My health journey

My health problems began last year on June 2017, it all started with dry cracked lips and the area around my lips started to peel, tighten, bleed and hurts so bad. Then soon patches of itchy rash on my chest and tummy started to appear, then by September 2017 the area between my fingers (on my left hand) suddenly turned dark - like a bad case of sunburn.









I went to the doctor.

The doctor said that the sunburn skin was caused by photoallergic reaction. My rashes and lips was caused by food and chemical allergy.

photoallergic reaction - allergic reaction in which ultraviolet exposure reacts with the chemical/drug, then the body’s immune system seen it as an invader and the allergic response causes inflammation on the sun-exposed skin.

The doctor told me to stay indoor, avoid the sun during the day, with permission to go out at night time only, while taking prednisolone 6 pills of 5mg prednisolone everyday for 2 days.



As for my itchy rashes,I was given hydrocortisone cream and use it for my cracked skin around my lips too.
Prednisolone prevents the release of chemicals that promote inflammation

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The prednisolone works for me; my sunburn become lighter, so I had to slowly reduce/ taper off my medication for the next 9 days; never stopped taking them or it'll get worse.

I used the hydrocortisone cream for my rashes and I tried it once for the area on my lips, but then I switched to eczerra cream and lotion instead (it was a cream for eczema prone baby).

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Then I finished my prednisolone and the withdrawals began; I felt tired all the time, back pain, I gained weights, had acne on my back and my face, had trouble sleeping and sweating.

My fingers started peeling and it was a little itchy, but it started to heal.\

November 2017

My fingers are getting lighter and slowly fade away.



My lips started to heal after I stopped using any beauty products and shampoo. I still continue using my makeup - only eyeliner and eyeshadow at first (I test every makeup products I had, to see if I had any reactions with it). I’m still a little hesitant to use lip products and foundation, anything that sticks to my face and lips.





I used the cream twice in a day, but the rash on my body kept popping up on different place - I still haven't figure out what I'm allergic to.

I started a food journal

Through a long process of trying different type of foods and see if my body had any reaction to it. I learnt that I have nuts allergy - almond, peanut, etc. And green beans too. I love peanuts and I used to eat it without problems, but allergy can develop later in life.

I wrote down my daily meals and any allergy reactions that I had
I felt like vomiting, dizziness and fainting after I had a handful of almond.
I had tightness on my chest, wheezing and shortness of breath after I had few peanuts.
I get itchy rash after I had green beans

I stopped using wet tissues

Luckily I had taken pictures of my hand few days before my fingers turned dark and I found out that the wet tissue that I use to clean my hands caused it - we went out for brunch that day, walked back home with the sun up in the sky and that explained everything about the photoallergy reaction - my sunburn hand was due to the reaction between the sun and the chemical found in the wet tissue. Just look at the weird position of the sunburn, it only happened between my fingers.



January 2018

I stopped using the Eczerra cream and just let my lips heal by itself. I started exercise to lose the weight I gained - hiking seems to be the only suitable exercise for me *as I had rib injuries from few years ago.

June 2018

I'm healthier than I was a year ago, the sunburn totally fade away. I still have dry skin around my lips from time to time (I'm changing back to my old bar soap, I just found out that the new one have SLS on it.) My rashes are all gone, but I found myself scratching my body whenever I consumed food with traces of nuts. I'm still keeping my food diary.

Drinking 3 litres of water and avoiding nuts - I had to sacrifice most of my favourite foods, but that also helping me to lose some of the weights that I gained during recovery.

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This experience taught me that our body is amazing

The immune system identifies certain food and products as harmful, so they released inflammatory substances to activate its defences, which cause all these allergy problems. That's how my body trying its best to protect me from falling sick.

To celebrate my health journey, I bought a beautiful handmade ring from a local jeweller and I even got 2 new tattoos from a trusty friend - I was planning to get tattooed by another tattoo artist, but I was afraid of getting allergy reaction again, so I went with the one that made my first tattoo. It was a great reminder for me that I survived and knowing that there are important individuals that have always been by my side throughout this journey. Thank you!!





Through this health journey, I made some drastic changes and lifestyle habits that I can't wait to share them with you guys in the next post. Soon.