Like all the rest of you with lupus, I had to give up sun-worship.
This makes me incredibly sad for several reasons.
I love being outside in warm weather. I love the beach. I love to swim. I love lying in the sun like a lizard and getting all hot, then diving into cold water. And now when I'm outside in the sun for any amount of time, I can't enjoy myself because I'm filled with anxiety about whether my enjoyment is going to cost me my kidneys. I miss the doses of natural vitamin D and the smile a sunny day puts on my face. I feel like a vampire.
Aside from eradicating lupus from my life, which I'm always working on, I don't have any solution to all this.
But I do have a tiny temporary occasional solution to the one other reason I grieve my sun-worshipping days (I also miss how great I look with a tan, sun-kissed hair). I met someone in an acting class I was taking who does spray-tanning in NY city, and she uses all natural ingredients.
http://gothamglow.com/
So, I think I might, for a special occasion (friend's wedding in July) treat myself to a "tan" just once, so I can feel like myself.
Meanwhile, I have found that when my lupus is under control, I can spend small amounts of time in the sun (not long enough to get a burn- like 10-15 minutes) and have no ill effects. Obviously, we have to be very careful with this, but FYI, some of us do become less sun-sensitive when the disease goes into remission.
Carla
Carla Ulbrich
The Singing Patient: Author, Survivor, Humorous Songwriter and Entertainer
www.thesingingpatient.com
www.facebook.com/TheSingingPatient
www.twitter.com/singingpatient
www.youtube.com/user/carlaulbrich
www.linkedin.com/in/carlaulbrich
http://tinyurl.com/348hroc - Carla's book "How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?"
This makes me incredibly sad for several reasons.
I love being outside in warm weather. I love the beach. I love to swim. I love lying in the sun like a lizard and getting all hot, then diving into cold water. And now when I'm outside in the sun for any amount of time, I can't enjoy myself because I'm filled with anxiety about whether my enjoyment is going to cost me my kidneys. I miss the doses of natural vitamin D and the smile a sunny day puts on my face. I feel like a vampire.
Aside from eradicating lupus from my life, which I'm always working on, I don't have any solution to all this.
But I do have a tiny temporary occasional solution to the one other reason I grieve my sun-worshipping days (I also miss how great I look with a tan, sun-kissed hair). I met someone in an acting class I was taking who does spray-tanning in NY city, and she uses all natural ingredients.
http://gothamglow.com/
So, I think I might, for a special occasion (friend's wedding in July) treat myself to a "tan" just once, so I can feel like myself.
Meanwhile, I have found that when my lupus is under control, I can spend small amounts of time in the sun (not long enough to get a burn- like 10-15 minutes) and have no ill effects. Obviously, we have to be very careful with this, but FYI, some of us do become less sun-sensitive when the disease goes into remission.
Carla
Carla Ulbrich
The Singing Patient: Author, Survivor, Humorous Songwriter and Entertainer
www.thesingingpatient.com
www.facebook.com/TheSingingPatient
www.twitter.com/singingpatient
www.youtube.com/user/carlaulbrich
www.linkedin.com/in/carlaulbrich
http://tinyurl.com/348hroc - Carla's book "How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?"
6 comments:
Out of curiosity, how does fluorescent lighting effect you?
I so know what you mean about missing the sun. I was a sun worshiper,too...until I was diagnosed with Lupus. Maybe for a special occasion a spray tan would be just the ticket!
@ swiss
i hate fluorescents.
they make me see spots and give me migraines.
and i don't understand why doctors' offices, esp. doctors who see so many lupus patients don't have one single corner where we can hide form them!
@ Della
the woman who runs gotham glow offered to let me get a patch test first, to make sure i'm nto allergic to anything (even though it's all natural; I have food allergies too).
would hate to go for a spray tan and end up with a full-body rash! (been there done that a few times! with poison ivy and antibiotic reaction!)
so just a heads up, might be worth getting a patch test before committing. better supersafe than sorry
I had the classic butterfly rash across my face for almost 3 years before I found out what it was. Every time I went into the sun it got worse, so I stopped going outside. I have always loved being tanned and I couldn't do it anymore. I started self tanning and that made me feel much better. It was very hard at first with all the products on the market to find one that I liked the look of. I wanted to be dark but I didn't want it to look fake. I went to my local tanning salon and they told me about Lasting Envy. Lasting Envy is a spray tan in a can. EnvyTan makes this product and it can be purchased at their website or in your local salon if they carry it. Its not a lotion so their is not the mess that is usually attributed to self tanning. It never streaks, goes on evenly, and I need no help apply it. The bonus, it also covered the red rash on my face without making it worse. So although I still avoid the sun at all costs, I don't look like I do.
hey kelli thanks for the tip!
are the ingredients all natural?
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