You may want to get a simple blood test.
A few months after my son was born I started feeling odd. I was lazy and lethargic and just had a really hard time doing anything. Honestly, it felt like I had weights tied to my ankles.
Everything was just hard.
Well my doctor immediately thought Post Partum Depression—and rightfully so—I was exhibiting most of the symptoms.
I was prescribed anti-depressants and began counseling right away.
…but something didn’t feel right.
The counseling was great! What first time mom wouldn’t enjoy a whole hour to talk about herself? Well, what human wouldn’t enjoy that?! The part that didn’t feel right were the drugs…
I just felt a little…uhh….high!
From what I know about taking stimulants…if you really NEED them, they only make you feel, “normal” if you do not need them, they make you feel abnormal. I definitely felt abnormal. After giving the anti-depressants a fair shot, and not getting the desired results—my doctor decided to perform a blood panel.
(Why I didn’t get this blood work before the medication is just beyond me)
After getting the results back, we learned that I have a severe Vitamin D Deficiency and Hypothyroidism
“HELLO!?! I’m sorry, what did you say?!”
(This picture accurately describes my face when the doctor told me my results)
Vitamin D Deficiency is exactly what it says—not enough Vitamin D. As it was explained to me it has a lot to do with bone and muscle health. Also, have you ever heard the term, “winter blues”? Well that is something real. When you go a long period of time without sun exposure, you can become Vitamin D Deficient—which can in turn cause symptoms of depression! Who knew?!
Hypothyroidism is a disorder of the thyroid glad—which is a butterfly-shaped glad in your neck that releases a hormone that controls the way your body uses energy. In my case, it doesn’t release enough hormone and so my body just slowed down. Think of the thyroid hormone as gas and the thyroid gland like a gas pedal. When the gland is called upon, it must release the hormone.
My body went on strike.
Check out these symptoms:
|
Vitamin D Deficiency |
Hypothyroidism |
| Muscle Pain | Feeling tired/weak/depressed |
| Weak bones/fractures | Dry skin/brittle nails |
| Low energy/fatigue | Can’t stand the cold |
| lowered immunity | Memory problems |
| Symptoms of depression | Trouble thinking clearly |
| Mood swings | Irregular menstrual periods |
| Sleep irregularities | Sudden weight loss/gain |
Don’t these symptoms sound just like depression? There are more, but these are the main ones that I was experiencing.
The point of this post is not to give a human anatomy lecture, but more to just make you aware that you should never give up on yourself. I KNEW it wasn’t post partum depression (PPD) so I kept going back and begging my doctor for a different course of action. She would tell me, “These medicines don’t work overnight…you have to give them time.” I waited over a year…and nothing was helping.
I wouldn’t say that depression is the right word to describe my feelings at the time…I just felt LAZY! BLAH! YUCK! (Refer to the hippo picture at the top of my page—that’s how I felt.)
I would like to suggest that before you are treated with medications for depression, you opt for a complete health physical that includes a blood test. It makes me wonder how many other women have gone through the same experience and either kept taking the wrong medication or quit taking it and never went to find out the real problem.
There are times when you know yourself better than a doctor.
Trust your gut. Pray on it.
All it took was a simple blood test to detect these abnormal levels…and now I will be taking 2 pills a day…both of which have minimal side effects. God is good!
Remember—I am not a doctor! I really simplified these two disorders down…but they are a little more complex. Here are a few resources online:
- Hypothyroidism @ WebMD
- Hypothyroidism @ Mayo Clinic
- Vitamin D Info @ Mayo Clinic
- Vitamin D Info @ Wellsphere
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Post linked to Things I Love Thursdays @ The Diaper Diaries
also to Just for the Joy of it @ Good True and Beautiful
Praise God they were able to find out what was going on. I have a friend of mine that was recently diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency. I’m going to send her to your blog post.
Good to know! I’ll share this with the mommas I teach at a local crisis pregnancy center. It would be easy to mix up post partum blues with this!
So glad that you got that figured out. It is hard to be a good mom and feel that way! I know…. from experience!
And I agree, you have to stick to your gut sometimes and not let the doctors push you into something you know in your heart just isn’t right…
Twitter: FrugalAlly
You’re right, because not only are you dealing with “depression” but you’re dealing with the guilt that comes along with it.
Mommy guilt is so heavy.
Through this experience I have gained such compassion for mothers with PPD!
This is really great info! And I agree whole heartedly… I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism right out of college. Apparently it’s incredibly common, especially among women. I gained weight, my back hurt, my head hurt, I was always tired, I had really heavy periods… BLAH! But, praise GOD, it’s so easy to treat.
One more thing… it’s REALLY important to have your Thyroid levels checked when you are trying to get pregnant or first find out you’re pregnant. Thyroid is responsible for early fetal brain development. So you don’t want to be low then!
And now, I also take a Vitamin D supplement… the benefits are huge and the side effects are minimal!
Sorry that I’m so “chatty” but had to jump on board to agree with you!
Twitter: FrugalAlly
I really appreciate your comment because we have been trying to conceive for a while now. My doctor said that regulating my thyroid will help regulate my cycle.
I’ve never been so happy to be sick before
I have to ditto the earlier comment too. My thyroid was part of the no babyhaving problem, too. Now I am having my 4th! can you believe it.
I started taking the Mannatech PLUS endocrine support and noticed a difference immediately.
And since last spring our whole family has been on Vitamin D drops. I just put a drop on their cereal every morning. They say march and April are the worst months, becasue your body has been using its stores all winter, and the sun hasn’t been out enough to replenish.
Vitamin Bungalo had the best pric eon Vitamin D drops
Twitter: FrugalAlly
Wow…that’s amazing!
I used to want 4 kids until I found out how taxing it was trying to conceive. Now that I know about these 2 issues, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I might be hitting you up for some more advice as time goes on!
Thanks again!
[...] I mentioned back in April that I had been diagnosed with Severe Vitamin D deficiency and Hypothyroidism—well I was. I was actually really happy to have that diagnosis because it answered so many of my questions about my fertility issues or maybe I should just say infertility issues. I’m not going to try and convince myself that my thyroid condition caused me to gain a whole bunch of weight—BUT—I will say that it has prevented me from losing the weight. [...]