It took a comment from Kathleen at Happy Trails, fellow blogger and thyroid adventurer, to make me realize that my recent lunacy might be somehow connected to my thyroid and not necessarily lack of estrogen.
I started thinking about it, and I've been having trouble sleeping, I've been hot, my face is breaking out, my menstrual cycle is completely messed up, and I've been emotionally labile for about the past month. And this week, the additional workload and worrying about things has piled on the stress, and under normal circumstances this is not extreme stress.
I think I need to re-adjust the thyroid med dosage, what I suspect is that over the past few months it's caught up to me, taking my full dose of levothyroxine daily. When I intentionally went hypo before Badwater last year, I was skipping a full dose every other week. For the past 9 months I've been taking it daily without skipping doses. I suspect that I need to skip half a dose once or twice a month and that would probably be a good place for me. But first I'll get tested to make sure I'm on the right track.
I never would have believed that such a small adjustment in medication would make a difference, but it was clear after my labs last year that was exactly what was going on. And my endocrinologist in Arizona warmed me long ago that the closer I get to menopause, the harder it would be to regulate my thyroid meds. So far everything that doctor ever told me has turned out to be right on.
This morning I'm off to work, twelve hour shifts today and tomorrow, followed by an 8 hour evening shift on Monday. I should be sufficiently fried by Sunday night to get some sleep. If I can't sleep after that, I'm sure it's my thyroid. Yesterday I took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon and then only slept 5 hours last night. I woke up at 3:41 am and couldn't go back to sleep. Always fun before two twelve-plus hour back-to-back shifts.
So Monday I will get an order to get my thyroid labs drawn and figure out how to get myself back to a happy place. Instead of being the Random Thyroid-Impaired Bitch.
The world will be safer as a result.
4 comments:
Yikes! Glad to hear your have diagnosed the problem. Are you going to be down for Pemberton 50km this February?
Chris! Great to hear from you! Pemberton? I haven't even thought that far ahead yet. I'm trying to get through the next month first. I am running 48 hours at Across the Years, so I doubt I'll be recovered in time to do Pemberton. But I am sure we'll be down in Scottsdale sometime this winter and when we plan it, I'll let you know. I hope all is well with you!
Glad to be able to help turn on the light bulb for you. Dad-gum evil thyroid madness!!!
Thanks Kathleen, I also noticed I had a slight hand tremor today. Yup, thyroid for sure.
Post a Comment