August 8th. There was some slight muscle tension and stabbing pains, but still a little better.
August 9th. The night was very bad. Terrible nightmares. Small tremors have reappeared as I come slowing off hydrocortisone. Muscle tightening and stabbing now reappearing, nightmares. Have to take one valium for muscle problems until Monday appointment to find out what else needs to be done. Last of the Hydrocortisone taken.
August 10th. Little better, still small tremors with muscle tightening. Rested all day moving from couch to bed and watching movies, taking care of myself and trying to rest up for my follow-up with the doctor on Monday.
August 11th. Monday, mom drove me to Dr. Shafi again. I was still using the cane because I was afraid to place weight on my right foot for fear of doing further damage until I knew if something was torn. The bottom of my heel felt stone-bruised anyway so I couldn't place weight on it for long. What we learned that day had us both in shock. All the lab tests were back and he patiently explained everything had come back good. No cancer. No inflammation of any organs. However, my thyroid had a high reading, too high. Which strangely enough means it functions too low. There is no natural treatment, but the daily drug isn't a bad one and may actually improve my life. I don't believe this was caused by the Cipro. It does however, explain a lot of the craziness of the last 5-7 years of my life. I've had headaches almost daily for the past 3 years. All different, some at the side, some at the back, some at the front. I truly didn't have much faith that any doctor could help me with it as it was so inconsistent, so I just decided I had to live with it. It all started when I had laser eye surgery, although I'd had headaches before. That was about 10 years ago, I just assumed it was that, with the headaches being about 2-3 times a week at that time. Then around when I turned 30 I found I couldn't just eat everything the way I used to. I really thought what people told me, when you turn 30 everything just sticks to you, was true. I adjusted my diet and stopped eating so much, although I never could stop drinking sodas. Turns out after I got home and looked up hypothyroid, these are some of the symptoms. Who knew? I'd never even thought of having tests done. So it's amazing to find a cure for the headaches that ruled my life through this series of unfortunate events. Not to mention it is, from everything I've researched, very likely what caused the fibrocysts in my breast. A special note about the fibrocysts. If you're my age or younger you'll be surprised to know it's not that uncommon. For me, with such a large one (about a grape size), I really think was caused by my thyroid not being regulated for so long. I'll see how if it improves with the thyroid medicine and some supplements I've found that may help and I've ordered. More vitamins and a new drug were added to my list of recovery from my visit.
Added to my treatment:
Thyroid medicine. (I'll have to be tested in 4 weeks to adjust the dose, then at 3 months, then every year. Totally worth it to go headache free.)
Hydrocortisone. (I was prescribed because I said it worked. Or rather I thought it did. I don't know if it did then, or now, but at some point you have to live without it as it can be bad. He set me up with 7 days, 5 days, then 3 days slowing coming down. Down is important, you can't just stop taking this one, it has really bad effects if you do. I took it for 3 days, then decided it wasn't doing me any further improvement and may be impeding progress, so decided to come down to 3 after that. Also side-effects for me are itching.)
August 12th. Hope had been restored to my life. I forced myself to start walking a little more around the house. We went to Walmart and I barely made it around the store with a cart. My exercise for the day. Right heel still bruised, muscle tightening still happening.
August 13th. I'm feeling better. I was able to walk almost normally around the house and forced myself to fix lunch. Legs still have some issues. At time it feels like muscle aches after walking around. I don't have the stamina to walk too much. I've made a life change, as they say, and quit sodas totally and will be eating healthier. Time will help to heal me, but my thanks to Dr. Shafi for saving me. My thanks to my mother for her understanding and caring. Yes, it's good to be alive. I can't wait to mow the yard.