Exhaustion and Prayer Request

I am exhausted after working 4 days this past week. I know some of you are saying “I do that all the time” or “I work 5 days a week.” Please don’t judge me too harshly. I haven’t worked a job since the middle of January 2009 when I went on medical leave.  Since that time, I became sicker before I started getting better.

Hypothyroidism doesn’t just make you tired or cause you to gain weight.  These are the symptoms that most people know but the thyroid produces hormones that are necessary, YES NECESSARY, for proper functioning of every cell in the body.  In hypothyroidism, the thyroid isn’t producing these hormones; therefore, the cells in the body are not receiving the hormones they need to function properly.  That’s why there are so many different symptoms and why many people are misdiagnosed.  In my case, I believe this is what happened.  My symptoms included: emotional changes misdiagnosed as depression for 19 years; joint pain, especially the knees; fatigue (at my worst, I was sleeping 18-60 hours each day); I went from having hot flashes and being warm all the time, to getting cold. It started with being cold when I was tired, to being cold much of the time.  I was having a lot of difficulty remembering things.

It wasn’t until I told the doctor about sleeping for 14 hours in bed and then falling asleep in the chair for more hours, that I was finally properly diagnosed.  Wow!  Once he said hypothyroid I started putting 2+2+2+2 together (some nurse huh?!).  I immediately started reading about hypothyroidism on the web.  A cousin of my husband told me about Mary Shomon and the work she is doing as a patient advocate, so I bought her book, Living Well with Hypothyroidism.  It is an excellent book full of wonderful information.  I learned about the disease process – how the thyroid works and what it does to the body when it doesn’t work properly.  I learned how important it is to take my medication at the same time and when the optimal time for me to take mine.  I learned I’m not going to get better in a short period of time. It took years for me to get as sick as I was and that just because I now have a diagnosis and medication, I’m not all better. Sometimes I push myself too hard, and then it takes days for me to recuperate. It’s now a part of my life and something I have to plan for, even though I hate it! I’m thankful, that the longer I’m on my medicine, the less time it will take to recover – I look forward to that!

Now back to the beginning where I mention being exhausted. I work 4 days this week: 7am to 3 pm on Monday and Tuesday, then 3 pm to 11 pm on Thursday and Friday for more orientation.  On Sunday the 17^th, I start my 3 pm to 7 pm shifts and will do the same on that Monday.  So I’m working 6 days out of the next 8.  I’m sure to be extremely fatigued during that time.  I’m asking for your prayers to help me through.  I know I can do it with God’s help, as He says in Philippians 4:13“ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  What a blessing that we can call on Him for help and KNOW that He will help. It’s not a case of if he remembers but it is a guarantee!  Haw many guarantees do we get these days!

Til next time!

Linda

Effexor XR Withdrawal Update and Miracles

It’s been awhile since I updated regarding my plan to get off the Effexor XR, so I thought I would do that today.

I have been off of it for 2½ weeks.  I know, I know, the plan was to take much longer weaning the dosage down but I ran out of them and decided I did not want to take the money to get it refilled.  I felt poorly for about a week with hot flashes and achiness as though I was getting the flu, along with being very emotional and a little irritable.  I was pleased that the irritability was not as severe as previously.  About a week into it, I noticed that physically I wasn’t feeling as bad as before.  The achiness was gone!  Yea!  This was a big improvement from other attempts to get off of it!

I am still emotional and tend to cry easily but overall, I am pleased with my progress.  The irritability still exists but it’s not as severe and I think I have been able to keep it in check pretty good. (Don’t ask hubby, he may not agree!)

The knee and joint pains have not been as bad as before and in fact I am not taking as much ibuprofen now.  This is an unexpected benefit of getting off the Effexor XR - maybe I won't need my cane one of these days soon!

I give God the glory for helping me to get through this; I could never do it on my own.  He is so gracious to help us and all we have to do is ask!  Others tell me they are praying for me and that is such a blessing (here come the tears again!). Yesterday we received a card in the mail from a couple at church, just to let us know they are praying for us, God’s people are so good!  Thank-you to all who are praying; those prayers are felt and much appreciated.

Maybe as I recover from the Effexor XR, my thyroid just might straighten out some!  That would be wonderful!

I am going to remember all those who prayed for us and pay it forward by praying for others and encouraging them as they move through their journey of life.

Til next time!
Linda <3

PS Discussion: My son and daughter-in-law had a wonderful experience with Earthly Angels, you can read about it here.   I have experienced miracles before and know God still performs them.  Have you experienced a miracle or the gift of an earthly angel?  Comment below and share it with us!

I like my Sleep but this is Ridiculous!

I cannot remember the last time I felt rested after 8 hours of sleep.  I currently sleep about 12 hours a “night” and do not feel rested when I get up.  It’s not every night anymore but still more than I would like.  One of my goals of hypothyroidism treatment is to get awake in the morning after 8 hours of sleep and have energy to get work done.

I have a difficult time dealing with the sleeping thing; before my hysterectomy, I slept 6 hours a night and felt good when I got up.  I actually long for those days!  Now I spend more time sleeping than doing anything else and it seems like such a waste.

My doctor wants to do a sleep study to see if I have sleep apnea but I don’t want to do that yet.  I want to get off the Effexor XR and get the thyroid levels to where I have some energy and then if I am still sleeping so much I’ll do the sleep study.  I think he’s a little perturbed with me but I really don’t care at this time.

I’ve been reading Mary Shomon’s book the thyroid diet and am starting to think I need to change my diet not so much to lose weight but to see if there are certain foods that enhance the effect of the hypothyroidism.  A little back, I started drinking spring water to see if the fluoride in the tap water may be affecting me negatively, I continue to do that and have noticed a little increase in energy so will continue to do that.

I get frustrated with how I feel physically and need to do two things frequently; 1.  Remember that hypothyroidism isn’t a condition that is going to go away; I will have to live with it the rest of my life and 2. Pray for God’s help and guidance in dealing with it.

Til next time!
Linda <3

Withdrawal

During the years of my treatment for depression, I have been on 4 different antidepressants.  In May/June of 2009, I decided to wean off of my Welbutrin and did so without difficulty as I was still taking Effexor XR.  I did not notice any changes in how I felt and was pleased.


In November 2009, I decided to also wean off the Effexor XR and weaned the dose down to 75mg and then took that every other day for a couple of weeks then stopped.  It was only a couple of days until I started experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Those included…irritability, moodiness, crying for any reason at all, inability to concentrate, muscle aches, joint pains, hot flashes, and just felt miserable all over.  I did some investigation on the internet and was somewhat surprised to learn that all these things were reported withdrawal symptoms for the Effexor XR.  I stayed off of it for 2 weeks, thinking these things would get better but they kept getting worse and so I gave in and went back on the Effexor at a dose of 150 mg daily.  I was amazed that the withdrawal symptoms went away after only two doses of the Effexor XR.

This got me to thinking how people on narcotics and illegal drugs must feel when they need a fix; it must be similar to what I was feeling.  I do not like being physically dependent on any medication that affects me emotionally, mentally, and physically.  It is scary that one medication can do this to a person.

With the advice of some wonderful family members, I talked to my doctor about getting off the Effexor XR and so started weaning the dosage down much slower than before.  I stayed on the 150mg daily for 2 months, and then decreased to 75mg daily for a month and lastly 37.5mg daily for another month.  I completed the month at 37.5 mg on Thursday, April 8^th but by Tuesday, April 13^th I was having all the withdrawal symptoms again.  It is so frustrating and a part of me wants to go back on it just to stop the withdrawal pain but so far I have refrained from doing that. I hope to see my doctor soon and get his ideas on how I can get through this.

All prayers are appreciated!

Till next time!
Linda <3

Depression VS Hypothyroidism

In 1991, I had a total abdominal hysterectomy, due to uterine cancer, which meant I went through menopause at the age of 33.  In the months following the surgery, I noticed some changes in me one of which was that I did not want to go to family activities.  Now you must understand that one of the things I love about my husband is his family.  Those of you, who know them, know they are very special and I fell in love with that so when I did not want to attend activities, I knew something was wrong with me.  I could go to work and be fine but if I saw someone I knew at the mall, I would do everything I could to not have to see them face to face.

When I told my doctor about these things, he felt I was suffering from depression related to the hormonal changes from the hysterectomy.  (I was not able to take estrogen for five years because of the cancer.)  I wasn’t sure what was going on and what he was saying made sense so I have been taking antidepressants since 1992.

Since my diagnosis of hypothyroidism, I have been doing some reading on the subject, especially the book “Living Well with Hypothyroidism” by Mary J. Shomon and have learned so much about how the thyroid hormones affect our bodies.  One of the things I have learned is that there is a belief that depression may be related to the hypothyroidism which means that I would not get better by taking antidepressants but rather need to get the thyroid hormone levels in the proper range for me.  This is good news because I hate taking so many medications.

Next time, my experience with weaning myself off the antidepressant Effexor XR…you won’t believe it!

Till next time,
Linda <3