ysobel | Documenting the Timeline of Weird

Background: I have, for many moons now, been having trouble with fatigue. Some of it was VitD related, but it did continue once my D levels got into okay territory (per my doctor; I don't think they were high enough yet). Most of it was unknown cause -- no thyroid issues, no iron issues, etc.

So, last Monday (week and a half ago) I had a Reiki session. I am a little skeptical about actual health benefits of Reiki, but there's no harm to it that I know of, and it feels good. Relaxing. Like a massage, but without the "possibly damaging muscle by rubbing against bone" worry because it's touch but not deep touch. The practitioner commented that she really wanted to hang out around my left shoulder.

Monday night, I became aware of a lump in my left armpit that definitely hadn't been lumpy the previous night.

Tuesday, I actually have energy again. Very sudden, like a switch has flipped. (Possibly could be VitD levels finally being where they need to be). It's odd, but I figure it will only last a day or two.

Wednesday I go in to the doctor, who finds an infected hair follicle in my armpit, hence the lump. It's already starting to drain, so she gives me gauze pads and a recommendation for skin cleanser (Physoderm) and puts me on abx (Keflex) to whomp it on the inside.

Since then:

* energy levels have stayed up -- some fluctuations but not the Fatigue Of Doom

* depression is less depressy

* traveled down to visit sister/niecelet without crashing the next day

* weirdly, have had an appetite of ... well, practically a teenager o.O

So I have the same thing for breakfast every day (pb on toast), which is usually enough to hold me until dinner (I eat lunch if I remember but don't often remember), and dinner is enough to hold me through the night with rare exceptions. Except for the last week and a half, in which I have gotten ravenously hungry within a few hours of breakfast and also within a few hours of dinner. Yesterday I had two dinners. Today so far I have had two lunches and still feel hollow.

* also weird: When I saw her this week, and told her about the above things, my therapist said that her first impression was that I had lost weight. Even though I'm doing nothing to lose weight, am not exercising because how, and am even eating more.

It's almost like part of the switch-flip was revving up my metabolism.

I don't know why any of this has happened.

The appetite issue *could* theoretically be an abx issue, since I'm still taking it (10-day run), except that abx gi effects are usually along the lines of output (diarrhea or nausea) rather than input, and I can't find increased appetite on the list of possible side effects. Loss of appetite, yes, but that is SO not happening.

(And yes I've told my doctor about the appetite-and-maybe-metabolism thing; she wants labs done but after I'm clear of the abx.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

zhelana

So when I was in grad school, I looked at what I was eating and realized it was about 400-500 calories a day. I increased that to 1800, and immediately dropped about 20lbs. So maybe you're just not eating enough, and now that you're eating enough you're dropping weight?

niqaeli

^-- What they said.

Also, if you aren't eating enough that will generally immediately trash your energy levels even before you get into of what else it does, long-term, to your metabolism.

So appetite suppression, whatever its source is, can completely kill your energy levels and do a number on you. Whatever kickstarted your appetite, that alone might explain a fair bit.

(I deal with appetite suppression, as a meds side effect. I have come up with various ways of getting calories into me that don't make me miserable even when it's bad because when I don't get enough, I feel like I've been steamrollered and want to lie in bed and cry at basically everything.)