Problem Solved!

The "Team" Approach

A very early "Good Morning" to all. It is with great relief that I tell you we have identified why my health has been so poor for the past week. I owe a great deal of thanks to Millie at the clinic, my thyroid doctor, and my psychologist Phil for piecing things together into a picture that makes sense. Millie's analysis summed it up best. In her words:

I suspect that you had a convergence of 3 things:

1.       an upsurge of the levothyroxine (my thyroid med) after three days of tissue-loading higher dosage

2.       a drop in Ativan (my anti-anxiety med) after two days of quadrupled fiber doses in the evening

3.       a borderline sodium level after 3 days of camping/hiking in the heat.

I had a long session with my psychologist Phil yesterday. This was before I saw Millie's email. I described all the tests I had done, and how upset I was, and how everything started last week with a racing heartbeat Wednesday and Thursday night. He then focused on the emotional events that occurred during this time, and we effectively concluded I was having panic attacks in response to some family matters. There are other physical reactions associated with panic attacks and high stress, some similar to an imbalance in electrolytes. And I exhibited these.

As Millie points out, because I wanted to lose some more weight and significantly increased my fiber last Wednesday and Thursday, my Ativan, which I took 30 minutes earlier, did not upload properly. This made me wired/vulnerable towards anxiety. Which lead to the panic attacks. I got relief over the weekend because I did not have my Fiber One at night and I was able to get away from the stressful situation. But when I returned home, the anxiety spiked again, as Millie says, my sodium level was off, and everything just spiraled out from there.

From this point forward, I am to space my fiber intake 1 1/2 - 2 hours after I take my Ativan. My thyroid doctor also wants me to hold off on ingesting lots of fiber for 1 1/2 - 2 hours after taking my levothyroxine. Otherwise, I am free to continue with my fiber-emphasized diet, which really works so well for me. My hunger is curbed, I like the food, my carb cravings are satisfied. I just need to watch the timing of my fiber ingestion, given my medications.

When I feel weak from borderline low sodium, Millie says reach for a pickle -- or a banana pepper! So I guess it's back to the Claussen's pickle spears every now and again. I'm going to pick up a jar to take to work, and also have one at home.

So I've got relief this morning. It's been a rough week, physically and emotionally, but now that the problems have been identified and are being addressed, I look forward to feeling better soon. Now it's back up to bed for me. I need to squeeze in a few more hours of slumbering before I head into the office. TGIF everyone. Have a great weekend!