I’m not sure if this picture does it justice, but here’s my most recent autoimmune issue. Just my left hand swelled up to about double its normal size to a point where I couldn’t make a fist or hold onto anything.

As I’ve previously mentioned I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis over a year ago and have been struggling to find effective treatment for it ever since. Our blue cross/blue shield insurance only covers generic meds, none of which the UC meds are, but I was able to get on a clinical trial for a biologic. The biologic worked great, but unfortunately my liver enzymes got too high and they removed me from the study. Thankfully I had a back up plan to get Humira through an assistance program. My UC issues aren’t currently an issue, but now I have some other autoimmune issues that may be even worse. My joints are now intermittently swelling and in pain. It could be my left knee one day, my right elbow the next, and the bottom of my feet the next. I honestly never know what pain I’m going to wake up to each day. It’s referred to as peripheral arthritis which doesn’t cause any long term damage, but it’s still very debilitating, especially for someone who spends their life in the gym.

Before I was approved for the study I attempted to find any natural method I could to help my condition. The issue is, I was still treating the symptoms (specifically the stomach issues) rather than the cause, just like the meds do. I tried taking slippery elm bark to coat the stomach lining, turmeric and fish oil as natural anti-inflammatories, and probiotics to promote to promote good bacteria. Unfortunately none of it seemed to help. Nothing worked until I started taking the biologic.

Now that my UC symptoms are in check and I’m having other autoimmune issues I realize that I need to try to correct the source of the issues, not just the symptoms. Autoimmune issues are basically your body’s immune system malfunctioning and attacking itself rather than harmful foreign bodies like it should.

After doing some research I’m now taking Vitamin C, E, Beta Carotene, CoQ10 and peony extract to boost my immune system, Omega-3 fatty acids , DHEA and Boswellia to ease inflammation, and probiotics and Glutamine for intestinal support. Unfortunately taking all of these has the potential to wreck my stomach which defies part of the purpose. My plan is to eventually ease off of the humira as my immune function improves. We’ll see what happens. I need to figure something out if I’m going to compete in APF equipped nationals here in Orlando in May.

 

I promise I'll start posting my actual training next.