AI Awareness: Doctors Aren't Always Right

Before I start, I just want to make it very clear that I am not recommending ignoring your doctor or medical professional's advice. 

As the post I wrote on why Waking Up Is Hard To Do made the rounds on Facebook yesterday, I started receiving some great suggestions from others. Through this journey, I have learned that you can gain as much wisdom from other people's experience as you can from doctors. People who also live with Addison's Disease and Hashimoto's Disease, as well as other auto-immune conditions, have become one of my greatest resources for learning how to best manage my health. 

One comment I received repeatedly was to take a small (1mg) amount of Prednisone before going to sleep, so that I'm not going to bed completely on empty. Others say that in their experience, this has helped them have some energy in the mornings and makes waking up easier. 

Others suggested splitting my Prednisone dose over the course of the day (3 mgs in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, 1 before bed) to closer imitate a natural circadian rhythm. I've checked with my endo and she has no problem with me trying this, so starting tomorrow, I will split my dose and see if I notice an improvement. Although since it comes in a 5mg pill, I will be estimating the dosage. 

I also heard from a number of people who combine their steroid and thyroid medication. This would make my life so much easier, and is what I was doing before, so I'm leaning towards that. My endo wants to see if there is a difference in my blood work when I am taking the thyroid medication by itself, so I figure that's fair enough. I'll stick it out for a couple more weeks until my next blood draw and go from there. 

If you are not already a member of Facebook support groups for your rare disease, I highly recommend joining. Doctors are great but unless they also have your condition, they simply can't understand what it is like. Since you will rarely meet others in your day to day life with  your illness, connecting online is a great alternative. 

Remember, you are your own best advocate! 

Love,

an Addison alien 

who is grateful for all the advice and support she has found online