Feel like I'm going in reverse

Well, it's been an interesting couple of months. I quit taking Synthroid around the beginning of September after learning my t4 levels were quite high. And, I had been feeling my heart race more and feeling more jittery in the morning. The first day I quit taking it I was extra jittery and had heart palpitations while helping out at the school. Had to go lay down in the nurses office -- very embarrassing. After being off it a couple months, I had my thyroid levels tested again and this time antibodies as well. My TSH was at .009, but T3 and T4 levels normal. Antibodies were a bit high though. Doctor suggested Hashimoto's and prescribed Armour Thyroid at a low dose. I felt worse after taking it. Took it for about a week, but every morning my heart rate was pretty fast and woke up with headaches for 3 days, so decided to quit taking it. I feel like I'm going back in time to when my heart was really racy all the time. Not good. I need to try something different because this thyroid treatment I'm getting is just not working. I tried taking the Alpha Lipoic Acid for a couple of weeks, but didn't notice any difference, except for the second day I took it I was driving and my head started feeling really fuzzy, kind of pre-syncope. Had to pull the car over and get out and jump around a bit and I drank some water that was in the car. That seemed to help get my blood pressure up enough that I felt okay to finish driving and pick up the kids from school. That is one of my biggest frustrations with all of this is not feeling like I can drive very much because I don't know when I'm going to feel weird. I'm not sure where to turn. I made an appointment with another doctor who uses "alternative" treatment who my neighbor recommended. Also considering the Boydston Institute after reading about their take on Hashimoto's (http://www.drboydston.com/thyroid.html). I really need to get to a more functional level again.

Autonomic Neuropathy?

I stumbled across a condition called Autonomic Neuropathy today that sounds similar to what I've been experiencing. I've often wondered why my stomach problems always seemed to coincide with my faint feelings and lightheadedness. When I've asked cardiologists in the past about it they just said may heart issues shouldn't be affecting my digestion. It's funny that none of the neurologists I've seen have mentioned this as a possibility. While searching on this condition, it is often linked with diabetes. Even though I've never tested positive for diabetes, I have had problems with blood sugars. I've done some searching on natural treatments for it, and came across alpha-lipoic acid as a good treatment. I may try this but he one thing I found was that it can affect thyroid levels and since I'm on synthoid now because of my thyroid being low, I'm a little wary of trying it, but I'm excited about the new direction to try.

I should probably also mention that in May my doctor started me on Synthroid because they tested me for hypothyroidism. I felt even more tired after taking it and my muscles seemed really sore and shaky. Started taking my Adrenal C again because that seemed to help with my energy level a lot. Now I seem to be either wired or tired.

TMJ mouthguard

Well, I've been wearing a mouthguard at night to help with the TMJ. The dentist I went to said I was between Stage 1 and Stage 2 TMJ. I still have days of feeling half-dizzy though - but maybe not as often. I'm not sure if the mouth guard is helping with that much. I went to another general practitioner who suggested I get tested for MS. I haven't decided whether or not to go through with that. She also gave me some samples of Lexapro to see if that helps -- but I haven't decided whether I want to try that or not either. I would love to solve this with natural means if possible. Until then, I just try to go about life as normally as possible, regardless of how my head feels. Just keep smiling :-)

TMJ or Dental Distress Syndrome?

Well, I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I should give an update to what I've learned. I went to a neurologist who had me have an EEG to see if the venous angioma was causing any problems. The test results were normal (as usual for me). He also performed nerve testing on my arms and that was normal. He suggested I go to the hearing and balance clinic and they did some vestibular testing on me, that showed my vestibular system was in good shape. I kept thinking, well if I'm so darn normal why does my head still feel this way!? Then I decided to see a neighbor who is an ENT (ear, nose, throat) specialist. He suggested I may have some TMJ. So I went home and started researching it. I was suprised I haven't run across TMJ before now. I found this person's story: http://www.zianet.com/dumais/account.html and was suprised to learn that she also experienced heart issues and digestive issues as well. So, I'm going to pursue the idea of TMJ with my dentist and see if I can come up with something that will help. I did read that chiropractic care can help with TMJ which might be why my half-dizziness and off balance feelings went away for a while after I had gone to the chiropractor for a few months. I guess I should have kept going. Maybe I'll be going back!

MRI/MRA test results

I went to my follow-up with the endocrinologist, not really sure if they would find anything or not. My Vitamin D levels were low, aldosterone was high (probably from the beta-blocker), but other than that everything else on the blood test was normal. However they did find a couple of things on the MRI of my brain. They found a venous angioma on my right frontal lobe (which is where it hurts the most when I have headaches), and a 10mm mucous retention cyst on the right maxillary sinus. Wether either of those are causing my half-dizzy feelings, I'm not sure. I have an appointment with a neurologist on April 17th and will post about that visit after. As for now, I can't type any more because my head is feeling too dizzy.

Visit to an Endocrinologist

I've been taking the Adrenal supplements for over 6 months now and still having problems with feeling lightheaded, and that half-dizzy disconnected feeling in my head. After my yearly physical with Dr. Tipton in January, he thought I should see an endocrinologist, so I made the appointment. It took a couple of months to get in to see her, but I had my visit finally on Tuesday. I had been very prayerful and hopeful that she would be able to help me. I was more than disappointed in my visit with her. I felt like she wasn't really listening to me and she never really gave me a chance to talk much. When I told her what my naturopathic doctor said, she said she would not acknowledge anything he said because she didn't feel he was a "real" doctor. I took my adrenal supplements to show her and she did not like me taking the Adrenal Rebuilder. She said the other vitamins were okay, but wanted me to get off the Adrenal Rebuilder (the porcine glandular extracts). She kept saying, why would anyone want to take pig hormones when they could have the real thing. I wanted to explain that if she read the ingredients closer she would see that the hormones have been removed -- but she didn't give me the chance.

After I showed her my tilt-table test that stated I had vaso-depressor syncope, she said, "Well, you have a diagnosis here!" as if to say, "Why are you here then". She also wondered why they would give me a beta blocker and thought they should have given me Proamatine (which raises blood pressure) and I told her they didn't because sometimes my blood pressure is a little high -- it just drops a lot when I stand sometimes. I tried to explain that it's been more than just feeling dizzy and lightheaded and faint, but that I was having all these other symptoms. I gave her a list I typed up of all the symptoms I had been having, but I don't think she even gave it a second glance. I was getting so frustrated by all this, and after my high hopes, I started crying and then she said, "Well, it looks like you may have some depression too since you are crying." After she said that I started getting kind of upset. At any rate, she did order a bunch of tests for me to have done that I'll be having done next week. An MRI, MRA, and a Cortisol test among many other blood tests. So, I suppose I got what I was looking for as far as having some more in-depth tests done to determine a possible underlying cause of my symptoms, but was certainly left disenchanted with the doctor. Do they not teach people skills in medical school? They should!

Right now, I'm feeling confused. All of my symptoms seem to fit with the adrenal fatigue diagnosis, but everything I've been trying to do to help that from changing my diet, lifestyle, and taking all these supplements, hasn't helped much. I'm still on this rollercoaster where I feel okay some days, and pretty lousy others. The only thing I know for certain is that taking Threelac helps me feel a little better. I pretty much eat a candida-free diet, so I don't know why yeast problems keep popping up if I don't take it. So, until I have these tests done next week, I'm just going to keep taking a daily multivitamin, extra vitamin C, and my Threelac. I've also decided to try getting off the beta blocker I've been on (Toprol XL) by taking half a tablet a day for a few more days, then going off it entirely. I've been scared to do that, but I'm going to try. I hope any of you that have had similar problems with feeling faint, dizzy, lightheaded, disconnected, etc. have more success than I have in determining the cause and solution. I will post again after I get the test results next week.

Still searching for answers

I sometimes feel like I'm going back in time. My heart has been racing more and I've had some heart palpitations, insomnia, and headaches like I haven't had in a few years. So, what does that all mean? I'm not sure. I'd like to think it means I'm reversing this problem and will start to feel myself again before too long. I have an appointment with an endocrinologist in March, so it will be interesting to get her take on all these things. Right now I'm pretty convinced that my problems are a combination of adrenal, thyroid, and candida issues. How to fix it all, I'd sure like to know. I hate feeling half-dizzy like I have the last few days. I'm eating as healthy as I can. I've removed all white sugar and white flour and products containing them and don't eat fruit high on the glycemic index. I've tried to balance protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. I've tried to eat more non-starchy vegetables. I'm trying to exercise at least 3 times a week. It's not real strenuous exercise -- Wii Fit, Yoga Pilates, and a little basketball -- and I haven't been consistent as I should, but still. I should be feeling better than I do. I mean I'm 35, 5'7", and 125 pounds, don't drink or smoke, don't drink caffeine, eat healthy, and live a pretty low stress lifestyle. I should be feeling great -- but I'm not! I guess that's why I'm still continuing my quest for answers.

My eye twitch finally went away. Not sure what the cause of that was. Go figure!

MSG sensitivity and Dr. visit

At my visit with Dr. Wright I mentioned that while taking the multi-vitamin Equilib I constantly had a twitch under my left eye, but I didn't when taking Super Supplemental vitamins from Natures Sunshine. He thought I might have a sensitivity to some of the ingredients in Equilib that are supposed to support the central nervous system. He asked if I also got the twitch after having a diet soda or anything with MSG in it. I hadn't really paid attention to that, so I didn't know how to answer. However, later in the week I made some homemade chicken soup with brown rice shell noodles, and even though I used organic chicken broth without msg, I put in a can of cream of chicken soup to make it creamy so my kids would eat it and that had msg. Not long after dinner I developed the twitch under my left eye again. If Dr. Wright wouldn't have said something about MSG I would not have made the connection. After doing some research on MSG, I discovered disturbing news about the effects it has on the nervous system -- even on the FDA's website! I can tell you that from now on I'm going to avoid MSG like the plague -- which is hard to do because it is hidden in things by all kind of names. Go to http://www.truthinlabeling.org to read more about how MSG is hidden. I'm wondering if MSG, especially in soups (which I love to eat a lot of), is partly to blame for my continuing adrenal fatigue, erratic heart rate and blood pressure, etc. I'm trying to do the candida-free diet for a while and will see how it goes.

Lab Results not as expected

I got my ZRT Lab results today and they weren't quite what I expected. My cortisol levels were actually too high in the morning and at night and normal during the day. I fully expected them to be low. However, the more I've been reading about high levels of cortisol, it makes sense. Thinning skin, dry skin, darkened stretch marks, thinning arms and legs, easily bruised are all things I've been experiencing. My DHEAS were low as well and T3 was low and TSH elevated. So, I think it's a combination of adrenal fatigue and thyroid problems. I've got an appointment with Dr. Wright again next week to go over the results, so I will post an update on what he says then.

Update on my progress

Well, I've been taking the adrenal supplements and taking super supplemental multi-vitamins (Nature's Sunshine) for about 3 months now, and avoiding all sugar artificial sugar substitutes, and white flour products. I've noticed improvement in some areas. I don't wake with abdominal pains in the morning much anymore and my digestion seems to be getting better. My head feels much clearer which if these supplements help with that and nothing else -- I'm happy. I hate that floaty head feeling. Also, I've not been feeling faint either. A little lightheaded at times, but not faint - so that's an improvement. I've had a few bad headaches still and still some tiredness and lack of energy, some bloating, and days where I just don't feel "right". I've tried to exercise more, and feel better the next day if I do, but it's hard to find the energy to start. Funny how that is. I have a yoga pilates DVD that I've enjoyed doing and I'm getting Wii Fit for Christmas so that should be fun. Hopefully will help to motivate me. So, overall, I guess things are going okay. I ordered a saliva and blood spot test from ZRT labs which my samples back to them got lost by UPS. So they sent a replacement kit and hopefully the samples will make it back this time. I'll post my results here on the blog for those interested. This adrenal fatigue is such a frustrating thing to deal with. It doesn't seem to have a get better quick solution. I'm going to try and get in to see an endocrinologist once I get my test results back to get her feedback on it all.