what am i doing up at this ungodly hour?

let me backtrack. a week ago sunday, i was talking to my weekend doorman, Lou, about what happened to him the week before, when he was out sick. he told me that he was both diabetic and hypothyroid and had run into problems with both illnesses; his blood glucose was in the 300's and he had to increase his thyroid replacement to 250 mcg/day (he's in his late 20's; and i thought i had health issues.)

being hypothyroid myself, that got me to thinking.

...what symptoms of my thyroid refusing to work on 150 mcg/day of thyroid replacement did i have?

extreme fatigue? check. i felt like i was slogging through mud, even with a lot of sleep. i was too tired to work out, which i need to do to keep my knee from hurting.

increased need for sleep? check.

dry, flaky skin? check.

cold intolerance? ckeck.

constipation? check.

rapid weight gain without change in diet? check. this really p***ed me off.

irritability? check. i couldn't chalk up all of my irritability to my husband becoming acutely psychotic/manic on his new meds.

so, after speaking to my doctor, i increased my thyroid replacement.

225 mcg/day? too much.

175 mcg/day? too little.

200 mcg/day? this feels right.

i feel SO much better now.

i went for blood tests yesterday (there are labs open on Sundays in NYC, in Chinese and Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods.)

so back to the original question-why am i up at this ungodly hour? well, when my thyroid wasn't working, i had to drink at least 10 cups of coffee a day to get me up and functioning, and caffiene in the evening had no effect on me. now, i only drink two cups of coffee in the morning, and i'm set for the day. however, yesterday i was tired after going out, so i drank one cup of coffee and had two cans of diet coke after 5 pm (last can at 8 pm.) therefore, after 4 hours of sleep, i'm up and wide awake.

i have to stop doing this.

sandy