Monday, December 28, 2009

Evidence against Endo

Endometriosis only exists in menstruating women. Mom, who has gone through menopause (finally!) still has what I call the 'family' symptoms.

We can pretty definitively say that there is an inherited inflammation issue. Now we just have to figure out why and how to combat it.

As the only case subject I know the story of in depth-- I'll be trackinig myself.

This is day 2 gluten free.

Both hands and right elbow are flaring up (pretty normal for me)

Case history:

*I've always, as long as I can remember, caught every illness going around. Not only would I catch it, but it would knock me flat and for longer than my peers. I missed a lot of school.

*I have always had horeendous and disabling periods-- esp. the first day. Even now, with children, my periods have always been miserable and very painful.

*I get diahhrea frequently

*I have food sensitivities-- citrus, milk, wheat, anything tropical, anything containing sugar, anything red... like tomatoes and strawberries... just about anything containing protein such as eggs (store bought) and legumes. Home-raised eggs do not affect me as badly.

* I am allergic to alfalfa-- even if I get near it. My reaction is to have a hard time breathing and to have mt whole body 'flare up'

* Around 17 my hands started hurting and stiffening. I was feeding alfalfa every day. Two years after my last contact with alfalfa I was pregnant with my third child, I was incapacitated by body-wide joint and muscle pain. I was tested for RA, lupus, etc etc etc, All negative. My body wasn't attacking the baby so I got shrugged off.

* During my second pregnancy I couldn't keep food down for the whole pregnancy,

* I get migraiones, especially when pregnant.

* My joints still flare up without warning. I have not found a pattern in the flare ups.

* I am allergic to cigarette smoke. It makes me ill and flares my joints up.

* Currently, after baby 3, my diet and exercise are having not effect on me. I am heavier than I have ever been and, though I do usually 100 crunches a day, my abs are still separated. I'm not THAT stressed about all this because I'm still very post-partum. Oh, and I'm losing my hair. My ponytail has never been this thin.

* I should mention that I have an anxiety disorder. I pinpoint it becoming a serious challenge at around 15, though I was always displaying signs of it, A low dose of sertraline keeps me even-keeled.

* When I am in contact with something I'm allergic to I get 'itchy acne' along my chin and throat and jaw line.

* On consuming carbs or something sweet I get seriously thirsty.

* I drink about 12 bottles of water a day. I am always thirsty,

* Blood sugar and food sesitivities make me moody, and give me migraines,

Now I have the puzzle pieces and need to fit things together.

1 comment:

MandaMommy said...

Have you looked into diabetes and other blood sugar sorts of things? And maybe there is more than one thing going on here. And *some* of these things might not be related to the real problem (i.e. some women are just unfortunate enough to always have bad periods, sometimes because of hormone imbalances? Just as an example--not saying that particular thing is insignificant.) Good luck!