I’m BAAAACK 🙂 and I feel amazing. Had an incredible time in Brasilia and Salvador Bahia, ate incredibly fresh and delicious fruits and veg, slept a lot, partied like it was 1999, got some beach time, and also came back with a crazy healing story. I’ll be sharing my list of top places to eat soon, but first…
I got bit by a scorpion. Twice. LOL. Chiiiiiile, I’m not kidding.
The weirdest part was I didn’t know it until later, because it bit me while I was sleeping. I woke up one night before we went to Salvador sweating and with a slight fever but didn’t think anything of it until later.
When I first traveled to West Africa I was sure I was going to get malaria, because mosquitoes love me. Luckily I always travel with my die hard DIY natural mosquito repellent. I saw two bites on my left leg near the ankle the next day and assumed a mosquito found a sweet spot. Then I proceeded to live my best life, dancing til AM, eating out, and exploring for four days before I realized something was OFF about this “mosquito bite.” My ankle and foot was swelling and the bite areas were really red.
When me and my crew got back to Brasilia I went to the hospital–luckily I always carry travel insurance. The doctor who saw me happened to be vegan, so I was assured for a hot second until she proceeded to prescribe an anti-histamine (ok cool) , anti-inflammatory (sure makes sense) – and here’s the kicker 40 mg of Prednisone (WTF). I had my friend translating have her explain herself as I knew enough to know that prednisone is a really toxic drug that can cause extreme weight gain, hormonal imbalance, water retention / bloating and more. It’s used a lot for auto immune conditions but also too widely used for a range of other things including inflammatory conditions.
After all my blood tests came back normal I finally agreed to allow them to administer the first round of meds via IV. My friends were really worried, heck I was worried as I had no idea what to do at that moment about scorpion venom chilling in my body.
Once I got back to where we were staying I used bentonite clay to suck out more of the venom and within two days with some prayer and TLC the swelling went down. Here’s where things got funky. I knew taking prednisone was like taking poison after researching it further so I stopped after Day 2 as it was making me feel crazy even though the doctor wanted me to take it for 5 days. Once I stopped taking it, two days later on the way home to DC both of my feet started to swell and I felt like my body was holding onto water.
I got back Sunday and Monday morning I was in the health food store. The nice clerk who helped me find what I was looking for told me a story of a female friend of his who went from 110 to 200 pounds within weeks of taking prednisone. This further confirmed my decision to toss those meds in the trash can. I bought stinging nettle (more on this soon), and more reishi powder- both of which are powerful natural anti-histamines. I also started hoovering a ton of potassium and eating only raw foods because I knew that the prednisone had disrupted my sodium-potassium balance. Yesterday my feet and legs were finally back to normal. I plan to be detoxing for the next week.
This experience gave me deep empathy for what most patients feel when prescribed medication in a crisis – that feeling that you have no other option can be real! It also renewed my commitment to deeper study of all things natural healing so I can help others. I was able to figure out what herbs could do a BETTER job than prednisone without crazy potential life-altering side effects. I tell you all of this to say THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS. If you ever in a bind please find a practitioner and do your research. I’m just soooo grateful right now that my knowledge of natural healing, stubbornness (LOL), and intuition prevented me from doing extreme long term damage to my body.
-XO Raw Girl
P.S.
I’m opening up my calendar the next two weeks to take one on one calls as Staying Ageless 30+ is coming back for the fall & I’m taking new clients! If you are a woman 30+ ready to transform your health, sign up to chat with me HERE.