Intro to Me (Part 2 -- The Scary List)

So, what do all these illnesses mean?  Ouch!   It means that I am tired a lot... and get fatigued easily.  It means that I hurt a lot... and any kind of exercise hurt (it was training and doing the Avon 2 Day Walk for Cancer which triggered my Dercum's).  It means I wake up and spend most mornings retching (luckily with little vomiting), with movement making it worse.  I get horrible headaches from time to time.  I get pain and bloating in my stomach.  And blah, blah, blah...whine, whine, complain.  You'll learn more as I talk about my days....

It also means I have to take a whole bunch of pills!!   And (as mentioned previously) a few shots.

So, what all do I take?   Here's the CURRENT scary list (and what I take it for):

• Humulog Insulin -- 3 times/day with meals (15-20 units depending on carbs in meal) Diabetes
• Lantus Insulin -- this is the delayed release type, 1/day (34 units) Diabetes
• metformin -- 1000mg 2/day   Diabetes
• Propanolol ER -- 160mg/day    Migraines
• Ambien -- 10 mg 1/day  Hypersomnia/Narcolepsy (helps me to stay asleep all night!)
• fluoxetine -- 40mg 1/day   Depression/OCD
• Lisinopril -- 5mg 1/day   Diabetes (to prevent kidney/liver damage)
• Lo Loestrin -- 1/day  Estrogen Replacement
• HCTZ -- 25mg 1/day High Blood Pressure
• Erythyromycin -- 500mg 2/day  Gastroparesis
• Prilosec -- 1/day  Gastroparesis
• Vicodin -- up to 3 pills (7.5/750mg) as needed for pain
• xanax -- up to 3 pills (.5 mg) as needed for anxiety
• phenergan -- around 7mg (1/4th pill) up to 2/day as needed for nausea
• Bonine -- thinking of replacing phenergan with this because it causes less drowsiness -- 1 pill/day -- kinda alternating right now

Those are the prescription drugs (and OTC ones), here's the supplements I take:

• centrum silver 1 a day vitamin
• Vitamin D
• Magnesium
• Vitamin B-12
• probiotics
• low dose aspirin
• Flax oil (either through flax fit tablets or straight up flax oil)
• Gas-x

Intro to Me (Part 1 -- Laundry List)

Hello and welcome to my journey to try to get a bit healthier.   Although this will be a lifetime journey, I chose to give myself 90 days to find the path and get used to it.  In this blog, I will write about my progress and setbacks and challenges.  Warning:  I will complain... a lot!  So, if you don't want to read someone whining about their aches and pains and stomach issues and how they want a donut, don't read!  I keep things mainly to myself in other venues (facebook, work) but here, I'm going to let it all hang out.   I don't mind some advice (a recipe you've liked, someone who has the same issues that has found something that works well) and I appreciate support... but I don't want lectures (especially when I have setbacks).

Okay, so just a teensy bit about me.  I'm 43.  I'm overweight (officially, I need to lose 33 lbs to be considered in healthy range... ideally, that would be closer to 40 lbs.   For my 90 days, 10 lbs will make me ecstatic).  I have a variety of health issues, which I will go over below. I take a ton of meds.   I'd like to be able to get off some of my meds and improve my health status at least a little bit.  I don't think, however, that I can improve to the point that I will be able to get off more than 1 or 2 of them and that I can "cure" any of my illnesses, but if I can increase my energy and be able to get more done and know that I'm trying... well, I'll be happy.

So, what do I have?  Here's my laundry list of the significant things:

• Diabetes -- at the moment, insulin-dependent:   4 shots a day (3 fast acting & 1 long release)
• Dercum's Disease (DD) -- rare disease characterized by multiple painful fatty tumors....  also comes with a host of issues.   More info can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dercum's_disease
• Gastroparesis (GP) -- stomach paralysis which causes delayed gastric emptying...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroparesis
• Idiopathic Hypersomnia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome -- depending on which doc you ask.  LOL.  I go with the Sleep Center, which diagnosed the IH.  They felt it was narcolepsy, but I was one REM shy of the diagnosis.   I also have mild sleep apnea.   The IH/narco causes sleepiness during the day and will make me wake up to hallucinations -- hypnopompic -- at night if I don't take a sleeping pill  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersomnia
• Fibromyalgia (FM) -- to be honest, I'm not sure about this one.  I think maybe it is just the pain from my Dercum's.   But, I've been diagnosed.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibromyalgia
• Chronic Kidney Stones  -- Have passed over 50 since I was 19.  Currently have two small ones (1-2mm each) in each kidney
• New Diagnosis:   Bile Gastritis -- I've been researching and this can be a chronic illness if I'm not careful  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bile-reflux/DS00651
• High Blood pressure (treated with meds), high tryglycerides, fatty liver
• Raynaud's Disease (makes me very sensitive to cold  & you'll see me with ear muffsif the temp dips below 60 degrees!)  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/raynauds-disease/DS00433
• Depression, anxiety, OCD (I have several ways this is manifested which I attempt to keep hidden from most.  I will just talk about it in general terms, like "My OCD was a bit better today...")
• Migraines -- nearly always on my left side.  I rate them from a level 1-3, with 1 being throbbing and just annoying and 3 being nauseous and light sensitive and can't do anything
• I also went into early peri-menopause a few years ago... most of the symptoms have passed, but I still get them from time to time.
• Irritable Bowel -- probably caused by the other issues I have (DD, GP)