After much wierdness going on with my body in the past 4 months or so, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Let's back up, WAYY up.
2003 - Me... 19 years old.
Very strange things were happening to me.... my left side went partially numb, very tingly, hand-eye coordination was way off, very blurry vision, severe muscle weakness. I was in the hospital for almost three weeks while they tried to figure out what was wrong with me. The fleet <--- of neurologists narrowed it down to either Multiple Sclerosis or Transverse Myelitis. I was at a great hospital In St. Louis, Missouri. They settled on Transverse Myelitis (Inflammation of the Spinal Cord) Idiopathic of course. I had a lot of pain, I couldn't walk. I was put on steroids to help with the inflammation. I went home.. things got better extremely slowly. My vision never did improve. I had perfect vision before this happened to me... I had to get glasses after this.
2004 - Me 20 yrs old
I spent much of 2003 recuperating.... in 2004 my symptoms all came back out of nowhere. I spent a week in the hospital... doctors scratched their heads. Symptoms got better over a period of time. No more numbness in my left side... this process took a few years to fully get better.
Over the years, I would get bouts of the same symptoms that occurred when I was 19. Not nearly as severe.. but the same symptoms. They particularly would occur during my period. My left side would get very tingly, my legs would be too weak to walk, my vision would get very blurry, it was just something that happened out of nowhere and I dealt with.
About my Allergies
I will also mention that I've had extreme food allergies since 12 yrs old (I did start a blog about this!) I've also had Delayed pressure Urticaria (DPU) since my teens. What is DPU? If I get whacked in the arm.. that arm will swell up huge in about 6-12 hours with painful itchy hives. If I overwork muscles? They too swell up with painful itchy hives. Even wearing tight clothing, or sitting in an unpadded chair, I will have horrible hives later on that day where pressure had been. This I learned to live with as well... avoiding my foods I was allergic to and just dealing with the other hives with benedryl and ice. During all this time I hadn't really seen any doctors due to the fact that having insurance was just not something that I could afford being an Independently Contracted Dog Groomer. That AND the fact that in the past, doctors were very cruel and dismissive of my symptoms whether Allergic or Neurological. I felt as if they could not (would not) help me.
Worth mentioning...
Mid 2015 I got a chest cold, and was prescribed Prednisone for my asthmatic response. I had taken prednisone all my life, not a big deal. This particular time I was on the normal 5 day pack of prednisone, but on day 6 when I had no prednisone to take.. I started breaking out in horrible hives. I got really dizzy, went to bed early. Woke up in the middle of the night not able to swallow, severe stomach pains, nausea, and dizziness. I somehow made it to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My eyes were almost swelled shut, my lips were swelled up 10 times as big as they should be. My airway was swollen to where I could hardly breathe. I passed out and threw up a few times. I was rushed to the hospital and was stuck with Epinephrine because I was in Anaphyleptic Shock sp? I had no idea what caused it, recalling what I had eaten that day. Since I was having breathing problems I was prescribed Prednisone again. Same 5 day pack. Day six comes around... and I'm thinking to myself, wouldn't it be bizarre if it was the prednisone itself? Later on, on day six sure enough I got hives all over and dizziness, and my throat started swelling itself shut again. Having just paid 700 dollars for an E.R visit, I really could not afford another one. I ate handfuls of benedryls and hoped for the best. That night and the next day were very hard.
Conclusion: Prednisone surpresses histamines.... So when I have an extremely strong histamine surpressor and I suddenly stop taking it, my body attacks itself with histamines, flooding my body with them. (Hense the anaphylaxis) While I'm not entirely sure if I am allergic to prednisone itself, I am allergic to coming off of it too fast. I have to wean myself off VERY slow for my body to handle it. While this is extremely rare, it does happen to some people. Doctors look at me like I have 3 heads when I tell them my Prednisone issue.
December 2015 *Breakthrough*
After trying just about everything for my chronic hives, DPU, and Food Allergies I heard about a book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome.
I read on many many forums where people who had started the *Diet* that goes along with GAPS had rid of their hives for good. I was intrigued. Honestly I would do anything to help relieve the things my body goes through. The more I read, the more it made sense. It was written by a doctor and a mother to a little boy with Autism. Basically what we put in our stomachs directly affects the illnesses we now have, from autoimmune to psychological. Hense the Gut and Psychology. So I did the diet, trying to heal my gut from all the things that we put in our bodies that shouldn't be there. No bread, pasta, sugar, starchy veggies, and LOTS of meats and broth at first. I lived off of oxtail soup for quite a while as the *pre* diet. (No oxtail isn't icky! It's actually an amazingly delicious soup!)SO!
Was this just another fad? False hope? NOPE.
After starting the diet I soon became weeks... months without having outbreaks of hives. What I endured daily for most of my life cleared up at least 80 percent. It was absolutely AMAZING! Yes, sugar and bread were sometimes a temptation but my life did not have a good quality before this diet, so to me... it was so very worth it to stick to it. (I do admit I strayed away a bit, but overall adhered to the guidelines) This was 6 months ago. The knowledge I acquired in this book is priceless.
Fast forwarding to Feb. 2016
So I was feeling very lethargic, I had an ongoing cold going back and forth from my head to my chest and back to my head and back to my chest. I tried to push through it and overcome this fatigue that I felt, but the harder I pushed the worse I felt. I thought it was depression... and even though I was determined to feel better I just wasn't. March rolls around... My chest cold led me to have such bad asthma (yes, I have asthma) that I had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night. They wanted to give me Prednisone (JOY) the drug that puts me in the hospital. I was very leery but they were sure that it would help more than hinder. Hospitalized for about 5 nights. I expressed my concerns when my airway started to close and I was covered head to toe in hives while they were tapering my IV of Steroids (Solumedrol actually) They were not very concerned though, the look they gave me was that it was all in my head. Very bad hospital experience. I actually felt as though I was in a lot of danger there, and was happy to go home. Diagnosed with Pneumonia and Bronchitis.
A week or two goes by... I'm still very weak. My vision is much more blurrier than normal, I can't concentrate. My arms and legs actually started to give out. My left side feels warm and tingly, I start to have spasms all over my entire body. I start to stutter when I talk (I have never done this in my life) I can't think of the words to create the sentence that I need to make. I always wake up drenched in sweat and clenching my arms tight. My dreams are really scary honestly, like I'm being pulled in every direction. Something is very wrong.
Symptoms got worse, I couldn't walk some days, couldn't see some days. I finally got to see a neurologist who looked into my eyes with some eye looker inner thingy and right then and there she said she is 90 percent sure that I have Multiple Sclerosis given my current condition and the deterioration of my eyes. (Whatever that means) ALSO my neurologist mentioned how the gut and autoimmune issues such as MS are very in tune with eachother, and goes on to explain how eating a Paleo based diet (Much like GAPS) is very helpful. Also, she explained how food allergies are intertwined in all of this and I got a blood test done for Delayed Food reactions. I got the results back from that... And I am allergic to the two main staple foods in my life. Eggs and Coffee. SO! Spinal tap..... results are back. Multiple Sclerosis it is. Likely triggered by a stress on the body (pneumonia).
I knew it likely was MS.... but I got that confirming call three days ago.
My nuerologist put me on Tecfidera (New MS drug) 120 milligrams twice a day (taken with aspirin to prevent flushing) I had to stop eating my two main foods I love for at least six months to try and reverse this allergy. My Vitamin D level was at 9.5 whereas it's normally between 50-70 in a healthy person. (This is typical in MS patients) So much vitamin D supplementing.
Day 3 of new drugs and new foods
Honestly it's been the worst few days out of the past 6 months. It could be the new drugs, the lack of eating what I've been eating for most of my life! Not sure since there are quite a few changes but my energy level is -10 My brain connot compute much, spasms are really bad, and emotions are all over the place. Spontaneous tears. And I cannot walk much. Sounds really irritate me...
I can handle sitting on my bed, with my donated Marijuana and coloring with the lights slightly dimmed and earplugs in. Marijuana really really helps my anxiety and dealing with all these bizarre things, lessens the shooting pain, and overall just helps.
I needed to put my thoughts somewhere, food diaries, ME diaries, how I'm feeling what I'm taking. So this is it! I have been meaning to do this for the past 3 days but my mental concentration was not very good, today was slightly better! So I may re arrange this or write it different later, but for now... this is it!
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