Colon Irrigation Experience

So on Wednesday I went for an appointment for a colon irrigation or a high colonic as Pagano calls it. I'm going to give you a look into my experience so you know what to expect!

First off the lady who was helping me was so very kind and friendly! I actually adored her. She was amazing. Her name was Kim and she said she was 50 but she looked no older than like 35. I was shocked!

I read online that I shouldn't eat beforehand so I went in on an empty stomach aside from a glass or two of water I drank before. (I figured maybe I could flush both sides out! Okay no, I'm just thirsty when I wake up) And I'm glad I read that because the first thing she did was rub a wonderful warm stone on my tummy. Seriously, I want one for home. I'd spend all day whirling it around my abdomen. Especially on these cold days!

There are two hoses, both connected to one applicator. One is thin and opaque and that's the hose the water goes in with, the other is thick and clear so you can see what's coming out.

The insertion was a weird experience. I've never had anything go up my butt to my knowledge so the best I can relate to you to say how it felt would be to say it was like having a reverse poop. Once it was in it was fine though. Then the water began it and it was again, a strange experience. You feel it, but you don't really at the same time.

Then she pinched the hose and then you can definitely feel it. All of a sudden you feel your bowels fill with water and you suddenly feel like you might have diarrhea. This is normal. Also cramps are normal. Actually they want you to feel cramps, it means your colon is squeezing, and you want it to squeeze.

So began a process of her pinching the tube and releasing it and we talked throughout it. It actually wasn't an awkward experience at all, Kim seemed really comfortable with her job and she joked with me a lot. I explained that I'd lived with a lifetime of constipation and it pretty well showed in my stubborn colon refusing to give up the stuff.

Until it did. Holy crap (pun totally intended) the shit that came out of me!

And then at the end she told me to go to the bathroom and take my time.

Take my time?

What could possibly be left in there after an hour of flushing my colon out with a gallon or more of water?

The answer: a lot more shit.

I was amazed at the amount of crap that came out of me AFTER the cleansing. Oh they also had this neat contraption called a "squatty potty" there and it was actually super helpful! I'm actually pretty excited about moving in with my dad and toddler brother who uses a stool for all is bathroom needs - I'm going to start to too!

When it was all said and done we talked about natural healing and what to do to improve results. She was so helpful! They also have a food sensitivity test that I'm planning on taking, but she advised that I have a few more cleansing appointments first to be sure of my results. So I'm planning to start going monthly until I'm all healed up.

Oh! And don't forget to take probiotics! Lots of them!

We also talked about food combining so I'm going to copy out the chart and post it up later. 
Also tomorrow marks the day of my food tracking on this blog! Whoo!

If you have any other questions about my experience or want to share some of your own leave some comments below!

Apple Detox...kind of... Day 2

Hello World!

So I started my Pagano Journey yesterday. I didn't quite play by the set out rules but I think I did pretty well for someone who didn't really prepare. I started out Monday morning with no apples! I totally forgot about picking some up. But my aunt did pick up a giant bag of massive pears from Costco for me so I figured that Pagano had mentioned an 'all fruit' detox in the book so why I couldn't I do the first day as straight pears? Well I didn't even do that right. Heh.

Monday Diet 
Smoothie - 1 Giant Pear, Two Handfuls of Spinach, 1 cup of Apple Juice
3 Giant Pears
1 Big Salad - Spinach, Snow Peas, Goat Cheese and Grilled Chicken Breast

So as you can see I didn't make it to the first meal before I failed! Well I'd like to say, 'modified'. The way I see it is up until 6 I was eating all good clean plants. And by dinner I really did not want another pear so I made a healthy dinner. I suppose I could have left out the chicken, but it was just soooo good. Seriously, goat cheese on a salad, try it.


Tuesday Diet
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil

2 Red Delicious Apples
2 Golden Delicious Apples
Salad - Spinach, Grilled Chicken Breast and Goat Cheese

All was going pretty well until about 2pm today when I suddenly felt like I got hit by a mack truck carrying the flu. I managed to walk the 45 minutes home, pop into the store on the way for birthday essentials for my boyfriend and brother and get home. I then proceeded to tell myself it was 'just a headache' and ignore it at first because I didn't want to get my butt kicked by a headache and I had things to do... I put a load of laundry in and went about making my salad.

Halfway through my salad I started to feel nauseous. So I told myself after eating I'd go sleep and deal with things in the morning. It ended in my not being able to finish my salad because I felt so sick. My eyes hurt, I felt nauseous and dizzy and weak and my abdomen was cramping fiercely... it was the worst I had ever felt. 

So I went about the preparations for bed. Turns out the cramping was because my body was warning me that a bathroom break courtesy of the olive oil was necessary. No joke, if you can't poop have a tablespoon of olive oil. It might take all day, but then its like its going down a water slide. Lubes it right up!

Then I laid down and closed my eyes. A voice in my head was panicking because I'm home alone for a week, another was saying it could be that I've finally managed to catch the flu after evading it for years and the last said, 'maybe this is a side effect of detoxing'. So I googled, eager to give myself some peace before possibly falling into a coma. I felt that bad.

Turns out its a condition that's pretty common called the Herxheimer Reaction.

Basically the body releases all of the toxins its been carrying around and your body can't handle the overload so you start to feel the symptoms of whatever illnesses your body stored up for you.

"The most common symptoms reported in a Herxheimer reaction are increased fatigue, joint or muscle pain, skin rashes, photosensitivity, irritability, dizziness, sleep disturbances, asthenia, muscle cramps, night sweats, hypertension, hypotension, headaches (especially migraines) and swollen glands. Also reported are heavy perspiration, metallic taste in mouth, chills, nausea, bloating, constipation or diarrhea, low grade fever, heart palpitations, tachycardia, facial palsy, tinnitus, mental confusion, uncoordinated movement, bone pain, flu-like syndrome, conjunctivitis and throat swelling."

So having a name for it makes it easier. I still feel off kilter, but not nearly as bad. Sleep, its a miracle worker. Now to try to relax and go back to sleep.

Then tomorrow is my high colonic or colon irrigation appointment so we'll see how that goes...

Quote and Information about the Herxeimer Reaction found here.

Seaweed Bath Co. Beth Powder Eucalyptus and Peppermint Scent

Hello!

 I just used the product listed above so I figure I should give my initial impression of it. Now keep in mind this is just based on the first use and I'm fresh out of the tub so I can't really say yet whether or not it has done anything for my psoriasis.

Unlike the Bath Detox I was using last week this left no seaweed bits in the bath and I didn't have to share my tubby time with a satchel of seaweed. So far I like that. I used 4 scoops of the little brown pebbles and they dissolved in the water making it kind of a swampy colour. But that's okay, it was expected since they were brown. My bath smelled like a minty escape - my aunt actually commented on it while the tub was filling up.

Other than that no much I can really remark on. I didn't notice it made me particularly itchy or not itchy. My back is kind of itchy now but I don't know if that's the seaweed effect or just that I have itchy psoriasis.

Oh and I smell faintly minty... I think anyways. It could actually be my camomile and mint tea.

 What? I like mint.

And this tea smells clean and fresh!

I also finally got the Healing Psoriasis book, so I'm reading that tonight and tomorrow. I should begin the diet Monday if everything pans out. If anyone would like to do it with me we could be emotional support for each other! Just leave me a comment and we can connect!

The Bath Powders come in a variety of scents...

Eucerin Calming Foaming Shower Oil

I ordered this in the beginning of January and it occurred to me that I should make mention of it.
The Eucerin Calming Foaming Shower Oil.

I originally tried a sample of it from a dermatologists office and I liked it so much I bought 4 bottles of it off of Amazon. It doesn't correct my Psoriasis, but it didn't irritate it either. I found it really helped nourish the normal skin. Usually I get a pretty nasty case of winter itch - not so much this time around. 

It smells... odd, I'll grant, It's not the prettiest smell in the world but I didn't find it bad. It doesn't seem to linger through the day either. 

Seaweed Bath Co. Whole Seaweed Detox Bath

So I went to my local health food store a few days ago and picked up this baby.

Knowing I had recently ordered something from the same company and being the impatient person I am I figured, hey, why not? So when I got home I filled up my tub and sank in for the recommended 15-30 minutes. I think I was actually in there for about 20-25 minutes (I'm gauging by Youtube videos watched while in the tub).

Well from the first bath I noticed nothing different. I was still itchy, still scaly and still uncomfortable.

But maybe it takes a few baths? It's good for 2-4 baths so I'll have another tub experience tonight and tomorrow and we'll see how it goes. If I don't feel better about it tonight I don't know if I'd consider it worth the roughly $14 I paid for it.

In other news my other Seaweed Bath Co. product came in yesterday! So I'll probably give it a go next week (I'm doing a few days of babysitting this week so I wont have time to make a week long commitment to try it.) and I'll report my findings. Fingers crossed!

Before the Pagano Diet

Since I haven't yet obtained my copy of the book I figured I'd put up some pictures of how we're starting off this diet. I am sorry, the picture quality on my iPhone is awful but I hope you'll get a sense of where we're starting.

These aren't the only areas I have psoriasis, but they are the PG areas I feel comfortable putting on the internet. I also have psoriasis on my sides, pretty much where the band of my bra sits, on the sides of my breasts and underneath them and now some in my cleavage. There are also patches on my hips and some small bits coming in on my legs. The pack on my forehead? It's all over my scalp. It's in my ears and on my neck. My boyfriend is fond of saying that the only place I don't seem to be effected is my butt. Which is a lie. I also have psoriasis on my butt. Honesty folks, its overrated isn't it?

Now in January I thought it would be a good idea to try to "How to Beat Psoriasis Diet" from the random guy on the internet who doesn't respond to emails when you try to ask him questions about the diet. Guess what? My skin got worse! Which was warned that it might get worse before it got better but it's still pretty disheartening.

Since I started it I found the Pagano Diet so I am looking forward to a diet with some more substantial evidence and a little more diet leeway. We shall see!

 If this doesn't work I'm pretty much just going to eat bananas, celery and carrots and wait until my skin clears again and then slowly introduce foods. But lets hope for the best!

Has anyone else tried this "How to Beat Psoriasis Diet"? How did it go for you?
How about the Pagano Diet?

Feb 13, 2013

I have psoriasis.

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that results in flaky, scaly red patches of skin. There is no medically approved cure for psoriasis, only medical products that help to control or calm down the symptoms.

It is itchy. It is painful. And it is embarrassing. 

It's not the worst case of psoriasis anyone has ever seen, but I think I speak for all people who have psoriasis that it doesn't matter how bad someone else thinks your psoriasis is. It matters how bad you, the individual who has it, thinks it is.

And in my opinion, I'm sick of my psoriasis. It's like a deadbeat boyfriend clinging on for dear life and I want it gone yesterday.

So I guess I should give a little back story...

My name is Lydia. I am 23 and I have had psoriasis since I was in my early teens. So at least 10 years.

I've tried the shampoos. T-Gel, Denerex, ect. They all start out working great and then my skin just gets used to it and bam, its useless.

I have been to dermatologists - they look at my skin for two minutes and then send me out with a prescription. I've tried various creams and none of them seem to work for very long. They all have side effects like thinning of the skin among other things. When I complained to my GP she mentioned maybe trying some kind of oral medication. I've looked into the side effects for those and for the injections and I don't really want to go through that. 

So that's what's brought me to this. I am trying to find a natural way to calm, sooth and maybe even rid myself of psoriasis for good.

I believe the answer lies in proper diet. Not Canada Food Guide "proper diet", but proper diet for psoriasis sufferers. Why do I believe this? Because a few years ago I was suddenly eating only celery, carrots and a banana a day and my skin suddenly cleared. It was like magic.

I know that eating like that constantly would not be healthy, which is why my skin has lapsed back into turmoil.

Yet, I cannot shake the feeling that diet is the answer.

So here I begin. I have recently purchased a book written by the late Dr. John Pagano specifically focused on trying to heal psoriasis from the inside out. I am going to follow the guidelines laid out in it and document my journey. I am also going to try other things, other products and remedies to try to ease the irritation along the way.

All of the products I review I will link to at the bottom of the posts. I will also detail my diet daily and how I feel following this diet plan.

So let's get started!


[Side note: I'm still figuring out the linking to Amazon thing...But its late, I'll mess with it tomorrow]