eee!
Okay. The [possibly] bad news first. It does not look like I'll be getting my tonsils out any time soon.
Since I don't meet the required minimum of tonsillitis infections, I can't get my insurance to cover it for that reason. The other reason, that I have "the gunk" (bacteria, dead skin cells, and other junk that solidifies into a pale cream, semi-hard stinky mass) accumulating in the crevices of my tonsils, is a reason that my insurance would cover, but since I am not currently coughing up gunk as frequently as I used to (since my crevices were cleaned out by my ENT last year), it's not advised to get them out just yet. When I start coughing up gunk on a weekly or more frequent basis, then sure. I tried to explain that I also get food caught in my tonsils, and my ENT shot me down, explaining it wasn't food, it was just the gunk escaping the crevices.
Excuse me. I am the one dealing with these things every day. I feel something catch in my tonsil (usually the right one, which is FRICKIN' HUGE!!!), and I cough it out to dislodge it. When I examine this crap, it's usually a food item of what I was just eating- a small piece of apple peel, a piece of rice, a popcorn kernel, or like today, a slice of "spring onion".
In my defense, I did not pursue this because I was feeling frickin' miserable on Monday, which is when I saw my ENT. She gave me a prescription for a stronger antibiotic, though, and that is really helping the lingering sinus infection. Which is good.
Also, apparently my hearing issues are not issues-- in fact, my hearing is damn near perfect. I can hear everything perfectly (essentially, with a score of 0 decibels on the HL scale, -10 to 120 decibel range) from 125 Hz to 2000 Hz, and then after that I drop to 10 dB at 3000 Hz, creep back up slightly (maybe 7 dB?) at 4000-6000 Hz, and then drop to 15 dB at 8000 Hz, which is where they stopped testing. I was assured everything else on the test (which includes electroacoustic impedance measurements, speech audiometry, tympanometry and other things I can't really interpret the scores for) are also just fine. So the pressure and tone I get sometimes? Perfectly normal, provided that it fades away 5-30 seconds after it starts. If it doesn't go away, then that's a problem.
The frequent vertigo is probably a carry-over from the sinus infections moving into my inner ear. They are not frequent enough to be a concern, but I need to keep an eye on it.
I went to my [new] immunologist today. I heart him, I really do. I finally have someone who takes me seriously, doesn't treat me like I'm making stuff up, over-reacting or hysterical, and is willing to dig dig DIG to get to the root of my problems! Just talking to him made me feel so much better (I've been despairing recently of never getting the illness thing sorted out, and it's been dragging me down). He ordered a chest X-ray and blood work, and did a food allergy skin test right there in the office. The result?
I do not have a significant allergy to any common food allergen. However... [sigh], I did have a mild reaction to dairy/milk proteins and get this, POTATO. So the current plan is to completely eliminate these foods from my diet for the next two weeks, and then re-introduce them, one at a time, "intensely" for three days with each food. The goal is to try to provoke a reaction. Apparently the immunoglobulin response to allergens may have a broader impact on my immune system, which may be causing me to be sick all the time. So.
Avoiding milk proteins is going to be the hard one. There are too many things that I like to eat that have some kind of milk protein in them. Even deli meats and canned tuna fish sometimes have casein (a protein precipitated from milk) in them. I have to go through all of my food in my fridge and pantry to mark what I can't eat right now, and if I don't know, I can't eat it. Sigh. I have a handy little guide that I can stick in my wallet to take shopping, and ambug666 is going to get one, as well. Happy anniversary, honey! *g*
Of course, this may mean nothing. I may not have an allergy to either of these things. But I won't know for 2.5-3 weeks, at least. GAH! No ice cream or [milk] chocolate until then!
So I started this elimination diet today, and apparently I did something to upset my gut something awful. I'm better than I was, but I'm still not 100%. Which kinda sucks, on top of the elimination diet thing, since I wanted to make something special for dinner for our anniversary tonight.
I also took care of the blood work today. The orders from the immunologist required NINE TEST TUBES. They ranged in size from smallish to largish, but sheesh! NINE! But the plus of getting this done now is that if there is anything 'odd' in the results, my doc can send me for more tests if I need them before we meet again, in six weeks. Well, technically, six weeks and a day-- I sort of drew the line at having a doctor's appointment on my birthday. *g*
So despite the unhappy health bits, things are looking up. Yay!
Since I don't meet the required minimum of tonsillitis infections, I can't get my insurance to cover it for that reason. The other reason, that I have "the gunk" (bacteria, dead skin cells, and other junk that solidifies into a pale cream, semi-hard stinky mass) accumulating in the crevices of my tonsils, is a reason that my insurance would cover, but since I am not currently coughing up gunk as frequently as I used to (since my crevices were cleaned out by my ENT last year), it's not advised to get them out just yet. When I start coughing up gunk on a weekly or more frequent basis, then sure. I tried to explain that I also get food caught in my tonsils, and my ENT shot me down, explaining it wasn't food, it was just the gunk escaping the crevices.
Excuse me. I am the one dealing with these things every day. I feel something catch in my tonsil (usually the right one, which is FRICKIN' HUGE!!!), and I cough it out to dislodge it. When I examine this crap, it's usually a food item of what I was just eating- a small piece of apple peel, a piece of rice, a popcorn kernel, or like today, a slice of "spring onion".
In my defense, I did not pursue this because I was feeling frickin' miserable on Monday, which is when I saw my ENT. She gave me a prescription for a stronger antibiotic, though, and that is really helping the lingering sinus infection. Which is good.
Also, apparently my hearing issues are not issues-- in fact, my hearing is damn near perfect. I can hear everything perfectly (essentially, with a score of 0 decibels on the HL scale, -10 to 120 decibel range) from 125 Hz to 2000 Hz, and then after that I drop to 10 dB at 3000 Hz, creep back up slightly (maybe 7 dB?) at 4000-6000 Hz, and then drop to 15 dB at 8000 Hz, which is where they stopped testing. I was assured everything else on the test (which includes electroacoustic impedance measurements, speech audiometry, tympanometry and other things I can't really interpret the scores for) are also just fine. So the pressure and tone I get sometimes? Perfectly normal, provided that it fades away 5-30 seconds after it starts. If it doesn't go away, then that's a problem.
The frequent vertigo is probably a carry-over from the sinus infections moving into my inner ear. They are not frequent enough to be a concern, but I need to keep an eye on it.
I went to my [new] immunologist today. I heart him, I really do. I finally have someone who takes me seriously, doesn't treat me like I'm making stuff up, over-reacting or hysterical, and is willing to dig dig DIG to get to the root of my problems! Just talking to him made me feel so much better (I've been despairing recently of never getting the illness thing sorted out, and it's been dragging me down). He ordered a chest X-ray and blood work, and did a food allergy skin test right there in the office. The result?
I do not have a significant allergy to any common food allergen. However... [sigh], I did have a mild reaction to dairy/milk proteins and get this, POTATO. So the current plan is to completely eliminate these foods from my diet for the next two weeks, and then re-introduce them, one at a time, "intensely" for three days with each food. The goal is to try to provoke a reaction. Apparently the immunoglobulin response to allergens may have a broader impact on my immune system, which may be causing me to be sick all the time. So.
Avoiding milk proteins is going to be the hard one. There are too many things that I like to eat that have some kind of milk protein in them. Even deli meats and canned tuna fish sometimes have casein (a protein precipitated from milk) in them. I have to go through all of my food in my fridge and pantry to mark what I can't eat right now, and if I don't know, I can't eat it. Sigh. I have a handy little guide that I can stick in my wallet to take shopping, and ambug666 is going to get one, as well. Happy anniversary, honey! *g*
Of course, this may mean nothing. I may not have an allergy to either of these things. But I won't know for 2.5-3 weeks, at least. GAH! No ice cream or [milk] chocolate until then!
So I started this elimination diet today, and apparently I did something to upset my gut something awful. I'm better than I was, but I'm still not 100%. Which kinda sucks, on top of the elimination diet thing, since I wanted to make something special for dinner for our anniversary tonight.
I also took care of the blood work today. The orders from the immunologist required NINE TEST TUBES. They ranged in size from smallish to largish, but sheesh! NINE! But the plus of getting this done now is that if there is anything 'odd' in the results, my doc can send me for more tests if I need them before we meet again, in six weeks. Well, technically, six weeks and a day-- I sort of drew the line at having a doctor's appointment on my birthday. *g*
So despite the unhappy health bits, things are looking up. Yay!