YES GH -that's exactly what I remember. Thanks for posting that.
SoCal is "fun" when you're trying to hide from the sun! But I've done it!
Not knowing the connection to yeast/fungal overgrowth or lyme, I've been SUPER sensitive to the sun ever since contracting lyme & co (up until my 30s I had a beautiful tan in the summertime). I couldn't handle the heat of the sun OR the rays and would get sick and get a burn spending just a little time in the sun. What was happening is that the yeast/fungal overgrowth on my skin was dying a slow, agonizing death when exposed, and my damaged skin went crazy. But I didn't know about
the y/f at the time.
So I started covering up and acting like a hobbit. LOL And THEN I moved to Southern California. Wooaah!
Another thing you have to consider is that even in the wintertime, the sun's heat is significant (it's not just the AVA/UVB rays that are of issue) and can heat up the body, which can trigger symptoms.
And now I'm on an abx that makes me sensitive to the sun. Oddly, I'm not struggling too much. I fear the sun still - it's a psychological thing that has probably been helpful in the end to keep me hyper aware of it's presence on my skin. I'm a shade-seeking missile:
- I ride my bike quite often but I do not spend hours in the sun. If I do, I schedule it for early AM or late afternoon.
- I usually wear long sleeves but that's not hard to do since I don't live in the desert.
- I always wear sunscreen on the tops of my hands and the lower half of my face, and on my chest (plus I have a huge bandage over my IV port area and if the sun hits it I get a nasty chemical burn)
- I ALWAYS wear dark large sunglasses and a visor whenever I leave the house--even to water a plant. ALWAYS. I didn't ever think the Jackie-O look was for me, but here I am.
- When I'm in the sun I load up on SPF 70 (experts say it's no different than 40 or 50 but I use it anyway)
Kids are a different challenge but you could make it work (not advocating the Marshall Protocol but many kids are unfortunately on abx that make them sensitive to the sun so they are having to manage the daytime play in a different way, particularly in the summer). Not all sunscreens are created equal - some really aren't good to use on a daily basis, which I think is the most challenging aspect of daily living in SoCal, certainly for kids. I use KissMyFace, which has fewer bad ingredients but the zinc oxide experts say is the best natural ingredient. I thought this was a good review of sunscreens (for kids) and what to avoid but mine isn't listed so maybe I should switch products:
www.livestrong.com/slideshow/1005303-30-safest-sunscreens-3-avoid/#slide=26-p