My name is Michele. I decided to start a log to track my progress on healing my Psoriais, (P).
As a quick background, as a child I always had flare ups with dry skin patches. We never had it diagnosed properly and we tried all kinds of crazy home remedies. I found that it would flare up in the winter and go away in the summer.
Then when I moved away to college I had a doctor it was eczema and I should treat it with lotion. Guess what? That worked great for me for the next 20 years! Every time I had a patch I would put on some lotion for a few weeks and it would go away.
But about a year ago I got the most stubborn patches on my feet. I tried hundreds of dollars worth of different types of lotions. Burt’s Bees, Neutrogena, Lubriderm, olive oil, fancy organic stuff from whole foods, etc.
Finally I broke down and asked my derm what he thought. He took a biopsy and determined it was not fungus so he gave me a steroid lotion to treat for eczema. Even though I used it faithfully the spot didn't really budge. In fact it started to grow.
:( Maybe worse.
By the end of the week I removed all suspect products from my house and changed them for items on the approved list. This included laundry detergent, fabric softener, shampoos/conditioners, no perfume, new deodorant, new lotions, body soaps, new house hold cleaners, you get the idea.
I also started a new prescription called Vectical which was $800! Thankfully my insurance covered most of it but I just want to point out:
Lesson #1: there is some big money to be made in pharmaceuticals that don't cure you.
Ever stop and wonder why there is no "Money Back Guarantee in pharmaceuticals, just a list of other side effects you may get. And for some reason we accept this.
Around this same time I started to get some pain in my hip. I went to my GP and she diagnosed me with bursitis with just an in office visit. It wasn't until months later that I put psoriasis and arthritis together and all of the doctors that I have seen are in the same network and see all of my charts but none of them made the link for me.
Lesson #2: you are in charge of your own health!
Mind you I am pretty active; I work full time, have kids, and work out about 3-5 times a week. Hip pain and eczema on my feet causes a big lifestyle change for me. One that I was not ready to make.
Enough is enough. I kept my foot ointments in a box under my bed and every night and morning I would slather it on with no help. My GP had me taking prescription pain killers for my hip, which was causing stomach aches. I had to do something different.
I found a book on by Doctor John Pagano who promised a Natural alternative to healing Psoriasis.
I read a lot about the book on line along with testimonials and I thought I should give it a try. I bought the book and pretty much finished it in 2 days.
Lesson #3: When people are interested and motivated, nothing can stop them.
On March 17th I started with the Pagano diet. I say started because there are many components and it is hard to do everything on the first day.
I started a personal log so I could track what seemed to be working and what didn't.
I found a bunch of great people on the inspire website. I found a few that were starting the diet, a few that swore by it, and a few that said diet didn't help them. But mostly on inspire I saw people struggling with the different meds, the side effects, and their deteriorating health.
Almost 3 weeks into the Pagano regimen, I decided to start a public blog to keep me motivated with this Pagano Diet, and to also help inspire others to keep up with their health regimens so they know exactly what it is like. Ideally, I will get some followers that can hold me accountable.
Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope this helps you in some way.
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