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.

The Year that was...2012

I always love putting up the new calender and exchanging it for the old. Fresh and clean with no pen marks, red lettering, strike thrus, or smudges. A blank slate for optimism, hope, and a fresh start. Looking back on the past year is requisite; something that we inevitably do in life. It's a time to reflect on our accomplishments, things that have changed and evolved, but also a time to see where we are heading and taking inventory of our own personal lives.

A header that I made but never used, 

this image just speaks volumes to me about life.

Hallway bath repaint in late January and February.

A start on lightening up my walls and surroundings.

Looking back on this last year I didn't feel like I had accomplished very much. This has been one of those years that even though there have been many good things, over all it's one I would rather not have had to walk through. My New Year's wish, instead of resolutions, is always said with a hopeful and optimistic prayer, that this next year will be a better one than the last...

realistically, that doesn't always happen.

Immediately after the bath refresh came the Living Room RePaint.

What a huge difference in my daily frame of mind.

There's just something about a clean white wall

that visually and emotionally "lightens the load".

Within a week I was on to the Master Bedroom,

and my quest for the perfect shade of "greige".

I had realized that the darker colors I had loved 9 years ago were causing me to feel overpowered and claustrophobic. Sort of like the walls were closing in on me. It all had to go and this was the last bastion of dark and "heavy".

I still wake up everyday feeling the freshness of this change.

With the old darker color I was getting tired of all the dark wood,

 but once the paint was changed, I looked at it differently.

The bedroom RePaint ended the major projects of last year.

It was late Spring when my world needed to refocus.

(a few small projects like the trompe l'oeil print on canvas)

My new slipcovers for the Dining Room chairs were a huge success.

They got to put on a new "dress".

Joy, oh Joy!!!

and then the Dining Room became my "happy place".

June brought one of the highlights of my year;

getting to spend a week with this gal.

and then heading up to St. Louis 

to share a weekend with Elizabeth Maxson,

our dear and precious mutual friend.

After this trip, projects became few and far between,

but I managed to play a little with some fun Fall decor.

My favorite time of the year;

but then I've said that a gazillion times.

But this next photo sums it all up...

this guy.

I haven't talked about it too much here on this blog, but he's the center of my life. God has placed him there to love, trust, and to take care of me. I like to say that my hubby is the "pole" to my "tether ball". I may be hit and bounce around every which direction, but my guy is always the stable, unmoving, center of my life. Ten years ago I had 3 massive heart attacks and almost died. After that, our lives changed. We both had a wake up call to the important things in life...like waking up every day with those that you love still here. But this year he was the one with health challenges and I was the one that had to be strong for him. He was the one feeling like he was walking on quicksand...and I had to be the one that was immovable and unshakable. 

Without God as my strength, we would have been flailing. 

For several years he'd been having occasional attacks of vertigo, then they started becoming an everyday occurrence that changed everything. He's just never been "sick". Oh, you know occasionally a bout with the flu, but nothing serious. Last summer started a journey to not give up, but to seek God for guidance in a place of uncertainty. Tests, doctors, more tests, more doctors...I know that many of you have been through something similar. If it's not you or your husband, it's our kids or loved ones. It takes everything out of you, but then with God's help, He fills you up with His Spirit, His outlook, His Word. 

Fast forward six months and we've been seeing a specialist in St. Louis for Meniere's Disease. It's a tough one, with no cure (they say). We had no help in our area, only a fatalistic litany of defeat for the future. But we were not going to roll over and play dead with this...we faced it head on and now we are seeing positive results. He's not over it, but he's improving significantly. 

So many of you out there know people that are dealing with this life changing condition. The first thing we did was radically change our diet. no salt. Actually, we had to rethink our whole outlook on eating and how inevitably it defines our health, and then eventually, our life. Meniere's is basically the inner ear deteriorating to the point that fluid cannot be regulated so you feel dizzy, nauseated, like your head is under water (filled with water) and dreadful...most of the time. Can't drive, can't eat, can't walk with confidence...can't think straight. OK, I won't dwell on this, but let me tell you there are options out there that work. You don't have to live with this...it CAN get better. 

As with any illness, or life changing circumstance we've learned that there IS hope. God has a good plan for our lives and He has answers that no man does. not doctors, not ourselves, not our friends...He's the one with the way to make things change.

So if you thought that my posts had changed, well, they had. I had changed. I am changed. Walking through something life altering has a way of changing a person. Hopefully, for the better, but still changed. My Bible Study blog went on "hold", because I couldn't concentrate on much other than getting through each day with my husband. Encouraging him became my priority. But as I said earlier, what I lacked in output, I gained with God's "input". If we let circumstances defeat us, there is no "lesson". I want to learn all the lessons I can from God. Don't ever go through a "problem" without seeking God for something deeper to be given you.

I know this has been long, but now seemed like the time to share it all. If I haven't commented, please know that I haven't meant to slight any of you, there have just been days that I didn't have it in me. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I love you all; you have become such a big part of my life. I'm still here, just different. But still believing for a better year.

My prayer for each of you this year

 is for you to stay strong, seek God, love without limits.