Waiting for the Cure

Well, the miscarriage wasn’t complete and earlier this week, I had profuse bleeding, including the passing of large blood clots and couldn’t get in to see an OB/GYN since they were all out delivering babies. Finally got seen on Thursday, and there was one piece of placenta just hanging out by my cervix; she fished it out, and hopefully that is that. The bleeding has gone down to almost nothing, finally. Thank God.

But the bad news, is all of those iron shots in the Spring have been depleted. I haven’t tested how much blood I lost, but I am pale and dizzy, my heart is racing, and I can’t do much around the house. I’ve got that lovely wan look so favored in Victorian times. Now my red lipstick looks more dramatic!

So I ate liver for dinner (so gross), with molasses bars for desert. I am drinking Floradix twice a day at a double dose, and depending on what my blood test brings back, perhaps I will contemplate iron pills.

The good news, Crohn’s wise, is that I am having mostly solid stools! I think I was reacting to the new hookworms for some time; now that I’m entering week 13 of the new batch, the side effects are over, and I’m tolerating many new foods, such as milk in my tea (it’s raw milk cream, if that makes any difference), kale for once in my life (this is a miracle. Considering I have always grown tons in my garden, and it’s one of the most nutritious green, never could tolerate it without gas and diarrhea, so this is a milestone, albeit not the most exciting one.) Stout beer and BBQ potato chips give me gas. I’m still having mucus, but now just before a large bowel movement. I have no bowel pain, and am going about 2 -3 X a day, mostly in the morning. If I eat a lot in the day, or don’t go for a day (which is the other miracle), then sometimes I have to go at 4 AM, but then I go back to sleep.

The Celexa is working wonders – the anxiety is gone, the insomnia is gone. I am sleeping without Ambien, no more racing heart, and I am much, much happier. I plan to stay on it for a year, hopefully have all of my vitamins and minerals at normal levels, have a good strategy of meditation, exercise, yoga, and positive thinking in place, then slowly come off it. By then I should have a handle on how often I need to infect with hookworms, how to incubate them and infect myself, how long the side effects last, etc. That was a huge level of anxiety, and then with AIT up and moving out of the US, it hasn’t been very comforting.

So now (hopefully) the one month miscarriage is complete, and I can eat, drink, and be merry for Christmas, safe with my beautiful family, grateful for sleep and tea and toast, and for the worms and the worm provider for the chance of a drug-free remission that hopefully will last and last.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Solstice, everyone. For those of you suffering with Crohn’s, may you find quick relief.