Frodo Baggins

First off, I wanted to apologize to everyone for not posting for a while. I am afraid my blog has been a bit neglected in the last couple of months. Let us just say I have been really busy!

 If you can remember back to my last post in October 2013, I wrote that my DDAVP did not work well for my Birthday and that my DI was competing for my attention. What I did not tell you is that something else was competing for my attention that day. It was a puppy!

  Just a little side note... I LOVE animals!!! But anyway, back to the point of my blog.

I adopted a little Golden Retriever/ Shepherd mix puppy from the animal shelter that day. There was just something special about him and I knew he was just the puppy I was supposed to get.

So, what about a name??? He needed a good name. The name Frodo Baggins seemed to suit him just fine! Come to find out he loves to explore new places (as long as I am with him).

Why am I posting about him on a blog that is supposed to be about DI?? Because Frodo seems to take after me. He loves his water and his ice. As anyone with DI knows water and ice are essentials when the DDAVP is wearing off. Frodo is the perfect dog for a girl who has DI!

The first picture is of Frodo back in November 2013. The second one is from today.

 
I will try to not neglect this blog as much in the future.

The Personality of D. Isipidus

I am realizing more and more that the effectiveness of my DDAVP is related to my stress and excitement level. If I have an extremely exciting day, the likely hood is that my medicine will wear out early. If I have something that I am really worried about, my DDAVP will wear out early. If my day goes smoothly without a bunch of excitement then I do fine and my meds. last a normal amount of time. I have decided the reason is that my DI is competing for my attention. :)

When my Birthday rolled around this year, it even wanted to be the very first to wish me a Happy Birthday! Which normally would not be too bad. But in an effort to be the first, it woke me up at 2:00 on my birthday morning. I just had to chuckle. : ) But I had to remind it that a friend of mine had beat it to the first birthday wish the day before. I don't think that made my DI happy because then it woke me up again at 4:00.

It also decided that it had to compete for my attention when I was sick. In order to get the attention it wanted, it ignored the DDAVP. Finally when I gave it a little more DDAVP it calmed down and rested for a while, only to show up later full force. : )

It does like when I give it water, however, it returns the favor by sending me to the restroom just a couple minutes later.

All in all, I have come to a conclusion... My DI has PERSONALITY.

It's Time to go get Blood Work Done

I always get a laugh when I go to get my blood drawn. Here is how it typically goes.

 I walk up to the counter and let them see my lab order and insurance card. Then they bring me back. While the Nurse is getting the supplies, I try to break the awkward silence by asking the nurse a simple question.

Me: "So, how are you doing? Has your day been busy so far?"
Nurse: "I am doing well, and the day has not been very busy. Thank you for asking!"

After this I don't want to distract her as she tries to find a good place to draw blood, plus just saying that much is enough for me any time, and so I am quite unless she asks me a question.

As the nurse examines my left arm for the best vein and finds none that are suitable she asks - "Did you drink a lot of water yesterday?"

Me: "Yes, I think that I drank plenty of water."
Nurse: "How much did you drink? Did you drink about 8 glasses?"
Me: "I really don't know how much I drank, but I am pretty sure I drank plenty of water. However, I have Diabetes Insipidus and take DDAVP and have to be careful how much water I drink."
Nurse: " Well I guess blood pressure medicine would change the volume of your blood, but that is the only medicine that does. Your doctor is wanting to check your electrolytes."

 I knew that my doctor was checking my electrolytes, but I have no clue how that fit in with the blood pressure medicine. I told her, after that comment, that I did not take blood pressure medicine and that DDAVP was the only "medication" - if you can call it that- that I take. She then went on to tell me to drink more water next time. At this point I gave up on explaining and just nodded my head nicely and smiled. :)

I am very thankful that the nurses are always very nice and patient. :)

Today, the nurse had a particularly hard time drawing my blood and ended up having to get it from my hands. She tried my left hand first and found out in the process that the vein was too small for even the butterfly. Then she tried my right hand and managed to get some out.

I get the same "drink more water" discussion just about every time, and it just makes me chuckle inside and think "if she only knew." I told my mom that the next time I go to get blood work done I'm going to bring an article about DI and let them read it and put it with my lab order. Hopefully, if they have that information they will understand that it's not because I don't drink enough water, or that I take some kind of medicine that lowers my blood volume, but it is because of my DI that my blood volume is low.

Perhaps someday they will understand, but until then I get a good laugh every time I go. :)

Two Friends

It's not to uncommon to hear a story about Uncle Arthur (arthritis), and other "illnesses" like that. Well I decided I would write my own little story. Not about Uncle Arthur {I have not met him yet}, but about my two "friends" who have joined my life journey. One is named Insipidus and the other Celiac.

Insipidus joined me about a year and a half ago. It wasn't long after she joined up with me that she started demanding water and completely wearing me out. She kept me up at night requiring that I pay her some attention. She is what you would call very dependent.

Insipidus finally wore me out so much that we brought her to the doctors attention and the doctor prescribed Desmopressin to keep her in check. Since being treated with Desmopressin she is a lot less dependent, only showing up in the mornings and evenings and occasionally in an afternoon. But her and I have learned to coexist. And we get along pretty well.

Then about a year after Insipidus showed up, she invited a friend to join her. I guess she got lonely and decided she needed someone else to help keep her company. Her friend is named Celiac. Celiac is very temperamental and a very very picky eater. Insipidus did not insist on any special diet but Celiac sure did!

When Celiac first showed up I started realizing that almost everything I ate was upsetting her. Then I realized it was all the gluten that is hidden in tons of things that was bothering her. Once I cut gluten out of my diet Celiac became very happy. However if I accidentally have anything that contains even a small trace of gluten, Celiac gets really upset and living with her for the next couple weeks is not fun.

Despite some challenges, we've all learned to live together.

One of my friends on Facebook found this article and posted it in my DI support group and I thought that I would share it with all of you. I thought that it was very informative and covered all the bases.

  Here is the link.  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/183251.php#.

Enjoy!

My symptoms before diagnosed:

• Extreem thirst (I drank 3.5+ gallons of ICE COLD water a day)
• Polyuria (running to the restroom every 15-30 minutes all day)
• Nocturia (every 15 minutes - 2 hours)
• Orthostatic Hypotension (as well as a general feeling of being very lightheaded all the time)
• Tremors
• Cold hands and feet
• Dry skin
• Lack of ability to produce tears
• Extreem fatigue
• a general feeling of being unwell
• And I have to admit to being irritable at times. :) 

My first endocrinologist thought that my thirst is what caused my polyuria and so he told us.... "Its just like the chicken and egg paradox - which came first the chicken or the egg, except we were dealing with - which came first  the extreme thirst or the extreme urination?" We did not fully know the answer to that paradox until I started taking DDAVP. Now, we know that the thirst comes after I have already dumped for about an hour. 

I can't imagine life without DDAVP. 

Pets

I don't know about all of my readers, but I am an animal lover. My family has two cats, a dog, and a rabbit, (I have included pictures of three of my pets at the end of this post) all of which are very loved and doddled over. Today's post is for all those animal lovers out there. I decided to do some looking and find out about some animals that have DI. I found out about a couple that I have provided links to the web-sights where you can read about them if you are interested. 

The first link I will share is about a dog named Tigger. It looks as if this story was from 1998. http://brindleweb.com/pets/tigdi.html

If you want to see a picture of the dog click on this link  http://brindleweb.com/pets/tigger.php

The next link will bring you to a web-sight that shares a couple different pet stories. http://www.petdiabetes.com/pdorg/diabetes_insipidus.htm#Ziggy

Again I hope that you enjoy these!!

Below is my cat Dusty

 

My cat Princess (most often called Prissy - because she is prissy) 

And my dog Precious (sorry that it's not the best quality of picture)

Introversion vs. Extroversion: Which one am I and which one are you?

It all began this past semester with a wonderful Economics teacher and a wonderful Psychology teacher. Believe it or not, this semester was the first time that I really got interested in unveiling the truth about extroversion and introversion. Which was I? What exactly is an introvert vs. an extrovert?

I began my quest to discovery by visiting the dictionary. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Introvert means “to turn or direct inward.” Introversion was given the psychology definition of “the direction of or tendency to direct one's thoughts and feelings toward oneself.” And last but not least, Introverted was defined as follows: "Marked by interest in or preoccupation with oneself or one's own thoughts as opposed to others or the environment; shy or reserved."

According to those definitions an introvert would appear to be selfish (focused on oneself) and shy. However I was not completely satisfied with that answer. Surely there was more to it than that. And I was not ready to call an introvert selfish.

So, I decided to try to google introvert. And this is the next definition I came up with: "A shy, reticent, and typically self-centered person. A person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things."

Okay so both references called an introvert shy and self-centered. I still was not satisfied with that definition. I still would not call a introvert self-centered. I found a better explanation of introversion in the book written by Susan Cain which I will talk more about later. But for now..... what about extroverts?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Extroversion is “Interest in or behavior directed toward others or one's environment rather than oneself.” “Gregarious and outgoing” was added to the definition of extroverted.

Well, now it was time for the most interesting part. I decided to do a quiz online and see which I was and how exactly psychologists were defining these terms.

So, again I googled and found a quiz that was based on a book by Susan Cain’s book “Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.” I answered all but one True and that is a pretty good indication that I am an introvert. I tended to agree with her prognosis. Here is the link to Susan Cain’s Introvert Quiz - http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/quiet-quiz-are-you-an-introvert - I encourage you to find out what you are and then comment on my blog and let me know what you discover. You will also find her explanation of the terms a whole lot more helpful and accurate than the dictionary definitions. She draws a distinction between being shy and being an introvert. I found it really interesting that they were not actually the same thing.

Anyway, another article you may find interesting can be found at this link - http://flokka.com/you/understanding-personality-types-extrovert-or-introvert .

Although this topic has virtually nothing to do with Diabetes Insipidus, I think that my DI has made my introversion and need for some alone time greater.

What about you? Are you an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert? Please comment below when you find out.

For those of you with DI, has your DI strengthened your introversion or extroversion?