The Reluctant Raw Foodist

Before I changed my diet I regularly used to wake up with a jolt not being able to breathe. It felt like I had choked in my sleep on my own saliva. I used to sit up in bed in a panic and try to unchoke myself, desperately gasping for breath. Each time I thought I had breathed my last. I saw doctors about this and was told I did not have sleep apnea or asthma and that it was “just sensitive throat” and I would have to live with it. One doctor implied that it was hysteria and said that if I fell unconscious my throat would open again. I got worse and worse until it was a nightly occurrence.

I found out finally that I was suffering from a form of anaphylaxis due to the foods I was eating (especially milk products seemed to bring it on)  and the whole thing cleared up when I changed my diet. I was reminded of how bad it was recently when I started to choke from eating a couple of potato crisps that I thoughtlessly took from a try bowl in a shop. I had forgotten what my throat can do to me.

I found the recent MRI scan on my frozen shoulder very scary as I realised that if I choked I could not sit up immediately - for years this was my worse nightmare.

These are my thoughts….

As you know, I am not a doctor and I would probably see a specialist to get an understanding of what was going on with the injury. However,  and with that proviso this is what I would do:

I would take a multi faceted approach:

I would first check out what aggravates the injury. Is there a specific movement for example? Are there certain shoes I wear that cause it to flare up?

I would work on the principle that if I always do the same thing I will probably get the same result. 

The stuff you are doing for pain control sounds good  as it appears to be working. I would ask myself how can I enhance this? What would it take to give this injury a chance to heal totally? Ice, elevation, relaxation when possible? 

There is some thought that fish ( I don’t know what you currently eat ) is good for inflammation but I have never found it to be good for me.

Obviously a smoothie of greens and fruit would be great but it is like saying that eating a few fruits and vegetables will change my health. It might do me some good but if I am still ingesting what is causing me harm/ poisoning me, then nothing counteracts it. 

I have found that my best chance of freeing myself from pain has been to change things radically and I can take my joint pain away for the most part by eating my diet so something is working ( Unfortunately I react to some common chemicals like perfume too ).

Fruits like cherries are supposed to be very good for inflammation and so is pineapple but you may have a problem with this is you are histamine intolerant. Almonds are probably the best nuts to eat, again, as long as you are not allergic to them. 

A word of warning. We are all different and some of us have higher tolerance to certain potentially poisonous substances but the body is still having to cope with it the  best that it can. If you really clean up/change your diet, you may find it very difficult to return to old ways of eating. I have found that my body now reacts violently to foods I used to eat every day. Unfortunately all my old favourite foods were the worst foods for me (and apparently this is often the case).

If you were in London I would say come and get some laser therapy on the injury site. Laser is great for reduction of pain and inflammation. 

Hope this helps x

…I shaved my head and stopped wearing makeup on a daily basis. I also had to stop using all products on my skin and in the bath and shower.  I was forced to do this by my body’s changed reaction to these things. It suddenly became worse for some reason.

My dyed hair started to create red weals where it touched my face. I had bald patches. My skin would react unexpectedly to makeup. My lips would peel, my eyes could suddenly become red and I had ulcer inside my eyelid for months. I had rashes that would come and go on daily basis. I had patches of eczema that would not heal. My skin was sore. I would cough helplessly in the shower. I hurt and sometimes I could not breathe properly. A chemical nightmare. 

It has been a year of being taken aback with what I see in the mirror. It has taken time, and is still taking time, and some people’s caring support, for me to start to see what others see and to accept the change in me. It is taking time to mourn the loss of the old me, accept the change, and move on.

It has been a year of having to deliberately work to re-pattern my thoughts. Of examining the power of my mind. Of grasping that I can know one thing as logical in one part of my brain and yet not believe it with another part. Of seeing that this is dysfunctional thinking. Of experiencing for myself the power of destructive thought patterns. Of forgiving myself. Of accepting change.

I am turning that corner. I guess my emotions just needed time to catch up.

This is a journey but I am getting there. I am arriving..

I used to think that my habitual brain fog was about anxiety. Since I started to eat differently I have discovered it was about the food I ate and the chemical smells (such as cigarette smoke/perfume)  that I ingested. The wrong food can actually give me panic attacks. Some foods can bring my mood down and or make my heart beat rapidly. I was actually wrongly diagnosed as bipolar at 16. 

Perfume can make me sick. Bread can make my stomach bloat and my brain jump. Coffee makes me forget what I am doing. Black tea gives me headaches. Marmite makes my heart race. Sugar makes me come out in a rash.  Hair dye makes my head sore. Cheese can make my sinuses fill immediately. Smoke makes my throat sore and constrict and my voice disappears. Peanut butter can make me feel like I am dying within half an hour of eating it … Don’t ask about alcohol.. Of course, I just “had IBS.”…

It’s all a chemical reaction!

This time last year I had my hair shaved off to get rid of all the hair dye in one go as I was reacting badly to all the chemicals. We found that my hair had gone silver underneath the dye. I started going silver when I was about 14 but it was a huge shock to see that suddenly it had all gone. My hairdresser had said she thought it was all gone white in about a year.

At the time my hair was also falling out in large clumps and I had bald spots.

I have not used shampoo on my hair since. One year without shampoo. I just have my hair cut and shaved short at the barbers and I have saved a fortune in hairdye and products.

My hair is thicker, has stopped falling out and is shiny. No rashes, no itches, no redness.

Should have done this before!