Showing posts with label autoimmune disorders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autoimmune disorders. Show all posts

Saturday, November 27, 2021

A Trip to The Ozark Mill and Other Weekend Thoughts

I haven't shared a post on "real life" lately. Actually, things are usually pretty quiet and uneventful around here, especially this last 2 years. I don't get out near as much because of the Covid situation, and the fact that I had back surgery last summer. I'll talk more about that in a bit. But I wanted to share a fun outing my husband and I had a few weeks ago...



Sunday, May 23, 2021

What's happening here...

Hello Friends, I thought I'd better get busy and share what's going on health-wise and to explain what I had to say at the end of my last post. I'll try to do this without being too tedious. I always hesitate to talk about health problems that I'm dealing with, but I feel like it's important to share things that might help someone else. 





Friday, March 20, 2020

A Personal Update and Blogging Note



Hi Friends, it's been awhile since I shared much personally about what's been going on with me health-wise. I'd thought about sharing often, but haven't because things have been inconclusive as to a diagnosis. So it's time to say a bit and tell you about things that are coming up.


(sharing a few pics from past Spring posts)





Friday, June 8, 2018

Low Thyroid: Sharing a post on Hair Loss and Thinning

I'm working on my post about the breadcrumb trail with Autoimmune Disease linking to Heart Disease that I've been following this last few months, and I've been checking back on some web articles and research. Today, I was looking back through the Blog Links List I have in my blog Footer toward the end with links to Autoimmune Illness and Gluten-Free Recipes. You'll see it on the left-hand side after the post.





Thursday, May 31, 2018

Still here...

Hi Friends...
still here.
still waiting.

This afternoon I was updating my Series on "Regaining Your Health". I've had a lot of moving parts to rearrange and add, but unbeknownst to me, one part updated on today's date. Sorry for the confusion, BUT that does give me a chance to let you know what I'm doing and where I am in all the latest.




Saturday, May 5, 2018

a little personal update...

Hi Friends, just wanted to do a quick "hello" and let you know I'm taking a few days or so off, to have some heart tests. My health has been fairly unpredictable for awhile with the Gluten Ataxia and the Autoimmune revelations. 


(photos from 2014)

Sunday, April 15, 2018

What Everyone Needs to Know about Autoimmune Disease

What I knew about Autoimmune Disease up till about 18 months ago was basically very little. I knew that Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, and what I deal with, Hashimoto's Disease of the Thyroid, (low or hypothyroid) were autoimmune, but that was about it. My information and opinions were ambiguous and uninformed at best. I'm writing this post to share with you my experiences and the information I've gathered in hopes that you or someone you know might be made more aware of the subject of Autoimmune Disease.





Thursday, June 22, 2017

So, what do you know about Gluten?

Last time when I sat down to talk about my latest health "discovery" I had a deep down feeling: "a gut feeling" no pun intended, that there would be more to the story. It seems like it's more like an "never ending story" in my case, but I guess that's part of living our lives; we never stop learning things... or going through things.






Wednesday, May 3, 2017

What you might be missing, Part 2



We left off the Series, with me still not having answers to all my questions but at least I was coping. I found a pain pill that helped with my dizziness, headaches, and neck pain. It didn't seem to have any bad side effects and my life kinda-sorta became manageable. I wasn't in a hole anymore and I felt like the gray cloud had been lifted. It didn't take away the severe fatigue but I felt like that was a trade-off I could live with since I could now drive and turn my head without shooting pains.

I had been diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia back in the early Fall by a Neurosurgeon. My neck is a mess with bone problems and narrowing of the foramen (little holes the nerves run through). But he didn't think my symptoms were related to those issues. I was sent back to my Cervical Spine Specialist and had a Nerve Block done twice last Fall. It helped, and verified the diagnosis, but wore off after a few weeks. That's when I started on the pain pills. (Muscle relaxers don't work for me, just cause me to have horrible dreams).

Then came Christmas and I was talking with my two daughters about Thyroid issues. One of them said she took a dose of T3 along with her regular Levothyroxine. WHAT..., you take another Thyroid Hormone replacement pill? that's the first time I'd heard of this.

The one thing I didn't know about Thyroid Replacement Therapy was that there are two hormones that can be used to supplement an underactive Thyroid. The usual replacement medication is Synthroid or Levothyroxine which is the T4 hormone. In theory T4 converts over to the most important, but much more difficult to administer, T3 hormone.

At my next doctor appointment I asked my Internist/Primary Care doctor about this and she said yes, but we would have to do a current Thyroid test to see where I was. Holy Cow,  my fabulous all purpose pain pill for my Occipital Neuralgia (literally a pain in the neck...and back of the head) had really screwed me up. It was causing my Thyroid to go crazy and put me in the HYPERthyroid area. Plus I was taking multiple supplements that included iodine, and iodine is used to treat underactive thyroid issues. The iodine was masquerading as seaweed, kelp, etc. energy synergy blah, blah, blah. in bone and joint supplements, nerve rebuilders, vitamins, healthy green drink smoothie powder, and whey protein. If you take a Thyroid supplement or medication don't take iodine, because it will mess with your meds and thyroid labs. I also learned it was in my B Vitamin Supplements as I was consuming mass quantities of because my B12 was in the tank. Also learned too much B12 can mimick signs of overactive Graves's disease with heart palpatations, increased pulse and angina. Good grief, I've now learned to check everything and read the ingredients in EV.ER.Y. Thing.
I decided to get off the pain pill and had to wait 6 LONG weeks to get my lab tests rechecked before she could even think about prescribing the T3. I begged, she said no.

I try to research all my meds and problems on the Internet. You know how people say, "Well, you just can't believe everything you read on the Internet." (with a finger wag). In some things that's a very true statement, but when you're going to websites like Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Heart Clinic, and Mayo Clinic, I think you can generally rely on what you read as being somewhat reliable and based in science. When you don't research things on your own you're at a real disadvantage because even the doctors aren't up on the latest findings. Research Papers, journals, etc. lie unread in their email inboxes and on the top of their to-do reading lists.

Well, I had been lulled into complacency by years of doctors telling me my Thyroid Lab tests were "normal". oh people, get the numbers and ranges and look at them yourselves. Don't trust someone to say your normal in Thyroid Labs, they are notoriously not to be trusted. The ranges are crazy and change from lab to lab. Look at them yourself, then question your health care person in person, eye to eye.

So as I said in my last post, I've been on the T3 Replacement for almost a month and I'm seeing a little improvement. When I went off the pain pill, Tramadol, within just a few days the severe neck pain, headaches, and fatigue were back. The Tramadol had messed with my thyroid so when it started to go back down the nerve pain came back. That's where I am now. I'm hoping the T3 will help build up the outer layer of the nerves, (the Myelin coating) I've read where it can cause the neuropathy to reverse and the nerves to heal. But I'm going to ask to see a Neurologist to check for the root cause of the Occipital Neuralgia. First place to check is other Auto-immune related illnesses like Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Guillian-Barre (which I've had before). I'm tired of messing around and I want answers to all this. I think I deserve them.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Do you know what you might be missing?


Since I mentioned sharing my latest health information and update a couple of weeks ago, I've been in the process of chickening out on writing this... because I'm still a work in progress. What I'm going to share is what I've learned from research on the Internet, (and in speaking with my doctor). I've been digging on numerous reputable sites; hospitals, specialists, drug trials, research studies, and also on patient forums. I like to think of myself an informed patient, who doesn't sit there passively believing everything I hear. I actively check information and facts and opinions; important health information, and drugs I've been prescribed. But unfortunately, I had been lulled into a false sense of security over the years.




all images Google Images

Sunday, August 7, 2016

When your body has had enough...part 4

In this last post in the series I'm going to share with you how things started to fit together for me. I believe in God's timing, even if it isn't fast enough for our individual desires. I've been praying and searching scripture for verses on wisdom and knowledge concerning my health issues. It's taken what seems like forever, but maybe I wasn't ready before now. Please remember, I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just here telling you what I've learned... the hard way. Here goes...I'm sorry it's a long one




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