It is always a worry when you are not well; is this my next autoimmune diagnosis?

Unfortunately when you are diagnosed with one autoimmune disease, you become predisposed to getting another autoimmune diagnosis. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease when I was 17 years old and was finally diagnosed with Celiac disease when I was 28 year’s old. I had been following a gluten free diet and my health had improved, but then it started to regress and I was not feeling well again.

What happened?

At the beginning of January of 2014 things were not going well. It started with extreme fatigue. This is not that unusual for me as I am generally always tired, but it seemed even worse than usual. Then I got this really weird dizzy feeling, like I had really low blood sugar, but when I ate something, it didn’t go away. Then I started to feel really wonky, like I was very drunk, but I hadn’t had any alcohol! I decided I better go see the GP. She said, “oh you have  vertigo, caused by a middle ear virus; take some of these tablets and just stay lying down and drink lots of fluids”. I did. It didn’t get better. I was bumping into things. I couldn’t focus properly with my eyes and could barely make it from the couch to the kitchen. Something wasn’t right. My husband came home from work and when I looked at him, he said my right eye wasn’t tracking with the left one when I looked at him. He took me back to the GP.

This time, she checked my eyes. “Oh something is not right. “There is probably a tumour, or a bleed, but don’t worry, if its a tumour, they’ll just cut it out!”

I was immediately admitted to the local hospital and had an MRI scan. What an incredibly unpleasant experience. I had previously had a about 3 MRI’s 15 years ago, when I had what looking back now, will be considered my first incident. If you are like me and incredibly sound sensitive and you have a horrific headache on top of it, the only way I can describe having an MRI is like, having a migraine and the neighbour, on the one side is drilling something into a wall, the neighbour on the other side, is playing heavy metal music full blast and the neighbour upstairs is using a  jack hammer right above your head. Really, really awful.

After a very long wait, the MRI results came  in and the neurologist came to see me.

 Another Diagnosis:

There was a 6mm lesion in my midbrain. The midbrain acts as a relay information system for the auditory, visual, and motor systems of the body. It was not an infection, because if it was, then I’d be in a coma. It’s not a bleed. It’s not a tumour.

It is an area of demyelination. It is another autoimmune diagnosis.

I am really grateful I don’t have a brain tumour, but the Neurologist confirms that I do in fact have have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I had to stay in hospital for 5 days on a daily Solumedrol ( cortisone drip). I also have to face the road to recovery. The brain is such a sensitive area and the eyes are such a scary thing to lose vision.

While I was hospital, my husband started doing some research and sent me this link to Dr Terry Wahl’s TedX talk.

Dr Terry Wahl’s follow the Wahl’s Protocol Diet.I started looking into it.  I also then discovered Dr Sarah Ballentyne and bought her book. The Paleo Approach. This book changed my life. I then began following the AIP.

2 weeks later I have been discharged from hospital. I have recovered. I was finally driving again. I was longer dizzy or have double vision. I still got very tired very quickly and still struggle with almost daily headaches. I now have to face the fact that I now have a THIRD auto immune condition. I have Hashimoto’s under-active thyroid, I have Celiac Disease and now I have MS! Sigh.

So that’s the story. I then had to decide on whether I go on the standard medical treatment for MS, called Interferons, which are very expensive and have horrible side effects. They can reduce the possibility of further attacks or not go on them and follow this Autoimmune Protocol. It’s a very tough choice. In the meantime I started doing everything I could to get well. Exercise, supplements and the new way of eating.

You can read more about me and my story and how I came to be diagnosed with autoimmune disease and what choices I made as I discovered ways to heal in my book Taking Control.

Update: I had a follow up MRI and neurologist visit 2 years later. You can read that post here.