Hypothyroidism

My Specialist just called. My viral load is still negative (YAY!!!) however my thyroid is under-active which is explaining the major fatigue, body aches, and probably quite a few other symptoms. He said the last time they tested my thyroid levels (Oct) they were "normal" however I recall seeing my naturopath in Nov and after reviewing my results she told me that they were not good but still in an acceptable range to a doctor of western medicine and therefore they wouldn't do anything about it. Looks like she was right! At this point he is not having me take action just yet. He said since it is a side effect of treatment my levels may very well return to normal. So, Feb 27th I will be going back for blood work and we will take it from there. I actually feel at ease knowing this. I found it maddening to feel more tired and in more pain AFTER treatment had ended than while I was on treatment. Thank god there is a reason for all of this. I really started to feel like I was going insane.

Side Effects

For anybody interested in better understanding the general side effects of the type of interferon I was taking, here is a link to the Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR602541/DSECTION=side%2Deffects

Doctor Visit and Disability

Monday at 3pm I went for my second to last visit with my GI specialist. To date, all blood work has come back exactly as they need it to and on July 23rd I will see him for hopefully the last time, at least for 19 years when he says I should come back for a colonoscopy... thanks doc! ;)

If my viral load is still undetectable 6 months after treatment I will be considered CURED!!

Monday I felt extremely tired, disoriented and extremely sore. Yesterday I seemed fine and today I'm very achy and tired again. The doctor did inform me that the fatigue takes 1-3 months on average to completely go away. He thinks it would be good for me to take another month off work see how my body decided to bounce back and take it from there.

I talked to Long Term Disability today. My case manager said he will request the notes from Monday's visit and likely just follow up with me sometime in mid-Feb to see how I'm doing. As much as I'd like to think I would just bounce right back and be ready to return to work I'm glad that my doctor and disability case manager alike are not trying to rush this process. It's going to take as long as it's going to take which is something I'm still coming to terms with.

This seems a little odd...

Here it is, a little over 48 hours since my last pills and over a week since my last shot and for some reason I feel absolutely horrible! I am dizzy, my body aches, and my stomach hurts. WTF?! Could it be that I know subconsciously this is how I "should" feel right now? Every Sunday/Monday for the last eleven months it has been guaranteed that I will not feel well but I honestly thought I wouldn't feel that way right now. Makes me wonder what I actually did expect and to be honest I have no idea. At least I know it will start getting better one of these days, hopefully my specialist can give me some idea of what that timeline might look like. Alright I suppose it is time to attempt sleep yet again. I've taken ibuprofen which hasn't helped my body aches at all but I'm going to attempt to believe it will kick in any moment and hopefully doze off into peaceful sleep.