Grasping for Straws
Monday, March 15, 2010 at 9:26AM On Friday I had a follow up with my neurologist regarding the strange dizzy spells I have been having. Do you remember the week I couldn’t sit down after a very bad Spinal Tap? Yeah, I am still working on that.
Anyhow, I had some blood drawn according to the doc, all looks good. She did notice some high numbers in my inflammatories but other than that she said all looks okay. She wants me to follow up with my doctor regarding my cholesterol so I’ll be making an appointment today for that. I used to be on Lipitor which was fine but when I switched jobs and insurance companies, I had to take Zocor which gave me crazy muscle pain in my legs. So now I am not on any medication so she wants me to go back to him and have him get Lipitor for me. We shall see how that goes.
She also is going to order an ultrasound on the back of my neck. She wants to check those blood vessels for any plaque which may be causing the weird “spells.” Let’s see how long that approval takes.
I have known about nerve damage in both of my arms for several years. I had the carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand and also a nerve relocation procedure at my elbow. Since my right hand still falls asleep all the time she wants to order another nerve conduction study on that arm to start the process of the same surgery on that arm.
In the mean time, she suggested I start taking Alpha-Liporic Acid. She said that it is just a vitamin but it has been proven to help eliminate some pain from neuropathy. I told her that my sister has given me a bottle of it a while back for that very reason. A friend of hers suggested I try it out so she sent me a bottle. I have not been taking it all the time so now I am going to check that out.
Am I grasping for straws? I feel like that sometimes. Like I will try any new treatment, take a new pill, or use another device hoping to God that one of these will truly make my quality of life better. Sometimes I wonder why but at the end of the day, when I look back at the wake of lancets, test strips, co payments, empty juice boxes, and insulin bottles I get it.
Diabetes is tough and if we can get some help then let me at it!
Reader Comments (7)
Tests, tests, tests. Seems that's all diabetics have in store for them after diagnosis. I'm sorry you're having to go through so much just to get an answer. I hope and pray they find one soon for you.
I'm with ya on the diabetes help comment. I hate what diabetes does to us, physically and emotionally. Any help to make it any easier is much appreciated in my book! :-)
Alpha lipoic is very good and def' worth trying, probably the best thing you can take as far as an antioxidant, it's the main ingredient in our maxgxl (the combination in max also boosts glutathione for inflammation/power punch)...
also look into 2 other supplements that have been working well for me...
magnesium oil (better absorbed than the pills I was taking, many many benefits)
and
carnitine (I have more energy and we'll see about the fat burning part, but noticed it did
help my insulin intake a little more)
I order mine on www.mikemahler.com
love ya! <3
Your not grasping at straws George, not at all. How would we find out what works in both life and diabetes, if we never tried new things?
Keep up posted on how the Alpha Lipoic works. Have you ever considered accupuncture? I have inflamation issues with my feet and shoulder, and everytime I get accupuncture, it really helps with the pain!
Hang in there G!
Kelly k
Sorry that this continues for you, G. Hope the tests provide some answers and some of these straws prove helpful. Nothing wrong with grasping at them - we all deserve to. It'd be nice if we had the colorful straw options available, but too often we have bent, kinked, already-used plastic straws that just don't do the job for what we need them for. And that just plain sucks. But, we do what we can. Thanks for posting this.
George!
I hope the docs help you find an explanation and solution to this soon! It sounds awful.
Just wanted to give you a virtual --squeeeeeeeeeeze--
-Ginger
Grasping at straws is travelling to a remote location to harvest a rare herb that you read about on a blog post written by somebody selling tours to where it can be harvested. Trying a supplement that is recommended by a reasonably trusted professional seems to me to be common sense. :)
You know, sometimes we have to help the docs work through the process of elimination. The human body is a pretty darn complicated thing, and there is no "easy button" for fixing stuff. I say if stuff is still bothering you, just work through it all with the doc. Might take some time, but hopefully you come across something that truly helps!