To make a short story long, I live in a two story farmhouse. My hubby and I sleep on the main floor and our girls sleep upstairs. Not ideal for many reasons. The main issue is that I've always had a terrible time with stairs. About half-way up, my heart begins to race, my lungs and legs burn, I start gasping for air, and then things go black. This leaves me with a couple of options: either sit down until my body stops hating me or go as fast as I can and hope I make it to the top without passing out. I feel the need to explain that this is more than an "out of shape" issue. I've always had this problem and just chalked it up to being a POTSie. Needless to say, I usually avoid the stairs.
Normally, the hubby is responsible for carrying the girls upstairs and tucking them into bed and getting them up in the morning. It's actually one of the hidden blessings of this illness. I'm home with the girls all day, so I love that they get this special time with their dad to start and end each day. Anyways, things have been hectic for him this week so the duty has been left to me. Last night, our two year old fell asleep on the couch before I could get her to bed. I knew the little zombie wasn't going to wake up and walk up the stairs to her room so I only had one option. I picked her up (along with her nightly essentials of her snuggle blanket, stuffed ladybug, and stuffed prairie dog named Baby Jack (don't ask!)), said a prayer, and started up the stairs. I got to the top and felt terrible. Something was wrong and I felt really off. It felt as if my body was forgetting to do something really important. I stopped at the top of the stairs and realized nothing was wrong, something was actually right! I wasn't gasping for air and it felt terribly unnatural! My heart was still racing, but my legs and lungs didn't burn and my breathing was normal. This is literally the first time this has happened in my entire life.
When I went to get her up this morning, still no gasping! You know you've been sick too long when you panic from feeling normal! Haha! I'm positive this has to do with the B12. One of the main symptoms of a B12 deficiency is shortness of breath. B12 plays a role in making mature, healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. No wonder I've always felt starved for oxygen. I'm not pretending B12 has been my miracle pill. In many ways, I've felt much worse the past couple of weeks (nausea, tinnitus, burning eyes), but this is a major development for me. This is a terrible symptom I've dealt with my entire life which may have just been a simple B12 deficiency issue. Oh, how I wish we would have caught this sooner!
On a side note, I'm working on a B12 post. I'm reading a book and some published studies first. B12 deficiency is a real, serious issue. It's not a fad diagnosis. My blood work showed evidence of a serious B12 problem all the way back in 2007 (enlarged red blood cells and anemia) and no doctors caught it. I'll get more into that with the B12 post, but it's frustrating nonetheless. For now, I'm going to be ecstatic about this new development. I'm letting my mind go crazy with thoughts of being able to jog in the near future! Dear God, please don't let this be a fluke! :-)
"The Lord upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down." Psalm 145:14
Amy
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