tim-from-pa
Member
mjjcb said:Here's a thought I had after posting my last thought.
Several years ago, I was in a very bad, deteriorating way. At about 38 years old, I started losing feeling in my hands and feet. This progressed to the point that I found it hard to walk up stairs, let alone play with my children. My doctor ruled out all kinds of diagnoses. This went on for about a year! I had CAT scans done and it looked like I had Multiple Sclerosis and my life would never be the same.
One day my doctor was studying my file for the 50th time when he saw something easily overlooked, because it seemed so basic. It turned out that I had the hereditary condition of "pernicious enemia" which only means that my body stopped having the ability to absorb B-12. I can take a bottle of B-12 pills, but they won't be absorbed. My body had barely a trace of it when he made the discovery. I started getting injections of B-12 and within days of my first shot, I was all but back to normal!! PRAISE GOD!!! For the rest of my life, I will need regular shots. My wife at times takes great joy in "sticking it to me". 18 months after I was diagnosed (when I couldn't walk up the stairs), I ran and completed my first 26 mile marathon!
I share this because my body, on a cellular level can't absorb a chemical just as some can't absorb chemicals within the brain. Their receptors are lacking the chemicals to do their job. Just because we can't see it, doesn't mean an illness isn't present and treatable. Sometimes people have a built in bias toward mental health, because they can't observe the injury or condition. Real people are hurting, and in judging medicinal therapies, we may be putting up barriers between them and healthy living.
Mike
Ya know, I did not even get past the first paragraph reading your symptoms and I thought right away "B12" before I read the next paragraph where you mentioned it. Thank God you had a physician who researched a little and swallowed the pharmaceutical pride in favor of what your body needed. After all, we don't shellac a wilting flower up just to correct it from drooping. We water it. Unfortunately, the former lame-brained philosophy is what is usually dished out.
I'm happy for you.