When stress takes a toll
A couple days ago I visited the walk-in clinic to ask for blood tests to check my thyroid. I was doing it because the mother dear figured that my symptoms – insomnia, chronic fatigue, weight gain, difficulty dealing with cold, yadda yadda yadda – could be a result of a slow thyroid.
I don’t really like my actual doctor, ever since she rolled her eyes at me when I asked her last November to test me for gluten intolerance. I know when there’s something wrong with my body, and I wanted to get it checked out! There’s nothing wrong with that. As it happens, she finally very reluctantly did some blood work, and everything came back normal. Which is good, but I also found it frustrating, because it didn’t help me figure out what’s wrong with me and what I can do to fix it.
So instead of visiting my actual doctor this time, I went to the walk-in clinic, where I got to see the doctor that I really like. He’s awesome and when I said I wanted a thyroid test, he said “sure” immediately. After I explained why I wanted to get it done, he nodded and said he agreed entirely with me that I should get it checked out and that the mother dear was correct, it could very well be a slow thyroid.
At this point, he went through my medical files to the blood work I’d had done in November – and it turns out that the rolling-eyes doctor checked for thyroid, with normal results.
So it’s not a slow thyroid.
Hmmmm.
We discussed my symptoms a little further and Mr. Nice Doctor suggested we test me for diabetes and mono, just in case – it’s very unlikely that it would be either of those, but if we can rule them out, then we can basically pin it down to one thing, he says:
Stress.
I know what stress can do to the body, but at the same time I’m rather amazed. Can everything really boil down to something as simple as that? He even said that stress can affect health around the mouth (apparently my tonsils or something are a little big, hence why he’s testing for mono) – which could potentially explain some of my gum problems. Isn’t it neat how everything in the body is related?!
I asked Mr. Nice Doctor what I can do about stress, and his recommendation was to take a proper vacation (of at least a couple weeks rather than just a few days), and to reduce my workload.
“But I love my jobs!” I exclaimed.
Still, you can’t help but appreciate a doctor who tells you to take a holiday.
The blood test results will be in by Wednesday, so that will confirm if it’s mono or diabetes (something tells me it’s really not either of those), or if it’s plain stress. In which case… I guess it’s time for me to really look at my workload and reassess things.
Which is all rather amusing, since I’m doing a “How to manage a 60-hour workweek” mini-series here 😉
Has stress ever had a major impact on your body? What did you do about it? Do you take a regular vacation? Is your doctor friendly or an eye-roller? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
The mini-series will resume next week!
sorry you’ve been feeling under the weather and especially sorry you had an eye-rolling doctor. totally not called for! if they have a problem with your request then it should be voiced and discussed, not make you feel small.
i had the same set of symptoms for months last year and after tonnes of tests (thyroid, diabetes, mono etc) it turned out that i was quite simply low on iron. which was an obvious thing to look at but i guess it didn’t seem that way since i’m a voracious leafy green and red meat eater.
i hope you find your solution to your stress soon. i have totally had jobs i loved and still suffered from stress; just from doing the job too much and for too long. breaks helped, and eventually realising i couldn’t pack my days and nights with ‘productive stuff’ (including planned socialising and planned playtime and planned easy-reading). I am a person who needs genuine free time with nothing planned into it that i decide on the spur of the moment what to do with. Usually that time is used fairly uselessly (tv/internet surfing) and spent on my own and then I feel much more zen. But sometimes I’ll head out for a drink or a run or do my laundry and all is well. 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Iron is a huge one too – they checked me for that back in November as well and my levels were normal. I think the frustrating thing is that all kinds of things – chronic fatigue, low iron levels, gluten-intolerance, slow thyroid, etc. etc. – have the EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS. I mean, how are we ever supposed to get to the bottom of what’s wrong with our bodies if it looks like it could be a dozen different things?
As I was reading your symptoms in the first paragraph I correctly diagnosed you myself, ha. I should be a doctor!
Not.
It does sound like a thyroid related problem or maybe anemia although you said your blood tests were normal. Doesn’t sound like diabetes. Mono? You have felt this way for a while, yes? Make sure it is not something auto-immune.
If it is stress, I’d suggest therapy to help you cope with it, especially since your life stressors do not appear to be that great.
I hope it all turns out alright, Sagan.
Thanks Dr. J!
As for my stressors not being that great… well, I guess that depends on your definition 😉 It all seems to be work-related, but I really really love my work. I just have a little bit too much of it right now. But I don’t want to let any of it go because I enjoy it all. So that’s a bit of a problem, ha.
Good idea to go to therapy, though – I’m thinking I should really do that as I’m sure it would be very beneficial. Now I just have to hunt around to find the right therapist for me.
I’m glad it didn’t turn out to be anything too serious, Sagan. I notice in your recent post that your doctor agrees with me about therapy. When I say your stressors are not that serious, it doesn’t mean that your level of response is not serious. I suspect you are way too hard on yourself. Ask me why I know that 🙂
Stress can do such weird sh*t to us! I say that listen to what you feel though & if you are still feeling bad in a few eeks, keep checking – WHY? Well, my mom kept telling her doc something was wrong & he did tests & stuff but kept telling her nothing was wrong yes she kept getting weaker & weaker. We finally went to a walk-in doc that she used to go to all the time – what did he find – cancer that killed her & all those 6- 8 months of her other doc telling her nothing was wrong but she knew something was. I am not saying you have cancer BUT you know your body best.
Hope you work it all out!
Agreed – my good friend went to doctor after doctor until she finally went to the States to get a bunch of special tests run, and it turns out she has lyme disease.
It’s highly unlikely that I have anything like that, BUT you’re right – it’s important to continue to keep checking these things, get various tests and really listen to your body when it doesn’t feel 100%.