First, let me start off by saying how great I've been feeling! I think having my thyroid removed is a huge part of why I'm feeling so great! For years I had a suspicion that a good majority of my medical issues were because of a faulty thyroid - even though the blood work always came back "fine" I knew things were not "fine" and now that I have been without my thyroid for a good 2 months I really believe that the be the case.
After my surgery, I started on 150 mg of Synthroid. I had my blood drawn on Aug 8th and it came back with a low TSH of 0.028 - the normal range is 0.0450-4.5000 so my Dr lowered my dose to 137 mg. What I find most interesting though is that my other numbers are significantly higher than they have ever been. Prior to my surgery and going on the medication my numbers were always in the low range of normal.
Before my surgery, my numbers were:
TSH - 0.749 (within the normal range)
T4 or Thyroxine - 5.4
T3 Uptake - 30
Free T4 1.6
My most recent numbers show improvement and I'm sure why I feel so much better:
TSH - 0.028 (according to my Dr, the number being so low means I have high thyroid hormone which could cause heart problems and why she wanted to lower my medication dose)
T4 -9.8 (up significantly since starting thyroid medication)
T3 Uptake - 34
Free T4 - 3.3
You will see an increase in all the hormones which makes me even more certain that the lower numbers were causing much of my fatigue, fibromyalgia pain and overall lack of being healthy in general. I would argue with anyone who says otherwise considering that it's the only thing that has changed in my life and the result is me feeling like a "normal" person most of the time now.
I will go in and have my numbers checked again later this month or early October to see how the medication adjustment has changed the numbers. I was really worried that dropping the dose of my medication would significantly effect me but so far things seem fine.
On another note, I've lost 18 lbs in the last 3 months. I'm on a mission to lose another 40 to get back to where I was before getting sick. With the new found energy I have, I'm able to get myself to the gym a few days a week to lift weights. I'm really pleased with the changes that I'm starting to see overall.
That's it for this update - I just wanted to be sure to update my numbers and share my success thus far since Surgery - it's really just been about 9 weeks since the surgery but so far everything is going really good.
Until next time - to your health!
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
I can't believe how much has changed since the beginning - stick with me here on this recap of my journey so far.......
Hello everyone! I hope this update finds you well!!
So, the summer break is coming to a screeching halt as school in my area starts back up on Monday. That means I go back to work too. BOO on that but hey, it's my job to be there for the kids and that's what I'll be doing! Seems like the summer break just went way too fast this year! We were busy with my surgery, volleyball, and trips so that's most likely why it seems to have gone so fast - tooo fast! I guess though when you are living life instead of watching it pass you by it does go quickly!
This update is going to be chalk full of a lot of great things so I hope you will continue to read. For starters, I saw my Endocrinologist last week for blood work - I am axiously awaiting those results. My thryoid levels, Vitamin D and calcium levels. I'm expecting that they will be great based on how I'm feeling.
As I sit here today, I realized that about 5 years ago exactly is when I first became the sickest I've ever been. As you know, I've been pretty sick at times in my life but this time, my life was changed in so many ways. Initially the changes were not good and the things that were to come over the course of the following year were the worst of the worst for me and my family. Some of the things that happened, I've never talked about because it was/is too personal and painful.......we were at our worst financially, emotionally, and for me, physically with illness that seemed like it would never get better. Early on, before being diagnosed with FMS, I honestly in my heart thought I was going to die. That alone is the scariest feeling to have. Initially, all I could do was lay in bed, sleep and go to Dr's to try to figure out what in the world was going on.
My first diagnosis was bronchitis, then pnemonia......then everything else started happening....migraines, vertigo, terrible pain in my legs and hips that was 100% unexplainable. I saw neurologists, had cat scans, MRI, blood draws, chiropractic care - you name it and NOTHING seemed to help and there were no results from the tests. I began to feel like I was crazy and I think the Dr's thought so too! None of them could make sense of what I was going through. I finally recovered from the bronchial issues but had a migraine and vertigo for 3 months straight - the meds the neurologist put me on helped some but the migraine would come back. The vertigo was just there constantly and the pain in my legs and hips never let up. I could barely walk by myself let alone get out of bed and function. It was the literal rock bottom, the worst. That December of 2010 I finally ended up seeing a Rheumatologist who was the one to diagnose me with FMS. I was SO relieved to have an answer even though I had no clue what it would mean for me. Initially he put me on a medication, I can't recall what but it didn't help so I stopped taking it. We decided at my next visit to just increase the antidepressant that I was on - Effexor - as that was also known to help with FMS pain at higher doses. So he doubled it and within a day the pain in my legs vanished!! PROGRESS! Slowly over the course of another few months I was feeling well enough to be out of bed and sit in "my chair"......that is when I started doing mad research on Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue (which I had been diagnosed with many years prior) Lupus (which I suspected I had due to the tell-tell rash I always got on my face), Lyme disease which was suspect due to all my symptoms and life history of illness........and I started my blog to document all the stuff I was finding. I began to think that if I could help even just one other person that it would all be worth it because NOBODY deserves to live like I was......and I now know that way too many people do!
So that is, in a nutshell, the beginning of my story and journey. I started looking for natural ways to heal myself - I knew that I couldn't live like that forever and I had a family to take care of. I was in search of natural ways to heal myself because I knew I couldn't be on pain killers and medications for the rest of my life. I started juicing, was contemplating going to the Mayo Clinic for help but ended up finding a Dr about an hour away that dealt primarily in FMS. I began seeing him 1x a week for a year. My treatment included acupuncture, massage and chiropractic care. One of the first things he did was a blood panel that looked at all my micronutrients - come to find out I was depleted of all my antioxidants so I immediately started on them all - I must of been taking 10-15 different supplements - it's all in previous blog posts with pictures....seriously crazy stuff. After going 1x a week for 6 months I started to feel somewhat normal again - seriously relieved that I could drive and function on a somewhat normal level but I still didn't feel "normal" whatever that was.
After a year of driving an hour each way to see this Dr I found a local chiropractor who specialized in chronic illness, specifically FMS so I started to see him. Now that I was feeling so much better I felt that change could happen. He did a follow up on the blood work and this time all my levels were good. So I was able to stop taking the multiple pills and go down to about 5 different vitamins. I saw him weekly as well to keep my spinal health in good condition and had him do acupuncture on me as needed.
Slowly I was feeling better......my business that I had for 12 years leading up to this was gone...since I couldn't work to save my life......other things we had were gone......but my life was moving on. Don't get me wrong, I was still having pain, fatigued beyond belief but I was out of bed and functioning to the best of my ability. The pain wasn't constant but would pop up randomly and was definitely there.
Now let's fast forward a bit. My thyroid started to become a huge issue - as you know that's dealt with now. I'm finally feeling like things are looking up all around. When I exercise I get pain in my hips, my hips are always the problem for me. But with regular chiropractic care that seems to help a lot.
People who are like me and have multiple issues with health have to deal with things one at a time.....there is so much going on that we just have to pick one thing to handle......it's taken me 5 yrs to get a handle on everything and the last thing to deal with is my weight......since getting sick 5 yrs ago I've gained 65 lbs - SIXTY FIVE POUNDS! That's 13# a year, which doesn't seem like a lot but year after year it added up to where I am now. I think my thyroid, laying in bed, having no energy, eating on the go and fast food is definitely to blame......my lack of motivation to do anything about it and lack of knowing what to do about it too. It seemed like such a huge feat to try to lose it all,,,,,,,,and I didn't know where to even begin. Getting to the gym was not an option because I had no energy....none. Cooking healthy didn't happen, no energy. Ordering pizza, getting subway or other fast food was easy, so that's pretty much what we did.
Everything started to change when a friend of mine introduced me to a company that is focused on lifestyle, weight loss and fitness. I researched this until I was blue in the face as I didn't want another scam or gimmick to deal with. I didn't want to waste money or time that I didn't have. I've tried it all, believe me. There are so many out there, so many that don't work that I wasn't about to take a chance on another failure. Honestly, it's taken me a couple years to really get on board with this and already in just a couple months I'm down 14 lbs, feeling the best I've felt in as long as I can remember, my skin issues are clearing up and I have energy - yes energy! I want to scream from the mountain tops. Here is a little video that tells you about it.
I'll be 100% honest - I've done the challenge before and lost some weight then as well (2013) but I was still dealing with stress and my illnesses and didn't really give my lifestyle, ways of looking at food and eating the attention I should have. I wasn't eating right and wasn't sticking to a better eating plan. Because of that, I gained back what I lost initially. As would anyone who goes back to eating out, fast food, sugars and all the processed crap that is in our face everyday. It takes some effort to eat better than that. It's a lifestyle change and that takes time and energy I just didn't have to give. Be honest, it's easier to stay the same and not work on betting ourselves UNTIL we hit that point that we know something has to be done. I'm on TWO medications for the rest of my life - Synthroid for my thryoid and Effexor because #1 the withdrawls to come off it will send me in a downward spiral I'm not willing to endure and #2 it was the only thing that helped my hip pain. Not bad for someone who has all the chronic illnesses I have.
I've been on this challenge now for 2 months and I'm down 14 lbs and 10 inches overall. I'm feeling the best I've felt in as long as I can remember. I have energy to do things with my kids and husband.....I'm starting to work out at the gym - WHAT? Yes, working out at the gym! This is a new me that I'm loving! At the rate I'm going, I expect I'll be down to the size I was 5 yrs ago PRE-ILLNESS by mid 2016, maybe even sooner. And it doesn't end there! Once I'm down to where I began I plan on maintaining that with my new lifestyle and living the life I only dreamed I could! Do I avoid going out to eat, NO....Do I get to enjoy treats time to time - absolutely! Is it hard? Sometimes but those are the times that I have to be strong and remember WHY I'm doing what I am.
Remember, I have always said that I started this blog and share information in hopes that I can help someone which is ultimately exactly what I want to do. If I can help someone change their life and circumstances then I have succeeded in my mission. This is no different. I know there are people out there who have struggled with weight gain and an inability to lose it for whatever reason. Just like me, it seems that no matter what you do, aside from starving yourself, you can't lose the weight. I've always said if I even look at a piece of cake I gain 10lbs - because that is how I really felt. I struggled to control my cravings and didn't even try to have will power when faced with an opportunity to have cookies, cake, ice cream, pizza, burgers - all the good stuff that isn't so good in the long run. Right now, I can walk away from it all - because I'm seeing how much better I feel without it. Even without going to the gym I'm losing the weight just from changing the way I'm eating.
If you are reading this now - congratulations for sticking it out! I know this is long but I have so much to say - I could continue but this is enough for now. I'm just so excited about where this long journey has taken me and where it will continue to take me. I'm sure I will have set backs, we all do...I'm not perfect and the healing process is long - we all have to remember how long it took us to get where we are and allow the time to change ourselves inside and out.
I encourage anyone out there to reach out to me to talk if you want some guidance - that's why I'm here - my mission is to help anyone and everyone who is ready for change in their life, suffering from illness and ready to do something and make changes. I've taken the journey and am still on it....
Until next time - to your health - xoxoxoxo
So, the summer break is coming to a screeching halt as school in my area starts back up on Monday. That means I go back to work too. BOO on that but hey, it's my job to be there for the kids and that's what I'll be doing! Seems like the summer break just went way too fast this year! We were busy with my surgery, volleyball, and trips so that's most likely why it seems to have gone so fast - tooo fast! I guess though when you are living life instead of watching it pass you by it does go quickly!
This update is going to be chalk full of a lot of great things so I hope you will continue to read. For starters, I saw my Endocrinologist last week for blood work - I am axiously awaiting those results. My thryoid levels, Vitamin D and calcium levels. I'm expecting that they will be great based on how I'm feeling.
As I sit here today, I realized that about 5 years ago exactly is when I first became the sickest I've ever been. As you know, I've been pretty sick at times in my life but this time, my life was changed in so many ways. Initially the changes were not good and the things that were to come over the course of the following year were the worst of the worst for me and my family. Some of the things that happened, I've never talked about because it was/is too personal and painful.......we were at our worst financially, emotionally, and for me, physically with illness that seemed like it would never get better. Early on, before being diagnosed with FMS, I honestly in my heart thought I was going to die. That alone is the scariest feeling to have. Initially, all I could do was lay in bed, sleep and go to Dr's to try to figure out what in the world was going on.
My first diagnosis was bronchitis, then pnemonia......then everything else started happening....migraines, vertigo, terrible pain in my legs and hips that was 100% unexplainable. I saw neurologists, had cat scans, MRI, blood draws, chiropractic care - you name it and NOTHING seemed to help and there were no results from the tests. I began to feel like I was crazy and I think the Dr's thought so too! None of them could make sense of what I was going through. I finally recovered from the bronchial issues but had a migraine and vertigo for 3 months straight - the meds the neurologist put me on helped some but the migraine would come back. The vertigo was just there constantly and the pain in my legs and hips never let up. I could barely walk by myself let alone get out of bed and function. It was the literal rock bottom, the worst. That December of 2010 I finally ended up seeing a Rheumatologist who was the one to diagnose me with FMS. I was SO relieved to have an answer even though I had no clue what it would mean for me. Initially he put me on a medication, I can't recall what but it didn't help so I stopped taking it. We decided at my next visit to just increase the antidepressant that I was on - Effexor - as that was also known to help with FMS pain at higher doses. So he doubled it and within a day the pain in my legs vanished!! PROGRESS! Slowly over the course of another few months I was feeling well enough to be out of bed and sit in "my chair"......that is when I started doing mad research on Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue (which I had been diagnosed with many years prior) Lupus (which I suspected I had due to the tell-tell rash I always got on my face), Lyme disease which was suspect due to all my symptoms and life history of illness........and I started my blog to document all the stuff I was finding. I began to think that if I could help even just one other person that it would all be worth it because NOBODY deserves to live like I was......and I now know that way too many people do!
So that is, in a nutshell, the beginning of my story and journey. I started looking for natural ways to heal myself - I knew that I couldn't live like that forever and I had a family to take care of. I was in search of natural ways to heal myself because I knew I couldn't be on pain killers and medications for the rest of my life. I started juicing, was contemplating going to the Mayo Clinic for help but ended up finding a Dr about an hour away that dealt primarily in FMS. I began seeing him 1x a week for a year. My treatment included acupuncture, massage and chiropractic care. One of the first things he did was a blood panel that looked at all my micronutrients - come to find out I was depleted of all my antioxidants so I immediately started on them all - I must of been taking 10-15 different supplements - it's all in previous blog posts with pictures....seriously crazy stuff. After going 1x a week for 6 months I started to feel somewhat normal again - seriously relieved that I could drive and function on a somewhat normal level but I still didn't feel "normal" whatever that was.
After a year of driving an hour each way to see this Dr I found a local chiropractor who specialized in chronic illness, specifically FMS so I started to see him. Now that I was feeling so much better I felt that change could happen. He did a follow up on the blood work and this time all my levels were good. So I was able to stop taking the multiple pills and go down to about 5 different vitamins. I saw him weekly as well to keep my spinal health in good condition and had him do acupuncture on me as needed.
Slowly I was feeling better......my business that I had for 12 years leading up to this was gone...since I couldn't work to save my life......other things we had were gone......but my life was moving on. Don't get me wrong, I was still having pain, fatigued beyond belief but I was out of bed and functioning to the best of my ability. The pain wasn't constant but would pop up randomly and was definitely there.
Now let's fast forward a bit. My thyroid started to become a huge issue - as you know that's dealt with now. I'm finally feeling like things are looking up all around. When I exercise I get pain in my hips, my hips are always the problem for me. But with regular chiropractic care that seems to help a lot.
People who are like me and have multiple issues with health have to deal with things one at a time.....there is so much going on that we just have to pick one thing to handle......it's taken me 5 yrs to get a handle on everything and the last thing to deal with is my weight......since getting sick 5 yrs ago I've gained 65 lbs - SIXTY FIVE POUNDS! That's 13# a year, which doesn't seem like a lot but year after year it added up to where I am now. I think my thyroid, laying in bed, having no energy, eating on the go and fast food is definitely to blame......my lack of motivation to do anything about it and lack of knowing what to do about it too. It seemed like such a huge feat to try to lose it all,,,,,,,,and I didn't know where to even begin. Getting to the gym was not an option because I had no energy....none. Cooking healthy didn't happen, no energy. Ordering pizza, getting subway or other fast food was easy, so that's pretty much what we did.
Everything started to change when a friend of mine introduced me to a company that is focused on lifestyle, weight loss and fitness. I researched this until I was blue in the face as I didn't want another scam or gimmick to deal with. I didn't want to waste money or time that I didn't have. I've tried it all, believe me. There are so many out there, so many that don't work that I wasn't about to take a chance on another failure. Honestly, it's taken me a couple years to really get on board with this and already in just a couple months I'm down 14 lbs, feeling the best I've felt in as long as I can remember, my skin issues are clearing up and I have energy - yes energy! I want to scream from the mountain tops. Here is a little video that tells you about it.
If this video doesn't play you can also view it here - just click on the first video
I'll be 100% honest - I've done the challenge before and lost some weight then as well (2013) but I was still dealing with stress and my illnesses and didn't really give my lifestyle, ways of looking at food and eating the attention I should have. I wasn't eating right and wasn't sticking to a better eating plan. Because of that, I gained back what I lost initially. As would anyone who goes back to eating out, fast food, sugars and all the processed crap that is in our face everyday. It takes some effort to eat better than that. It's a lifestyle change and that takes time and energy I just didn't have to give. Be honest, it's easier to stay the same and not work on betting ourselves UNTIL we hit that point that we know something has to be done. I'm on TWO medications for the rest of my life - Synthroid for my thryoid and Effexor because #1 the withdrawls to come off it will send me in a downward spiral I'm not willing to endure and #2 it was the only thing that helped my hip pain. Not bad for someone who has all the chronic illnesses I have.
I've been on this challenge now for 2 months and I'm down 14 lbs and 10 inches overall. I'm feeling the best I've felt in as long as I can remember. I have energy to do things with my kids and husband.....I'm starting to work out at the gym - WHAT? Yes, working out at the gym! This is a new me that I'm loving! At the rate I'm going, I expect I'll be down to the size I was 5 yrs ago PRE-ILLNESS by mid 2016, maybe even sooner. And it doesn't end there! Once I'm down to where I began I plan on maintaining that with my new lifestyle and living the life I only dreamed I could! Do I avoid going out to eat, NO....Do I get to enjoy treats time to time - absolutely! Is it hard? Sometimes but those are the times that I have to be strong and remember WHY I'm doing what I am.
Remember, I have always said that I started this blog and share information in hopes that I can help someone which is ultimately exactly what I want to do. If I can help someone change their life and circumstances then I have succeeded in my mission. This is no different. I know there are people out there who have struggled with weight gain and an inability to lose it for whatever reason. Just like me, it seems that no matter what you do, aside from starving yourself, you can't lose the weight. I've always said if I even look at a piece of cake I gain 10lbs - because that is how I really felt. I struggled to control my cravings and didn't even try to have will power when faced with an opportunity to have cookies, cake, ice cream, pizza, burgers - all the good stuff that isn't so good in the long run. Right now, I can walk away from it all - because I'm seeing how much better I feel without it. Even without going to the gym I'm losing the weight just from changing the way I'm eating.
If you are reading this now - congratulations for sticking it out! I know this is long but I have so much to say - I could continue but this is enough for now. I'm just so excited about where this long journey has taken me and where it will continue to take me. I'm sure I will have set backs, we all do...I'm not perfect and the healing process is long - we all have to remember how long it took us to get where we are and allow the time to change ourselves inside and out.
I encourage anyone out there to reach out to me to talk if you want some guidance - that's why I'm here - my mission is to help anyone and everyone who is ready for change in their life, suffering from illness and ready to do something and make changes. I've taken the journey and am still on it....
Until next time - to your health - xoxoxoxo
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
A plea for HELP! Thyroid update and my teeth.....
So a lot has happened since my last entry.
I had my thyroid ultrasound which turned into another appointment for a biopsy to check the newest growth. All came back benign so that was good news. Bad news is I have a new growth - I think that makes 5 or 6 now.
I also had my tooth looked at and fixed. Turned out I had significant decay which broke the tooth and needed a root canal.....had that done and I actually go back tomorrow to get the permanent crown placed. Other than costing me a small fortune, that tooth will finally be fixed. I'm in need of 3 other crown replacements which need to get done soon - not sure how fast it will take my money tree to sprout, been waiting a while for that! HA HA
I'm currently waiting on a call from a surgeon to discuss removing my thyroid - I'll have a consult with him and see what he says about it. In my opinion, if I'm going to continue to grow nodules on it and go through these biopsies, just take the sucker out! The biopsies are pretty painful and I can do without another of those! You know it's bad when the Dr who does the biopsy genuinely feels sorry for you that you have had to have so many done.....the nurses and Dr kept saying how sorry they were that I had to have another.
On a happy note, we went on a Western Caribbean cruise which was FABULOUS!! A much needed week away from technology and life at home....we went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel - it was just perfect and we all had an amazing time.
My main inspiration to write tonight (aside from the above updates) comes from my lack of "restful sleep" over the past several, oh I don't know........decades I would say! It sucks!
I had my thyroid ultrasound which turned into another appointment for a biopsy to check the newest growth. All came back benign so that was good news. Bad news is I have a new growth - I think that makes 5 or 6 now.
I also had my tooth looked at and fixed. Turned out I had significant decay which broke the tooth and needed a root canal.....had that done and I actually go back tomorrow to get the permanent crown placed. Other than costing me a small fortune, that tooth will finally be fixed. I'm in need of 3 other crown replacements which need to get done soon - not sure how fast it will take my money tree to sprout, been waiting a while for that! HA HA
I'm currently waiting on a call from a surgeon to discuss removing my thyroid - I'll have a consult with him and see what he says about it. In my opinion, if I'm going to continue to grow nodules on it and go through these biopsies, just take the sucker out! The biopsies are pretty painful and I can do without another of those! You know it's bad when the Dr who does the biopsy genuinely feels sorry for you that you have had to have so many done.....the nurses and Dr kept saying how sorry they were that I had to have another.
On a happy note, we went on a Western Caribbean cruise which was FABULOUS!! A much needed week away from technology and life at home....we went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel - it was just perfect and we all had an amazing time.
My main inspiration to write tonight (aside from the above updates) comes from my lack of "restful sleep" over the past several, oh I don't know........decades I would say! It sucks!
My typical time to go to bed is usually around 8pm and I get up at 5:30 am - plenty of "sleep" but I wake up exhausted - tired all day, every single day. I'm over it!
I've been searching out "diets" to help with the exhaustion, only to realize that I already eat the "right" foods and combinations that are suppose to help give someone "energy". So why am I not feeling alive? I just had my birthday, and really, I'm not that old but good lord do I feel much older!
I swear I go through my days sluggishly, yawning and in general malaise. People always tell me how tired I look - the thought that goes through my head is "gee thanks asshat you look great today too!" Why do people feel the need to tell you that you look tired - trust me I already know and don't need anyone pointing it out for me!
I have my "good" days but the "bad" definitely are outweighing the good. Other than being absolutely exhausted I feel generally fine. My body doesn't ache like it use to constantly. Of course I have my days for that too but overall I do believe my main issue right now is the lack of energy which leads to a lack of motivation to do anything - even going to the store seems like such a huge monumental feat these days.
I am interested in hearing from anyone out there who has dealt with this kind of fatigue for a lengthy amount of time and what you do to combat it. I'm really at my witts end and am looking to anyone out there who might have some answers or a direction to lead me in.
In the past I took Adderall for the fatigue - sure it gave me energy it's an amphetimine! I am almost to the point of asking my Dr to put me back on it but really don't want to go that route if I don't have to. Not only is it expensive to the tune of close to $200 a month it's just not a good thing to be on day after day. So please HELP! I'm begging!
Until next time....TO YOUR HEALTH!
Monday, May 12, 2014
So much going on
Hello friends!
Just a quick update - things have been crazy around here! Always, when I think things are going to slow down, they don't, something always comes up.
At the end of April I went to MN with my daughter for the Northern Lights Volleyball tournament. That was a fun weekend but of course the travel created more fatigue. Traveling is hard, even harder when you have CFS and Fibro. It seems everything is harder. It was a long weekend of sitting in the convention center cheering on the team. My daughter happen to get sick that weekend too so it was a bit rough.
This past week I ended up in California with my daughter as my sisters baby is very sick and in the CV-ICU at Children's hospital awaiting heart surgery. She was born at the end of March with ASD (atrial septal defect) and VSD (ventricular septal defect) as well as a paralyzed left vocal cord. In addition to this, she has severe reflux which, with her vocal cord issue causes her to aspirate into her lungs. She needs heart surgery badly but they are trying to sort out the reflux so she doesn't aspirate during surgery. While ASD and VSD are pretty common defects, hers are larger than what they normally see and with her vocal cords, reflux and aspiration it makes it all very serious.
Visiting was nice but also hard to see that little baby in such a situation. She is a sweet little thing and I pray the Dr's can fix her all up. I am not aware of any reason why they won't be able to but the entire situation is just so sad and causing a lot of stress within the family as you can imagine. For me, that stress comes out in the form of a flare - my lower back is really tight and my fatigue is slowly peaking again. Worry is never good no matter who you are, it just so happens that those of us who have other health issues tend to suffer more when we are not mentally healthy as well.
I've been continuing on the B12 injections and honestly can't tell if they are helping or not. I guess, with how busy I've been I can say they are since I'm not having a major fatigue flare, but on the flip side, I'm still extremely tired and trying to catch some rest when I can - going to bed early at every opportunity. So I just don't know for sure really how well, if at all, these injections are helping. In the past, I definitely didn't respond to them, so I've been getting them to try to see if I respond now - and I have a feeling I'm going to find that I don't to any significant degree. At least not enough to continue on them anyway. I guess only time will tell.
The school year is winding down and that is keeping me very busy at work. There are 17 more school days to go until summer break. I can't wait to be done with work for a couple months.
It's May 12th and we had a pretty good dumping of snow over the past 2 days. It's hard to believe it's mid spring when you have a foot of snow on the ground! Usually we are planting our gardens by now - not this year! The rest of this week is suppose to be nice and hopefully, just hopefully, this will be the last snow of the season for us. I'm really ready for warmer weather!
So that's it for now, until next time - to your health!
Gerri
Just a quick update - things have been crazy around here! Always, when I think things are going to slow down, they don't, something always comes up.
At the end of April I went to MN with my daughter for the Northern Lights Volleyball tournament. That was a fun weekend but of course the travel created more fatigue. Traveling is hard, even harder when you have CFS and Fibro. It seems everything is harder. It was a long weekend of sitting in the convention center cheering on the team. My daughter happen to get sick that weekend too so it was a bit rough.
This past week I ended up in California with my daughter as my sisters baby is very sick and in the CV-ICU at Children's hospital awaiting heart surgery. She was born at the end of March with ASD (atrial septal defect) and VSD (ventricular septal defect) as well as a paralyzed left vocal cord. In addition to this, she has severe reflux which, with her vocal cord issue causes her to aspirate into her lungs. She needs heart surgery badly but they are trying to sort out the reflux so she doesn't aspirate during surgery. While ASD and VSD are pretty common defects, hers are larger than what they normally see and with her vocal cords, reflux and aspiration it makes it all very serious.
Visiting was nice but also hard to see that little baby in such a situation. She is a sweet little thing and I pray the Dr's can fix her all up. I am not aware of any reason why they won't be able to but the entire situation is just so sad and causing a lot of stress within the family as you can imagine. For me, that stress comes out in the form of a flare - my lower back is really tight and my fatigue is slowly peaking again. Worry is never good no matter who you are, it just so happens that those of us who have other health issues tend to suffer more when we are not mentally healthy as well.
I've been continuing on the B12 injections and honestly can't tell if they are helping or not. I guess, with how busy I've been I can say they are since I'm not having a major fatigue flare, but on the flip side, I'm still extremely tired and trying to catch some rest when I can - going to bed early at every opportunity. So I just don't know for sure really how well, if at all, these injections are helping. In the past, I definitely didn't respond to them, so I've been getting them to try to see if I respond now - and I have a feeling I'm going to find that I don't to any significant degree. At least not enough to continue on them anyway. I guess only time will tell.
The school year is winding down and that is keeping me very busy at work. There are 17 more school days to go until summer break. I can't wait to be done with work for a couple months.
It's May 12th and we had a pretty good dumping of snow over the past 2 days. It's hard to believe it's mid spring when you have a foot of snow on the ground! Usually we are planting our gardens by now - not this year! The rest of this week is suppose to be nice and hopefully, just hopefully, this will be the last snow of the season for us. I'm really ready for warmer weather!
So that's it for now, until next time - to your health!
Gerri
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Let's visit this FMS and Herpes connection again shall we?
So if you recall in my last post I included an article I had found that shows a potential link between FMS and HSV. If you need to refresh yourself on that article, you can do so by clicking HERE - then let's dig a little deeper into this connection and see what we find.
Naturally, I've been doing some research of my own and think that this article has a lot to it and that this . I have EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) which is also known as human Herpesvirus 4. EBV is also linked to Chronic Fatigue - hmmmm interesting, I have that too. EBV can also cause infectious mononucleosis - another interesting thing, I was diagnosed with Mono when I was 16 - seeing the dots connect yet? Mono and EBV, the two seem to go hand in hand. Funny thing though, once you have it, you NEVER ever get rid of it. It lurks and can cause havoc on your body at any given time. Sound familiar? Boy it sure does to me!
So we know there is a link between EBV, HSV, CFS and Mono.....where does FMS come into play? I wonder if because of all the other things, FMS and the pain we experience is just another part of the Herpes virus boring away at our nerve ganglia which in turn causes our unexplained pain all over our bodies....something to consider as a real possibility.
See what happens when I have too much time on my hands? I start posting to my blog and researching things which leads me in all kinds of directions!
On a side note, please, please look at this product I've talked about PowerStrips - it works and the results are incredible! I've been enjoying pain free living since finding it and hope to help others who suffer from pain with this simple system.
Until next time - to your health!!!
Gerri
Naturally, I've been doing some research of my own and think that this article has a lot to it and that this . I have EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) which is also known as human Herpesvirus 4. EBV is also linked to Chronic Fatigue - hmmmm interesting, I have that too. EBV can also cause infectious mononucleosis - another interesting thing, I was diagnosed with Mono when I was 16 - seeing the dots connect yet? Mono and EBV, the two seem to go hand in hand. Funny thing though, once you have it, you NEVER ever get rid of it. It lurks and can cause havoc on your body at any given time. Sound familiar? Boy it sure does to me!
So we know there is a link between EBV, HSV, CFS and Mono.....where does FMS come into play? I wonder if because of all the other things, FMS and the pain we experience is just another part of the Herpes virus boring away at our nerve ganglia which in turn causes our unexplained pain all over our bodies....something to consider as a real possibility.
See what happens when I have too much time on my hands? I start posting to my blog and researching things which leads me in all kinds of directions!
On a side note, please, please look at this product I've talked about PowerStrips - it works and the results are incredible! I've been enjoying pain free living since finding it and hope to help others who suffer from pain with this simple system.
Until next time - to your health!!!
Gerri
Thursday, March 27, 2014
I just stumbled across this interesting information - a must read for every CFS/ME/FMS sufferer......
Study on THIAMINE (B-1)
I just read this information and am inclined to run out and get some B-1 in high doses and give it a try - can't hurt right?
To your health!
Gerri
I just read this information and am inclined to run out and get some B-1 in high doses and give it a try - can't hurt right?
To your health!
Gerri
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