Back in the good old days, if ever any one would mention a food allergy to me, I would tune out and hear "blah. blah. blah... food allergy......blah. blah. blah." I lacked compassion and felt like telling them to suck it up! I have since been humbled when I got psoriasis at 30. It started out as something small, a tiny sore on my knee and a itchy patch on my lower spine. My knee had what looked like a scrape that would not heal. Slowly new very itchy spots erupted, elbows, shins, ankles, scalp, hands, fingers. The patches started getting bigger and I could not were shorts because I looked like a leper. I was/am to cheap to go to a doctor but it was finally so out of control that I had to know what the heck was up. The doctor said it was psoriasis and there was not much I could do but rotate topical treatments. The steroid cream worked a little, the sun a little, any moisturizer would cause horrible inflammation with painful burning. I was getting worse and I itched myself raw. My skin was so sensitive I could not use soap. I tried every healthfood brand of deodorant and they all caused burning and rashes. I had become my own worst nightmare. I was one of the "sensitive people". I was stinky and depressed. I started getting the joint pain in my ankle and hands where the psoriasis was. I asked the doctor if I could be having a food allergy and he said no, it was probably just genetic. I said to my self, "to heck with that". There was no way I would live like that. I did a elimination diet where I only ate chicken and rice and veggies for about two weeks. The cracked bloody sores began to heal. I added back major allergy causing foods one at a time. The wheat was OK , eggs OK. When I had dairy I got a rash of what looked like little broken blood vessels all over me and of course the itching and cracking skin. With in about two months of quitting dairy my skin and joints were healing. I did not feel a change in my energy or anything miraculous like that! I was still a tired mama.
I hit a wall in being totally healed, some of the psoriasis would not heal. My husband googled all food additives that might contain milk. Everything has milk in it darnit! That nondairy creamer at church has milk in it, many lunch meats, even my beloved salami. That helped me to clear up about 95% of the problem.
Hear is where my anger and frustration lies. All the info I read online said foods can't really help you to much, just to eat healthy and avoid triggers. That does not offer much hope to people who are suffering so terribly. I am wanting to shout from the roof tops that my psoriasis is now under control because I do not consume dairy. I can use soap again and wear deodorant!
I want to encourage people to not stop trying to heal themselves. I know not everyone is going to have the same solution but we are not powerless to try to get better. I can cook almost everything I love dairy free and I can have goat and sheep products. It is not so bad, I have had the bonus of learning self control. Now, hopefully I can be careful not to annoy people with my talk of food allergies.
