Picture of the Day + My Gallbladder and Me

There’s been a lot of this happening lately.

Dash hates when this happens.

But he’s cute when he’s not stalking.

Today has been a great day. After two weeks of fearing that maybe *just maybe* my Lyme was back, I’ve figured out that the aches and pains I was feeling are of a completely different nature. Hormonal to be exact. I guess my thyroid and company are still reeling from the ups and downs of being ill for so long. They need some help in figuring out how to play as a team.

I figured this out the hard way

And I learned some important lessons along the way:

1) I cannot ignore the fact that I need healthy hormones.

This has been nipping at my ankles since I went into remission almost a year ago, but as much as I love to study endocrinology, read about endocrinology, and drill my professors about endocrinology, practicing it is a whole different beast. I feel like healthy hormones may be the next big mile marker in my trip to wellness, so to speak, so I really need to stop ignoring my doctors on this and start proactively working to make it happen.

2) I am not a doctor.

So I freaked out about the fact that I was feeling so achy and “off,” and I started popping some pretty high doses of my Lyme meds. Without consulting a doctor. I learned that this was a bad idea only after… drumroll please… I had my first gallbladder attack. Actually I had three of them before I figured out what they were, and let me tell you – I hated them.

Fortunately – and by that I really mean unfortunately – I have several friends and family members who’ve struggled with gallbladder issues, so I was able to recognize the symptoms before it got too out of control. Otherwise, I might’ve kept going with the meds and mistaken it for a herx. And that would’ve really, reaaaaaally sucked.

So the moral of the story here? My Lyme is still safely tucked in remission, happy hormones = a happy me, and I need to remember that my gallbladder is precious. And needs lots of TLC. And that it was the wise counsel of my LLMD that got me to this healthier place in the first place, so when he says go forth and be in remission, I need to believe.

I’m much better with nutrition. I’m off to ask my liver’s forgiveness with lots of warm lemon water, milk thistle, and flaxseed tea.

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