My Journey to Health

Bikram says to give him 60 days and he will change your life.

I am very sick.

For the past couple of years I have had an onset of symptoms that I have repeatedly continued to ignore, for lack of funds to see a doctor. However, as of recently they have started to permeate into, and disrupt, my everyday life.

It started about 2 years ago. I noticed that I was tired all of the time. I had a traumatic childhood and high anxiety levels. I was regularly doubled over in stomach pain; crying. I never went to the doctor, and my parents gave me Prilosec. I'm not sure if it worked, I took it for about a week but it made me break out so I stopped. I had severe problems with bulimia at this time, so I don't know if that was a contributing factor?

I started drinking coffee all of the time in order to keep me awake, but I was always tired and never felt rested, even after all of the naps and constantly sleeping for 14+ hours a night. But if I didn't do this I felt even worse.

I got on medicine for depression and that's a big mess I don't really want to go into. They put me on high doses of Prozac, Abilify, and Welbutrin, and I was in the hospital months later, put in an MHMR for attempted suicide. Here, they put me on Risperidal but said I "wasn't bipolar, but it would help mellow out my spiraling depression". I still had horrible digestion problems at this time even though I was religiously taking probiotics and digestive enzymes. I started getting recurring bladder infections. Intercourse became so painful I would cry, and unexplainable skin rashes.

Today, I eat very healthy, and exercise about 3x per week with Bikram yoga, and running, but my health problems are still horrible. Every day I eat healthy and nonstop but I'm starving until about 4 in the afternoon. Then I get diarrhea and nausea. I get dizzy. I have bladder infections at least once a month and take AZO. I stopped getting antibiotics because I can't afford the doctor. I have horrible fatigue. I am always tired and have an awful immune system. I am constantly getting sick, and if I get a cut or bruise it takes 3 weeks to heal instead of a day. I scar and bruise very easily now. I am always nauseous and feel dehydrated even though I drink 2 liters of water a day. I regularly have panic attacks and nightmares. I am 20 years old, and can't figure out what's wrong with me.

Usually my diet consists of: waking up and eating a banana on my way to work (about 7:45), then at around 9:30 I am hungry again, so I'll eat an apple, then some walnuts around 10, and lunch (a sandwich or salad) around 12, and a protein shake around 2. Then some yogurt around 3. Then I start feeling really naseaus, no matter what I eat around 4. I will typically have a smoothie around 5 or 6 and sip on it till I'm done with it. I feel very hungry, (probably because of my active lifestyle) but even just the though of food makes me nauseous. I went to the doctor for it before and she just said it was a side effect of my depression medecine and to try to eat as much as I could, but I'm not on meds anymore and still have it a year later. Also I forgot to mention that I recently got diagnosed with anemia. It is recent, I have not always been anemic. I take iron pills, but my iron is usually still too low to even donate plasma.

I am on a journey to health. Yesterday I bought a juicer and did day one of the Bikram Yoga 60 day challenge in which you do yoga every day in the span of 2 months, or, 60 days. I am nervous and excited to see how Bikram Yoga will start to transform my health.