Thursday, April 21, 2011

Always Tired...

That describes me to a "T"! I am ALWAYS tired. It doesn't seem to make a difference what I do. There are times when it's worse...ie once a month and during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy. This is the story of how I became tired all the time. (I will be commenting on foods that I know are extremely bad for you. At the time I didn't know that, and seeing as it was 15 yrs ago I don't think they were as bad for you as they are now)

Around the time I was 14 I started to gain weight. By the time I was 16 I was around 190-200lbs. Not good. Towards the beginning of '96 I was doing ballet. We had practice 4 times a week. I was teaching ballet, and I started doing Escrima with my dad and brother. (escrima is sword and dagger fighting, using wooden sticks to train) I started losing some weight. By the time I graduated in May, I had lost around 20-25lbs.

I had my graduation ceremony on a Friday night. Afterwards I felt sorta sick, but mainly just a sore throat. Over the next 3 days I was VERY SICK! I spent it all sleeping and in that 3 day span I lost over 20lbs and continued losing weight over the next few months...'til I was down to 135lbs. During the beginning I had a sore throat and got a terrible cough. The cough hurt my chest SO bad, it was awful. I was so weak that I spent most of my time in bed. I would get up to use the bathroom and be falling asleep while in there, only to get back in bed and go right back to sleep. I couldn't eat hardly anything. I went from being able to eat a double cheeseburger, large fries and large drink and still be hungry to I couldn't eat more than 3 chicken nuggets. I developed an intolerance to dark colored sodas, but clear one's were fine.

During this time I also went from being able to tan and being quite dark to being white as a ghost and getting second/third degree burns from the sun.

A couple weeks later I got an UTI. I was put on antibiotics for that and towards the end of that developed an allergic reaction to it. I also noticed at some point that there was a large mass in my left side, right under my rib cage. I could push it back, but it would just come forward again.

I went to the Dr's several times. Had innumerable tests done. The Dr was actually so worried about me (we had a wonderful Dr at the time) she actually called my mom to see how I was doing. The tests showed absolutely NOTHING! The Dr was very concerned about the mass in my side as well, so I had to do more tests for that. They discovered that my kidney is turned and tilted forwards. What I can feel under my rib cage is the top of my kidney.

Over the course of the next year I slowly recovered. At least to the point where I was semi normal. I still was much weaker than I should have been. I started having awful kidney pains. The worse when I would eat too much sugary foods or sodas and not get enough regular food. I still could barely eat. Since that time I have MORE than recovered my appetite. I still have occasional problems with my kidneys, esp if I take Vit C or drink citrus juice. To this day I still am tired most of the time. My Dr now says it's just cause I have so many kids. (Because you know everyone with more than the average 1.8 children just must be exhausted!) She tried to put me on BP meds saying I have high BP (which does run in my family) only at my next visit the nurse told me what my readings were and they were no where NEAR high. So I remain in the dark to this day. I am trying some supplements and am hoping they will work for me. We are doing our best to switch over to whole, natural, organic foods. It's very hard though when you're exhausted to cook from scratch. I realize it would help, but sometimes I'm just too tired to care.

Why am I tell you this? I don't know exactly, but I hate for people to think I'm just a complaining, whiny baby. When I say I'm tired, I really mean it! Thanks for letting me "vent" :D

Blessings, ♥T

6 comments:

Country Mama said...

Maybe you have a food intolerance? After years of trying to figure out my issues, I finally discovered I can't tolerate gluten. I am so much healthier now that I don't eat it!

Twinkle Toes said...

I don't know...The only food intolerance I know I have is to oats. Problem is that I'm SO picky when it comes to food. I HATE most all vegetables, can barely stand fruit and eat tons of meat, carbs and cheese. Not very healthy I know. But we are working on it ;)

Wasatch Wife said...

Friend, you just answered your entire post right here with saying how picky you are, and that you hate vegetables! lol! ;D
I am a proven case that food will heal you if you aren't already too far gone. You honestly MUST change your eating habits and tastes.
You will never stop craving foods that aren't good for you if you have an overload of candida and sugar in your system. (and yes..this means even sugar from some *bad* fruits such as bananas....also white potatoes, and any other starchy foods).
If you would take a candida cleanse(you can get at vitacost for about 15 bucks, and an after set of probiotics come with it), and follow a ZERO sugar/processed foods diet for the 10 days that you take the candida cleanse....you will literally RID your body of those cravings for junk, and reboot your taste buds in the process(they shed and replenish about every 7-10 days).
You cannot cheat, however, because candida will regroup in a day if you have ANY sugar or grain!
I was just like you my friend, and it took me truly getting sick with all these kids to realize that I had to do it....even if it was the hardest thing EVER! I'm so glad I did too as I'm down 26 pounds as of today, and have not needed a nap in 5 weeks!!!!!!! I will pray for you girl.....changing diet is the hardest thing we can ever do I think!! LOL! It has been for me!! :D love to you! :D--S

Twinkle Toes said...

:D You're right Faithful Mama! I have struggled with yeast infections/candida for years as well. I've tried taking the detoxes before, but they didn't work well because I didn't change my diet much :D I have actually been planning to do a juice (veggies mainly, with some fruit) fast. I just haven't gotten around to it. Changing your diet is the hardest thing a person can do! Especially when you're literally addicted to sugar/carbohydrate foods. We are working on it though, I promise! We have eliminated HFCS, I rarely used white sugar at all anymore, etc... We are also doing a fruit and veggie co-op and will be getting range fed organic beef too! I'm so excited about that. It's a slow process for us, but it is one we are definitely doing! I'm so excited for you though! That's great how much weight you've lost! And to not need a nap, that is AWESOME! ♥♥

Anonymous said...

Having two kiddos with special needs, I have seen what happens inside the body that we often don't even understand until the right testing is done.

Have you considered doing some testing like a NutraEval and CDSA? These will show you a HUGE picture of what's happening in there. You should see how sick our sons bodies are and how this shows itself on the outside. They had symptoms that made doctors scratch their heads, until they ran the tests. These things didn't take their special issues away, but it took so many of their odd symptoms and pains away.

I also agree about your diet. Goodness, if I had it my way, I would eat meat, cheese, and bread all day. I never liked veggies or fruit. Hated them. Having the kids I have, veggies and fruit are a daily need so I faked it for a long time, eating things I hated, so their dietary needs wouldn't be so hard on them. Now I like things I never would have even put into my mouth before. Sometimes it's just "fake it til you make it". A hard one, but it worked.

Praying for discovery into your health and for you to make the changes necessary to feel better. Even if you aren't a Mom, feeling bad isn't a good thing.

Twinkle Toes said...

Thank you for those suggestions! I am going to try to get in to my doctor soon. The problem I have is I only have 1 doctor I can go to and she isn't very interested in "helping" anyone. Pretty much everyone (not just me!!!) who has seen her has had some sort of antidepressant pushed on them for no apparent reason. So I always have to go in prepared to insist that certain tests be run. It's not so easy knowing which tests need to be done though. I will definitely look into these!

I know, my diet isn't good! I do take powdered vegetable caps, but I KNOW they aren't the same as eating real veggies. I am trying to do better though, I promise! LOL

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