Yesterday I had the actual office visit with my doctor to determine why I'm so fatigued all the time. He had my blood test results from Thursday and gave me the news. Thyroid is fine, I'm not anemic...everything came out well. The only thing I was lacking was enough Vitamin B12. He had the nurse give me a Vitamin B12 shot, which I'm somewhat familiar with since my dad has to get them once in a while. Doc told me that I should started feeling better pretty quickly, and within 2 weeks I should know if it's working. If after that amount of time I'm still not feeling right, I will have to go to a sleep lab for an overnight observation.
His thought is that I may have sleep apnea, which a lot of people with chronic fatigue have. Allergies and being overweight contribute to the sleep problems...and I meet both of those criteria. Doc wants me to lose at least 20 pounds, which he said will help with my energy levels. He also realizes the Catch-22: that I'm trying to lose weight to feel better, but some days I don't have the energy to exercise. He shared with me that he's lost 8 pounds on Weight Watchers for men...it's really nice to hear that your physician is taking the steps necessary for his own health instead of just telling hs patients to do it. He believes the B12 will help boost me to the point that I feel up to all of my tasks and workouts, and if not we can find a solution through my sleep patterns.
I will say that I'm already feeling much better with the B12, and it hasn't quite been 24 hours since I had the shot. Hopefully this does the trick and I won't need the sleep study. Thankfully I'm on my way to more energy and better health!
