Yesterday I was having horrific anxiety again, which has come on since starting the Armour. I think I probably have a Reverse T3 problem and I just got some labs done to see.
I was getting ready for bed and my heart seemed a little weird. I just had this strange feeling and I felt extremely lightheaded and dizzy. So I went to lie down and my husband was talking to me. Then suddenly this intense stabbing pain hit me like a damn train. It completely took my breath away and went on for about 25 seconds. I got so scared, I started to cry and hyperventilate.
Then suddenly...gone. WTF!? I was ready to call 9-11 because it felt like a heart attack. It has me so freaked out now. It was such a sharp pain. Probably the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. Worse than that kidney stone I had years ago. Worse than falling off the monkey bars and having to walk home with a broken arm. It was so intense.
It was NOT one of those Precordial Catch pains. I've had those before where it hurts to breathe out the whole way. No no. This was like someone was squeezing my heart as tight as possible. I felt almost paralyzed by the pain.
Why can't stuff like this happen when I have a monitor on me? lol
Showing posts with label chest pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chest pain. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Journey Continues...
Here is My story-Part 3!
All eight amalgams were removed in September '08 and I began to chelate with low dose DMSA following Dr. Cutler's frequent dose protocol. I didn't realize that EDTA, cilantro, challenge tests and chlorella were dangerous before. I no longer recommend them to anyone. My hair started to grow back within a few days of chelating with DMSA.
Unfortunately during my 8th round of chelation in October '08 I crashed. I don't know if it was the chelation, a mercury dump or it was just destined to happen. I began to get very itchy. It started off with hives and then led to skin itchiness, which completely controlled my life. This went on for 2-3 months. Finally I started to lose weight/night sweats and went to a PCP in the area. She told me I had swollen lymph nodes near my collar bone and was quite concerned about me. She did the standard basic blood work and my TSH came back undetectable. The PCP was convinced I had a hyperthyroid and sent me for testing. However I refused to undergo the radioactive scan/uptake test. I did the ultrasound which came back completely normal. More blood work actually suggested secondary hypothyroid because I had low FT3/FT4. She completely dismissed this and thinks TSH is the know all for the thyroid. Worthless, useless doctor and she didn't really want to hear about it anymore and just referred me to an endo. Yes she was a DO btw. Some people think these types of docs are wonderful... Well in my experience they are terrible too.
Dr. Goldstein wasn't sure about all of this and he told me to see an endo as well. During this time, the itching was just so bad. It would make me shake. Some blood work showed an elevated ALT , low neutrophils and WBC's. This is when I completely discontinued chelation and decided my body needed to rest.
Over the course of the next few weeks, the itchiness got better on its own. I developed severe chest pains in the middle of December which were terrible too. At first it was quite sharp, but then became this dull ache that last for several weeks. A trip to the ER did not reveal much of anything. They told me I pulled my chest wall. I just recently got the labs from that ER visit and it shows my potassium was low, which can cause heart problems and my ALT was elevated again. None of this was ever mentioned to me when I was there. Apparently they didn't think it was important... The lesson here to ALWAYS GET COPIES OF YOUR BLOOD WORK!
While waiting for the endo appointment to arrive, I started looking online for more answers. I needed help and knew the endo would be a waste of my time. I just wanted to be as prepared as possible for the appointment with a stack of labs in hand, so I didn't have to come back again. Thankfully I found a few yahoo groups and a hormone support group with other people suffering from the same symptoms as me! They were able to tell me which labs needed checked especially since I was dx with diabetes insipidus. During all of this, I was recommended a doctor about 5 hours from me and after some thinking decided to go see him.
It was the best decision I ever made in my life. After all of this craziness, I think I might actually get some help. No offense to Dr. G but he never helped me in the entire year's time I saw him and wasted that entire year chasing bullshit. I was never given florinef even though he saw my low aldosterone numbers. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. The new doctor questions whether I really have Diabetes Insipidus and that it may only be low aldosterone symptoms. He has diagnosed me with adrenal insufficiency (the cause we are still investigating), low aldosterone, and hypothyroid.
I just started on florinef and will slowly raise it over the next few weeks. I can't wait to see what it does for me! Maybe I can handle the hot weather again. Once I reach 1 tab of Florinef, I will begin 30mg of HC. After I am stable on Florinef and HC, then we will be rechecking my thyroid numbers to see if I will need Armour too. I have a feeling that I will but, who knows?
Things I am still investigating and will be battling:
--Why has my ALT been elevated?
--Why does my TSH fluctuate so much?
--HC/Florinef dosing--trial and error
--What is causing the adrenal insufficiency? Enzyme deficiency? pituitary?
--Can I cure all of this with chelation?
All eight amalgams were removed in September '08 and I began to chelate with low dose DMSA following Dr. Cutler's frequent dose protocol. I didn't realize that EDTA, cilantro, challenge tests and chlorella were dangerous before. I no longer recommend them to anyone. My hair started to grow back within a few days of chelating with DMSA.
Unfortunately during my 8th round of chelation in October '08 I crashed. I don't know if it was the chelation, a mercury dump or it was just destined to happen. I began to get very itchy. It started off with hives and then led to skin itchiness, which completely controlled my life. This went on for 2-3 months. Finally I started to lose weight/night sweats and went to a PCP in the area. She told me I had swollen lymph nodes near my collar bone and was quite concerned about me. She did the standard basic blood work and my TSH came back undetectable. The PCP was convinced I had a hyperthyroid and sent me for testing. However I refused to undergo the radioactive scan/uptake test. I did the ultrasound which came back completely normal. More blood work actually suggested secondary hypothyroid because I had low FT3/FT4. She completely dismissed this and thinks TSH is the know all for the thyroid. Worthless, useless doctor and she didn't really want to hear about it anymore and just referred me to an endo. Yes she was a DO btw. Some people think these types of docs are wonderful... Well in my experience they are terrible too.
Dr. Goldstein wasn't sure about all of this and he told me to see an endo as well. During this time, the itching was just so bad. It would make me shake. Some blood work showed an elevated ALT , low neutrophils and WBC's. This is when I completely discontinued chelation and decided my body needed to rest.
Over the course of the next few weeks, the itchiness got better on its own. I developed severe chest pains in the middle of December which were terrible too. At first it was quite sharp, but then became this dull ache that last for several weeks. A trip to the ER did not reveal much of anything. They told me I pulled my chest wall. I just recently got the labs from that ER visit and it shows my potassium was low, which can cause heart problems and my ALT was elevated again. None of this was ever mentioned to me when I was there. Apparently they didn't think it was important... The lesson here to ALWAYS GET COPIES OF YOUR BLOOD WORK!
While waiting for the endo appointment to arrive, I started looking online for more answers. I needed help and knew the endo would be a waste of my time. I just wanted to be as prepared as possible for the appointment with a stack of labs in hand, so I didn't have to come back again. Thankfully I found a few yahoo groups and a hormone support group with other people suffering from the same symptoms as me! They were able to tell me which labs needed checked especially since I was dx with diabetes insipidus. During all of this, I was recommended a doctor about 5 hours from me and after some thinking decided to go see him.
It was the best decision I ever made in my life. After all of this craziness, I think I might actually get some help. No offense to Dr. G but he never helped me in the entire year's time I saw him and wasted that entire year chasing bullshit. I was never given florinef even though he saw my low aldosterone numbers. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. The new doctor questions whether I really have Diabetes Insipidus and that it may only be low aldosterone symptoms. He has diagnosed me with adrenal insufficiency (the cause we are still investigating), low aldosterone, and hypothyroid.
I just started on florinef and will slowly raise it over the next few weeks. I can't wait to see what it does for me! Maybe I can handle the hot weather again. Once I reach 1 tab of Florinef, I will begin 30mg of HC. After I am stable on Florinef and HC, then we will be rechecking my thyroid numbers to see if I will need Armour too. I have a feeling that I will but, who knows?
Things I am still investigating and will be battling:
--Why has my ALT been elevated?
--Why does my TSH fluctuate so much?
--HC/Florinef dosing--trial and error
--What is causing the adrenal insufficiency? Enzyme deficiency? pituitary?
--Can I cure all of this with chelation?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Lower Back Ache
For the past ~1 1/2 weeks I've been getting a dull ache in my lower back. I know what kidney pain feels like and it is in that same region, but I'm betting it's the adrenals! Kidney pain is usually much more severe, hurts to whack on it and typically follows a UTI with blood in the urine. I've had true kidney pain before and this isn't it.
In the morning before I get up for the day, this ache has been a common occurrence with me for years. In fact the back pain is usually what gets my butt OUT of bed! haha
However it is different now because the pain can be at any time. I've been trying to pinpoint exactly when it occurs and still haven't figured it out. It switches sides too!
In addition to this, the chest pain was back today. It was so sharp for about an hour and then went away. I thought it would continue throughout the day, but it's completely gone. Muscle pain doesn't go away like that! Especially when it hurts just sitting in a chair...
Somehow all of this, the itching, back ache and chest pains must be related.
In the morning before I get up for the day, this ache has been a common occurrence with me for years. In fact the back pain is usually what gets my butt OUT of bed! haha
However it is different now because the pain can be at any time. I've been trying to pinpoint exactly when it occurs and still haven't figured it out. It switches sides too!
In addition to this, the chest pain was back today. It was so sharp for about an hour and then went away. I thought it would continue throughout the day, but it's completely gone. Muscle pain doesn't go away like that! Especially when it hurts just sitting in a chair...
Somehow all of this, the itching, back ache and chest pains must be related.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Doctor's Visit Wednesday
I made an appointment for Wednesday with the doctor. Ugh...I'd rather avoid a visit to the ER, but if it gets really bad or persistent I will go. Today is probably one of the worst days I've had. Almost feels like a lump or something stuck in my chest. I can breathe just fine, but it's just a really weird feeling. Pepcid did absolutely nothing for the pain. It is radiating into my back more and more now.
I have a violin lesson today. I love playing my violin, but with all of this chest stuff going on I am finding it more of an annoyance. I am getting MUCH better at it though. This week I added in the pinky finger. OUCHY! I don't have a callus on it yet, so it's pretty painful and it is a huge stretch to reach the string.
I have a violin lesson today. I love playing my violin, but with all of this chest stuff going on I am finding it more of an annoyance. I am getting MUCH better at it though. This week I added in the pinky finger. OUCHY! I don't have a callus on it yet, so it's pretty painful and it is a huge stretch to reach the string.
ETAscan is Bogus (Final Update)
Author's Edit, Oct 2014: I no longer in good conscience can tell people to use this machine. I believe there may be a New Age component to it. Stay away! It did not help me in any way. After 6+ years in Natural health, I have now laid everything down before the feet of Jesus, at the foot of the cross and have made Jesus my Lord and Savior of my life. I put my trust in Him for my healing because conventional doctors nor natural doctors nor New Age energy medicine can heal me.
Just so I can say I tried it, I took a Pepcid about an hour ago to see if my chest pain would go away. It is definitely still there, but I'm not sure how long it takes for Pepcid to kick in. I've never taken one before!
Today the chest pain is bad. Hurts when I laugh, breathe out and in. Just hurts sitting here too. I had really bad diarrhea yesterday and it is still here today. One crazy thing is that my blood pressure and heart rate is excellent. My heart rate was 60 when I checked it a little bit ago. 60! HOLY CRAP that's incredible!
The ETASCAN follow up was a complete bust. All of the information that was gathered last time was lost in a hard drive failure...I'll never know what organ or body part was all black. How disappointing indeed. It's important to add this here now... But how can the machine say I had all these terrible problems and then 2-3 days later, it said everything was green energy. I did nothing to change the energy as the doctor did not have time to make the "water drops". So...how could I go from black energy in multiple spots in my body to all green?
It was this appointment that made me realize the whole thing is bogus. I do not recommend it at all and spiritually it may be dangerous too.
Just so I can say I tried it, I took a Pepcid about an hour ago to see if my chest pain would go away. It is definitely still there, but I'm not sure how long it takes for Pepcid to kick in. I've never taken one before!
Today the chest pain is bad. Hurts when I laugh, breathe out and in. Just hurts sitting here too. I had really bad diarrhea yesterday and it is still here today. One crazy thing is that my blood pressure and heart rate is excellent. My heart rate was 60 when I checked it a little bit ago. 60! HOLY CRAP that's incredible!
The ETASCAN follow up was a complete bust. All of the information that was gathered last time was lost in a hard drive failure...I'll never know what organ or body part was all black. How disappointing indeed. It's important to add this here now... But how can the machine say I had all these terrible problems and then 2-3 days later, it said everything was green energy. I did nothing to change the energy as the doctor did not have time to make the "water drops". So...how could I go from black energy in multiple spots in my body to all green?
It was this appointment that made me realize the whole thing is bogus. I do not recommend it at all and spiritually it may be dangerous too.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Today Has Been Interesting
I was having a pretty bad achy, rolling type chest pain on the left side last night. Considering I am 24, I wasn't suspecting a heart attack. I prayed about it and asked God to tell me what to do in the morning.
Well I woke up with a UTI. HAH! ...and I went to one of those walk-in urgent care places to take care of that. I didn't want to have this all weekend! While there, I decided to tell them about my chest pain. Hey why not? I'm already here! God works in mysterious ways. I don't appreciate the UTI, but it did get me to the doctor....Well I ended up having a chest x-ray done. Doctor told me she didn't see anything out of the ordinary on it and didn't know why I was having the pain. I am not completely sure what she was looking for. Perhaps pneumonia or a cracked rib?
Right before we got home from the urgent care, I was seriously considering going to the ER. It started to get really bad. Went from my left side to my back near the shoulder blade then over to the right side. I've been sucking it up because I feel like I'm going crazy. I think I should have gone to the ER tonight, but we had been sitting in that urgent care for a LONG time tonight and really didn't feel like waiting another 6 hours in an ER. /sigh I'm sure it will hurt really bad again some time soon. All this bizarre weird shit has been happening to me and I am starting to feel like I have finally lost it...I'm not making all of this stuff up. These past few weeks have really just been pure hell for me.
The chest pain is basically all the time now. Doesn't matter if I am holding my breath or not. It goes through periods where it is REALLY bad and then it is tolerable. It isn't a sharp pain though. It gets very very achy. I can't even describe it properly.
The doctor at the urgent care told me a radiologist will look over the films and if they disagree with her analysis I will be called. I guess this is good. That way I know someone who is trained to look at these films is taking a glance at it. Maybe they will see something on here that the doctor didn't see? I took a glance at it and it looked like bones to me. HAHA
One good news is that my thyroid ultrasound came back completely clean. There aren't any nodules or cysts anywhere on it and it is the appropriate size. I bet this has that PCP really confused. Oh noes!
The doctor at the urgent care told me my urine's specific gravity was really really low...That's not good. She said it was as low as the machine detects...UGH. I guess I need to start taking my DI meds again. She asked me about it. DI is the only thing on my charts there.
It is really funny when I come into contact with doctors who KNOW what diabetes insipidus is. I can tell when a doctor has NO idea what it is. They try to hint things that would pertain to diabetes mellitus and I immediately have to step in and say, I have diabetes insipidus. One of these days if I am ever in an accident or something, I swear I'm going to be injected with insulin because some dumb doctor doesn't know what DI even is! That will be one fun malpractice lawsuit.
Onward with my DI story. Doctors who KNOW DI, start asking all about it like I'm some type of mystical unicorn or elf. She was wondering how they diagnosed me with it and I just told her I was having dehydration symptoms and couldn't figure out why since I was drinking water all the time. That was the easiest most precise answer I could think of and it satisfied her. :-) DI is pretty rare. Most PCP's will NEVER see a case of it during their entire career. I can thank the mercury poisoning for that one.
What's next? I see myself going to the ER this week. That's probably what is next.
Well I woke up with a UTI. HAH! ...and I went to one of those walk-in urgent care places to take care of that. I didn't want to have this all weekend! While there, I decided to tell them about my chest pain. Hey why not? I'm already here! God works in mysterious ways. I don't appreciate the UTI, but it did get me to the doctor....Well I ended up having a chest x-ray done. Doctor told me she didn't see anything out of the ordinary on it and didn't know why I was having the pain. I am not completely sure what she was looking for. Perhaps pneumonia or a cracked rib?
Right before we got home from the urgent care, I was seriously considering going to the ER. It started to get really bad. Went from my left side to my back near the shoulder blade then over to the right side. I've been sucking it up because I feel like I'm going crazy. I think I should have gone to the ER tonight, but we had been sitting in that urgent care for a LONG time tonight and really didn't feel like waiting another 6 hours in an ER. /sigh I'm sure it will hurt really bad again some time soon. All this bizarre weird shit has been happening to me and I am starting to feel like I have finally lost it...I'm not making all of this stuff up. These past few weeks have really just been pure hell for me.
The chest pain is basically all the time now. Doesn't matter if I am holding my breath or not. It goes through periods where it is REALLY bad and then it is tolerable. It isn't a sharp pain though. It gets very very achy. I can't even describe it properly.
The doctor at the urgent care told me a radiologist will look over the films and if they disagree with her analysis I will be called. I guess this is good. That way I know someone who is trained to look at these films is taking a glance at it. Maybe they will see something on here that the doctor didn't see? I took a glance at it and it looked like bones to me. HAHA
One good news is that my thyroid ultrasound came back completely clean. There aren't any nodules or cysts anywhere on it and it is the appropriate size. I bet this has that PCP really confused. Oh noes!
The doctor at the urgent care told me my urine's specific gravity was really really low...That's not good. She said it was as low as the machine detects...UGH. I guess I need to start taking my DI meds again. She asked me about it. DI is the only thing on my charts there.
It is really funny when I come into contact with doctors who KNOW what diabetes insipidus is. I can tell when a doctor has NO idea what it is. They try to hint things that would pertain to diabetes mellitus and I immediately have to step in and say, I have diabetes insipidus. One of these days if I am ever in an accident or something, I swear I'm going to be injected with insulin because some dumb doctor doesn't know what DI even is! That will be one fun malpractice lawsuit.
Onward with my DI story. Doctors who KNOW DI, start asking all about it like I'm some type of mystical unicorn or elf. She was wondering how they diagnosed me with it and I just told her I was having dehydration symptoms and couldn't figure out why since I was drinking water all the time. That was the easiest most precise answer I could think of and it satisfied her. :-) DI is pretty rare. Most PCP's will NEVER see a case of it during their entire career. I can thank the mercury poisoning for that one.
What's next? I see myself going to the ER this week. That's probably what is next.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone has a safe and happy day. We visited the family last night, so we are free to do what we want.
Last night was the first time in a while I had a night sweat. It wasn't a drenching kind, but I was really really hot. I had to kick off the covers and let the cold air cool me down. There's no reason why I was hot last night. The baseboard heat was OFF in the room and it was in the mid 20's outside. What is really strange is that it is the first night that I could sleep. I've had insomnia for about 4 nights. I go to sleep fine, but then wake up 25 times usually after 4am.
The pain in my chest is back. I don't know if the doctor is in tomorrow, but I am calling to make an appointment. It is easier to make an appointment with the doctor than to try to give a message over the phone. The messages aren't given to her. I hope she knows this! I've been taking it easy with singing. I sang a little the other day and it was OK. Then 2 days later, I noticed it was aching whether I was singing or not. It's probably just a pulled muscle, but I just want it checked. The fact that is hurts when I breathe, exhale and laugh doesn't make me feel any better.
I have also been grinding the crap out of my teeth at night. I've been wearing my night guard and it's a good thing. I wake up with my teeth in all sorts of weird positions and my jaw crooked to one side. What the hell is going on? I'm not stressed at all! Holidays don't stress me...
Last night was the first time in a while I had a night sweat. It wasn't a drenching kind, but I was really really hot. I had to kick off the covers and let the cold air cool me down. There's no reason why I was hot last night. The baseboard heat was OFF in the room and it was in the mid 20's outside. What is really strange is that it is the first night that I could sleep. I've had insomnia for about 4 nights. I go to sleep fine, but then wake up 25 times usually after 4am.
The pain in my chest is back. I don't know if the doctor is in tomorrow, but I am calling to make an appointment. It is easier to make an appointment with the doctor than to try to give a message over the phone. The messages aren't given to her. I hope she knows this! I've been taking it easy with singing. I sang a little the other day and it was OK. Then 2 days later, I noticed it was aching whether I was singing or not. It's probably just a pulled muscle, but I just want it checked. The fact that is hurts when I breathe, exhale and laugh doesn't make me feel any better.
I have also been grinding the crap out of my teeth at night. I've been wearing my night guard and it's a good thing. I wake up with my teeth in all sorts of weird positions and my jaw crooked to one side. What the hell is going on? I'm not stressed at all! Holidays don't stress me...
Friday, December 19, 2008
Blood Work and Ultrasound--Done
I got the blood work done on Wednesday night. I got the ultrasound done this morning. She had me turn my head to the right, so she could do the left lobe. Just looked like gray stuff to me. With 1 really dark spot, but I don't even know where she was on my neck. It was probably the carotid artery.
This is what a normal thyroid ultrasound looks like...It's like another language.
When I was done, I told my husband it looked like a snail was in my neck. We both laughed. We'll probably get the results Monday (I'll be calling the doctors to give them a slight nudge). The blood work will definitely be done Monday. In fact it may have been ready today, but I didn't feel like bothering Dr. Goldstein. He's been really good to me recently. He's gone out of his way to make sure I get the appropriate tests done and I am very happy about that.
I was not going to get the ultrasound before the blood work came back, but I reconsidered. Even if my results were "normal" in the back of my mind I'd be wondering why it changed so rapidly. With the blood work and ultrasound we will know exactly what is going on or what is NOT going on. Possible goiter? Nodule? We will know soon.
2 days ago I did a LOT of singing. Since taking voice lessons, I've been trying to practice a lot. Getting better at hitting high notes with ease and being able to sing long phrases. Well I overdid it. Yesterday I woke up with a chest pain. It was really weird. It hurt when I exhaled, when I laughed and if I let my lungs get too empty. Today it is much better. I didn't sing AT ALL yesterday, which was hard for me. I sing all the time even without knowing. There is definitely still a little bit of pain, but way better. Obviously I pulled some sort of muscle in there! Leave it to me to pull a muscle in my chest.
This is what a normal thyroid ultrasound looks like...It's like another language.
When I was done, I told my husband it looked like a snail was in my neck. We both laughed. We'll probably get the results Monday (I'll be calling the doctors to give them a slight nudge). The blood work will definitely be done Monday. In fact it may have been ready today, but I didn't feel like bothering Dr. Goldstein. He's been really good to me recently. He's gone out of his way to make sure I get the appropriate tests done and I am very happy about that.
I was not going to get the ultrasound before the blood work came back, but I reconsidered. Even if my results were "normal" in the back of my mind I'd be wondering why it changed so rapidly. With the blood work and ultrasound we will know exactly what is going on or what is NOT going on. Possible goiter? Nodule? We will know soon.
2 days ago I did a LOT of singing. Since taking voice lessons, I've been trying to practice a lot. Getting better at hitting high notes with ease and being able to sing long phrases. Well I overdid it. Yesterday I woke up with a chest pain. It was really weird. It hurt when I exhaled, when I laughed and if I let my lungs get too empty. Today it is much better. I didn't sing AT ALL yesterday, which was hard for me. I sing all the time even without knowing. There is definitely still a little bit of pain, but way better. Obviously I pulled some sort of muscle in there! Leave it to me to pull a muscle in my chest.
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