Success Stories » Jeanine - overcoming an intolerable situation

“My doctors were extremely concerned about my health and did every test that they had available at the time to try and determine why my body was experiencing such severe allergic reactions, and so regularly,” she explains. “I can still remember my parents crying next to my bed while the doctors tried everything at their disposal to try and diagnose my conditions to determine how they could treat their little girl who was so ill.”

These doctors initially suspected that she had cystic fibrosis and performed various test because it was the only logical explanation after all the other tests came back negative. Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary disorder that affects the exocrine glands. This causes the production of abnormally thick mucus that blocks of pancreatic ducts, intestines and bronchi, which often results in respiratory infections.

“Apart from the cystic fibrosis doctors also found that I had pneumonia, bronchitis, as well as abscesses on my lungs. I had to go for frequent physiotherapy sessions to help my lungs recover and improve my breathing. I also suffered from severe asthma.”

As soon as Jeanine's parents thought that they had her allergies under control she would have another setback, which invariably meant they would spend the next few nights in hospital. When she got older Jeanine was then diagnosed with Scheuermann’s disease, a form of juvenile osteochondrosis of the spine.

“It affects your posture drastically. A Scheuermann’s disease patient is unable to consciously correct their posture, which results in a quite rigid apex curve.” This disease is notorious for being the cause of very severe or even disabling lower and mid-level back and neck pain. Many patients suffering from Scheuermann’s disease have loss of vertebral height and may develop a visual hunchback.

“Doctors informed me that I would never be able to participate in any kind of sport, and warned that a sport-related injury could be very dangerous with my condition. As such I was told that it would be best if I avoided all forms of sport. I was also advised to only use a particular kind of schoolbag that would place less strain on my spine.”

However, Jeanine wasn't going to give up that easily. “I was interested in various sports and decided to at least try some of them. I started to participate in netball, hockey, tennis, swimming and athletics at scho
ol. While I was in pain after practises I felt it was worth it.”

Soon after matriculating Jeanine went into the working world, where her manager, Jaco Le Grange, encouraged her to start running. “The fact that it's very difficult for a person with Scheuermann’s disease to participate in marathons was something that constantly haunted me. At first it terrified me, but then I decided that I will use these emotions as motivation.”

Jeanine started slowly, with a 3km race as her first goal. “I felt fantastic after I finished that race. It was then that I decided to train for bigger races.” She was soon able to completed a 5km, 10km and then a 15km race. “This gave me the inspiration I needed to enter a 21km race, which was a big goal for me.” With her training going well she decided to aim higher and entered a 28km race from Witbank to Middelburg. “Not only did I reach my goals, but I demolished them. This instilled a belief in me that enabled me to push even harder.”

Then, in 2011, Jeanine started to look for a new challenge, which is when she began to gym on a regular basis. “I felt great and loved exercising. Unfortunately I had another setback, which made me extremely weak following another severe allergic reaction to something. Unfortunately we still had no idea what I was allergic to.”

She began her routine all over again, seeing numerous doctors to try and determine what was wrong, but none were able to diagnose her allergy. One course of new medication and drugs followed another as doctors tried to get the allergic reaction under control, but nothing helped.

“At that point I was desperate and would've tried anything. I eventually ended up in a homeopath’s office, where we tried to boost my white blood cells by drinking a remedy three times daily.” However, a year soon passed and she still wasn't feeling better. To make matters worse her hair started to fall out at a rapid rate. “My doctors told me that I was going bald. So, as you can imagine, I was devastated, particularly as my long hair was one of the few healthy and pretty things in my life.”

And then, just as Jeanine thought it couldn’t get any worse, developed eczema. “The rash was so bad that people would stare at my skin and ask why it looked like that. I was at breaking point and would cry myself to sleep most nights.”

With a depleted medical aid, a rapidly declining physical appearance, and a deepening sadness and depression Jeanine was at her lowest. But, as is often the case,
 it's always darkest before the dawn. “It was at that stage when my father contacted me from Saudi Arabia where he works. His research on my condition had led him to a doctor from London who he felt was able to help. Obviously I was sceptical as no other doctor had been able to diagnose my condition thus far, but what did I have to lose?”

The doctor ran allergy tests again, but this time it was discovered that Jeanine actually had an intolerance to histamine. This compound is produced by the immune system as it is involved in local inflammatory immune responses. It also regulates physiological function in the gut and acts as a neurotransmitter. However, it is also commonly found in certain foods such as tinned and processed foods, cheeses, wine and beer, mushrooms, smoked fish, as well as chicken and cold meats, among others. “It was a huge relief to finally know what the issue was as I could now take steps to control it. I realised that it wasn’t going to be easy to avoid histamine, but I was determined to try my best.”

When we consume histamine-containing foods an enzyme breaks down the compound. However, some people have low levels of this enzyme, which means they're intolerant and may therefore suffer from ‘allergy-like’ symptoms such as headaches, rashes, itching, diarrhoea, vomiting or abdominal pain. “The first thing I did was get a nutritional and exercise programme, which improved my lifestyle drastically. In fact, within just two weeks I felt so much better. That's when I got back to my goals. I wanted to step on stage and participate in an IFBB Bikini competition.”

Jeanine entered her first IFBB show in 2013 and won! “I then went on to compete on stage in front of an audience of more than 3,000 people at the World Beauty Fitness and Fashion (WBFF) show. I won first place there too.” Jeanine's amazing transformation was complete when she went on to win the overall category at the Mpumalanga Provincial Championships and managed to place seventh place at the National Championships. “I was a whole new person, and my success started to influence other areas of my life.”

Jeanine approach Jenine van der Merwe, a previous USN Face of Fitness finalist, to start a business, which she agreed to. “We soon launched J&Jnine and as our business grew we evolved to become Ravenbodies. Jenine has since left to spend more time with her family and focus on her fitness career, but Ravenbodies has continued to grow. We are now a family, all of whom motivate and help each other to reach our goals. The results we h
ave achieved to date have been outstanding!”

Having overcome numerous challenges to get this point, Jeanine has learnt many valuable lessons along her journey, not least of which is the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle. “If I don’t follow my eating and exercise programme my body suffers. But this experience hasn’t only changed me on the outside. I'm a stronger person after going through what I did and never giving up. It was really hard at times, but it is the tough times that define a person's will and character. That's why I wanted to share my life story. Hopefully it will encourage someone else to achieve the seemingly impossible. So go on, if I can do it so can you!