I have been feeling as though I should blog about my last 5 1/2 year journey into my thyroid disorder in hopes it might help someone else who unknowingly or knowingly has a thyroid disorder. But I keep putting it off because 1. I am BUSY 2. this post could possibly be 10 pages long if I'm not careful. So, do I give the reader's digest version or delve into the disease? Even though my real treatment began 5 + years ago, my actual thyroid issues go back to about 1987ish.....
1. Intermittent swelling of my thyroid, neck area for as long as I can remember--very annoying with a constant "gaggy" feeling
2. heat and cold intolerance--cold hands and feet
3. low body temperature
4. thinning eyebrows
5. skin problems--very unbalanced, very oily and very dry at same time
6. lethargy and complete tiredness, exhaustion
7. weight gain and inablility to lose with exercise and proper diet (i.e. exercised at gym 6 days a week for an entire year and ate 1200 calories a day and lost 4 LBS!)
8. brain fog and inability to concentrate
9. headaches
10. restless sleep and upon wakening, still exhausted
11. numbness in hands and feet
12. muscle and joint pain, especially in my legs
13. depressed moods
These symptoms increased as I got older, as I had children. I started at my regular doctor, got told over and over these symptoms are normal for women, probably need an antidepressant. Went to several endocrinologists, said my "levels" were fine and even though I presented with every single symptom of hypothyroidism, I was fine. Started doing research on my own and truly understanding what the thyroid does and how it acts, still got no relief or help from doctors in SLC or McAllen. Felt very discouraged. I felt like I knew what was wrong, but couldn't get anyone else to listen or help.
The thyroid gland governs the body's metabolism and development through the production of thyroid hormones. In the cells, the thyroid hormones help facilitate the production of energy. If your thyroid is not working properly, almost every aspect of your health is affected. When you go to the doctor with thyroid symptoms, your doctor will order a blood test to see what your tsh level is. If that level falls within a certain range, there assumption is you are find and dandy. TSH measures whether or not your hypothalamus is signaling to your brain to produce the thyroid hormone. IT DOES NOT MEASURE IF YOUR BODY IS USING THE HORMONES or what is happening at the cellular level. In essence, it measures if your brain is telling the body to produce thyroid, but not what the body does with it.
After persisting and going to more docs, they found antibodies in my bloodstream and diagnosed me with something called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. It is an autoimmune disorder where your body produces antibodies that in essence attack your thyroid and do not allow it to function properly. Even after that diagnosis, my "tsh level" was still within normal range so no treatment was given. I began to think a. I'm crazy b. I'm a hypochondriac c. I will feel like this for the rest of my life.
To make an already lengthy post somewhat shorter, I found a solution that saved my like. Through what I believe were inspired avenues, I was able to learn about and go to the Hotze Health and Wellness Center in Katy (Houston), TX. There I was treated with bioidentical hormones and within 2 weeks of treatment, I felt like a new person. That was in 2006. Since that time, I have only gotten better and I have learned a tremendous amount about the thyroid and how it functions, how other hormones work in our body, the effect of sugar and refined foods on our bodies and how to be persistent and strong, to be educated and to not be afraid to stand up and challenge a doctor when I know more than them.
This is really the severly condensed version of this story of finding my health again. I would encourage, implore, plead with any of you who are experiencing some or several of these symptoms to go to hwc.com and get some answers or call me or email me. I would love to give you the non-reader's digest version and share with you what I know.
I have included these pics just for fun (haha).
before and after
