Update

I just wanted to give sort of an update about what's been going on in my world. The last 5 months I've been struggling with fatigue. Some days were better than others but the bad days were pretty tough. I would imagine during the day and dream about the next time I could crawl back into bed or sit down and watch TV. I wasn't sleepy and hardly ever slept during the day but there were obvious fatigue concerns. I decided about mid March to see my doctor. He does some blood work and we have a discussion about depression. For several days after the appointment I wondered if I was depressed and should go down the medication road. Several weeks later my doctor called and said that my thyroid levels were fine, my estrogen levels were low and my Vitamin D levels were low. I went to the pharmacy and got a prescription for Vitamin D pill and also an estrogen/progestrone combo (Prempro). I was supposed to take the Prempro the first day of my next period which was about 3 weeks from then. I was very unsure of what to do but knew there were serious problems with taking estrogen especially synthetic estrogen. It really made me nervous to take something like that and I spent the next three weeks thinking about it, praying about and I actually had to wean Leah before I took it. The night I was supposed to take it, after taking to several people including my doctor again, I couldn't do it. It made me too upset so I decided not to. Jed was supportive either way but really wanted things to get better for me.
At this point I had an appointment to see an Osteopath from the same office that my mom sees an allergist. The appointment was 2 weeks later at Dr. Moore's office, the D.O. At that appointment we talked about several different problems that manifest in fatigue, mainly from stress hormones. There was the thyroid concern, the allergy problems, glucose levels, estrogen and projestrone levels. We decided to find out from all the different areas what was going on. She gave me Armour Thyroid, anti-fungal, acidopholis, a hormone test kit that I would do for the next month, a vitamin mineral combo, and for me to go on a candida diet for a month. I also made an appointment to come back to the office and do a glucose tolerance test and a stress therapy session with Dr. Moore.
All of this was pretty interesting and overwhelming for me but I felt empowered and knew that if I could do my part, I would be able to find an answer(s). So far the candida diet has been great, difficult but not impossible. It entails avoiding sugar in all its forms including fruit, avoiding all allergies, anything with yeast or white flour, salad dressings, condiments, etc. I also learned that I have more allergies than I thought and have to avoid corn, soy, wheat, and dairy. I think avoiding corn is very hard. I miss my tortilla chips and popcorn!
I also got a call from Dr. Moore's nurse that my glucose levels were very low during the test and I have hypoglycemia or adrenal insufficiency. After candida diet I will need to do a stabilization diet which is pretty close to the candida diet except that I could eat fruit with protein.
For those of you who know me, you know that is journey that I've been on for the last 3 years has been interesting. Three years ago I never would have been able to not eat sugar, well let's face it, 3 months ago I couldn't have either. But because I've been prepared mentally and physically I feel so grateful for my experiences. I don't know if this is the answer and I know there will be more challenges in the future. Right now I still have the fatigue, not everyday and the days that are good are amazingly good and I am grateful. We're waiting to retest the thyroid and get the hormone results but even knowing about the hypoglycemia is empowering.
I think the back pain experience was actually related to my body in shock about not eating sugar but maybe not, hopefully it won't happen again! I have the energy I need to do what I need to do and for that I am grateful! Thanks to Mom for her insight and encouragement to see Dr. Moore and for my wonderful sisters who check in on me and listen to my concerns! And thanks to Jed for standing by me and picking up my slack. Love you all!