Saturday, May 17, 2014

The danger of green smoothies? Part 1

Almost two years ago I started to develop skin rashes on my arm pits that slowly spread out onto my upper body.
It was so itchy and  uncomfortable that I had to scratch the skin until it was raw, and bleeding. When the itchiness stopped, I felt a surge of pleasure and relieve, at least for a while before it started off again.
My ears, nose and my eye lids were also affected.
At nights, I would scratch my ears and nose till they were red and swollen, I could not sleep for days and was exhausted when I got up.
I  had tried homeopathy, Schüssler Salt, holistic approach, natural remedies, various cremes and some other means before I gave up and finally decided to see a dermatologist.
The first doctor I found on the internet site who got the best review took a glance at my arm pits  and diagnosed me with 'Schuppenflechte' (psoriasis). I was not convinced by his (in)competence and quick diagnose though, since I thought the the symptoms I got were different from those of psoriasis.
Fortunately the second dermatologist who worked together with him was more patient with me, ordered some tests and even did some biopsy to eliminate my worries that I had lupus.
He gave me some advice, not to take a bath but a shower, and put on some creme on my skin after the shower. He also prescribed antihistamine and cortison pills that I had to take everyday for a couple of weeks.
The medicine helped me but only to certain extent, As soon as I reduced the dosage, the rashes and itchiness came back again and I had to take the cortison again.
I was so desperate thinking that I could not possibly spend my life suffering from this annoying rashes, being deprived from sleep, and having to take cortison everyday?
But what worst was the feeling of not knowing what triggered the problem. If even a very high qualified dermatologist couldn't help me out, who could?

I tried to think positive, but it was very hard to do when I knew that I would suffer this unbearable torture for the rest of my life, unless I took cortison everyday, and maybe even needed to increase the dosage after sometime? Maybe I would end up looking like a balloon and suffering from other illness due to the side effects of prolonged use of the medicine?
My life was in tatters,  I was very depressed and desperate.

Then the thought that it was I myself, not those 9 otorhinolaryngologists I saw, who found out what was wrong with me when I suffered from chronic throatsore in the past, gave me some glimmer of hope. It is true that doctors are supposed to know a human body and its functions better than any layperson does, but I don't have any doctors who monitor my body for 24 hours.
I am basically the one who knows how my body feels since I live in it, only IF I pay enough attention to it. Only I didn't, then.

So I tried real hard to think what I had done differently before and after the skin problems.
I recked my brain for days, and eventually realized that I spent a load of free time writing articles on my new blog, checking for any comments and sitting up in front of my laptop everyday. I hardly went out enjoying myself since I was addicted to my new hobby. My bum even felt sore and I got stiff neck too, but I ignored the discomfort.
So my first suspicion was that I developed a contact allergy against the material of the keyboard! It had to be it!  Or my skin didn't have enough sunlight to produce the vitamin D my body needed?
I liked my blog, but if it meant I had to suffer from the unbearable skin disease, I had to take a break, or let it go completely, hard as it was.
I stopped writing on my blog and hoped fervently my problem would go away eventually.
So you all know now the reason for my long silence / absence.

After Cortison

But unfortunately the problem didn't go away.My nose, earlobes were still itching at nights, though the condition of the skin around my armpits improved .

So I had to think hard again.
What was it...what did I do wrong? Differently?
And another thought popped up: My diet had changed since I was introduced to the wonder of green smoothies!
I  had been drinking green smoothies everyday, adding some (wheat, barley) grass powder, believing the grass can boost my energy level.
I even took my mini blender with me on vacation to make my own smoothies. Bought the wheat grass in an organic shop in Riga and almost got a big problem in an airport at the checking point because of the suspicious green powder I carried in my handbag. Maybe the security check thought it was green colored heroin?
Because of my ambitious green smoothies project, I was even almost involved in a shooting accident in Billa, a chain grocery shop nearby, when trying to sneak into a suspiciously empty shop that was usually very crowded, to get some green salad for my beloved green smoothies.
It turned out that a costumer, accused of shoplifting and then detained in the office, suddenly went berserk and produced a pistol, threatening to kill himself. The police and WEGA (the Elite Unite of Austrian Police) were called, and the security guy ordered all the customers to leave and left the entrance of the shop unguarded for a minute or two. In my haste to get the salad, I failed to notice the peculiarity of the situation: the crowd outside that was watching the scene with interests, and the deserted shop inside with a trolley lying, instead of standing on the floor, as if dropped hastily by its owner, several unattended shopping carts, and no soul could be seen anywhere. I only had an eye for the salad, and in the process of grabbing one,  when the security guy spotted me, the uninvited guest, and screamed his head off,  pushing me roughly outside.
It was very embarrassing for me with the spectators looking at me in bewilderment and disheartening too since I didn't get my salad for the green smoothies that day.

To be Continued:
My neck is stiff, I have to stop.
You can motivate me to continue writing with your comments on this subject....:-)