My Story (Part Five): I Want Off of the Drugs (Prescription Drugs-LOL)

So, I began taking Calcium for my bone density issues. While working, I didn't exercise like I was supposed to. I had killer fatigue. Every day, after teaching all day, I would come home and nap. My version of a nap would usually be at least two hours. My Mom would always say, "Won't taking long naps keep you up when it's time to go to bed?" Usually it was not a problem, because I was walking through life very tired and fatigued. I've had insomnia a few times. But, that was usually due to medication or something I had eaten particular day. Good thing I learned to avoid caffeine (i.e. Pepsi, Coffee, and Coke) a long time ago; because, these substances trigger a response in my body.

Throughout the years, I have lived with symptoms that have been very disturbing. Imagine what it would be like to feel like you are being shot up with hits of adrenaline on a daily basis-while at the same time, suffering from gripping fatigue. Definitely, a conflict within the body.

Over the years, I have been in counseling (I did suffer a trauma during childhood which I will not go into). I have issues. Who doesn't? But, I know that 'my issues' are not solely responsible for all of my ongoing 'issues'. Throughout my life, I have suffered with anxiety and depression. As mentioned before, I was placed on antidepressants years before being diagnosed with Graves' disease and hyperthyroidism.

Based on my research, I now know that many Graves' disease patients are diagnosed with disorders such as depression and anxiety when in actuality, the Graves' disease is helping to trigger the anxiety and/or depression. Autoimmune disorders are often initially misdiagnosed.

While on Synthroid (the medicine I took for seven years as a Thyroid Hormone Replacement), I always needed an antidepressant because I continued to get depressed. Whenever I tried to get off of the antidepressant, I ended back on one again. There have been quite a few.

I continued to have extreme anxiety, shakiness, etc. So, my doctors gave me anti-anxiety medications. None of those worked. Xanax looked at me and laughed. In fact, in retrospect, these drugs may have made matters worse for me.

I continued to complain about symptoms to my counselors, to my physicians, and to anyone who would listen. "Oh, let's increase the medicine," "You need to try this anti-anxiety medication instead," and I heard so many other reasons/responses as to why there were still problems.

Finally, in August 2007, I had enough. I stopped taking my antidepressants and anti-anxiety medicines. I asked my Endocrinologist at the time if I could try another medicine that I had read about. I requested this, because taking the Synthroid always made me feel worse. I wasn't quite sure what was helping to exacerbate my symptoms. So, my goal was to remove all of the possible culprits-the Synthroid and the antidepressants and the anti-anxiety medicines.

Next My Story Post: I will discuss what happened next.