They took 5 vials of blood and the lady actually groaned and complained aloud when she saw that she had to draw that much. I thought to myself "Uh... that's your job. It's what you do all day long. What difference does it make if it's 5 vials from one person or 1 vial from 5 people?" Very unprofessional. At least my blue veins show up a mile away and they are easy to stick. You're welcome, whiner.
Anyway.... In a nutshell, Dr. S said that all my labs looked Great! *GRRRRRR!* That triggered a little flashback of all the years I was told there was nothing wrong with me while I was DYING OF LYME DISEASE!
When you are having all these symptoms, there is nothing worse than getting a lab report that basically says "Well whatever is wrong with you, you weren't tested for it or it didn't show up on this report because labs are not reliable. Or your doctor does not have good judgement and did not suspect what is REALLY wrong with you." That is how I translate Non-answers on a lab report.
Now, I like Dr. S, I think he's compassionate and a good listener. He is trying and giving his full attention to his patients. He said that he has an even narrower spectrum of what he considers within "normal" or "healthy" range than the lab report itself and I still fell within his narrower margins for "normal".
Now there were a few results that I was a little low or a little high~ outside of "normal" range. I had someone share the "Stop the Thyroid Madness" website with me. I started to investigate and compare my labs with what the lab results of people with thyroid disease (hyper or hypo) but that still fall into 'normal' range on a lab report. In other words, these people benifitted from thyroid treatment, but their lab results were normal, even though they were 'hyperthyroid' or 'hypothyroid'. So, labs are not reliable for diagnosing thyroid issues. From my initial comparison, my results do match with others that have hypothyroidism, but not perfectly. More to explore there.
Also, I still need to take my cortisol test and that will be a big help. I just have to go off my Adderall for 4 days and not have a complete meltdown in the process.
So, Dr. S. wanted me to start taking Progesterone for my PMDD symptoms. I suppressed an eye-roll. I have taken Progesterone on and off for years. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it makes me fat and gives me other negative symptoms, sometimes it helps. It is a supplement I wrote off a long time ago as 'inconsistent results with too many negatives'.
However, in the spirit of having a positive attitude and the open mind that possibly some hormonal changes have happened and it may work, I did it. He had a compounding pharmacy mix them up for me. I took them, 50 mg per evening before bed and in the first week, I gained THREE POUNDS!!! Not happening. I will not buy a larger pants size and I refuse to go to Walmart in my sweats. I got a headache and had insomnia the first night (They are supposed to make you sleepy. They did nothing at all for me in that area. I still have to take Benedryl to sleep). They also make my hair fall out. Fatter, hair falling out: No go. Needless to say, I stopped taking them after 3 lbs.
On the up side: Progesterone did make me feel a bit better, perhaps happier and more relaxed. So, to be fair, they had the desired positive effects, just with negative effects that I cannot live with.
Now on to my Adrenal supplements: I had been taking Metagenics Andrenogen for a few months and really liked it. I had purchased another brand at the same time, so when the Andrenogen ran out, started the other kind and it did NOT work, so went right back to Andrenogen and felt good again. If it's not broke, don't fix it, right?
Dr. S wanted me to try Thorne Research brand Adrenal Cortex. He looked and compared ingredients right there and said they were almost identical. Again, I was happy with what I was taking, but in the spirit of being a cooperative patient, I bought it and have been using it. It sucks. I immediately noticed a lower energy level, more PMSish, just overall, not as happy and mentally where I want to be. Normally my PMDD nightmare starts on day 23. Well, this month it started on day 15. I have had major insomnia, joint pain and swelling, horrible nightmares, panic attacks, headaches and multiple night sweats every single night. Then, to top it off, I started my period a full week early, on day 23. This NEVER happens~ only ONE time has it every happened in my entire life: One year ago exactly. So, I ordered the Andrenogen again and I'm NOT trying anything else. I can't wait until it gets here!
There is more and I want to go into detail on my lab results, but I'll have to save that for later! Daylight Savings Time ends in a couple days and I just can't wait for the apocalyptic darkness to descend for months on end. Nothing like the feeling of living in an eternal black hole to lift the spirits right? I hate winter. I need a happy light.