On Being Tired
All the time. That’s been my thing for the last while, probably the last number of years to varying degrees. Energy deficiency. The Total Makeover Challenge had me exercising and eating well, and yes – I did have a bump in energy. Near the end of the contest though, it was a very tough slog. I basically went to work and to the gym and that was it. And I was dragging through all of it. The last few weeks, I’ve been suffering from what I fondly call “crushing fatigue” on most days. The kind of tiredness that overwhelms your whole body and mind and you just want to sleep but honestly, you can’t. Because there’s work, and life outside of that.
June was rough. My energy was waning daily, and to top it all off, I got hit with a brutal migraine that took me down hard for a day and then lingering effects the rest of the week. I went to my doctor, and she got a ton of lab requisitions for me. Right off the top, she noticed my blood pressure was a bit on the high side of normal, so prescribed HCZ for me. Great, now I’m on a diuretic. Well, maybe my feet will stop swelling up so badly. That would be nice. The headaches went away, so maybe that was a good call.
So off to the lab for all the tests and lo and behold – the thyroid finally comes back out of whack. First time I’ve requested the Free T3 and Free T4 test, which is a more sensitive test than the standard TSH that is always done. The Free T3 was on the low end, but just barely. So in a follow-up, my doctor repeated the test and also checked cortisol (adrenal function) and some other things. In the meantime, I realized that I probably wasn’t going to get the best care just going this route, so I asked my former naturopath in Vancouver, Dr. Natalie Mazurin (she’s great, if you are close to downtown – go see her!) if she could recommend an ND near to me. She got back to me quickly and recommended Dr. Corrine Dawson at Integrated Health in Fort Langley, so I called up and made an appointment. For the day after my birthday, no less!
This past Monday, the 12th, I met with Dr. Dawson after making the 30 minute, easy drive to Fort Langley. It’s a nice clinic, with its own lab and dispensary. She was running a bit late but it was ok – even though I almost fell asleep in the waiting room, but that’s par for the course these days. I had sent all of my tests from Dr. Natalie (hormone and allergy panel) and all my recent tests to the clinic prior to arriving, as well as a health history that I keep for myself and for any new doctors. As you get older, the story gets longer!! Dr. Corrine was appreciative of all the information, and Dr. Natalie had already forwarded a letter of introduction. I was good to go.
It was plainly obvious to Dr. Corrine that my thyroid and adrenals were not working well. She was very empathetic to my fatigue and other issues, particularly my sleep patterns, which have not been good. I have a lot of trouble falling sleep and staying asleep is an issue too. A couple times a month I get insomnia. The exercise was not helping this, and in fact… might have been making it work. The vigorous exercise I thought I needed to do to push my metabolically challenged body into losing weight was likely robbing the last stores of cortisol my poor adrenals had. My sleep rhythm was all out of order because my cortisol levels are not good. The test I had done showed them at about 200 when they should have been 400 for that time of day. Bleh. No wonder! I was given IsoCort, for supporting my adrenal function, and Armour Thyroid, for my thyroid. The dosing of thyroid medication is very individual so it may take some time for me to find the right level.
The next day (Tuesday) I had an appointment with my MD. She wanted to go over my labs, and said everything was normal (even the cortisol? really? the ND had a different take on that…) but that it did in fact look like I have an underactive thyroid. I told her that I was getting treatment from an ND and she was ok with that. She took the names of the medication down and gave me another lab req form for a month from now to get the TSH/T3/T4 combo done again. So that was good. I got my final TwinRix shot (hepatitis) before our trip in the fall, just for fun. Ouch. Three needles in three weeks, so fun. Oh, and not to mention all the blood I’ve given lately – but I’m not complaining, at least something has finally been found – because I knew I wasn’t feeling good and there had to be a reason.
I’m three days in on my new medication. Dr. Corrine said the results would be pretty fast – within the week. I felt pretty good on Tuesday, but terrible yesterday. The crushing fatigue was back, all day, all night. Until about 9pm, when I perked up. Thanks, adrenals. You need to get with the program! I slept well though. I take melatonin before bed, and the other tip my new ND gave was to take it at 8pm instead of right before bed. The body starts making melatonin naturally at that time, so it’s a good idea to mimic the natural rhythm. That has been working well the last couple of nights – I haven’t woken up much, and haven’t gotten out of bed for two nights. Yay! Today? I feel good. Not overly happy or anything, just ok and managing to make it through my to-do list with some intention.
The hardest part of this has been the lack of motivation to do anything the last few weeks. Hard to get out of bed, hard to move around, hard to work or think or anything. I’ve had many moments like this in my life, and they’ve all been classified as “depressive”. I look back at my history, and I think of the couple of years of graveyard shift I did at a hotel (6pm to 6am – yuck!) and I know that did no favours to my adrenal gland. And I think of a lot of other things in my life that probably impacted what’s happening right now. And I’m ok with it. I’m not a regretful person. Stuff happens, and whether it is meaningful or not, it doesn’t change the fact that it happened. I’m not looking for designs in the tea leaves here. I only have control over today, which paves the way for tomorrow. So today I’m going to eat well, take my new meds and hope that they hit the target, and keep track of how I’m feeling so I can be a good patient for my doctors. I’m going to try to have a good sleep tonight again, and try to figure out ways to remove additional stress from my life so my body and my life can be balanced.
My 38th year is very interesting, so far!
Mac'd out geek girl; love my husband, my dogs, design, photography, gardening, red wine, eating fresh and local. I do creative stuff at a large Fraser Valley wholesale nursery.
You are going to have many nice things happening in your 38th year…I remember mine quite well. Seeing my baby turning into a toddler with the help of her older sister. Our apt with a pool in the complex in Victoria, and me at Comusun College during the days.