Jacquie Parker wrote:
>I have been absent for over a week!!..
>Could you please tell me what are Hypo "crashes" and what to do to avoid
>them. (I have Hashimoto's)
Welcome back, Jacquie! I also have Hashimoto's. When I referred to
"crashes," I should have explained that I was not using medical terminology.
I imported a term from the computer world (or, maybe from the 60's!) to
describe something that I needed to talk about.
Sometimes, despite that fact that the Armour is doing pretty well for me, I
start to feel really nasty for maybe 24-36 hours. No energy at all, and I'm
cold and ache-y as if I'd been standing out in the rain. During these times,
I feel down although I have nothing in particular to be depressed about.
I was trying to make a connection between these nasty dips, or "crashes,"
and anything I might be doing wrong that could be causing them. So far, the
only connection I've made is that when I neglect the basics of good health
for several days in a row, I pay a price for it in that my hypo symptoms
come back very strongly.
In terms of prevention: I need to monitor my daily activities, and when I
start to feel fatigued, or experience what feels like a big fluctuation in
body temp (usually a sudden chill), I need to stop and take a break from
what I'm doing for a few minutes. It's awkward to do this at times, but if
it will help avert a "crash," I'll do it. This is a brand-new discipline
for a hard-driving type-A like me.
Thanks to John Jalvik for your insights on the body temp issue. You're
correct in that the subjective feeling of a chill is not the same thing as a
drop in body temp. As it happens, I have been tracking my temp with a glass
thermo and, yes, during a crash I go down to about 97.2-97.4. I'm looking
at the "coldbody" materials and they're fascinating (but maybe a bit
overwhelming at the moment).
It's been very good to hear input from all of you. Apparently many of us
share this "crash" experience. Perhaps we can start to put together some
guidelines on living with hypo? It would help us and would doubtless be a
big help for newcomers as well.
Esther
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