Thursday, February 2, 2012

Looking up

Several weeks ago I wrote about my health. My health has been a normal topic of discussion in our household and amongst my family members in the last 5 years or so. I've come along way since being diagnosed in 2007 with Celiac Disease but lately I have been suffering from some not-so-fun consequences of the illness.

This past fall I switched doctors and was retested in many areas. I (following my dr's advice, of course) am concentrating on trying to improve upon these four main areas:

Vitamin D Deficiency: Things are looking up! yay! I've been vitamin D deficient for many years but thank goodness things are turning a corner. Normal vitamin D levels are between 50-70 ng/mL. My doc said he'd like to see my levels around 65 or 70. This past fall my vitamin D levels tested around 20. No bueno. :( This week they retested and I'm at 40! They upped my dosage from 10,000 units to 15,000 units/per day so hopefully I'll be in the 70's in no time. I'm thinking a little beach vacay with plenty of sunshine might just get me to the normal levels. :)

Candida Yeast: I am still doing a yeast free diet.... 99% of the time. I'll admit that I regularly sneak in a cup of coffee (or 2) per week but overall the yeast free diet is helping a lot. The main difference I've noticed is my face has really cleared up. My muscles aches and pains have eased up some and my cravings for sugar has decreased dramatically. I'll be staying on this yeast free diet for a little bit longer. I may just have to find a gluten free king cake for Mardi Gras though and have a cheat day. ;)

Thyroid: I'm still having some thyroid issues but my numbers are getting better....slowly.

Adrenal Gland: I haven't been retested on this yet. I still get really exhausted and feel fatigued most of the time but this probably is because my vitamin D levels are still low.

So why am I giving you a complete medical history? Believe me, it is definitely NOT conclusive, but I do want to record my progress along the road. Hopefully one day all of my lab tests will be 100% normal. I can look back and read about my journey of how far I've come physically and it will all be worth it! :)

1 comment:

Tricia Nae said...

Glad things are improving!! I've never had any of that stuff tested....but about a month ago...I probably would have failed ANY test given to me. It is kind of amazing what making changes in your diet will do! What a novel thought...huh? LOL Keep it up girl!! I am SO with you on needing a beach vacation!!