My health Journey was a blog I was in two minds about. I’m in a good place now and with so many people having a worse time then me health wise, I thought why should I write about my journey? So I ummed ahhed about whether I should post about it.
Every health Journey is different, and you should never feel ashamed or embarrassed of your story or journey. Mine was a bit of a rollercoaster for about 3 years, after I was diagnosed in 2016 with several health conditions such as reactive hypoglycemia, diabetes type 2 and a low thyroid. But to be honest I was just relieved to have some help and a diagnosis. I started to feel funny a few years ago and started to as best as I can describe it ‘zone out’ and people would ask if I was ok. It was very subtle and I think that both myself and maybe a few others thought it was anxiety or something. Turns out it wasn’t. It was something to do with several health conditions I was eventually diagnosed with. I was also diagnosed with depressive disorder back in 2010 after suffering from several depressive episodes.
Reactive hypoglycemia is a strange one. It is the general term for having a hypo after eating, which is when blood glucose levels become low following a meal. The sugar lows usually occur within about four hours after eating. The signs were there looking back for years, the going pale, feeling funny/strange after eating sometimes. And as with alot of health conditions, if left untreated can get either progressively worse and/or more noticeable which is what happened with myself.
I also found out from the doctor that as well as having reactive hypoglycemia I had diabetes type 2 and a low thyroid which had been working against each other. A low thyroid and the sugar issues provided me with some strange effects such as tiredness and weight gain. I then had to have time off work as I just couldn’t seem to funtion properly and was having alot of ‘funny turns’. This combined with other things like fatigue started to arise and there we had it. These were the answers I had been looking for.
To be honest, I’m not going to lie. The past few years have been tough. At one point I was literally walking around with untreated health conditions feeling like rubbish all the time, and for someone who was considered quite young and was always fit, as well as this I did find it difficult at first. But as time went on I got used it and I’m also pleased to say that I’ve come on leaps and bounds with them, and they have got so much better.
One good thing that’s come out of this is that I have started to pay a lot more attention to my health, food & wellbeing and am continuing to grow an interest in this area of things. I look at what’s in my food now and try to go for healthier versions of things, make food swaps and have cut out alot of sugar. I am in a much better position now health wise and can’t believe the difference a good diet along with medication and self care of course makes.
Until next time
Natalie x
