The Day Before the Day Before Valentine's Day

February 12th - it was a Tuesday.  I was anxious to know the results of my blood work analysis.

I thought I was going to meet with Dr. Gage again but I met with Dr. Redd.  Dr. Redd is the one that was in the commercial I saw.  When he walked in, I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.  Were my results so bad that only he could explain them?

For the record, and because I forgot that they ordered additional blood tests after my first visit, here's a list of the blood tests that they analyzed:

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
Anti-Thyroid Antibodies
CBC
CBC, Differential
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
Free T-4 (Free Thyroxine)
Hemoglobin A1c
Insulin, Fasting
Lipid Profile

I was a little worried that I didn't really have Hashimoto's Disease.  I'd been told so many different things over the years, I was starting to question every test result.

Turns out I did, in fact have Hashimoto's Disease and a number of other things to be concerned about.

I want to start out by saying that having a functional physician analyze lab work is a bit different from having a practical physician analyze it.  Did you know (because I didn't) that when you are given lab results, you're given results specific to that lab and the set of people from whom blood is drawn at that lab?  I'm not sure why that's not general knowledge but it should be.  For a really good explanation, click here.

Based on the test results, I was pre-diabetic, at risk for heart disease and a heart attack, had adrenal fatigue, blood sugar problems and alarmingly low vitamin D levels.  Without treatment, I was also at great risk for other autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Type-1 Diabetes and Crohn's Disease.

Mostly, I had a great deal of inflammation.  Inflammation is not uncommon for Hashimoto's patients.  Inflammation manifests itself in joint and muscle pain, acne, digestion issues and a number of other physiological imbalances.  Hashimoto's was causing the overproduction of antibodies and destruction of good tissue which resulted in systemic inflammation.

Another thing Dr. Redd was very clear about - this was my version of Hashimoto's Disease.  Autoimmune diseases are very complex and highly individualized.  Hashimoto's in one person is not the same as Hashimoto's in another.  If you're reading this because you've been newly diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease or suspect you have it, please know that this is my version.  Yours will be different.

For me, we needed to figure out a couple of things - what was causing the inflammation and overproduction of antibodies.  More than likely, I had a gluten intolerance.  A simple blood test would determine that for sure.  We also needed to figure out if and how imbalanced my hormones were.  A saliva test would give us that information.  And finally, we needed to know if my gut was actually absorbing as it should.  Dr. Redd suspected it wasn't.  A stool sample was needed for that.

Dr. Redd believed my liver and pancreas were also dysfunctional.  The liver is a natural detoxifier.  If it's not functioning properly, it can't get rid of the stuff that you don't need.  In case you're wondering, it's called methylation.  Methlylation is what occurs when your body takes one substance and turns it into another, so it is detoxified and can be excreted from the body.  In my case, my body didn't know what to do so it was just holding on to everything.

After the testing was complete, I was to start on an anti-inflammatory diet and several supplements to begin the systemic re-balancing process.

While we were reviewing the diet and supplements, Dr. Redd asked me how I heard about their clinic.  I told him the story about watching SNL late one Saturday night (for obvious reasons, I left out the part about Adam Levine) and seeing their commercial.

He laughed.  He said that he absolutely believed that I saw the commercial but that to his knowledge, they didn't run their commercials at night.  Or on that channel.