Health Update

Hi,

I thought I'd give a little health update here, in case someone is interested. 

I saw the endocrinologist on Thursday, but she only did more blood tests and now I'm really hoping that they will be really out of range so that I get treatment. I've been taking Agnus Castus since November and it has balanced my hormones and reduced my migraines a lot. I also take strong C and D vitamin supplements, which are supposed to make me feel better. The doctor didn't believe that natural remedies would in anyway affect my condition, but from experience I can say that I feel a lot better now than I did in the autumn. But I still need some treatment.

Waiting for the bus.

I got a new swimming costume in the mail, so I could try and go swimming soon. Swimming is good because it gives me an excuse to leave the house, it's exercise and my muscles get stronger. It also helps my back pains and gives me an opportunity to get clean.

Right now instead of writing this, I would just really like to go back to bed. I've been up for 5 hours already, but before that I slept for 20 hours. For most of the time I've been up, I've been reading about hypothyroidism. I've been ticking the boxes on the ThyroidUK's symptom list, and have quite a lot of them. 

Generally:

• Excessive tiredness 
• Weight gain
• Feeling cold
• Slowness
• Pins & needles
• Anaemia
• Loss of libido
• Repeated urinary tract infections
• Muscle  weakness
• Heat/Cold intolerance
• Low basal temperature
• Dizziness

I also have to drink all the time, and "dry mouth" was one of the symptoms on the list. I also have very dry skin. Even my scalp has been painfully dry recently. I've had digestive problems even though I've tried to eat as well as I can. My nails are brittle and my mum has claimed that my eyebrows look thinner which makes me look ill. And I've been getting some weird bruises that I don't know where they've come from. It's all on the list.

Oh, and the mental health problems?

•  Panic attacks
•  Memory loss & confusion
•  Mental sluggishness
•  Poor concentration
•  Phobias
•  Loss of drive
•  Nightmares
•  Easily upset
•  Wanting to be solitary
•  Mood swings
•  Depression
•  Nervousness/anxiety
•  Feelings of resentment
•  Lack of confidence

Oh yes, I have it all.

Pain?

•  Migraines
•  Pressure headaches
•  Back and loin pain
•  Wrist pain
•  Foot Pain

Thyroid problems cause migraines and headaches? Maybe if it could be treated my head wouldn't hurt so often?

Why am I even reading this stuff? It's not that I'm trying to find more illnesses I could have or Wikipedia-diagnose myself with everything. I'm actually just not feeling well at all. I don't want to feel ill or tired all the time. I want to go out and play with the other kids. I just don't think I can do it without some extra medication. I'm not sure if it should be hypothyroid medication or additional testosterone or what, but I just need to get my energy levels to where they should be. Maybe I need to buy a printer so that I can print all of the articles I've been reading out, and take them to my GP. I dream of living in Thailand where you can apparently just walk into a pharmacy and buy anything without a prescription.

I've also read that the reference range that the laboratories use for thyroid-related hormones is a lot wider than the recommended range and that for some patients medication would be useful even if they fall in the "normal" range. Ding, ding, ding. No help for me at all. "Oh, you're ill, but we can't do anything about it. Some people just are tired."

They've tested my thyroid a couple of times, but I've only seen one set of results after I had to argue with a receptionist who claimed that I have no right to see my results and who then phoned a doctor and asked if they are even allowed to give me the results. Then I had to ask questions such as: "Why on earth would you want to see your results?"

If I have to, I can maintain a normal daily rhythm where I sleep only for that approximate 8 hours a night and stay up for the rest of the 24 hours for maybe a week or so. But after that I just can't keep going. I will start suffering of anxiety or depression, get migraines or feel dizzy and cold. Or just fall asleep and be unable to wake up.

Have I got a medical note for all this? No, because the doctors have refused to listen to all the problems at once, and I just have notes that say "has a lot of migraines". Trying to graduate is difficult, when I'm always either asleep, in pain or trying to find out why I am not feeling like a healthy person.

Sorry for this rant, and thank you if you read through all of it! Please leave a comment if you did, just so that I know that you care. I promise I'll put pictures in the next post and will write about something other than my fight with the healthcare system. I know there are people who are more ill than I am, and need medical care more than I do. But I really would like some treatment so that I could live like a normal person and wake up everyday.