Quote from: Hunter_ on August 18, 2010, 02:44:57 PM
I don't think I really even asked for it. My cycle was 20 days with 7 days bleeding and PMS. Something was obviously up.
Thank you for telling me this, as my cycle's pretty much the same way, which is the main reason why I've been on some form of hormonal birth control since I was 16. I don't believe anyone's ever suggested checking my hormone levels, when sticking you on the Pill will usually make you appear to have a normal "cycle" regardless, and keep you from getting pregnant too. I did check copies of old blood test results, and there's nothing on there except for thyroid (everything normal, though sTSH seems to be at the low end of the reference range). A little googling shows that this could be why I'm cold all the time, despite normal thyroid, too.
QuoteStill, if you've got fatigue issues, sometimes the internet is a good place to start. I've been dealing with fatigue for almost 6 years and sometimes it's just a matter of running through things and checking them off the list. I've done a sleep study and had my thyroid, adrenals, and vitamin and hormone levels tested. I'm now looking into the possibility of a food allergy. Doctors don't always consider all the possibilities and sometimes it's a combination of a lot of different things so you have to fight on all fronts, even if something doesn't look dramatically wrong enough to be causing fatigue on it's own. I remember when I went to the endocrinologist for the first time and she was very rude about not thinking there could be anything wrong with me. She sent the results with my thyroid diagnosis in the mail a few weeks later. Now I'm on thyroid pills, iron, and adderall (what stimulant do you take?) plus all this hormone stuff and a bunch of vitamins. I may get on DHEA again too. I'd say that's raised me from an average of about 60% normal operating capacity to 85%. Hang in there.
I've tried iron and vitamins (doesn't do much, aside from the bright yellow pee of the B vitamins!), haven't seen an endocrinologist (nothing appears to be wrong with me, so why would I get a referral), everything to do with my blood cells is normal, and on one of the tests I checked pretty much everything (well, not pregnancy or PSA!) off that had a little ticky box on it, so sex hormones and adrenal stuff don't seem to have boxes for them on the standard forms we get here, looks like you'd have to write them in - a little harder *after* the doctor's given you the form! I take Dexedrine (I'm not sure if we had Adderall in Canada when I first switched to it from Ritalin), but that's close enough to Adderall that once it goes generic (Dexedrine, despite having been around since the '50s or so, doesn't have a generic, so likely never will) I'll probably switch to save money. I know I also have food allergies, but they're mild, and I don't know exactly what I'm allergic to, for the most part, I think it's maybe just some chemicals, additives, and/or spices - I haven't been able to track things from the ingredient lists. Seems like DHEA isn't available in Canada, and natural progesterone cream can only be gotten at compounding pharmacies...you'd think with the number of women that go through menopause that the latter would be easier to get, but raw milk is basically a controlled substance here, too, so I don't know what the government's thinking.
Hearing about your experiences makes checking my hormone levels sound like the most logical next step, and less like googlechondria, or like if I ask my doctor (who's also the rest of the family's) it probably won't seem odd enough that if my mother goes to visit, something along the lines of "You know your daughter? I think you might actually have a son, there..." could accidentally slip out!
