Monday, June 20, 2011

feeling like jello...

Something is up and I’m not sure what. It all started last Tuesday when I began my first weekly cleanout. I had woke up Tuesday with a horrible headache so I went back to bed to sleep it off. I went in late to work and at lunch started drinking my magnesium citrate. I was up throughout the night cleaning out. Since my GI tract is so slow, I am not like the normal person, a bottle of magnesium citrate takes a while; anywhere between 24 to 36 hours. I woke up Thursday morning expecting to go to work but I was drained and very weak feeling. I figured I could go in at lunch but that never happened. I rotated from my bed to the couch all day. I drank protein drinks throughout the day hoping to gain some strength so I could go to work the next day.

Friday morning came and I still had that jello-ish feeling in my legs, like they were going to collapse under me but I went to work anyway. We have devotions every morning at work. I park below the building. In a perfect world, I would get to work in time and park at the building where I work and walk up to devotions but physically I just don’t have the strength to do that anymore in the mornings; getting ready for work drains me alone. Friday morning the walk from the parking lot to the building where we devotions was about more than I was capable of doing. One day, I’m going to collapse in the parking lot, whether it be walking to devotions or lunch it’s going to happen and it’s going to kill me (not literally) because a twenty-four year old should not have this issue.

As for work Friday, I tried to keep up and I made myself a goal; work until lunch. I made my goal and then I left. I spent the afternoon on the couch hoping to shake my weakness.

I slept well Friday night so I figured I could handle a trip to Wal-Mart Saturday morning. I didn’t have much to get but as I was picking up my last few items, I realized that I was weaker than I thought and maybe it was time to have someone start going with me to town. I still had to get through the store, check out and drive home. I like to be independent, who likes admitting that they’re twenty-four years old and Wal-Mart is a struggle… not me. I came home and started my Saturday clean out as usual. It went well, no complaints. I knew that I would run into trouble because I was already weak and cleaning out would only make it worse.

Sunday was the very same; weak and drained (Have we distinguished a pattern yet?). I planned on working Monday, I need to work. I had been asleep for a while Sunday night and I woke up and knew it was going to be bad. My stomach and colon were going into spasms and the magnesium citrate obviously wasn’t out of me yet. I stayed up for a while dealing with that, I can’t sleep when I’m hurting like that.

With few hours of sleep last night, I had the same game plan, go in late this morning. I felt extremely weak and jello-ish but whenever I went to get ready for work, my head would repeatedly started spinning and my vision started going black. I decided that it wasn’t a good idea to drive to work needless to say I was probably too weak to work if I was beginning to black out.

Something however isn’t right. I go see my GI doctor Wednesday. I don’t know if my body is exhausted from the numerous clean outs or if something else is going on. I can’t keep going on like this, it’s wearing me out. Hopefully Wednesday’s appointment will be insightful. I want to be able to go on about life as normal as possible; who wants to spend all day on the couch?

4 comments:

  1. Jen I'm so sorry! Don't you think it is something to do with the tilt table situation? You know, you didn't pass that test did you? Haven't they touched upon that? I think it sounds exactly like that is what is going on...call or text me after your appt. Wednesday.
    Lots of love,
    Melissa

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  2. P.s...why didn't you tell me it was that bad when we spoke??? You might have, and I DID hear you, but I think I was blabbing my own mouth too much!!!

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  3. Jennifer,

    I'm so sorry you're feeling so terrible. I know that "jello feeling" and it's awful.

    I'm no doctor obviously, but just a couple thoughts. I was originally told to do clean-outs with the magnesium citrate a few times per week but held off. I was diagnosed with several severe vitamin deficiencies from malabsorption and they literally LITERALLY nearly killed me. I was fainting every 30-60 minutes during the day for about 9 months before my primary doc figured out the cause. Now that we know what's going on, I definitely can't clean out. It gets rid of so many electrolytes and nutrients in the bowels.

    I'd definitely ask to get your vitamin and electrolyte levels checked. My potassium is always low even when my tummy's okay and it manifests in constant twitchy muscle spasms in my face/chest. I don't absorb thiamine (B1), niacin (B3), all of the D vitamins, vitamin A, and B12. Despite taking supplements daily, they do nothing for me unless given IV. Cleaning out can do similar things to your body--even though you don't have "normal" diarrhea, you are still flushing everything from the body unnaturally and it can cause malabsorption/malnutrition.

    I only mention this because my deficiencies began as feeling like Jello all the time. Then my heart started giving out and I was hospitalized. My doctors thought I was going to die as my symptoms mimicked a terminal heart defect. In reality, I had Beriberi syndrome.

    Not sure what Melissa mentioned above--about you failing the tilt-table test, but do you have POTS or orthostatic intolerance? I was first diagnosed with POTS and right ventricular dysplasia by a cardiologist before figuring out the real cause of my fainting and heart problems--the vitamins.

    Anyway I hope you feel better. I truly truly do. I was on strict orders not to leave the house, not to drive, not to walk, stand, sit or lie down for too long. Sitting on a chair in the shower, crawling around the house so I wouldn't hit my head, and missing out on everything that year. It was insane! I was 24 and having my groceries delivered.

    Praying for you. Hang in there <3

    CAH

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  4. Wow, I have Gastroparisis as well and my legs are soo weak. Its getting harder for me to walk. I think gastroparisis makes us very malnourished and very weak.

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