In 2018 my brother and I packed our bags and headed to Madagascar where we were to spend ten days volunteering through the organisation Frontier Gap, teaching conversational and beginner English. We were stationed between Hellville and one of their beach base camps, which enables volunteers to reach the more remote communities on the islands. It also acts as a hub, allowing volunteers across different specialisations, to interact and form connections. Beach camp was extremely basic, with no electricity and no toilets. We slept on bamboo structures, used long drops and were invited to share meals with the community in the nearby village. Fresh produce was limited, with starch – bread, pasta, rice and some more rice dominating the meal plan. Before leaving Cape Town everyone seemed to offer up the same bit of advice – always purify your water and whatever you do, steer clear of the street food. But alas, for me food is always such a huge part of travel – how can you have one without the other? In Hellville when the sun begins to set, long trestle-like tables and a mismatch of chairs are pushed into the centre of main street. A community style dining experience arises. You move down along the consecutively placed tables loaded with fresh fish, a variety of deep fried dough balls and whatever greens have recently been picked. Plates are shared, hands serve as serving spoons and when it comes to utensils, a quick dunk in a communal tub of water is all it takes before being handed to the next customer. Gratitude was the most important currency.

Although, I had been incredibly careful with regards to the water I was drinking when it comes to street food you have absolutely no idea where and with what water your food is being washed. I left Madagascar with a heavy heart, for its raw beauty, the people and the quality time I got to share with a sibling was etched firmly as one of my best memories yet. Landing back in Johannesburg and in transit to the UK to meet up with family I developed my first eye cyst. I also realised that maybe it was not just the thought of a long-drop that had stopped me going to the bathroom but rather something more serious. Ten days later I was experiencing my first ever encounter with chronic constipation. I was bloated beyond compare, uncomfortable and extremely confused as to what was going on with my body. I tried multiple over the counter laxatives (something I would never dream of today), which were to no avail. I pushed a lot of the other symptoms aside and tried to enjoy the last few weeks of holiday – reassuring myself that being home, in my routine again would settle my body. However, this was not the case.

Fast forward nearly three years; and multiple blood tests, tropical disease tests, eyes swabs, extensive anti-parasitic cleansing programmes, fasts, liver detoxing, gut rebalancing and regular colonics later do I feel like I have truly come to understand and work with – not against my body. What started as simply ridding my body of a Malagasi parasite has led to a complete restructuring of my life – and how I chose to honour my body. Parasites are extremely difficult, not only to identify but locate. However, an extensive course of anti-parasitical natural medication, fungus tinctures and trusted colloidal silver flushed my system over a two month period. This entire situation had been greatly exacerbated by three consecutive courses of antibiotics used to treat the now persistent eye cysts. I was constantly being treated on a surface level, symptomatically which was merely suppressing the symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. The antibiotics destroyed all my good gut bacteria creating an environment ripe for yeast and candida to thrive. When I had my first consultation with my functional health practitioner in Cape Town at the end of 2018 my colon was, as you can imagine in complete disarray. Over the next year I worked at rectifying my gut. Processed grains (gluten), diary, legumes and cruciferous vegetables were the first to go. I focused on my diet and added a new array of supplements (digestive enzymes, binders, colon support). I quickly learnt how changes in one’s gut microbiome can have a drastic effect on one’s mental health – this is due to the close connection between one’s gut and mind. I realised that the health of my gut was going to be pivotal to my holistic wellbeing and quality of life. However, I was in second year and although I was attempting to restore my gut’s functioning and decrease the toxicity build up, my social life was not quite aligning to the measures needed to truly get to the core of the problem – realistically I was only beginning to scratch the surface. In an effort to balance my academics, social life and now my health I threw myself into exercise. I’m talking two high intensity boxing classes a day. It did not take long before my adrenals crashed.

Adrenal fatigue occurs when stress is high and the adrenal glands, responsible for producing the hormones in response to the stress stop functioning optimally. I was using endorphins as a coping mechanism for stress, which inevitably was completely counterproductive. Gut health and adrenal health are very much linked – although their important symbiotic relationship is often not addressed together. Imbalances in the gut contribute to adrenal fatigue and adrenal fatigue exacerbates gut issues, in my case causing severe digestive symptoms. Obviously, major traumatic situations lead to adrenal fatigue but for most people, like myself it was rather a slow and steady build up of ‘low-level’ stress over a prolonged period. This kind of stress is no stranger to an A-type personality. Stress is lethal, even more so when the symptoms (headaches, heart palpitations, insomnia) aren’t even present. This is the case when stress is occurring on a much deeper level – on a cellular level. Rather than solely environmental factors inducing high levels of stress (which were obviously present) it was rather high levels of inflammation (as a result of the parasite) sending my body into complete turmoil. 

2018 and 2019 consisted mostly of trying to stay on top of the chronic digestive issues (through regular colonics), managing my cortisol levels through adrenal medication as well as treating the eye cysts – this was happening merely on a surface level though. I have always had major insecurities around my red eyes – so keeping the redness at bay and inflammation in check was the number one priority. I knew though that treating the pain, irritation and inflammation with steroids, cortisone and topical antibiotics was not sustainable nor was it gong to provide a long-term solution.

It is quite easy for me to sit here now wishing I had adopted a stricter protocol initially, but at that time in my life I was making the changes I knew I could sustain – it was all about balance. With anything in life, there are no quick fixes. Slow and steady really does win the race. Little did I know that back in 2018 I was laying imperative foundations with regards to my heath, the changes I would later come to make and the journey I would continue to choose – constantly learning, adjusting and becoming comfortable with discomfort. Whether such discomfort is physical or emotional I have come to listen to it, engage with it, acknowledge it and most importantly embrace it as an opportunity to dive deeper into the workings of myself, of our incredibly intricate functioning and connect with what my body needs on a much deeper level. Health and well-being is multifaceted – our entire being needs to work together, supporting every process and striving to reach a shared goal – for me that goal is a state of optimal well-being defined by me, for me (we cannot be working to achieve any one else’s ideal of ‘health’) in doing so, we only set ourselves up for disappointment. This journey is not easy nor is it fixed. It will change as I change but ultimately it has put me on a path in search of answers, deeper connection and a chance to live out MY truth. To be continued…