Tiffany, I know you’re getting a lot of negative responses, and you might be sorry that you even came to this BB with your concerns. I just wanted to lend a quieter voice of encouragement. Regardless of what the nature of the disorder is, I want to let you know that the vast majority of those of us reading this wish you well and that your conditions will evaporate. I got a lot of the same bullshit you’re getting here, but there was a cause – a “magic illness” I could blame. It was mercury poisoning. I got a lot of the same bullshit I sought out ways to help my mother. She too, has a “magic illness”, and it revolved around her diet. I disagree with anyone who claims that anything is “all in your head” or is “just depression” (implicit in that statement is that it’s not physical). Nothing exists in a pure mental form, and nothing is ever purely physical. The bifurcation of mind and body has been a problem through much of the history of philosophy with spill-over into applications as far ranging as ethics and medicine. Healing the body will help heal the mind. Healing the mind will help heal the body. Unless you can take appropriate measures for both, then full recovery cannot happen, in my opinion. I wish you all the best, and hope that the words of faceless individuals who simply seek to exact some personal insecurity, alleviate some guilt, vent some frustration, or whatever else on your plea for help do not discourage you from seeking your cure.
-Eric
Re: from hetyey225
Wow, that’s just about the most antiquated point of view concerning mental illness that I’ve read in some time. First of all, even if you did have mental illness–which I don’t necessarily suspect you have–recommending that you just “snap out of it” is preposterous and absurd. It’s funny, if you were diagnosed with liver failure or heart failure–conditions whose symptoms manifest themselves in unique, discernable ways–you’d get nothing but sympathy and support; however, you describe symptoms that may or may not have a psychological cause, and you get told to just stop being lazy and negative. Let’s see, the brain is an organ; what do you think happens when your brain starts to malfunction? Does your head hurt? Does your brain start to ache? No, it manifest itself as–surprise, surprise–mental and emotional abnormalities like depression, fatigue, anxiety, panic disorder, etc. What’s funny is that this isn’t even counterintuitive: it’s exactly what you’d expect to happen when the organ that controls these aspects of your presonality malfunctions. Sure, there are those of us out there who really are just lazy, who really do just want attention, who really can’t handle stress and the pressure of life. But to assume that’s the case because a person reports symptoms of fatigue and mental and physical exhaustion is just being myopic and, frankly, ill-informed.
The American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists revised the Thyroid TSH guidelines last year. They were lowered to
0.5 - 3.0. Also, many may not feel normal to they are in the mid to low end of the range.
Also, get a referral from your doctor for an expert in Lyme disease at a major medical teaching hospital. Take or send them all of your medical records for a consultation. Because they are affiliated with a teaching hospital they can readily consult with other doctors that specialize in other areas that maybe involved with your condition. Such as an endocrinologist for your thyroid.
You should also do your own research. Some good websites to try would be:
medlineplus.gov and thyroid.about.com. You can also use the websites of the major medical schools/teaching hospitals for research. Last weeks (I think) issue of U.S.News had a cover article on taking charge of your health that had some other websites listed. If you have not seen any specialists it is probably time to do so. If they are not near, see if you can get a phone or email consultation with them. If they will not do it with you get them to do it with your doctor. Nothing against your doc, but specialist affiliated with a major teaching hospital will be able to tap a wide range of expertise to help your condition.
Above all hang in there we are all pulling for you.