This year, I decided to jumpstart my New Year’s health kick early and embarked in December on a journey into the unknown realms of international detox resorts.
A respectful discussion with my medical team at the PA Hospital in late October saw both parties acknowledge that the strong immunosuppressants I’ve been on for four years don’t work based on my bloodwork, that they rarely do for Scleroderma patients, and that some of my worst symptoms now were possibly side effects of the pharmaceuticals I’d been prescribed. I left the appointment both stunned and elated and googled “detox” as soon as I arrived home.
After much research, I found a resort in Koh Samui offering a 14-day programme to match my ‘no holds barred’ dedication. I figured that if I put on 10kg in 7 days, as I did when I first started taking the medication, then there were likely toxins trapped in my tissue that needed to be extricated from my body.
The intense detox regime started the week prior to arriving there – no meat, seafood, dairy, carbs, sugar, coffee, or alcohol. I was 5 weeks off pharmaceuticals by that stage. Once at the resort, the repetitive days started with psyllium husk and water, an early 5+ km brisk walk, a shot of coconut oil and a fresh fruit smoothy for breakfast, aqua aerobics, coffee colema (told you I was dedicated), probiotics/vitamins/more psyllium, apple cider and a fruit smoothy for lunch, daily massage, gym, Thai boxing/sound meditation/or yoga, and vegetable soup for dinner.
This cleansing process allowed my body’s inflammation to stabilise and retained fluid left me in abundance, 7kg of it, which energised me. It has been a transformational experience, leaving me feeling profoundly grateful for this disease outcome and for the opportunity to regain part of my identity.
