Why is EVERY FUCKING TOPIC about transgender people?
Seriously Hol, you don't have to talk about that constantly!! Real people have other things going on than their sexual and gender identities!! Try acting like a real person!!
Anyway, the other day, I still hadn't gotten any answers, and I went to the doctor for one last effort to figure out what my problem was. I've been really tired, really dizzy, getting that pins and needles feeling in my hands for no reason, still having occasional fluttering chest sensations, headaches, wobbly legs, going up stairs leaves me feeling like I need a damn nap, and basically I'm just completely useless anymore. Almost every time I eat, I feel too lightheaded to walk around for at least a few hours. In the shower the other day I started getting really dizzy and having trouble breathing, my heart was beating way too fast, and I had to get out. Now, I've had all these sorts of symptoms before, but not since high school, when I was severely ill and diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia. Thing is, my blood work came up fairly normal, as far as indicators for that condition go. So it had to be something else.
The doctors did more blood work, and a few days later I got an email from my doctor: apparently, my B12 levels were "very low" and I have h. Pylori bacteria. B12 deficiency basically accounts for every one of my awful symptoms lately. The h. Pylori might explain why I have been having stomach problems for a very long time.
So yesterday I went back to the doctors, and they took even more blood. They prescribed me two antibiotics that I need to take with Prilosec to kill the bacteria.
They told me normal people have B12 levels in the 500-600 or more range, and my level was 120. The thing about B12 deficiency is it's very rare in people who are not 1) living in an impoverished third world country, or 2) very old, or 3) a strict vegetarian or vegan, or 4) have a serious eating disorder where they don't eat anything. You get B12 from eating meat and animal products, or even vitamin fortified breakfast cereals, and I eat that stuff most of the time. Besides that, your liver can store backup B12 for several years.
Since I am not any of those things, they're testing me to see if I have celiac disease, or any other stomach or intestinal issues (like chrohns) which would impede my ability to absorb any B12 I take in orally. They're also checking me for pernicious anemia.
Pernicious anemia is where your body makes antibodies against the cells of your stomach that absorb B12 FOR NO REASON AT ALL. Your body just wants you dead. It's just a funny prank that nature decides to play on people sometimes.
So, if it turns out that I have any of those, but especially pernicious anemia, I might have to get B12 injections for the rest of my life. If not, I should be fine just taking a high dose oral supplement.
I kind of wonder, since I've had a similar experience before, if I haven't always had a deficiency, and just somehow wasn't exhibiting very strong symptoms for a few years there? I dunno. Anyway, I'm not freaking out too much yet. At least they finally figured out what my problem is, and there is a solution, even if it means I'm basically tethered to a doctor's office for the rest of my life. It could be a lot worse. It's also nice to know that I wasn't imagining there was something wrong with me? It's frustrating feeling sick all the time but nobody can figure out why and nobody believes you. When you're as tired and useless as I've been feeling lately, people think you're just being lazy.
I really can't wait to be given that B12 shot. I want to feel like a normal person and get back to my life again.
