I was diagnosed hypo about 7 years ago. For the first time since finally being diagnosed, my levels are finally within normal range, but I still had a lot of other issues going on. Throughout the years of synthroid adjustments, my last doctor kept attributing my mood swings, sleep disorder, and other issues to the hypo and was reluctant to do much "until we get your levels stable." I'd be given short term solutions (sleeping pills for a couple of months out of the year, mild dose of SSRI for brief periods the first two years) but nothing more.
Part of the reason for going back to check my levels before scheduled was because the brain fog I'd been experiencing was getting worse over the last few months. Tripping on my words, forgetting stuff, trouble focussing. "Did you send the papers to the refrigerator and by that I mean kettle and by that I mean printer." These were things I'd say 20 times in the course of a day. Friends and coworkers laugh, but I was getting frustrated because it felt like I was losing control of my brain. Bad, bad brain fog.
Thankfully I have a new doctor that I like and is very competent and listens to me. When he saw that my levels had been stable for 2 blood tests in a row, yet the symptoms I was still suffering from were worsening, he looked into my patient history and we had a frank discussion. It sounded like I had been battling with chronic depression for years, but because some of the symptoms are similar to hypo, it was overlooked or not treated properly. Knowing what dysthymia is now and going back over the last 15 years, it makes sense. It fits.
Now I'm taking citalopram. I'm still only a short while in, but I'm finding the brain fog even worse. If people are talking too quickly, I can't grasp what's being said. It's interfering in my personal and work life. I'm messing up all the time, and I am avoiding people at work as much as possible so I don't have to carry on a conversation. It's gotten to a point where if I was working on something and looked away for a moment, I'd totally forget what I was just doing. I could be walking down the hall to get something from the bedroom and by the time I got there I'd forget what I was going to get.
My penchant for lists is getting to be borderline obsessive, but it's because I have to write everything down so I remember what needs to be done. I'm trying to force myself to go out in the evening and on weekends and do things and be with people I care about and trust, so I don't crawl back into the same hermit-like state I had adopted this time last year. But the fog is making it hard. I don't know what more I can do? Do you have any tips, tricks, anything to fight through the fog?
I want to keep up with the citalopram because the brain fog is the least worrisome of my other symptoms that I'd like to get under control, but it's making it tough.
tl;dr Hypo brain fog + chronic depression + new antidepressants = zombie brain. Halp?
edit to add I'm already on B6, B12, magnesium, iron, fish oil, and vitamin D and ginko. Sleep deprivation is a big factor but even on Lunesta I'm only getting 3-4 hours a night.
Submitted November 06, 2014 at 07:26PM by fillecoquette http://ift.tt/1tgwtNg Hypothyroidism
No comments:
Post a Comment