Yep that title is correct - the downside. There are obviously so many benefits; actually getting things done, feeling alive but for me there has been a downside. I have recently been diagnosed with underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism usually develops gradually. The symptoms are mild, and you may not even notice them at first. This is called subclinical hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism causes a general slowing down of your body's functions. Some of the symptoms include:
feeling tired and sleeping a lot
feeling the cold easily
dry and/or pale skin
coarse, thinning hair and brittle nails
sore muscles, slow movements and weakness
a hoarse or croaky voice
a change in facial expression
depression
problems with memory and concentration
weight gain
constipation
fertility problems and increased risk of miscarriage
heavy, irregular or prolonged menstrual periods
a slow heart rate
Reforming my procrastinating ways has helped ease some of these symptoms, I've been forcing myself to carry on seeing friends and going out so I think this has prevented me from being depressed. However, it has also made me extremely tired. Constantly forcing myself to keep going has made me become exhausted over time and for the last week I have had to take a week off work to recharge my batteries.
Before I was off work, I spoke to a thyroid specialist who advised me that it could take a year for me to be on the right dosage of medication to actually feel normal again. This news completely stopped me and has made me unable to force myself into work and to carry on with my life. I think the problem was that I am an eternal optimist (not usually described as a problem I know!) but because of this I have managed to plough through the hard times when I have been exhausted as long as I have some point in the future to focus on (as in a doctors or hospital appointment). I managed to carry on for a month or so focussing on this appointment with the specialist, optimistic that he would say something that would improve my situation. Faced with the fact that it might be a while until I felt better I really didn't know how to handle it.
I started the week feeling really miserable (probably a result of my crushed optimism) and crying sporadically for no reason. While relaxing I've thrown myself into things that I can do whilst resting such as my knitting and researching my family tree. These are projects I've been trying to do for a while so I'm glad to have had the time to concentrate on these projects albiet not in the best of circumstances.
After a week on sick leave I've finally managed to finish knitting my cardigan (just need to sew the buttons on), trace my family tree back to 1755, learnt the importance of slowing down once in a while and most importantly got my optimism back!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment