This is my setup for the next half hour or so: camped out in the cafe of the Wellness Center between appointments. Just got done with my annual eye exam, and I meet with my primary care physician in about 45 minutes.
Also, my eyes are dilated, so I can’t hardly see to type.
Appointment number one of the day went super smooth. My eyes are healthy, and my prescription only changed a little. I brought my old Kate Spade frames for my new lenses, and those should be done in about two weeks. Apparently, Aaron’s insurance is the bomb-diggity, because my out-of-pocket for progressive lenses was less than half of retail.
After this intermission for breakfast and blogging, I go back upstairs to see my GP and discuss why I’m so tired all the time (which has gotten marginally better over the past week) and why I have trouble swallowing (which has gotten worse). My chiropractor suspects my thyroid, and some cursory internet research supports that. I had assumed that my fatigue was related to my increased dosage of Prozac, but that was only because the timing seemed to coincide so perfectly. Now that I look at hypothyroidism, though, it would also explain my increased forgetfulness (“Why did I go into this room?”), my difficulty swallowing, maybe some of my dry skin, some changes with my cycle, and a few other things.
I’m hesitant to self-diagnose, though. One, because few if any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism are unique to that condition. Two, because my family always seemed to use hypothyroidism as an excuse (“Your aunt has an underactive thyroid, so I’ll bet you do, too, and it’s just not showing up in blood tests”). Three, because I don’t want to come off as a hypochondriac — or turn into one.
It reminds me of the home medical books my aunt used to have, back in the days before Google and WebMD. The first chunk of the book contained flowcharts asking about your symptoms, and basically ended up with either “You have the common cold” or “You may be having a heart attack — go to your nearest ER immediately!”
I won’t be surprised if I end up getting some bloodwork done today. We’ll see, though.
By the way? I still can’t hardly see. This is why I opted to stack my appointments and not go back to work after having my eyes dilated.
Update, two hours later:
My PCP thinks that tapering off of my old antidepressant is to blame for my fatigue, so we decided that now would be a good time to start a stimulant for the ADHD symptoms. He’s also concerned about my thyroid, though, and ordered blood work for my thyroid levels. He also alerted my endocrinologist to schedule me for a thyroid ultrasound ASAP, moved up from my current November appointment.
As my doc says, we make a good team.