I’ve struggled with fatigue for many years. I don’t mean that I get tired easily, I mean that I have discreet episodes of sudden-onset severe tiredness where it’s hard to think of anything except lying down. Often I get the sensation that the room is spinning, though it isn’t like vertigo. I think it started during medical school and residency, though we were all so sleep-deprived and overworked that I didn’t notice it.
For most of my practice years, it was a struggle but I could overcome it. If I applied enough will, I could power through it for an hour or two until the worst of it passed. It also helped that I was able to structure my work schedule so that I often got a midday lie-down.
I often felt that it might be a thyroid problem, but my thyroid labs were never that far off normal. But since my cancer diagnosis and subsequent thyroidectomy the fatigue seems to have gotten a lot worse. Not great when I’m trying to bring some modern conveniences to a 110-year-old house.
Today was the worst. I got up, did some dishes, took a modest hike with HA and Luna the Big Dog™ (it felt like hiking though molasses), and have done almost nothing since. I keep trying, thinking if I just push through it for a while then I’ll get better. I rested. I drank extra coffee. I divided my tasks into small portions so I could tackle just a little and then lie down. Still, the day has been mostly a waste, even though I really wanted to get the front on the solar equipment cabinet.
My most recent labs show that my thyroid hormone levels are still too low. We have adjusted the dose again, though it will take another six to eight weeks before we can re-test.
—2p