Next Health Hurdle

So when I left off, Covid had hit. I was regular and had already received a referral to a clinic. But as most of you know, Covid cancelled a lot of things in 2020. And not just that, I re-thought it all. Did I want to bring a child into a world where millions were dying, governments were corrupt, and people were getting killed just because of the colour of their skin? Basically, the world was just s**t. I mean I knew this already; climate change, corruption, discrimination because of race, religion, and/or social class, terrorism. It just seemed more, I don’t know, in your face in 2020.

Well as I said in my previous post, we were very lucky here. Not all that many deaths and lockdown was pretty mild. We were working from home, but I was happy being at home. I got more work done. My anxiety levels were somehow lower. I enjoyed being at home.

Anyway, I’m good at getting a little off track in my writing. I will try to get better. So Covid calmed down here a little. It’s back up again in Sydney as a write this, but here it is better. We are back to work 4 days in the office, 1 day at home, and it’s been good. However, during lockdown last year, I started getting sick again. Not sick, sick, but very tired. I was struggling to stay awake at my desk at times. Was sleeping a lot when I did eventually fall asleep. 

Funny story to think back on now: I even had one time that I was running an online session, doing the same training I had been doing almost every day last year, and I felt like I jolted awake at one stage. But I was still talking. I checked after the end of the session with my colleagues to see if I had made a slip up in, but I hadn’t. I was saying the same thing I had always said. Like a broken record. But I think I had a microsleep. 

This was becoming dangerous. Lucky I was just sitting at my desk and not driving.

So I went back to my doctor and she found I was low very low in iron. My ferritin, which optimal range should have been between 15 – 200, was sitting at 9. Bloods the year before was up in the 180s or something. This doctor just blamed this on being a woman and having my period. This didn’t seem right to me. (and sorry, I couldn’t resist the ‘iron’ pun with this image, does this mean that I am covered for the bad dad jokes when I am finally a single mum?)

We also did a check on my thyroid and reports had my TSH at 5.5, when they should be no higher than 3.5. This doctor just said this was normal to go up and down, based on the test she had done and previous results on my record. I started to question things more now. That and I wasn’t losing weight, despite working my butt off at the gym and eating pretty well.

My next step was to try a naturopath. This was more for me to get an idea of the best iron supplements and diet to boost my iron. The naturopath was also concerned with the blood test. Saying that with my iron being so low, I should have been getting an infusion. And with my thyroid, that something like that should be addressed. Do you think the doctor wanted to hear this when I went back to her? No! Dismissed again!

Time for a second opinion. Put feelers out on some Facebook groups for a female Dr in the area who actually listened. And boy was I pleased. While my current GP costs more and is hard to get in to see, I am so glad I moved. She is amazing. And she was able to hunt down even older blood tests, going back 10 years, to show that my thyroid has been out of wack for years.

So we got scans and came up with subacute thyroiditis. So I may have had this for 10 years. Not at all impressed with some of my previous doctors. While I’m over it now, just writing this is making me cranky. So many years of issues. And this has also contributed to the low iron as well. So due to this, I was sitting in a hypothyroid state, we started some meds, which go figure, threw me into a hyper state until we adjusted. Now I am on my way back from hypo, and getting back to normal. Iron infusion not needed, but supplements and some herbal anti-inflammatories seem to be helping a lot. Still haven’t kicked the weight, but it looks like it may have shifted a little when I look at pictures even from back in January this year (2021).

Anyway, at the moment this is starting to look just like a health rant, but I promise it’s not. I will get to the stage about the sperm donor very soon. I just like to put it out there again, that if you don’t feel like something is right with your health, get it looked at. Get a second opinion. Don’t just let the doctors dictate everything. While they do have the medical degree, they do not know what and how you are feeling. It matters. YOU matter!