*This post was written in 2013 with everything recreated from my forum posts, Facebook updates and written notes I had from doctor’s visits.
See the previous posts in this series – first symptoms, Doctor #1, Doctor #2
and Doctor #3.
During the time I was waiting to get all of my results back from the Doctor #3 visit, I decided to start researching Lyme as she had mentioned. Keep in mind, at this point, I’m also researching other things she mentioned such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (which she called a trash can diagnosis – what doctors say when they have no clue), multiple sclerosis, lupus….well you get the idea. Think of an autoimmune disorder or a scary disease and I was researching it.
Could It Be Lyme?
And I had to admit, many symptoms of Lyme did sound familiar. Too familiar. And it did say that it mimicked a lot of the other diseases she had mentioned we were going to investigate. But the hypothyroid symptoms were similar too. And much easier to deal with so I continued on under the belief that that’s what it was. Because after all, I am NOT an outdoors person.
If I’m being honest, I quit reading about Lyme disease after my initial research on it because it scared me. Really scared me. Page after page covered the controversy surrounding the disease with no tried and true treatment, insurance companies that wouldn’t pay, doctors who wouldn’t treat it and an underground network of doctors with names that couldn’t even be mentioned in an online forum for fear of losing their medical license. I saw stories from people who had died from complications, ended up in wheelchairs or bedridden and had basically had their life taken away from them. It was too much so I put that possibility out of my head.
Back to the Doctor’s Office
On November 5th, I had a follow-up with her and she said she believed I was hypothyroid. Though most of my labs were within “normal” ranges, they weren’t in optimal ranges and my reverse T3 was through the roof. She prescribed a very low dose of Armour thyroid for that. She also discovered with my saliva test that I had adrenal fatigue. This can of course make your feel horrible. So the two of those together could account for a lot of my symptoms. She prescribed Cortef for it in low doses to be taken twice a day. But she still wasn’t convinced that was it.
I asked if she still planned to test for Lyme and she said yes, let’s definitely do that. It may be nothing but I really feel like we should do that test. It was a simple blood test so no big deal.
My total for the visit and Lyme testing was a much more palatable $192. I didn’t even bother sending it into my insurance company this time.
When I returned home, I began looking up Cortef (med for adrenals) and found a lot of controversy surrounding it. First, supplementing your adrenals is tricky business as it can interfere with your natural production of the levels in your body. You could end up where you had to have supplementation for life. It scared me a bit so I decided not to start taking it yet.
In just one more week, I would reevaluate everything. Read on about the phone call that would change everything.