Solve one health problem and gain another. Story of my life. They found a fatty tumor on my adrenal gland but don’t think it will amount to much. They’ll do another ultrasound in six months to make sure it isn’t growing. It better not! It’s 3.3cm and on my right adrenal gland.

Meanwhile, after a month of stomach issues, it’s looking like I may have a new autoimmune disorder. I just don’t see what else it could be if it isn’t IBS, which is almost as bad. These are all things that have no cure and that would require medication that I’m unlikely to be able to handle. In addition, I could be grounded at home quite often. Even homebodies like me need to get out every now and then. I’m having the runs again and I’m still warm and having trouble sleeping, although my HR is still good.

I felt a little on edge yesterday and resumed my magnesium and B-complex, as I said, to help keep the anxiety at bay. Again, I cut my waiting time before coffee, this time to 15 minutes. Yesterday, it was 10 minutes. If I do okay today, I’ll go back to waiting half an hour. It’s just hard to know how much of this shit is the medication versus menopause. It’s hard to believe menopause is the culprit only because menopause is supposed to get better with time and not worse. At some point, I’ll ask my docs if menopause symptoms can flare up like this and be more intense this late in the game. In just a couple of months, it will be three years since the last period. Can it really be a coincidence that as soon as I get to six weeks I get so warm like last time?

As for my stomach, I’m guessing the next step is off to a GI doc. I don’t know if I’m going to take their endo and GYN recommendations only because I still don’t see what more they can do for me that hasn’t already been suggested or tried. Plus, I don’t want to go back to the appointment game with doctors’ offices becoming my second home. It may be easier in that Tom doesn’t have a work schedule anymore to have to work around when scheduling these things, but I still have non-24.

With my gut feeling saying that the med is most likely responsible, I’m just going to cut my waiting time when I feel it building up, then as of January 18th, I’ll make sure I wait at least half an hour. I want to be consistent for 6 weeks by the time I get to the lab which should be around March 1st.

I was reading back on some of my last conversations with Aly on Skype. So sad. Her legs were very swollen and she was struggling to breathe. This was before she went into the hospital. She also said that one night her HR never dropped below 93 in her sleep and stayed over 100 during the day.

In better news, I got my incense variety today, which I love. And the new money tree is absolutely beautiful. Nice color vase too, even though I swear turquoise looks like more of a soft mint green. It goes well with the color of the plant. They say all you need to do is fill the reservoir with water once a month.

Just heard back from my doctor. They think I should see a GYN and ask them about estrogen therapy. I didn’t think of that. I’d heard that this increases your risk of cancer, but that’s the least of my concerns right now. I just want to get rid of this internal fire and stop feeling like I’m burning up. As I told them, I don’t have a fever or anything. I still think it’s the med even though they said it’s possible it could be the menopause.

Not surprisingly, they think the next best step is to see a GI doc. They want to do a HIDA scan to rule out gallbladder dysfunction and a fecal calprotectin scan to determine if it’s IBS or something like Crohn’s or colitis.

Gonna hold off on the endo for now, because I have a full plate. At least the fire is starting to die down a bit since cranking up the AC.

Sharing what’s going on with my health on Facebook is a reminder of who my true friends are. Kim and Irma commented, but nothing from Andy, who is stuck on himself and the death of this rock star who never even knew he existed.

Just lit some of my new incense. Ah, Jamaican Sunrise is awesome.

Earlier…

I was pleased yet stunned to find that a bill was passed to protect gay marriage. But then I’ve got to ask myself what the catch may be. I’m sorry, but a bunch of hateful Republicans don’t just up and suddenly support gay marriage. And how long before it’s overturned?

When I saw the headline about Christine McVie dying, I immediately thought of Andy. I knew he would be crushed by the news. And sure enough, he is heartbroken. You could say he’s a little more than an obsessed fan, LOL. He said she’s been a big part of his life since his teens, which is true in a way. He said that the tears will come eventually but maybe he doesn’t want to believe it’s true. Well, he first believed it was a hoax since it was a friend he was angry with who broke the news to him. But that’s typical Andy-nature for you; to think everybody’s lying, LOL. It’s sad that he’s so sad. Even though he never knew or met Christine, he’s taking it like he lost a close personal friend. He did meet Stevie, though, and that’s his number-one idol so it’s going to hit him a lot harder when she goes.

No stomach ultrasound results yet, but I am not having a fun time at all. After four days of doing better, my stomach exploded on me again. Then I woke up after just four hours of sleep feeling like I was on fire and it took me forever to cool down. I noticed I was a little warm the last couple of days as well, and thought, oh no. Next comes the rapid HR and anxiety if I don’t decrease my dose!

But my HR is OK, and I’m not any more anxious than I should be for someone who isn’t feeling well. Since we know my stomach issues weren’t caused by the magnesium or B-Complex (fluoride is ruled out now as well), I started taking them again to ensure I stay on a good note emotionally.

I updated Galileo and they think my thyroid disorder is intensifying my menopause symptoms. I hope that’s all it is! They gave me a link to a site on perimenopause/menopause and asked if I wanted to see an endo for my thyroid or a GYN for the menopause but I’m not sure that either could help any more than anyone else has along with what my own research has taught me.

They acknowledge that it can make you feel like you’re going crazy and can be highly disruptive of sleep. So true! I just can’t regulate my body temperature to save my life. I’m either too hot or too cold and sometimes I feel like I’m both. At least I don’t have a fever and slept through the loud recycling truck.

I’m now down from 161.9 to 157.4 and while that may not be much, it’s a lot for me after being the same for so long. I don’t have much of an appetite today either. I’m hoping that yesterday’s poor eating is all that threw me off and that this won’t escalate into a rise in my HR and anxiety. I know I should be glad for the weight loss because it would make me healthier to lose weight but I worry that a significant loss could affect the way the med affects me.

There’s got to be spells out there for menopause, and with me getting into witchcraft, I should search for one. I’m new to this, so I still have a lot to learn. I know you can’t just cast a spell anytime you want and that it depends on the moon’s cycle and all that.

My cacti never grew.