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Mar. 26th, 2008 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elucrehETA: To clarify, for those of you just joining us (and I swear, a getting-to-know-me post is forthcoming) for about fifteen months I've been having random, unexplained, crippling dizzy spells. Widespread testing has mainly proved that doctors are completely unable to explain them. It's been worrying a lot of people.
Someone else's post on health reminded me that I need to update all of you on mine.
The best part of the news is that we may have an answer. I was out to dinner with MusicalGirl and some friends, discussing my health problems, and she pointed out that many of my problems are like her problems before she was diagnosed with and began to treat Celiac's disease. It's in my family, and often associated with fibromialgia, which I get from the other side of my genetics. Get this, it explains:
*Mild allergic reactions, especially to nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables (I'm allergic to carrots, but not chocolate)
*Depression
*Anxiety
*Sleeping problems
*Digestional issues
*Joint pain
*Worse symptoms when stressed (hint: I have been getting dizzy under stress, which is why we thought it was panic attacks)
It affects the absorption of nutrients, which may well explain even the mysterious dizziness, if my blood wasn't getting the right stuff to my head. I've been experiencing all of those symptoms for what feels like forever.
The doctor took some of my blood, but--a first for my doctor, but possibly he didn't want to look like he dismisses all of his patients' concerns in front of the med student following him--admitted that it looked like I might have it, and said he would authorize further testing if the unreliable test didn't work out!
It's a hassle, if it's true--watching MusicalGirl change her diet gave me a small idea of how huge a change it would be--but...answer. SOLVABLE problem, instead of mumbo-jumbo that translates to, "we have no idea, and we can't fix it." This is just...this is a blessing from the gods, if it's true.
Also, I have been taking a natural sleep aid recommended by a friend of my mother, which I cannot praise too highly. You've no idea how much difference just three nights containing seven hours' sleep has made to how I feel, how much patience I have, my ability to focus and to tolerate. If I can keep up this pattern, I can't even imagine how much better my whole life will feel, with or without other answers to my problems.
SLEEP. Not drugged sleep, which usually makes me feel worse; not troubled, snatched sleep, which is insufficient; not coma-like exhausted sleep lasting fourteen hours which a) is hard to get when you never have more than ten to yourself and b) is like an overdose and is limited in usefulness. Just ordinary, everyday sleep that keeps me from snapping at children and lets me write my school papers without wanting to stab the books.
SLEEP IS THE BEST STUFF IN THE WORLD.
Someone else's post on health reminded me that I need to update all of you on mine.
The best part of the news is that we may have an answer. I was out to dinner with MusicalGirl and some friends, discussing my health problems, and she pointed out that many of my problems are like her problems before she was diagnosed with and began to treat Celiac's disease. It's in my family, and often associated with fibromialgia, which I get from the other side of my genetics. Get this, it explains:
*Mild allergic reactions, especially to nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables (I'm allergic to carrots, but not chocolate)
*Depression
*Anxiety
*Sleeping problems
*Digestional issues
*Joint pain
*Worse symptoms when stressed (hint: I have been getting dizzy under stress, which is why we thought it was panic attacks)
It affects the absorption of nutrients, which may well explain even the mysterious dizziness, if my blood wasn't getting the right stuff to my head. I've been experiencing all of those symptoms for what feels like forever.
The doctor took some of my blood, but--a first for my doctor, but possibly he didn't want to look like he dismisses all of his patients' concerns in front of the med student following him--admitted that it looked like I might have it, and said he would authorize further testing if the unreliable test didn't work out!
It's a hassle, if it's true--watching MusicalGirl change her diet gave me a small idea of how huge a change it would be--but...answer. SOLVABLE problem, instead of mumbo-jumbo that translates to, "we have no idea, and we can't fix it." This is just...this is a blessing from the gods, if it's true.
Also, I have been taking a natural sleep aid recommended by a friend of my mother, which I cannot praise too highly. You've no idea how much difference just three nights containing seven hours' sleep has made to how I feel, how much patience I have, my ability to focus and to tolerate. If I can keep up this pattern, I can't even imagine how much better my whole life will feel, with or without other answers to my problems.
SLEEP. Not drugged sleep, which usually makes me feel worse; not troubled, snatched sleep, which is insufficient; not coma-like exhausted sleep lasting fourteen hours which a) is hard to get when you never have more than ten to yourself and b) is like an overdose and is limited in usefulness. Just ordinary, everyday sleep that keeps me from snapping at children and lets me write my school papers without wanting to stab the books.
SLEEP IS THE BEST STUFF IN THE WORLD.