Well, I’m back!! With the exception of a few posts here and there, I’ve been taking a long vacation from the blog. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but something I had to do. For the past few years, I’ve been fighting a small battle. It actually probably began a long time before that, but I wasn’t aware. At a time when my family has needed me most to help contribute financially and be present during the crucial teen and adult years, I have been encountering health issues. The blog hasn’t been a “best yes” for me as I had to limit my responsibilities and prioritize.
For a few years I had been having multiple health symptoms all at once on a regular basis each month. Most of these symptoms seemed to hit around the same time each month and lasted anywhere from a day to a week. Plagued with indigestion and digestive issues, migraines, fatigue, palpitations, tachycardia, pain in my chest and left rib cage around to my mid back, hair loss, inability to exercise, irritability, emotions from one extreme to the next, back pain, achy joints, dry skin, sleeplessness, and more, I felt like my body was falling apart. I knew I was over 40, but it was more than just age. I wasn’t able to serve God, my family, my church family or friends like I used to. I had been clean eating and taking care of myself for several years prior to all of this. I had even lost close to 70 pounds so I was completely baffled that this was happening.
Two years ago I finally gave in and visited my primary care physician’s office. I saw his nurse practitioner for my gyn appointment. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to understand what I was going through. “Normal” blood work resulted from that visit. She was very concerned about the pain in my chest and my history of tachycardia. She sent me to my cardiologist, who put me on a monitor for a whole month. She once again assured me there is absolutely nothing wrong with my heart. She confirmed again that for some reason I was having irregular electrical pulses that caused the tachycardia. She stated the pain was probably from indigestion and/or musculoskeletal pain.
My cardiologist sent a report to my primary care physician, and nothing was done. They didn’t call me back for a follow up, and even though I know it’s my responsibility to be my own advocate, I was exhausted financially and physically. I fought through another year of the struggle. Then it was time for another checkup…
I was desperate and decided I was going to push harder this time. Returning to the office of my primary care physician, they scheduled me for a checkup with the nurse practitioner. I went in and told her about all the symptoms I had been having since our last visit and for the year prior. I reminded her of everything that transpired from the visit the year before and told her nothing had changed and it seemed to be getting worse. She proceeded to ask me what I was taking for all of the symptoms. I told her nothing except some essential oils. I reminded her that I can’t take many medications because of the side effects and how they bring on tachycardia.
I requested a saliva test for my hormones and thyroid. Reviewing the chart, she confirmed that the thyroid test was normal the year before and advised me they wouldn’t do a saliva test, but would do another blood test and that if it wasn’t conclusive they would then send me to a pharmacy for saliva test which of course I’d be paying for. I mentioned I heard blood tests weren’t as accurate and I’d rather cut out that step and go straight to the saliva test, but she said that wasn’t procedure so they weren’t going to do that.
She also advised me to take a different medication for each of my symptoms, telling me to take a pill for migraines, another pill for indigestion, another one for sleep, go back on the beta blocker I had been off of several years per the orders of my cardiologist, and another pill for general aches and pains. Even though I reminded her how long I had been plagued with all of these symptoms, more than two years, she still told me to come back if I wasn’t better after trying out all of the medications. She also ordered blood work which once again came back normal…
This is a really long story. I just don’t believe it is the best idea to detail it all in one long blog post. I’ll be sharing with you over the couse of a few posts.
My main reason for sharing is to encourage you. If you are going through some of these same types of physical issues please don’t be discouraged. Comment and let us know. There is nothing more discouraging than feeling like you are the only one going through unanswered ailments. You aren’t alone. We’re here to pray for you and offer encouragement.