Monday, November 10, 2008

Issues

I've been reading a friend's blog, and some of his friends' blogs, and I see one thing in common: we all have issues. We all have these one or two things going on in our lives that just seem to cause a chink in our respective armors. For me it's currently the chronic fatigue. I finally managed to get to two appointments today. The first was at 8:00 a.m. In order to get there, I decided not to actually go to bed last night. I sat up on my bed leaning back, propped up on my pillows. I had the TV on and intended to leave it on all night. That way I knew I wouldn't fall into a deep sleep for very long, if at all. At some point the TV started giving loud static, which "woke me up" and I turned it off. I still had lights on, and I'd set the alarm for 5:30 a.m. It all worked. When the alarm beeped I got up, got dressed, fed the furchildren, and drove the one hour to the VA Hospital. I couldn't eat since I was having a blood test and I was supposed to "fast" from midnight on.

One could say that whole effort was wasted, since the results of the blood and urine tests didn't explain the reason for my chronic fatigue. On the other hand, I guess things were ruled out, like thyroid problems. And my sugar level was above normal but not too high -- not diabetic. Thank God.

I did find out I have small bone spurs in my heels, and I got my flu shot. So it wasn't a total waste.

I think the fatigue is hormone-related. I've been thinking about it, and I'm pretty sure the fatigue started about the same time the doctor took me off of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). I'd been on HRT for 13 years and she figured that was enough! Also, I was discussing this with my friend who told me she had a very similar experience, and taking estrogen made a big difference. So now I have to get my butt out of bed on 12/11 and go to another appointment and beg a doctor (who I really don't like because she has a poor "bedside manner") to let me try estrogen "therapy." I have decided that, if she doesn't, I will either request a second opinion or go to a non-VA doctor, even if it comes out of my own pocket.

This fatigue has got to stop. The hardest thing I do every day is get out of bed. And I can only get things done around the house if I drink those high-sugar, high-caffeine energy drinks.

So there's my issue, and an update. And now I'm going to throw some clothes in the washer and take a nap!! Don't worry. I will be able to sleep tonight!

1 comment:

Rev. CMOT TMPV said...

I have a friend with CFS. I can put you in touch if you think it'll help. Email me directly.