The healthy keep getting healthier
Just as the rich keep getting richer
A few months ago I went to a bi-yearly health check-up. I took a few basic tests, but it was mainly just talking about how I was feeling. Because I’ve spent the last ~5 years optimizing my health, it was a quick discussion.
The last question I got was “is there anything else you want to add or ask?”. I thought about it for a second, then mentioned that I think it would be good for me to see a sleep specialist.
Let me give you the background.
For the last couple of years, I felt like I was “kind of” tired all the time. I was never feeling like I was full of energy. Often, in the afternoon, I was taking a nap.
I was training for ultra-endurance events, so of course there were days when I was supposed to feel more tired, but I still thought I should be feeling better in general. I was eating well, I had quit smoking, I didn’t drink (at least not often), and I was making sure I would get enough sleep.
A few years prior I had done a sleep polygraph examination with a friend who worked with that stuff. The results said that I had mild sleep apnea. I was thinking that was the reason I felt tired. Maybe it had gotten worse.
So I went to talk with a sleep doctor. Long story short: we took some general blood tests, he found something that was off and we took more specific ones.
My thyroid gland hormone levels were off. Symptoms that may indicate too little of these hormones in the body are:
- Trouble sleeping
- Tiredness and fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
- Dry skin and hair
- Depression
- Sensitivity to cold temperature
- Frequent, heavy periods
- Joint and muscle pain
A few of those were spot on for my situation.
The doctor described me Thyroxine, and for a few months I went to check the levels and we adjusted the dose.
Now, a few months later my levels are fine.
My point here is that I was able to point out this issue because I knew I was doing all the right things. Exercising, eating well, focusing on sleep, etc.
If I didn’t do any of those things, or maybe doing all but one of them, I couldn’t have pointed out that something was off. Or maybe I could have, but I would have associated it with the thing I wasn’t doing right.
If you aren’t healthy and don’t do the things mentioned above, you won’t know what you should feel like. Feeling like sh*t is your baseline. I’ve been there.
When you improve those things, you experience how amazing you feel when you’re healthy, and you notice things being off easier.
That’s why the healthy keep getting healthier.
