Your skin's looking so clear now. Well done. Pleased to see such great results!
I can see why you'd be a bit reserved about the test. I put it off for a long while. Initially, I think I just dismissed the claims that it might be of use. Then in the end, I just got totally sick of not getting anywhere at all with my acne. I was just breaking out, week after week, no matter what I used or what antibiotics I took. Then I started to see that there was a pattern between what I was eating at the weekend and the cycle of my breakouts - I;d always be broken out every time Monday or Tuesday came around, then it would calm down by the end of the week, only to start up again after the weekend.
I got a list of food and non-food intolerances. I haven't got the list of non-food items to hand but as far as I remember, there were some pretty random things on there like various types of tree bank, various breeds of animal dander, various breeds of bird feathers, bees, and latex. Go figure...
Here are the food items:
Banana
Beetroot
Boiled milk
Bovine Serum Albumin (protein found in beef and milk)
Carrot
Chillies
Egg Yolk
Guarguar Gum (thickener found in desserts, cheeses, cream, dressings, processed cheese, yogurt)
Guava
Halibut
Hemp flour
Lime Blossom Tea
Mackerel
Mallow Tea
Papain (an enzyme found on Papaya)
Paprika
Pear
Rabbit
Raddish
Rape Seed and Rape Sead Oil
Sardines
Scallops
Semolina
Turkey
Yeast
Some of those don't apply to me as I either don't like them or have never tried them, but there are some pretty regular things on there which I'm sure we'd all be forgiven for thinking of as being innocent. Bananas and carrots for example.
Boiled milk stood out because that was something I had daily in hot chocolate. I cut that out straight away and that helped clear the eczema I'd had for more than two years straight.
When I thought about it, I realised there was a lot of spicy and/or processed food in my diet, especially over the weekends, and that was triggering the bulk of the acne. There was a lot of cheese in there too so the items relating to dairy and processed cheese stood out. Again, I've cut that out for the most part, no processed foods anymore. Where the cheese was concerned, I think the biggest reaction was coming from melted/cooked cheese. Kind of makes sense, given that there's an issue with boiled milk. It must be something to do with how they change when cooked. My eczema used to kick off whenever I'd eaten pizza so I cut that out. I tested it again last month and cooked a frozen pizza. One small pizza alone was enough to trigger my eczema for a week and it came on within a couple of hours. To me, that borders on being an allergy rather than an intolerance, but I've totally cut it out now so it's not an issue.
I cut out beer in order to reduce my yeast intake. I'm not much of a drinker anyway to be honest, kind of rubbish at it and I soon get bored. Plus I used to drink Guinness and it makes me sleepy so I'd always be nodding off while everyone was getting drunk!
So I cut that and swapped it for the occasional pint of cider instead. Sure the odd Guinness now and then won't hurt at all, and it is possible to phase these things back in to the diet in time in order to see if the body tolerates them, but I'll happily go without if it means I can be as clear as someone who's obviously acne-prone can possibly be.
Between those results and being told that I had deficiencies of vitamin A and vitamin B, which I now supplement, I was soon on my way towards ending that weekly cycle of breakouts. Four weeks after I got the results and made the changes, I was clear. That was just in time for Christmas and that was the first Christmas I'd had without acne for about thirteen years. I remember posting about it in my blog at the time actually and that was a nice feeling. I updated my blog a few days ago when I realised it had been ten weeks since I last fully broke out. Again, it was nice to experience that.
I couldn't help but feel a little guilty and kind of angry that, for all I know, I'd essentially been putting my body through all this punishment with those foods for years and that it was my fault. Especially when I consider that I've pretty much lost half my life to it because I wasn't strong enough to just carry on, regardless of the acne. All the friends, social occasions, experiences and opportunities lost or missed, not to mention all the times I felt horrible, ugly and lonely, or all the times it made me cry... maybe I was actually causing the acne that was causing all those things.
I'm attempting to draw a line under all that now. Hopefully, not having to worry about my skin so much gives me a window of opportunity for a new beginning, chance to focus and put a few things right, and work on building my confidence and self-esteem which are totally shot to pieces after all these years. Not that I have a clue where to start, but that's another story for another day I guess...
As for the test though, aside from clearing most of my acne, it's helped me to cut out the things my body couldn't tolerate in the quantities I was putting them in and I can only assume my body is now functioning better for it. So if you were considering doing the test and you've got it right there with you, simply awaiting your blood sample, it might be worth a go. After all, you might find one or two things you could cut out or cut back on which would help your body all-round and that of course would help maintain your clear skin going forward.
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