Part 2

I wrote the paragraphs below in April of 2018. Maybe I will update with the rest soon. Maybe I won't. I would at least like to have this part on the blog before moving forward....

Let's back up a bit to before the swelling, itching and unGodly misery began. It was 2015. I was to the point of having more migraine days than non-migraine days. I could always schedule around them, though, as they coincided with certain days of the month. For example, beginning to end of shark week (period week) and when I was ovulating. On those days I was useless. I could barely open my eyes, I cried a lot, I saw colors that were usually normal as being extremely bright and glowing and I vomited when they were the most extreme. When migraines get to that point they're dangerous. I was scared I would end up having a stroke or something. I knew I had to go off of birth control pills. I never had these migraines before I went on them. I had experienced maybe 2 or 3 in my life before then. The only reason I went on them to begin with was because I was diagnosed with PCOS and was told that they would help. I was also put on Metformin because PCOS causes insulin resistance. This also explained why I had a hard time losing weight. All that aside, I still had to go off of BC pills because the migraines had gotten to the point of being debilitating. And they only seemed to get worse as time progressed. So in 2015 I went off of them. The migraines stopped almost immediately. However, I started having some skin issues. My skin was super oily and I started getting red splotches on my face. They were easily covered with  make-up since they were not raised like pimples. Just red splotches that had a slightly different texture. I was able to cover it for about 5 or 6 months. In that time I decided to go plant based in my diet. Prior to that I had been on the Paleo diet.

Before I tell you about the Paleo to Plant Based transition, let me paint a picture of my time on a low carb and Paleo diet. For the 7 year prior to making the switch to a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet I had been on a low carb/Paleo style diet. I did still have dairy, though, which is debatable on a Paleo diet. In the years I was on a Paleo diet I fluctuated with my weight, I had doubled the amount of Methotrexate (chemo in pill form) and I had added an Enbrel injection (a biologic for RA), Atenolol (heart med), and 9 vitamin and mineral supplements. Plus the other RA meds that I had been on for years. Oh, and my RA was still not under control completely. I was able to get about fine, but my hands were still swollen in the mornings and my knee was never quite right. I had random flare ups that had my joints frozen for however long the flare lasted and I was sick a lot of the week after taking Methotrexate. I looked normal to others, but this was from having dealt with this kind of thing for years. I was, and still am, good at faking well.

So, I transitioned overnight from Paleo to Whole Food Plant Based. It was frustrating at first only because I had to relearn how to cook. The hardest part is having to check labels and find new staples. There is oil in almost EVERYthing!! And oil is not a whole food. It's extremely processed. Yes, even coconut and olive oils. I have to be honest, my skin remained the same and by this time it had gotten worse. I saw doctor after doctor. I had a biopsy that was inconclusive other than saying I had a virus that was likely already resolved by the time my results came in. So since my skin was still messed up they wanted to do more biopsies. One doc wanted 4 more biopsies and another wanted 7! Yep, 7!! I told them no and saw one last doctor. By that time I had decided to stop taking all of my medication. I felt like my body was shutting down and the poisons (medications) were the cause. Some were stopped overnight. Others, like the heart medication, were a slow process. By the time I saw my 5th doctor my skin had started clearing up. I was also at my lowest weight since high school. Yay!