Bloodwork Results

So this whole raw vegan thing is leaking into other areas of my life.  I thought it would only effect my food intake.  Boy was I wrong.  It has made me rethink a lot of what I do - like what I put on my skin as far as lotion goes, my overall internal health (hence meeting with a nutritionist) and so much more. 

Another large area that it has impacted is how I approach dealing with the MS.  Aside from the obvious (to me) physical symptoms I have had over the years, I have had NO IDEA what it was doing to the inside of my body (aside from doing damage to my brain and spinal cord).  I never fully realized what having a chronic illness can really do to your body.  My body is constantly trying to fight off this 'disease' and it always loses.  Maybe I can help it out by making the changes I'm in the process of making.  I want to help my immune system fight this battle!

Today I met with Dr. Hartman (nutritionist) again.  We discussed a few things, so here's the recap.  We more closely examined my bloodwork and these are the trouble areas:

• Cholesterol, Triglycerides and LDL were high (ironic, huh, given my diet? and the fact that I have had good levels for years - although he did tell me that other factors of my health are more likely the cause of this)
• Glucose is too low - i.e. hypoglycemia (this is why I need to eat every two hours)
• WBC (white blood cells) are too low (very typical of someone who has a chronic illness)
• Neutrophils are low (this is connected to the low WBC)
• SGOT (AST) is high (this is a liver enzyme and is most likely because of a previous medication I was on for MS)
• SGPT (ALT) is quite high (this is also a liver enzyme and is most likely because of a previous medication I was on for MS)
• GGTP is very high (this is an enzyme or protein made by cells lining the bile duct, which is sensative to any inflammation in the liver - again this is most likely because of a previous medication I was on for MS)
• Total Bilirubin is high (again, this is related to the liver issues)
• Sodium is one point higher than normal (supposedly connected to some of the other stuff going on)
• CO2 is too low (this is connected to energy, i.e. glucose, so it makes sense that this is low as well since my glucose is low)
• BUN is too low (again, connected to the low liver levels)
• Phosphorus is low

A lot of these items are connected to one another and are further complicated because of the MS running through my system.  I just don't want to get into the detail of it all here.  One thing I will say is that it more fully hit me today how upset I am that a medication I was taking to help the MS, didn't actually help me and in fact, it has hurt my liver function, in addition to related functions.  So in my qwest for better health, I can't help but deal with all areas of my health, not just the food.

So this week I am beginning to take fish oil and also Glutathion (which is in a lotion/cream form).  I need to have some additional bloodwork done to fine tune the regimen for the immune support I mentioned in my previous post so I anticipate getting started on that in the near future.  These last few months have been a very, very good opportunity for me to practice my patience!