Do you ever make excuses for your health?

For years now when I see my Dr. everything has been blamed on either perimenopause, Fibromyalgia, chronic sinusitis, or my age.

Basically they cover every single symptom you can think of.

I’m the type of person that errs on the side of, “Let’s just wait it out and see what happens” rather than running off to sit in my Dr.’s office for hours, or worse waiting at the Emergency for 12-24 hours.

When To See Your Doctor

Let’s be clear, yes I hate going to the Dr.’s office.

I once spent two weeks with a broken arm before visiting the Dr. hoping it would get better on its own. Finally when I did break down and see my Dr. she freaked out and asked why I hadn’t gone to the emergency weeks ago.

I had a nightmare surgery that went sideways in a big way, a whole other horrendous story as to why I hate Dr.’s.

One thing I’m learning as I age though is that you need to make a serious effort to be your own best advocate for your personal health.

For months I’d been experiencing extreme fatigue and difficulty concentrating. These can be symptoms of sinusitis and Fibromyalgia. I’ve also been struggling with motivation.  The fatigue and general “down in the dumps” feeling wasn’t going away, in fact it was getting so bad that I was struggling to make it through the day. I was exhausted to the core.  I was snacking all the time trying to provide the energy I lacked. A five minute sugar burst would end in a three hour crash and burn. Working out used to give me energy, now it sapped up what tiny bit I had.

I blamed the fatigue on my other ailments.  I blamed my mood on my upcoming birthday.  I blamed my lack of motivation on the weather. I didn’t stop to think that maybe, just maybe there was something else behind these changes.  I didn’t go in and tell my Dr. about my symptoms. It seems the older we get the more symptoms we have and therefore problems that aren’t absolutely screaming out in pain don’t get mentioned simply because they aren’t a priority.  There are too many other health issues in line in front of them.  You try to deal with the worst first and desperately try to ignore the rest hoping that they will eventually resolve themselves.

I am scheduled for sinus surgery in late June (we’ll see…) and required a full physical prior to the operation. I hadn’t had a full physical in three years. Yes, I now realize that was a big mistake. I need to make an effort to get a physical once a year. I’m not 21 anymore. {sob}

Turns out my B12 is almost non existent and my red blood cells are very low. The whole fatigue, mental slowness and general lack of energy wasn’t due to any of my pre-existing factors, nor was it due to my age, which is a huge relief because it started to feel like I was about to turn 100 instead of 50.

So no, this post has nothing to do with what I’m wearing. It has to do with keeping on top of our health as we age, learning to pay more attention to the signals our bodies are giving us and not making excuses.

I’m now taking iron supplements and getting B12 injections. It will take a while to build up my levels again. In the meantime I’m relieved knowing that this won’t be something I need to adjust to as my new normal. Fifty needs to be pumped up and exciting. Not tired and cranky.

Have you ever made excuses for your health?

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