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I feel incredibly hopeless.

Just Want to Talk | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (70)

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@jenniferhunter

@morganjane There are a couple of things that come to mind. In your history are there bodily injuries (such as a whiplash?) or exposure to foreign materials in your body, perhaps extensive dental work? I ask because surgical implants are made of foreign materials and root canals contain toxic substances and I've been down that road myself and I know that removing my old toxic dental work improved my health a lot. I had also fractured my ankle recently, and the titanium fixation plates were causing pain and hives. I had them removed and my health and asthma improved. Are you exposed to mold where you live or work? That can cause health issues. Do you spend time outdoors? Some of your symptoms are common with Lyme disease and the many co-infections that are associated with a tick bite. Tick bites don't always cause the expected "bullseye" rash and a bite can easily be missed. Did you ever have a high fever that was unexplained?

I have had thyroid nodules for years, and had Hashimoto's thyroiditis which is an autoimmune thyroid condition. That was likely caused by the 50 year old silver amalgam dental fillings according to my environmental medicine doctor. My blood work was off the charts for the antibodies against my thyroid, and now after several years and after removing all the metals from my body, my blood work is now in normal range and no longer indicates Hashimoto's. The thyroid is very sensitive to toxic substances. Not everyone reacts to metal surgical plates, but I also became allergic to metals in pierced earrings no matter what I tried. I did also notice your tattoos, and tattoo ink has been written about in medical literature for toxicity.

Mainstream medicine may not look for a cause for these kinds of things. I found that my functional medicine and environmental medicine doctors were helpful for this, and they also optimize female hormones. There can be different reasons for thyroid nodules. I had multiple nodules associated with Hashimoto's and over time they shrank as I got better. My doctor said a single nodule is more of a concern for a suspected cancer. I did have a needle biopsy of the largest nodule which is a simple procedure and cancer was ruled out. I think it was an ear nose throat doctor who performed the procedure. An environmental medicine doctor can also advise the patient to see other specialists and recommend what specialties would be considered.

Here are some links with information about environmental medicine and Lyme disease. Lyme is misunderstood and it is hard to find a specialist who understands how to cure it if it is chronic.

In this discussion, "Lyme Disease and Neuropathy", you'll find a discussion and this comment has some specific information:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/237077/

Environmental Medicine
They can be allergy specialists and look at the functional chemistry in the body and optimize health. Here is a provider finder.
https://www.aaemonline.org/find-a-practitioner/

I have a current doctor who is also an allergy specialist in functional medicine who is in the Forum Health Group https://forumhealth.com/ They have doctors nationwide.

Typically these doctors look for a cause of a problem instead of prescribing something to treat an effect or symptoms of a problem. They may not be able to address all of your issues, but they may be able to help with some of it that is allergy or immune related.

There is also the practice that started this field of medicine. That is the Environmental Medicine Center Dallas in Texas. Here is there website. https://www.ehcd.com/ There is information at this website about issues they can treat.

Mold Toxcity
https://www.ehcd.com/mold-and-health

Perhaps some of these other avenues could help lead to an answer for you. It will likely take some time, perhaps years to trace the issues and find the source. You'll have to advocate for yourself. I didn't have answers for years on some of my issues, but it was worth it to keep searching. I have lots of seasonal allergies as well as sensitivities to chemicals, fragrances, and I react to mold exposure with asthma. I learned a lot of this just in my experience of what worked and how my health was improved. Even though my thyroid is better now, I still need to take thyroid medication because damage was done and my thyroid can't produce enough of what my body needs. My functional medicine doctor looks at thyroid function differently than a main stream medicine doctor who tends to look at "average" blood readings based on entire populations where many people in that average have thyroid hormone levels that are low.

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Replies to "@morganjane There are a couple of things that come to mind. In your history are there..."

Wow, thank you for all of your suggestions. I wasn’t expecting anyone to respond to be honest. To answer some of your questions, I did have 2 root canals I think within about a year of the onset. I do recall around that time I also had an abscessed tooth that I had to get surgically removed. Oh & I’ve got a metal filling that I’ve had for maybe 20 years or so. I do remember watching that documentary called “Root Cause” or something like that & I was shocked to say the least. Definitely something I need to read up on.

I was tested for Lyme which came back negative but I can’t remember the last time I was outside where I could have gotten bit, so I didn’t think it’d be that anyways.

Since I work from home now, I’m here 24/7 & to be honest I have no idea if there’s mold. I’m not quite sure how I’d go about checking in to that but it’s not a bad idea. I live in an apartment complex that was built maybe…10 years ago? Idk.

I’ve seen a rheumatologist & the guy was probably one of the most unprofessional doctors I’ve come across. I had been referred there by my PCP (by my request) & there’s no intake paperwork, I get in there & he has no file or anything on me, & he asks why I’m there & if I’ve had any bloodwork done….he couldn’t even bother to look at the referral with my paperwork & labs…I tried explaining it all to him & he literally doesn’t touch me or anything, just immediately asks “have you heard of Fibromyalgia?”….. I was so mad because he didn’t even attempt to dig a little deeper or order additional tests, he just said my labs sound fine & there’s nothing he can do for me. The labs I had done were just your basic complete panel that you get done yearly. So the rheumatologist was a bust & I won’t be going back to that dude again.

Since day one I’ve really felt it has to do with either my thyroid or some sort of autoimmune disease. My father has hypothyroidism. But when the labs are normal, a lot of doctors don’t want to order more specific tests for thyroid like TPO or whatever else there might be. Like….why not just do it to humor me? It’s not going to hurt them in any way.

I truly don’t feel like what I have is anything super rare, I think we just don’t have competent doctors here & I hate to say that but I’ve had repeated bad experiences. I get it, they probably see a LOT of patients who are actually hypochondriacs. I know that has to be incredibly annoying. But being dismissive to each person who presents with a condition that isn’t your run of the mill common ailment, can be detrimental to one patient like myself with a legit health concern.

It’s just frustrating & it can be daunting trying to find help when you’re so limited on funds & living in a state with no resources. I’d LOVE to go to Mayo or Vanderbilt or UDN but it’s just not feasible. To add to my pity party, it doesn’t help that I live alone, I’m single with no kids, no family that I speak to, & no close friends anymore.

I just wish I had access to more caring doctors. It breaks my heart that the people we go to when we are at our worst, who we depend on to have our best interest at heart & to hopefully help us get better, have been the people with the least amount of compassion. I know there are still good caring doctors & nurses out there, they’re just more of a rarity now.

That’s the end of my little rant. Thank you again so much for all of your help. You’ve given me more avenues to explore which is great. 🖤