Is there a doctor in the house?
A nurse?
A semi-qualified blog lurker who could possibly give me some medical advice
and write me a prescription?
I need your help.
Though this sort of post really does leave me vulnerable to
all kinds of advice that might or might not make my eyes roll into the back of my head.
And I will no doubt hear from my concerned mother, mother-in-law,
and Aunt Flora.
I don't even have an Aunt Flora.
But here we go.
Early this morning one of my fellow-cyber-adoptive-mom friends
messaged me on FB and suggested that I perhaps
could have a thyroid problem.
I looked up the symptoms, and wow...that may be my problem.
Wow, maybe so!
I was just at my doctor's office, but she didn't mention this possibility.
Although, truth be told...me going to see my doctor
is more like having coffee with a friend.
We chat.
We laugh.
We compare the smartness of our children.
We secretly decide that our own kids are more brilliant than the other's.
We laugh.
What I'm saying is, it's as though I leave all my cares and concerns
in the parking lot, and turn on this giddy-smile,
and have a hard time *complaining* about my very real symptoms.
(Extreme sleeplessness, inability to STOP and SIT, exhaustion.)
Oh, sure...I mention these things, but it's not at all in a,
"Look here doctor, this is making me a crazy woman, HELP ME NOW",
kind of way.
It evidently just comes across as,
"I'm not getting enough exercise, clearly. I'll just go home and get on my treadmill."
Well, anyway. I will make an appointment, eventually.
And perhaps bring her a video of me baking wildly at 4 AM to prove my point.
But in the meantime,
if any of YOU have thyroid issues, would you care to share your advice/experience?
I think that covers it.
(Aunt Flora, really...I'm fine.)
Love,
Sleepless in a cloud of wheat flour
10 comments:
I have had thyroid issues for about a decade now. It stinks. I remember starving myself to ( what I felt like) death with Weight watchers. And I lost a pound in 4 months. On strictly following WW. The ladies didn't believe me and I felt like yelling/crying. A POUND!!!
I remember when I felt like I hit a brick wall and couldn't keep my eyes open. I was so exhausted. I and I JUST WOKE UP!!!
Then there were the times I woke up at 3 am and wrote thoughts that should be burned so no one ever has access to them. :P And all the movies I watched because I couldn't go back to sleep for nothing.
Or when I thought I was going to have 3 strands of hair left by the end of the month because it was falling out in handfuls when ever I moved my head.
I have been on meds for years and now, I am dealing with it naturally, and IT WORKS!!!
If you happen to have a health food store, get yourself some Iodine pills. As well as a Thyroid boost. PM me if you want to know specifics, but then you can always go the pharma way with your doc. Both work fine.
I have an underactive thyroid. Turns out it was WAY over-active and "burned out" I was skinny and just a mess and went to the other extreme. Tired and chubby. Have your levels tested by the doc. It has lots of other health effects including heart issues so don't take it lightly. It's a battle with the weight but once the levels begin to regulate you'll be great! I can really tell when I miss more than one dose in a week. On another note I think the sleeplessness is an epidemic separate from the thyroid. I'm not kidding! I and tons of folks I know are up at all hours. I'm thinking its a mysterious illness that affects women in their 40's and maybe we need to have a lobotomy or something.
Go get a blood test!! Sheri
Find a naturopathic dr. that will do some thorough testing. I'm seeing a chiro. right now for possible adrenal fatigue. Hopefully something comes of it so I can get some energy back!
My dad had/has Grave's Disease, where your thyroid is overactive. Get it checked out! He was up at all hours, hot all the time, cranky (he is usually super sweet), and his heart rate started increasing quite a bit. In our area you can even have the thyroid test without seeing a doctor as part of a blood panel that included glucose and cholesterol. If you start there you could do that maybe faster than waiting for an appointment with a physician but still be able to follow-up with one after the bloodwork. Good luck!
Hi Lori, It is in womens nature
to "downplay" their own symptoms!Do take yourself to a medical doctor. You will need blood tests and a good assessment. Get serious with your doc or find adifferent one. mm,vancouver,wa
I ended up in the hospital with Graves disease, extremely overactive thyroid, with atrial fibrillation. Believe me, this is NOTHING to mess with. Get to the doctor and get your levels checked and see if this is your problem! It affects a LOT of things.
Oh my, friend, from all the comments above you'd better see a doc quick! Because when I come see you, I don't want it to be a hospital visit :)
You are probably due for bloodwork anyway...then you can either cross that possibility off your list or at least have a diagnosis to work with, whether you go the natural route or the Dr script.
I definitely advise your checking things out with a naturopath. My amazing family dr didn't test all the possible levels and I showed up as slightly hypothyroid (unmmm I was showing lots and lots of symptoms) during our first adoption medicals in 2006. A month later I went to a naturopath for something else and he did a panel of tests. My thyroid was on the extreme range and I had Adrenal Fatigue it was so bad. Not a laughing matter. Now, I take T3 and T4 from my Naturopsth and he monitors and helps me tweak dosages. Soooo much better. It's so worth searching out a decent ND. Still love my MD, but he isn't all things to all people (or st least me :)
I have had hypothyroidism for probably seven years or so now. I am also a Type I diabetic, and these autoimmune diseases run hand in hand, with 30% of women ending up with it. I believe it also runs higher in women in the general population too. With that said, my doctor was testing me yearly as a precautionary, and so we were aware that my numbers were dropping every year, and that it was just a matter of time. With that said, I never actually suffered any symptoms and take a low dosage of levothyroxin every day. Several years later I still have not suffered any symptoms and am on the same low dosage. I know you are not T1, but I wanted to encourage you IF this is your diagnosis (simple blood test), as it can be controlled. I am also "around" your age:), and find a healthy diet and regular exercise a huge boost to my energy level. Makes this Momma much more pleasant to live with!
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