Couldn’t sleep again last night, it was just awful. Even with the air conditioning cranked, I was still really hot, tossing, turning, and sweating like a fiend. So I made an executive decision and cut my medication in half today. I told the endocrinologist I’m extremely sensitive to medication (“Whatever you usually give people, cut it in half”), and it turns out I’m getting double the usual starter dose. So hopefully this will help.
Also, I’m absolutely thrilled to find out that the tear in my rotator cuff is minor, and won’t require surgery.
“What were you doing that you hurt this?” the physiatrist said, twisting my arm this way and that.
“Well,” I said, “I had my gall bladder out and I developed shingles right after. The only way I could get out of bed was to prop myself up with my left arm. I think that did it.”
Yeah, that would do it, he said. So he gave me a cortisone shot (he said he could do prolotherapy, but he’d recommend cortisone because I was in so much pain), told me not to work out for a few days, and then we had a nice chat about Vitamin D deficiencies. (He said just about everyone he tests now has really low levels.) I always enjoy going to see him because he’s one of those doctors who actually listens instead of trying to rush you out the door.
He also taped my shoulder with a bunch of black Kinesio tape to hold my shoulder in place. I look like an NFL linebacker.
The most interesting thing I’ve learned from him is how dumb it is to rely solely on blood tests and MRIs. “Everybody’s different,” he says. “I’ve had people in here who could barely walk, but nothing showed up on the MRIs. I’ve had other patients who have horrible MRIs and no symptoms at all. So it makes a lot more sense to just treat the patient’s symptoms.”
What do you think is up w/so many people having vitamin D deficiency. I saw one theory that it’s because people are using so much sunscreen that they/we aren’t absorbing enough vitamin D. But I haven’t seen anything else.
It’s also caused by digestive problems. You can get Vitamin D in your diet, but you may not be absorbing it. I wonder if this isn’t because of all the GMOs in the food supply.