HouseCall: Hip Bursitis, Immune Stress, Type 1 Diabetes, Never Feel Rested, HIV Care

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s Cabral #HouseCall and that you’re ready to get started with another 5 community questions!

Here’s what we’ll be covering today (and plenty more tips!):

Joanie: I love listening to your podcasts and have learned so much from you. Thanks for all you do getting this information out especially for free. I have been dealing with hip bursitis for the past 8 months. It’s worse when I go from sitting to standing. I have always been active and enjoyed running (not long-distance running), but any high impact I do now is painful. I have had X-rays, been to chiropractors, orthopedic surgeon and had a hip injection which only helped for a couple of weeks. I am wondering if I should get another injection? I am very healthy – no grains, no dairy, eat lots of veggies/fruits/lean protein. I have been doing stretches, yoga, walking, etc. but nothing seems to help make it go away. Any information you can give me would be great! Thank you so much!!

Rebekah: Hello! I recently had blood work and found that my WBC, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit and platelet count were all on the low end. All but the platelet count was only low by .5 or less. My platelet count was 111ng/ml. This is the first time I’ve seen these issues before. I’m just wondering what it could be. My naturopath said it could be immune stress and my GI said I should see a hematologist. Ferritin is 9 ng/ml and vitamin D is 35 which I know the ideal is 50-70ng/ml but it’s gone up remarkably from 13ng/ml (this increase in vitamin D is 2 weeks on your daily nutritional support powder). Pretty healthy 27yr old female. the only known issues are upper GI-based. Reflux, indigestion, bloating, abdominal pain from time to time, but I’m taking your healthy belly for that as I suspect it’s h.pylori after and encounter with food poisoning. So, where should I begin looking and what is immune stress??

Galina: My husband who is 25 year old and otherwise is in good health was just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Every doctor asked us if he had any illnesses recently or stress. He did in fact have a very stressful period in his life about 3-6 months prior to diagnosis. I understand it’s an autoimmune disorder and everyone everywhere says it’s not reversible. My question is if it’s not possible to reverse T1D and regrow the new pancreas, is it possible to reverse the autoimmune mechanism, to stop his body from attacking itself, get rid of antibodies? If so, how? Thank you

Heather: Hi Dr. Cabral. I am wondering what test you would recommend I start with. I am a 29yr old female. I live a pretty healthy lifestyle (eat all organic, non-processed foods and exercise about 3-4x a week). When I was 22 I was diagnosed with thyroiditis that eventually resolved on its own and no medication was needed. Ever since then I’ve felt my body changed (maybe it’s just a coincidence?). A year after I started to develop a strange problem where multiple times a month I would wake up in the morning with my eyes severely swollen shut as if I had an allergic reaction. For the past 5 years or so I haven’t found any answers, with doctors being completely stumped. some suggested a food allergy (I’ve had testing) others suggested idiopathic angioedema and recently had my thyroid checked again with blood work. I feel it’s related to my hormones. I used to take my birth control pill every night before bed. I decided 4 years ago to stop taking birth control pills to see if I would get any relief. It helped tremendously and now I only have minimal swelling once a month always a week before my period. On a side note, I’m always extremely tired and I can’t seem to figure out why. I get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep a night. I never feel rested upon waking and always crash around 3 pm and need to take a nap. If I don’t set an alarm I could easily sleep 12 hours. Do you think the tiredness is related to whatever else is occurring? Thank you for all you do, I truly appreciate it and enjoy listening to your daily podcasts every morning on my way to work! Heather 

Anonymous: I am a married mother of three lovely boys, 49 years old, overweight, menopausal, and working 40-50 hours of night shift a week as a flight nurse. Life is busy, rewarding, fun, and stressful. Have just found your podcast and loving all the wisdom, information and real-ness. So, as well as fighting the weight, fatigue, and hormones, I have been living with HIV for 20 years. I have been on and off meds throughout that time, depending on the wisdom and practice of my ID doctor, have never been sick, and maintain CD4 > 900 and undetectable copies. Currently on Odefsey with no obvious side effects, but I worry about the toxicity. In another life, naturopathy as a career would have been my thing, I’d love your insight on functional medicines role in HIV care. Appreciate it, thank you.

Thanks for tuning into this weekend’s Q&A and I’ll be back tomorrow with our Mindset & Motivation Monday!