UPDATE: Where I've been...
Hi Guys! It has been much much too long since I last posted, but it has been a rough, and I mean ROUGH, start to the New Year for me and I'm just now starting to come out from under it. Hopefully it has been a much better and kinder start to the year for you all...or rather not so much start anymore, but rather hope you've all had a better and kinder 2018 so far since it's already May now and summer is right around the corner. Speaking of which, I can't believe it's May already. This year just seems to be flying by at hyper speed.
Anywho, back to my rough start, I have been dealing with some health issues. It started last year, only I didn't know I was having any health issues at the time, but it just spiraled out of control and came to a head in January when I literally just couldn't function at all. I was so exhausted and fatigued and had no energy (no matter how much I slept) and I was so dizzy and lightheaded and kept wanting to pass out every time I moved, which btw sent my heart racing a mile a minute and made me so out of breath it felt like I had just completed a triathlon. It was crazy how my body was feeling and I just knew that something wasn't right.
That was when I finally went to urgent care because I wasn't living. At that point I was just basically subsisting in my bed. Turns out I was anemic. Like super super anemic. Anemia that was so bad I was basically bordering on needing a blood transfusion severe anemia, which is a big problem because it meant I had a shortage of red blood cells/I wasn't producing enough red blood cells. Why is that important? Because red blood cells are what carry and circulate the oxygen in your body. Basically my body was starving for oxygen which is why I was so short of breath and why my heart would race...because my heart was trying to compensate for the lack of oxygen by trying to pump my blood around my body faster in an effort to get as much oxygen distributed as possible.
On top of that I was also concurrently diagnosed with Hypothyroidism...Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism to be exact, an autoimmune disease, which is most likely what caused my anemia in the first place according to my endocrinologist. On top of that I was also dealing with period issues, which were also likely caused by my hypothyroidism and was exacerbating my anemia because I was losing so much blood through my period which just made me even more anemic. Sorry if that was TMI.
On top of that I was also concurrently diagnosed with Hypothyroidism...Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism to be exact, an autoimmune disease, which is most likely what caused my anemia in the first place according to my endocrinologist. On top of that I was also dealing with period issues, which were also likely caused by my hypothyroidism and was exacerbating my anemia because I was losing so much blood through my period which just made me even more anemic. Sorry if that was TMI.
Apparently this is something that has been building for years now and I just didn't realize it because the symptoms are just so seemingly normal and benign and I didn't think anything of it at the time. Looking back in retrospect, now that I know better, I can see that this has been building and that last year was just one huge warning sign to get help, but of course I didn't know any better at the time...I mean who stops to think of fatigue as a symptom of a disease? Especially in today's crazy and busy world where no one is getting enough sleep and we're all busy running around. Is there really anyone out there that is super rested and energized every single day?
Although, again, looking back in retrospect I was tired ALL the time and just had no energy whatsoever and it took everything I had to make it through my days. Life was just such a struggle and an uphill climb, but that had just been my normal for so long I just didn't know any better and if you've been following this blog for awhile then you know how often I talk about being lazy with skincare and my lazy skincare routine and whatnot. Turns out there was an actual medical reason for my "laziness".
Also, if you look back at my posts, or rather lack of posts in 2017, you can tell as well. I was pretty consistent and good about posting in 2016, despite the struggle, but 2017 was pretty rocky because that's when unbeknownst to me my health really started to go downhill. I was always apologizing for not posting more or consistently and making excuses and while yes I did have a lot going on at the time, a big part of that was the fact that I just didn't have the energy to do it...something as simple as just sitting down and typing and I just didn't have it in me to do it.
Also, if you look back at my posts, or rather lack of posts in 2017, you can tell as well. I was pretty consistent and good about posting in 2016, despite the struggle, but 2017 was pretty rocky because that's when unbeknownst to me my health really started to go downhill. I was always apologizing for not posting more or consistently and making excuses and while yes I did have a lot going on at the time, a big part of that was the fact that I just didn't have the energy to do it...something as simple as just sitting down and typing and I just didn't have it in me to do it.
Now fatigue and lack of energy aren't the only symptoms that I have of course, there are a ton of various other symptoms that I've been dealing with, but at any rate these two diagnoses knocked me off my feet and rendered me useless. Completely useless. I couldn't do anything so I pretty much just stayed in bed and only got up to use the bathroom, get my labs done and to go to my doctor's appointments because even that was super difficult and just took it out of me and boy were there a lot of doctor's appointments and getting my blood drawn...which sucked so much when I was still struggling with the anemia because I was short on blood and they kept taking it and they'd take like 6 vials every time I went.
Anywho, I've since been put on medication and my anemia is now back under control, but my endocrinologist is still working with me to figure out my correct dosage for my thyroid meds. We're getting there and making progress so hopefully this next round of labs will show that I'm at the level I need to be at, but even then he said it'll probably be a solid 3 months or so for my symptoms to start reversing and for me to start gaining more energy so I'm still not out of the woods yet, but I'm feeling much better than I did, thank goodness, and I feel like I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I still get tired easily and my energy levels aren't where they should be, but now that the anemia is under control I've been able to get back to somewhat living my life. Working, running errands, taking care of myself and not relying on my poor mom for every little thing, which btw thank goodness for my mom who took such good care of me this whole time. I honestly don't know how I would've made it through without her, but there have also been some random moments lately when I'm feeling good and I've got a bit more energy, like now, so I figured I would take advantage and hop on to let you guys know where I've been.
Whenever I have more energetic moments like now, which fingers crossed there are a lot more of, I will try to post, but I imagine it'll probably be another rocky year of posting in 2018 as well. Hopefully I can get my health and well being 100% under control and be back to posting consistently in 2019. That is the goal, but for now, for the rest of 2018 I'm going to focus on my health and getting better. That is priority #1 this year. Especially since I've had to make a huge lifestyle change now that I've been diagnosed with Hashimoto's.
For example, I am now gluten and dairy free...which has not been easy, but I've been doing pretty good so far. I was also going to try and be soy free as well, but I love tofu and there are no soy free tofu alternatives, at least that I'm aware of, like there are gluten and dairy alternatives so that's been harder, but I'm trying to stay soy-light at the very least.
I had no idea that the thyroid had such a huge effect on the entire body as a whole. All I knew about hypothyroidism before now was that it made it really easy to gain weight and super hard to lose it. I was oblivious to all the other things it affected beyond that...which I will get into in another post at some point.
So that's the update for now, and like I said before I hope everyone's 2018 got off to a much better start than mine...better and healthier start.
Until next time, I hope you guys are happy and of course healthy 😀.
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