Normal Is Good

I bet you're all dying to know how my PMS is going. It's going great - if you think that hitting one week out of three is great. First week was a spot on. Second week I got two runs done (and the long slow one was only 10k) and this week has been a bust too. Today I had enough energy to run a really slow 6k. THIS IS NOT HOW I PLANNED THIS WOULD GO.

So I've been back to the doctor's. AGAIN. And this time I want a real diagnosis. Not some wishy-washy 'I-think-that-it-might-be' and the only treatment is to rest till you die.

I think I need to see Dr House. I'm sure he'd be able to find out what's wrong after nearly killing me a few time with inappropriate and unsubstantiated treatments and totally ruining my body's immune system by irradiating me. And he'd be able to do it in an hour WITH ad breaks so I could make a nice cup of tea and go to the toilet.

That extraordinarily long finger is the one he uses to check prostates

It's been a frustrating couple of weeks. Not knowing when to run, how long to run or whether to run at all. I know my long-time readers have heard this all before. This is my fourth time round. I've been to GP's, Sports Medicine Specialists (two different ones) and a Gastroenterologist. And I've had an exercise tolerance test, an echocardiogram, numerous blood tests and an ultrasound (for an entirely different matter). The only test that's found anything definite was the ultrasound but it's not fibroids in my uterus that's making me tired or slowing me down.

So for all you medicos out there (real or ones that have learnt everything they know from watching medical dramas like me) - here are my symptoms

Fatigue
Deterioration in Athletic Ability
Muscle Weakness
Sleep Problems
Poor Recovery from Training

Those are the major ones and there are other things I could complain about (children, husband, the weather and the fact that I'm over-worked and under-appreciated) but probably have no relevance here. And every one of these symptoms fits with low testosterone. Yes, we women have testosterone too. And we need it to feel good. Yet, because we're women, there is only a small amount of recent study into this condition. I didn't know that being on the pill can affect your testosterone level and I've been on the pill for a couple of years now to counteract problems from my fibroids. You can see where I'm going with this.

I saw the doctor on Monday to see whether any of my blood tests included testosterone levels and none of them had. So yesterday I went and had more blood drawn to have still more tests done. Oh, and I had a shot of vitamin B12. I'm starting to feel a little like a pin cushion.

Next Monday I get the results back. You can't imagine how much I want this to be a testosterone deficiency - mostly because it's so easily treatable. Just a testosterone implant. And then I will feel stronger, more powerful and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. I might grow hairs on my chest and male genitals but that will just make me even more interesting/quirky/unique than I am now. Or I might just feel normal again. And normal is good.