From my last post, Something Was Wrong, I was diagnosed with B12 deficiency, taking B12 supplements, had the names of a gastroenterologist and neurologist to go and see.
My primary care doctor wanted me to see a gastroenterologist (gastro) because B12 deficiency can sometimes be a sign of inflammation of the stomach lining known as Atrophic Gastritis. The gastro wasn’t completely sure why I was there to see him because I didn’t have any other symptoms for Atrophic Gastritis. He said my primary doctor probably wanted him to do an endoscopy. He explained during an endoscopy, I would be put to sleep with anesthesia and he would put a tube with a camera at the end down my throat to the top of the intestine and take a sample of stomach tissue lining to check for Atrophic Gastritis. This hospital procedure scared me.
I went to see my primary doctor to talk to her about my concerns about the endoscopy and the complications from anesthesia. Though I didn’t say this, it didn’t feel right when he said my primary doctor probably wanted him to do an endoscopy when he should have the reason to do the procedure. Her response was the anesthesia would be the best sleep I’ll ever have. Hearing this was surprising and disturbing, but she was my doctor and even though I was concerned, I trusted her.
I felt nervous and anxious the weeks before the endoscopy. The procedure went well and no Atrophic Gastritis.
I went to see the neurologist because of the 5 second facial twitch I could not control. She did a full neurological exam in the office and everything was normal. I went back for an EEG, a test that measures electrical activity in the brain to find abnormal brain waves. Bright lights are shined in your eyes and you have to take repeated deep breaths to try and see if there are signs of seizures in your brain. I had some abnormal brain waves but not definitely a seizure. The neurologist wanted to put me on seizure medicine to make sure the facial twitch didn’t come back. I asked her for how long since she couldn’t definitely say I had seizures and her response was if I didn’t have another episode for 2 years she would take me off. What…2 years!?
I looked up the side effects of seizure medicine and they ranged from stomach pain to a fatal drop in white blood cells. I was scared and could not bring myself to take the medicine without definitely having seizures.
Even though the B12 supplements were helping with the tiredness and foggy brain, I was so stressed, anxious, and slept terribly during these 6 months of seeing these doctors, getting tests and hospital procedure.
I couldn’t trust my primary doctor anymore. I saw specialists and they could not find what was causing my ailments. I had to take responsibility for my health and figure it out myself.
I started researching on the Internet and learned about autoimmune disease and leaky guy from Chris Kresser, how nutrition could heal my eczema through the Purely Primal Skincare Guide, and did the 21 Day Sugar Detox to start resetting my body.
I’ll talk about my road to recovering next time. Thanks for listening.
The Dumpling Mama xo