Feeling well

I’m feeling somewhat bemused. For some reason I’m feeling extremely well, better than I have been for years, certainly than for the last few months. This sense of well-being has been growing on me these last few days, really since I came out of hospital.

This thought struck me when I was in the shower. Just before my shower, I had been reading an arthritis magazine. It mentioned there was a connection between hypothyroidism & arthritis, both of which I have.

I’m beginning to wonder if some of my problems in the past have been related to an underactive thyroid rather than arthritis. Certainly I have noticed some changes since I began medication for my thyroid nearly three years ago.

I no longer feel as tired. That does not surprise me in that I knew that excessive tiredness is often the reason why hypothyroidism is diagnosed in the first place.

I have lost weight slowly but steadily, but then I realised that an underactive thyroid can cause you to put on weight.

But I had not known hypothyroidism can cause inflamed painful joints, in particular in the knees. There is no denying the fact my kneecaps are not in the right place on my knees – hence arthritis. However, the medical establishment has long commented that I shouldn’t be as disabled as I am due to that cause. Maybe hypothyroidism has aggravated the situation & I had been suffering from it for years before it was diagnosed. I’m telling myself this can’t be the case. The hypothyroidism was discovered as a result of a routine blood test due to my high blood pressure. Surely they would have realised my thyroid gland wasn’t working efficiently previously. I know I had been suffering from fatigue for a long time but simply put it down to the arthritis & the extra effort involved in doing anything with such pain-filled knees.

The point is, though, that my body seems to be performing differently since I returned from my stay hospital. My knees are no longer getting inflamed in the way they did, despite getting back to my normal pre-hospital trip level of activity & despite no longer taking any anti-inflammatories.

For years I’ve sweltered at night with a burning scarlet band across my knees. It was so hot one year, when we were without electricity for several days, with freezing temperatures outside, we could both warm ourselves around my knees to keep warm. The surgeon who did my last knee op had thought I was exaggerating about the level of heat until he operated & then found it was almost too hot to operate! But now they are icy cold. So was this inflammation due to my underperforming thyroid gland rather than any arthritis? Now the medication for the former has fully kicked in, is that why I am feeling so much better?

My abdominal pain seems to have eased.  Is that due to the reduction in alcohol? Or is it again due to my thyroid now working as it should have been? I gather hypothyroidism can encourage auto-immune problem& one of the causes of pancreatitis, if that is what it was, is an auto-immune problem.

I’m not even excessively hot at night. I’ve long wanted less bedding than the Fox as I’ve sweltered away, but now I’m putting on extra blankets. Have I finally got through all the symptoms of the menopause? Or is it just I’m no longer heating the bed up with my inflamed knees?

Whatever the reason, I am feeling remarkably well for which I rejoice. I’m not yet confident enough to suggest it will last. My stay in hospital has only resulted in a change of medication, so I’m no longer taking any anti-inflammatories for my knees, just painkillers. That’s about the only difference apart from the reduction in alcohol. It seems amazing to think such slight changes could make such a difference. Maybe now I need to turn my efforts to getting a bit fitter, building up more muscles once again, doing a bit more each day… Maybe then I could even forget about benefits & think of getting back to work…Maybe all of this speculation is just a pipe dream & things well be back to the normality of so many years.

Maybe it just comes down to the fact the sun is shining & there’s some blue skies.

Whatever the reason, I rejoice in just feeling well for once. Long may it continue.