A lack of energy and continual tiredness was attributed to my new work schedule – 5am to 2pm weekdays – even though I was getting plenty of sleep, I never felt 100%. I could take a 4 hour nap after work, wake up to eat supper and then go back to bed and I was still always tired. Then, the coldness kicked in. I was always cold at work, home and everywhere else. It became the norm for me to keep my scarf, hat and coat on at work… and this was soon joined by a blanket on my lap. My skin always felt warm to the touch to others and I never had a fever. I took my temperature multiple times a day because I was convinced I had some type of infection. Why else would I be so cold so much of the time?

Conversations with family and my Twitter friends led me to wonder if something bigger was going on. Luckily, I already had my yearly physical scheduled for the following week, so I just toughed it out until that appointment.

My doctor confirmed what friends hypothesized – I probably have a thyroid problem. Numerous blood tests later, I found out that not only did I have hypothyroidism (with a TSH count of 10.2, normal is 0.4-5.0), I was also very anemic.

No WONDER I felt like death. Seriously, if I had to guess what death felt like, it would have been how I’ve felt for the last month or so.

Looking back, the symptoms started this summer… but I attributed them all to my work schedule and a changing routine. My symptoms didn’t come on suddenly – I was just ignoring them.

I can tell you this – if I had the sick/vacation time left this year, I would have taken a couple of weeks off work to rest up. I probably would have qualified for short-term disability, but that only kicks in after 7 days… and I couldn’t afford to take 7 days off unpaid before the short-term disability kicked in. So, I struggle through the work day (still working 5a-2p) and quickly crash the minute I get home.

I have been taking my new meds for almost a week and have only noticed slight improvements. My coldness isn’t constant anymore. It is worst in the morning and evening. I still am bundled up most of the day, but I’m not shivering like I was a week or two ago.

I am still exhausted and have very low energy levels, but I’ve been told it can take a couple of weeks to a month until you really start feeling better. This is probably one of the worst times of the year to feel like this, but it has caused me to slow down and not get caught up in the commercialism of the season.

My sister and I decorated our apartment for less than $30. And let me tell you, there are decorations all over the place. We were just thrifty and used what we had on hand… along with our craftiness to decorate the place for Christmas.  I will have to take photos and write up a blog post about that this week.