Medication Madness

I was reading comments today on a support page I follow and I was so disheartened. The topic was about those with both PCOS and Hashimoto’s disease.
Initially the comments pertained to whether or not any other readers had both also; then it turned to what medications to take….   I have both. I kept commenting that medications for PCOS made my situation worse and that I’m doing so much better right now without medications, but my comments were politely ignored.

Medications that mask a symptom don’t alleviate the cause of the symptom, just let the cause continue to go unattended until the mask no longer works and you are left staring at a MUCH LARGER PROBLEM! I was put on Metformin, a medication that helps control the level of glucose (sugar!) in your blood. I was surprised that my heavy and long periods and my inability to conceive a second time (after my first child was conceived in 6 weeks) was going to be helped at all by leveling out my blood sugar. And if so, wouldn’t a diet change help me and my future pregnancy much better then a drug; better in the long run? These were questions my Ob, though an awesome OB, couldn’t really answer.

I continued to read the comments, “What is your dose? You may need….” and “Have you been tested to see if you have type 2 diabetes?” and “You may need insulin injections too…”. Not one other comment about the fact that insulin is directly effected by what you eat, and that by altering that in a healthy manner you can avoid diabetes and manage PCOS! Why add a medication that clogs your liver and masks the real issue?

On top of it all I was able to conceive on Metformin but as my research later revealed it caused my body to rob cortisol from the fetus (my son) causing intestinal developmental delays that resulted in his inability to process proteins. He paid dearly for my lack of knowledge and not changing my diet before conceiving him. This fetal robbery is why there is an increase in other issues such as autism, spectrum disorders, severe allergies, and more…

He couldn’t nurse. He screamed all the time and hated to eat. He didn’t gain weight and wouldn’t sleep and he threw up almost everything he put down. At 2 months old he was put on specialty formula at $40 a can and after months with very little improvement (and the looming risk of invasive procedures to figure out the cause) he was put on $1000 a month special prescription formula that he was finally able to keep down. Now at 16 months old he still drinks 3 bottles a night (although at 13 months old was able to switch to a Gerber baby formula) and he still has several during the day. He eats real food but much of it goes straight through him. I’m not sure what nutrition he’s able to pull from what he eats and he still happily drinks his bottle and with them finally feels satisfied. He needs the nutrition….

I don’t wish my scenario on anyone. It was/is the most helpless feeling in the world.

I finally had to excuse myself from the support pages’ conversation. I was heartsick. What I’ve done, with God’s helping hand, is nothing shy of a miracle and I can tell people how to get this miracle for themselves, but no one wanted to hear.

Part of my journey was dealing with periods so bad that I would bleed for over a week, spot for 7-10 days and then heavy bleed for another 7 and then spot for 5 and then bleed for 12 and then I might get a 2 week break and then back again. It was like having a constant period. And the anemia was an issue because of this constant bleeding. Nothing like ANOTHER reason to have fatigue, like Hashimoto’s isn’t enough.
I now have regular periods! That in-and-of-itself is reason to shout form the mountaintops!

March 1st a year ago I took a stand. My son had just been diagnosed with a milk protein allergy/inability to process and I was like, NOPE! I’m not claiming this for him, or me. They may have said it but I wasn’t about to.

Proverbs 18:21
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

I started reading everything I could get a hold of took action, starting with The Word (of God). I went gluten free and low carb right away. What a difference! As my other blogs are detailing I first decided that I needed to be off prescription medications before my diet could truly have a positive effect. You need your liver to adjust thyroid hormone into a usable hormone, and to break down and filter out sugars and other things that effect insulin levels. Until my liver was free to do these jobs it was going to be continually tied up filtering Welbutrin XL and other medications (I was told I’d be on for life).

1 Corintians 12:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I also dropped all processed food (except dairy~I held on to that, good dairy farmers’ granddaughter that I am) and began to let my body heal enough to let go of medications. I found in my Word how God clearly tells us what is for us to eat. Amazing but Cheetos don’t grow on trees (a personal favorite) and thus are not in God’s word as a food. The last drug I was able to stop taking was the Welbutrin XL on the 6th of November 2013. What a feeling that was! And for being the worst winter in 25 years I’ve felt great! God has truly blessed my faith and my willingness to have him be my source of mental well being.

Matthew 11:30
For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Philippians 4:6-8
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

That last verse I have said and written a lot these last few years. In the midst of debilitating panic attacks and severe hypoglycemia among other things it’s amazing how when you seek God’s face he takes all that upon himself and restores to your mind a peace that is unexplainable, unreal. And so very very appreciated and needed.

I’m now working hard to undo my insulin resistance with the amazing help of Dr. Datis Kharrazian’s book “Why do I still have thyroid symptoms.” and the book by Haylie Pomroy “The fast metabolism diet”. See my pertaining blogs. What a difference.

I encourage everyone who wants to find wellness and NOT LIVE IN THE LAND OF MEDICATION BAND AIDES to find these two books and buy a notebook and go to town. You aren’t going to be able to put them down!

Do you have questions about what I’ve been through or want to have a blog on a different part of this journey? Please leave me a comment!

Wellness lasts a lifetime and makes that lifetime longer and more fruitful. Medications hide the issue for a later date and usually the monster the medication was hiding grows and grows until it can’t be contained anymore.

Stop the beast in it’s tracks!