Health

Well I went for my annual checkup last month. When the Dr. asked how I had been doing lately, I told her, that quite honestly, about the last 6 months I have been extremely tired. She asked if I was using my CPAP and I said yes, that even after sleeping 6-9 hours with my CPAP, I wake up tired. If I do not have anything that has to be done right away, I will get up take the dogs out, take my medicines, and the dogs and I will sit in my chair and cover up and take a 2 -3 hour nap. I never feel refreshed and will actually tell my family that I have been working all morning and need to sit down for a few minutes. I will have difficultly keeping my eyes open, and will tell them I need to rest my eyes for a few minutes, they will set an alarm for 30 minutes and try waking me up but I will usually be down for a few hours. So, they took 3 vials of blood. I get a call back after a week and I am told that I have Hypothyroidism. They have called in a medication for to add to my growing list of meds I take on a daily basics and want me to come back in about 90 days to check how the dosage is helping and if they need to increase, etc.

So I do some research.  According to the Mayo Clinic, Hypothyroidism is an under active thyroid condition http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothyroidism/home/ovc-20155291. After reading some of the problems it can cause, it explains why, in the last 6 months or so, I have been having joint pains in my hips when standing/walking for long periods of time, as I do in my part-time job. It can cause weight gain, even when you reduce your intake, explains why, even with weight loss pills and reduced food intake, I was not loosing any weight, I also did not gain any, but I am obese. I am constantly fatigued, extremely sensitive to cold, puffy face, my cholesterol level has increased, I have muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness, that while it can be normal, not to the extend I have been experiencing lately. I have become more forgetful, any thought processes have slowed.

One of the Risk Factors is having a family history of thyroid disease, so I have made my son his annual checkup and told the nurse that we wanted to up date family history to say I have Hypothyroidism and to have him checked.