Health Update - Part 1
I've had some stuff going on with my health lately. In the grand scheme of things not a big deal but in recent years I have been a pretty open book when it comes to my health - physical, emotional, and spiritual.
I'll try not to get too long! There are a few different things going on and they all kind of go together.
April 2016 - I went to a new doctor because I was having seriously bad lower back pain. I'd had the same pain in October 2015 and my then doctor said to come back if it happened again. She treated it then as if I had pulled a muscle but stressed it could be something else. Between October and April I had some degree of that pain in the same area and it was cyclical. Meaning it was part of my PMS. April was when it came back with a vengeance.
My doctor was booked and couldn't get me in until the end of the week. I called multiple times to get put on the wait list and they put me off. Matt called this new doctor that got me in within hours.
He met me there and we were both impressed with how well she listened to me. I got some prescriptions for pain and she set me up with an appointment with the gynecologist in the practice and to see her again for my yearly physical with blood work.
I did the blood work and then met with her a week later so she could explain my numbers to me. Which is something I had been asking my old doctor's office to do for years but they wouldn't. My new doctor also ordered up some blood tests to check my nutrient levels. Everything was great. All my numbers were awesome except my vitamin D and hemoglobin (a1c).
A1C is what determines whether or not you will have type 2 diabetes. 5.6 is the high end they like (although I have read that 6.0 is the max). Mine was 5.9. My fasting blood sugar was so low that she wasn't too concerned with it and told me to try the 80/20 plan and check back in three months. 80% of your meals are healthy, non-processed and 20% is fun. I definitely want to get that number down, given that my dad has a similar history of having 0 problems with blood sugars until around age 40.
Vitamin D. It was 11 and the low end of normal is 30. She said they would actually want that to be much higher, if it had been 30 they would put me on medication. Also, that low level was not caused by coming off a long cold winter it was more of an issue than lack of sun exposure. I said I was surprised at how low it was because I wasn't feeling depressed or down at all. She said that depression is just one effect of low vitamin D. She also felt like depression wasn't in my nature. She gave me an 8 week super dose of vitamin D to take with orders to retest along with my A1C.
I looked up what other symptoms of low vitamin D levels could be, out of curiosity. Here's a list (not comprehensive): muscle fatigue, body aches, extreme crankiness, extreme sleepiness, difficulty with weight loss (but being overweight zaps your bodies ability to hold on to vitamin D), weak bones, insulin resistance, and oh a little thing called INFERTILITY! I wish I was joking about the infertility thing. I wish I could tell you that all those high paid doctors with all the fancy degrees on their walls had once tested my vitamin D levels before they pumped me full of hormones. I was treated by three different doctors for infertility and not one tested my vitamin levels. Now that I know I will be advocating for anyone I know in the midst of infertility or just trying to get pregnant to make sure they have healthy vitamin levels.
I was able to see the gynecologist in May. She was also a great listener. She scheduled me for a sonogram to see if there was anything happening internally that could cause my severe cramping.
I had the sonograms (internal and external) in June. My next appointment with the gyno wasn't until July. More on that later.
I've already exceeded my ideal word count. Even my eyes are starting to glaze over. LOL!
Man, if that doesn't get you clicking to read more I don't know what will. Ha!!
I'll try not to get too long! There are a few different things going on and they all kind of go together.
April 2016 - I went to a new doctor because I was having seriously bad lower back pain. I'd had the same pain in October 2015 and my then doctor said to come back if it happened again. She treated it then as if I had pulled a muscle but stressed it could be something else. Between October and April I had some degree of that pain in the same area and it was cyclical. Meaning it was part of my PMS. April was when it came back with a vengeance.
My doctor was booked and couldn't get me in until the end of the week. I called multiple times to get put on the wait list and they put me off. Matt called this new doctor that got me in within hours.
He met me there and we were both impressed with how well she listened to me. I got some prescriptions for pain and she set me up with an appointment with the gynecologist in the practice and to see her again for my yearly physical with blood work.
I did the blood work and then met with her a week later so she could explain my numbers to me. Which is something I had been asking my old doctor's office to do for years but they wouldn't. My new doctor also ordered up some blood tests to check my nutrient levels. Everything was great. All my numbers were awesome except my vitamin D and hemoglobin (a1c).
A1C is what determines whether or not you will have type 2 diabetes. 5.6 is the high end they like (although I have read that 6.0 is the max). Mine was 5.9. My fasting blood sugar was so low that she wasn't too concerned with it and told me to try the 80/20 plan and check back in three months. 80% of your meals are healthy, non-processed and 20% is fun. I definitely want to get that number down, given that my dad has a similar history of having 0 problems with blood sugars until around age 40.
Vitamin D. It was 11 and the low end of normal is 30. She said they would actually want that to be much higher, if it had been 30 they would put me on medication. Also, that low level was not caused by coming off a long cold winter it was more of an issue than lack of sun exposure. I said I was surprised at how low it was because I wasn't feeling depressed or down at all. She said that depression is just one effect of low vitamin D. She also felt like depression wasn't in my nature. She gave me an 8 week super dose of vitamin D to take with orders to retest along with my A1C.
I looked up what other symptoms of low vitamin D levels could be, out of curiosity. Here's a list (not comprehensive): muscle fatigue, body aches, extreme crankiness, extreme sleepiness, difficulty with weight loss (but being overweight zaps your bodies ability to hold on to vitamin D), weak bones, insulin resistance, and oh a little thing called INFERTILITY! I wish I was joking about the infertility thing. I wish I could tell you that all those high paid doctors with all the fancy degrees on their walls had once tested my vitamin D levels before they pumped me full of hormones. I was treated by three different doctors for infertility and not one tested my vitamin levels. Now that I know I will be advocating for anyone I know in the midst of infertility or just trying to get pregnant to make sure they have healthy vitamin levels.
I was able to see the gynecologist in May. She was also a great listener. She scheduled me for a sonogram to see if there was anything happening internally that could cause my severe cramping.
I had the sonograms (internal and external) in June. My next appointment with the gyno wasn't until July. More on that later.
I've already exceeded my ideal word count. Even my eyes are starting to glaze over. LOL!
Man, if that doesn't get you clicking to read more I don't know what will. Ha!!
Comments
Post a Comment
I *heart* comments!