Making medical moves
There has been a flurry of catching up on medical stuff. My first appointment with my PCP out here went great! I felt heard and she worked with me to get me what I needed. She gave me referrals to get an MRI, one for a psychiatrist and mental health, and one for women’s health. The MRI finally got scheduled yesterday, there was a hold up because the PCP forgot to check this one little box on the form. I had my intake appointment with the mental health clinic just a couple days ago and got an appointment scheduled. I still need to schedule an appointment with the women’s clinic but so many things are moving now.
The PCP wanted me to see a psychiatrist for the ADHD meds and I had my intake with the clinic for psychiatry and mental health just a couple of days ago. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a refill on my meds that day as I was just speaking with a social worker. At the end of the intake she told me I was incredibly self-aware and this is not the first time I’ve gotten that feedback from a mental health professional. I did mention to her that I had self-diagnosed as autistic but would be interested in getting a professional assessment if my insurance would cover it. I don’t feel like I need the “official” assessment but I figured it might be helpful to have in the future if I need to request accommodations anywhere.
I told my PCP about the high high and the low low that I experience during my cycle and that I wanted to talk to someone about closing that gap and she wanted to refer me to a women’s health clinic because that’s their specialty over there. The high is great but the deep depression pit right before I bleed isn’t so nice and takes a lot of mental energy for me to work through. I know that addressing this is going to require hormones but I want to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of whether to go the estrogen or testosterone route. Believe it or not I’m leaning towards the estrogen side. I feel hesitant about testosterone, even though I would absolutely love the facial hair and muscular development, because testosterone can raise the internal body temperature and with my internal cooling system being broken, that doesn’t seem like the best option for me. I’m also hesitant to lose the protection of estrogen for my bones (lower levels of estrogen lower bone density) and osteoporosis runs on my mom’s side of the family.
Yesterday I had a telehealth appointment to go over my bloodwork results. Things overall looked pretty good. Though I’m going to need to start cutting sugar and carbs out of my diet because my levels are about to hit the pre-diabetic level. I’m glad it was caught early so I have a bit of time to adjust to diet changes but I’m sad that I have to start giving up one of my favorite foods, bread. I also let her know that my psych intake appointment went well but I wouldn’t be seeing a provider until the 23rd so she was able to write me a bridge prescription for the ADHD meds and I don’t have to go weeks without having my meds. I’m so grateful for that because I’ve already been out of meds for a little over a week now.
So that’s a pretty big update on the medical side of things, my next update will be about my new website and the business I’m trying to build!
