Self Inventory 89going to appear and disappear within the body over a matter of hours or
days. Degenerative diseases progress steadily: if you have diabetes, arthritis,
arteriosclerosis or other cardiovascular damage, macular degeneration of
the retina, diverticulitis or senescent skin, then you will experience long
slow changes with very little relapse (unless you follow the advice in this
book!). Tumors (malignant or benign) enlarge steadily and do not shrink
one day and re-appear the next.
No; sudden inflammation, due to an allergy or intolerance is about
the only disease process which has this characteristic abrupt and intermittent
behavior. The body is basically sound but something is attacking it on a
frequent basis – often daily, as we shall see.
The corollary to this number-one question, incidentally, gives rise
to one of my most valuable sayings and one which inspired patients the
most: if you can be symptom-free on any day you can be symptom free every day. It’s
obvious. If even just one day a year all symptoms clear up and you feel fine,
then there is nothing structurally wrong, nothing missing, no broken parts,
no fatal flaw in your body’s defenses. In the classic phrase: there is a healthy
you inside, just waiting to get out! You’re really fine.
But, of course, you need to know what it is that is knocking you off
healthy and well. That’s the culprit I’m calling an allergy or intolerance. The
chances are it (or they) is a toxic food.
Organ by organ
Let’s look for more clues. We’ll consider symptoms organ by organ, or
system by system. In general, you should concentrate on the last twelve
months, if you have been continuously ill in that period. You may then take
a wider view and consider which symptoms have been present, on and off,
since you became ill.
Eyes
Do you have red, itchy eyes, a gritty feeling in the eyes, that makes your
eyes water? Do you have dark rings under the eye? (We call these “allergic
shiners” because they can look just like a bruised or “black eye”). Do your
eyes have an unnatural ‘sparkle’? In children especially, that is a sign I see
often. Blurring of vision, spots in view, flashing lights and double vision are
four symptoms that may be transient and caused by allergy and intolerance.