Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Exhaustion
I know what tired is. I was tired my first trimester with Claire. I was tired when I had an infant who gave me two hours of sleep at a time. I am tired now when my toddler crawls and cruises everywhere and demands much attention from me. I am tired now by working a busy full-time job. But the fatigue and depression I've been facing these past few weeks? They are not only due to the fact that I got diagnosed with cancer, had surgery, suffered a head cold that ripped a hole in my trachea, had to cancel Christmas plans home with family, and got the flu right afterwards. No. This fatigue is caused by all that and extremely abnormal thyroid hormone levels. I'm suffering from hypothryoidism because my thyroid replacement medication is too low of a dose. I just found this out yesterday and will be starting a higher dose in the morning. The bad thing is? I won't feel the effects for several weeks. That means I'm in this horrible state of general down-ness for a while.
Here are the symptoms of hypothyroidism.
Fatigue
Weakness
Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
Coarse, dry hair
Dry, rough pale skin
Hair loss
Cold intolerance (can't tolerate the cold like those around you)
Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
Constipation
Depression
Irritability
Memory loss
Abnormal menstrual cycles
Decreased libido
I am experiencing 8 of these right now. Somebody shoot me. |