Update Doctor Appt. 9/27/09

Health Update
I went to the doctor today for the first time in three weeks. (He was out of the country) He said there is improvement enough in my adrenals to lesson the supplement for them. My thyroid is now coming to the forefront and he is addressing that with adding iodine back in. He hopes, as do I, that the iodine will make enough of a difference to see improvement, and it should happen within a week! I like that.

It is so neat to see how God designed our bodies and how my doctor recognizes that and acts accordingly instead of just a standard protocol. For the first weeks he spent each appointment adjusting my supplements to get my adrenals 'out of the basement' as he said. It was obvious that my pituitary was a player, but my body would not 'show' it. So he only addressed what my body was calling for. After a few weeks on that treatment my body started to 'show' pituitary, so we addressed that.Thyroid is also a player in adrenal fatigue, but up until today it has not been to the forefront. It was so neat to see how my body is directing the order of treatment. It knows what I need most and what should be addressed first. I know this probably doesn't make sense to someone who is unfamiliar with natural medicine, but trust me, it is real.

I struggle with wanting my doctor to move faster. I sometimes fell like he moves so slowly, but I know the Lord has put me in his hands, and there have been a couple of instances that if he had moved at my speed it would have been very detrimental to my health. I am so glad we have God to order our steps and give wisdom where needed.

Adrenal fatigue is very complex with many systems involved. It's not as simple as take something for your adrenals and you're better. There is something called the adrenal/pituitary/thyroid axis. Our bodies are so fearfully and wonderfully made. There is also the ovarian/thyroid/adrenal axis. All of these rely on each other to do their thing. At my worst, many systems were shutting down. One of which was the ovarian part of the axis, my cycles stopped. I have said for weeks that I would be encouraged if my period came back, because at least that meant something was getting better. Well, this weekend I started my period, well, sort of, it is starting slowly and with much pain (which is unusual for me) but at least it is trying to start. Sorry if this is TMI! I am choosing to believe it is a sign of healing, even if I don't feel better yet.

It is my understanding that much healing needs to go on inside the body before you actually 'feel' it. This is what I am believing is happening. Just seriously looking forward to 'feeling' it!

A dear sister has been in contact with me and had asked for some links that I thought I had provided. I am including them in here because there are others out there who need to know about this and maybe you can direct them. I am amazed at how many people have told me that what I am experiencing is what they have experienced and they didn't know it had a name until they read this blog.

Here is the link to an awesome website by a Dr. Lam. You could spend hours, literally, reading all he has to say on adrenal fatigue as well as many other health issues. In all my reading, this is probably the most informative.http://www.drlam.com/articles/adrenal_fatigue.asp

Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome is the best book I have read on the subject

Diet Issues

I am not doing well with keeping grains and dairy completely out of my diet. I do try to most days not have any grains. The ones I do have are mostly organic tortilla chips, a vehicle to get the guacamole I am craving in me. I might have a nibble here or there of some grain that the kids are having, but for the most part I do not.

Oh, there is Saturday night popcorn, which my doctor feels is the anti-Christ, I am quite sure. But I think I am okay with it right now.

I am having a hard time keeping up with my blood sugar. Nothing sounds good so I wait to eat, then I am crashing from blood sugar drops and the cycle continues on all day. I feel like I am chasing my blood sugar.

A normal day:

3-4 scrambled eggs
tomatoes or an apple

1/2 apple with cashew/almond butter

chicken or fish with salad or veggie

glass of kombucha and some nuts or apple/nut butter

Some sort of meat and a veggie

Sept. 20-26

The beginning of the week was okay, not great but I didn't have too many major crashes. We are trying to find ways to get the kids out or me out as I still cannot handle a normal days stress.

I am still exhausted and the depression and emotional aspect is very huge right now.

From Thursday on I was extremely emotional. Crying off and on all day, sometimes for no reason at all. I did 'spot' on Friday and it continues on mildly. I wonder if the extreme emotions are my due to my period possibly coming back. It stopped when I crashed, I believe it was part of my body shutting down. I have said that when it comes back I will feel like it is a sign of things getting better. I hope I am accurate on that.

My doctor gets back from a three week vacation on Monday, I have an appointment at 10:15. My mind wants to swim with things to tell him and things to 'make' him give me. I sense this is wrong and feel the Lord telling me to trust Him. To trust my care to God and He will order my and my doctors steps. This very hard for me. I want to feel better so badly. I am getting very weary.

I feel so lost, with life. I can't mother, hardly at all. I can't do much around the house. I am a mess for Brian at all times. I feel lost and alone even though Brian is so supportive and I have eight other bodies around me all day. I miss doing school, I miss being productive. I miss being me. I sometimes wonder if 'I' will ever come back. Even if we get this adrenal fatigue healing, will I now struggle with hormone issues, perimenopause ect. I do long to have another baby or babies, twin girls ;-)

Sept. 13-19

I was very excited to have two good days of no crying, Sunday and Monday. But then I came crashing down on Tuesday. It was a horrible day, emotionally. The week was about the same, full of ups and downs.



Saturday, I woke up feeling somewhat better than I have and was able to do some organizing and cleaning with the rest of the gang. At 11:00 am we were about to head downstairs, I stopped as I felt something not right inside of me, dear husband noticed and said when we get downstairs you are going to SIT!

Well, we went downstairs and within minutes I hit a wall! I mean slammed right into it, not literally, mind you. It is the weirdest feeling. Nothing in me was able to push through and immediately the tears start. I am not sure if the tears are part of the physical exhaustion or the reality that I can't do what I want to do. Probably both.

My dear husband says, 'this is enough, we should have saw this coming, off to bed for you!' He tucked me in and I slept soundly for about two hours.

Pretty discouraged that I am not seeing any improvement.

Sept. 6-12, 2009

This started out to be a good week, continuing on with the upswing of last week, but then our water went out and the kids got sick and the baby was miserable.

Apparently, even though I tried to stay detached and remain calm all these things really affected my body. I had 3-4 really bad days as far as anxiety went. I even resorted to a xanax.

I am encouraged though by what the Lord is doing through all of this.

At the beginning of the week I was meditating on the mind/body connection to all of this. How we are stressed without even knowing it, often times. In one of my devotional times I felt the Lord led me through one scripture after another about the mind/body connection. I laughed as I thought about how science thinks they came up with this, but God wrote about it years and years ago!

August 30 - Sept. 5, 2009

Things started to turn around this week. I can tell I am feeling better. I am still very sick, and will be for a long time, but I can tell I am getting better.

What is hard about this stage is that when you crash, you really feel it because you actually felt pretty good before you crash. Unlike a couple of weeks ago you just felt awful and there were so many crashes that they didn't seem that big of a deal.

Dr. Lietz is gone for three weeks now and has me set to just sort of coast while he is gone. He doesn't want to change much of anything so as to not push me too hard.

6 ADHS
3 PT/HTP
3 Gammonal forte
1 Bio B3G every hour (not really happening, just when I remember)