance after heavy antibiotic use or a nasty case of strep throat (there's a solid explanation for this which you can discover in some of the resources below if you choose too). It is also commonly hereditary, as it also was in my case, as my grandmother's brother had it severely.
After my initial diagnosis, I was sent home with steroid cream, which honestly did absolutely nothing to help. At that time I had it on my right elbow, scalp and inside my left ear.
Fast forward to my first pregnancy, which typically throws auto immune diseases into remission due to your body trying to protect the baby- which is exactly what happened with my pregnancy with Wesley. Not long into the pregnancy all my lesions where completely gone and stayed gone until after he was born. Unfortunately, the lesions on my elbows and my ear returned but somehow miraculously, the lesion on my head has never returned!
Fast forward again to my pregnancy with Abigail - where it did not go into remission, instead, it got slightly worse and after she was born, I discovered new spots on my hands (this is common due to hormonal changes after birth). At this point, I was so frustrated with it, I began researching, and took the plunge into a complete diet transformation.
As you can probably already guess, most often people do not want food to be the answer, and are not interested in changing their eating habits.
I'll admit it is extremely difficult due to the fact that we live in a world where absolutely everything is centered around food.
It's always been a bit frustrating to me that we all know and agree that if you were to eat only McDonalds cheeseburgers and fries for a week straight, you would most likely see some zits or see your skin react poorly to the diet regimen - yet, often times when I told people I was changing my diet to heal my psoriasis, people just couldn't believe that what I put in my mouth would have any effect on my skin! Go figure!
Anyway, with that said, if you struggle with a skin disease, be encouraged that you can find healing as well as improvement in your overall health by changing certain habits.
For approximately 1.5 years, I ate completely clean. No wheat, no dairy, absolutely no processed foods, very little meat (this is specific to a diet for skin disease) and no caffeine. My diet consisted of mostly vegetables, fruits, detox teas, water, and some lean meats.
I can barely think of a time where I "cheated" because when you have large, itchy, red, flaking lesions on your body, you are willing to do difficult things to see improvement.
After only a couple weeks of this diet change, my body began doing exactly what my resources said it would when you make a major change in your diet...DETOX.
I will also mention that along with this strict diet regimen I also exercised very consistently, as sweating is a major way to detox, as well as some crazy things such as coffee enemas (do some research, the effect they have on your liver- a organ that regularly needs detoxed- is crazy!), as well as dry brushing for detox and taking a supplement that purged parasites from my body (I have proof of this! Just ask my family! ;) It's amazing what can be hanging on in our body if we don't have regular detox routines in our life.
After the detox process began, my lesions got larger and started to flatten out and slowly began the healing process.
I'll admit my healing was much slower than most people, in fact, it wasn't until I found the natural cream I will link below that I saw full clearing of my lesions. I also strongly believe that I did not see quick healing due to the fact that at the exact time of my diet change, my younger sister was going through the fight for her life with Crohns disease, and honestly, because of my personality, I was under a large amount of stress constantly thinking and praying for her life. Unfortunately, you simply cannot heal an auto immune disease while staying under large amounts stress.
So, to sum it up - at about the exact same time that my sister began her recovery, I discovered the cream linked below, and I was able to greatly control my stress level...then my skin began to heal.
I since have relaxed my diet tremendously, in fact, I am just now getting back to eating more clean as I strongly believe that I still have psoriasis, and I do have mild flare ups depending on my stress level, diet, etc. I highly recommend that you consider making changes to your diet along with using the cream, as the cream is often time just a band aid to the underlying issues that are going on inside of your body. Especially if you have a more severe case.
I feel like I could go on and on about the things I learned and how eating clean made me feel like a new person - I have seriously never felt so good in my life! I still cannot believe the effect food had on my body. But, I will also be honest and admit that choosing to eat so strict was very hard, and not exactly enjoyable most of the time.
I am now at a place where the strictness has decreased and although I strive to eat "clean", my family and I have found a balance and I am comfortable with this for the time being.
Lastly, another important lesson I learned through this process (and am still learning) is that how people choose to eat is their own personal choice.
If I am on the healthy band wagon and feeling like super woman because of it, it does not warrant the opportunity to make those that choose to eat differently feel any less than me or chastise them for their choices. And likewise, if I am the one choosing to enjoy a donut, I don't have the right to chastise those that are choosing not to eat a donut. We are all in control of the health of our personal diet, and although I have witnessed the power of food, I also understand the struggle it can be to make healthy choices.
With that said, if you or anyone you know suffers from psoriasis or eczema (which is a very similar disease) PLEASE check out these items I link below and contact me with absolutely any questions. There is so much more I could share that I've learned about skin disease, and how what we choose to put IN our body will absolutely effect what comes OUT of our skin/body!
Like I mentioned previously, gratefully, my case is mild, but I have seen awful scenarios where people are suffering terribly and it can be helped. There is hope!
Thanks for letting my share this window of my life.
I hope someone is relieved of suffering because of it!
See some of my progress pictures below as proof of the help of my resources linked!
xoxo
-Jessica
Here is a picture of way back when I first started the cleansing diet and my progress over a few weeks. I wish I had taken a picture before I started the diet as my lesion was much smaller (getting larger and smoother is a major sign of healing, as backwards as it sounds!)
As you can see in the pictures, it started out large and very red, then slowing started to fade and started to "break up", which is a sign of healing. I am now clear as you saw in the picture I posted via social media!
Another picture to show how the healing process works - lesions become less red and irritated and eventually break up and fade away!
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