Well... It's been several months since my last medical news update, but there's been lots of happenings in those months. Where to begin, where to begin...
So, in my last posting, I told everyone about how the meeting with the Endo. didn't go well, and that I was seeking other options. Well, after praying about it for a really long time, and asking advice of those closest to me, I came up with the correct-for-me solution. See an NMD. An NMD is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor. They have a medical degree, and focus on the natural, the whole person. This is exactly what I wanted. I had actually been wanting to be under the care of an NMD for several years, but this latest health 'crisis' had made the cost (as they are not able to bill insurance because America's health system doesn't recognize their worth--cuz they focus on preventative care, and not just putting band aids on symptoms. anyways...) worth it.
I did some researching, and found a local person who fit all the things I was looking for. I went for my first appointment about 4 weeks ago. I was thrilled to be going, and she was pretty much everything I was hoping for. Your first appointment is an hour long. An hour! I spent most of the time rambling on about all the symptoms I had and what the previous Dr.s had told me, etc. (I think I was so excited to have someone actually listening to my story that I talked rather fast.) She did some routine medical tests, and then we discussed a plan. She definitely wanted to follow up on my gluten and soy hunches, and she also thought that cortisol was probably playing a role. She sent me home with at-home tests--one for food sensitivity and an adrenal stress index.
(I'll tell you more about the tests if you really want to know, but essentially you do them at home and mail them in to the company and they send the results to your Dr.)
I went back last Friday, and the results were somewhat surprising to her and to me. First of all, the adrenal stress index was very revealing. It showed that my cortisol levels were CRAZY. They're super low during the day, and really high at night. This is the exact opposite of how they are supposed to be. She said "I don't know how you get out of bed in the morning" and "How well are you sleeping?" When I told her that I actually had been sleeping extremely poorly (which is abnormal for me), she was like, "well, yeah." (This would explain the extreme low energy and my newly acquired inability to stay asleep.) So, that's one priority on our list.
Next, the glucose/insulin/diabetes-related results were very normal, and she had expected them to be bad. If someone gains a significant amount of weight (for whatever reason--medial issue, medication, laziness, whatever), this is usually affected, I guess, but she was pleased that it wasn't much of a concern in my case. I was and am praising God for that because it's literally my worst fear.
The food panel. This was the test that I was most looking forward to getting the results from. It showed several interesting things, and only one was a really big surprise--soy came back as really low on the reactive scale. So... The results are like little bar graphs going horizontally, each food ranging on the scale from a 0 to a 6 (no reaction to extremely high). Of the probably 100 foods it tested me for, more than half cause more than mild reactions, with 11 standing out as most reactive. These foods are: asparagus, banana, cow's milk, kidney beans, oat, pecan, pork, spelt, wheat, whey, and whole wheat.
Dr. Wilson explained that in her opinion, this means that it isn't those foods per se that are causing the problem (given the fact that I'm reacting poorly to SO many, and that they aren't all really related to each other), but my stomach's inability to process hard-to-process food. Since she knows my whole story (from the first visit) she said "you've been under relatively high levels of stress for 10 years--7 years of college, moving states, getting engaged, getting married, buying a house, quitting your job, husband gets laid off, new job, selling house, moving states again, living with in-laws, buying a new house, new job, etc." I thought "well, when you string it all together like that I wonder myself how I've survived!" So, she thinks that my stomach is 'sick.' She thinks that the cortisol is messed up because of all the stress, and it has caused my stomach problems and thyroid problems, etc. Everything's connected.
Like, it just needs time to heal itself which it isn't allowed to do when I eat foods that make it unhappy. And that lately, the unhappy stomach has been affecting everything else--the headaches, sore muscles, etc. That it's been 'at capacity' and I need to give it a break. So, I have to give up those foods and take supplements for the next "4-6 months." I've decided to try to be good about it for the rest of 2009. Then, after that time has passed, we'll re-test, and her guess is that most of those foods won't be reactive anymore. If there is a food that is still reactive at that point, we'll know that I am just sensitive to that food because my stomach should be healed by then, and I will then avoid that food knowing that I'm sensitive to it.
That should bring about the healing of all the other things by then too. That is, if I heal my stomach so it can process foods well, and absorb nutrients like I'm supposed to be able to, then my cortisol can straighten itself as well as the thyroid, etc. She says I should lose weight too because the foods I'll be eating are ones that I can properly process which was a part of the weight gain. She also said that hypothyroidism and weight gain are like the chicken and the egg and can work in reverse. --Lose weight and it'll work normally again. I'm taking all sorts of supplements now--ranging from a high potency multivitamin to one to get the cortisol to shape up.
So, a new diet and the addition of supplements... This is much better than the diagnosis of having to take a synthetic hormone every day for the rest of my life. Since there isn't a genetic cause for the hypothyroidism, she's told me that come January, I can probably get off Synthroid. But, that all depends on the results of the re-test. Also based on the re-test results in January, I can probably start eating all foods again. But, that's only if they turn up as non-reactive next time, which Dr. Wilson thinks they will.
Pray for me as I approach this lifestyle change with open arms. Pray that the Holy Spirit will remind me that this is only a temporary inconvenience which will hopefully create permanent health. Pray for strength as I avoid some of my favorite foods. (I AM a Wisconsinite, after all, and I have to give up cow's milk!) Pray for yummy recipes of things I can eat and pray for understanding in those around me that may be affected by this change I've made. I know He lead me to this Dr., and I know He's in control of the situation. I ask only that I can keep listening and responding.
Thank you for your past and future prayers. It's been a long journey, but I can feel good health just at the end of my fingertips. :-)
So, in my last posting, I told everyone about how the meeting with the Endo. didn't go well, and that I was seeking other options. Well, after praying about it for a really long time, and asking advice of those closest to me, I came up with the correct-for-me solution. See an NMD. An NMD is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor. They have a medical degree, and focus on the natural, the whole person. This is exactly what I wanted. I had actually been wanting to be under the care of an NMD for several years, but this latest health 'crisis' had made the cost (as they are not able to bill insurance because America's health system doesn't recognize their worth--cuz they focus on preventative care, and not just putting band aids on symptoms. anyways...) worth it.
I did some researching, and found a local person who fit all the things I was looking for. I went for my first appointment about 4 weeks ago. I was thrilled to be going, and she was pretty much everything I was hoping for. Your first appointment is an hour long. An hour! I spent most of the time rambling on about all the symptoms I had and what the previous Dr.s had told me, etc. (I think I was so excited to have someone actually listening to my story that I talked rather fast.) She did some routine medical tests, and then we discussed a plan. She definitely wanted to follow up on my gluten and soy hunches, and she also thought that cortisol was probably playing a role. She sent me home with at-home tests--one for food sensitivity and an adrenal stress index.
(I'll tell you more about the tests if you really want to know, but essentially you do them at home and mail them in to the company and they send the results to your Dr.)
I went back last Friday, and the results were somewhat surprising to her and to me. First of all, the adrenal stress index was very revealing. It showed that my cortisol levels were CRAZY. They're super low during the day, and really high at night. This is the exact opposite of how they are supposed to be. She said "I don't know how you get out of bed in the morning" and "How well are you sleeping?" When I told her that I actually had been sleeping extremely poorly (which is abnormal for me), she was like, "well, yeah." (This would explain the extreme low energy and my newly acquired inability to stay asleep.) So, that's one priority on our list.
Next, the glucose/insulin/diabetes-related results were very normal, and she had expected them to be bad. If someone gains a significant amount of weight (for whatever reason--medial issue, medication, laziness, whatever), this is usually affected, I guess, but she was pleased that it wasn't much of a concern in my case. I was and am praising God for that because it's literally my worst fear.
The food panel. This was the test that I was most looking forward to getting the results from. It showed several interesting things, and only one was a really big surprise--soy came back as really low on the reactive scale. So... The results are like little bar graphs going horizontally, each food ranging on the scale from a 0 to a 6 (no reaction to extremely high). Of the probably 100 foods it tested me for, more than half cause more than mild reactions, with 11 standing out as most reactive. These foods are: asparagus, banana, cow's milk, kidney beans, oat, pecan, pork, spelt, wheat, whey, and whole wheat.
Dr. Wilson explained that in her opinion, this means that it isn't those foods per se that are causing the problem (given the fact that I'm reacting poorly to SO many, and that they aren't all really related to each other), but my stomach's inability to process hard-to-process food. Since she knows my whole story (from the first visit) she said "you've been under relatively high levels of stress for 10 years--7 years of college, moving states, getting engaged, getting married, buying a house, quitting your job, husband gets laid off, new job, selling house, moving states again, living with in-laws, buying a new house, new job, etc." I thought "well, when you string it all together like that I wonder myself how I've survived!" So, she thinks that my stomach is 'sick.' She thinks that the cortisol is messed up because of all the stress, and it has caused my stomach problems and thyroid problems, etc. Everything's connected.
Like, it just needs time to heal itself which it isn't allowed to do when I eat foods that make it unhappy. And that lately, the unhappy stomach has been affecting everything else--the headaches, sore muscles, etc. That it's been 'at capacity' and I need to give it a break. So, I have to give up those foods and take supplements for the next "4-6 months." I've decided to try to be good about it for the rest of 2009. Then, after that time has passed, we'll re-test, and her guess is that most of those foods won't be reactive anymore. If there is a food that is still reactive at that point, we'll know that I am just sensitive to that food because my stomach should be healed by then, and I will then avoid that food knowing that I'm sensitive to it.
That should bring about the healing of all the other things by then too. That is, if I heal my stomach so it can process foods well, and absorb nutrients like I'm supposed to be able to, then my cortisol can straighten itself as well as the thyroid, etc. She says I should lose weight too because the foods I'll be eating are ones that I can properly process which was a part of the weight gain. She also said that hypothyroidism and weight gain are like the chicken and the egg and can work in reverse. --Lose weight and it'll work normally again. I'm taking all sorts of supplements now--ranging from a high potency multivitamin to one to get the cortisol to shape up.
So, a new diet and the addition of supplements... This is much better than the diagnosis of having to take a synthetic hormone every day for the rest of my life. Since there isn't a genetic cause for the hypothyroidism, she's told me that come January, I can probably get off Synthroid. But, that all depends on the results of the re-test. Also based on the re-test results in January, I can probably start eating all foods again. But, that's only if they turn up as non-reactive next time, which Dr. Wilson thinks they will.
Pray for me as I approach this lifestyle change with open arms. Pray that the Holy Spirit will remind me that this is only a temporary inconvenience which will hopefully create permanent health. Pray for strength as I avoid some of my favorite foods. (I AM a Wisconsinite, after all, and I have to give up cow's milk!) Pray for yummy recipes of things I can eat and pray for understanding in those around me that may be affected by this change I've made. I know He lead me to this Dr., and I know He's in control of the situation. I ask only that I can keep listening and responding.
Thank you for your past and future prayers. It's been a long journey, but I can feel good health just at the end of my fingertips. :-)
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