I'm batting 1000% for things failing on me in the last 2 months. First, there was my lungs, and then my suspicion of thyroid malfunction. We can now add elbow and furnace failure,--although there's my ever present Morton's Neuroma. I won't even go into all the failures I am managing in my job!
My lungs are OK, as it turns out. I was having an allergic/asthmatic episode. I had full lung function tests that confirmed my lungs are OK--no COPD, no asthma, no nothing. So running a good air cleaner in my bedroom plus using albuterol before workouts plus daily Nasonex seems to have fixed that. Yay! The initial chest tightness I experienced may have been a combination of the episode plus tight pecs. After I was off the prednisone, it came back, but my massage therapist confirmed it was muscular.
As to the thyroid, I was correct in that it was underperforming. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is an auto-immune disorder basically meaning my thyroid gland is under attack. Different people experience different rates of decline in function. While mine isn't horrifically bad (yet), it's enough that coupled with the intensive training I do that's it really noticeable to me. I'd noticed I'd put on a few pounds after increasing my training volume, and while I have indulged in more frequent treats, it's not been enough for me to be gaining more than a pound or so. And then even after paying careful attention to my calorie intake, the number wasn't budging.
I got tested in January and we upped my dose of Synthroid, but no weight came off, so my guess was that at my next test we would need to up the dose again. I was right! If this dose is effective, I should know in another week or so. Last time I was in this situation, 3 lbs. disappeared rather quickly without me even thinking about it. Good thing I pay attention to the nuances of my diet and weight, huh? My doctor said, "Maybe you are just getting old." I schooled her real good on that! We also had a chat about testing me more often, and she's on board--all I have to do is indicate, "I don't feel right." I've known I've been off, and it's subtle for me to know it. I hope the new dose works, but at least I will get tested again in 6 weeks. Doctor said it might be hard to keep my TSH where I want it, but at least I will know we are doing everything we can. I would really like to be able to do Ironman Louisville while I am properly regulated. I have never experienced that, but I give myself some credit as to what I have been able to do all these years despite a fucked up thyroid.
Last week, it had been 2 weeks since my right inner elbow was sometimes hurting. I thought it might be from changing my swim stroke, and that may be a factor, but I went to ortho, and she confirmed what I had surmised from Internet--medial epicondylitis. Layman's term "golfer's elbow." Isn't that funny? Like I will ever golf! Anyway, it's overuse and it's on my right arm, and I'm right-handed so it makes sense. I think it's from increasing weights (and maybe once or twice using incorrect form), changing swim stroke, sewing, shoveling, basically using my good old right arm A LOT. Doctor says it can take 3 months to heal. I'm doing my 4x daily stretches (it's overuse of the flexors, particularly when twisting my wrist) and icing after I swim or lift. I am also being left handed whenever I can. It does seem to be a bit better after only a week. Of course, I asked if swimming was OK, lifting pianos (just kidding), and what kinds of lifts to avoid. Really it's open palmed biceps curls, but I notice that I need to be extra careful to lock my wrists on any overhead moves, and it seems to work. Swimming seems to aggravate a little, but again, if I lock my right wrist, it feels just fine.
Of course, the Morton's Neuroma in my right foot gets aggravated from time to time when I push the envelope. My toes were being tingly and numb last few days from the weekend festivities, but they seem fine today.
Last night, my furnace failed. I had a repairman here and went to sleep, only to wake at 2:45AM and notice the house was rather cold. Failure again. I've just had a part replaced that may be covered by warranty, but I don't care--I need heat! Luckily, since my house was all sealed up nicely a few months ago, the temps didn't drop too precipitously, and I had a ceramic heater laying around from when I'd had burst pipes a year ago. The new part is in, and fingers crossed, we are done for now, although I will probably have a new furnace installed in the spring (long story here that I will not go into--it's related to my 2012 Catastrophic House Failure episode, which spanned 7 months and included central air failure, full electrical service failure and contractor failure).
So that's 5 things. Am I waiting for 6? I sure as fuck hope not.
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