Allergy Proof®

Ahhh, this episode has been promised for a long time. After a turbulent few months, I feel stronger and more positive than ever. I discuss what TF happened when I got sick in December, two new health diagnoses, the warehouse fire, and what's next. It's my wedding week, so I am checking out for a few weeks so I can relax and reset.Catch you in March. Ash x  

Ahh, I am SO excited to share this episode with Gritty Pretty founder, Eleanor Pendleton — a kind, welcoming and humble human being.She experienced dyshidrotic eczema on her hands and feet as a kid to the point where walking was painful. After testing positive for COVID in 2022, her body bought it back, the first time as an adult.  El is also pregnant, so she shares some pregnancy skincare tips too.We met in person at December's Women with Gritt event, which is close to when I recorded this episode. I haven't been able to edit and get this live, until now. I hope you enjoy it as much as me.Ash x 

Ok, it's been a hot minute. I had planned for the podcast to run throughout the entire summer break, into the new year, but the universe had other plans for me.  I had a horrible case of COVID, ended up in hospital, and have been recovering ever since. This week’s episode is with the amazing Nikola, who is a long-time customer Nikola. She’s been living with psoriasis since she was in primary school. She struggled at school and didn’t know anyone else who was living the same life as her. After school, she started working in aged care, which was not kind to her skin. She ended up flaring and going from specialist to specialist to work out what it was. Nothing really helped until Google helped her. I will let her tell you the story, but she took control of her life and now is living comfortably, naturally.Ash x

Hello! Welcome back to another episode of Allergy Proof. We are getting SO close to Christmas, I am dying to get there. My weeks have been filled with prep work so I can take a proper break this year. Luke and I are going away and will be off the grid for a few days, which I am pumped for.We have a couple of episodes left for the year and some that I am excited to share. Today’s guest is the incredible Kristy. She’s been a Yours Only customer for some time now after her sister discovered us and purchased COAT to soothe her psoriasis. We’re actually here to talk about her diagnosis of breast cancer, and how she went through multiple surgeries including a hysterectomy and mastectomy to keep her in good health. I loved this chat so much because as you will hear at the end, she was so grateful that people would want to hear her story after a rough couple of years. Enjoy. Ash x

Hiiii! Welcome back to another episode with a Yours Only community member. This week we’re talking to the amazing Ricayla from New Zealand, who experiences endo, psoriasis, and mental illness. I’m hoping by sharing her story we will be able to increase awareness on all topics, as endometriosis is something that is so incredibly hard to diagnose. I’ve actually just been diagnosed with adenomyosis, which is similar to endo, but within the uterus. It’s something I need to learn more about, so when I am ready, I’ll share more with you. For now, pls know this episode discusses mental illness - if you or anyone you know needs help, you can always call lifeline on 13 11 14.Ash x

Welcome to our first guest for the season 🤍Today’s guest is the amazing Christine who has been in the Yours Only community for a while now — she is one of the smiley faces on the Yours Only website as she was in our recent campaign and photoshoot. After experience topical steroid withdrawal, she went through a very long health journey, which is worth sharing and raising awareness of.  She is such a powerhouse. If you want to get in touch with her health team, she found success with the below: House of MaxxThe Health PressYou @mysavingface follow her here.Enjoy,Ash x

I’ve done a lot of mental healing this year, and have really learned how to deal with tough situations and people. One thing I am so incredibly proud of is that I quit drinking alcohol at a time when people were drinking a lot — during COVID. It was a time when people leaned on alcohol a lot, and when we were out of lockdown, it felt like the only thing people wanted to do. In this ep I go through:- Why I quit drinking- What I learned about people- How I felt- How strong you can be- Questions from the community- Tips for others wanting to quitIf you wanna chat more, DM me @ashlitempler or @yoursonlyco

Okay, so it's been 11 months since I've last been in your ears. 2022 has been a very wild year for me. I'm gonna give you an update, plus a taste of what we've got in-store for season four of Allergy Proof. If you wanna chat more,  DM me on Instagram. Ash x

Ahhh happy end of 2021! It's been a big year for me on a personal and health level. This time last year I was about 20-30 and now I'm about 80. A lot has happened, I've spent a lot of time and money getting to where I am, and I know I have a long way to go, but I'm on the right path. This raw episode will take you through:- What I have discovered/been diagnosed with- The specialists I've seen- Some of the meds I am on- My diet- What changes I've made this year- The plans for 2022Then I answered some questions from the community. Thanks so much for all of your support this year, I feel like I've made some lifelong friends in the community. DM me on Instagram for chats. Ash x

Hello! Ahhh here we are, the last interview for the season, and the year!Today’s guest is the amazing Allira Potter who has been a Yours Only user for some time. When she was 17, her mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and little patches started to form. When she passed away, the autoimmune condition came in full force and with psoriasis, comes psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis affects approx 15% of people with psoriasis. This particular arthritis can affect any joint in the body, and symptoms vary from person to person. Research has shown that persistent inflammation from psoriatic arthritis can lead to joint damage. Allira speaks very openly about her experience with trauma and how she is managing her health day to day. She is a real advocate for self awareness, and manifesting the life you want. For more information on psoriatic arthritis: https://arthritisaustralia.com.au/types-of-arthritis/psoriatic-arthritis/

Meet @jaxcave 👋🏻 I mainly know her for her being an incredible naturopath in Sydney, helping women with their hormones, cycles, fertility, and skin. Little did I know that she has experienced PCOS in her life until we got chatting one day. Before Jax even considered becoming a naturopath she went through months and months without a period and didn’t really know what was going on with her body. After her GP tested her female hormones and ran an ultrasound, she was diagnosed with PCOS and was left on her way. Then, she went to see a naturopath who tested her male hormones, insulin levels among other things, and discovered she had elevated androgens - from there they were able to treat Jax to get her cycle back.  ​Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal condition that affects up to 1 in 10 girls and women and is one of the major causes of infertility. The cause? It’s kinda unknown, but PCOS warriors produce high levels of male hormones from their ovaries, which affect the menstrual cycle. Jax talks about how PCOS doesn’t mean you have cysts, like the name suggests, it’s mainly just a lot of follicles. If you experience pain in your stomach, this won’t be caused by the condition, it will be something else. Book a session with Jax here.  Some useful links:https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/polycystic-ovarian-syndrome-pcoshttps://www.jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/pcos

Meet Sarah.  Back in 2009 Sarah first saw symptoms when she was a fashion buyer, working ridiculous hours (a typical go-getter), and was under a lot of stress. Twelve years later, just THIS year, Sarah was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.Hashimoto’s disease affects 850,000 Australians, 1.5% of men and 7.5.% of women, including me! It’s a disorder that causes the immune system to attack the thyroid gland. The thyroid’s job is to make thyroid hormones, which are secreted into the blood and then carried to every tissue in the body. Thyroid hormones help the body use energy, stay warm and keep the brain, heart, muscles, and other organs working as they should.Sarah still isn’t at the end of the road of her health journey, but she is working hard to get there. She's  living in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne with her husband and two beautiful children living a nice slow paced life, looking after her body.If you think you have Hashimoto's Disease, book an appointment with a health care specialist before self-diagnosing.For some informative links:https://www.thyroid.org/hashimotos-thyroiditis/ https://www.hormones-australia.org.au/endocrine-diseases/hypothyroidism/      

Colitis, autoimmune hepatitis, and psoriasis are three diseases Janie has been dealing with. It’s a rollercoaster on her body and mentally. She started with mild stomach pains at 21, where she found out she was lactose intolerant. As time’s gone on, her symptoms got worse, and not very glamorous. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), where more than 80,000 Australians live with either colitis or crohns. In short, the body causes inflammation and ulcers on the inner lining of the large intestine. The inflamed lining produces lots of intestinal lubricant or mucus, which can get pussy. The Inflammation makes it hard for the body to absorb nutrients, causing a real need to go to the bathroom and diarrhoea.Symptoms include abdominal cramps and pain, frequent, watery diarrhoea (may be bloody), severe urgency to have a bowel movement, fever during active stages of the disease, loss of appetite and weight loss, tiredness and fatigue and anaemia. If you think you have colitis, book an appointment with a health care specialist before self-diagnosing.For some informative links:Colitis: https://www.crohnsandcolitis.com.au/about-crohns-colitis / Autoimmune hepatitis: https://liverfoundation.org/for-patients/about-the-liver/diseases-of-the-liver/autoimmune-hepatitis/ Psoriasis: https://psoriasisaustralia.org.au/ 

Ahh Endometriosis, is something we heara about so much, yet it’s super hard to diagnose. Gabriella battled with painful symptoms since her early 20’s - sharp pain from her lower back down to her heels, sometimes so bad she would be lying on the waiting room floor begging for pain relief. After eight years of moving from doctor to doctor, she was diagnosed with endometriosis, which is something that is still soooooo hard (and expensive) to manage.After surgery, they found endo inside her left ovary, bowel, left abdomen, lower pelvic region, and all around the sciatic nerve. And some said it was all in her heard (urgh). Endometriosis affects one in 9 women and those who identify as gender diverse. It’s a condition where tissue similar to what lines the uterus, grows in other areas of the body, especially the pelvis. These cells grow and form lesions or patches that bleed and leak fluid in response to your hormones when you’re on your period, which leads to inflammation and scarring.If you think you have endo, book an appointment with a health care specialist before self-diagnosing.For some informative links on Endometriosis:https://www.endometriosisaustralia.org/about-endohttps://www.jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/endometriosis/symptoms-causes  

Hello! Today’s topic is going to leave you feeling very educated about psoriasis and maybe change the way you think about people dealing with it. We had SO many ppl write in to tell their story, but Morgan’s stood out the most. She grew up in Canada and has suffered from psoriasis her entire life. Being colder over there, she covered her body from head to toe all year round and didn’t tell a SINGLE human she had psoriasis besides her parents and partners. Wild.Psoriasis may look to just be a condition of the skin, but it starts inside the body – it’s an auto-immune condition, which means all the sh*t kicking the fan is internal and works its way out to the skin. The inflammation makes the skin grow and multiply too quickly. The body isn’t able to shed excess skin cells, so they pile up on the skin's surface, leaving inflamed thick and scaly patches.1.5 million Aussies have psoriasis. One-third of them have depression and one-third develop psoriatic arthritis, which is inflammation of the joints. There’s no cure for psoriasis but there are lots of ways you can manage it through topical products, like Yours Only COAT, steroids, phototherapy, like a UVA or UVB treatment, medication, and biologics.When Morgan was in Canada she found a dermatologist who helped her be plaque-free through a biologic treatment, but it is something that makes you immunocompromised. She’s now living in Australia with psoriasis and learning to manage it again. If you think you have psoriasis, book an appointment with a health care specialist before self-diagnosing.For some informative links on psoriasis: https://psoriasisaustralia.org.au/psoriasis/what-is-psoriasis/ https://www.psoriasis.org/about-psoriasis/

Happy half way through the season! This week I chatted to Scarlett - she’s been through a bit in terms of her health, and suffers from MCAS, also known as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (like me).In short, Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) is a condition where the mast cells in your body release too much of a substance causing allergy symptoms. Mast cells are part of the immune system through the body in the bone marrow and blood vessels. If you’re exposed to allergens or medications, your mast cells react by releasing substances called mediators. For both Scarlett and I, high histamine foods, stress and exposure to toxins are what flare us up. Symptoms of MCAS can vary but includes itchy skin, watery eyes, runny nose, trouble breathing, low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, stomach issues, headaches and confusion. Scarlett is also someone who takes her work seriously, and just manifested and landed her dream job. She is so positive about her health journey and totally gets that it’s a long path, but she needs to learn to listen to her body to fully recover. For some informative links on MCAS:https://mastocytosis.org.au/mast-cells-explained/  https://www.healthline.com/health/mast-cell-activation-syndrome 

Meet Liz, AKA @prettyprogress23. A shining light who openly and honestly spoke to me about her experience with chronic cystic acne. At at 12, she started seeing pimples pop up onto her face, which got her really fixated on how she looked. She went to the GP, and they prescribed her antibiotics, which cleared not only her skin, but the good and bad bacteria from her gut. Acne affects 85% of Australians 15-24 year olds and occurs when a hair follicle and its oil gland become blocked and inflamed. This provides an ideal environment for bacteria to grow and cause the skin to become irritated, red and tender. Cystic acne is a severe type of acne where pores in the skin become blocked, leading to infection and inflammation. The skin reaction causes swelling deep in the skin’s middle layer (the dermis). This infected, red, swollen lump is an acne cyst. You can experience this on your back, bum, chest, neck, shoulders and upper arms, where they are usually painful and tender to touch. Liz is super educated, and talks from experience of going through it all, so other people don’t have to. For some informative links:https://www.zilchacne.com/ https://www.skinhealthinstitute.org.au/page/89/acne 

Trigger warning: This episode touches on postnatal depression.  If it's triggering, you can call PANDA's Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Helpline on 1300 726 306.  This week’s guest is Kirsty - a dear friend of mine. She suffered from postnatal depression (PND) four months after the birth of her first daughter, Frankie. During labor she experienced a placental abruption - the placenta detached from the inner wall of the womb, depriving Frankie of oxygen and nutrients. She had an emergency C-section, and little Frankie was in NICU for days before Kirsty could even hold her.  According to @pandanational, 1 in 7 new mums and 1 in 10 new dads in Australia experience postnatal depression. Symptoms include panic attacks, persistent, generalised worry often focused on fears for the health or wellbeing of baby, sleep problems unrelated to the baby’s needs, extreme leathery, feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope with day-to-day life, changes in appetite: under or overeating, increased sensitivity to noise or touch and more. Kirsty is such a strong woman and will teach you a lot about opening up about trauma and mental health. If you think you have PND, book an appointment with a health care specialist before self-diagnosing. For some informative links:https://panda.r.worldssl.net/images/resources/Resources-Factsheets/Anxiety-And-Depression-In-Early-Parenthood-And-Pregnancy.pdfhttps://www.instagram.com/pandanational/ https://www.panda.org.au/ 

Trigger warning: This episode touches on distorted eating. If it is triggering for you, please chat to your doctor. This week’s guest is Lisa aka @livesimplyaus, who deals with multiple chemical sensitivity and multiple food intolerances. Her story is the craziest one of the season. No joke. She’s spent her entire life struggling to find foods she could tolerate and never had a nice bathroom experience until she got to her 30’s. At one point Lisa was so severely underweight, at just a bit over 30kg’s, she was hospitalised, it was dismissed as anorexia. Little did everyone know, she had multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) as well as quite a few other crazy internal things going on.Chemical sensitivity affects 1 in 5 (18.9%) of Australians, with more than one-third (6.5%) medically diagnosed with MSC. It’s a serious disease that is often caused and worsened by exposure to pesticides, solvents, new building materials and fragranced items. Even low-level exposure can inflict a range of adverse health effects such as migraines, breathing difficulties, cognitive impairment, seizures and asthma attacks.This interview will make your jaw drop, and also have so much admiration for Lisa. She hasn’t been able to work full time for years and is now on a path to healing.  If you think you have MCS, book an appointment with a health care specialist before self-diagnosing. For some informative links:https://about.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/news/2018/july/common-chemical-products-making-australians-sick-study-finds https://www.curablehealth.com/ https://www.perpetualwellbeing.com.au/organic-acids-test/ 

After many requests, I have quickly edited today’s ep for you guys. This week’s guest is @madeleineedwards, who has been a Yours Only user for quite some time to soothe her pesky eczema. She is super honest and raw about her experience with acne, and eczema, and her battle with glandular fever and depression. She has learnt to love her spots, and is a key advocate for self-love.Eczema affects around 1 in 3 kids and over 1 million Aussies. It causes skin to go red, dry, itchy and scaly, and in severe cases, may weep, bleed and crust over, causing a lot of discomfort. The best part? It can pop up for no reason at all. It’s not life-threatening, but it can be debilitating for some people - it affects what you wear, how you sleep, your relationships, and of course your self-esteem. Currently, there is no cure for eczema, but there are lots of studies that correlate foods, stress, and allergens as causes for flare-ups. If you have eczema or know someone with it, here are some helpful links for you: The Eczema Associate Australasia:  https://www.eczema.org.au/eczema-facts/Psoriasis eczema clinic: https://www.psoriasiseczema.com.au/