Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Results Are In

The short: slightly high cholesterol, low vitamin d and slightly elevated esr.

The long: I knew I was going to come up with some unsavory results. I have been WAY too self indulgent with food. I'm in pain, so I easily fall into the food tastes good/makes me feel good trap. AND my preferred method of pain relief is notorious for it's tendency to increase appetite, and I have definitely fallen victim to the munchies a time or two. Or three hundred million.

And then there's the low exercise. Exertion fires my head up real good, so any exercise is a careful, gentle and sometimes non-existent thing. I walk on my treadmill, or outside, as much as I can, but it's not enough. EVIDENTLY.

I was worried about diabetes as it tends to run in my family as we age/widen, but I came out in the clear. Weirdly, not two hours after I thought to myself, "At least I'm lucky that my sugars are ok!", I found out that my closest friend was hospitalized with a surprise! you're diabetic! crisis. He's okay, thankfully, but weird, right?

So, my sugars were good, but my cholesterol was high, 218. First thing I did when I saw that was take a fish oil capsule. I'm going to be cutting way back on the dairy, and try to introduce more fish into my diet, however intimidating it may be. And the exercise, well there's not much I can change there but I did add some light weights to my treadmilling, for a few minutes every walk.

Having low vitamin d wasn't a big surprise, it's common among migraineurs, and I don't drink cow's milk or go out in the sun much. I like to say that I take a daily multi, but I only take it weekly, at best, unless I'm feeling ill. Just lazy habits, really. So, now I'm taking it every day, like a good girl.

Now, the elevated esr was interesting, as it indicates inflammation in the body. But that could be head related or arthritis related and though it's out of the normal range, it's not much to work with. Hopefully one of my doctors will have more information on that.

So that's what's next: I'll be going back to my pcp to touch base over these results and I'll also be seeing an acupuncturist! Exciting!

3 comments:

PatientC said...

Hi! Thanks for following Patient C, I look forward to reading your blog!

Gah, my Vit. D was low enough to put me on 2,000 IU/ day, but it actually helped with some neuropathy, and now I don't have to worry about getting into the sun (lupus). Glad your sugars were good!

MigrainePuppet said...

Hi - I wanted to let you know that I really enjoy reading your blog and have nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. Here is a link to my posting: http://migrainepuppet.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-lovely-blog-award.html

I'm glad your sugar levels were good. Good luck with getting your cholesterol level down.

steph said...

Hey Patient C, thanks for visiting me. I had no idea how dramatic my doctor was going to be about the vitamin d! She put me on a crazy high once a week dose that should change something, hopefully. So, yay. :)

And thanks for the award MigrainePuppet, you have a lovely blog, too!