My body is a wonderland...
Jun. 8th, 2012 03:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
attractivegeekeryOf pain.
Seriously, things have been less than...awesome for me physically in the last few months.
I say few months because if my assumption is right I've been sick, yet not always symptomatic, since last October.
"Sick" is really kind of a misnomer, when what I really am/was is infected.
With a lead-in like that, you know you really want to read this cut:
I believe my timeline looks something like this:
Spring Discover and sign up to Run from Zombies in a rural Maryland 5K/Obstacle course the upcoming fall
Summer Train for Run from Zombies in a rural Maryland 5K/Obstacle course
October Run from Zombies in Rural Maryland. During course find yourself in over your head during the poorly described water hazard.* Think nothing of this, because of decade-long phobia concerning earthworms...and the existence of THE LARGEST EARTHWORMS EVER littering the course.
NovemberElections + Holidays = stress. Any symptoms, if there are any, are shrugged away as stress-related. Or Hormone related. Or diet related.
December Holidays + Family = stress. Any symptoms, if there are any, are shrugged away as stress-related. Or Hormone related. Or diet related.
January Symptoms are present, but not nearly strong enough to warrant a medical professional. Shrugged off as precursors to the bluescreening of gallbladder.
February Beginning to grow concerned for upcoming cross-continental trip with regards to gallbladder freak out. Symptoms are regular occurrences now, and stronger than before.
Three days prior to trip call doctor's office. It is suggested that food poisoning may be cause. Clear diet is suggested prior to flying.
March While in Pacific North West strange symptoms emerge. Eczema appears behind ear. Crushing chest pains also occur in waves shortly after landing in Pacific timezone.
See doctor upon return to Boston.
Exam is...inconclusive. I don't camp so it's not assumed that there could be any sort of parasitic infection. There's no abdominal tenderness, so that rules out gallbladder or kidney stones. On a whim, I'm asked to supply a sample for the lab.
An hour after I left the office it occurs to me that I had been running through a state park, where I may have have accidentally swallowed trace amounts of random river water.
This was Wednesday.
The following Monday I get a call from the Local Board of Health.
They've been alerted to my positive test results for Giardia, and would like to ask me a few questions about where I believe I was exposed.
I say Maryland, the woman on the other line is perplexed....but no where near as perplexed as when I begin to tell her why I was in rural Maryland.
I return to the doctor to discuss my options, and get a script for the meds that are going to cure me of this THING MOST FOUL! I share, once again, the story of the running of the undead, and my doctor is equally perplexed. Seriously, this guy has known me for years, he should not be surprised by these things anymore.
Meds get called in, but...they don't have any in stock so I'm going to have to wait a day. I return the next day, after having a cocktail or two, only to find that you can't have any alcohol in your system while the meds are also present. So no booze the day of, or three days after.
SO I wait more.
Take them.
They taste horrid...and seemingly do little to nothing.
I think that takes us through April and May.
Most, if not all, of this time I am still symptomatic. Cramps, bloating, abdominal distention. And worst of all? No weight loss.
Okay, I'm mostly joking here...mostly. Usually when one is presented with the idea of having an intestinal parasite, the first symptom you'd expect to find is weight loss. Sudden, shocking, amounts of weight loss. I experienced none of that. In fact, I gained weight, and looked BIGGER due to all the bloating and distension. I consider this unfair. Not only would I have questioned my health faster had I started dropping weight for no reason, but...COME ON! I've got fifteen pounds that could totally use a new home!
Sigh.
I return to the doctor and provide another sample.
Which...I then find out a week later was incorrectly processed, and could I please come by, pick up more tubes, and provide another sample.
Trust me, it's as gross for me to take part in as I'm sure it is for you to read.
A week goes by, nothing.
I leave a message with my doctor.
Still nothing.
I call back and leave another message with my doctor.
An increase in nothing.
I call again, this time my message is tinged with the frantic tone of the desperate, and someone calls me back. Apparently the doctor left notes for the nurses to call me back, but they never did?
Whatever.
Results are in: The meds did their trick. And any symptoms I'm having will iron themselves out as my natural rhythms set back in.
Only they don't.
This brings us up to this week. I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well. The pollen count is high. The rains they rain and cloudy makes the grey brain sleepy. And...I start to worry that maybe, just maybe, I may be in the 20-40% of people who lose the ability to digest lactose after a bout with giardia.**
So at the moment I've made an appointment with my doctor for next week, and in that time frame I'm conducting a little experiment: I'm not eating dairy. Or...at very least I'm avoiding it as much as humanly possible. At the moment I'm on No Moo: Day Two...and I'm really sad to report that I'm feeling kind of better.
There could be several reasons for this, but I worry that I'm going to have a test next week and it'll confirm my fear: That Cheese may be off the menu.
If that is the case, then I will merely add Lactaid to the already growing collection of pills that travel with me everywhere.
*In the course synopsis it was mentioned that this water hazard was going to be at maximum four feet deep. Actual hazard was well over my head, and I'm five foot six. Also not mentioned? How cold rivers in rural Maryland are. Also that they involve runoff from nearby farms where livestock may live.
**I could also have some sort of small intestine yeast infection, or cancer...possibly lupus. It depends on whether or not we're taking information from the discount text book section of my local medical bookstore currently undergoing a Going Out Of Business sale, or WebMD. I'll let you guess which diagnoses come from which source.
In other health related news, I went to the eye doctor today. Apparently I need not one, not two, but three new pairs of glasses. Or, I could get one new pair of glasses that come with removable sunglass parts, but I'm being told for the health and well being of my eyes I should be wearing sunglasses at all times when I'm outside.
I'm apparently cool like that.
Or at least that's how I'm framing that.
The other pair of glasses are for when I'm on the computer...a lot. Some people get reading glasses, but I get computer glasses. Or I will when I have the disposable cash to allow such things.
I briefly thought about contact lenses, but they'd only ever be a special occasion thing for me, kind of like high-heels. My prescription is such that it really bothers me to look at close things with my glasses on, so the same thing would happen with contacts.
The short version for people not wanting to read the long version:
- Zombies made me Lactose Intolerant...probably.
- I need new glasses, and it's possible my optometrist needs a new boat.
Seriously, things have been less than...awesome for me physically in the last few months.
I say few months because if my assumption is right I've been sick, yet not always symptomatic, since last October.
"Sick" is really kind of a misnomer, when what I really am/was is infected.
With a lead-in like that, you know you really want to read this cut:
I believe my timeline looks something like this:
Spring Discover and sign up to Run from Zombies in a rural Maryland 5K/Obstacle course the upcoming fall
Summer Train for Run from Zombies in a rural Maryland 5K/Obstacle course
October Run from Zombies in Rural Maryland. During course find yourself in over your head during the poorly described water hazard.* Think nothing of this, because of decade-long phobia concerning earthworms...and the existence of THE LARGEST EARTHWORMS EVER littering the course.
NovemberElections + Holidays = stress. Any symptoms, if there are any, are shrugged away as stress-related. Or Hormone related. Or diet related.
December Holidays + Family = stress. Any symptoms, if there are any, are shrugged away as stress-related. Or Hormone related. Or diet related.
January Symptoms are present, but not nearly strong enough to warrant a medical professional. Shrugged off as precursors to the bluescreening of gallbladder.
February Beginning to grow concerned for upcoming cross-continental trip with regards to gallbladder freak out. Symptoms are regular occurrences now, and stronger than before.
Three days prior to trip call doctor's office. It is suggested that food poisoning may be cause. Clear diet is suggested prior to flying.
March While in Pacific North West strange symptoms emerge. Eczema appears behind ear. Crushing chest pains also occur in waves shortly after landing in Pacific timezone.
See doctor upon return to Boston.
Exam is...inconclusive. I don't camp so it's not assumed that there could be any sort of parasitic infection. There's no abdominal tenderness, so that rules out gallbladder or kidney stones. On a whim, I'm asked to supply a sample for the lab.
An hour after I left the office it occurs to me that I had been running through a state park, where I may have have accidentally swallowed trace amounts of random river water.
This was Wednesday.
The following Monday I get a call from the Local Board of Health.
They've been alerted to my positive test results for Giardia, and would like to ask me a few questions about where I believe I was exposed.
I say Maryland, the woman on the other line is perplexed....but no where near as perplexed as when I begin to tell her why I was in rural Maryland.
I return to the doctor to discuss my options, and get a script for the meds that are going to cure me of this THING MOST FOUL! I share, once again, the story of the running of the undead, and my doctor is equally perplexed. Seriously, this guy has known me for years, he should not be surprised by these things anymore.
Meds get called in, but...they don't have any in stock so I'm going to have to wait a day. I return the next day, after having a cocktail or two, only to find that you can't have any alcohol in your system while the meds are also present. So no booze the day of, or three days after.
SO I wait more.
Take them.
They taste horrid...and seemingly do little to nothing.
I think that takes us through April and May.
Most, if not all, of this time I am still symptomatic. Cramps, bloating, abdominal distention. And worst of all? No weight loss.
Okay, I'm mostly joking here...mostly. Usually when one is presented with the idea of having an intestinal parasite, the first symptom you'd expect to find is weight loss. Sudden, shocking, amounts of weight loss. I experienced none of that. In fact, I gained weight, and looked BIGGER due to all the bloating and distension. I consider this unfair. Not only would I have questioned my health faster had I started dropping weight for no reason, but...COME ON! I've got fifteen pounds that could totally use a new home!
Sigh.
I return to the doctor and provide another sample.
Which...I then find out a week later was incorrectly processed, and could I please come by, pick up more tubes, and provide another sample.
Trust me, it's as gross for me to take part in as I'm sure it is for you to read.
A week goes by, nothing.
I leave a message with my doctor.
Still nothing.
I call back and leave another message with my doctor.
An increase in nothing.
I call again, this time my message is tinged with the frantic tone of the desperate, and someone calls me back. Apparently the doctor left notes for the nurses to call me back, but they never did?
Whatever.
Results are in: The meds did their trick. And any symptoms I'm having will iron themselves out as my natural rhythms set back in.
Only they don't.
This brings us up to this week. I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well. The pollen count is high. The rains they rain and cloudy makes the grey brain sleepy. And...I start to worry that maybe, just maybe, I may be in the 20-40% of people who lose the ability to digest lactose after a bout with giardia.**
So at the moment I've made an appointment with my doctor for next week, and in that time frame I'm conducting a little experiment: I'm not eating dairy. Or...at very least I'm avoiding it as much as humanly possible. At the moment I'm on No Moo: Day Two...and I'm really sad to report that I'm feeling kind of better.
There could be several reasons for this, but I worry that I'm going to have a test next week and it'll confirm my fear: That Cheese may be off the menu.
If that is the case, then I will merely add Lactaid to the already growing collection of pills that travel with me everywhere.
*In the course synopsis it was mentioned that this water hazard was going to be at maximum four feet deep. Actual hazard was well over my head, and I'm five foot six. Also not mentioned? How cold rivers in rural Maryland are. Also that they involve runoff from nearby farms where livestock may live.
**I could also have some sort of small intestine yeast infection, or cancer...possibly lupus. It depends on whether or not we're taking information from the discount text book section of my local medical bookstore currently undergoing a Going Out Of Business sale, or WebMD. I'll let you guess which diagnoses come from which source.
In other health related news, I went to the eye doctor today. Apparently I need not one, not two, but three new pairs of glasses. Or, I could get one new pair of glasses that come with removable sunglass parts, but I'm being told for the health and well being of my eyes I should be wearing sunglasses at all times when I'm outside.
I'm apparently cool like that.
Or at least that's how I'm framing that.
The other pair of glasses are for when I'm on the computer...a lot. Some people get reading glasses, but I get computer glasses. Or I will when I have the disposable cash to allow such things.
I briefly thought about contact lenses, but they'd only ever be a special occasion thing for me, kind of like high-heels. My prescription is such that it really bothers me to look at close things with my glasses on, so the same thing would happen with contacts.
The short version for people not wanting to read the long version:
- Zombies made me Lactose Intolerant...probably.
- I need new glasses, and it's possible my optometrist needs a new boat.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-08 08:15 pm (UTC)2) You will fit in well with the Floridian invasion, should it spread.
3) I am suddenly glad I missed the chance to run last fall, and am going to go personally check out the course here BEFORE the day of.
4) I am so sorry. Maybe it is a temporary intolerance due to the giardia and you can slowly reintroduce dairy?
4a) Kind of like the adventures I was having with reintroducing, well, food, after my experiment with vegetarianism for Lent. Several illnesses followed by a week of BRAT followed by an extremely slow reintroduction of anything more complex than rice and a banana seems to be working okay now, but uh. Adventures. Enough said about that.
4b) Point being, maybe it is a matter of reacclimating your digestive system rather than anything permanent? Establishing a healthy balance of gut flora, etc.?
4c) A quick skim of the PubMed/NIH summary suggests it could also be lingering symptomology due to length of infection. I will hope it is a combination of that and 4b, because that means adjustment to normal state is possible! CDC has good resources as well (public-health reportable things have all kinds of data available).
5) YIKES on the glasses. I guess the entire glasses-that-self-tint-in-sunlight thing is not a good option?
Thinking of you. <3.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-08 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-08 11:33 pm (UTC)*HUGS*
Also, wtf eye doctor. Three pairs? Maybe he DOES need a boat. Or two boats. One for everyday and one for special occasions.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-09 12:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-09 02:06 am (UTC)You might try taking some probiotics. They help restore the good gut bacteria, which is probably all unbalanced from the meds now. The yogurt (Activa) option might not be the best idea if dairy is problematic, but you can get capsules in the refrigerated section of health food stores and the like.
Oof, I am sorry, Bing. That really sucks.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-09 02:30 am (UTC)Fingers crossed for the appointment next week.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-09 03:14 pm (UTC)(Looove you!)
no subject
Date: 2012-06-12 05:40 pm (UTC)LANYHOODLE, I hope you feel better soon!