tiredofdoctors

Ah, wasn't bad, just uncomfortable. Couldn't figure out why I felt so weird. Then to be given Prozac for it????

It wasn't until my first Women's Health continuing education course (you'd know that each one is a WEEK long instead of a weekend) that I found out what was wrong with me. I am the type person who had a pap every 18 months, just so I didn't have to go in as often! My boss asked me to be the liaison for this course. I was working for a larger corporation, and to do this would give me more "visibility", according to her. PLUS, I'd get the course and my lodging for free. So, without doing my homework, I said "Sure." Then, the day before I was supposed to leave, my co-worker and friend said "You know, you are the LAST person I thought would take this course." I said, "Why'd you say that?" She said, "Because of the lab." I said, "Lab? What Lab? How can you have a lab when you are learning . . . OH NO." She started howling laughing. She said, "You didn't READ what you were getting yourself into???!!!!! You don't even go to the gynecologist like you should!!! You're going to spend one entire week practicing on each other!!!!!!!" I thought I was going to die.

It only got worse when the instructor started naming symptoms, and asked us to raise our hand if we had any that she would name. Of course, ALL of the girls in there were 20-something, none with kids, so here I am 38 years old, two kids, both difficult births, and answering in my head "yes" to all these questions!! When we get to the lab portion, the two young girls I was working with said, "OH MY GOSH. Should we get the instructor?" I knew then I was in trouble. They asked if I wanted a mirror, and I said, "Why not." The instructor came over and asked me if I had answered yes to any of the questions. I told her all of them. THAT was how I found out all those things were wrong.

What I found after that? The way that a LOT of women find out about things like that are in the Physical Therapist's office -- one that specializes in Women's Health. There are a lot of women in Louisville who are on Prozac, etc., for a problem that is NOT in their head.

This is UNBELIEVABLE:

I went for my intense swim this morning at the Y. Going into the building I saw a woman getting out of her car, and she was wearing the dreaded S & S...striped socks pulled right up almost to her knees and brown Birk knock-offs, I believe. I found this funny as heck as this thread popped right to mind. But wait....she gets out of her car and approaches the doors. She has a MULLET. No question, a grey 'do, short at the front and suddenly long behind her ears. I am now laughing, which is not good as I do not know her and this could be rude...

Get into the pool...and in she comes...

wearing a bathing cap.

How can one individual personify everything we've discussed so far?! It's incredible. Perhaps she was placed in my life today for a reason...it's kind of scary...

That is scary in more ways to mention . . . . . . .

I am 45. I listen to SOME rap music, not a lot. I got a tattoo with my son on the day he turned 18. I listen to music at a higher volume than my kids do. I DON'T wear socks with sandals, and I don't wear pantyhose with open-toed shoes. I also detest VPL's. I had my belly-button pierced when my daughter turned 16, but developed an infection and had to take it out after four weeks. My daughter decided that she just didn't want hers any longer, and took it out-- permanently. My son is of the opinion that "my" generation had much better bands, who have much more longevity than any band he can think of in "his" generation. I happen to agree. I didn't like cars that have the huge bass speakers in the trunk until my son put them in the car that I let him drive and I had to drive it one day. Aerosmith never sounded better! I think "bling-bling", or "bling" as they now call it, is rediculous. I think Audrey Hepburn was the epitomy of beauty, as was Natalie Wood. I DO have the cartilage pierced in my left ear, but I wear a small emerald post earring which tucks nicely into the curve. Until the celiac wreaked havoc with my brain, I used to ride up and down the aisles of the toy stores with my nephews "test driving" razor scooters -- until I would get busted and we'd have to quit. They thought it was hysterically funny. I have been to Ozzie Osbourne's Oz-Fest -- took my son, and I don't understand the band "Mud Vein" at all. Nor do I understand pretty much any of the bands that were there, but it was a fun experience. I thought Alice Cooper's concert was a demonstration of theatrical genius. I also thought that the band "Nelly" put on a fantastic show. Their set -- even in limited circumstances because it was the MTV's TRL(?) tour -- was phenomenal, and when they all came out on different colored ATV's, it was pretty awesome. I don't like Eve. Her fame was made based on nothing but vulgarity. And TLW?? Oh, please. I think Beyonce Knowles is extremely talented, but I like Destiny's Child better. I prefer Aerosmith, Elton John and Billy Joel to pretty much anything that has come out in the last year and a half. Carole King and James Taylor are icons of talent, as well. I have a cell phone, but I don't understand the whole "test messaging" thing. Call the person -- seriously. If you have THAT much to say, don't keep going back and forth, possibly interrupting conversations with other people, just because you have some fun technology.

Am I old?? Who knows. Who cares. I'm just having fun!

I'm not a teenager -- I'm a mom -- 45 yrs. old. I am also celiac. I just wanted you to know that it's not just young people who are like that. People my age and older are just as bad. Even family members took FOREVER to realize that I wasn't going to eat at their houses unless I had gluten-free food to eat. I offered to bring my own, and they would get offended.

I think you finally get to a point that you get so USED to people being idiots, that it doesn't bother you much. I would like to say that the friends / family all get better about it, but sometimes they just don't. I think we just get more used to it.

Take care of you -- and sorry to jump in here -- I know it's for teens.

PM JenVan -- she can tell you some excellent restaurants in NYC. She went there with her mother -- and she had a GREAT gluten-free time!

Hey -- my OB/GYN gave me Prozac when I told him that I felt like I was sitting on golf balls!!! Come to find out, I had my bladder and my rectum both distended and pushing into the vaginal walls, and my uterus had dropped to the point that it was coming out (literally). No wonder the Prozac didn't make me feel better!!!!!!!

Jerry --

Those pictures are outstanding! Seriously. The nature pics are breathtaking -- and the manner in which you staged them are obviously done meticulously and with thought. (A very "artsy" talent!)

The portraits also are pretty incredible. You captured emotions vs. pictures. You can almost tell what the kids are telling you in the pictures! That is the hallmark of an excellent photographer

I'm not a professional photographer, by any means, but I am a consumer. I think you definitely would have a promising career in photography.

Good luck to you! Keep us posted as to your decisions!!

Donna -- what were the values that were considered Within Normal Limits for the Westergren Sedimentation Rate? The fifteen caught my eye.

I'm a "neurological celiac". The only damage which has been done is to my cerebellum. All my antibodies were normal with the exception of the antigliadin antibodies, which were high. Those are what were damaging my cerebellum. My biopsy was negative, as well.

What is interesting, though, is that since I have been gluten-free, my "irritable bowel syndrome", or "ulcerative colitis", and all the other things that I was diagnosed with are gone. I haven't had one bout of diarrhea since being gluten-free, almost two years now.

I think if you FEEL better being gluten-free, to heck with the lab values. If your symptoms are decreasing, your energy is increasing and life is better, STAY gluten-free. It can't hurt, and if you're a neurological celiac, it will CERTAINLY prevent some pretty terrible stuff.

Hi Cathy -- welcome to the board.

Hashimoto's is a very common co-morbid condition with Celiac. I started with a goiter when I was 13. I always had normal TSH, T3, T4 levels, but no one ever checked my antibodies. I had to change endocrinologists, and the new guy told me that you didn't have to take synthroid to control the size of a goiter. I ended up in the psychiatric unit because I was so depressed. Of course, my blood pressure was also 80/40 and my heart rate vascillated between 40 and 45 bpm. My TSH was 12.5. The psychiatrist on the unit took one look at my medical, told me I didn't have to participate in the "therapies" to be released -- I just had to find a GOOD endocrinologist. I told him who I was going to and he said, "Like I said, you need to find a GOOD endocrinologist." I told him about the insurance issue, and he said it was worth paying cash to go back to my other endo.

Ends up, that's when I converted to Hashi's. My thyroid had grown to three times the normal size on the right, four times on the left, but it also had wrapped around my trachea in the back, and down beneath my breastbone. My (new)(former)! endo did an ultrasound -- I had hemorrhagic cysts in it -- a definite precursor to thyroid cancer. I had a thyroidectomy, and it has taken two years to get my levels consistent.

I asked about Armour thyroid. She said that she isn't against using it, but she noticed that with her patients, they had a great response initially, but about five to six months afterward, they were feeling tired, and had decreased T4 levels -- and she had to supplement. She said that she had to bump it up several times. Twenty years later, there has just been a study published that it appears that the results she had experienced with her patients are pretty common. Not that Armour thyroid isn't good -- she said that it IS. It's just that, in some patients, it's hard to regulate.

I'm still on the synthroid -- and have had two consistent checks now.

I guess the reason for my response is to let you know you're not alone. It is so common in celiacs. It also appears that it is more difficult to regulate in celiacs. I'm a neurologic celiac, so you would think that I wouldn't have the same issues that GI celiacs have with absorption issues. I think it's just our make-up. For whatever reason, we just don't metabolize medication the same way that non-celiacs do.

I wish you luck -- and success. Keep getting in your doctor's face. Make appointments, call, whatever it takes. If you don't get results, or you don't care for the doctor, in the words of my endocrinologist, "FIND ANOTHER. DOCTORS ARE A DIME A DOZEN. FIND ONE THAT LISTENS TO YOU." Even SHE knows how it is . . . . . . !

Take care of you,

Lynne

Ann, you are bust-a-gut funny! First, the fact that you started this thread -- which proves that you are the type of physician EVERYONE wants. Second, the reasons are great!

I have one: When the neurologist says, "Well, everything I've read indicates that your antigliadin levels will ALWAYS be elevated, and there is no reason to further check them." When everything he's read has come from articles that YOU supplied and they all indicate that the levels should be checked every 6 months!!!

P.S.: I got "fired" from his office because, after an extremely frustrating 5 minutes with him, he asked me what my neurolopsychological profile said. He doesn't even KNOW what it is! It is a functional test that shows which portion(s) of your brain aren't operating properly. I told him that it said that I have Occulomotor Apraxia, and that my "Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory" was well within normal limits, with a mild increased concentration on a chronic medical condition. I also told him since that test was taken two years ago, I no longer have an increased concentration because, quite frankly, I couldn't give a rat's "arse" if I ever saw another doctor again. Two weeks later, I received a notice that I had a registered letter at the post-office --- from him! Typically, that means, in the words of Donald Trump, "You're Fired."!!!!!

I'm sorry I wasn't clear with regard to "stripping" the nipple. I can see where it would sound painful. Typically, infants use the top of their mouth to "anchor" and use the tongue and bottom jaw to not only suck, but also to put some "force" on the bottom of the nipple. When they move their lower jaw backward, that's called "stripping" the nipple. It just means that they are "expressing" the milk into their mouths vs. tonguing it and waiting for the milk to let down. The shape of a Nuk pacifier is the shape of the nipple as the infant is "stripping" it. I'm sorry for the confusion. It does sound torturous, in retrospect. After working in the NICU during one of my internships, I caught on to the "lingo" and just didn't get rid of it.

tcat -- Welcome!!! Band Teachers ROCK!! (Can you tell I'm the mom of two musical kids?!!) You guys have a hard job -- not to mention the fact that, if you teach band to younger kids, you a) have the patience of a saint and have a high pain-tolerance! Those squeaks and squawks were worth it now, when I listen, but back in the early days . . . . like fingernails on a blackboard!!!

Welcome to the forum . . . you won't find a better group of people!

(((((((hugs)))))))

Lynne

Let me tell ya, it cost me a whole paycheque but I landed him! LMAO!

Can you ask for your money back?????

They get used to it . . . . . Dave said, "Let me guess . . . you've gotten back to posting on the forum."

Or, my son's favorite shirt:

"I'd rather be a smart-a** than a dumb-a**"

If you BOTHERED to read that little section of text under my avatar you would know EXACTLY where... but since your SO LAZY I will just let you wonder the rest of your life!

Point well-taken, wise guy!!!

And the mullet lives on -- on the head of some VERY lucky child. Vincent, that was a great thing.

I am a software developer and the mom of 2 boys ages 8 & 11. My fiance is an artist and entrepreneur. He has owned his own business for over 13 years.

Ami

Ami -- what type of software do you develop? I am always amazed by people who have the ability to do what you do. Again, I think it is a combination of art and science.

If it isn't intrusive, I would love to know more about what you do . . . . . . .

Pauliina -- You are amazing!! What talent!! And, might I say, a VERY talented husband, as well. I think the idea of studying the AT then teaching is fantastic. You would not believe the kids I saw with repetitive strain injuries simply because no one taught them the correct way to hold their bodies, their instruments or even addressed strengthening in order to hold the instrument. I had to learn (quickly & the hard way) the correct playing posture of a multitude of instruments in order to teach them the correct posturing, etc. Luckily, my kids either played a lot of different instruments, or hung out with other musicians! You are so SMART to recognize the need for that and address it early-on. Of course, I'm not surprised . . . . . . . . . You are so very intelligent.

I'm all for you changing the statement! And, if you can change it to something a little more risque, even better!!!

I think you are fantastic. And, by the way, I still have your penguin card -- I keep it in a box with other special things I have received.

"Stir"?

Lady, you are usually a freakin' blender on "High Speed"!

Lest we forget Ms. Cuisinart, I have help!!!!!!!!!

You're in Virginia now??? I have an in-law in Virginia -- she is my Aunt Helen, or as everyone in Dave's family calls her, Aunt Hellion!!! She is FANTASTIC!!

Where in Virginia? So interested . . . . . .

Okay, hate to say it, but I think you guys have some REALLY over-zealous fans! The "pit-crew"???!!!! And going to dye their underarm hair red???

For some reason, the men's weirdness is more understand-able to me because I used to have a husband like that. A long time ago, in a land far, far away . . . . . . . . .

Vincent -- hasn't it been my calling (and my reputation) to "stir things up" on this board???!!!!!

Hmmmmmmmph

I can imagine that you would have wanted your husband there. I can't imagine seeing your baby like that. Who knew that, all those years ago when they invented ultrasound machines, that they would be able to image babies with so much detail and clarity. I can imagine that you had tears the whole time. Like I said, I cried after reading your post. Thank you again for sharing it. (I wish you could have gotten the video, too. That would have been great.)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Lynne

I have been told not to post links to my personal site which is mostly just a collection of photos of me and my family.

WHAT????!!!!! You have GOT to be kidding me.

Boston Legal is on right now . . . . Denny Crane has the Stanley Cup for a day . . . and he wants to engrave his name on it. He says he deserves it because in 1975 he loaned his jock strap to some player and that's why they won. James Spader's character, Allen Shore said, "I hope you washed it first."