I'm wondering if you had gone to a shrink, if he would not have diagnosed you with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I was still seeing my IC and I did talk with him about the fatigue. A friend wanted me to make sure I was not depressed. My IC did not see any reason to think I was. I was stressed and that definitely contributed.
PTSD probably is not the right diagnosis for me. Mine is just a build up of lots of small things. My first separation started a little over 3 years ago along with job stress. XH came home the day before Christmas to tell me that he had been having an affair. We worked on things for 2 months, then I lost my job and XH just did not want to work on things any more. So I moved out in March 2005 and have not have a stable home since. In June 2005 I took a job with a consulting company which means I am on the road almost every week from Sunday through Thursday. So lots of travel and hotel living along with my personal life too. I was not sleeping enough and I think my body just wore down. The other interesting thing is that the feeling of stress just disappeared for those 6+ weeks. It was like my body/mind was protecting me and wouldn't let me stress out over things. So I just did the best I could to sleep and eventually I just went back to my normal state of tiredness!!
That's just the life of a road warrior. I used to hate that phrase but spending 40 weeks on the road a year definitely takes a warrior mindset.
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? ~Albert Camus
That's not the way PTSD works. It is not a sudden onset.
And... PTSD... doesn't happen until well after the stressors are gone... and that is why it tends to be so confusing. Actually the lapse period can be anywhere from a 6 months to two years.... it can also be attributed to Sudden Recall. Meaning... severe trauma survivors who 'repress' as a means of coping... may not exhibit the signs of PTSD until even decades later.
I would look at her thyroid, sounds exactly like the health problems that my wife had. Her doctor told her she was 'normal' on the thyroid test but when we took her to and endocrinologist who treated the systems not the test results the change was dramatic. See some of my threads on thyroid plus read the literature about how to interprate the standard thyroid tests.
My wife was mad at me for making her go to the doctor, later she was mad that I hadn't pushed her to go sooner!!!
um, how do I phrase this, dont belive your doctor about 'normal' on the tyroid tests.
Get your results, specifically T3, and TSH and look at some of my old postings. GO see an enocrinologist that will listen to your symptoms, and not just read the numbers.
the Normal range for thyroid ins't a good indication of thyroid condition, trust me on this!!
And kml in Piecing is a medical doctor whose specialized practice deals with thyroid issues, following her own bout with them. She's offered lots of people help in understanding how to work with their doctors to recover from thyroid (and other) issues.
Thanks,
Joe
My sitch More importantly, Light A Million Candles
GO see an enocrinologist that will listen to your symptoms, and not just read the numbers.
the Normal range for thyroid ins't a good indication of thyroid condition, trust me on this!!
The funny thing is that there is some variation of the the thyroid medicine plus my W used to get a 3 month supply, I could tell by her mood if she was on the old stuff or a new batch (dont stock up!)it is that obvious of the effect it has on her...
Here's my two cents: - many mainstream doctors miss some cases of hypothyroidism because of doggedly clinging to blood tests and arbitrary "cutoff points" to the ranges - which change periodically! This over-reliance on tests and under-reliance on physical diagnosis, exam and history taking, shortchanges many patients.
- on adrenal fatigue - it's ridiculous how polarized this discussion becomes. Mainstream medicine behaves as if there's an on/off switch to the adrenal gland. Either it's in complete failure and you have Addison's, or you have over-production of cortisol and have Cushing's - and everyone in between is completely fine! This doesn't make any sense, of course, as there must be stages of mild adrenal failure that don't meet the criterion for Addison's, just as there are early stages of mild failure in other endocrine glands that are well-recognized.
So why don't we recognize mild adrenal dysfunction? Three reasons, really: - the lack of good blood tests. Cortisol levels swing up and down all day long, so it's true, a blood test can be pretty inaccurate. Even many cases of true Addison's or Cushing's can be hard to diagnose for this reason. Some alternative practitioners use saliva tests for cortisol, measuring them several times a day. The accuracy and usefulness of this test is debated by many, although it is used as a research tool in some big population studies.
- the lack of clear-cut symptoms. Since many of the symptoms of poor adrenal function are vague and can be caused by other diseases, it can be difficult to accurately diagnose adrenal dysfunction by symptoms. This is true even of Addison's disease - Addison's disease often suffer for years before being accurately diagnosed. A physician who is used to seeing patients with adrenal disorders may become accustomed to recognizing a certain pattern of symptoms, but may not be able to "back up" his diagnosis with an abnormal blood test result.
- fear of hydrocortisone. When hydrocortisone was first synthesized, it was a "wonder drug" that healed arthritis,etc. Then a few years later, terrible side effects developed because of the high doses that were used. That left a legacy of fear that keeps most physicians afraid of using small, physiologic doses of hydrocortisone. The Safe Uses of Cortisol is a book that addresses this controversial issue.
I see a lot of thyroid patients, and it is well-documented in the mainstream medical literature that one of the side-effects of hypothyroidism is poor adrenal function. Usually, this will resolve as the thyroid hormone is replaced, but sometimes you get stuck in a catch-22. The patient needs more thyroid hormone, but can't tolerate the increased metabolism because their adrenal function is poor. (It is well-documented in the literature that if you give thyroid hormone to an untreated Addison's patient you can precipitate a life-threatening Addisonian crisis.) In the situation of milder adrenal dysfunction in a hypothyroid patient, I often see very good results by giving some form of adrenal support. For some this might only mean vitamins that support adrenal function (like vitamin C and pantothenate). Some respond to an over-the-counter adrenal glandular supplement. Some actually need to take small doses of hydrocortisone.
As you can see, though, the dilemma lies in the difficulty of establishing an accurate diagnosis in any but the most severe cases of adrenal dysfunction. Hence the wide swings of opinion between mainstream medicine and alternative practitioners.
