Her Flare and What She Does About It

Her Flare and What She Does About It
from Abbi S.

Ed, You might remember me as Abbi L. I wrote a few years back about my success with castor oil. Well, I got divorced so it's back to the maiden name: Abbi S.

After my divorce I moved from North Carolina back to my hometown in Washington state. The climate change was enough to send my P screaming back to the surface. I'm having my first severe flare-up in six years ... for a few reasons.

1: Like I mentioned, the climate change from NC to WA. I went from hot, humid summers and sunny, cold, dry winters to mild summers (no problem) but WET, WET, cloudy winters. I don't get any sunshine, which is really hard for me and causes my facial P to flare badly.

2: I was an avid gym-goer for years in NC, and the exercise kept my P under control by flushing toxins out of my system and generally keeping me in good health. Since I've moved back, I haven't gotten into a groove with the gym here yet.

3: My parents are separated and I'm staying with my Dad until I can get back on my feet. (I'm in college and it's EXPENSIVE!) So they argue and I get in the middle just because of my proximity to it. This keeps my stress level a bit on the high side.

4: My diet is shameful! I started working and going to college again, and I eat too much fast food and junk. Plus with the holidays ... well, you know how it goes.

Anyways, I'm just venting because I know you'll all understand! My boyfriend and I went out of town for a few days after Christmas to get away from the stress of our families and I had a minor breakdown. My skin hurt badly due to the cold weather — flaky, bright red, cracking — and I felt like I just couldn't take it anymore! I just felt like giving up. It's been years since it was this bad, and I was miserable. So when we got back from our trip, I cut back on food and alcohol, drank tons of water and hit the gym and it's starting to feel better already. But I needed a little emotional support and I found you guys again. Thanks for listening and for being there. I know this is not the last time I'll have a flare up, but I'm determined not to let it run my life. There's hope for all of us if we can discover what really works and do it.

Thanks again, -Abbi S.

*****

Ed’s Response: Your strength is a signpost for us all, Abbi. Hello, by the way. Long time no hear from! Sorry to hear about the “D” — but you know my story, I’m somewhat more than a beginner at “D,” myself. I imagine you will recover as nicely from that as you manage to recover from your P flares.

I don’t know if anyone has actually polled flakers on the percent who count climate change as one of their “triggers.” I’ve known it has ALWAYS been a trigger for me, and there are countless other correspondents here who claim the same. I sometimes wonder if the impact of climate on P isn’t a ‘universal’ and if we might not learn more about the disease by concentrating on those few who apparently do NOT get triggered by climate change? Of course, the SA’s among us (‘Stress Advocates’) would tell us climate change is experienced by our bodies as just another kind of stress. (I believe all the SAs should be forced to go on vacation together to someplace climatologically challenging — like maybe Antarctica .)

Don’t stay away so long this time, Abbi! -Ed

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