This was originally posted to my blog, Diabetes Odyssey.
I have felt better these past few weeks than I have in the past five years! I have more energy, my appetite has evened out, I feel ‘light’, I have had very little nausea and vomiting. I just feel…alive again.
Why? What changed?
It was all so sudden. At least that’s how it seemed.
About five years ago was when my heart started giving me noticeable trouble. Heartburn (acid reflux), chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue. I didn’t have insurance at the time so I just lived with it and hoped and deluded myself into believing it wasn’t what I knew it was. These symptoms just got worse and worse over the next couple of years.
Three years ago I got insurance and ended up having open heart surgery. A triple bypass put me down for several months. The surgery and subsequent recovery time caused me to develop a frozen left shoulder on top of everything else I was dealing with. I was put on all kinds of medication and filled with heavy duty antibiotics. I never did quite get all my energy and strength back…until now.
Three months after the heart surgery I began a one year journey that would end up being four eye surgeries. More meds… and physical restrictions while healing.
Over the past three years I have been extra prone to developing staph infections in my skin. So this means I have been on and off of heavy duty, double doses of antibiotics.
During this time I have been feeling miserable, frustrated, depressed, anxious. You name it! On top of dealing with my ‘normal’ life of diabetes, I was dealing with all this crap. I just couldn’t figure out the cause of certain symptoms. It’s bad enough to have any symptoms at all, but when you and your horde of doctors can’t pin down the cause, it’s just down right maddening!
Loss of appetite
Weight gain
Inability to lose weight
Chronic fatigue
Frequent nausea and vomiting
Vitamin deficiency (for me vitamin D and B12)
Less frequent bowel movements
Diarrhea
Inability to digest certain foods (sulfur heavy foods, red meat, eggs, etc.)
Now, I do have gastroparesis, so most of these symptoms were blamed on it. But, my gastroparesis was diagnosed as mild and both my GI and my endo implied that my symptoms should not be so extreme and frequent.
So, moving on, the entire month of October this year I suffered with extreme symptoms of hyperthyroidism which we determined was caused by thyroiditis. I lost close to 25lbs and had no strength or energy among other terrible symptoms.
Then, suddenly, I awoke one beautiful morning and felt…good. Just like that, I felt like time had gone in reverse and I was back to five years ago before this whole fiasco ever began.
Why? What changed?
It’s so simple. Why hadn’t I thought of it earlier…and why hadn’t any of my doctors?!
Going through all of this…stuff, I was on so many medications, and even worse I was on SO MANY antibiotics.
Antibiotics…kill bacteria…even the good bacteria we need to be healthy…gut bacteria that helps us digest, absorb nutrients, eliminate properly, etc.
Back in July, I think it was, I began to take a probiotic supplement capsule every morning. I soon noticed that as long as I take that capsule every single day, I feel fewer symptoms. It took some time but as you’ve just read, this glorious little over-the-counter capsule of good gut bacteria has set me back to feeling just about right as rain.
Probiotics, yo, try 'em out if you got problems, it just might be an easy fix for you, too. 
Now the one and only concern I have when I go to my doctor is getting my blood sugars back in line. I’ve fallen really far off track with BG control.
Self discipline. I need to kick myself back into gear. I can do it! I’ve done it before! I will get there again!
You are a wonderful, supportive, and insightful woman, and you deserve to feel good. I am certain you will get your BGs back under better control (except for those frustrating times when D doesn’t play fair no matter what you do 
️) now that you are feeling more like yourself. 
️