Monthly Archives: June 2017

Neuropsychology Testing and Diagnoses: ASD, Depression, and ADHD

At the end of April, I underwent 10 hours (over a three day period) of neuropsychological testing and interviewing. Obviously, to go through the data of 10 hours of testing takes a while, so I had to wait until June 5th to get my results. Only a very small part of the results were actually a surprise, and none of it was bad news.

autism-1417942_1920I was officially diagnosed on the autism spectrum! Yes, this is good news for me, and validates the “I think my brain works differently than the average population” feeling I’ve had my entire life. My official diagnosis is “autism spectrum disorder, level 1, without significant language or intellectual impairment” (because they like to make diagnosis names as long as possible). I’ll get more into the details of this diagnosis below.

I was also given a secondary diagnosis of “other specified depressive disorder,” which seems to essentially just be a moderate and persistent depression that doesn’t fit the diagnostic criteria for other depressive disorders; this wasn’t a surprise at all because I have had depression since I was in late elementary school (maybe about 10 years old), and have been treated off and on for years. Continue reading →

Allergies: The End of the Road

I’ve hit the end of the road with my allergies, apparently. I went to my ENT/allergist on June 2nd, to follow-up about what the specialist immunologist/allergist had to say. Sadly, the super specialist just wanted to focus on my eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and didn’t care about the reason I was actually there: I would massively overreact to every allergy shot I got at doses most people don’t ever react to (even anaphylactic people). Even though they want me to come back, I will not be returning to the super-specialist because my EoE is being managed by my gastroenterologist and my ENT/allergist is more concerned with my allergies than them. Continue reading →

Low Batteries: Why I Have No Energy

If you haven’t done so already, please check out part 2 of my “Dan as my Husband and Caretaker” series and leave any questions in the comments! I want to interview him, to get a different perspective on our relationship, but I can’t do that without your questions! (He won’t just write something, I’ve asked him to before.) I want the questions primarily geared towards Dan, but please feel free to ask anything at all! We will do our best to answer all of your questions! (If the post won’t let you comment, please head to my Contact page and send me an email. Subject: Questions for Caretaker Interview.)

I haven’t done a lot of blogging lately, and it’s due to how low my energy levels have been.

Since January 1, 2017 (the last six months), I have had 74 medical related appointments. These appointments include doctor visits, testing (not counting some unscheduled blood draws), therapy visits, and medical related classes. I also had two urgent care visits and an emergency room visit, all of which are outlined in The Case of the Missing Lizz. I have also done two different, intense, diets for my chronic health problems (including my GI problems): the low FODMAP diet, which was not successful, and now I’m doing the LEAP diet. All of the medical stuff has, understandably, drained significant portions of my energy.

The LEAP diet has played a major role in my energy problems, sadly. Continue reading →