Episode 211: Addressing Skin Issues with Functional Nutrition and Human Design
While not fun to experience, the past six months have turned out to be somewhat of a case study of the intersection of Functional Nutrition x Human Design.
For the past 6+ months, I’ve been suffering from skin issues. After multiple doctors’ visits, I was left feeling unseen, unheard, dismissed, and my suffering minimized.
So I put my Functional Nutrition hat back on to investigate and uncover what’s at the room of going on.
In this episode, I share:
How this started and the discomfort and challenges it's caused
How I’m using a Functional Nutrition approach to address it
The added insight that Human Design has shed on why.
I also share the only modalities thus far that have brought relief, and new healing modalities that I’ve been introduced to.
Listen to the Episode:
Mentioned in the Episode:
Episode 027: Using the Tools of Functional Nutrition to Uncover Root Causes
Episode 177: Wardrobe as Wellness with Jenny Wirt of Sartorevi
Episode 187: Exploring Human Design Awareness Centers: Ajna, Spleen, Solar Plexus
Episode 188: Exploring Human Design Manifestation Centers: Throat & G-Center
Connect with Naomi:
Share the Episode:
“We may not know what exactly, but in functional nutrition, sometimes there isn’t a label for what’s going on. What we want to know is WHY are these symptoms presenting themselves?”
Read the Transcript:
Hello there and welcome back to The Live FAB Life Podcast. I'm your host, Naomi Nakamura.
Today, I'm going to get a little personal. In fact, I'm going to get very personal.
A couple of weeks ago on Instagram, I did an Ask Me Anything Q&A and one of the questions asked was, “Can you share more about your skin issues?”
I shared a little bit about it at the end of Episode 208. But if you haven't listened to it yet, let me just fill in and share with you how I’m using Functional Nutrition, with an added perspective of Human Design to address it.
First of all, skin issues, specifically, breakouts on my body, are completely new to me. I’ve never dealt with anything like it before.
At the end of last summer, I started having, I guess you could call it rashes, on my skin, specifically on my armpits. At first, I thought it was heat rash because it was one of the hottest summers on record in California.
After a few weeks, I realized that it wasn’t getting better, rather, it was getting worse. I mentioned that I was struggling with this to a friend of mine, and she said, “Oh my gosh, I'm having the same thing, and I think it's a fungal issue - go get some Athlete's Foot Cream,” even though it was the rash was not my feet. I did, and I quickly realized that that over-the-counter stuff wasn't going to cut it.
So, I scheduled a visit and went to see a general practitioner. For context, I haven’t seen a general practitioner on a regular basis because I use my integrative/functional medicine doctor as my primary care provider and they do not typically don’t see patients for something like this – meaning something that might just need a quick fix, like heat rashes or fungal infections. I mean, I thought it going to be a quick fix, that a simple topical medication would clear it up.
The general practitioner agreed that it appeared to be a fungal infection of sorts and prescribed an anti-fungal oral medication as well as topical powder. And while it did begin to clear up the rash area, it didn't fully resolve it and new rash areas continued to appear.
Eventually, the general practitioner referred me to the first dermatologist that I saw, who thought it was not fungal, but rather a form of dermatitis or eczema. I was then prescribed other topical medication which quickly cleared up the affected areas, but again, new areas still kept appearing.
After a few weeks, I went back and updated the dermatologist. She asked me to give it another couple of weeks of continuing to use the medication and then check-in. This is when my frustration started to bubble because we'd already determined that the medication was clearing up the rash but why was there continuing to be newly affected areas appearing daily? Energetically it was draining so I didn't follow up after two weeks. I thought I’d just continue doing what was doing to see what happens.
Well, here we are, now a months later because these things do take time to tease out to see what’s happening.
During the holiday times, things were not better. In fact, it got worse. It got to the point where I was convinced that maybe it wasn't a rash, nor was it dermatitis or eczema.
I went through a good, solid two weeks of thinking it was bug bites. I was completely panicked, thinking it was bed bugs. And because I had no idea what bed bugs looked like, I googled it, something I won’t ever do again. I was a stressed and anxious mess!
I had pest control come into my home and they did a full inspection. They said they don't see any evidence of bedbugs. I had collected some things that I thought might be bedbugs, but they said it looked like lint. When I insisted there were bugs among when I collected, they said, “Well, if there are bugs, they're not bedbugs.”
But then I showed them some of my “bites” that were on my arms and legs, and they said, “Well, those could be bed bugs bites, so we don't want to fully rule it out.”
So, they laid out bug traps throughout my home for four to five days and not even one of those traps caught a single bug. No bed bugs – no bugs at all. Once that confirmed that bugs weren’t the issue, I became more convinced that my skin issues were the result of something internal going on – some kind of immune system response.
So, I decided to go back to the dermatologist but the original dermatologist that I saw is out on leave, so I had to see a different one. This second dermatologist reminded me of what’s wrong with our medical system.
The entire visit took less than 10 minutes. From the minute she walked into the exam room, she was completely dismissive of me. In fact, when I showed her some affected areas her exact words were, “Oh, it's so small.” Then she said, “It would have been better if you had come in when some of the larger areas were inflamed.”
Considering that the next available appointments weren’t until the end of March, early April, and I had lucked out and got in because of a cancellation, I was fuming. She could tell from my body language because she said, “Oh, I don’t mean to upset you” to which I responded, “Yet, here we are. I just told you that I’ve been dealing with this every day for months, and if you’d read my chart, you would have known that you’re now the third doctor I’m seeing for this still unresolved issue. Yet you’ve completely minimized my suffering.”
I couldn't help but be reminded that this is why people hate going to doctors. This is why people are so frustrated with conventional medicine. For many, like me who is fully vaccinated and boosted, it’s not that we don’t believe in science, it’s that doctors lack empathy, basic communication skills and we’re left feeling not seen and unheard. And we’re left paying hundreds and thousands and dollars after being dismissed and left still without solutions. It’s so frustrating – stressful and frustrating!
This experience has been a reminder to me of why I so embrace integrative and functional medicine. COVID was a good reminder for me that science saves lives, but this experience has also reminded me an integrative, whole-body approach that combines science and holistic medicine is the best approach. And they’re not that far apart if you’re truly thinking functionally.
After this second dermatology visit, I just had to put things on pause, even though I was still suffering daily. At this point, I was at a loss. I was sad. I was felt really depressed.
But by divine intervention, my integrative doctor’s assistant called. You see, by now, I was only seeing her a couple of times a year and wasn’t scheduled to see her until mid-February, but her assistant called to tell me that she had a cancellation and asked me if I’d be interested in seeing her earlier.
I don’t know why she called me of all people, but I was so happy, almost in tears, and quickly secured the appointment. I wasn't expecting answers from my integrative medicine doctor, but I was hoping to be heard, to be offered some empathy, and to have someone partner with me in looking at this with a whole-body perspective.
But just before this visit, I did see my acupuncturist, Emily Chui who’s been a guest on this show twice (and I’ll link to her episodes in the show notes). I normally see her every 2-3 weeks, but with the holidays, it’s been much longer between my visits, so I hadn’t seen her since my symptoms flared up.
In addition to my treatment, she also gave me some Chinese herbs, what I like to call “medicine tea” that she said would help with the heat that’s stagnant in my body.
If you think about it, we’re talking inflammation. Rashes and skin issues are a way that internal inflammation is expressed externally. It’s a sign that there’s an imbalance of some sort.
In Chinese medicine, it’s a sign that your Qi is out of balance and heat is stagnant. There's a lot of synchronicities and correlations which confirmed the route of thinking I was already taking. And the Chinese herbs, the “medicine tea” are the only things that have been providing me relief thus far.
Sure, the topical medications helped, but I was at the point of walking around my house always holding them in my hands because I had so many rashy spots and was itching everywhere so badly I was applying it all the time!
But the medicine tea and bone broth have significantly helped to manage this.
So, I did get in to see my integrative medicine doctor. As expected, she didn’t have any top-of-the-mind answers, in fact, she empathized because she knows how tough rashes are to resolve, but she did listen to me. I felt seen and heard, and she asked questions to get a wholistic view of what’s been going on for the past almost six months, and she suggested possibilities of places to explore.
She zeroed in on the possibility of a fungal infection, so she ordered some lab work for that. Several weeks prior to the visit, I did have a full thyroid panel done so we also reviewed those test results and talked it through how it could all be connected.
As long-time listeners know, I have a history with thyroid issues, specifically hypothyroidism, but for a while there, we had things stabilized. However, the lab results showed that there are some red flags, and I’m borderline hypothyroid again.
It’s all a sign of some sort of gut issues – gut permeability, maybe even Leaky Gut again.
So, I left that visit and went off to do the lab work for a fungal infection, and let’s see, I’m recording this on February 10th, I had my follow-up visit to review those results this week, just a couple of days ago.
There’s an indication of high IgG antibodies, which again, is a sign of maybe some food sensitivities or intolerances, again directly correlating to something compromising gut health.
We may not know what exactly, but in functional medicine and functional nutrition, sometimes there isn’t a label for what’s going on. What we want to know is WHY are these symptoms presenting themselves?
I don’t know if it's rash, dermatitis, eczema. We know the medicines can manage symptoms, but why are newly affected areas showing up? So, it becomes about taking inventory of what’s happening so we can kind of piece together why.
I’m having a rash – skin issues. I also have an imbalance in my thyroid hormones, and the IgG on my lab test is high. How are these things connected?
These things can take a while to tease out, so in the short term, I’m continuing to use the topical medications, continuing to drink my medicine tea and bone broth.
I’ve also switched up my probiotic to one that addresses fungal issues, and I’ve added a kelp supplement to boost my iodine levels. If I can get my iodine levels boosted and stabilized, can that improve my thyroid function? And if so, can that help address what’s going on with inflammation and gut health, which, if the answer is yes, can get rid of the skin issues?
I’ve also done additional lab work, specifically a food panel test to see what foods I may be reacting to. I last had this done in 2017 so it’s been five years and I’m interested to see what’s new, what’s changed, and what’s stayed the same.
In addition to all of this, both my acupuncturist and integrative medicine doctor both separately, I mean both these caregivers don’t know each other at all, but for whatever reason, they both suggested I avoid shellfish and see what happens.
Well, at that time, this was a month ago, it was still crab season here in San Francisco and I had been eating a lot of Dungeness crab - like, a lot! If you know me, then you know that seafood is my all-time favorite! I’m from Hawai’i, I come from a long line of fishermen, we love our seafood!
That being said, my grandmother, and a few other family members, developed an intolerance to shellfish as they got older and I’m so hoping that’s not the case here. Because I would eat crab morning, noon, and night if I was able to! I would tell them, “I feel so sorry for you!” but here I am, possibly facing a similar fate. It’s devastating.
So, what am I doing? Well, I’ve switched my probiotic to one that addresses fungal issues. I’m continuing with my daily vitamin D and L-glutamine supplementation. I’ve also added kelp capsules a few times a week for iodine support.
And I’m drinking my medicine tea and a lot of bone broth, using the bone broth recipe from the Gut Reset program I discussed in Episode 162. And of course, still using the topical prescriptions.
I’m still getting new rashes every day, but in much smaller patches and the itching is also still there, but not as intense as it was. It’s more tolerable, I feel like I can breathe a little easier; I’m not in constant misery. And I've done a food panel test to see what foods I might be reacting to, while also trying to manage and minimize stress.
One new remedy that I’ve added to my healing regimen is flower remedies. I’ve been doing energy healing work with Jenny Wirt from Sartorevi. She joined me back in Episode 177. She recommended a flower remedy to help with fear, anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy.
I hadn’t voiced or acknowledged any of this to anyone, but she nailed it on the head that these were blocking my energy, so we recommended a flower remedy called, “Safe and Sound” and I’ll link to it in the show notes.
It arrived a little while ago and I just love it! The taste is very light and sweet and it's just lovely. I took it to my integrative medicine doctor to see if she had any issues with me taking it and she said, “I’m so glad you’re taking this!” because she’s a big believer in flower remedies. They’re subtle and very gentle but can have a real impact. And she said that if I’m feeling as good about as quickly as I am shortly after taking it, it’s a good sign! I’m curious and excited to discover and try this new remedy and I’m already feeling the positive impact it’s having on me.
So, this is how I’m taking a Functional Nutrition approach to healing my skin issues. After going down the route of looking for a quick fix, I’ve dusted off my detective hat and put it back on, reexamining what are the underlying things and how are all the things I’m experiencing, physically – in all areas, mentally and emotionally – how are they all connected?
As I mentioned, I’m working with Jenny because energetically I’d been feeling stifled and at the root of that fear with feelings of inadequacy which was causing me anxiety.
Well, I shared a little bit about this at the end of Episode 208, but in Human Design, the Spleen center is about fear, and the Throat center is about owning your voice and speaking your truth.
Those are the only two defined centers in my design, and while they are defined centers, we can experience the energy of those centers in a misaligned way – in our shadow.
And how do those things manifest physically?
Well, when you’re out of sync not in line with your Throat Center when you’re feeling stifled and speaking your truth that can result in thyroid issues, and here we are with my thyroid issues resurfacing.
And then with the Spleen Center, it’s about fear and is embodied by your immune system. And here we are with me struggling with my fears and then my body having an immune reaction to something. I don't necessarily know what specifically at this point, and I may never know what, but I know it’s an immune reaction that’s confirmed by the IgG lab tests.
I share this with you because this is a perfect storm of how our emotions can have a direct, subtle, or not-so-sublet impact, how they can manifest physically when we're not in alignment with ourselves and with our design.
This is how I frame it - how Functional Nutrition and Human Design can be synergistic and complement each other in our healing and growth.
I guess you could say I’ve been my own case study here, and while I'm appreciative of the learning experience, I also can't wait for it to be over.
I'm sharing this with you because I’m a 3rd line and we learn through trial and error - we learn through our experiences. I'm not at the point where I can look at this in hindsight, but I'm in the thick of it right now, living it.
Now, I challenge you. Are you are having any physical, emotional, mental symptoms or conditions? How might be correlating, corresponding, or synchronistic of each other? How can you take an integrated functional approach with your Human Design to look for clues and tease out what might be going on?
You know, it's funny - when people ask me what Human Design is, I just say, “Human Design helps you feel comfortable in your own skin.” And here I am with skin issues, but yet, also using it as a framework to help me heal those skin issues.
So, this is a very long-winded response to the Instagram question, “Can you share more about your skin condition?” This is it. This is what's going on right now. And if you're interested, I'm happy to keep you up to date on how things progress. I hope you found this insightful. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that I love to hear about from other people just for perspective and out of curiosity.
Next week we'll continue with episodes on Human Design Fundamentals. I also have some great conversations planned with upcoming guests, and I’ll continue sharing my story with you. I’ve always said this podcast is about sharing real people's stories and today it happens to be my own.
Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for your time and attention and I'll see you right back here next week. Bye for now.
Naomi Nakamura is a Health x Human Design coach who’s creating a healthier society through aligned energy.
She blends a bespoke mix of Functional Nutrition and Human Design to help others shift into alignment to leverage and correctly manage their energy to support their body, mind, and spirit.
She believes that when we embrace our authenticity and lean into our bio-individuality, we naturally live a life of freedom, empowerment, and optimal health.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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