New Doctor...New Disappointment

Once a year I become brave enough to try another doctor. I found one who has a fragrance-free office! So rare. This gave me so much hope. Finding a fragrance-free office is 80% of my battle with doctors. The office is nearly three hours away from my home, but if it's really fragrance-free, it's worth it.

With this visit I would focus on the fatigue and pain I was experiencing since I decided a few blog posts ago I might have another forty years of life in me and I really don't want to spend it tired and miserable. Somewhere, someone must have answers. My continual optimism never ceases to amaze me.

The office was very efficient and the doctor very kind and articulate. After looking over my forms and asking a few questions, she immediately told me to see a naturopath. I thought that was odd. Really odd. I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd seen eight in the last eight years.  So strange. How many AMA doctors give that advice? I wondered what I did to make her think I was crazy or beyond help. (I did not tell her I was chemically sensitive and I was being really careful with the crazy....)

 

She ordered a whole bunch of tests and off-hand mentioned the fatigue and pain just may be from hormones, or lack thereof. I love it when doctors slip ideas or "off-hand" mention something as if they are thinking aloud. Most are incredibly tight-lipped unless you pay for another appointment and then they will slowly disclose information, one appointment at a time. Ugh!

Her suggestion would be to try hormone replacement just to see if it makes a difference. The suggestion to see a naturopath threw me for a moment, but there it was: the easy slide into drugs.  With this advice I knew for sure she was an AMA doctor! She suggested drugs for only for a short time and if I had some bad side effects, she'll try to wean me off the hormone addiction.  Hmmm...no...not going to happen. I'll pass. I don't need my menopause symptoms getting worse. That sounds way too risky an experiment. I thought it was strange she made absolutely no comment about Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, a condition I clearly marked on my medical history form and known for fatigue as a main symptom. I always get the impression conventional doctors don't quite understand Hashimoto's as it defies their drug culture.

The labs were, gulp, really expensive. Shockingly expensive. More than double what any other labs I've had although they are the same lab tests I've had once a year for the last five years, but through a different doctor and a different laboratory.

But they came back the next day, which was shocking as well. Usually labs take a week to two weeks. And this office was so efficient, I could email the doctor, make appointments, and get lab results sent to me via the Internet. The convenience was almost worth the price. 

The lab results! OMG! They were ALL normal. Thyroid, vitamin levels, mineral levels, blood work, everything. Totally normal. All within normal range. According to conventional medicine standards, I am incredibly healthy aside from the pain and fatigue, of course.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with you!" said my new doctor.

Really? Should I just ignore the pain and fatigue that affects my lifestyle on a daily basis?

 

The doctor included a Vitamin D test. I had one of these done last year for $65. This one cost almost $300. Last year's test came back as 25. This year it is 44, within range but at the lower end of the spectrum. After I hoorayed and cheered with joy, I pondered this change. That's a huge improvement, but I've done very little if anything to improve my Vitamin D levels.

As I pondered I remembered my naturopathic medical assistant training. Blood lab results in conventional medicine are based on lab result comparisons OR sick people statistics so their normal isn't really normal at all.  The premise is most blood tests are done because someone is sick. Throw those all in one big statistical pot and one has to question the validity of the ranges for healthy results. A naturopathic-oriented lab tweaks blood lab results to offer a more realistic view of what is going on. I know the doctors I worked for had lab result manuals they used as references to adjust and interpret the false positives. Hmmm...do they do that to sell more supplements? It made me wonder if we ever get correct information and how much physician agendas affect those results.


In conclusion, the new doctor offered no solution to my fatigue and pain other than a drug experiment. That only cost $600.

Pain, Potatoes and Positivity

The Three P's. I'm into the alphabet lately.

I've been sinking into negativity for the last two weeks. It might be because of the construction worker overload, or my horrid neighbors, or my lack of income, or my painful arms, but maybe it's just my bad attitude and cheating on my diet? OK, time to confess.

 

Potatoes! Damn. Might it be potatoes? I've never had a problem with potatoes, but they are nightshades. One of the most common side effects of nightshades is pain.  It is said if you can stay away from a food for over a month, then eat it, you should be able to tell if you react to it. I've never really eaten a lot of potatoes and it's been at least six months since I've been near one.

They are NOT ALLOWED on the Paleo/Hashimoto's diet due to the negative effects of starchy carbohydrates on blood sugar so I gave them up. Just to eat something different, I tried some last week and again this week. Yum. Homemade French fries or rather potato slices baked on a pan of olive oil. Not really fried, but still tasty. Didn't seem to have any reaction, but was I really looking closely at my symptoms?

I've been in pain for the last two weeks and it does get worse when I eat a potato. Coincidence? Hmmmmm... I had a baked potato yesterday and last night I awoke in the middle of the night with my whole body burning and in pain. And the negativity is always a clue although I am quick to blame it on any number of things besides food. Ponder, ponder. It's always such a mystery.

So let's see if I can get my diet back on track and force feed myself some positive attitude to see if it makes a difference:


The "Secret" Reinforcements:

1.) I am grateful for all the money that comes to me easy and frequently.

2.) I am grateful for my perfect health and feeling wonderful everyday.

3.) I am grateful for all my wonderful fragrance-free friends.

4.) I'm grateful for all my energy.

5.) I'm grateful for all the wonderful activities that keep me busy, entertained and cheerful year round.

6.) I'm grateful construction workers are helpful, kind, respectful, trustworthy, professional and down right joyous to be around.

7.) I am grateful for my perfect neighbors who are kind, considerate, respectful and responsibly train and socialize their pets so they can live in a neighborhood without being an obnoxious nuisance.

Gratitudes:

1.) I'm grateful for my house not falling down around me. It's much, much, much older than I am with just as many creaks, but it's still strong and reliable.

2.) I'm grateful for Peter's fortitude and positive spirit.

3.) I'm grateful I found this diet that I am religiously following.

4.) I'm grateful for my willpower.

5.) I'm grateful I'm not in debt.

6.) I'm grateful I get to see Jason Mraz in concert this month. YIPPEE!

7.) I'm grateful for my garden growing like crazy.

8.) I'm grateful for my vehicle that keeps on working.

9.) I'm grateful for my income.

10.) I'm grateful to be self-reliant and independent.


Update: I've been potato-free for almost a week now and I still have pain. It started going away so I got a little too confident with lifting things and typing more and it came back. I'm taking it easy for a little longer.

The Three R's

 

The three R's? Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic? Only one of them begins with R which makes me question the education and intelligence of the person who coined this phrase...

My three R's: Rest. Relaxation. Recouperation.

August has been a busy month for me. Don't get me wrong! I love being busy and productive with a variety of projects on my list. I save so much for summer because it's when the weather is warm. It's impossible to paint in freezing temperatures or dig in the garden during a monsoon. This is my time of the year to get things done.


Summer is also when my fatigue kicks in so nearly every day between 2pm and 5pm I collapse. As usual, I have no idea why this happens. Why only in the afternoon and why only in the spring and summer? It's not Hashimoto's or any number of health issues I've had tested. I've totally re-structured my diet hoping for some answsers and nothing has helped. It's a mystery.


For instance, riding a bike is difficult due to the stamina required, but hauling a truck-load of beauty bark is do-able. Hiking is also challenging because one needs to maintain a level of energy for a period of time, but digging all the grass out of my front yard is fine. Reading can exhaust me, but mixing and pouring nine bags of 60 lb. concrete doesn't faze me. I wish I understood the reasoning behind this and what is causing the fatigue, but I'm at a loss. Activities that require stamina are out, short-term strenuous projects are in. Even with the fatigue I keep busy.


In addition to the loading beauty bark, removing lawn and making a concrete step, I spent August scraping paint off my roof eaves, supervising numerous construction workers (both competent and incompetent types - the idiots are much more work and stress, of course), moving heavy items and packing boxes for a garage sale, cleaning and painting the inside of my garage, building a succulent picture frame, re-designing some garden beds, ongoing gardening which includes weeding, cutting, trimming, and digging, and picking and freezing berries.


Nine bags of 60 lb. concrete for this tiny step!

Last, but not least, I washed my kitchen/laundry/bathroom/mud room tile floor which is about 60 square feet of white porcelain.  This is a project I do twice a year in the spring and in the fall. In between these major washing events, I spot clean and wipe spills, but this twice a year sterilization involves taking everything out of these rooms, scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees with Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid the all-purpose miracle soap and a dash of peppermint oil, rinsing with a mop, rinsing with a wet towel, drying with a white towel, and this year, re-sealing the grout which involves spraying the sealer and polishing it off.

THEN I put it all back together, hauling the furniture back in place which includes two sets of tables and chairs, two chairs, a step ladder, two cases of Planet Dishwashing Detergent, an ironing board, a drying rack, ten pairs of shoes, a shelf with books, three laundry hampers and five rugs. While I'm scrubbing the floor the rugs are in the washing machine and then hung to dry.

As I'm scrubbing, I imagine myself a novice in a nunnery suffering greatly for all the sins I have committed...too bad the miracle soap doesn't miraculously make the bruises on my knees disappear.

Sparkly clean!

It takes about five hours so as you can imagine with my fatigue issues I must time it right and try to find a day when I'm feeling uncommonly energetic and not swamped with other commitments. This year I missed the spring wash, but it was finally crossed off my to-do list a week ago. And it was haunting me the whole time. Not much worse than looking at a dirty, grimy floor...of WHITE tiles. Once they are clean they shine so beautifully it makes me not want to walk on the floor!


On top of all that, I work at a computer all day mousing, flipping screens and typing.

Needless to say, I am in PAIN. From the tips of my fingers to my shoulders my arms feel like they are being ripped off. Like I have pulled every muscle. Typing is excruciating. Lifting a glass of water makes me wince. Moving anything makes me whimper. Peter is lucky he's getting fed due to the weight of his feed dishes. I've overworked my appendages. About a week ago my whole body including my legs felt the same way from going up and down ladders for three days in a row, but thankfully the leg pain went away. Computer work and typing aggravates the arms making it worse.

Never used to be like this. When I first moved into this house I assumed all the work I'd be doing on it would build muscle, stamina and make me strong. Nope, pain and exhaustion. The last time I had this same pain was when I re-roofed my garage five years ago and all that hammering was crippling. At that time I vowed I wouldn't be doing anymore huge projects as it's too risky since it effects my employment. Who would have known all these little projects would create such paralyzing pain?  A few days ago I was typing with my right hand's index finger which is just a little less painful than my left. Needless to say, work is slow and now I'm avoiding my computer much to the dismay of my disappearing income.

So I'm trying very hard to Relax, Rest, and Recouperate. It drives me nuts to try to do nothing when I can see all the projects I still need to finish before the bad weather arrives. Watering the garden is even painful. The remedy: an ocean adventure! At the ocean I don't have to look at the projects not getting done, I can admire the scenery and breathe in the fresh air.