I don't know about other old goats, but the winter solstice nails me to the wall.
I haven't been to the office in a week. I haven't put on anything but sweats for the last four or five days. The days seem to melt together...I'm a mess; it would almost be respectable if alcohol or drugs were involved! It doesn't help that the sun hasn't been out for ten days with fog for most of that time. I can hardly count to ten with my fingers...
It's the one time of year I cling dearly to my cell phone. I've conducted more professional business in my jammies during the last two weeks than I have all quarter.
When I was younger it didn't seem to matter. I was up and dressed at 5:30AM, even on weekends. I was always first to the office for phone and coffee duties. Then twenty something years ago I noticed a trend. Winter would come around and I couldn't get up on time. I got forgetful. I was always tired and usually packed on 10 or 20 pounds.
I mentioned it to the doctor.
After a battery of tests I discovered I have an inactive thyroid. The medicine helps, but it is no substitute for a thyroid gland. I've spoken with the medical profession since then and they've kicked around a term, SADS, seasonally affected depression syndrome. People with inactive thyroids have a high incidence of this apparently. My wife just calls me "grumpy". Over the years I've learned to just live with it, and I don't expect too much out of myself during December.
I guess my circadian biorhythms and lack of sunshine slow my metabolism down in the winter. It's time to hibernate. Pack on the calories at Thanksgiving then crawl in you den and await the thaw. Works for me. I'd perish if I lived north of the arctic circle.
I now know why our prehistoric ancestors placed such a significance on the Solstice. It was a cyclic signal of the sinuosity of life's terminus. The curve begins it's journey upwards once again. Hopefully for sunnier days.
Happy Holidays to everyone. And apologies to old Bill Shakespeare, the Baird of the Ages, when I say, "Beware the Ides of December".
Thanks for posting that. My wife has been undergoing the exact same symptoms. I am bringing it to her attention.
Thyroid deficiency must be common. Me, my Mother and at least one brother take thyroid pills. It needs to be rechecked regularly too, a simple blood test. You may need a stronger dose. Mine just got increased.
Make sure you get a reasonable level of iodine in your diet. It's necessary for proper thyroid function.
Those who don't eat seafood regularly, or other iodine-rich food, need to use iodized salt in cooking and on the table. I don't know what percent of commercially prepared food uses iodized salt, but I suspect not enough.
I've taken 15 micrograms for years. It gets checked every six months. I had at least one doctor tell me there was a higher incidence of thyroid inactivity in older males with Nordic genetic roots. I guess I'm one. My father called himself a "melancholy Dane".
Interestingly I found out years ago that Levoxin, the generic form of Synthroid does me little good. If I take that for a couple of months, my numbers get screwy and my hair fall out. I only take the name brand Synthroid. I have read others have had the same problem. My insurance won't pay for the name brand, so I have paid out o' pocket for years. Not a biggy.
OK..I've been up for four hours...time to go stuff my gullet full o' carbs and take a nap...;-)
Feels more like Seattle than OKC around here lately. I've also had thyroid issues since my teens and I also cannot take the generic brand and just pay out of pocket for the name brand. I've learned the hard way that little ol thyroid gland handles some pretty important functions.
I have the same thyroid problem and I know exactly what you are talking about.
There is one cure though, but it is an even so rare in Mississippi that I have experienced just a very few times. The cure? A "for real" snow fall. That makes the "kid gland" kick in and I go berserk!! All I have to do is go for a walk in the woods behind the house and listen to that incredible silence that a good snow fall brings. No sounds but the crunch of the snow as I walk. Everything covered in a soft white blanket of snow. Everything so calm. Nothing relaxes me more.
Then as I walk out of the woods back to the house and along the street, the sound of the crunching and bangs of pick up trucks as silly Mississippi Rednecks trying to drive in snow. Several "Here, hold my beer" moments that make me laugh so hard that "tears" roll down my leg. All of the depression is all gone.
> All I have to do is go for a walk in the woods behind the house and listen to that incredible silence that a good snow fall brings. No sounds but the crunch of the snow as I walk.
Nothing more soothing, fer sure. We get snow a little more often than you all. I do love it. I grow ten years younger by spending a day with a crew in the woods. I also regularly give my "kid gland" a kick with a scooter ride. I'm twenty again and bullet-proof, if only for a while.
Sometimes the "cures" for our earthly maladies lay buried in Mother Nature's intricate and beautiful woven web.
Less than 10% of my clients come by the home office, if I ever see them at all.
For many years I have been in jammies, sweats and/or boxers unless I leave the house.
There is always something to wear on the back of the office chair in case there is a knock on the door.
Rheumatism, arthritis, cramps or whatever lets me get about 3hrs sleep at a time, so I have work hours that change daily.
Take the meds as prescribed and I can sleep for 12hrs straight and not remember where I left off yesterday or the day before.
The organized mess atop my workspace lets me keep up with what I am working on. Work
Work would be lost if anyone moved a folder, and that has happened.
Most of my projects keep the clients in touch every few days because we trade questions about the task at hand and the history of things.
I met a man in his 30s this morning to look at about 300 ac and he said that he was walking and I told him I never go anywhere without my ATV, so he rode with me about 50% of the time and that was going up the hills.
My worst days are a few days before it is cold enough for ice to form.
Carry on......
And, how are you today
That's about the most common greeting these days. My standard response is: "Just getting older and grumpier every day." Many times the greeter responds with something like: "Me, too."
My English teacher wife has advised that there is no such word as grumpier. It doesn't matter. Everyone knows what I mean.
My oldest daughter has the thyroid problem going on. Somehow it seems to have skipped the rest of us, so I blame it on my ex-wife's genetic contribution. She used to be quite grumpy whenever I was around, but she seems to have gotten better since she left me.
Your in OK and you say the daylight hours are short? It got light Sunday around 8am and was dark at 3:30. I to suffer but take trips to those exotic Caribbean areas in February or March to get a shot of vitamin D. I shudder to think why anybody would head to Alaska this time of year. I was in Belize explaining that sunset was around 10pm in the summer to some locals and they thought I was kidding them.
My current dose is 125 mcg Levothyroxin. I started at 75 about 10 years ago. Then up to 100 maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Just this month the Doc raised it again to 125.
