New Year Involutions

Involution is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "the regressive alterations of a body or its parts characteristic of the aging process". That seems like an appropriate word to start not only a New Year but a new decade of years in my life.

Back in late October at my annual physical my blood work came back with an elevated TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) level. Because I had just had both the Covid booster and flu shots, we agreed to wait and retake a blood sample in four weeks to see if there was an anomaly due to the shots. With our travel I could not get in to have it redone until December 18th. I got the results later that day, and my thyroid level was even higher than before, which was not the result I was hoping to receive. The doctor put in a prescription for Levothyroxine, which is a medication for hypothyroidism. 

It is interesting that when the thyroid suppresses TSH release, too little thyroid hormone can cause your pituitary to make excess TSH. Thus the high TSH levels in the blood. It seems counterintuitive, but there it is. I began taking the medicine on December 20th, and so far have not noticed anything positive or negative about taking it. They do say it can take 4-8 weeks before you see any improvement in symptoms. Because I do not have any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism (fatigue, numbness, constipation, unexplained weight gain, depression, or being unable to tolerate cold temperatures), I have not experienced anything different.

The most annoying thing about the medicine is that they want you to take it at or near the same time each morning, waiting 30-60 minutes before eating breakfast. I don't wake up at the same moment every morning, so I keep as close to the same time as I can. Since you also should not take calcium as soon as you take this drug, I have just adjusted to taking all of my over the counter vitamins at lunch instead of first thing in the morning.

My doctor will see me again on February 3rd to see how all of this is going. I presume they will draw blood again to see if the drug is doing its job. Hopefully all will be well. I hope to stop this New Year Involution in its track.

the cold never bothered me anyway