About Me

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I am an army wife with three kids. I live too many miles from any family members but I have a support group of friends here in this high desert that I am thankful and greatful for every single day. I am in a soul search for myself. I have always been a "yes" person. A person who can never say "no". Because of this I have lost Me along the way, and I am tired of being lost. It's time for Jayme to find herself and be happy. The past 6 months have been hard for me. I mean REALLY challenging because like I said, I am an Army wife with three kids and sometimes I have to do things like, you know, on my own. I have another 6-7 months of more challenge ahead of me. But I think I should look at it as 6-7 more months of recreating a better me. A woman who is comfortable in her own skin. Somebody who radiates strength and inner-peace. Somebody who has a closeness with her God and herself. Somebody who can also--finaly--put herself first and use the word "no".

Thursday, March 24, 2011

New doctor, new diagnosis :o)

I have some exciting news I believe. Out of frustration from my body aches that come and go, I went to see a different kind of doctor today. She leans more to the alternative side of medicine. Her practice was advised to me by a good friend of mine whose mother has experienced these mystery body aches as well. What a day to have to go see a new doctor though. I have been up since 4 am. I don't know about some of you but I'm a real grump at four in the morning. I also will not usually get to go back to sleep if I wake up so early. I didn't wake up voluntarily! My sweet little eight year old who suffers from insomnia almost as bad as I do was the culprit. He woke up and woke me up and neither of us could  go back to sleep. Between the two of us and our grumpy attitudes, we were a real pair this morning.
Anyway, because I had one over-tired kid and one that isn't in school yet, I had to take two of my three kids with me to this appointment. Needless to say I was in a mood and considered calling this whole appointment off and rescheduling for a different day. Glad I didn't.

I discovered a few interesting things.  When regular people have their blood tested for anything--anything at all--having "okay" results means just that. They are "Okay". Let's say I go in and have my cholesterol tested, and let's just say for the sake of this example 40 is good and 80 is bad. If my results come back as 79, then I am considered to have good, normal or okay results. No treatment would be prescribed. At THIS particular clinic a 79 is not considered good, normal or okay. They would consider this 79 as borderline bad and it would be treated. My new physician told me today that they strive for their patients to have optimal care. So she has ordered my previous blood test results from other doctors offices, and she also wants to see my MRI results that was done on my back from 6 months ago. I have chronic back pain from bulging disks and scoliosis that--six months ago--was debilitating. The doctor I was referred to at the time for chronic pain relief is kind of a jerk. He didn't bother to treat my pain with any physical therapy. He just handed me a prescription that causes so many other problems that I have to take a handful of other pills just to treat the side effects. Nice, huh?

As for these body aches, she has a theory that threw me for a loop. She thinks it may be that my body produces too much yeast. Yes, I said yeast.
I'm sure I had a very confused look on my face when she told me this. So she asked me, "do you crave sugar?" Oh my gosh YES! I don't just want it sometimes, I CRAVE it. I binge on it if I think I can get away with it.
She asked me if I have chronic dry skin. Why yes I do! I've had doctors tell me it's eczema. Another doctor has told me it's allergies. My new physician thinks it's a symptom of my body producing too much yeast. Another physical symptom from this yeast thing is body aches. These cursed body aches may not be from Mono at all. So she wants to see all my blood test results from my other doctors. When she has them all she will know what she wants to further test my blood for. She wants to run a hormonal test. She wants to see if there is something she can do about my insomnia too while she's at it.. Perhaps my body isn't making enough happy hormones as she called them. Serotonin. After women have babies, our bodies go through all sorts of hormonal changes. She thinks mine might be out of whack. Sheesh! I can tell they are and I don't need no stinking blood tests for that!
I am delighted that I have finally found a doctor that will test me for things that are beyond what other doctors have tried before in the past. I am just not too happy with my newest diagnosis: It Might Be Mono. I have, in the past, asked for specific blood tests and doctors have refused. I asked my doctors to test my hormone levels before. I never got the reason why they didn't want to. I just know they didn't. There has to be a test out there somewhere that can give us a clue as to what is wrong with my body. I am 34 years old and I take medications like I'm 90. I take an insane amount of medications everyday and not only are these medications expensive, but they are time consuming. I have to keep up with my pills with a pill planner. I take AM pills, PM pills, and BEDTIME pills. It's insane. Taking this many medications a day makes me feel like an old lady.
 Between my pills, and my eight year old's pills and my seven year old's pills, we have consumed an entire cabinet in the kitchen just to hold all our bottles. Every week I spend up to half an hour planning out all our pills for the next week. And don't forget that I'm driving back and forth to the pharmacy to drop off prescriptions and pick them up every week too. It's VERY time consuming! I say, if I can get to the source of all my real medical issues and treat them properly instead of throwing pills at my symptoms, then I say let's do it!

I pray that this will help me in the long run and this new doctor can help me. I need something in my life to be simpler because seriously, can it get any harder?
 WAIT!
 Don't answer that!

3 comments:

  1. Never. Ever. Ask the question, "can it get any harder?" You never, ever want to discover the answer to that one. I'm so glad you wrote a blog about this, Jayme. I know we talked on the phone yesterday, but I was having a hard time following what you were saying about what your new doctor was advising. Now I understand. Oh wow! I discovered at 46 what you are finding out at 34; that hormones rule everything. Finding a doctor that is on the same page... that's a blessing. Male doctors can't imagine what we feel; understandably so. I'm so glad you found this "alternative" doctor. My thanks to your friend's mother for suggesting her. -Mom-

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  2. Women's health has come SO FAR from when your mother was young. I guess I am a very lucky girl indeed.

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  3. Jayme, I'm SO glad this worked out for you. I hope it will bring some much needed physical relief and peace of mind.

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