My last health update was June 2019, and it is literally a year later that I am writing this and will back date it to fit into the blog appropriately.
After we got back from vacation in June 2019, I became pretty diligent in my healing journey, but also very frustrated. I was getting no real answers from guessing, which is what my Nutritionist and Acupuncturist was doing. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved working with them and trying to heal naturally but I was needing answers. In playing the run around game it took a toll on my mental health and even on my marriage when we didn’t get answers for over 8 months but was spending money that wasn’t getting us anywhere.
I finally went to a clinic to get blood tests and a candida test, everything came back negative. Which is great right?! Well, since I was still experiencing the strange spots on my skin(stomach, arms, and legs), the spots in my mouth, and at this point some strange peeling red patches on my palm and feet, my doctor recommended me go to the dermatologist.
I believe it took about a month to get into the dermatologist, so it was now late September. They did a biopsy of my stomach and palm of my hand, as well as a scraping of my feet to check if it was fungal. They checked in the labs the same day for the feet scrap, and it was negative for fungal. After about a week I was called with the results of the tests.
The biopsy of my left hand turned out to be eczema, which is hereditary and I have actually had before but not in the center of my hand. The feet peeling spots were the same thing and at this point the right hand had some as well. The biggest thing to do for eczema is to deal with any stress. It was pretty weird that all of it happened at once like that, but it really makes sense looking back now. I was stressed to the max about getting answers with all of these health issues.
The biopsy of my stomach came back as connective tissue disease/cutaneous(skin) lupus. They wanted me to come back in for some blood work and determined it was non-systemic, which basically means the lupus is not yet in the blood. I was beyond confused on what it meant really, all the nurse on the phone told me was to stay out of direct sunlight for long periods. I came back with questions after researching, what about artificial lighting like the ones I was under 8 hours a day? “Oh yeah that could be an issue too”. Great. I asked about my other symptoms that actually point to a more systemic lupus or other autoimmune diseases, she said she could refer me to a rheumatologist but I would need more blood work just to get a referral.
I was done. I had my answers. That explained literally everything that had gone on in the last 9 months. It was likely triggered by the HSG test I had done in February, stress induces autoimmune diseases that can otherwise go unnoticed for years. The hives were the delayed food allergies along with the added stress hives for a few months. The mouth sores and unrecognizable spots on my skin was/is from the cutaneous lupus. And the eczema spots were from stress as well.
Stress is one of the hardest things to deal with for most people, especially right now. It is something I need to constantly keep in check, and it takes over from time to time. Some of the best things I have learned in how to cope with stress that work for me is yoga, stretching, deep breathing, getting out in nature, taking time to relax, acupuncture for stress is amazing, massage(though I wish I could get a professional one more often), exercise, eating healthy, drinking plenty of water, and one of the biggest ones, getting plenty of sleep! I have noticed I get exhausted very easily and must listen to my body.
Though I was really worried when I first got this diagnosis, I have come to not worry about it as much. This has truly helped in many of the symptoms.
It was during this time of getting the diagnosis, that I found my passion and trained to become a Birth Doula! I am living my best life and not stressing about all the things I should or should not be doing. It really got me down for a while too. I am learning that my body is amazing, my journey is amazing, and my life is amazing. My marriage gets stronger everyday. We get outside more now than ever and I have made it a mission to enjoy and love life in the present. I may continue to have health issues arise, but I am doing what I can naturally to deal with anything that comes my way. I am excited for what the future brings.
Much love,
Ashley C.