Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I last blogged. Life has been crazy between getting multiple new diagnoses, treatments, and training Sebastian, but I am finally finding time to write again and the inspiration to share my life through these blogs.
Life has not been easy as of late, so let's catch up. When I last wrote, I had just gotten my diagnosis of Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome from Mayo Clinic and found out my Crohns Disease is in remission. Since then, life has continued to take weird turns.
Cyclic vomiting Syndrom
As of this week, my episodes are still every other week, but this week's only lasted one day rather than two to three. The episodes are still debilitating, but having only one day of it was pretty promising. I have been on my medication for almost a month now, so I should be checking in with my Mayo doctor in the next few weeks through my portal messages to either stay on this dose or up my dose.
POTS/ Vasovagal
While my CVS seems to be taking a step in the right direction, my POTS and Vasovagal Syncope seem to be taking some steps back. When I was prescribed my CVS medication, I was told there were no drug-to-drug interactions that could occur. Then, I had a fainting episode that was different than ones I had had in the past. I had no pre-syncope symptoms and had felt genuinely good that day. Then, a few days later I was listening to a podcast that mentioned how the drug class my CVS medication was in has been shown to worsen POTS.
I brought all of this up to my cardiologist and he was concerned that maybe there is something else going on with my heart and wanted to test me for Prolonged QT and AFib. Even though he was concerned, it was not until he went to refill my POTS medication that he really began to worry. When he went to refill it, a red box warning appeared saying that my CVS medication and POTS medication should not be taken together and we need to do further testing to make sure I do not have heart damage from an interaction as well as stop my POTS medication immediately. He said there was some hope that my symptoms would not return to what they were pre-medication days, however, I had little hope.
Which, I wish I was wrong, but the little hope I did have was shattered when only a few days later, the dizziness, light-headedness, and fainting spells began again.
Service Dog
This leads me to my next update, my service dog! As my POTS symptoms begin
to worsen again, I am so thankful to have Sebastian at my side. He truly has been a game-changer in my life and I don't know what I would do without him. He has been working hard and earning all the treats and naps lately.
Lyme Disease
Along with all of the Dysautonomia nonsense I wrote about above, I also was recently diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease that I have probably had for a few years now. My integrative doctor's theory is that I had a genetic predisposition to all the illnesses I have been diagnosed with, got Lyme, and the Lyme suppressed my immune system to allow all the other things to come through..... great, right?
For this, she has me on this 4-6 month protocol to naturally detox my body and then reintroduce good bacteria in hopes to get the Lyme under control and with that, some of my other illnesses. She said it probably won't help the POTS, Dysautonomia, and Cyclic Vomiting- but hey, if those are the only thing on my plate in 6 months, it's worth a shot.
Anyways, if you are reading this far, thank you for being here. Thank you for reading this whole update! I'm hoping to start blogging regularly again moving forward! Message me on Instagram if there are any specific topics you would like me to write about!
Yours truly,
Kaitlyn
@trusting.my.gut
@service.dog.sebastian