Time for Change

Hello! I wanted to write a post months ago and never finished it. I usually like to write out my posts ahead of time but figured I would wing it this time.

So, time to be vulnerable and open about myself. The last five years of living alone, I haven’t shown myself much self love. I am the heaviest I have ever been and part of that is because of my Gastroparesis. Well, a lot of that was because of it, because my stomach couldn’t handle most foods. So I basically have been eating nothing but carbs as it is the only thing that doesn’t upset my stomach.

Since the beginning of January of this year, I have decided to start taking better care of myself. I started with Nutrisystem so I could lose some weight. I lost 20 pounds! 😁

Their system is basically (if you’re a woman) your first week you are only allowed 1,000 calories a day. Starting the next week, you go to 1,200 calories per day.

Their meals are okay taste-wise. I am super picky so I only liked two of their meals. Haha! But I ate the food anyway.

I am now trying something different with my diet, counting macros. “Macros” consist of meeting a certain number of grams for carbs, fats and proteins while staying near/at a certain level of calories. Counting macros is a different way to lose weight by eating the calories your body needs. When I was eating 1,200 calories a day, that was/is a very painful way to diet. It’s not very much food and I was always hungry. Now, I eat almost 1,600 calories per day and am still in calorie deficit in order to lose weight. My daily macros goals are: fat 55 grams, protein 130 grams, and carbs 159 grams. It’s a very SLOW process, the scale hardly moves for me. But you know what? My clothes are fitting me a little differently than before.

If you are curious about macros you can visit here then look for their calculator.

I also decided the covid virus has slowed down enough to go back to the gym! Plus, it helps that I finally got the vaccine. But I am very happy to be back to exercising! About a month ago, I also got reacquainted with weight lifting. It’s been years since lifting weights and I forgot how much I love it.

I hope you all are doing well! Benelli says hello. ☺️

*I am not getting paid by Macros Inc for this post

Not Lupus?

A few months ago I had a not so normal eye exam. The optometrist noted an irregularity with one of my tests that I take for my main Lupus medication, Plaquenil. That meant the medication was starting to effect my eyes. So my new rheumatologist had me see an eye doctor (ya know, because they want to make sure to see a “M.D.” behind the name) and go off the medication. The new eye doctor said it looked fine so I’m back on the medication for the time being. I go back in for another round of tests to make sure everything is still okay at the end of October.

I decided to change my rheumatologist as I felt my current one wasn’t working enough for my health. I told my rheumy about my symptoms of my Gastroparesis (my stomach is not working properly) and she never bothered to look further into it or to send me to a GI doctor.

The first meeting with my new rheumy went well! He also is seeing my sister for MCTD (Mixed Connective Tissue Disease). It was a relief because I had a “feeling” that he would tell me that I didn’t have Lupus, but have what my twin has.

The second meeting with my new rheumy soon came up and my view on him suddenly changed. He told me he didn’t think I had Lupus but I had a disease called Sjogren’s (sounds like “show grins”). He said the Lupus marker never showed up on my blood work but came up on the Sjogren’s marker. And the Sjogren’s marker can mean the person has Sjogren’s…or LUPUS! Think about that for a moment. He kept asking if I had any seizures or heart attacks and I replied with a no. I think he is having a hard time believing that I have Lupus because I haven’t had one or the other, but the thing is having one or the other is NOT a prerequisite for Lupus! So he ordered a bunch of more blood work. I see him again at the beginning of October but wasn’t sure if I wanted to. Suddenly after 20 years I just don’t have Lupus?? Plus, I have had three different doctors tell me that I have Lupus. So at my next appointment I am going to talk to him more of why I “don’t have Lupus.” I didn’t get any of my thoughts/opinions out when he mentioned this shocker because I was so dumbfounded on what he all said. If I’m not satisfied, I am going back to my other doctors that believe that I have it!

Darn Heartburn!

In a recent blog post (now I will have to go back and check) I stated that I had been having horrible heartburn. On my worst days even peanut butter and water would give me heartburn, which made trying to figure out what to have for the other meals a tad difficult.

I decided that I finally had enough trying to deal with it on my own so I made an appointment to see a GI doctor. The GI’s office called and apparently I had already seen one of their doctors for when I had gallbladder issues. So they booked an upper endoscopy for me at the beginning of January.

It had been a while since I’ve had to spend time in the hospital so naturally I was nervous as hell. I started crying when they went to put in my IV. If I have to have anything medical done I cry. I hate it and you would think I would be used to it after all these years dealing with my Lupus. My mom once made the comment that perhaps the reason for me being hysterical is that I had to do all this testing when I was just a kid/young adult and it somewhat scarred me. I think she is right.

Later, I awoke in my room and asked the nurses what they found. I was told that I have Gastroparesis which meant my stomach was not working correctly by not completely emptying. They changed my heartburn meds and told my mom (since I was coming off the drugs) to call the office if things didn’t change.

I was told nothing else so I had to do some online research, which is ironic because normally doctors do NOT want the patient to do that. Suddenly things began to make sense. I had been experiencing some of the symptoms (nausea, the constant feeling of being full, no appetite, and heartburn) but I just thought it was my Lupus.

The new medication had helped the first month or so but now I am starting to get really bad heartburn again. It looks like a diet change is in order, which should be interesting because I am already a finicky eater.

*Thanks to http://www.mommiesquietplace.com for use of picture