Wednesday 28 October 2009

Drs Update

So, I went to the Drs on Thurs, officially for a blood test but in practise to tell the dr that he doesn't know what he's doing because I am still waking up far too much during the night unable to breathe. He listened to my prepared list of symptoms and then said, "You're sick."

Duh.

He sent me off to a specialist, which I saw on Mon. He rocked up 4 minutes late. Then he read the letter from my GP, and read that I have uncontrollable asthma. He looked up, and said, "I don't think so."

He asked a bunch of questions, and then said that I have 3 problems. I was not haapy to begin with. I mean, who wants 3 things instead of 1?

I have:

- Asthma
- Nasal / sinus infection, which has lasted since having pneumonia 2 years ago.
- Lots and LOTS of allergies

The sinus is the reason why I wake up. Because my nose is so completely blocked I literally stop breathing at night and wake up. The ventolin wasn't hugely helping because it wasn't fixing what the problem actually IS.

Turns out I'm also allergic to dairy. Not the lactose in dairy, but the casein. It causes me to go massively into overdrive with producing mucus. Which was the cause of the persistant cough, plus meant that the sinus got worse and worse.

I'm also allergic to "three or four other things, possibly more," and I've had a full blood allergy test to find out what they are.

I was then given new meds - milder ones for my asthma, and meds for my nose. Result - the two past nights I've had the best nights sleep in more than two years. Only woke up once each night.

On the dairy front, this means COMPLETE ABSTINANCE. I'm not even allowed to eat MARGARINE. Only Nuttelex. Just broke the rules for the first time (only a lemon meringue, I thought it'd be ok), and am regretting it. Muccusy and gross.

So I can't eat
- Milk
- Cheese (sob)
- Yoghurt
- Buttermilk
- Butter
- Margarine
- Chocolate (sob)
- Cream
- And all things good

Work is predicting that I'm going to also be allergic to wheat, gluten (they are NOT identical), peanuts and fructose. Because then I will be able to eat lettuce, and that's about it.

So, my dietry requirements as of the moment:
- No dairy
- No fried foods
- No strawberries
- No ginger
- Limited spices
- Vegetarian
- No soy
- No rice grains (flour okay)
- And MORE TO COME!

Sam likes new dr. New dr makes Sam all better. Even if she can't have cheese loverr's pizza followed by chocolate mousse.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sam,

I am so glad that they have figured out what is wrong with you.

It seriously sucks that you can't eat so many things. Really sucks.

But thank goodness you have answers now and can do something about it.

While I agree 3 problems is worse than one, at least you have answers and stuff you can do about it. Answers are way better than not knowing.

Take Care,
Stephanie

Anonymous said...

Oh - and can you gradually reintroduce dairy and build up a tolerance (or something else like that), or can you just never have any milk again?

- Steph

Unknown said...

Nuttlex isn't so bad, you get used to it! after a while it tastes better than butter (or at least that's what i tell myself...)
and hey, sleep is awesome, take as much of it as you can when you can I say ;)
sinus infections suck, didn't you have any face pain? if you did, your doctor sucks and should have picked up on it ages ago, those things can HURT. Glad you're getting on the right track though!
Claire

Sam-Is-Mad said...

No face pain, no migraines or headaches. But I haven't been able to smell properly for years, and my hearing has certainly gone downhill in recent times - and that whole system is related.

This isn't the first specialist; I had lung function tests and other tests, and they were in agreement that the issue was asthma / lung damage. But still.

And I'm not sure about the dairy. I've always limited it, and I'm kind of past the age where you grow out of allergies. So I'm thinking I'm off cheese for life. Which is tragic, but at least I will be able to breathe.

Sam-Is-Mad said...

Dr also said I had a really bad case of stress. He also told me to relax about every five minutes. What he didn't realise, was that for me, that WAS relaxed.

J. said...

Your list of abstinence things is horrible...as in...they're things I wouldn't want to avoid.

But its good that you're finally starting to feel better!

(also, I was impressed that he was only 4 minutes late. okay, I know your thing about lateness, but most doctors I've seen are about 30mins-1 hour late...)

Sam-Is-Mad said...

Argh! It should read 40! 4 minutes late does not bother me with a dr.

And it was the first appointment of the morning. He just rocked up late. 1/2 hr after first appointment.