Been a Bit Sick
I know in my last post I said I was going to continue on with my story the next day. Then, life happened.
Ever since last winter, I have had fatigue issues. I thought they were tied in to my depression as that tends to be the main way it expresses itself. Also, I had been under a shit ton of stress between taking care of my father-in-law's needs and my own. When I had the breakdown in late February/early March, it reinforced that idea.
Fast forward to this summer. I developed a new thing: my hands fell asleep way too easily. It is mainly my left hand with the pinkie and ring fingers. However, the rest of my hand gets it too and so does my right hand. I saw my ortho thinking that it was the damn herniated discs in my neck giving me issues again. He did not think so. He was positive it was nerve issues in my arms from spending too much time at my desk, keeping my arms bent. He gave me some exercises and sent me on my way.
Then the memory issues kicked in. I'm a college professor so I immediately noticed when I could not recall words. I knew I knew the words but for some reason my brain was not making the appropriate connections. This is not a Good Thing.
When I saw my GP a few weeks ago, I was mainly focused on the hand and fatigue issues. He strongly suggested I see a neuro about both. Mind you, he did not do any blood work, which surprised me, but I was in a bit of a haze and just went along with it.
Can I tell you how long it takes to get an appointment with a neuro? I still have to wait three more weeks before I actually have a visit. That's how long.
Anyway, about 10 days ago, the weirdest thing started happening to me: my tongue started to hurt for no reason whatsoever. At first it felt as though it was swollen, which would imply some kind of allergic reaction. However, nothing in my diet had changed and no new pills. Then, I started to think about it differently. It hurt. Kind of like the feeling when you scald your tongue kind of hurt but it does not go away. It started on the edges of my tongue but by last Wednesday the whole tongue was involved and so was my mouth. It was bad enough my appetite disappeared into La La Land--which is Not Good as I tend to forget to eat anyways--but now when I wanted to eat I could not because it hurt too much.
Yes, I called my GP. He was on vacation so I saw his colleague, who I like anyways. He did a cursory examination and ordered a shit ton of blood work. Even the phlebotomist was impressed with the amount of blood she had to take from me. I am just surprised my GP did not do this when I saw him the last time.
So what is it? Not sure. I could not get in to see the doc until Friday and with it being a holiday weekend I may not get my results until Wednesday. However, I have a strong suspicion that it is a vitamin B12 deficiency that may have led to anemia. Yes, I am one of those people who spends a hell of a lot of time on the internet figuring out what's wrong with me, but I was really at a loss with the other issues. First I thought I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or fibromyalgia but the symptoms did not clearly match up. Then the thing with the tongue hit and that really baffled me. However, once I Googled tongue pain, then it all started to fall into place.
And no, I'm not vegan, which is the most common way of getting this type of deficiency. I did, however, have bariatric surgery which removed most of my stomach. It seems that the part of the stomach that was removed produced Intrinsic Factor, which attaches itself to B12 in the stomach to allow the body to absorb the vitamin. As I am missing Intrinsic Factor, I cannot absorb B12. I was baffled that I did not know about this when Bear reminded me that I used to take sublingual B12 after the surgery. Why did I stop? I have no fucking clue to be honest. It might have been that I ran out and could not find it at the store and then forgot about it. That would not surprise me. However, if it is a deficiency then I really want to kick myself in the ass for being so stupid. This is not something that occurs overnight as the liver can store B12 for over three years! (Yes, too much research again) This has been building up very slowly over the years and now I am paying for it. Bah.
Well, it's too late now to complain. If the tests come back positive for a deficiency, then I will deal with it. Some of the symptoms I am having now will go away with treatment while others may stay permanently. But I am getting ahead of myself again. I need to wait and hear from the doctor. I could be completely way off.
Ever since last winter, I have had fatigue issues. I thought they were tied in to my depression as that tends to be the main way it expresses itself. Also, I had been under a shit ton of stress between taking care of my father-in-law's needs and my own. When I had the breakdown in late February/early March, it reinforced that idea.
Fast forward to this summer. I developed a new thing: my hands fell asleep way too easily. It is mainly my left hand with the pinkie and ring fingers. However, the rest of my hand gets it too and so does my right hand. I saw my ortho thinking that it was the damn herniated discs in my neck giving me issues again. He did not think so. He was positive it was nerve issues in my arms from spending too much time at my desk, keeping my arms bent. He gave me some exercises and sent me on my way.
Then the memory issues kicked in. I'm a college professor so I immediately noticed when I could not recall words. I knew I knew the words but for some reason my brain was not making the appropriate connections. This is not a Good Thing.
When I saw my GP a few weeks ago, I was mainly focused on the hand and fatigue issues. He strongly suggested I see a neuro about both. Mind you, he did not do any blood work, which surprised me, but I was in a bit of a haze and just went along with it.
Can I tell you how long it takes to get an appointment with a neuro? I still have to wait three more weeks before I actually have a visit. That's how long.
Anyway, about 10 days ago, the weirdest thing started happening to me: my tongue started to hurt for no reason whatsoever. At first it felt as though it was swollen, which would imply some kind of allergic reaction. However, nothing in my diet had changed and no new pills. Then, I started to think about it differently. It hurt. Kind of like the feeling when you scald your tongue kind of hurt but it does not go away. It started on the edges of my tongue but by last Wednesday the whole tongue was involved and so was my mouth. It was bad enough my appetite disappeared into La La Land--which is Not Good as I tend to forget to eat anyways--but now when I wanted to eat I could not because it hurt too much.
Yes, I called my GP. He was on vacation so I saw his colleague, who I like anyways. He did a cursory examination and ordered a shit ton of blood work. Even the phlebotomist was impressed with the amount of blood she had to take from me. I am just surprised my GP did not do this when I saw him the last time.
So what is it? Not sure. I could not get in to see the doc until Friday and with it being a holiday weekend I may not get my results until Wednesday. However, I have a strong suspicion that it is a vitamin B12 deficiency that may have led to anemia. Yes, I am one of those people who spends a hell of a lot of time on the internet figuring out what's wrong with me, but I was really at a loss with the other issues. First I thought I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or fibromyalgia but the symptoms did not clearly match up. Then the thing with the tongue hit and that really baffled me. However, once I Googled tongue pain, then it all started to fall into place.
And no, I'm not vegan, which is the most common way of getting this type of deficiency. I did, however, have bariatric surgery which removed most of my stomach. It seems that the part of the stomach that was removed produced Intrinsic Factor, which attaches itself to B12 in the stomach to allow the body to absorb the vitamin. As I am missing Intrinsic Factor, I cannot absorb B12. I was baffled that I did not know about this when Bear reminded me that I used to take sublingual B12 after the surgery. Why did I stop? I have no fucking clue to be honest. It might have been that I ran out and could not find it at the store and then forgot about it. That would not surprise me. However, if it is a deficiency then I really want to kick myself in the ass for being so stupid. This is not something that occurs overnight as the liver can store B12 for over three years! (Yes, too much research again) This has been building up very slowly over the years and now I am paying for it. Bah.
Well, it's too late now to complain. If the tests come back positive for a deficiency, then I will deal with it. Some of the symptoms I am having now will go away with treatment while others may stay permanently. But I am getting ahead of myself again. I need to wait and hear from the doctor. I could be completely way off.
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