Well, I don't know what's up with my body, but Dr W wants to do some tests. When I saw her today to follow up on the migraine headaches, and to tell her how things are working out with the relafen and Cymbalta, I told her that I'm freezing my ass off in the house (DH likes to keep it around 65 to 70 degrees in the summer). I used to be able to handle those temps just fine (and the cold in the winter never bothered me at all), but now I'm putting on a sweater during the day, and adding a blanket to my side of the bed at night. I'm constantly shivering and getting gossebumps from chills, so Dr W wants to check my thyroid and my cholesterol (she's going to do a fasting blood sugar too). That's scheduled for the first part of September (she's going to be gone for a couple of weeks) and then I have a physical, pap, and mammogram scheduled for the next week, along with a follow-up with Dr D (the neurologist).
I will say that the relafen and Cymbalta have helped a bunch with my sleeping. I can actually sleep at night and not have my back cramp up, even when I sleep on the beds in motels (and those beds are harder on my back than our bed at home). I can actually get out of bed in the morning and walk upright like a normal person instead of bent over like I'm some ancient crone. Of course, it's not helping much with the back cramps when I'm walking or standing (although my knees haven't been bothering me quite as much, it is easier to get up from chairs now than it has been).
I have to take my log of blood pressure numbers in when I go in for my physical because my blood pressure today was 170/100 (taken with a regular BP cuff on my left forearm instead of a larger cuff on my right upper arm, which could have made the difference, along with the white coat hypertension). When I got home and took it with my wrist cuff, it was 132/73, quite a huge difference. It's hardly ever that high at home (I think maybe 3 or 4 times in the last 4 months). I've been keeping track of the days I check my BP, the time, and what it was, so I'll print that out and take it in when I go in for my physical.
I haven't had a full-fledged migraine since I started taking the Topamax, so I'm hoping it's working. I did wake up the other morning with a sorta kinda maybe migraine behind my left eye (where they always start), so I took a fiorinal and it went away without getting any worse, which is something new for me. I hope the Topamax keeps working, I could get used to not having migraines.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
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Your symptoms of being extra chilly could suggest an underactive thyroid. I have the same issue, and have FINALLY been put on thyroid hormone replacement 2 weeks ago. My feet and hands are always ice cold no matter what the temp is--have been for a number of years now. In fact, I have records of my blood test results available online going back to 1999, that shows an elevated thyroid level....but until the "normal range" was recently dropped, I never got treatment for it...despite the fact I had most of the symptoms of underactive thyroid....for at least ten years.
ReplyDeletePlease ask your doctor to treat you for it if you have the symptoms and your test result comes close to the new TSH ranges (.5-3.0). Here is a link with a list of symptoms: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypothyroidism/DS00353/DSECTION=symptoms
I have had ALL of these symptoms for many years....but because my "numbers" didn't fall into the normal range, I was never treated for it. Now I am on the lowest dosage and not feeling a blink of difference. Blood work in 5 weeks to recheck and I will be requesting a dosage increase.
I am so glad you are managing your migraines and back pain better these days. Is it possible that your "new" symptoms could be symptoms you've had all along but didn't notice them as much because of the other issues? Or maybe the medication is messing with your thyroid?
Either way, I hope you get answers soon!
Regina - I asked Dr W if any of the meds could be causing my intolerance to cold and she said no. She also said that my thyroid had been high the last time it was tested, which is why she wanted to test it again (and I've noticed for the last year or so that my skin has been exceptionally dry, especially my arms and legs, which never were before). I've been tired for years (could always sleep for 10 or more hours every night, but was told that was the depression causing that), the muscle aches and tenderness - I thought that was fibromyalgia, along with the joint pain and swelling (and arthritis also causing the joint pain). I have the muscle weakness (I used to be able to open jars and stuff that no one else could open, now I'm lucky if I can open a bottle of soda), and the brittle fingernails (but no problems with brittle hair, thank Maude, that's still healthy, probably because it's so oily....lol).
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the medication is messing with my thyroid or not, and I don't know if there's any way to find that out short of stopping all the meds and adding them back in one at a time, and I don't want to go back to not being able to sleep at night because of my back cramping up or back to having migraines again. When I see Dr W for my physical, I'll ask her if she thinks any of the meds could be interfering with my thyroid.