I'M BAAAAACK

In more than one way...

 

First of all I have internet again! Y'all, it has been 8 months since we had internet in our house! This is why I have been lax in my blog posting. :( I have missed blogging so so much! Also, for those blogging friends of mine who I have been promising new headers- I am working on them at this very moment! :) It's good to be back!

 

Secondly, I have rejoined the land of the living.

 

I have not said much here because whenever I do open myself up like that I get nasty trolls commenting. Nice.

 

For years on this blog you can see me mentioning hormone issues that I needed to get checked out. Well, then May 2012 hit. I wrote a little about it here.

 

As you will see in the linked post, I assumed it was stress related. I did enough research to know I wasn't depressed. Then the symptoms multiplied:

 

From September to December, I got severely nauseated- couldn't get out of bed and took multiple pregnancy tests. Besides the nausea, I also felt really, really crummy. The best way to describe it is this: in February Annie got a virus which she gave to Paul and he gave it to me. A week of fever and feeling like death. Well, I didn't know I was sick until I took my temperature because I felt like that on a daily basis. Also in February, my memory was affected and that was really scary. At this time too, I began gaining weight like I never have before. fun. (and these aren't even all of my symptoms- I went to the dr with a short novel!)

 

I had heard enough about Lyme disease, and I had many of the symptoms. It was time to see a dr.

 

She confirmed I had high prolactin levels, and very low vitamin D. She tested me for thyroid issues, Lyme, and everything else under the sun. We started a very high regimen of vit D (50,000 IU 3x per week). My vit d began going up and she asked if I was feeling better. Nope. She was at a loss. She had no idea why I was still feeling bad.

 

Obviously I became discouraged. "Nothing was wrong" but I was sicker than I had ever been in my life. I couldn't get out of bed and I felt like death for over a year.

 

I kept taking my pills and kept trying to just survive.

 

Then in August, 6 months after starting the pills, I started having good days. I tried to tell myself that I was getting better. I was being positive and telling myself the pills were working. Well, I'd feel good for a day or two then back to feeling like death for a few days. Would I ever get better?!

 

Finally in September I noticed I went a full week of feeling normal, then a day feeling crummy. Wow, a whole week?! Then I got my September blood work back and it said both my prolactin and vit D levels were great. I would still have to take the vit d, but my numbers were good. I was also starting to feel better every day.

 

For the last week or so, I have felt ALIVE. I think I am finally better!

 

I am shocked it was only because of the vit D! I had heard how nasty low vit D could be, and my dr suspected it from the start, but she was at a loss why it took so long for me to feel better. I guess that explains why I felt so bad- since it took so long for me to feel better ya know? It must have been really bad!

 

One of the dance moms at Annie's dance class has Lupus. I was explaining my symptoms and she was sympathetic. Lyme and Lupus had terrible symptoms that I had not experienced, but there were those that I had experienced. That virus feeling that I lived with for over a year, she knew exactly what I was talking about. We had experienced the same thing there.  After almost 2 years of suffering and feeling very alone, I had someone who understood me! I also have a friend on facebook who experienced something similar to what I went through. It was priceless to me to know that I wasn't alone and I wasn't crazy.

 

Slowly but surely, I am picking up the pieces of my paused life. I can finally clean the house, (couldn't do more than 30 minutes of housework a day without completely overdoing it!), and I can start exercising again. Also, when I felt so terrible, I ate what made me feel better. You make think I am making this up, but I was forced to eat badly. Only certain foods, like ice cream, could make me feel well enough to do everyday things like grocery shop. I can't tell you how many times at Wal-Mart that I would have to take a break on a bench- y'all, I can't express how awful I felt. But now that I feel better, I have begun eating healthy again. It feels great! I'm excited to reclaim my body! There are also projects that have been on hold while I tried to survive. I'm excited to get those rolling!

 

I am reservedly optimistic. A year and half of feeling like death will do that to you. ;) For now, I am enjoying feeling alive again. I am cleaning the house, getting back in shape, and beginning my projects. Praying those dark days are over!