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. 

Maison Douce

Planners, Calendars and Journals: Starting a Daily Prayer Journal

Hi Friends, How's the first week of the New Year going? Could we say any week of year 2021 might be more hopeful than 2020? I've noticed that there aren't many "Word for the Year" posts in blogland like we've seen in past years. Not many posts on resolutions either or many posts on plans for this new year. I think we all feel like we've been kicked in the proverbial pants by 2020 and are a little apprehensive about making huge plans (or even small ones) for awhile.

*This is not a sponsored post.

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)

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.

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)

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.

www.sjogrens.org

It's Personal...

All the Christmas decor is pretty much put away by today. I packed things up in temporary plastic tubs because it's just too cold to go out and rummage around in the garage (my seasonal decor boxes are in one area) I replaced the Christmas things with "winter" things, because, well, it's winter, and I like winter when it's not 0 degrees outside. We're having an early burst of super cold, and I'm wandering around the house with multiple layers of long underwear and thermal/fleece things. Warmth and comfort, I'm all about that right now.

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.

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.

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

Nesting Birds and Slinky Cats

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Weekend. Our kiddos were out of town, so we had a really quiet, low-key weekend. We did go out Saturday night to our fave Italian spot, but that was about the size of it. About the most exciting thing going on around here at the moment is out on the back upper deck. There are a couple of noisy house wren's and they've been busy putting together an intricate little nest inside one of my derelict birdhouses. A while back I was trying to shift some vintage garden things around and a couple of these handmade birdhouses wound up right outside the kitchen window on one of my vintage wrought iron Etergeres. (don't ask me why it's now a shelf for birdhouses and not in the house)

Blogging Therapy

Hi Friends...

I've been away from blogging for a few days, and the truth is I've needed a little break to try to get back up to speed; not just in blogging but life in general. I know we all feel this way from time to time. Sometimes we push through to try to keep our routine going, but this time I've not been able to do that, better to be honest I think. That's just my own opinion. 

(new old footstool for the bedroom)

My Year in Pictures...

It's the time of the year, as all bloggers know, to take a look back at what we've blogged about this last year; basically to do a little recap and review of 2016. I'm a little short on projects, room reveals, and DIY's. I didn't travel the world, go to enlightening blog conferences, or have a feature in one of my favorite decorating magazines. Those are all great things, but basically that hasn't been my year in 2016.

Vintage Metal Bench on the Fall Porch

I finally have some pics of the front porch and the "new/old" bench dressed for Fall.

It's taken me long enough, if I'd waited much longer we could go straight to Christmas!

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

When your body has had enough ...part 3

As I said in the last post dedicated to health issues, I'm not trying to be pushy, preachy, or your doctor. I'm sharing things that have been my own experience. I want to be open and "out there" in hopes that you might recognize any problems or symptoms you might be having and to at least give you something to think about.  Have you read my last 2 posts in this series? Here's Part 1 and Part 2.

I've been writing these posts all this week, so I'll try to get to the comment replies soon. You all have had so much to say and so many of you have been through similar situations with health issues. Thank you so much for sharing them with me and the rest of the readers. Often times there is a wealth of information and knowledge in the comments from you all, so I don't want you to think I don't read or appreciate them. Please feel free to share your experiences or those of your loved ones, in the comment section. You'll be helping others in doing so. I didn't want to put off getting these last posts out. I had only intended to do this in one post, but as I got started, I realized this is important subject matter and that there is so much information (not just about my issues) entailed in my searches, that to do it justice I needed to include it all.

When your body has had enough...part 2

Hi Everyone. First of all thank you so much for all your affirmative comments from my previous post on this subject. I'm so sorry I couldn't get a personal reply to all of you, but thank you so much for taking the time to leave an uplifting note. We all agree that most women need and want to help other women, and part of that is by sharing our own experiences, good and bad.

As I said, I hate to put myself out there too much here on the blog, because inevitably there is some criticism and judgment, even if it's passive. There's a wide range of ages out here in the decor blogging world, and as an "over 50" blogger (way over), I think we are sometimes viewed more critically. No one wants to be thought of as an over-the-hill, sick person. I think opening ourselves up in the blog world can be majorly intimidating.

So, having put myself out there once again, please be sure that you read my previous post from last week, if you haven't already. Otherwise you might feel like you're walking into a movie at intermission. That first post will give you the background information and you will also understand why I'm sharing all this. I'm just going to tell you my own personal experiences and you can take from it what you'd like. If you see yourself in any of this, please know you're not alone.

Looking back I think the biggest lesson I've come away with after struggling through this last year can be entitled,

When your body has had enough...

Each time I sit down to write a post on health issues, especially my own, I cringe. I don't like to draw attention to myself. I know some people might not see how a blogger can feel that way, but I don't like to put myself out there for people to judge... me, my life, or my opinions. When I first had the heart attacks 13 years ago and was faced with a hard reality, I vowed I would never let my health issues define me.

Centerpiece Basket with Vintage Flags

This last year I've been all about "decorating" the easiest way possible;

How to give a little flavor of the Holiday or Season without going over the top.

Scenes from the Patriotic Sitting Room

Hi Everyone...can you believe the 4th of July is next weekend?

Before it's come and gone, I thought I'd share with you

 a few pics from the Kitchen Sitting Area

where I've added a few flags and some Patriotic Color.