Last week I dropped this photo in my Instastories, but I didn’t give any context.  I posted on my personal FB account about it, but in an effort to be completely transparent here, and show the real life “Shida” I wanted to give more context.

I was diagnosed with iritis/uveitis when I was 21. 

In the two decades since, no doctor was been able to figure out the cause, so I’ve been stuck trying to manage it with numerous pharmaceuticals.  For about 5 years I was on a really strong dosage of what my retinal specialist described as “old school chemotherapy.”  It was pretty awful and restrictive, and it never did the job of eliminating the flares.  Eventually I decided that the havoc to my body was not worth the hope that the drugs would eventually work. After all, the initial course of treatment was 2 year, and we were already 5 years in.

My last acute uveitis flare was 2016

It came with multiple other symptoms of autoimmune disorders, but none of the specialists I saw could diagnose the problem.  The iritis flare went away but the ancillary symptoms (rash, and consistent fever) remained. About 3 months later, I tried the #Whole30 program (#hatedit) and within the first two weeks all my symptoms went away.  Since then, I have remained gluten-free, flare-free and symptom-free.

And then I got to Mexico.  Tacos, tamales, empanadas, tortas, corn, corn, corn, corn.  BOOM! FLARE!  Uncontrollable, unresolvable flare.  The usual meds weren’t helping, so I went to see a retinal specialist who gave me an injection in my eye. Truly, the most tragic part of this though, was breaking up with corn.  I’ve had to add corn to the list of things I can’t eat, which at this point is more things than I can.  I’m in Mexico and I can’t eat corn or drink alcohol - this feels like the beginning of a very bad joke.

This has been an extremely humbling time for me.  I love my body, I love nourishing it, and I love how it serves me.  I hate seeing it rebel, because unbeknownst to me, I wasn’t treating it right.  I’m taking this as a reminder to listen more.  To not wait until my body is in crisis to hear the messages it is trying to tell me. As of now, I’m recovering pretty well, and taking it day by day.

Have you been listening to your body lately? 

What has it been telling you? Do you have to stay away from certain foods? What do they do to you? Tell me everything in the comments! ✨✨✨

#shidasontheloose