Sunday, July 7, 2013

Can you stop autoimmunity through food??

WOW!!! what a stormy few weeks it has been.  I successfully stayed out of hospital while waiting for my Immunology appointment.  Having said that I was covered in hives for the whole 7 weeks and had severe joint pain.  Who knew it was possible to get hives on the soles of your feet, ouch!

The big day arrived and the immunologist told me that I was having suffering from an autoimmune crisis.  My heart sank.  After 6 years of battling indeterminate colitis, psoriatic arthritis and osteoporosis I was not looking forward to facing off against another crisis.  I was started on chemotherapy injections, previously it had been chemotherapy tablets but the specialist felt that I would not absorb enough of the medication to improve. 

I left with a heavy heart, I was on 3 more oral medications, and a weekly chemo injection.  That was on top of all the medications and injections that I was already on.  The only way I can describe autoimmunity is being told that there's good news and bad news.  The good news is that you don't have cancer, YAY! The bad news is that you have to take chemo for life!! It's a bitter pill to swallow.

I was days away from my 31st birthday at this point.  I gave myself 24 hours to be miserable, mind you it took me 4-5 days to finally cry.  My poor GP had to gather me up when I finally let it all out.  She confirmed what I already expected, my depression was flaring up again.  I needed to fight back and quickly.  Luckily the medication had taken the edge off the hives and they were becoming fewer in number. 

BUT...

... there is always a but

I continued to feel unhappy.  At 31 I was pumping my body full of medications, some that are extremely toxic.  Whilst they were helping me feel better, i wondered what they were doing to me in the long term.  I was already sporting the horrible steroid bloat which makes me miserable.  I wondered if there was something else that I could do to heal my body from the inside out.

I began to research diets, health regimes, juice fasts etc.  I returned to my fabulous dietitian Julie and explained how I felt about the new diagnosis and the tablets.  We have agreed to try me on a mix of Paleo and GAPs diet which will be used in conjunction with my tablets.  I am not in a position to cease the tablets as I am too unwell.  However i have fortnightly blood tests and my progress is closely monitored.  I am hoping that I will be able to reduce my dosage over time and hopefully come back off the chemo injections. 

Julie and I agreed that we would give me the weekend to get set up for my new food program.  I needed to shop and plan.  So tomorrow marks the start of a new regime, a journey to heal me with food from the inside out.  I will document my journey here and I am very open to suggestions so feel free to leave me a message.

Let's do this! I'm excited!!!

3 comments:

  1. Hang in there Cat. You are a survivor and an inspiration to the rest of us.

    Lots and lots of hugs
    ((( )))

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. Yup i survive and i really hope i inspire, but my main goal is to turn this all around and show people what it is to thrive and enjoy life no matter what it throws at you.

      Thanks for the support

      xx

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  2. Thanks Chris. I won't lie life has been tough but i am determined to fight on and show others they can as well.

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