Hi All,

I haven't posted in a while but have been following posts on and off either
via email or on paleofood.com. Last time I posted I think I was dealing with
a daily headache, upper and lower backache, and calf pain. It took me 1 1/2
years to figure that one out after giving up on doctors who just diagnosed
me with fibromyalgia because they didn't have an answer - orthotics! Both my
feet are misaligned, my left leg is slightly shorter than my right leg, and
I have hammer toes. After I got custom made orthotics and got my horribly
misaligned back adjusted one more time, all that pain went away. I about
went nuts trying to figure it out. I tried eliminating foods, medicine,
supplements, and more. It was such a simple answer that I feel bummed that I
wasted 1 1/2 years of my life with horrible pain.

I have never been 100% paleo because I take thyroid medication, betaine HCl
with meals, and various other supplements from time to time. I also started
using bio-identical hormone creams after my hysterectomy in 2003 which I was
brainwashed into having. Some days it felt that the pain I described above
was worse when I was using my bio-identical hormone cream so in January 2007
I stopped it. A few days later I realized that wasn't it but stayed off of
it because I got it into my head that I want my body to heal naturally. By
May 2007 I felt so worn out, tired, fatigued, depressed, and more plus had
the daily pain, that I had to quit my job. I got on hydrocortisone for
severe adrenal insufficiency but quickly felt that the 20 mg I was taking in
divided doses made me too hyper.

To back up slightly, before the hysterectomy I had 12 to 14 days of PMS
every 25 to 45 days, followed by very painful periods with heavy bleeding.
The PMS consisted of mood swings, fatigue, increased hair loss and more but
not the entire 12 to 14 days. The only two symptoms I had consistently
during the entire 12 to 14 days of PMS were abdominal distention (from flat
stomach to pregnant looking in one day) and fluid retention - mostly in my
thighs, butt hips, to the point that I had to wear pants one to two sizes
bigger. I usually gained about 10 lbs during that time and then lost it
after my period started.

After the hysterectomy I continued to have 12 to 14 days of "PMS" every to
25 to 45 days. And actually, although I had the hysterectomy in 2003,
according to my FSH my one remaining ovary is still functioning. Because the
"PMS" continued I got on BHRT and that got the pms down to 3 to 5 days a
month and not near as severe as before.

Back to 2008 - we had moved to Monterey, TN and the only doctor I could find
to help me with BHRT put me on 100 mg progesterone, 2.5 mg testosterone, and
5 mg of DHEA daily all compounded in a cream. Fourteen days out of every
month she had me add another 100 mg of progesterone to sort of mimic a
female cycle. I started this in June 2008 and by end of July I had lost the
weight I previously gained and felt better overall. We were getting ready to
go on vacation and since I still had daily pain then I decided to go back on
hydrocortisone hoping it would help with the pain. It did no such thing but
my mood and energy were even better, I slept GREAT, and I noticed hardly any
food intolerances. I was eating beef, pork, lamb, eggs, and even non-paleo
foods such as popcorn, cashews, and more without any reaction. Since the
hydrocortisone did not help with the pain I tapered off of it slowly.

With the above hormone regimen (minus the HC) I had sort of a 12 day "cycle"
with 3 to 4 days PMS. So for roughly 8 days I would feel good, have a flat
stomach and feel ok emotionally and then for 3 to 4 days I had a pregnant
looking belly, fluid retention, and mood swings. This was actually an
improvement to the 7 day cycle I was experiencing on the former hormone
cream!

Then suddenly in September I had 14 days of PMS followed by only 4 normal
days. I then went 29 days with PMS (abdominal distention and fluid retention
daily) followed by a few good days. This continued until November 18th when
the abdominal distention went from cyclical to constant. Since that day last
year my stomach has not been flat. I wake up looking like I am pregnant and
by evening I look even more pregnant. After eating my entire abdomen (above
and below the navel) is so stretched that I feel uncomfortable. In February
I fasted for 10 days - the distention was better but not gone. I have had a
transvaginal ultrasound which revealed a 1.5 cm cyst on my right ovary, I
had an abdominal ultrasound, an abdominal and pelvic CT, and an Upper Gi
with Small Bowel follow-through all of which revealed nothing.

Between September and December I gained 14 lbs and as a result dropped my
daily caloric intake from about 2,400 a day to about 1,400 a day. In that
time frame I also started noticing reactions to beef, lamb, pork, eggs, and
bison. I react to all cabbage family veggies and basically don't know what
to eat anymore. In September I also started having trouble sleeping and am
now supplementing with melatonin and l-tryptophan. Earlier this year I had a
saliva test done to check my hormones which revealed fairly high levels of
progesterone so I stopped it for a while. Six weeks later a blood test
revealed that my progesterone levels were quite low, especially compared to
estrogen levels. I am back on progesterone cream now but only 20 mg a day -
not 200 mg a day.

Because the abdominal distention has gone on this long and I am having the
hardest time maintaining my weight, let alone lose the weight I gained, I
traveled all the way to NY to see Dr. Bolte. He supposedly is the "real Dr.
House". He spent 3 hours with me and sent me home with a leaky gut test kit
and a stool test kit. I should have the results next week. I did not know
what to expect seeing him but was disappointed that he feels Synthroid is
superior to Armour thyroid which I was on for 12 years. Earlier this year I
was switched to Cytomel because of the weight gain and reverse T3 issues and
I also started back on hydrocortisone due to a lot of stress in our lives
right now (moving, trying to buy a house, I lost  my job due to economic
reasons, health issues, etc). With starting HC I noticed that my body
temperature increased, my hands and feet aren't as cold, and I am not as
cold all the time. It is also the reason I am maintaining my weight right
now. Dr. Bolte is not a fan of hydrocortisone and also feels that I do not
need my thyroid medication. He thinks I should taper off of it completely. 

I have also noticed that my WBC has been low since 2007 and here recently
was as low as 2.9 with normal range of 4.0 to 10.5. I was also diagnosed
with a kidney infection last week which I am treating with d-mannose. I do
not have a burning sensation but had blood in my urine twice and flank pain.
I get retested this coming week.

So here are my questions. I do realize that nobody here can give medical
advice and that is not what I am looking for. I merely want opinions because
I respect the collective knowledge of this group. I also think that doctors
don't know everything and unless they have had their own health issues, they
can't really relate. Sometimes someone's personal experience is more
valuable than what a doctor might have to offer.

1. I know I can wean off the HC since I have done it before, but I wonder if
it is possible for the body's thyroid to start working on its own again
after being on thyroid medication for 12 years.
2. I also wonder if I will be able to achieve hormonal imbalance without
BHRT given that I only have on ovary and that we live in a polluted world
which influences the body.
3. Any thoughts on what could be causing the abdominal distention? It is so
bad that I dread eating. Some days I think it's hormonal and other days I
think it's digestive. I just don't know anymore but it is bothersome,
especially with summer coming up.
4. Any thoughts on the weight gain and why I can't lose it?
5. Any thoughts on food reactions? I miss beef, lamb, pork, and eggs.

I have had health issues for a while now, but I have never felt this bad.
Every day is a struggle. I get up and take my hydrocortisone immediately and
even with that, I don't feel good actually. I am just able to make it
through the day when I take it. I am at a point where I am tempted to try
some Wellbutrin because I just don't know how to go on. So if anybody here
has any suggestions, any insight at all, I would love to hear about it. I
did a search in the archives on leaky gut and there seem to be differing
opinions about it. I am not sure what to believe, all I know is that I have
reactions to food. All it takes is one bite of beef (grass fed) and about an
hour later my thighs are so swollen I feel like I can't walk. The abdominal
distention gets even worse.

Thanks for reading this far!
Kristina