Tests!
So, because I'm lucky, I've been having a few blood tests done alongside taking medication and going through therapy so the doctors can be sure that what I'm dealing with is indeed a mood disorder and not something that looks like a mood disorder but isn't.
Originally, my doctor got me to have a regular blood test, nothing fancy, just to check if there were any deficiencies I had that could have caused or played a part in my depression (I'm sure I've said this already, so I'll condense as much as I can), so got the results back and found that there was something off about my thyroid function. Now, they measure three things and one is the hormone that the brain produces which tells the thyroid what to do and the lowest level in the normal range is 0.35. For this test, mine was 0.01. The other two things on the test were perfectly fine. Naturally Dr Moppet wanted me to have another test done, the results of which I got back today, and this number rose a tiny bot to 0.09, but it's still too low to be completely fine. Again, everything else is in the normal range. So, tomorrow morning I'm having another (!!!) test done that will measure, among other things, the levels of cortisol in my system. Now, unbeknownst to me until today, cortisol levels fluctuate during the day and naturally they want to get the best reading for the test, right? So, I have to have this blood test done BEFORE 9 am! My eyes are just opening between 10 and 11 ack-emma, and tomorrow I have to be out of bed, with clothes on and be heading out the door at about 8:30 or so, so I'm at the path lab as early as is possible (not as early as is convenient, lol) so everything will be right for the test. At least I'll get some coffee.
Now, the reason I'm having this test done is because they think it might not necessarily be my thyroid after all. Judging by the results of the last two tests, and because everything else was perfectly fine, the doctor has reason to believe that the problem may be autoimmune, not hormonal, so tomorrow I'm being tested for a slew of autoimmune diseases including, but not limited to, Lupus and Hashimoto's. I immediately thought of House, "It's never Lupus." Both of these diseases can affect a person neurologically, that is, can cause problems like mood or (sometimes) personality disorders. My depression may actually be caused by something other than bodgy brain chemistry...It might not be, lol, of course, and everything might be the same, just with a new illness to deal with, but this might be fixable. I'm not counting my chickens, but who knows? I don't know how I'd feel if the depression could be explained away, either...I'm not sure who I really am without it, I've been dealing with it on and off for so long (episodic...Like Lupus ;)).
Anyway, that's about that. Not much else has been happening, more than anything else I've just been making and keeping appointments, lol. The Dr Moppet suggested that this could be my new hobby. I told him the tests are just a ruse, I'm actually planning to open my own pathology lab and I just like to steal the vacutainers ;)
Hope you're all well xox
Originally, my doctor got me to have a regular blood test, nothing fancy, just to check if there were any deficiencies I had that could have caused or played a part in my depression (I'm sure I've said this already, so I'll condense as much as I can), so got the results back and found that there was something off about my thyroid function. Now, they measure three things and one is the hormone that the brain produces which tells the thyroid what to do and the lowest level in the normal range is 0.35. For this test, mine was 0.01. The other two things on the test were perfectly fine. Naturally Dr Moppet wanted me to have another test done, the results of which I got back today, and this number rose a tiny bot to 0.09, but it's still too low to be completely fine. Again, everything else is in the normal range. So, tomorrow morning I'm having another (!!!) test done that will measure, among other things, the levels of cortisol in my system. Now, unbeknownst to me until today, cortisol levels fluctuate during the day and naturally they want to get the best reading for the test, right? So, I have to have this blood test done BEFORE 9 am! My eyes are just opening between 10 and 11 ack-emma, and tomorrow I have to be out of bed, with clothes on and be heading out the door at about 8:30 or so, so I'm at the path lab as early as is possible (not as early as is convenient, lol) so everything will be right for the test. At least I'll get some coffee.
Now, the reason I'm having this test done is because they think it might not necessarily be my thyroid after all. Judging by the results of the last two tests, and because everything else was perfectly fine, the doctor has reason to believe that the problem may be autoimmune, not hormonal, so tomorrow I'm being tested for a slew of autoimmune diseases including, but not limited to, Lupus and Hashimoto's. I immediately thought of House, "It's never Lupus." Both of these diseases can affect a person neurologically, that is, can cause problems like mood or (sometimes) personality disorders. My depression may actually be caused by something other than bodgy brain chemistry...It might not be, lol, of course, and everything might be the same, just with a new illness to deal with, but this might be fixable. I'm not counting my chickens, but who knows? I don't know how I'd feel if the depression could be explained away, either...I'm not sure who I really am without it, I've been dealing with it on and off for so long (episodic...Like Lupus ;)).
Anyway, that's about that. Not much else has been happening, more than anything else I've just been making and keeping appointments, lol. The Dr Moppet suggested that this could be my new hobby. I told him the tests are just a ruse, I'm actually planning to open my own pathology lab and I just like to steal the vacutainers ;)
Hope you're all well xox