Warm greetings
to everyone!
It has been such a long time since I shared my insights on common biological topics that leave us with uncommon health problems. This urged me to write an update blog or rather a success story on curing my allergies without excessive medicinal abuse.
Before I
start blabbering, I just want to give you a pictorial representation of my
current hand condition just to prove it to you that it is not a click bait.
 |
A) Before (2012-2015) |
 |
B) Present (2016-2018) |
Both of these photos were taken immediately after immersing my hands in water for just 15 minutes. Photo (B) clearly shows that my hand neither shows any skin swelling, peeling, a whitish appearance on moisture contact or any blackish tint upon skin dryness.
My happiness knew no
bounds, as I constantly glance at my healed hands. This might seem like a
childish behavior, but to be able to cure my skin hypersensitivity that was
bothering me since childhood, such excitement is acceptable. Though the final outcome
of the situation was looking wonderful just like the tip of the iceberg, the
journey was really like the Titanic – full of ups and downs!
After I finished pursuing Masters in the fall of 2015, my frustration level kept on rising chiefly
due to my Allergies and people making fun of it (as it is apparent from the first blog). This frustration proliferated further towards the dermatologist
whom I visited consistently for 2 years (Let’s call him Dr. L for respect
purposes) and he diagnosed my condition in a diverse spectrum – Right from fungal Infection to contact dermatitis to urticaria and so on.
I think Dr. L’s motto was Unity in Diversity
but all that was uniting was my resistance to medicines. During these two
years, I was prescribed Prednisone (synthetic steroid hormone to reduce
inflammation), Anti-acids (Which depletes the acid in the stomach) and immune-suppressors
(To control my hyper active immune system). I was drowned in medication
topically and orally to the point where I started gaining weight.
The helplessness was not
due to the number of medicines that I was taking but the inefficiency to provide positive results further infuriated me. Since there was no specific
diagnosis and way too much consultancy fees on every visit, I decided to change
my boat, oh I meant to say Dermatologist!
Before I took an
appointment of a Skin specialist, I decided to read the literature behind the adverse
effects of Corticosteroids in Asthma as well as hypersensitive skin eczema, Xolair
therapy that was recommended for my elevated serum IgE, and every possible
information which could link my symptoms to any particular disease. As soon as
I met my skin specialist (Dr. V.N), she listened to my case carefully, overhauled
the affected region and told me that this was a case of dry skin. The diagnosis
& treatment done previously was erroneous. Yes you read it correctly, it
was Erroneous!
This meant that Dr. L was
just experimenting for two years treating me like a lab rat. The fact that such
professional Doctors were acting unprofessionally aggravated me. This moment
made me wary of Doctors and their prescriptions.
Upon asking her about more
details, I was suffering from a condition called ‘Palmoplantar Keratoderma’
which is thickening of the skin due to abnormal production of the protein
Keratin.
I did not believe her at first but the confidence in her diagnosis was
spot on. Being still confused at the fact that it was dry skin all along, I
asked her whether she was really sure of it. To which she calmly replied, “Do
you want me to take a Biopsy sample and prove it to you?” This was extremely convincing
to me. She further suggested that once the ‘dry skin’ part was taken care of,
the swelling pattern would go away but on a temporary basis. On hearing the
word temporary, I got disappointed with just the thought that my hands would stay
like that for lifetime. “Dry skin is genetic,
you can’t really cure it but you can definitely keep it in check”, was the
reply I got.
Even after such an
advancement in the Medical field, this is the statement where a majority of prognosis end, but I chose not to accept it in the long run. Though the
appointment was very convincing, I did not opt for the Biopsy report as I was
saturated to the core with all the lacunae showcased by medical industry.
I did ask the Doctor to provide any topical application but not steroidal. She
prescribed me a cream under the brand name of ‘Moisturex’ which basically has
Emollient, Humectant and Keratolytic properties.
Emollient – Helps in
smoothening of the skin.
Humectant – Helps in
retaining moisture in the skin.
Keratolytic – Helps in
breaking down the excess keratin production on the affected area.
This topical cream was
coupled with Vitamin A and D tablets (Cod Liver Oil pills) and Multivitamin
(Vitamin C, E) and Trace mineral tablets (Zinc, Selenium, Copper). Within 2
weeks of this regimen, my Keratoderma lesions were healed for the time being.
During the follow-up, I thanked Dr.V.N for curing the condition without any
more steroid medication that was consuming me since 2 years. I haven’t visited
her since because she tackled the root cause of the problem instead of just
treating the symptoms like Dr. L!
In order to prevent the re-occurrence
of such swelling on my skin, I started searching for ways that could naturally
heal my Dry skin, Asthma, elevated IgE levels without any drug dependence. I
know I was asking for a lot, but then what can you expect from a
Biotechnologist?
While searching I found Dr. Eric Berg’s channel on YouTube and he turned out to be my salvation. He is a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) who specializes in the endocrinology of Weight loss, but also extends his study in creating a Healthy body inside out. I found this approach of creating health changes inside the body by consuming right foods at the right time; very logical and scientifically robust.
I went through all his
YouTube videos (>2000) as well as read his book ‘The 7 Principles of Fat
Burning’ in which he succinctly says that every human body falls in one of the
4 body types (I will mention everything in my Weight loss Blog in detail soon.
Let me currently focus only on the Allergy part). When I went through the
literature of all the 4 Body types (Liver, Thyroid, Ovary and Adrenal), I matched
all the symptoms of an Adrenal Body type.
The most shocking revelation
regarding the adrenal body type was that the synthesis of natural Glucocorticosteroids
(Body’s anti-inflammatory machinery) is inhibited in presence of Synthetic corticosteroids
and adrenal function gets compromised because the body’s self-respect comes
first. Human body has a tendency to stop producing anything that we provide
externally; especially when such sensitive adrenal hormones are considered.
Without wasting any
time, I picked up my medical file which has all the clinical reports since childhood, and started making a list of medicines that I had taken for my allergies.
To my grave surprise, every medicine had a steroidal component in some form or
another. Because of this, my adrenals were exhausted, Liver was exhausted as it
was constantly exposed to toxic chemicals from such meds and I was nutritionally
deficient to be very precise.
Adrenal fatigue was the
primary reason that I was gaining weight rapidly. It was high time to create health inside to obtain the
results on the outside.
So after studying the
entire endocrinology described by Dr. Berg, I thought of starting his program of
‘Liver Enhancement’ for about 2-3 weeks.
During this plan, I
embraced the following things very strictly to get my Health back;
1) I
stopped every medicine that I was popping or applying topically immediately
(Even those prescribed by Dr. V.N). I got a Non-steroidal replacement for my asthma.
2) As part of Dr. Berg’s Nutritional Ketosis principle, I curbed my refined carbohydrates to less than 20g a Day. (Ketosis is a process of using Fat as the key source of fuel for the Body instead of regular Glucose/Glycogen). This was the toughest challenge as I had to stop consuming chapatis, rice, dal, biscuits, breads, pasta, cakes, soft-drinks etcetera. I used to consume only Raw/Partially cooked vegetables as our body has maximum potassium requirement (4700mg), and also to suffice other essential plant phytonutrients like Calcium, Magnesium, B-vitamins as well as Fat soluble Pre-Vitamin A and Vitamin C to some amounts.
3) I was eating exactly 3 nutritional meals a day, NO SNACKING in between, thus balancing
my macronutrients in such a way that I was eating moderate amount of protein
and fat, but limited amount of carbohydrates.
4) I
got all the Junk out of the trunk; meaning I did not consume any junk food for
a long time.
5) I
improved intake of natural Omega–3 fatty acid - rich foods like Hemp seeds, Flax seeds (Wonderful source of Omega -3 fats,
highly anti-inflammatory), Chia seeds (Rich source of Calcium), Sunflower seeds
(Rich in B1: Thiamine) and many more.
6) Lastly
I started getting my Vitamin D dose directly from the Sun; as the UV-B rays react
with Cholesterol on the skin to synthesize our body’s natural Glucocorticosteroids.
This has improved my skin texture significantly and I haven’t suffered from any
skin problems ever since. (Touching every wood in the vicinity)
Reducing carbohydrates
and incorporating intermittent fasting between meals has an incredible link with decreasing inflammation in general that leads to allergies.
Carbohydrates are extremely
damaging and are known to cause eczema, deplete B-Vitamins,
electrolytes, acid in the stomach (Anti-acids worsen the situation as we
deplete more acid and digest less efficiently).
On the other hand, intermittent
fasting allows the body to clean up the cell debris and also prevents insulin
spike (Insulin is the most dominant Fat storing Hormone, which is spiked
whenever we eat.). This process is termed as Autophagy where the body finds
time to replenish by-products as well as repair damaged protein, skin-collagen
thus providing an anti-ageing effect. Fasting also spikes Growth Hormone which
improves the texture of the skin.
I’ve been following nutritional Ketosis and Intermittent Fasting since 3 years and I’ve never felt
so healthy and energetic. My Asthma, Skin hypersensitivity, Sinuses, Tinnitus,
Lower back pain have improved significantly during these experimental years. I would like to thank Dr.
Eric Berg who has really showed me the path of creating a healthy body without
charging me a penny. It is rightly said that sharing is caring, and no doubt I
believe it 100%.
So when someone tells me that
genetics play a vital role in determining your Health issues, I wish them luck
in choosing their parents wisely (Sarcasm Alert – You cannot do that!). A
healthy dietary change is enough to save thousands of rupees spent on medicines
and doctors.
Fun
fact:
Drinking 8 glasses of Water is a Myth. Drinking excessive water flushes out the
electrolytes from the body. Always add Lemon (Vitamin C) and Sea Salt to the
water in order to put the electrolytes back in.
P.S – Drinking 8 Glasses
of Water does not help getting rid of Acne. Please stop doing that!
