A whole lot of health updates

I don’t have a whole lot of life updates or happenings to share this week.

 

Last week I did not write a column as it was simply too painful of a week. I aggravated my back/leg/sciatic nerve and spent the entire week, continuing to today, nursing a spasm in my calf muscle. Quite painful. 

 

On a positive note, a new nerve blocking medication seems to be helping.

 

And on an even more positive note, I got results and a diagnosis of what was wrong with my left side pain/guts. I guess it’s just simply a “small intestinal bacterial overgrowth” (SIBO), most likely caused by the antibiotics I was put on when my wisdom teeth were pulled almost four years ago, about a month or two before these terrible pains started. SIBO often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years because its symptoms so closely resemble those of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or a host of other stomach problems. I saw a specialist last month who ordered five different tests and had even more she could test for afterwards. But the breath test showed positive for this rare condition. It is easily treated with a two week course of, ironically, a special antibiotic that will kill that bad bacteria in my gut that has been  causing me so much pain.

 

Based on what I read about this condition, it should not come back once treated. I am currently waiting on insurance to approve the $3,000 prescription. 

 

As I dove into this diagnosis further, I discovered I have been trying nearly every “home remedy” suggested.

 

Listed as a mandatory treatment was fasting for at least 12 hours overnight.

 

I had been stretching that to between 16 and 20 hours lately because that reduced the pain considerably. Going longer than that did not actually help. Although when I had to fast 30 hours for the endoscopy and colonoscopy, I did have the only day in the past 3.5 years when my body felt normal for 24 hours.

 

Turns out starving a bacteria can help reduce it.

 

Also offered among possible remedies is waiting at least five hours between meals: No soda or beverages with high fructose corn syrup, and no snacking. I don’t drink soda, nor do I snack, and finally, I really altered my diet to be a very small breakfast followed by one actual meal in the day. The pattern was almost imposed on me because, about four hours after eating, I get terrible, awful pains, along with a feeling of pressure. 

 

As I say, I was often in extreme pain, and I gradually developed these strategies over the past 48 months. Oftentimes, especially during the first year, I would lay curled up thinking I was dying or my heart was failing, since the pain was located high in my abdomen.

 

At that time I had no idea what the solution was to the pain. I tried a no acid diet because the doctors told me it was acid reflux. It wasn’t, and they told me I was wrong when I shared my feelings. The medication they prescribed made my situation worse, but I was told I was mistaken. Acid blockers slow digestion which also means that bad bacteria have more time to wreak havoc. Those same medications also gave me bouts of mild gastritis that showed up on my endoscopy test. 

 

I tried a gluten free diet. It didn’t help either.

 

I lost 50 pounds doing these horrible diets. Then when they didn’t work I gained about half of that weight back.

 

And, again based on some research, I discovered the internal pressure exerted by the bacteria  can cause back problems. So I am hoping that resolving this will relieve some of the pains from my two bulging discs. 

 

I was told by Natalie at Thrifty White in Waseca last week that she has no idea how I can do what I do. 

 

I told her I have an incredible team/staff. 

 

She repeated herself again and I went into more detail bragging about Deb, Amelia, Melanie and Ben and also the game store staff.

 

And she just shook her head. 

 

I am grateful for the tremendous amount of support and encouragement I receive regularly from these people who are not only a part of my work, but my life.

 

Cribbage

 

In cribbage this week I got the best of Dad, winning 14-6 with one skunk each. Our updated scores for the year follow:

 

Eli 180 wins, 17 skunks, Dad 150 wins, 27 skunks.

 

Lifetime

Dad 563, 88 skunks, Eli 517 wins, 56 skunks, 1 double skunk. 

 

(Dad and I played many games of cribbage virtually these past two weeks. He edged me in contests 37-31)