How gallbladder surgery ruined my health - part 3

Because it was "assumed" that I had a stone stuck in my common bile duct. I had to have an ERCP to remove the stone. Not a pleasant experience believe me. They spray a horrible chemical down your throat to freeze your gag reflex, then they lay you down in the fetal position on this cold x-ray table, and drug you with 75mg of Demerol so you're so sedated you can't open your eyes let alone function (it's almost like being put down for surgery!), then they put a plastic piece in your mouth and ask you to try and swallow. All I remember is something pocking me in the bottom of my stomach. No pain, nothing. The doctor told me there was no stones there, and left me in the waiting room until the Demerol wore off and my gag reflex came back. I was returned back to my room to wait until my emergency gallbladder removal the next day. Looking back now, I could of made a fuss and asked to be discharged, go home and look into other ways of removing gallstones without surgery, but back then I wasn't the type to challenge doctors.

The surgery went well, I immediately felt lighter on my right side, and was ecstatic to hear that I no longer needed a restricted diet. I was sent home to finish my recovery 2 days after my surgery with orders to stay home for at least 3 weeks. Once I felt better I started working at a new job, and believed I finally had my life back.

Not true, this was only the beginning of a whole new nightmare. 8 months after my surgery, I went for my routine checkup and was told I had an underactive thyroid. A what? How? Why? This made no sense to me, hypothyroidism doesn't just "happen", something has to set it off I told my doctor. He became irritated by my questions, and I became irritated by his lack of answers. He fired me as a patient and I fired him as my specialist. So started my quest for answers on what had happened to my body. I immediately went to the internet for answer and found an article on hypothyroidism written on Dr. Gary Null's website (sorry but it's no longer there). Here's a clipping of what it said:

Article written by Martin Feldman, M.D
Found on http://gnhealth.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1013 (no longer there!). It talks about rare cases of hypothyroidism that aren't caused by auto immune diseases. This article is what made me wonder if that's why my TSH levels went back to normal when I was switched from dex .625mg to hydrocortisone 30mg and understeroided.

PERIPHERAL THYROID IMBALANCES. Even when the central regulation is working properly, the thyroid system may still be dysfunctional at the peripheral level, where T4 is converted to T3. If this conversion process does not work properly, a low thyroid condition also may result because the level of free T3 is insufficient. The thyroid effect at the cellular level is inadequate. You may produce sufficient amounts of T4 but still have the symptoms of underactivity because the conversion aspect of the thyroid mechanism has faltered. Factors that can reduce the conversion of T4 to T3 include a restricted intake of carbohydrates, nutrient shortages, enzyme deficiencies, chronic illness, heavy metal exposure, increased glucocorticoids or high-stress states, and imbalanced estrogens. Stress can inhibit this conversion process by elevating cortisol.

"LOW URINARY T3 Causes:Endocrine causes - High oestrogens, high cortisol. Low T4, low GH (Growth Hormone), low androgens.Drugs - antiinflammatory, antidepressants, lipid drugs, cardiac drugs, high soy. It may also be due to cortisol excess, global nutritional deficiency, or T3 to T4 conversion problems. These conversion problems are caused by iron, selenium, iodine, growth hormone and androgen deficiencies or cortisol and oestogen excess.

So I thought I had it! My dose of Decadron was now too high because I was missing my gallbladder and my body was now absorbing more of it than before. All I have to do is reduce my dose, that's easy. Or so I thought...

For over 1 year I tried redusing my dose by just 1/4 tablet and after 5 days or so would go into adrenal crisis...understeroided. It's a horrible feeling believe me. During this time, my health kept getting worse. My digestion was still horrible, I had watery stools, heartburn, my morning nausea/gagging was back, and forget eating raw veggies, dairy, sauces, spices or red meat, I'd be bent over in pain and gas every time I ate such foods. I was gaining weight at a rate of 7-10lbs/mnth by this point. I had horrible foggy head, dizziness, body aches, and hot flashes too. Eventually my menstruation stopped, and a sense of depression came over me.

By this point I had gone to see these "specialists" for answers:
2 endocrinologist
researcher at NIH
CAH Foundation
Reiki practitioner
Family doctor
5 psychics
1 tarot card reader
1 palm reader
1 naturopath

I was given various "root causes" and unsuccessful treatments, including:
Decadron dose too high
reduce Decadron
start drinking red wine
stop drinking coffee/tea - only rooibos herbal teas
don't have celiac but sensitive to wheat
mucus buildup in colon
leaky gut
take digestive ezymes with every meal
IBS
cold body (chinese medicine)
damaged liver
drink milk thistle tea
weak bones
weak thyroid
weak adrenals
low testosterone, progesterone, androstenedione, DHEA-S
switch from calcium carbonate to microcrystalline hydroxyapatite complex (MCHC)
take porcine thyroid drops
take porcine adrenal drops
IBS clinical hypnotherapy reprogramming program (100 days)


and just like I said in my Yeast Infection Entry, I now had the following health problems:

insulin Resistance
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Dysmenorrhea
pasty white coating on back of the tongue
vaginal yeast infections and discharge
burning during urination yet no bladder infections
tinea versicolor
joint pain/extreme upper back, shoulder and neck pain
abdominal bloating
chronic diarrhea
IBS
acid refulx
GERD
Gas
phlegmy throat in the mornings
blisters in my mouth
restless sleep/insomnia/nightmares
night food cravings
sweet tooth
brain fog/foggy head/poor concentration/forgetfulness
chronic sinus congestion/infections/dryness
headaches
bleeding gums
burning eyes/eyes blur when reading
depression/ irritability/personality changes/mood swings
body chills during the day/excessive sweating during sleep
dizziness
food intolerance (cheese, red meat, milk, beans, raw foods)
tingling sensations in my feet, hands and ears
vertigo
hypothyroidism (under active thyroid)
low testosterone/androstenedione/progesterone/DHEA-S levels (hormonal imbalances)
jock itch (diaper rash) and rectal itching
hemorrhoids

It was now march 2007. I was 29 yrs old, over 350lbs, been let go of three jobs due to my health, had to write off my car, exhausted my savings, and my 9 months of employment insurance. To make matters worse, most of our friends believed I was faking my "ill health" and had decided to let myself go. Taking advantage of my partner emotionally and financially now that we were married. What a blow to my ego! Me? the type A, the ambitious worker, the constant provider, the "I'll never need anyone" independent one, losing her financial and physical independence? Having to be 100% supported by her spouse? My friends judging me, thinking I was capable of taking advantage of the one I loved like that?

WHY ME? WHY NOW? THINGS WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY - DO YOU HEAR ME???????????