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Wife (to Shaun), Mother (to Danni), Dog walker of Archie the JRX, improving cyclist, reformed gym bunny, broken runner Collector of exercise DVDs & equipment. Cake is my weakness together with cider (Westons only thanks)and brandy. Noisy spectator of running & cycling events. Owner of Tribby the campervan

Monday 25 March 2013

Seeing a Dr Who is Not a Runner!

For the past few weeks I have been feeling completely rubbish - tired ALL the time, totally lacking in energy, tearful, moody, unable to get warm and a whole myriad of other symptoms which were beginning to drive me  nuts.   There is a family history of Pernicious Anaemia and Underactive Thyroid and I have been tested previously for both.   With all this going on in my head I decided enough was enough and made an appointment to see my GP.

The initial appointment went well, I listed all my symptoms and told her about the family history and she immediately agreed that a blood test would be a good idea to eliminate them.  We also talked about stress and the "D" word was touched upon but first she wanted to get the results back before we took things further.

Appointment for a non fasting blood test was made and completed and a return appointment to the GP for today (25th March) to get the results.

I hate going to the Doctors - you make an appointment and then you have to wait until they're ready to see you - 40 minutes later I was sitting in front of the GP looking forward to finding out what was wrong with me.   No such luck - blood tests were all normal (B12 normal; thyroid normal; liver normal; kidney function normal - not even a little bit of iron deficiency).    OK so yes that's good news but doesn't exactly help me find the reason for why I feel completely rubbish!

The conversation turned to stress - have I got anything stressful going on in my life?  Where do we start?  Ageing parents (one of which is awaiting a diagnosis for dementia/Alzheimer's), a teenage daughter who is studying AS/A Levels and thinking about University and of course there's hubby who is waiting for his referral for bone/knee replacement surgery.   Oh and then there's work, not particularly stressful but not particularly enjoyable.  I don't feel stressed, I feel quite chilled about the whole lot but the Dr did explain that our bodies deal with stress in different ways - in my case it could be that stress is manifesting itself with all these symptoms.

She then went on to say that I needed to take some exercise and do something that I enjoy.  I explained to her that my symptoms had started whilst I was training for and after the Half Marathon.  I had been running quite a few miles and also walking the dog every day for at least 1 1/2 hours, some days twice.  She then went on to explain that we put our bodies through a lot of stress when training for long distance runs and that it could be my body telling me it's all too much.  She then made comments about running being really bad for us, puts a lot of strain on the heart, lungs and joints and we weren't designed to run long distances.   OMG I really had to bite my tongue.  She agreed that we need to take exercise and eat a balanced and healthy diet but exercise should be gentle and enjoyable, not hard slog!

She then said that my SAD was also probably worse this winter because of the continual rain and cold we've been experiencing.  The only thing she could suggest was taking some Vitamin D supplements - after all I was already doing as much to help myself through SAD as I could.

So that's where we are.  Jogging, walking, gentle exercise, as much daylight as I can get, Vitamin D tablets and eat a balanced, healthy diet!  Back to the GP in 3 weeks time to review how I'm feeling!   I feel like a bit of a time waster now !

6 comments:

  1. a few thoughts:
    first, when I read the title to your post, I thought "yeah, another Dr. Who fan!" Wouldn't it be great if Dr. Who were a time-travelling runner? Second, my gp is a runner, as is my PT (physical therapist) and orthopedist and podiatrist. But all these heads together still can't figure out why I'm getting stress fractures every time I turn around. But at least they don't try to talk me out of running...

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    1. Lol that made me chuckle - I am actually a massive Dr Who fan, mainly David Tennant but I grew up with John Pertwee. Sorry to hear your medical team can't work out the cause of your injury stress factures are really nasty. Hope you can sort it out - keep running I will be even if the Doc doesn't think it's a good idea!

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  2. I went to the docs a while ago with similar symptoms, blood tests all normal - he suggested I might not be getting enough sleep. Then I got my kifit armband thingy and it showed that even tho i was in bed for 9 hours I was only sleeping for 4-5 on a good night. Since then, I have started doing yoga, no electronics an hour befor bed and I have a 'getting ready for bed' routine (cleanse face with warm water, lavender oil face msassage) and I use rescue remedy night drops. Since then (touch wood) i have been averaging 7-8 hours sleep according to my armband, and my listlessness and headaches and moodiness have all receded. Lack of sleep affects SO MANY things - it might just be something to think about.

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    1. Cheers Carla I will look into it. I'm usually in bed between 10 and 10.30 and go off really quickly and don't wake until the alarm goes off. Haven't had headaches and I wish it was "listlessness" it's more utter despair and inability to feel awake! This is what happens when you've got used to having winter sun & don't have any for 2 years - blame Hubby!

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  3. You are not a time waster.. these are all very real symptoms and are affecting your day to day life. I feel a bit bad now and hope I didn't push you too hard during the half marathon? I think you did an amazing time for a first HM, you should be very proud of yourself.
    I totally believe this long cold grey winter is affecting a lot of people. Almost everyone I have spoken to is feeling down and fed up. Marathon training this year has been the hardest in all the years I have been doing this, even the elite runners are feeling it. I spoke to a lady who does a 3:07 marathon and she said for the first time in her life she is hating running, and 'just going through the motions'
    so lets hope summer arrives soon
    Look sfter yourself xxxx

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    1. Hi Alma you are lovely, please DO NOT take the blame for where I am now - I chose to push myself and you were there to guide me and keep me company, which you did and I will be eternally grateful for race day, it was an amazing experience and I hope to be able to improve next year - there you go I said it I will be back to Brighton Half in 2014 ;) The SAD is getting better, I think, the Vit D supps seem to be helping and the long weekend has been just what the Dr ordered (metaphorically speaking) stress wise. Another 2 weeks of 4 day weeks and I'll be as right as rain (or snow). Not long and I'll be blowing my vuvuzela at you xxxx

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