Me and my Vitiligo

Supermodel Winnie Harlow (screenshot from google)

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My Story

When I was diagnosed with ‘vitiligo’ - an autoimmune disease several months ago, I was in utter disbelief and went on completely blank the entire time. I thought I was healthy. According to the doctor, the main culprit was stress. I mean I have not experienced feeling stress my whole life so I asked myself, where the hell did I get this. I can think of all the possible reason but one thing for sure is that I was stressed; I just did not acknowledge it at the time.

The good thing is, I was able to accept it and move on with my life. It is not really something that is deadly but the idea that it is not curable and could lead to something worst is terrifying. According to an article at, Hopkins Medicine, autoimmune disease happens when the body’s natural defense system can’t tell the difference between your own cells and foreign cells, causing your body to mistakenly attack normal cells. source

The common autoimmune diseases are, psoriasis, lupus, vitiligo, and rheumatoid arthritis. In my case, I have a vitiligo. A condition in which the skin lacks melanocytes. In simple term according to my doctor, the body’s natural cell is eating the melanocytes (pigment producing cells). Hence the white patches all over my body. Although I do not have pronounced skin whitening compare to other people however the one I have is recognizable. And I keep on getting unsolicited questions and stares from strangers and even from friends making me feel awkward sometime.

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You are not alone

Most notable people who also has vitiligo are Michael Jackson and Winnie Harlow. As Winnie was quoted saying; "vitiligo is just another difference, like freckles, big hair, tiny ears, everyone has differences. I am literally just a human. I have the same brain as you; there's a skeleton under my skin just like yours." I love her view on the matter as not everyone see people differences that way. Some people are judgmental and stares disgusted with the white patches in my hands. Some just shrugged it off but sometimes I get affected and feeling overly conscious. Over time I learn to accept people disparaging remarks.

Image source

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Please be sensitive

So next time when you see people with skin abnormalities like vitiligo please be more sensitive as it can be offensive sometimes. Just so you know, the disease is not infectious and can not be transmitted. However there are a lot of factors that causes vitiligo. As I mentioned earlier one of the cause is stress that could trigger autoimmune disorder. In some cases, severe exposure to sun and extreme chemical contact that damages the skin.

Lifestyle change

Having been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease made me reconsider my lifestyle and eating habit. Although I have not really embraced eating veggies the entire day however I always make sure to at least include one vegetable dish in the table. In fact I started growing my own food. I will share with you the plants I propagated in my future post.

My Vegetable Dish

Below are my version of stir fried Ampalaya and Mongo Soup with Moringa Leaves. It is not a vegan dish tho as I can not give up meat just yet but I am trying. hehe

Yesterday I started smoothing the fresh lettuce I harvested along with other vegetables I bought in the weekend market. It is a very simple recipe like every recipe about smoothies. Just mix everything together and you are good to go.

I always believe that eating healthy food is a natural medicine your body need at rejuvenating and healing itself. It is not easy as it is against our nature at craving and indulging at every food available but over time as we make it a habit to replace junk foods with healthy ones, our body will eventually adjust.

I hope you learn something new today and always remember that everyone of us is going thru some personal struggles so let us be kind and considerate.

Thanks for reading and please do not forget to upvote and share to your friends.