The big bones thing always kills me ... I just want to shout, "Yeah, big bones my ass. The only reason your bones seem big is because they're so overloaded with 'meat' that you can't find the actual bones under your delusions of thinness and fitness, moron."
But "slow metabolism"? That's really something that you could have, in the form of under active thyroid. Hypothyroidism. So I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and she was just diagnosed after years of struggle and begging someone to listen to her, notice her, check her. Finally, they did, and low and behold, she'd been right all along! And I thought, hmmm ... what if I ask this doctor about it? What if I do a little reading up? When they had taken blood the day I started this medicine (before I started it, but same day), they said one of the things they were testing is thyroid. So I thought I'd make an appointment for a chat.
Yesterday when I got there, we went over the results of all my blood work ... perfect cholesterol, perfect this, perfect that ... There were two things that weren't quite right, and sadly, my thyroid wasn't one if them. We'll get to that, though. The two things that were off on my blood work were my protein levels (a hormone that reacts to protein thereby showing your doctor if you eat enough protein-rich foods), and my blood sugar level.
I remember that morning was the only one I'd had in months without a blood sugar crash if I didn't eat breakfast, and quick. But that day it didn't crash, and my blood sugar at that point was 109. Normal range is between 80 and 120, so that's good, except that it's a little high for someone who hasn't eaten in over twelve hours ... And the protein thing? I'm not surprised, and my doctor has recommended that I up my protein a little. Try to get some more on a daily basis. So I will.
But the thyroid thing ... After actually hunting down the symptoms and seeing how many I had ... I really expected her to look at it and go, "Oh my gosh I hadn't realized how bad this was!" But she didn't. She said it was perfect, but then I showed her this:
Symptoms of Hypothyroidism:
- fatigue
- weakness
- weight gain, or difficulty losing weight
- course, dry hair
- dry, rough, pale skin
- mild or moderate hair loss
- cold intolerance
- muscle cramps and aches
- constipation
- depression
- irritability
- memory loss
- abnormal menstrual cycles
- decreased libido
Notice how some of those are red and some are blue? I've got the all the red ones. And the doctor did just what I knew she would do. Since my thyroid check came back good and covered her butt, she explained away several of the symptoms and left the others forgotten, like this, "Well, most of those could come simply from depression ... and honestly, that could in part be from your weight troubles. So let's see what happens as your weight continues to drop, and if you still want to talk about this then, I'll send you to have a hormone test done and we'll get everything measured and tested." I wanted to say, "Yeah sure, depression could be from my weight troubles ... and my weight troubles could be from a thyroid disorder that you don't feel like really checking for, couldn't it?"
I told her that that's what I want done, more thorough tests, and I want them as soon as she's willing to do it (barring a long wait, because I'm ready now), and that I'm sure I definitely want it done because I am very odd about bloodwork. I don't trust it. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had negative pee tests, and negative blood tests for pregnancy. While I was indeed pregnant.
And on the stuff I read about Hypothyroidism, it says that it is common for thyroid problems to go undiagnosed because because a hormone problem with the thyroid doesn't always show up in the more simple blood tests. See where I'm going here? Since I have weird blood test history anyway, it might be worth a harder look. So I told her all of that, and she kind of sat back and said, "Hmmm." It's funny how the doctors listen to you a little more if you go in there showing them that they can't bullshit you because you don't know anything and are grasping at straws. When you carry in some proof of what you're saying, and some knowledge of what you're talking about, they don't know what to do because it requires them to actually hear you, to listen to you, and pretend for just a second that they really don't know quite everything.
Honestly? I think she's hoping that I will forget, because the harder tests that can actually really pinpoint thyroid disorders are more costly and maybe there will be some trouble making my state insurance pay for it. I don't know. But I do know that I am not giving up on this, even if I have to make an appointment with another doctor for the referral to an endcrinologist. I just can't take this anymore. I need someone who is willing to get to the bottom of this with me.
I didn't want a pill for weight loss when I went to the doctor ... I didn't go for them to give me a prescription for frigging speed because I'm just too lazy to put in the effort. That's not the case here. I have been putting in the effort, big time for over a year, and I just wanted someone to acknowledge that and try to help me find out why my efforts, as much as they are, aren't working. But the big thing is that I wanted to find out why. I want answers. And now that I'm just tired of this, and I'm tired of being patronised and blown off about this, I'm not stopping until I get some answers. As a matter of fact, I might call her today and ask her how long she's going to make me wait before she sends me in to have the hormone levels T3 and T4 checked. If I'm direct, maybe she'll hear me.
Then again, I might wait two more weeks when I'll be back in her office anyway, since I have to go frequently when I am on this medication because it is a health risk. I'll even set a reminder, because I don't want my lack of memory ability to be on her side.
It's like if it's not one thing, it's another ... *sigh*
