Health Update and Negativity

[sathor]

So I went Gluten Free since I last noted (what's that - three weeks or so?) and I still had symptoms. Actually, today was probably one of the worse episodes I had for about a month - and nothing I ate, except for some cooked burger with a bit of mexican seasoning on it and flour tortillas last night, could be considered hard to digest or out of the ordinary for me.

Doing some more reading today, and I decided that given what some people are claiming, I should start taking the probiotics again. So I'll do that. Apparently a lot of people experience a significant reduction in my symptoms while taking them.

A few days ago I went lactose free again, just to see, and I had a reprieve for about two days. Then today, of course. So I can't believe it's lactose.

If I had to hazard a guess it's either an ulcer (need to quit smoking), a hernia, diverticulitis/a bacterial infection, or something to do with my liver/pancreas - or worse. Basically, I'll take the probiotics for a week or two here and see if I get some improvement - if not, off to the doctor with me. I'll just get some cheap tests done if possible, and maybe get on an antibiotic. If it's more serious I'm going to be in trouble, because I still don't have insurance, and until my health improves, I can't really get working.

More now than previously I am regretting my decision to leave United, even in the face of all the shit I was dealing with down there, the boredom, the unsafe work conditions, the shift work. I started looking into some trade unions in western PA, and actually had a guy in the millwright trade tell me directly that I probably made a mistake leaving the refinery, because that's the job everyone in the trade unions wants - they want that stability and not having to travel far. Sorta sad to have someone tell me that, actually, although they certainly didn't know my circumstances...the health issues, the pension loss, the healthcare reduction, and toxic culture, etc. I mean, needing to wait 10 years or so before even having a chance at apprenticing as a millwright at the plant was definitely a big part of why I left, too.

There's no real plus side at the moment on the job front - my health being as it is has me pretty down, and I can't really follow through on anything until I'm better. I have some friends/acquaintences in the pipefitter trade out of Erie/Pittsburgh, and I could probably get in there and make some decent money (and get to travel all over western PA) but I would rather shoot for millwrights - then again, millwrights have a much smaller area to cover, and their apprenticeship looks really difficult to advance within...without knowing contractors to get work ahead of time.

I don't want to self pity right now, but this really kinda sucks. The health stuff more than anything else - I'm kinda worried that this is going to be expensive and serious in the long term, and if I lose my savings to it, I'll have lost my one real chance at freedom/mobility to find a better career/training.

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I'm sure sorry to hear. Probiotics sound like a very good idea; I would suggest you also start keeping a food diary: write down exactly what you eat, at what times, and also any symptoms you experience. This will make things much easier if you do have to go to the doctor.

If gluten is really your problem, one would expect flour tortillas to set off your symptoms. But gluten is not the only thing that might do so - it could be cereal fiber, rather than gluten, that you're sensitive to, or several other things. From what you describe, my first guess would be Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and the only efficacious treatment for that is sussing out which foods set it off, then avoiding them. So, since the first thing a doctor would do is give you a 12-week elimination diet, you might as well just cut to the chase and give yourself one.

A bacterial infection is unlikely, because this has gone on quite a while now, and if you had an infection that lasted this long, you'd be running a fever all the time. The same is true of diverticulosis (and you're way young for that anyway; it's mostly found in people over 50 with bad diets.) If your bowels are still moving, you don't have a blockage or intestinal torsion - those are acute conditions that would have put you in the ER long before this. If you had an inguinal or umbilical hernia, you would be feeling a distinct, painful lump, and hiatal hernias are up toward the chest, not down in the belly. An ulcer is possible, but your symptoms don't sound much like it, and anyway, the first line of treatment for an ulcer is the same as for IBS.

Unless you're having symptoms of either liver disease or diabetes, you probably don't need to worry about either your liver or your pancreas. If you are having those symptoms, you need a Real Doctor, but - as you see - they're not much like the symptoms of intestinal complaints.

I sure hear you about the job situation! But, y'know, I also remember how wretched you were in those last months at United, and can't help thinking that if you had stayed on, by now you'd be a physical and emotional basket-case. And waiting ten years for a chance to apprentice as a millwright?!? That's just absurd. The pipe-fitting sounds like it could be okay, though - at least for a while - once you're well again.

*hugs hugs* Hang in there, dear friend; I know it really sucks to be sick, especially when you don't even know why. But take heart; there's good reason to think this may be something you can manage with diet on your own, without the need for doctors or drugs. The Raw Foods Diet seems to have the best reported success rate, but everyone is different, so it's just a matter of trial and error till you find what works for you. Hope you're feeling better very soon!

[sathor.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing it was cereal fiber. I cut most of the extra fiber I was getting in my diet (besides veggies - I was eating maybe 2 servings of oats in the morning plus wheat bread when this all started) and it cleared up fairly well. I ate probably 2 servings of oats this morning for the first time since this original post, and I've got some grumbling/gas tonight, but no acute pain or anything. We'll see how things pan out if I stay away from the oats for awhile again.

I don't think it was the gluten - I was gluten free for nearly a month and it only seemed to make much of a difference at first. Lactose I tried a couple different times, but that didn't seem to make much of a difference either (I was drinking whole milk a couple times a day since this post and no issues at all.)

Still no telling if I'll stay better permanently, but I'm feeling better enough that I'm doing a heck of a lot more. My internet has been on the fritz so I've been spending most of my time working on some projects out in the garage/outside, and I've had some revelations about my life and the like so in a way, I suppose that's good.

I think long term, I would be miserable at United again, you are right - but I am going to call the head of training tomorrow and see when a good time to reapply is. The thing is, I spent four years down there, and operations, while rotating shifts are just god awful in every single way, was the most interesting job I ever had. Nothing around here is going to compare to that, there is no industrial work environment as awe-inspiring, huge and interesting as a refinery. I have four years experience - why throw it away if it means I can have a good paying job and not have to struggle? Of course, I may have burned my bridge and that would suck - but my alternatives are not good. I'm not really sure I'm interested in sitting in a classroom again (especially not at the current prices) and that leaves little else besides trade unions (which means no animals and tons of travel for the rest of my adult life), technical school, or a government job (of which the only thing I'd probably enjoy would be DOT related - I don't want to sit at a desk, I think I'd hate it as much as I hated the stockroom.)

I guess the biggest revelation was that maybe pushing my luck isn't the best idea. Good luck isn't something that has been drawn to me in life - I've had a lot of bad experiences, trouble with my health, and it seems like every time I prep to make a big change, something smacks me pretty hard. The first time was with my first girlfriend, when I developed really severe anxiety/chest pains that took years to get over - I was just about to graduate high school at the time. The next time was after I left my second job at the lumber mill, and my scalp went nuts - I wrecked my car soon after and had no transportation for a year. This time, my stomach put me down for about three months. I'm starting to think there's a message in all of it - maybe that's just crazy talk, but I'm sure you get what I'm saying...and maybe more importantly, it's just that all of these health issues have made me reevaluate my life many times, and every time, it's resulted in me wanting to stay close to the people I know and care about, rather than having to start over - when new people/experiences have never been all that particularly kind to me anyway, and when you do make a big move/change, you are expecting a lot out of other people for things to end up decently well. Most jobs barely pay enough for survival anymore, you know - going somewhere else and getting the short end of the stick wouldn't go that great.

I did setup a profile and resume with Chevron, and I may do that for some other big dogs in the refining industry. I'm not certain I can go back to United anyway - but if I can't, my options become more limited. Taking care of this property, or living in this area, will be very hard to do without a good career. Operations is a good career - even if it tends to atrophy other aspects of life. However, I have a lot of plans to make my life better if I can get going down there again. Maybe I should start those plans now, ahead of time, but a lot of it costs money I'd rather not spare until I have some coming in.