why i sleep like it's my job

“The next major advance in the health of the American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself.” -John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

So I have this fun condition called hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed with it over this past summer (in the midst of my freakish reaction to antibiotics). The symptoms for this are quite lovely, and include things like excessive fatigue (check!), increased sensitivity to cold (check!), pale skin (obviously check!), IBS (big honkin’ check!), depression, hair loss, and brittle nails. Four out of seven… great.

My medical doctor did a blood test twice because she didn’t believe the result the first time. That’s how bad it was! She’s not usually the type to second guess things. For example, her thoughts on my IBS, “Eat healthy and maybe it will go away.”

But I digress. Just in case you’re wondering, hypothyroidism is a condition that you develop when your thyroid does not produce enough of certain hormones in your body. If untreated, it often leads to heart disease and mental health problems. I would very much like to avoid those like the plague. But have no fear… my doctor had a pill to fix it. So I added yet another pill to my regimen. As if my medicine cabinet doesn’t look enough like a small pharmacy. But after a few weeks, the pill brought my hormone levels back to normal… so I didn’t complain too much.

But none of my symptoms went away. I was still constantly tired (even if I slept for over 10 hours). And if the pill wasn’t really working completely AND probably doesn’t have stellar long-term effects for my liver (no pills do), then why was I taking it? This was my thought process. My medical doctor said it was the only option to treat hypothyroidism and if I didn’t keep taking the pill, it is likely that I would develop depression. My naturopathic physician extraordinaire to the rescue! Here are her suggestions for me:

Selenium

All I knew about Selenium prior to this was that it is on the Periodic Table of Elements. It turns out that it’s also super helpful in bodily functions. It’s a nutrient that everyone should intake daily… and is surprisingly in a lot of foods. One of selenium’s jobs is to regulate the production of hormones in the thyroid. Who knew?

The Selenium that I take is a liquid. It tastes like water (i.e. no taste). The bummer is that I have to take it twice a day. This isn’t a huge deal, but just makes it more likely that I will forget the mid-day dosage. I’m used to waking up and immediately popping pills. It’s basically as easy to remember as breathing. But now, I have to recall in the middle of my often busy day to sip on my Selenium.

I considered bringing it to work with me and taking my ¾ teaspoon at about 3pm. But the bottle looks strikingly similar to cough syrup. It might not be too kosher to take a sip from that every day. My co-workers already think I have bladder problems (because of my rapid intake of water) and am obsessed with yogurt (which I eat twice a day). So I will just have to remember to take it when I get home after work.

Thyroid Support

I feel that the name of this supplement should be self-explanatory. But for those of you that aren’t the sharpest needles in the haystack, it supports my thyroid. It’s a black pill that smells wretched, but luckily has no taste. It is supposed to help me produce more T3 hormones and regulates their release into my body. That’s pretty much it.

Osteoprime

I have also been taking a supplement called Osteoprime. Though it may sound like it could be a villain in one of the Transformers movies, it’s actually a calcium supplement. There is a history of osteoporosis and bone loss in my family… so I’m trying to prevent that. Everyone knows I don’t need to get any shorter. Hence I’m trying to dense those suckers up.

It’s difficult to really see the effects of this one without my x-ray vision glasses. But I hope it works… it can’t hurt. That’s the fabulous thing about natural supplements. Unlike pills, they very rarely have negative side-effects or long term negative effects. I’m not against pills, but if you take oodles of them (like me), it’s probably not going to do great things for your liver.

I honestly can’t tell if the new supplements are working yet. I am slightly more tired today, but that may be related to other things. Related side note: I don’t want to brag or anything, but I went to see Dave Barnes in concert last night. I wasn’t out terribly late, but was just so jazzed and pumped and enthused that I couldn’t fall asleep last night. It was that overwhelmingly magnificent. If this whole temporary job thing doesn’t turn into something permanent, I’m thinking I’ll become his groupie. Unrelated side note: does the term ‘groupie’ still apply if you follow a singular person/musician and not a band? Seems like it shouldn’t.

But anyway, I do not know what the sleepiness is related to and will have to wait a few days to report on that. Or maybe, I already know and just want to keep you coming back for more. I’ll never tell. Don’t judge me for using Gossip Girl’s tagline. It was accidental, I swear.

a new kind of healing

"A wise man ought to realize that health is his most valuable possession." -Hippocrates

In order to lead a life beyond mere contentment, I first need to address some physical health issues. It’s hard to be exceptionally excited about life when you feel crappy. I usually keep these things to myself… no need to bum other people out with my ailments. If I complained about them, I’d be complaining… pretty much always. But in order to fully understand the mammoth I’m attempting to tackle, you will need to know the scope of the situation (not to be confused with The Situation) that I’ve got on my hands. Over the past 5 years, I have been lucky enough to acquire several minor health problems: hypothyroidism, IBS, and severe reactions to antibiotics. These enjoyable (note the sarcasm) things have been added to the other minor health issues that I have had all my life: asthma, allergies (intensely to dogs, cats, and the outdoors as a whole) and eczema.

A few of these problems individually or together, might not be so bad. But together… they kick my butt on a daily basis. Some of them have typical medical solutions (for example: asthma – inhaler). But most of them have led my doctor to say something along the lines of: “I’m sorry you are experiencing chronic pain. We don’t really know why that is happening. Take these pills and hopefully the pain will stop.” I’m not gonna lie, the pain usually does stop with said pills… for a while. But I’m tired of the pills. If I’m on this many pills as a young adult, imagine my life as an elderly person. I want to avoid those super handy pill sorters with the days of the week written on them if I can.

So in a world where we expect doctors to fix everything with magic pills, with names 17 letters long, are there any other options? It turns out there are.

Experi-month #1: Practice Naturopathic Health

Is it a coincidence that my body has new illnesses and problems that develop every few years? Lately, I’m beginning to think it’s not. Maybe it’s my body’s way of screaming at the top of it’s lungs to freakin’ do something different. So here I go.

Naturopathic (or Holistic) Health is essentially taking into account the whole person when practicing medicine (including psychologically, physically, socially, mentally, etc.). In other words, don’t just look at the physical body but look at the person as a whole unit (whole = holistic… get it?). As a psyc major, I find this particularly intriguing. My current general practitioner (GP) has never asked about anything going on in my life or mind. It has never been taken into account. But I think the mind is extremely powerful. Even if this whole experi-month turns out to be a giant placebo, I’d be fine with that.

There is also another big aspect to holistic health that is often overlooked. It’s the idea that patients (i.e. me) have to take responsibility for maintaining their well-being. So this is saying that I’m making choices (for example, diet) that are making my body scream obscenities. I have no one to blame but myself. This will be a struggle for me. As a human, I like to blame my issues on things outside of myself. So this should be fun… and by that I mean insanely difficult.

The part I like best about this holistic thing is that the doctors try to find the underlying cause of the condition… not just treat the symptoms and move on. So while it is great to avoid the pain, isn’t there an evolutionary reason that pain exists? Like maybe to tell your body to stop doing something. Fire hurts when we touch it because if we didn’t move our hands from flames, our skin would burn off. Pain is a signal to change something. Move your flippin’ hand from the fire. In this instance, I don’t know what to change. I’ve tried dozens of things… but none seem to work. I eat fairly healthily, drink tons of water, run at least 4 times a week, load up on fiber, etc. Theses changes haven’t hurt, I’m sure. But they haven’t removed the conditions.

Because I have lost my faith in modern medical treatment methods, I am diving head-first into the world of Naturopathic Medicine for one month. I want to make it clear that I do not think all modern medicine is bad or evil. It just hasn’t worked for me. My body rejects what is has to offer 90% of the time. Like most western-thinkers, I am somewhat skeptical of alternative medicine. It makes me think of acupuncture, aromatherapy and people chanting and meditating… all things that I find hard to take seriously But I’m putting my reservations aside and hoping (praying) that it helps my physical self surpass contentment.