Breathing Big

So as you all know, this journey of mine is about breathing - hence the name Raw RESPIRE. I thought I'd take this morning to give a little background on my breathing and my health in general.

I was born with asthma. When I was born I was put into an oxygen incubator. It was there right from the start. When I was a baby, my parents found out that I was allergic to eggs and dairy. Dad fed me a little bit of his scrambled egg with cheese and I broke out into hives and couldn't breathe. They rushed me to the hospital.

The doctor told them to take it out of my diet and then in a couple years start slowly incorporating it back into my diet. I wish they hadn't told them to do that. I wish it would have been okay in the early 70's for them to think, "She can't have these things and she doesn't need them to be healthy" but they thought I needed them and hence, they did incorporate them back into my diet. My childhood diet was full of dairy and eggs.

All throughout my childhood I had asthma. First I took a GROSS liquid medicine that made me sick. I remember as a child that I would hide the fact that I had asthma, so I didn't have to take the nasty tasting medicine. I can't help but think that a lot of those asthma attacks were brought on by food reactions. I didn't find this out (that I was allergic to food) until way later in life...like, a couple of years ago. I never knew! I couldn't believe it when I found out.

As I got older, about 11 or 12, they moved me from the nasty tasting medicine, to pills. I still had asthma attacks. There were still times I was rushed to the doctor or hospital....to get shots that would allow me to breathe. In high school, I was introduced to the 'inhaler', I felt like I had found a medicine miracle and wondered why I hadn't had one of these amazing contraptions all along!

I'm allergic to animal dander, feathers, dust, mold, grass - and some foods. The food part was never something I considered as a child or knew about. I just knew about the other things.

I also tend to think that asthma is caused by stress, being afraid, being worried, etc. My home life was sometimes turbulent and if I was scared or stressed, I would also get asthma.

Once I left home, I had a wonderful thing happen - no more asthma! I didn't even have an inhaler on me! I moved throughout life without the problem of asthma. Only rarely, when I would visit someone's house that had a cat with a lot of cat hair and dust, would I get asthma. Usually I would just get an inhaler at a drug store, and take it once and be done with it.

If I am remembering correctly, I only had to go to the doctor one time in my 20's for asthma.

Yet, three years ago, when I left San Francisco, a weird thing happened. I started having asthma again - badly. This was a horribly stressful time in my life. I was alone, scared and didn't have much money or direction. My life was up-in-the-air and I had no grounding. I began to use an inhaler EVERY day. Then I began using it several times a day and from there, it became something that I needed ALL the time. I have been taking it nearly ten times a day. This month, in October 2008, I am on my 4th inhaler of the month. In the last three years I have used an unmentionable amount of inhalers and have been to the emergency room once and Urgent Care once.

This raw diet is an extreme way for me to take everything out of my diet, flood my body with vitamins and minerals (via green smoothies and lots of kale, romaine, collards, chard, etc.) so that I can find out what diet is best for me.

I am a 'natural' type person. I write about holistic health and sustainability. I don't want to be dependent upon these medicines and I don't want to rely on steroids the rest of my life - which is the exact point I am standing in. I am now on steroids and that is just not acceptable to me. I want to breathe naturally, fully and with joy. I want to be naturally high and not constantly be thinking about my breath.

I'm REALLY happy to report that this morning was the first morning that I woke up and could breathe. I took a shower. I ate breakfast. I am sitting here and I am getting a little tight, but this is a HUGE difference.

Also, since the very first day of starting on the raw diet, I have not woke up during the night to use my inhaler. This has been a regular occurrence for me. I was waking up once to two times during the night, unable to breathe. Now...no more.

Of course, I can't help but wonder if it is the fact that I have severely changed my diet, or whether it is the steroids. I imagine it is both, but I do not want to be on the steroids. So, as time goes on and I finish my prescription of Singulair, I will be visiting a specialist, getting testing for food allergies, and figuring out how I live my life without constantly thinking about having to take something to breathe. Plus, the stress in my life has been dramatically reduced. I'm laughing more, loving more, feel taken care of (by me) and am really doing all I can to live a high, inspired, healthy life full of love and safety.

This morning I finished my prescription of Prednisone. I am done. Yay!!!!