Managing My Illness
A few years ago I suffered from various infections and inflammations especially in the genito-urinary system, which in my case meant recurring yeast infections, urinary tract infections (which almost spread all the way to my kidney), cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) and vulvar Candida, which is a common form of fungus.
I was at my gyneogologists office almost every week and all of this really affected me as I couldn't focus properly in school especially since you have to sit on a chair for several hours which with any of the above conditions is not pleasant at all. I got my urinary tract infection that almost spread to the kidney when I was on a school trip and had to be taken to the hospital and was terribly ashamed of my condition.
All of this really affected my mood, I wasn't motivated to go out and do things, got angry really quickly (Sorry mom, love you ;) ) and all in all felt quite week and sad which also had a big impact on my self confidence and happiness.
My gynaecologist is a really really great doctor back home in Milan that I absolutely trust, but it just got to the point where we had to dig a bit deeper and/or try a different method, so she sent me to another doctor, an obstestrian who apart from her main job as midwife, taking care of pregnancies and births also conducted various studies on an syndrome called vulvar vestibulitis, working closely with a nutrionalist. It is not jet clear what causes vulvar vestibulitis as it is still a fairly new study, but it is mostl like caused by various infections all together, like the ones mentioned above. The doctor prescribed me no medicine at all and decided that my case could be solved quite naturally with some time and determination. Amongst exercises I had to do she told me to cut out all white processed sugar, yeast and diary as these three food groups are the ones that do most damage in our bodies especially in types like mine where the immune system is really low and facilitate infections.
Most people I know don't even know I have had all of these problems as it is obviously a very intimate (pun intended) illness that I didn't want to share as I was ashamed of it. But I hope that by overcoming myself and telling you guys this story it might hopefully help some of you or at least inspire some of you to look at living a healthier lifestyle.
Trust me when I tell you I know its hard to think of having to give up on sweets, yoghurts, cheese (and I'm a cheese lover) and bread!!! Also, I grew up in Italy so image the temptations!!!!
But the doctor told me to completely cut out all three: dairy, sugar and yeast for a year, which meant I couldn't even have soup that contained sugar - yes they even put it into salty things as it works as a preservant- so I had to learn to read all the ingredients on the labels of everything I bought. Habit you learn very quickly and that you will never get rid of because you learn how many chemicals, additives and other unhealthy ingredients have been added to seemingly simple food and trust me when I was you will never not read the label, because you will instantly feel the need to know what you are putting into you body and become very protective of it, which is so great!
So after after a few months of cutting out those three categories form my meals I felt so much better, my mood as so much better, I wanted to go out, I was happy to study and could focus for a lot longer, and I finally felt my glow coming back. It is such a weird feeling when you instantly feel so much happier and not just when something great happens but just in general, as a constant. You don't wake up in the morning being already tired, but fresh and ready for the great day ahead of you.
I would never trade this feeling for anything in the world and didn't want to go back to eating dairy, yeast or sugar; in fact after detoxing my body from it the doctor said I could incorporate some cheese etc once in a while as nothing would happen but I really didn't want to touch them anymore, I actually get quite sick when I taste a few drops of milk!!
The hard part was learning how to eat healthy and at the same time nourishing meals. I hope that my recipes will help you the way they have helped me to feel so amazing! x
I was at my gyneogologists office almost every week and all of this really affected me as I couldn't focus properly in school especially since you have to sit on a chair for several hours which with any of the above conditions is not pleasant at all. I got my urinary tract infection that almost spread to the kidney when I was on a school trip and had to be taken to the hospital and was terribly ashamed of my condition.
All of this really affected my mood, I wasn't motivated to go out and do things, got angry really quickly (Sorry mom, love you ;) ) and all in all felt quite week and sad which also had a big impact on my self confidence and happiness.
My gynaecologist is a really really great doctor back home in Milan that I absolutely trust, but it just got to the point where we had to dig a bit deeper and/or try a different method, so she sent me to another doctor, an obstestrian who apart from her main job as midwife, taking care of pregnancies and births also conducted various studies on an syndrome called vulvar vestibulitis, working closely with a nutrionalist. It is not jet clear what causes vulvar vestibulitis as it is still a fairly new study, but it is mostl like caused by various infections all together, like the ones mentioned above. The doctor prescribed me no medicine at all and decided that my case could be solved quite naturally with some time and determination. Amongst exercises I had to do she told me to cut out all white processed sugar, yeast and diary as these three food groups are the ones that do most damage in our bodies especially in types like mine where the immune system is really low and facilitate infections.
Most people I know don't even know I have had all of these problems as it is obviously a very intimate (pun intended) illness that I didn't want to share as I was ashamed of it. But I hope that by overcoming myself and telling you guys this story it might hopefully help some of you or at least inspire some of you to look at living a healthier lifestyle.
Trust me when I tell you I know its hard to think of having to give up on sweets, yoghurts, cheese (and I'm a cheese lover) and bread!!! Also, I grew up in Italy so image the temptations!!!!
But the doctor told me to completely cut out all three: dairy, sugar and yeast for a year, which meant I couldn't even have soup that contained sugar - yes they even put it into salty things as it works as a preservant- so I had to learn to read all the ingredients on the labels of everything I bought. Habit you learn very quickly and that you will never get rid of because you learn how many chemicals, additives and other unhealthy ingredients have been added to seemingly simple food and trust me when I was you will never not read the label, because you will instantly feel the need to know what you are putting into you body and become very protective of it, which is so great!
So after after a few months of cutting out those three categories form my meals I felt so much better, my mood as so much better, I wanted to go out, I was happy to study and could focus for a lot longer, and I finally felt my glow coming back. It is such a weird feeling when you instantly feel so much happier and not just when something great happens but just in general, as a constant. You don't wake up in the morning being already tired, but fresh and ready for the great day ahead of you.
I would never trade this feeling for anything in the world and didn't want to go back to eating dairy, yeast or sugar; in fact after detoxing my body from it the doctor said I could incorporate some cheese etc once in a while as nothing would happen but I really didn't want to touch them anymore, I actually get quite sick when I taste a few drops of milk!!
The hard part was learning how to eat healthy and at the same time nourishing meals. I hope that my recipes will help you the way they have helped me to feel so amazing! x
