Energetic

I have never been the most energetic person. Even as a child, I would get tired. Mum would say about me, "She's not athletically inclined." I did dance & play field hockey & soccer in school. I forced myself to be active and take aerobics classes thru the 90's, but I've never had much stamina. Energy has always been finite, and I've had to be picky about how I spend it.

I've always admired people who have a seemingly endless supply of energy and can do-do-do their way thru their day, because just the thought of that level of activity makes me want to take a nap. This is not to say that I don't get things done, because I do. But often it's at the expense of other things. I can only focus on one area of my life at a time. This week, for example, I finally did the dishes on Wed. Shocking, I know.

I used to think this was a quirk of personality; like how some people are all happy when they wake up and spring out of bed like Tigger. That is not me. I've learned not to be grumpy, but it's always been hard to wake up.

Where am I going with this? It harkens back to last year when I went to visit my friend Robbie in Florida. She is a dear friend and one of my Reiki Master Teachers from 20 years ago. She will be 84 next month. She was having a procedure done and had to go off her thyroid medication (which she was on due to a thyroidectomy). She didn't sound her usual chipper self, and I thought she could use a friend to be with her. I hadn't seen her in 2 years since she moved, but I was not prepared for what I saw when I got to her house. She looked horrible; she looked like she had aged 10 years. More than that, her personality had changed. She didn't want to do anything, she was despondent and generally droopy. Where was the Robbie who was never home because she was at Tai Chi class or at a lecture with friends?

"I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm going to jump out of my skin," she said. Me to the rescue. She wasn't scheduled to see her endocrinologist til the end of the week, but I got her in the next morning. You know those kind of doctors who don't take time with their patients and don't listen and just scribble off a script? This was not him. He was so kind and caring and compassionate. He put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Robbie. What you are feeling is normal. This shows you all the things that a thyroid does." As he was going thru the symptoms, I was thinking to myself, "Check. Check. Check." If I were 84, & had no thyroid, I might feel this bad. Here I was thinking that I was there for Robbie, and this was my own wake up call.

So I started on Armour Thyroid. And slowly I started to feel more energetic. Everything was much easier. I got more organized. I went thru stacks of papers that were piled up in my office for 2 years. I found that I didn't get stressed out as easily. I didn't take 20 minutes to get out of bed in the morning, and I didn't feel so achey. I didn't have to drink tea thru the day to stay energized. And more than that, I could focus. I didn't feel like I was in a brain fog.

And then. There was an Armour shortage and I couldn't get it anymore. I had to switch to a different medication. I don't know if it's not the right dosage, but gradually I've felt myself decline over the past 5 weeks. I've gained weight. Just walking to the post box wiped me out. Going up the stairs was an effort. I've had well-meaning friends suggest that if I just exercised, I would feel better. Normally, that's the way exercise is supposed to work. The more you exercise, the more mitochondria you create in your cells, and the more energy you have. I know that. But I've had to Tony Robbins myself thru the day willing myself to move. Yesterday, as I was sucking in air as I was walking back to the house, I got an image of a wilted butterfly trying to move. And I realized, thyroid (because it's butterfly shaped). That's why I'm feeling so crappy--but it was such a slow descent. And I thought it was the stress I was feeling about other things. And then Costco popped into my head. So I called and they have Armour again. I made it to the phamacy with 20 minutes to spare. I took one in the parking lot, even tho it was evening, I didn't care. It takes me an hour & a half to get home from Harrisonburg, but I noticed that as I was walking up the steps to the house, I bounced up. My legs didn't feel all heavy. Not only that, but I felt lighter, and emotionally better. I wonder how many people are on anti-depressants when they need to get their thyroids checked. Ditto for chronic fatigue. How about ADD & inability to concentrate? I will do my best to keep my thyroid HAPPY.

Suddenly, the world is a different place. Time for some spring cleaning. :-)

P.S. I found out about Mary Shomon from Dr. Mercola. She's a wealth of information about thyroid disorders.