Naturopath visit

Today was the long awaited day. I had another appointment with the naturopath. Before I get into the details I will tell you the funny part. At the beginning of my appointment I watched her choosing her words very carefully. At one point she was trying to figure out how to explain something to me. I waited patiently and then she explained the problem. She said she didn’t know what she should tell me because she was worried that I would take the information home and research it to death. She said it like it was bad thing ;-)) I assured her I would be good. (I think she was more worried that I would call her with another million questions.)

I always learn something new when I visit her. Here is what I learned today. Bacteria have a very clever defense mechanism. They can create hideouts. Basically they create a shell around themselves that make it so our bodies do not recognize them as being the enemy. While they are in this state they are not actively doing anything. They are just laying in wait for the perfect conditions to return to work. That is why you can sometimes take antibiotics and the symptoms will go away and when you stop the problem comes back. It is not a resistance to medication, the bacteria recognized that something was going to kill them and they go into hiding. Okay I am not medically literate maybe that is the definition of a resistant bacterium. She thinks that right now I am doing so well because my body has enough anti-bacterial stuff in my system to keep them in this state, but if I were to stop the supplement they would come out of their shell and I would not be a happy camper. Apparently, those are the nasty bugger that she is now searching for.

On to the appointment…It was a quick visit and I am still trying to digest all the things we discussed. Nothing changed I still am on all the supplements, but she did do some lab work. She explained the labs to me, but I am not sure she was speaking English ;-) I will do my best to regurgitate them here. The results will hopefully point her in a better direction of what we are dealing with. Whether it is Lyme, Candida or something else all together.

I did forgo on the actually Lyme testing. It was expensive! Maybe if the other lab test does not give us any more information or my symptoms become unbearable again, I will reconsider.

Another test I got to take home to do is for Iga. It is something in the lining of the intestines that keeps the things that are supposed to be in my gut, in my gut, and out of my blood stream. She assured me that if they are missing from my system it is an easy fix. I could use an easy fix right now. Especially since I can’t use food (or searching the internet for hours) for an easy fix anymore. :-(

I did get the results for the hormone testing she ran last month. This was before the whole Lyme idea was introduced. The good thing is my estrogen levels are good. The bad news in my progesterone levels were super low, which apparently make me estrogen dominate. I don’t know what that entails, remember my hands tied. I did not do an Internet search. I can only assume that these are not ideal conditions. She gave me a hormone cream last month, already knowing I was imbalanced,(I thought everyone knew that!) but I did not like how I felt when I used it. Apparently, I was applying too much. How was I supposed to know? It says put a pea size amount on your arm. That is what I did. She said start with just enough that I barely see it and then work my way up to a pea size. I would prefer an exact measurement, thank you very much. Oh yeah, I am being forced to get over that trait ;-)) The other thing the results showed is that my insulin levels were too high. It indicated that I may have become insulin resistant. (I did do a quickie search on that one) The Internet said the same thing she did. It can be the result of long term bacterial infection. (It also said it usually causes weight gain, I am so happy the scale did not go the other way!) I always feel better when I can confirm what she tells me. That won me another blood test at the lab. I get to go fasting in the morning.

My feelings on the whole thing visit are mixed. I know she is very confident in what she does. She just does not always articulate the direction she is heading. Sometimes I feel like she is just running tests to see if she can find something. Other times it feels like this is a very well thought out and calculated process. What it really boils down to is that I am impatient, tired and I just want an answer. Well maybe not, I only want an answer if it is fixable. (Yesterday would be good ;-))

P.S...This morning after reading this blog entry, a friend of mine sent me a good link to the leaky gut and Iga. I was not surfing:-) but will read anything that hits my inbox. I thought I would share it is anyone is interested. It just confirms my naturopath is looking at all the options.
http://www.healthychristianliving.com/leaky_gut_syndrome.htm