The Handsome DO

Sorry I have been away so much and haven't posted recently.  Between work, school, homework, and headaches I don't seem to have much time for anything - especially blogging.

My most recent blog-worthy experience involved Dr. Stuart Porter, DO.  (And a handsome DO at that!)  He was recommended to me by a very close friend and then another one of my very close friends went to see him and was quite impressed with him also.  So I decided it was time.  I need something different, a new perspective.  I'm not giving up on my neurologist and his cute PA.  I can't, they are doing their best, I truly believe they care, and they have incredible customer service.  But I want another opinion.  Enter the handsome DO.

Unlike an MD, Dr Porter spent about 1 hour with me.  You know all that paperwork they have you spend like 30 minutes filling out and then never even look at?  Not Dr Porter.  We went over that paperwork quite extensively.  He asked me more questions than I could care to count.   He has a very holistic approach and explained everything quite well.  He said he wanted to check for a vitamin D deficiency and I informed him I'd just a test done and was fine.  So he explained that he has a very different standard than most labs and would like to check it again.  He also wanted to check my thyroid and hormone levels - I wasn't about to tell him at this point that those have already been checked and are fine.
He looked over my medical file which I had sent to him from my neurologist.  It had the vitamin D test results and sure enough - I was deficient.  Certainly by his standards, but .5 points off from being deficient by anyone's standards. 
At the end of the appointment he took about 8 vials of blood and asked me to come back in 2 weeks.


2 weeks later I walk into his office, scared of all the foods he must have discovered I was allergic to.  Please, not corn and please not cows milk.  The nurse teased me and said that I was going to love my new diet - I'll be eating nothing but meat and leafy greens. 
Dr. Porter came in and again, we spent about an hour going over all of my test results.  He didn't just discuss what came back as bad, he also discussed what came back as good.  Soften the blow, right?  If I wrote about EVERYTHING he tested me for and the results as well, this would be a novel. 
My thyroid and pituitary glands are functioning properly.  They are releasing the proper amounts of hormones.  However, my T4 levels are low.  (My last hormone test was only for TSH.) 
Vitamin D test came back even lower than my last one now indicating and even greater deficiency than before.
I am insulin resistant.
Lots of other stuff that's not nearly as exciting and lead me to be on a huge amount of supplements.

Food allergies - this is where it is potentially exciting for you as a reader, but miserable for me.
Here is what I am NOT allergic to - according to his test:
Almonds
Rice
Chocolate  (before we say, Thank God for that one!)

What I cannot eat due to other problems and deficiencies  (which means I MAY, someday, be able to eat them - sparingly):
SUGAR (Not sure how to have chocolate without sugar, unless it's artificially sweetened)
Artificial sweeteners (see, no celebrating for me)
Soy
Starch (this includes virtually every vegetable that grows in the ground as well as legumes.  the exception - thank goodness - garlic)
Fruit (unless it's berries, apples, and grapefruit - low glycemic fruits)
Aged Cheeses
Vinegar
Mushrooms
Foods containing yeast
Caffeine
Alcohol - see, no celebrating of any kind!

Foods I AM allergic to:
Eggs (the white)
Cows Milk
Peanuts
Gluten
Wheat
Oats
Corn
....there are more, but that is all I can remember for now and those are the biggies :(

Needless to say - I am hungry a lot.  I also cheat on my diet a bit.  I try really hard to avoid all these things, but I give in to temptation, hunger, peer pressure, and simply - convenience.

This is going to take some serious getting used to :(