fatigue

I have Hashimoto’s thyroditis

Been there and will always be there. I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It is an autoimmune disease. Plain and simple. AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE!  An autoimmune disease is a syndrome where the body senses an invader and goes on immune attack. In my case, it attacked my thyroid. My autoimmune disease is named after the doctor who discovered the disease. Hashimoto’s is diagnosed by a high TSH (thyroid thyroid-stimulating) lab test and high TPO, thyroid peroxidase . Hence, I am hypothyroid. My thyroid is not producing enough of the thyroid hormone, T4. When that happened, I felt extremely fatigued, suffered with hair loss, aches and pains, DEPRESSION, just to name a few. And what do your doctors, friends and family think after your complaints about symptoms month after month and year after year? That you are crazy. You are not crazy…it’s Hashimoto’s!

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It takes years to develop

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis disease. This happened slowly. My symptoms started showing up one by one. First, I noticed my energy reducing, I started dragging myself through the day. I went to the doctor. He ran lab tests, but everything looked “fine” including my TSH. If it is high…usually over 3, it means you are hypothyroid. The TSH lab test is the standard test that endocrinologists use to determine if you are either hyperthyroid (too much thyroid hormone) or hypothyroid (not enough thyroid).  Sort of goes against reasoning. If you have a high TSH reading, this means you are HYPO (I have been as high as), and if you have a zero reading, it means you have too much thyroid hormone and you are HYPER. Why is this?

How it works

The pituitary gland itself is regulated by another gland, known as the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is part of the brain and produces TSH Releasing Hormone (TRH) which tells the pituitary gland to stimulate the thyroid gland (release TSH). The pituitary gland located in the back of your head regulates when the body needs thyroid hormone. When it needs more, it sends a message out to the thyroid that it needs more hormone. When this happens, your TSH goes up, When there is too much hormone, it will do the opposite. By the way, in the beginning I swung back and forth between hyper to hypo. I miss the hyperthyroid times when I had more energy and could lose weight easily. This happens as my thyroid gland was sputtering to a dead stop at producing hormones.

What happened next to me? I said this happened slowly; my decline in health did not happen overnight. It wasn’t one day I woke up and I had all the Hashimoto’s symptoms. No, it crept up on me like a monster stealing my life force. Horrible and insidious.

I lost count of the doctor visits where I plead my case of I DON’T FEEL WELL, only to be dismissed as, I would guess. a hypochondriac, or a overworked and stress out middle-aged woman.

As the days, months and years went on, I felt worse and worse until I was not able to do normal activities, and I even became antisocial. Sound familiar? You are not crazy…it’s Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

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Here are some symptoms associated with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis:

• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Weight gain
• Extreme fatigue
• Dry skin
• Headaches
• Sore throat
• Muscle aches and pains
• Temperature sensitivity
• Hair loss

The lost years…

I suffered for many years. I call them the lost years. No doctors helped me. They didn’t have the knowledge or if they couldn’t throw a pill at it, they didn’t know how to treat me. By the time I was diagnosed, my thyroid was a shriveled up gland with nodules. No worries, they weren’t  cancerous. I have a ultrasound every year and they are getting smaller.

Yes, I will be on thyroid prescription for the rest of my life and I have tried them all. My greatest results are with the prescription Tirosint. It is expensive but I switched years ago when I learned that Synthroid used gluten as a filler, and I am anti-gluten. Gluten is a no-no if you have an autoimmune disease.

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The good news

The good news is that I no longer suffer with symptoms even though I still and always will have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I have figured out how to put my Hashimoto’s into remission. Some people call it that, but all I know is that I now have energy and no pain. How did I achieve that? By taking a lot of junk out of my diet. Clean living and eating. My entire life changed…and for the better.

Now I exercise for 3 hours per day, and then come home and run errands, clean house, make dinner, blog, write, read and all the things that go into a normal day. And I am so happy. So happy. I have my life back.

I have written one book on Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and it has a lot of medical information, and maybe too much medical mumbo jumbo. A lot of people have purchased it on Amazon, which surprises me because I do very little promoting. Right now, I am in the process of writing another book which will be available soon.

If you want to be on my mailing list, I send out healthful tips, recipes and updates on when my books will be available, you can sign up here.

I want you to know, that having a normal life is possible when you have Hashimoto’s. I am the proof.

Thanks for reading!

Terry Ryan, Health Blogger, Pickleball Competitor, Mom of 2 adorable chihuahuas, wife, good friend to many people, and Hashimoto’s recover-er.

Terry Ryan