The Doctor Report

[annathepiper]

So, I saw my doctor this afternoon as planned. I described for her the following things:

• I'd already severely cut down on my caffeine intake, as of this last December;
  
• I've been exercising since mid-January;
  
• My weight has been fairly stable but slowly and steadily going down in a manner consistent with regular exercise;
  
• I've had periodic states of being 'hot' for no apparent reason, even in an air-conditioned lab;
  
• On the nights I've fallen asleep recently, I have awakened for no apparent reason;
  
• I've also had periodic incidents of feeling mentally sluggish, even after a full night's sleep;
  
• I've tried several OTC remedies (valerian, Melatonex) that have had little or no effect.

And she looked pretty darned certain that my thyroid may well be acting up. She had the in-house lab draw blood on me, and I should hear back in a couple of days what the results are on that. She also wants to see me back next week to follow up.

In the meantime, she has prescribed Trazodone for me in the immediate term. I am to start at 50mg a night (one tablet), and increase the dosage as needed until I hit a level that will tide me through the night, and then stay at that level. She specifically noted that Trazodone is non-addictive, too, which is nice to know.

Guess we'll see what happens tonight. Since I got in scattered fragments of sleep last night--courtesy of solarbird borrowing a 5mg tablet of Valium from risu and then another half a tablet at 2.5mg--I've come on into work and will work somewhat late tonight to try to at least get in some more hours this week.

More bulletins as events warrant.

Comments

[firni.livejournal.com]

... an anti-depressant to get you to sleep?

Tradazone or http://www.drugs.com/trazodone.html ?

[annathepiper]

My bad--yes, doublechecking my prescription, it's Trazodone.

[firni.livejournal.com]

I'm still scratching my head over an anti-depressant to make you sleep.

Then again, Zoloft knocked me on my ass AND I'm no doctor, so...

[annathepiper]

According to the info sheet I was given with the prescription, sleeplessness is one of the things it can be used to treat. Quote:

"It may also be used for relief of an anxiety disorder (e.g., sleeplessness, tension), chronic pain or to treat other conditions as determined by your doctor."

It also lists dizziness/drowsiness as one of the side effects, so yeah, we'll see if this stuff knocks me for a loop. If this sleeplessness I've got going on has any stress involved at all, I suppose that's one of the reasons to try it. I also had told her that I'd tried other things such as valerian and Melatonex that had had little to no effect, so I guess this is a bigger gun to pull out of the arsenal, as it were.

[caligogreywings.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm glad you're looking into it. I do know before I figured out what was wrong, I was having problems sleeping. The thyroid meds helped with that.

[firni.livejournal.com]

If the doctor is spastic about "possibly addictive", then I suppose a week of Ambien is out of the question. Or a week of benzos.

[annathepiper]

Were you hyperthyroid or hypo? I got my levels checked twice before my surgery, and once they came through as normal, and the other time, they were hyper.

So I'm wondering if what's left of my thyroid is now trying too hard to compensate for the other half being gone, or something. We did determine that there were nodules on the left side as well as the right, so it may well be that those nodules are starting to get annoying. Bleah.

[annathepiper]

*snicker* I'm sure I could knock myself out with a pint of vodka, too! ;)

[firni.livejournal.com]

So would a candlestick, but they'd both give you a headache when you woke up.

[caligogreywings.livejournal.com]

I'm Hypo, underactive. Sleeping too much, but then not being able to sleep at night, gaining way too much weight, groggy, losing memory...

At the least, my thyroid is un-goitered. :P

[starfallz.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm Good luck! I know I want to hear about thryroid stuffs.

I will call the doctor tomorrow if he doesn't call me by noon or something. They can't leave me hanging!!

best of luck

[mpulse.livejournal.com]

thoughts are with you,

also I'll tell the aliens to lay of the test for the next week or so.

[annathepiper]

Thanks, hon! It will probably be next week before I hear whether or not what's left of my thyroid has decided to try to overexert itself.

Hope you get good news back on yours, too!

[starfallz.livejournal.com]

Bah, I called the office and they said they just got the ultrasound results and he'll write me a letter about that today and said they don't get results from the biopsy for a few more days. *grumble*

Re: best of luck

[annathepiper]

You're too good to me. ;)

[annathepiper]

Mip! So a few more days of waiting for you, too. *snugs* Hang in there, hon!

[annathepiper]

Fortunately, I have not been compelled to try either!

[annathepiper]

Yay, no goiters!

But bah, about the hypothyroidism. What's your status on meds for that?

[caligogreywings.livejournal.com]

I'm on synthroid. Trying to remember to take it regularly... ~.~ I think I'm on 1/100th of a MG

[annathepiper]

I have trouble remembering to take my vitamins sometimes, but I have found that having one of those seven-day pill boxes helps me out. I just fill the thing up every so often, and then all I have to do is open one of the little compartments once a day.