New Hope.
Hey Friends!
I've been a bit absent. October 1st I went back to work part-time. It was challenging and I just kept telling myself that I knew the transition back would be hard. It wasn't the actual work part. That I was able to pick up where I left off and jump in. It was the physical and mental challenge. Fighting the fatigue, the pain, the stress signal going off, my heart racing, the gut distress, and so on. That Thursday I had the day to go to appointments and catch my breath. Friday I decided to work from home. It was then I realized that maybe I needed to transition slower and work from home. I thought maybe eliminating the stress of getting out the door might help. It was still a battle. I had one decent day that week. That Wednesday it was a fight between the couch and being at my computer working. I toughed it out to get my hours in that day. Thursday I had meetings in the office that I really wanted to be at. I crawled my way out the door to make it in time for the 9am meeting. I held in the tears throughout the meeting and focused as much as I could. By the time that was done HR wanted to check-in with me about my return to work. Let's just say I couldn't contain the emotions anymore. But we had a good chat and I left with the task to think more about what was best for me at that time. (I'm so thankful I work for such a caring company.) In my heart I knew the whole time that I wasn't ready to get back to work. But I wanted to try it. I wanted to get back to supporting us more financially. I wanted to be with people again and do work that I love. I needed more time though. So I'm back at home again focusing on myself and using my energy on my family and keeping up with appointments. This has been hard to accept for me. I feel guilty about it from time to time. But I also know that this is what I need. Sometimes it's just hard to accept reality. I can't distract my way out of this one.
After being on the Microbe Formulas protocol for a bit I felt that I needed more support. I had a lot of faith in the protocol and the supplements, but felt there was something I was missing. Something deeper was going on that I just wasn't treating. So I reached out to one of the doctors that helped create Microbe Formulas. I had been watching him on live videos in my Facebook group and just felt like he'd be a good match for me. I was inspired by his knowledge and his own journey to find healing. He was sick for many years with EBV and Lyme, but is now 50 and thriving! At his clinic they do a free phone consultation. So I answered some of their questions before the consult. I basically wrote out a timeline of health history the best I could. For the phone consult I'd be talking to a gal that worked in the office. I didn't know what to expect, but was so pleased. Her name is Michelle, which seemed like a great sign. I know some great Michelle's ;) She was so warm and full of knowledge! I honestly didn't expect her to know so much. She had insight on things just from symptoms I told her. It just felt right. She gave me the low down on how their clinic worked. They are based in Idaho, but also work with people remotely. It was all going to be expensive just like everything else I've done, but I knew I needed to make it work. I had to remind myself that I'm worth it. Why is it that when it's someone else.. family, friends, kids, etc. we never hesitate to say "You're worth it! Do what it takes!" But when it comes to ourselves we hesitate? I literally had to compare it to how much we spent just to get pregnant with Theodore. Like if he's worth that much I'm worth a portion of that. I owned it though. I told Ben and my mom... this is what I'm doing. I rely on approval from others all too often, but I'm finally becoming my best advocate. Thankfully they did also support my decision. My mom continues to support me financially like I'm 16 and living at home. I'm forever grateful for that even though sometimes I'm ridden with guilt because of it. I'm 32 years old with a fantastic career, but I still can't make ends meet with all these health issues. But sometimes we just need help. And I'm getting better at asking for it. I know I'm not alone. People go bankrupt because of health issues. It's really heartbreaking.
Last week I went and had a bunch of lab work done and filled out an 18 page intake form. I think that's the most intense intake form I've ever filled out before. It took hours to do and I had to take a lot of breaks. Today I had my first call with Dr. Watts. We went over the lab work I did. There were lots of flags throughout my labs. My homocysteine level is really high which means there's a methylation problem going on and the kidneys aren't fully functioning. Homocysteine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that is toxic. So a high level is a marker for chronic disease. It can attack proteins in your blood, interfere with neurological function, and the immune system may not recognize them and start attacking them which can result in autoimmunity and inflammation. So to help with this we can add in methylation supplements like methylated B vitamins. My body is also trying really hard to make thyroid hormone to help make me feel better but it's not being converted to the right form. My reverse T3 is really high. The higher this is the more fatigue someone may experience. So it's not surprising I'm so exhausted. That is a number we'll continue to follow. As that number goes down I will start to have more energy. T4 is made by the thyroid and goes to the liver and converts to Free T3, which is the available and usable form. Reverse T3 is an inactive form of T3 that isn't capable of delivering oxygen and energy to our cells. These levels indicates that there is an infection going on in the liver. My white blood cells are also on the lower end which also can signal some type of infection going on in the body. And in looking at my neutrophils and lymphocytes the numbers are shifted which leads him to believe there is a chronic viral infection going on. My monocytes and eosinophils are also high. When monocytes are high it can be a number of things, bacteria, viruses, and/or parasites. Eosinophils being high is more parasite related. I've looked at these numbers in the past with my naturopath, so I knew there was something going on with viruses or parasites. That is the reason I pursued this protocol in the first place. Prior to this I did try some herbs for parasites without success. So much is unknown about viruses so she had previously just suggested doing nutrient IVs to help combat that.
Dr. Watts final theory after reviewing these labs is that I'm dealing with parasites, a chronic viral infection, and maybe even parasites at a cellular (blood) level. One infection that is a possibility is babesia. Babesia is a malaria-like parasite. It's a co-infection that often accompanies chronic lyme disease. It can be transferred by a tick, mother to unborn child, or contaminated blood transfusion (most blood banks don't test for babesia). Testing also isn't the most reliable as it can only detect two strains, and they believe there are many more. The good news is that he has lots of different products that can help with all of this. Microbe Formulas (which I'm currently on) is designed more for gut stuff and helping with kidney/liver function to get those working better, but won't get to the cellular level. So it's a good thing I reached out so I could get more help! He'd like to do more testing. We're going to start with heavy metal testing. Knowing which metals I'm carrying will help determine which binders I need to use to clear things out. The protocol he'll create for me will address viral load, cellular parasites, and up-regulating my body's ability to repair and function again. He felt that I should see substantial improvement within 6 months. This was encouraging to hear!
I still have a ways to go, but I feel I'm on the right path. I wish I had a more definitive assessment on when I can get back to working, but I will just have to see how things go. My short-term disability ends November 28th which will come quick. So that makes me nervous, but I'm just going to have to take things one day at a time and focus on the now and the things I can control.
I appreciate all of the support I've been getting and hope it continues until I get through this. The texts, cards, food, money, and gift certificates mean more than you'll ever know! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It all really does help. Sometimes the gif or the "hey friend, how are you doing today?" can really turn my day around. It's not always easy staying mentally positive through all of this. So please keep them coming. It's sometimes easier to get up and go when I feel like others are counting on me and rooting for me.
If you want to know more information Dr. Todd did an interview awhile back on parasites and chronic illness. This was before they released Microbe Formulas, so when he talks about some products that help he doesn't talk about those because they weren't out yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i-QQBOMAJU
XOXO,
Ashlee
I've been a bit absent. October 1st I went back to work part-time. It was challenging and I just kept telling myself that I knew the transition back would be hard. It wasn't the actual work part. That I was able to pick up where I left off and jump in. It was the physical and mental challenge. Fighting the fatigue, the pain, the stress signal going off, my heart racing, the gut distress, and so on. That Thursday I had the day to go to appointments and catch my breath. Friday I decided to work from home. It was then I realized that maybe I needed to transition slower and work from home. I thought maybe eliminating the stress of getting out the door might help. It was still a battle. I had one decent day that week. That Wednesday it was a fight between the couch and being at my computer working. I toughed it out to get my hours in that day. Thursday I had meetings in the office that I really wanted to be at. I crawled my way out the door to make it in time for the 9am meeting. I held in the tears throughout the meeting and focused as much as I could. By the time that was done HR wanted to check-in with me about my return to work. Let's just say I couldn't contain the emotions anymore. But we had a good chat and I left with the task to think more about what was best for me at that time. (I'm so thankful I work for such a caring company.) In my heart I knew the whole time that I wasn't ready to get back to work. But I wanted to try it. I wanted to get back to supporting us more financially. I wanted to be with people again and do work that I love. I needed more time though. So I'm back at home again focusing on myself and using my energy on my family and keeping up with appointments. This has been hard to accept for me. I feel guilty about it from time to time. But I also know that this is what I need. Sometimes it's just hard to accept reality. I can't distract my way out of this one.
After being on the Microbe Formulas protocol for a bit I felt that I needed more support. I had a lot of faith in the protocol and the supplements, but felt there was something I was missing. Something deeper was going on that I just wasn't treating. So I reached out to one of the doctors that helped create Microbe Formulas. I had been watching him on live videos in my Facebook group and just felt like he'd be a good match for me. I was inspired by his knowledge and his own journey to find healing. He was sick for many years with EBV and Lyme, but is now 50 and thriving! At his clinic they do a free phone consultation. So I answered some of their questions before the consult. I basically wrote out a timeline of health history the best I could. For the phone consult I'd be talking to a gal that worked in the office. I didn't know what to expect, but was so pleased. Her name is Michelle, which seemed like a great sign. I know some great Michelle's ;) She was so warm and full of knowledge! I honestly didn't expect her to know so much. She had insight on things just from symptoms I told her. It just felt right. She gave me the low down on how their clinic worked. They are based in Idaho, but also work with people remotely. It was all going to be expensive just like everything else I've done, but I knew I needed to make it work. I had to remind myself that I'm worth it. Why is it that when it's someone else.. family, friends, kids, etc. we never hesitate to say "You're worth it! Do what it takes!" But when it comes to ourselves we hesitate? I literally had to compare it to how much we spent just to get pregnant with Theodore. Like if he's worth that much I'm worth a portion of that. I owned it though. I told Ben and my mom... this is what I'm doing. I rely on approval from others all too often, but I'm finally becoming my best advocate. Thankfully they did also support my decision. My mom continues to support me financially like I'm 16 and living at home. I'm forever grateful for that even though sometimes I'm ridden with guilt because of it. I'm 32 years old with a fantastic career, but I still can't make ends meet with all these health issues. But sometimes we just need help. And I'm getting better at asking for it. I know I'm not alone. People go bankrupt because of health issues. It's really heartbreaking.
Last week I went and had a bunch of lab work done and filled out an 18 page intake form. I think that's the most intense intake form I've ever filled out before. It took hours to do and I had to take a lot of breaks. Today I had my first call with Dr. Watts. We went over the lab work I did. There were lots of flags throughout my labs. My homocysteine level is really high which means there's a methylation problem going on and the kidneys aren't fully functioning. Homocysteine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that is toxic. So a high level is a marker for chronic disease. It can attack proteins in your blood, interfere with neurological function, and the immune system may not recognize them and start attacking them which can result in autoimmunity and inflammation. So to help with this we can add in methylation supplements like methylated B vitamins. My body is also trying really hard to make thyroid hormone to help make me feel better but it's not being converted to the right form. My reverse T3 is really high. The higher this is the more fatigue someone may experience. So it's not surprising I'm so exhausted. That is a number we'll continue to follow. As that number goes down I will start to have more energy. T4 is made by the thyroid and goes to the liver and converts to Free T3, which is the available and usable form. Reverse T3 is an inactive form of T3 that isn't capable of delivering oxygen and energy to our cells. These levels indicates that there is an infection going on in the liver. My white blood cells are also on the lower end which also can signal some type of infection going on in the body. And in looking at my neutrophils and lymphocytes the numbers are shifted which leads him to believe there is a chronic viral infection going on. My monocytes and eosinophils are also high. When monocytes are high it can be a number of things, bacteria, viruses, and/or parasites. Eosinophils being high is more parasite related. I've looked at these numbers in the past with my naturopath, so I knew there was something going on with viruses or parasites. That is the reason I pursued this protocol in the first place. Prior to this I did try some herbs for parasites without success. So much is unknown about viruses so she had previously just suggested doing nutrient IVs to help combat that.
Dr. Watts final theory after reviewing these labs is that I'm dealing with parasites, a chronic viral infection, and maybe even parasites at a cellular (blood) level. One infection that is a possibility is babesia. Babesia is a malaria-like parasite. It's a co-infection that often accompanies chronic lyme disease. It can be transferred by a tick, mother to unborn child, or contaminated blood transfusion (most blood banks don't test for babesia). Testing also isn't the most reliable as it can only detect two strains, and they believe there are many more. The good news is that he has lots of different products that can help with all of this. Microbe Formulas (which I'm currently on) is designed more for gut stuff and helping with kidney/liver function to get those working better, but won't get to the cellular level. So it's a good thing I reached out so I could get more help! He'd like to do more testing. We're going to start with heavy metal testing. Knowing which metals I'm carrying will help determine which binders I need to use to clear things out. The protocol he'll create for me will address viral load, cellular parasites, and up-regulating my body's ability to repair and function again. He felt that I should see substantial improvement within 6 months. This was encouraging to hear!
I still have a ways to go, but I feel I'm on the right path. I wish I had a more definitive assessment on when I can get back to working, but I will just have to see how things go. My short-term disability ends November 28th which will come quick. So that makes me nervous, but I'm just going to have to take things one day at a time and focus on the now and the things I can control.
I appreciate all of the support I've been getting and hope it continues until I get through this. The texts, cards, food, money, and gift certificates mean more than you'll ever know! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It all really does help. Sometimes the gif or the "hey friend, how are you doing today?" can really turn my day around. It's not always easy staying mentally positive through all of this. So please keep them coming. It's sometimes easier to get up and go when I feel like others are counting on me and rooting for me.
If you want to know more information Dr. Todd did an interview awhile back on parasites and chronic illness. This was before they released Microbe Formulas, so when he talks about some products that help he doesn't talk about those because they weren't out yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i-QQBOMAJU
XOXO,
Ashlee
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