Sick for Life: Pt 3.

Infertility has to have a cause. Reoccurent loss isn't normal is all I could say to myself...

Diving back into the book, I started to piece apart what could be my issue. Within my reading I discovered thyroid disorders and how they effected your cycle, what physical symptoms someone might experience and how to go about getting proper testing. With notes in hand, I accessed a Quest Diagnostic lab and requested a full thyroid panel to check for antibodies, and all the things conventional medical doctors don’t check for. Days later I would receive an email showing my results and with a diagnostic note attached to my labs suggesting a thyroid cancer screening. To my surprise my thyroid had come back with antibodies that topped the chart- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis was my diagnosis and a self-discovered diagnosis at that. A little panicked at the thought of thyroid cancer and years of symptoms with no known cause I quickly took my results to my Physician. A little caught off guard I had sought testing on my own, he did all the necessary testing to confirm the Hashimoto’s diagnosis and confirm cancer was not an issue for me. I had a thripid ultrasound where they noted the stripping on my thyroid which indicated the permanent damage and solidified my diagnosis.

With this new diagnosis of Hashimoto’s, I was quickly placed on thyroid medication and advised to lay off our efforts in starting a family until we could get my thyroid antibodies leveled out. We went back to “trying, not trying” and within 30 days of starting thyroid medication I fell pregnant again, but this time it stuck and nine months later we’d give birth to a beautiful baby boy.

Fifteen months is how long it took us to start a family. Not knowing if Hashimoto’s was the true answer to all our infertility problems we decided to get ahead of the game and our efforts in having a second child. Around four months postpartum I began receiving care from a board certified OBGYN that had a focus in functional medicine and finding the root cause issue for hormone imbalances and reproductive health.

Around the eight-moth postpartum mark I began to experience rapid unexplained weight loss. Still seeing a functional medicine doctor she elected to run some food sensitivity testing. Throughout the years and even now postpartum I had continued to have stomach issues as well as high inflammation throughout my body. The idea with the food sensitivity test was to see what my body was reacting to and then go through the process of an elimination diet. It was this food sensitivity test that really changed the trajectory for my health journey. Results came back and I was flagged sensitive in all the “Gluten & grain Categories”. The functional medicine physician I was seeing at the time decided to run a series of blood test call Serological Testing for Celiac disease and to my surprise it came back positive. I had celiac disease. How had I gone almost 30 years without knowing this and how was I supposed to completely change my way of living to eliminate gluten. And not just gluten but the cross contamination of gluten. This could be a blog entry, and it very well may be. The lifestyle changes I had to make to become celiac safe in my home was daunting.

Moving forward into my early thirties now, I am still here struggling with fatigue, brain fog, muscle soreness, joint pain, and hormone imbalances. Illness my kid brings home from daycare can seemingly take me out for weeks at a time. My functional medicine doctor had been working with us on establishing a plan for IUI in an attempt to have a second child when an innocent stomach virus brought home by my toddler hospitalized me for days. I became jaundice and there were signs my liver was shutting down. Kept for observation my labs began to improve, but I was sent home without answers. Our efforts to producing a second child were put on hold as we refocused on getting me better. More testing was needed and my FM physician at the time thought an MRI to check for MS and Addison’s disease was needed to rule out an adrenal disorder as bloodwork indicated my body was being taxed passed a capacity it could handle. While waiting for simple labs to be ran prior to a scheduled MRI we found out we were pregnant. Efforts then shifted again from my health to my health plus the babies making sure we did everything in our power to assure this pregnancy would stick and we’d see a healthy baby in the end.

Nine months later our efforts paid off and we welcomed our second healthy baby boy into the world.

Six months postpartum with my second son and history feels like it’s repeating itself. Im struck with debilitating fatigue, headaches, dizziness, high inflammation, and continuing stomach issues. Still seeing the same functional medicine doctor, she asked to run a tick panel. Assessing years of issues of unexplained symptoms, she advised she felt confident that I may be dealing with Lyme disease. I brushed her off at first, but with her persistency decided to move forward with testing. To my surprise I tested positive for Lyme disease and thus you find me where we are today...

I’ve since found a Lyme literate doctor and plan to start treatment for Lyme disease in 2024. My treatment is being delayed due to my choice to continue to breastfeed my son until at least his first year.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to track my journey making lifestyle changes and adopting more holistic healing practices. I invite you to come along on this real and raw journey. I’m going to provide my honest review of products, foods, supplements, and share the things I’m doing a long the way.