Wow! Who would have thought?

Here it is May 16, 2010 and I have been on a gluten free diet for 9days now!! I went to see a compounding pharmicist a little of a week ago to discuss some lab work that I had done through her. Well the results weren't all that great. I make little testosterone and little progesterone, but the most interesting thing was that she looked at some labs that I had done about a year ago and found that I am anemic. Now why was I told otherwise?!?!?!? My thyroid levels aren't right either. Anyway with a little discussion she determined that I needed some more lab work done before she decided how to treat anything. Soooo now I am waiting to hear from my nurse practitioner so that I can get the rest of these labs done.

But here is the kicker. The Pharmicist asked if I had thought about going on a gluten free diet. Hmm! Well come to find out she is thinking that I have an autoimmune thyroid and gluten allergies goes along with that idea. Wow! That was a lot to take in, but I decided I was willing to try just about anything so I walked out of her office gluten free. I haven't touched it since. Within 24 hours I was feeling better and as the week has gone on I am feeling pretty good. I am still tired and a little achey but I am not nearly as foggy brained as I had been and I am functioning at a somewhat normal level.

I feel that we may be coming to some conclusions on what I have going on!! Hopefully this next set of labs will give us more answers. In the meantime I am learning as much as I can about a gluten free diet.

I haven't put anything on this post for quite awhile but this morning I thought I would write a little!



I finally have a diagnosis!! I have fibromyalgia. I am having a hard time digesting the idea! I cried as the doctor told me that I need to be careful about physical exertion, sleep more, and avoid stress. Basically slow down! I don't have the heart to tell my kids that I can't take them to their activities because it runs too late or I'm not feeling well enough so I bite the bullet and keep going! I was raised with the phrase 'no pain no gain', but I guess that doesn't apply anymore.



I am not sure how to feel about the whole thing. It is expensive to treat so that really isn't an option so I have pain pills that I take as needed and some days I am watching the clock just waiting for the moment I can take another and other days I can just take one before I go to bed and be ok.



The stress of my family arguing seems to make me feel worse. I am to the point that I feel like I need to keep my husband and oldest as far a part as I can so that they don't get into another argument, because them arguing makes me feel worse. The teenagers still at home do better with him, but they don't get along either. I wish I knew what it was that causing them so much antimosity toward one another. I suppose that will go away one day!



The other thing that really bothers me about this diagnosis is the fact that it may squelch my dreams of becoming a midwife! I really worry about that! I hope that I can find a way to deal with the widespread pain that will let me continue to study.



I guess right now I fear becoming the 40 that walks with a cane and can no longer be active! I am trying to not let it get me down, but when the Dr said this isn't an illness that will shorten your life it is just going to alter it drastically I cried harder! Not having anyone to talk to just makes it harder to deal with. I have one support group online with not alot going on (probably because everyone feels like crap!) but there are days that I long for my friends in TX. Oklahoma is kinda a lonely place. I love the land and the community, but people just don't talk and visit here much, so it gets kinda lonely.



That is my sob story for today! Tomorrow will be another day hopefully one that is less painful and easier to deal with!

Here We go again!

I have lost a noticeable amount of weight. The Dr. says I am losing too slow--didn't know there was any such thing. He wants me losing about 5 lbs per week I am losing like 1-2.

I realized today that life the last few years has knocked me down a bit. I have kinda lost my confidence and fell off my band wagon. I haven't been in the least bit interested in my what I call my passions. I have let my studies in natural health and chidbirth just slip away. Not really sure why they have just kinda taken a backseat.

I am now trying to process and re evaluate my interests and dreams and really decide where and how they fit in the big scheme of things.

The good news is that I AM losing weight and people are noticing. It may be a little slow, but it is happening--that is the important part!!

Today I started a diet under the direction of a Dr. in Georgia. He is a Chinese medicine Dr. as well as a gastrointerologist and a research Dr. 

The herbal elixir I have to drink is nasty! But I think over time it will become more palatable. I am on a strict 1000 calorie diet with the elixer taken two or three times a day. The elixer is supposed to speed up the weight loss and curb the hunger in between meals. I am also taking a water pill in the morning and I drink LOTS of water throughout the day. I am hungry but I am pushing through this!! I will lose this weight!!! 

Today I walked 4 miles!! WooHoo!! Hey that's a pretty big deal for me!! I am a little sun damaged from the walk. I bought the nordic walking poles last night  and tried them out today! Pretty amazing gadgets. I felt like they forced me to stand up straighter while I walked. My oldest daughter also tried them out and really liked them, I used them for a mile of the walk she used them the other 3 miles. I think she needs to get her own!

I will try to keep this updated on my journey through this plan! Please feel free to comment and leave words of encouragement--I'll need them!!!

Now What?

I haven't posted in awhile so this will have to be a catch up to the last few months! 

I have been seeing a nurse practitioner that is willing to let me use the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue's protocols to an extent. I started in thyroid medication and feel 100% better!! The last week I went in for an echocardigram because my nurse detected a heart murmur. They found that I have a leaky valve in my heart. Of course this alarms me! I go to see a cardiologist in Aug, so obviously I am not dying since they see that it  is safe to wait that long to see me. The scary part is the idea that fixing the valve means open heart surgery, although I don't know yet if they are going to want to fix it right away or not.

Back in March we went to GA to see my family. My sister told me about a Dr. there in Augusta that uses chinese medicine and has great success with his weightloss patients. Yesterday she called me and said that she had got me information on his fees and things. I called him right away and I am now waiting on my medicine from him (actually it is a tea). He told me (he is a cancer research MD) that the heart murmur will go away as I lose the weight.

So this has gone from a battle with hormones to something a little more! I will be talking to Dr. Li every two weeks so I will work a little harder to keep my blog updated on how it is going and my weightloss. I am going to also track it on facebook and maybe even get the nerve to put up some pictures, but don't expect them until I can show a before and a after.