Getting Healthy: Take 2

You could say this is take two, I suppose. You could also say it’s take 200 if you count up all the times I’ve tried to change my lifestyle in the past. It’s either insanity or tenacity…I’m not sure which. What I do know is that, no matter how many times I fail, my health is something I cannot give up on. And so, I continue onward in my resolve to kick the caffeine habit and get well.

Finally...Dishydrosis Relief!

So, you know that I had to break the cleanse rather abruptly last night. One of the reasons I was doing the cleanse was in the hopes that it would help to clear up my dishydrotic eczema. I am happy to report that, since I began the cleanse, I have seen virtually no new blisters erupt. That means that the existing blisters finally had a fighting chance to heal.

In order for them to heal, however, I had to dry them out and stop the incessant itching. The vinegar soaks were helpful but less potent than needed. The saltwater soak worked wonderfully to dry the blisters, but within a few hours, the dryness and itching was unbearable. At that point, I was desperate and proceeded to apply generous amounts of alcohol to the lesions. Yeah, that was fun.

The alcohol worked as well, if not better than, the saltwater soak for drying. It certainly hurt enough to make me forget about the itching in any event. Still, in just a few hours, the incredible itching was back. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of moisturizer I used, either. Cocoa butter, Curel Intensive Healing, coconut oil, Carley’s Clear & Smooth products: nothing seemed to help for more than 15 minutes at a time. Though, I will say that Carely’s moisturizers were the most helpful—I love Carley’s!

Help is in the Kitchen

I had come down to the last natural option I’d read about but had dismissed because it just seemed like there was no way it would work: baking soda. Supposedly, you could make a paste from baking soda and a small amount of water, then cake this paste all over your problem areas for relief. The mild abrasiveness is supposed to help the dead, dry skin come off, and the pH of the solution is supposed to balance the skin somehow.

Again, I was desperate and out of options, so I tried it. It felt amazing during application…very soothing and only a mild sting here and there on the worst areas. It wasn’t until I rinsed the stuff off that the burning began, which I found strange. But…immediately after my first application of this stuff, I noticed my skin improving. It was more than just an improvement in the blisters, too; it really did help the dead skin to slough off.

I’ve continued applying the baking soda paste 3 times per day and it’s working wonders on my dishydrosis. I still have some blisters, but they are improving. My skin is pretty irritated in the worst areas and I still have some swelling in my fingers, but it’s nothing like it was before. I am actually beginning to see new, healthy skin forming where there was once nothing but blisters and hard, dry, cracking, thick scales.

It’s really important to stay moisturized so the skin can continue to heal. I’ve given up on everything except my Carley’s products and coconut oil. I alternate applying them about every hour or two. Carley’s seems to absorb better than the oil, but the oil is soothing and smells nice, so I like using it.

I think the cleanse, even no longer than I was able to do it, arrested whatever reaction it was that was making me flare up. This, in turn, allowed the topical treatments to begin working toward healing. So if nothing else good came from this, maybe I’ve gotten the eczema under control. I just hope my having to eat so soon into this process won’t undo the progress. I’ll have to be very careful about the types of foods I eat lest I aggravate the condition again. And it goes without saying that I cannot go back to Coke again. Still having a hard time with that one. 

Know When to Hold, Know When to Fold

I want to apologize for going on hiatus the last couple of days. I’ve not felt well at all and it’s been all I can do to sit up long enough to do my work, much less try to blog. So, that said, I’m a little bit sad, a little bit mad, a little bit frustrated, and a little bit glad. I had to break the cleanse last night.

Now, to be fair, my heart was never in this. I wasn’t doing it because I wanted to; I was doing it because I had to. Because my Coke habit had gotten way out of control, as had my coffee habit. Then the thing with my hands…I’ve been making myself sick and I had to try to undo the damage and get started in the right direction.

However, it looks like that as wonderful as the Master Cleanse was for me last time around, it was not the answer this time. I’ve felt bad the entire time, and yesterday was the worst. If it were just headaches or nausea, I could have dealt with that and continued. But I was severely dizzy all day yesterday. I had to go to town and got scared a couple of times that I might pass out while driving. I made it home fine, but the dizziness only got worse.

Something’s Not Right

Finally, I checked my blood pressure, since I am prone to having lower blood pressure anyway. In fact, I believe the only reason I’m not on low blood pressure medicine is because I smoke and have tons of caffeine. Even with that, my blood pressure stays in the perfectly normal range most of the time. But last night, it was abnormally low—and every time I’d check it after that, I’d just be lower.

My husband and I decided that I must have something to eat to get my blood pressure back up. Knowing that breaking the cleanse the wrong way will result in severe stomach pain and nausea, I thought that maybe just licking on a spoon of peanut butter would help…but I couldn’t get it down. So I opted for a bowl of chicken noodle soup, which has tons of sodium in it. It brought my blood pressure to just within normal ranges, but not much more.

As much as I really wanted to be done with the cleanse, I also didn’t want to give up before it had time to work. Plus, I have all this syrup and just bought a ton more lemons yesterday. So I’ve spent the day trying to rethink my approach, not sure as to whether I should continue or not. Then, about an hour ago, my blood pressure pretty much made the decision for me…it was lower than it was even last night—I could barely stand up properly.

Being Flexible

I’m not entirely sure yet what I’m going to do. All I know is that if I try to continue this cleanse with it bottoming out my blood pressure, I’m going to end up really sick. I have to eat at least a small meal every day. So I think what I’m going to try is to continue drinking the lemonade throughout the day, but allow myself at least one reasonable meal per day. I know I won’t get near the cleansing benefits—I may not get any at all—but it would be stupid to continue in this manner knowing that I could pass out any moment from low blood pressure.

Wellness is a great deal about learning to listen to your body and taking action to give it what it needs. Right now, my body needs food. So, as true to form as it would be for me to beat myself up about failing, I have resolved not to. If the goal is wellness, and this path is leading away from that, then it is not a failure for me to listen to what my body is saying. There is something good that has come from this, though…and I’ll discuss that in another post.

Saltwater Soak for Dishydrotic Eczema and a Rant

Ok, rant first. I was able to sleep for all of 2 hours before my hands started in. This dishydrosis has gone beyond the point of irritating and now has gotten to the point of being flat-out infuriating! Stress supposedly aggravates dishydrotic eczema, yes? And sleep deprivation causes stress, yes? So how on God’s green earth am I supposed to get better from this stuff if it won’t let me sleep?!?!? ARGH!!!!

In addition to the insanity of my hands, I’ve been indescribably thirsty. Since I cannot have my beloved Coke—which I miss sorely, by the way—I’ve been chugging the heck out of some water. This is why I don’t like drinking water…because the more I drink, the thirstier I am. Coke, tea, and coffee don’t do me that way.

Imagine There Being a Witty Title Here

Bleck. Not feeling so hot today. I’m having a hard time thinking well, so creativity has gone out the window. Hence, my apologies for such an underwhelming title. But I did want to at least update…this will probably be a rambly post.

I went to sleep around 11 last night with every intention in the world of sleeping till at least 9 this morning. My hands woke me up at 5:30 with an angry kind of itch. In trying not to actually scratch them, I ended up rubbing them half raw with a towel in an attmept to abate the intensity of the sensation. Excessive weeping ensued. So, as much as I knew it would burn, I thought this was the opportune time for a vinegar soak.

The Master Cleanse and New Beginnings

It took me two hours this morning to get up the gall to do my flush, but once I started I was ok. I’m actually feeling pretty good right now. I’m working on my 10^th glass of lemonade and I only have a mild headache. Of course, I’ve been drinking water like it’s going out of style, too, so I’m wondering if that has helped to minimize the caffeine withdrawal symptoms.

I’m actually just a tad concerned that I’m not feeling like I’m about to die. Don’t get me wrong…I am most grateful that the first day has not been like it was the last time. But at the same time, I should be seriously detoxing from caffeine right now and I feel fine for the most part. So I have to wonder if the worst is yet to come, or worse—the cleanse isn’t doing anything.

The Master Cleanse and Hunger

I was not remotely hungry up until about two hours ago. That’s when the family ate. Grilled cheese sandwiches…and they smelled sooo good. C was originally going to make bacon and eggs, but I gave him a look, while calling him evil, that suggested his life may be at risk if he made me smell bacon cooking right now. ;)

The Saltwater Flush

I purposefully waited to discuss the saltwater flush in detail until today. I wanted to go through the experience again, fresh, so that I could be sure of my feelings about it. They haven’t changed. I do not enjoy this portion of the cleanse overly much.

However, it’s really not as terrible as you might think. The hardest part is getting down a quart of saltwater within a fairly short time. For me, it’s not the saltwater as much as it is that it would be hard for me to chug down a quart of anything within a short period of time. I’m more of a sipper kind of gal.

Getting It Down

I will say this…using very warm water—almost hot—to do the flush is much more pleasant than using cold or lukewarm water. I learned last time that you can easily pretend that the flush is a very salty broth when it’s warm. When it’s not—gag! Also, it’s important to remember that it’s 2 TEAspoons, not 2 tablespoons of seasalt to a quart of water.

Setting and Achieving Goals

It recently occurred to me that, given the timing of this whole wellness thing, some of you may believe that it’s my New Year’s Resolution. It’s not. First of all, I stopped making resolutions a few years ago—they’re stupid and very rarely are true resolutions. Second of all, we’re nearly two weeks into the new year, so I’d be running terribly behind if that were the case. No, this is something I’ve been mulling over and planning for a while now.

Cold Feet and Second Thoughts

I’m getting just a tad bit anxious about tomorrow. I survived the trip to Earth Fare ON CAMPUS of a major university with ALL THREE of my lovely children…and they all lived, so we’re calling it a success. Note to self: Next time you plan to go to Earth Fare, don’t do it on a Friday night while all the students have the same idea.

Despite the crowd and the rain and the incessant “I want this!/Can we get that?/Oooh, what’s this?”’s, it was a good trip. We all got a plate from the hot bar and ate in the car. S, my youngest, stole ¾ of my salmon filet, but it’s ok. I ate her salad, so I guess we’re even. The fact that she did not want her salad and I did want my salmon is irrelevant. I’m just happy she enjoys healthy foods.

Master Cleanse Shopping List

First, let me adamantly state that I loathe to go grocery shopping. It is the bane of my existence and I detest the entire experience. I don’t know if it’s that I’m a semi-recluse, having to fight traffic and rude people, budgeting and spending money, or the insane amount of organization it takes to get the most you can for your money. I suspect it’s all of these things combined with some sort of strange personal quirk, but I digress. Point made.

With that said, today is the day I’m to go shopping for my Master Cleanse supplies. I’ll have to make a few more runs to the local grocery before it’s over to restock on lemons, but everything else I intend to get today. This will include:

Prepping for the Master Cleanse...the WRONG Way

I have two recipes that were my great-grandmother’s: chili and chicken and dumplings. They are a mainstay of my family’s winter menu and I enjoy them much more than I should. This week, I have made both. It’s not that it’s been unusually cold—it’s actually been rather warm for this time of year. But I know that, after Saturday, I won’t be able to enjoy them again for quite some time. So, I indulged.

Master Cleanse Preparation Rachael-Style

A smart person would have taken this week to slowly wean away from caffeine, junk food, and rich dishes—especially if that person had done the cleanse before and knew what the first day is like if you don’t prepare properly. But, I am not a particularly smart person when it comes to things like that.

Dishydrotic Eczema: The New Leprosy

Ok, I admit that this title may be a bit misleading. Dishydrotic eczema, also called dishydrosis and pompholyx, is neither new nor a form of leprosy. But it can make you feel like you have a flesh-eating disease, so that’s how I’m justifying my choice of words.

I have had the lovely good fortune to develop dishydrosis in recent months. It started out innocent enough—just a few tiny little bumps on one of my fingers that were strange but didn’t bother me. It stayed this way for weeks so I didn’t think much of it. Then…well, it got angry.