OPTION B

One month off my Lyme meds, and my labs show low thyroid function, low adrenal function, and low female hormones. I had follow-up tests this week, to see if my pituitary (a gland at the base of the brain, that's like the leader of the hormone big band) is working correctly and if I have enough cholesterol to even make the hormones I need.

The good news from my appointment yesterday is my pituitary does not have a tumor, and it is not in any other kind of trouble. My pituitary is in fact very energetic! In Dr. Ross' words, it's  "screaming" at my thyroid, ovaries, and adrenal glands to make the hormones my body needs.

So why aren't my nice little glands doing what they should?

Cholesterol isn't holding them back. My cholesterol, much to my surprise, is high. Good high. HDL/LDL ratio as it should be, but the numbers are high! How did this happen, while I was weighing all of 112 pounds due to Cholestyramine, the horrible liver medication I was on?

Well, to compensate for Cholestyramine, I was downing the dark chocolate, guacamole, over-easies, nut butters, heavy cream from grass-fed Jersey cows, and whole milk yogurt from ditto cows, for breakfast lunch & and dinner. Six weeks ago I stopped cholestyramine and kept up the fatty foods. Should I have been surprised my cholesterol was that high? Well, I was.

Cholesterol is the raw material of hormones and endocrines. So why such scant e's &h's?

There are two options:

A) Permanent damage from Lyme
B) Temporary damage from all the Lyme meds and supportive supplements I was on.

Dr. Ross was plowing ahead with option A, ready to write me a prescription for thyroid medication and hormone supplements, when I said:
 "Whoaholdonwhataboutit'sjustamonthsinceIstoppedallmymedicationincludingiodinewhichwasmessing
withmythyroidsomaybethesemessagesfrommypituitaryandallthisabundantcholesterolmightworkifwegiveitachance.

And Dr. Ross said, "Yes, come to think of it, it has only been a month since you got off your meds annd your body could just be in an adjustment phase. Let's give it more time. I'll rerun all this lab work in a month and see if there are changes in the right direction."

Phew. Because  my long-term goal is to be on as little medication as possible, in return for as much energy as possible.

For the next month, my goal is to encourage my body to balance itself. That means keeping myself in a healing state for as many hours of the day as possible. Slow breathing, plenty of rest, light exercise, happy activities (like writing and dancing!) and above all, meditation.