Health Update – June 2021!

Hello lovelies,

I think I start every single health update off with a similar sentence but how the hell are we half way through the year already? It’s utter madness!

To be completely honest with you, not much has gone on since my last update. Appointments have been few and far between and it’s just been very quiet around here.

I don’t know if I can say that’s a good thing or not as I’ve been having a lot of bad days recently but I will admit that it’s nice to sometimes have a break between appointments to absorb everything that was said and prepare myself for what will be happening in the future.

I still wanted to give you an update though as I’ve had a few important appointments and I’ve got a couple of things to update you on. So before I ramble on, let’s get in to it…

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8th February – Third Botox Appointment

24th May – Forth Botox Appointment

After an amazing response to the Botox during my second round, I was going into the third with high hopes and faith that it would work. Unfortunately that was not the case.

Throughout the last few weeks since my third round of Botox, I had been really struggling with my migraines. They had gone back to being every single day and I didn’t get a break. Don’t get me wrong, some days are better than others but overall, it was rubbish.

We can’t be sure why the third round didn’t work like the second did but my Botox nurse decided to give me a fourth dose on the 24th May to see if this works.

Thankfully, so far, I have felt better since having the fourth round of Botox. It’s been around 5 weeks since having the injections and so far my migraines are more spaced out and I’m having more ‘better’ days than worse. I’m hopeful that as the weeks go on, that it’ll work it’s magic and I’ll continue on the right track.

I’ll keep you updated.

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25th February – COVID Vaccine

6th May – COVID Vaccine

I’m fully vaccinated and boy, am I excited about it!

Being put in the ‘Extremely Vulnerable’ category and self isolating for over 15 months, it feels absolutely amazing to say I’m fully vaccinated and hopefully, I’m at less risk of catching this awful virus.

I was super lucky with both my vaccines, I had one little side effect from the first vaccine which was a sore arm (which only lasted a day) but apart from that, I was absolutely fine.

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14th May – Sleep Apnea Appointment

Well, let’s just say my sleep apnea has been a pain in the bottom recently – that’s to put it polity.

For anyone who doesn’t know: “Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. The main types of sleep apnea are: Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax”.

I’ve had sleep apnea for around 3 years now and I have a sleep apnea machine (CPAP) which helps me breathe of a night time but recently, I’ve been waking up choking and gasping for air despite having my machine on. It can be really blooming scary and it’s been keeping me up of a nighttime as it’s been happening frequently.

So when I spoke to my nurse, we decided to up the pressure of my machine to try and get my breathing of a night time under control. We’ve upped it twice since this has been happening and so far, so good! I haven’t been gasping for air or choking so I count that as a win.

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18th May – Gastroenterology Appointment

It’s been a whirlwind of a year with my gastro problems. As I explained in my last update, things have gone from one extreme to the other and I won’t lie – I’m struggling. My symptoms have been a nightmare and are causing me a lot of pain and discomfort.

I had an appointment with my gastro doctor who sent me some antibiotics which apparently help re-set the bowel but unfortunately, they didn’t work for me. If anything, it actually made my bowel worse.

Back at the beginning of the year, I had to send off some samples so that they could be looked at by the labs. It came back that my inflammatory markers were higher than they should be so I’ve sent off some more samples to see if they stay the same / have risen or have come back down to a normal level. If they come back the same or worse, then I’ll have to have a colonoscopy.

Right now, it’s back to the drawing board with trying to find a treatments to try and get these symptoms under control. I’m keeping my *fingers crossed* that a miracle comes along.

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7th June – Diabetic Clinic

I had my bloods and urine samples sent off the week before this clinic so thankfully the results were back in time for today’s appointment.

Unfortunately, the Levemir alone hasn’t worked as well as we had hoped at bringing my glucose levels down. Over the last 6 months, I’ve been upping my Levemir and now I’m on a very high dose yet it hasn’t been bringing my levels down into the ‘safe zone’ therefore my consultant wanted to add another tablet called Glipizide to the mix to see if that can help bring my levels down. We also re-introduced Metformin back into my system to see if the three of these drugs together can work their magic.

Around 7 days after I started taking Glipizide, I started to feel really unwell. When looking over the side effects (which I never do), I realised that I actually had most of the common side effects and quite honestly, I felt rotten. So I rang my diabetic nurse who took me straight off of them. So, I’m currently just on my Levemir & Metformin, we’re going to see how my levels are with just these two and if my glucose levels continue to rise, then I’ll be put onto a fast acting insulin.

My urine sample actually showed less sugar which is a good sign but it did also show that I have more protein in my urine which can be dangerous for my kidneys. So, my diabetic consultant is writing to my heart consultant to see if I can be started on a pill called Ramipril (which protects the kidneys from any damage). Ramipril can cause low blood pressure and with PoTS that can cause havoc to the body so my diabetic consultant is writing to my heart consultant to be sure before starting me on them.

My bloods also showed my thyroid levels were low again, despite being on a high dose of Levothyroxine. This means they’ve had to up my medication again and I’ll be having a blood test in three months time to check and see if it’s my thyroid levels are in the ‘good range’ again.

It’s always a lot to digest when your in an appointment with a consultant. It’s a lot to take in, especially as i never expected my illnesses to cause diabetes. Diabetes is defiantly a every day challenge but I’m hoping these new medications will work *fingers crossed*.

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General Health Update:

To be honest, I’m not having the best of times when it comes to my pain (alongside everything else going on). I’m really struggling with overall joint pain that isn’t being eased with my current pain relief. It’s been coming and going for the last couple of months but this month especially (June) I’ve been having a real bad time with it. It’s relentless and is just so uncomfortable. I’ve had a couple of chats with my GP who has upped one of my pain meds and started me on an anti-inflammatory. As of right now, it hasn’t made much of a difference at all but I’m going to persevere, just to see if these meds take a little longer to kick start.

It’s hard trying to get my pain under control as I’m not allowed any opioid based pain relief due to my migraines and Bowel condition. Therefore, it’s finding a medication which one) I’m actually allowed and two) actually works for my type of pain. Long gone the days when a couple of paracetamol actually worked for me haha.

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I’ve come to realise after writing all of that, that this post isn’t as short as I first thought. If you’ve made it this far, thank you!

6 months into the year and it’s been a very strange 6 months. The fact I actually have breaks in the week from appointments is a super strange feeling to me. It’s been hard, very hard at times but I’m staying positive that the next few months will be good.

Sending you all tons of love & hugs as always,

Elle xo