I'm back...

Just a quick note to my friends at ThyroidUK. I have not contributed for several months though I have been keeping up with all your posts. I was feeling depressed for some time and rather than take meds I thought I should get some therapy under my belt to understand why I felt so bad. I really hate taking any BIG PHARMA meds unless absolutely necessary and now feel for me that making external changes in my life this coming year is the way to go with a 'treatment plan' in place. Happy to be feeling better and able to participate again.I get so much helpful info from all of you. Thanks everyone and Happy Holidays, irina1975

[greygoose]

Welcome back.

[Hidden in reply to greygoose]

Thanks GG, 😊

[shaws Administrator]

You state:-

I really hate taking any BIG PHARMA meds unless absolutely necessary :-

but those of us who are hypothyroid take replacement hormones which our body no longer provides. Hormones are a necessity for life.

These hormones permit our body to function as normal when on the correct dose and in particular, our brain and heart have the most need of thyroid hormones which suffer more if not provided.

I am glad you've returned and have a more positive outlook and hope you soon feel much better.

[Hidden in reply to shaws]

You're right. I can't do without my thyroid meds. I guess I had antidepressants on my mind. I took Prozac for years and never felt it helped. It caused me problems esp with restless legs so I'm trying to deal with my problems with therapy before agreeing to meds. I feel better and am glad to be back.

[Marz in reply to Hidden]

Looking forward to more of your posts - especially about your plans for next year ... 😊

[Hidden in reply to Marz]

Will keep updates coming. My priority is to move out of senior living and back on my own again. Before I actually moved here I never thought about how restrictive and monitered everything would be. We are supposed to be independent and most of us are but I am so independent and feel treated like a child at times. There is nothing wrong with my community. It is beautiful but I've learned something I would pass on to anyone thinking of making this transition and that is I am basically a loner and need a lot of down time, enjoy my own company. I don't want to be 'encouraged' to participate in bingo and making beaded jewelry. Also many people don't have any interests except sitting in the lobby and gossiping. With many wearing their red "make america great again" hats. Not a pretty visual! I don't feel like I fit in here.

The people that do well here just live here but have outside lives not involving other residents.

One thing I began to discuss with my therapist is maybe I'm having this experience to learn more about what seniors in the US have to look forward to as they age. I have an idea about starting a website for seniors to help them navigate through a world geared to the young. I like to write and I also miss being a nurse. I would still volunteer if I were physically able.

In my 2 years here I've seen people die who came in fairly healthy. It's as if they gave up, lost interest in life and then they are gone. If I want to keep my mind healthy I can't live out my life in this kind of setting. Fine for some but not me.

I just signed another year's lease and I can live with that. I'm probably going to have knee replacements this coming year and no use making lateral moves until they're done and I decide where I want to move. Maybe back to Florida where my family is.

Sounds like a slow plan but as the turtle might say "maybe it's good I'm moving so slow because I might be going in the wrong direction." LOL

[Marz in reply to Hidden]

Lovely turtle quote - not heard that before ! Website idea sounds good ! Knee replacements are challenging it seems without moving home as well - so good to focus on one thing at a time. Am sure not having full mobility/pain affects mood too - so could be part of the depression ... Really hope things go well for you in 2019 ...

[Hidden in reply to Marz]

Thank you. I believe they will. I didn't realize how negatively my living environment was affecting me until one morning I literally didn't want to get out of bed. I knew it was time for help. I feel the knees will go well. All my docs are here and if I went back to Florida I would have strange doctors and my family is used to me taking care of them. I actually was just waiting until some time passed since my Watchman procedure last January and I would be off anticoagulants.

One good thing is there is a nursing home on the campus here and they have a rehab department so I will be able do a lot of rehab without leaving here. Easy peasy.

[m7-cola in reply to Hidden]

Good job!

[m7-cola in reply to Marz]

I agree with you that mood is so connected with physical problems. The world looks totally different when you feel well.

[m7-cola in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for this timely warning about retirement communities and their effects on ones motivation and psyche.

[Saya85 in reply to Hidden]

Just a quick heads up- I think I read Prozac and fluoxitine slow down thyroid hormone absorption on one of the other members threads the other day

[Hidden in reply to Saya85]

I saw that to or at least another similar article. Sometimes antidepressants are necessary and helpful but in my experience sometimes doctors jump right to them as a solution when with a little more attention to other reasons for depression and anxiety meds and possible side effects can be avoided.

[AlisonL]

Nice to see you again, and what a great way to look at things. I really admire you for this and wish you all the best with what comes next when the time comes!

[Hidden in reply to AlisonL]

Thank you Alison. Happy to be here.

[humanbean]

Just wanted to point out that restless legs is often due to low levels of iron and/or ferritin.

Some other things that contribute to twitching, spasm, and cramp are low magnesium, low potassium, low sodium/salt, and I'm sure there are other things but I can't remember what they are.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

You're so right. My sleep doctor turned me on to the ferritin level. Just raising ferritin doesn't solve everyone's restless legs but it sure helped mine. I didn't want to take iron if food worked first so in January I started eating liver every week religiously. I hate it but drowned it in mushrooms and onions . Sure enough within 2 months my ferritin was above 100 which the sleep doctor recommended for rls. After I felt better I slacked off and symptoms returned. So now I look at weekly liver like medicine.

[Hillwoman]

Hi Irina. I'd been wondering where you were, but then I was absent for a few months too. I'm sorry to hear you've been feeling so low, but glad you've now felt able to make decisions about your future. Once the surgery is over, and rehab is finished, you'll be in better shape to make the necessary changes to where and how you live.

Sending you Christmas and New Year best wishes. xx

[Hidden in reply to Hillwoman]

You too.

[m7-cola]

Welcome back. Your posts are so helpful. X

[Hidden in reply to m7-cola]

Thank you.

[Highland49]

Hi irina,

Sorry to hear you've not been so good but it does sound like you have good plans for next year. I totally can see what you mean about your current living situation. At least once you're living more independently, you can choose who you see and not have to have people in your life whom you have nothing in common with. Sometimes it can be life enhancing of course to meet a mixture of mindsets but not always, if you feel it brings you down. Gossiping is one of my pet hates!

I like the idea of the website. I work in social care and see too much that people are encouraged to fit into boxes of what is considered appropriate for that age group. It seems too often that people are so swept along with their diagnosis and then lose themselves along the way. People need to be encouraged to rediscover themselves. A charming man that I supported, who has dementia, rediscovered his love of painting that he couldn't pursue when he was younger due to family commitments. Helping him to attend an art group for people with dementia made all the difference to his life, as well as allowing some respite for his wife.

All the best for 2019. Take care and I look forward to your updates.

[Hidden in reply to Highland49]

Thanks Highland. I think we're on the same page. Are you also in the US? I know as a social worker you've seen a lot of people dismissed because they don't fit the mainstream idea of a productive citizen. I'm trying to see my time here as learning time to gain insights for my website now. One thing I never thought about but I believe now is however beautiful the setting we're not meant to live only with people who are exactly like us in some way esp seniors.

I wonder how much dementia begins or is worsened because we are not getting mental stimulation from other age groups-esp children, different cultures, nationalities, the same mix of people we would interact with in the outside world.

In my opinion with all that's happening in the world and esp here (US) where nationalism seems to be king-senior care is a microcosm of how isolating people into like-minded groups doesn't serve anyone well.

I know senior living is the norm here (US) but I believe there are better ways. I call this way of living shelving the elderly. Staff and caregivers for the most part have good intentions but living without different ideas, cultures, and input is detrimental to all esp the elderly. As we age we need more opportunities to be actively involved in the world not less.

Re gossip: There are a lot of nice residents here who are very nosy and gossipy. I don't believe they arrived here this way but boredom and lack of interest in their lives and talents by the outside world has contributed to higher interest in others' goings and comings.

I've been talking to a therapist and am trying to look at my experiences here as gaining insights to how seniors' lives are affected by being marginalized. I want my website to be one of solutions. So maybe that's my purpose here. Another classroom.

Well, I really got on my soapbox (easy for me to do). Anyway thanks for listening.

This post might be considered off topic by some but I'll bet many here are dealing with similar issues along with their medical issues. I'd love to hear ideas. Maybe someone has an idea for a new thread. Thyroid problems (and my other HU community Afib (AFA) are especially loaded with stress, depression, and anxiety about our lives. And they are not always helped or even addressed by our medical caregivers or families.

Take care. irina

[Highland49 in reply to Hidden]

It's so true what you've said about needing mental stimulation and the development of dementia. And as you say, stress is so present with thyroid and other conditions.

With people becoming isolated and/or lacking a purpose, I think also of new mums that become depressed because they have had to change their role to take on new responsibilities. I believe that people need support and a sense of belonging and purpose at whatever stage of their life.

I'm in the UK and support vulnerable people in the community. There are projects to promote people's independence and help them set and achieve a goal but I do come across family members that try to step in too much, guiding the person into an activity they think their loved one should be doing.

Fortunately I meet many others who don't want to conform and want to seek out interests for themselves, not just settling for the stereotypical activities for older people.

There are charities and care homes that organise visits by young children and particular homes that ensure that they are part of their local community. Why should someone who's older be on the fringes of society, when can still be an active member? Of course in the west we don't celebrate the elderly like other cultures. I love to hear what work my clients did to then help understand what makes them tick and what interests them. At least now even basic training includes an understanding and emphasis on person-centred care.

One carer that I was chatting to recently made an interesting point. The residents without dementia were happy to just coast along, spending their day relaxing with no particular aim. They felt that they had done their hard work and it was time to put their feet up and have others look after them. The people with dementia, however, were happy to be involved in activities, such as the laundry or gardening. Whether that's partly because it helps to reduce the anxiety they may be experiencing or just the differences in how the brain is then wired with that disease, I thought it was a point that needs to be explored. There is so much emphasis on encouraging independence and including older people in activities, but some don't want to!

Definitely off topic now so I'd better stop. Sorry HealthUnlocked 😊

All the best irina

[Hidden in reply to Highland49]

I agree. Maybe the key is letting seniors make their own choices about how they want to spend the latter part of their life.

I remember a quote from a book I read years ago. I believe the book was "Your money or your life". One of the co-authors was Joe Dominguez. The quote originally spoke about charity. " True charity is giving people what they need not what you think they should have." Substituting the word 'help' for charity and the word 'seniors'for people might be a good start.

[Highland49 in reply to Hidden]

Very true. All the best to you for 2019.

[Hidden]

You too L. And thanks for the website info. I have heard pure encapsulations is a trustworthy source for supplements. Re L-theonine I have heard that magnesium l-threonate is a particularly good mag supplement as it passes the brain barrier easily.

There is research on this by a Florida neurologist and author (and public television presenter during fund raising weeks) named David Perlmutter MD. I have 2 of his books and follow him. He is very interested in connections between diet, supplements and Alzheimers. Much of his thinking resonates with me.

I also met him once when he was a kid. His father was a very good neurosurgeon who operated at the hospital I worked at in the 60's. Occasionally he would bring David to the hospital on Saturdays and stopped by the operating room with him.

Dr Perlmutter senior was a kind man, good surgeon and loved to teach. He developed Alzheimers himself and was in a facility connected to his son's hospital. David would see his father every morning before seeing his patients. I think this is why he is so interested in the brain. He believes much of dementia can be prevented and contained with lifestyle, diet,changes.

Off topic for a minute. I follow the Florida voting issues-what a mess!

When Al Gore lost to George Bush voting fraud really began to be recognized. Someone came up with a tourist bumper sticker that read "Welcome to Florida where your vote counts... and counts...and counts." Just a little humor. At the time Jeb Bush was Florida's governor. Just sayin'.

Take care. irina