It's been a while since my last post. Life happens and priorities shift. I do feel prompted to share the wins when they appear, however. I wrote several years ago, right as the pandemic was starting, about starting the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet to address my diagnosed rosacea. For those who are unfamiliar with rosacea, it is a chronic, inflammatory, skin condition. Chronic meaning that it is expected, according to allopathic medicine, to be a lifelong condition. According to the experts, there is no cure for rosacea. Some of the symptoms include flushing, redness, prickliness, acne-like bumps, and more. The condition can happen to anyone, but is most common in women.
New Horizons
I've been open to trying new things for some time now. Conventional treatments addressed the symptoms and I was interested in going deeper. I had a sense, as I've mentioned in a previous post, that the root cause was probably related to a gut imbalance. The more I read about rosacea, the more concerned I was about the condition. It often coexists or is a precursor to other conditions, such as autoimmune diseases.(1)
Rosacea is not simply a vanity condition. It's not just silly bumps on your skin that don't look nice. I'd like to emphasize that. It's often a canary-in-the-coal-mine condition that alerts you that something more serious is coming down the pike, worse than what one is currently experiencing.
Rosacea should be taken seriously.
How I Reversed It
I feel very passionate about food and using food as medicine. While modern western medicine was founded upon the principles practiced by Greek physician, Hippocrates, I think that some of his original wisdom has been lost along the way. A saying often attributed to him is, "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food." I can't help but acknowledge the wide disconnect when seeing most conventional doctors and the treatment protocols recommended by them - which almost never include diet and lifestyle modifications.
My dermatologist recommended a topical antibiotic treatment. Not only did this not work (and, I took antibiotics for 7 years in young adulthood to treat my acne), I was not interested in going down that route again. Antibiotics are a miraculous treatment that are lifesaving and a medical wonder. They also should be used judiciously. Frankly, they are not.
As a result, I thought I'd take the "kitchen sink" approach. I'd learn as much as I could about the condition and all of the different approaches to treat it. Here is a list of some of the things I did.
The GAPS diet
Digestive enzymes
Infrared therapy
Homeopathics
Nutritional supplements
Stress reduction techniques such as meditation
Natural, non-toxic skincare
Sunbathing
Exercise
Sauna
Enemas
Then and Now
It's always helpful to see things for yourself, so I share two pictures. The first is from before the protocol and the second is the most recent picture I have taken. It's with my family, but it was taken three days before writing this post. If you zoom in, you'll be able to see that there is no trace of rosacea left. I'm wearing makeup, but, as most women who have or have had rosacea know, makeup does not cover it up. The texture of the skin still reveals the condition even with makeup.
Reason for Hope
I write this to share that there is hope for this condition. It does not have to be chronic and, as my experience demonstrates, it is possible to put it into remission. With that said, I have to always be cautious about what I put into my body because I know that I have certain susceptibilities and vulnerabilities. Regardless, I feel much more empowered knowing that I can do things that help and support my body to heal, whether it's rosacea or just about anything else.
I hope it gives you hope, too.